We are a little late to the parade regarding Imogen Clark's new album 'Choking on Fuel' but it's more than worth a share on Beehive Candy and it is already kicking her 2025 into high gear. The last few weeks have seen Imogen return to the UK for a sold-out headline tour and performance at Maverick festival, and land on the lineup of this year's AMERICANAFEST in Nashville (alongside artists like Kashus Culpepper, Kip Moore, Jade Bird, Rodney Crowell and Ruston Kelly).
Nashville-via-Sydney singer-songwriter Imogen Clark is getting high octane and back to the nitty gritty with her new album ‘Choking on Fuel’. After a breakneck year of non-stop touring, returning to her roots armed with an acoustic guitar, Imogen is rolling out a record that captures the intensity, vulnerability, musical dexterity and vocal power that characterizes her compelling live performances.
“I spent last year on the road around the world, playing headline shows but also touring with Robyn Hitchcock, Steve Poltz, Bowen * Young and Andrew Farriss”, Imogen explains. “So many people have messaged me or commented on my social media to say that they would love to have an album that captured the spirit of what I do live, and that’s what this is”.
The album puts Imogen’s rich, devastating vocals front and center, foregrounding her deft, cutting lyrics and affecting melodies. The record runs the emotional gamut from the wry, incendiary All Hard Feelings (with 70s style backing vocals from co-writers Sinead Burgess and Blake O’Connor, who also tears up a blistering slide guitar solo), a high-octane harmonica solo on The Art of Getting Through from the legendary Mickey Raphael, the sexy bluegrass raveup of Sebastian (where Imogen is backed by Aussie grassers Midnight Chicken) to the raw, powerful anthem The Last of Me (with My Morning Jacket’s Bo Koster on propulsive piano), the road not taken nightmare of Squinters (a co-write with Steve Poltz powered by Bryan Sutton’s nuanced acoustic guitar), a fiery Nebraska-esque anthem If I Want In (featuring ARIA-winner Ella Hooper) to the delicate, timeless wisdom of If Your Heart Never Breaks (featuring gorgeous harmonies from co-writer Jim Lauderdale and a dexterous and beautiful guitar from the iconic Tommy Emmanuel).
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Baba Pen & The Bim Bam Band - Hare In The Haze.
Baba Pen & The Bimbam Band return with their third single, Hare in the Haze – a swirling folky journey into the misty corners of old Europe. Picture this: roadside taverns, wandering bards, and tales passed down by firelight. This one tells of a cunning hare and an aging hunter locked in a never-ending chase. Just as the hunter takes aim, a thick haze rolls in… and the hare vanishes once again. But not all stories end well for those who seek control. With rippling guitars and a timeless groove, Hare in the Haze pulls you into a world of myth and mischief – the kind that makes you want to grab a pint and stay a while.
Bastian Pen, lead singer of the band Tricklebolt, steps into new creative territory with a fresh project under the moniker Baba Pen. Collaborating with a group of talented friends, they form Baba Pen & The Bim Bam Band, a collective destined to make waves. Their debut album, set for release on October 10, 2025, blends 60s-inspired psychedelic rock with hints of folk and cosmic country, all wrapped in the lush, intricate production style of Jonathan Wilson.
Featuring members from Grand East, Money and the Man, Tricklebolt, and Jimmy Diamond, "Hare In The Haze" is a captivating taste of what’s to come, offering a glimpse into the diverse sonic landscape of Baba Pen & The Bim Bam Band. It's a brilliant first step into an album that promises to explore the many shades of Baba Pen's musical world.
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Photo - Luca Bailey |
Home Counties today announce their highly-anticipated second album 'Humdrum' - out 24th October on Submarine Cat Records. Produced by Al Doyle (of Hot Chip, LCD Soundsystem), new album 'Humdrum' is the follow up to the London six-piece's 2024 debut album 'Exactly As It Seems'.
To mark the announcement, Home Counties are today sharing the album's title track and new single 'Humdrum'. A sardonic unravelling of social misfires, ‘Humdrum’ captures the anxiety of saying the wrong thing and stewing over it later ("It’s also about feeling bitter towards people who are just better at chatting shit," singer Will Harrison notes).
Originally almost scrapped, the track shape-shifted through krautrock and bedroom pop before landing on its final form - a jittery, synth-heavy, hook-laced highlight that reckons with self-sabotage and success-envy in equal measure.
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