Showing posts with label Joana Serrat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joana Serrat. Show all posts

Monday, 25 September 2017

Tusks - Joana Serrat - Sauropod - Brass Phantoms - Thee Conductor (Feat: Bonnie Prince Billy) - Lisa Anderson

Tusks - Last.

Background - With her debut album Dissolve released 13th October, Tusks (aka Emily Underhill) builds on her towering musical vision. Created alongside longtime co-producer Brett Cox, her rich visual imagination with its cinematic enormity and resplendent detail is the work of a young artist mastering the nuances of her craft, a journey which began in her early teens.

On new single ‘Last’, Tusks ups the ante; “it’s the feistiest track on the album. It was a bit of a f you to a person at the time who I'd invested loads of energy and time into who'd messed me around."

It’s a track that demonstrates the breath of emotion on the record, that within ‘Dissolve’s’ immersive cinematic artistry and beautiful soundscapes sentiments of a vigorous, vitriolic nature also burn bright.

From a young age, her voracious appetite for music has taken in artists as disparate as Bonobo, Explosions in the Sky, and Foals, and the result is a sound that resists pigeon-holing. It’s the assemblage of all her experiences as an artist and as a person that get distilled in her powerful, glacial sound, which has been praised across the spectrum by tastemakers including Wonderland, MixMag, The Line Of Best Fit, Annie Mac, MistaJam and Lauren Laverne and nabbed her a spring tour with the impressive Icelandic singer songwriter Asgeir. 

Debut album Dissolve is heady and ambitious, not so much the sum of its influences as an outward projection of its creator. It’s the purest distillation of Emily as a person, and it strikes a uniquely human chord through its melodies, which are at once comfortingly familiar and refreshing. Website here, Facebook here

'Last' mixes distant & dreamy vocals with a musical soundtrack where the more understated moments are delicately arranged & when the power kicks in the attention to details is still notable.

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Joana Serrat - Come Closer.

Background - ‘Come Closer’, Joana Serrat’s new song taken from her forthcoming album ‘Dripping Springs’, features members of Israel Nash/Midlake. For her fourth album in five years, Joana Serrat travelled from her home in Vic, Barcelona to the Texas Hill Country outside Austin. There she teamed up with Israel Nash at his Plum Creek Sound studio near the town of Dripping Springs. For the recording sessions Nash & Serrat corralled a stellar crew of musicians: Joey & Aaron McClellan, (Midlake, BNQT, John Grant, Israel Nash), Eric Swanson & Josh Fleischmann (Israel Nash), Dave Simonett and Dennis Love, as well as Nash himself providing additional guitar and backing vocals. Israel Nash produced the album, with Ted Young  Grammy award winner for The Rolling Stones) on engineering and mixing duties. 

It was no mean feat to gather all these creative talents and get them working together as a team, but as Israel Nash commented, “it was very easy to work with Joana because she knows where she wants to go and she leads us all there. Joana’s lyrics are brilliant. She uses images and colours to describe her songs and luckily that's the way we are used to working.” Joey McClellan adds, “her voice was our guide”. The resulting album - which Joana named after the local town - is unsurprisingly Joana Serrat’s most Americana album to date. Mojo described her last album Cross The Verge as “Mazzy Star guesting on an early Neil Young demo”, but with Dripping Springs she has produced a far more rounded and polished piece of work. Serrat explains, “it’s an album that deals with farewells but is filled with an optimistic melancholy that doesn’t isolate nor enclose the spirit and determination to realise our own dreams”. It was a bold move by the young Catalan to cross the Atlantic to work with a bunch of American musicians that she had admired from afar but had never met.

What she came away with is, however nothing short of magnificent and should see Serrat building on her existing achievements which have included a BBC 6Music Recommends Track Of The Week selected by Gideon Coe and Lauren Laverne, the latter commenting “she’s an amazing artist, an astonishing talent and I love her songwriting”. The lead single from Joana’s upcoming album has once again received plays from Gideon Coe, and also Another Country With Ricky Ross. Within the last year Joana has toured with The Jayhawks, The Handsome Family & Courtney Marie Andrews, and played the main stage at Primavera Sound Festival showcased at SXSW. Joana has just returned from performing in Nashville at AmericanaFest 2017. Facebook here.

Whilst Joana Serrat continues to provide music this good to feature, it will be featured. 'Come Closer' continues in a similar vein from the previous song we shared, with beautiful Americana vibes and a superb musical arrangement to match her beautiful vocals.

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Sauropod - Never On Time.

Background - Norwegian trio Sauropod, made up of – Jonas Røyeng (guitar, vocals), Kamillia Waal Larsen (bass, vocals) and Jørgen Natland Apeness (drums) just released their second single ‘Never On Time’ via Propeller Recordings. The latest signing to Propeller Recordings (Sløtface, Highasakite, Frøkedal etc) — new single ’Never On Time’ is an exhilarating burst of high-octane grunge-tinged punk rock. 

An ode to living in the moment, Sauropod’s endearing carefree approach shines particularly brightly on this latest single. "I’m never on time / being so precise is putting me down” - sings Jonas, atop of the track's erratic rhythm section, before conceding he’d..."rather stumble around like a clown / cause all I see, surrounding me, is people who try very hard to believe that freedom’s for free”.

Perfectly capturing the sweet–sour synergy of frontman Jonas and bassist/vocalist Kamilla, ‘Never On Time’ showcases exactly what sets the band apart from their peers; a natural gift for simultaneously delivering energetic, punk-leaning songwriting with irresistibly catchy hooks.

Quickly becoming a force to be reckoned on the live stage, the band’s recent live credits include Øya Festival (NO), Trondheim Calling (NO), Eurosonic (NL) and Visions Festival (DE) - and their next steps will see them supporting label mates Sløtface at their upcoming London headline show in October.

The band are currently preparing for an extensive touring schedule kick-starting in the new year, as well as writing for the release of their first album on Propeller Recordings. Website here, Facebook here.

Indie rock with punk energy makes 'Never On Time' a feisty and potent affair. Catchy and urgent, at just over two & a half minutes it's a blast of refreshing rock.

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Brass Phantoms - Indigo.

Background - Irish fourpiece Brass Phantoms have announced the follow-up to recent single City Of Wolves with new single Indigo released on 22nd September.

Indigo is a passionate track opening with a powerful and unique vocal that builds into a melodic indie-pop chorus backed by euphoric guitars. The video, produced by Alan McCarthy, shows a dancer performing a routine in a hall alongside a live performance by the band, which builds in intensity with the song. 13-year-old Alicia Premkumar stars as the dancer in the video. The band say;

“Indigo at times paints the picture of a war scene. We wanted to paint a bleaker image over music that has the appearance of joy or euphoria.”

“Alicia Premkumar was amazing. Her performance is extremely emotive and it gives another layer to the track. While the song is partially about a battle, her performance shows another conflict, a mental conflict to go with our physical.”

Having played headline shows in their home city along with performing at festivals such as Other Voices and Indiependence, Brass Phantoms will be embarking on their debut UK headline tour next month. Tour dates are on Beehive Candy's tour news page, Bandcamp here, Facebook here.

The vocals shine from the word go and it's not long before the band up the stakes even further on 'Indigo' a hook laden and passionate song.



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Thee Conductor - Face Crinkle (Featuring Bonnie Prince Billy).

Background - The video for "Face Crinkle," is the first single off the upcoming Thee Conductor album, Cotton Tornado, which is out on October 20 via Sixgunlover Records.

Jason Butler, the creative force behind Thee Conductor, has teamed up with an impressive selection of musicians for a structured and intentional, yet open and collaborative, art project resulting in a curated collection of songs titled Cotton Tornado. 

This first single, which features Bonnie "Prince" Billy on main vocals, is the perfect intro to the project and oozes with depth, sincerity, and warm delivery. Pre-order here, Facebook here.

The first of ten tracks on the forthcoming album is 'Face Crinkle' featuring Bonnie Prince Billy, whose natural vocals are so at home with this song. Putting a guest artist of this calibre on the first track, suggests that Thee Conductor are confident in the quality of the remaining material. Rightly they can be, this is a selection of very individual and unique songs, there is an overall feel to the album, however the music takes on many forms and does so with quality and beauty.


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Lisa Anderson - Your Silence Says It All.

Background - Lisa Anderson is a singer-songwriter from Calgary, Alberta who traveled and lived around the world before finding herself back home reeling from heartbreak. 

It was here, a place she once felt like an outsider, where she delighted to discover the freedom to be herself, the determination to plunge into her music, and the chance for real love.

A Hundred Lives reflects the struggles and the joys of embracing all life has to offer – the dark, the joyous, and the grey in between. 

The album journeys through the grief of her goodbyes, the ability to forgive a betrayal, the exhilaration of new romance, and the celebration of everyday absurdities. Her realistic optimism and quirky humour weave through her lyrics to form moments of kinship with her listeners.

Lisa Anderson will be supporting the release of A Hundred Lives with a Canadian tour in 2017-18. Release Date: Sept 26th, 2017. Website here, Facebook here.

'Your Silence Says It All' is one of eleven songs on the new 'A Hundred Lives' album. The featured track and music video gives a good idea of what to expect. Sometimes it's a little more sensitive, other times the lyrics are very personal, however add to that the musical quality and melodic vocals, and for me, we have a creative and very likable album.


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Friday, 8 September 2017

Lilikoy Mananas - Sarah Klang - Joana Serrat

Lilikoy Mananas - IAMWHATIAM.

Background - Lilikoy Mananas​ ​​prepare the release of their debut release ‘Dangerous​ ​Calm​’ with the release of the dreamlike single “IAMWHATIAM​” in September 2017. The track delivers unashamedly pop melodies over dreamy guitar lines and melancholy tones. This is a great introduction to the band’s sound marking the beginning of what promises to be a very prolific year.

Lilikoy​ ​Mananas​ have a unique offering in the current Tel​ ​Aviv​ a contemporary musical landscape where they find themselves moving between the claustrophobic feeling of the modern world and a constant search for existential tranquility.

Combining the harmonious sound of live instruments with the electronic tools from their studio setting the band is unafraid to explore new sounds and combinations. Songwriter/ multi-instrumentalist and band leader Yonatan​ ​Marcus​ recruited his close friends to collaborate on what would become the debut single “IAMWHATIAM​”. The chemistry during those sessions was undeniable and they decided to record a collaborative full length.

The resulting debut album “Dangerous​ ​Calm​”, produced by Rotem​ ​Frimer​ and Yonatan​ ​​himself, is expected in October 201 7 and showcases a band that isn’t wasting time arguing over the definition of blues, jazz, folk and electronica but rather prefers to operate with all and any tool at their disposal. Facebook here.

The vocals & harmonies are wonderful on 'IAMWHATIAM' whilst the music has something understated and yet pretty special going on. A short & yet quite thrilling introduction to Lilikoy Mananas​ for me, with hopefully a lot more to follow.

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Sarah Klang - Left Me On Fire.

Backgrtound - With only two singles under her belt, Sarah Klang is already an artist who’s made listeners all over the world envy her melancholia. Debut single ”Sleep” was released in 2016 and early 2017 ”Strangers” hit the streaming services – praised by critics and public alike. When she played a homecoming show at the Way Out West festival in Gothenburg earlier the year Sweden’s main newspaper Dagens Nyheter left the venue all stunned. It was agreed among critics - a star was born that night.

Klang's sound is like no-one else and with her voice she encapsulates listeners into her own universe – a universe where you get images of old reel tape recordings in your head. Inspiration is found in old brides dresses, Barbra Streisand, ambient electronica, 80’s dads and plastic flowers.

”Left Me On Fire”, Sarah’s new single, is like previous releases written and produced with long time collaborator Kevin Andersson, but this time around Thom Monahan (Pernice Brothers, Devandra Banhart, Vetiver, Beachwood Sparks etc) handles the mixing process. What comes out of this is a fragile and moving soundscape. It draws you into the core of the storytelling. A great ballad from a great voice.

"Left Me On Fire" is written in the vacuum that you feel after a break-up. You continue your life but you are burned. For me the song is about moving forward with your life, while still in love with the person who broke your heart and nothing will ever be the same from that moment on.”

This fall Sarah will do shows (highlights includes a performance at Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg and a headline show in hometown Gothenburg) leading up to the release of debut album ”Love in the Milky Way” early 2018. Facebook here.

We first featured Sarah Klang back in February with 'Strangers' & are really pleased to be able to feature the new song 'Left Me On Fire'. Her vocals ooze feeling and passion, the music is superbly arranged around her melodic voice, adding to the melancholic mood. Put simply, I cannot wait to hear more.

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Joana Serrat - Trapped In The Fog.

Background - ‘Trapped In The Fog’, Joana Serrat’s new song and lead track from her forthcoming album ‘Dripping Springs’, featuring members of Israel Nash/Midlake. Joana Serrat explains the inspiration behind the track: “Trapped In The Fog is an oneiric song through which I can travel in time, no matter if it’s past or future. I wrote this song one night that I was driving back home after a solo show. Where I live there's a lot of fog in winter and suddenly that very night in the middle of the forest, the road got surrounded by shoals of fog. It was very hard to see and I had to slow down. The haze was constantly taking different shapes, it seemed to dance. It felt like a metaphor for life and I had the feeling something inside the shadows was talking to me."

For her fourth album in five years, Joana Serrat travelled from her home in Vic, Barcelona to the Texas Hill Country outside Austin. There she teamed up with Israel Nash at his Plum Creek Sound studio near the town of Dripping Springs. For the recording sessions Nash & Serrat corralled a stellar crew of musicians: Joey & Aaron McClellan, (Midlake, BNQT, John Grant, Israel Nash), Eric Swanson & Josh Fleischmann (Israel Nash), Dave Simonett (Trampled By Turtles) and Dennis Love (Futurebirds), as well as Nash himself providing additional guitar and backing vocals. Israel Nash produced the album, with Ted Young (Grammy award winner for The Rolling Stones) on engineering and mixing duties. 

It was no mean feat to gather all these creative talents and get them working together as a team, but as Israel Nash commented, “it was very easy to work with Joana because she knows where she wants to go and she leads us all there. Joana’s lyrics are brilliant. She uses images and colours to describe her songs and luckily that's the way we are used to working.” Joey McClellan adds, “her voice was our guide”. 

The resulting album - which Joana named after the local town - is unsurprisingly Joana Serrat’s most Americana album to date. Mojo described her last album Cross The Verge as “Mazzy Star guesting on an early Neil Young demo”, but with Dripping Springs she has produced a far more rounded and polished piece of work. Serrat explains, “it’s an album that deals with farewells but is filled with an optimistic melancholy that doesn’t isolate nor enclose the spirit and determination to realise our own dreams”. It was a bold move by the young Catalan to cross the Atlantic to work with a bunch of American musicians that she had admired from afar but had never met.

What she came away with is, however nothing short of magnificent and should see Serrat building on her existing achievements which have included a BBC 6Music Recommends Track Of The Week selected by Gideon Coe and Lauren Laverne the latter commenting “she’s an amazing artist an astonishing talent and I love her songwriting”. Within the last year Joana has toured with The Jayhawks, The Handsome Family & Courtney Marie Andrews played the main stage at Primavera Sound Festival showcased at SXSW and has been invited to Nashville in September to showcase at AmericanaFest 2017. Pre-order here, Facebook here.

It's been a while since we last featured Joana Serrat, an artist that has consistently impressed me. 'Trapped In The Fog' is our first glimpse of her forthcoming new album & her new musical collaboration is, based on this track, very promising. Vocals as ever are notably refined and the Americana rich music is fabulous.

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Friday, 28 October 2016

Weekend Wonders: Trudy and the Romance - Will Johnson - Bad Reed - Blood and Glass - whenyoung - Joana Serrat - Gemology

Trudy and the Romance - My Baby's Gone Away.

Background promo - With a Big Moon support slot this autumn and SXSW in the bag, Trudy and the Romance’s scurvy ascent has been as pestilent as the plague, infecting hearts and minds everywhere. Labelled ‘50s mutant pop’ by assorted members of the press, their previous single ‘He Sings’ sallied lecherously up to number 7 on the UK Spotify viral charts. Their freakbeat flavoured skiffle clearly strikes a chord with legions of mutant fans everywhere and is a broken bottle to the face of blind conformity.

6Music’s Steve Lamacq is a bona fide fan. After seeing them live at their packed-out debut London headline show at The Victoria this July he promptly made them artist of the week. Further feverish support on the wireless has come from Radio 1’s Huw Stephens who included ‘He Sings’ in his Best of BBC Introducing, John Kennedy at Radio X and further afield in LA's KCRW.

With more material in the works and more gigging before the year is out, whatever Trudy and the Romance are cooking up will be a drunken witch’s brew of lovesick sea shanties and rabble rousing ditties. To all those who thought the age of romance in music is long dead, Trudy and the Romance stand defiant as mutated specimens of a bygone era. Website here.

Live dates:
29 October Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow *The Big Moon
30 October Picture House Social, Sheffield *The Big Moon
01 November The Bodega Social Club, Nottingham *The Big Moon
02 November Waterfront, Norwich *The Big Moon
03 November Scala, London *The Big Moon
04 November Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar, Brighton
05 November Yellow Arch, Sheffield *Slow Club
18 November 02 Academy 2, Liverpool *Supporting Honeyblood
25 November The Finsbury, London *Rockfeedback Club Night
13 - 19 March, SXSW, Austin, US.


' My Baby's Gone Away' has a thumping beat from the first chord, and eclectic vocals and harmonies that dance above some delightful bar room bluesy rock. It's natural and engaging and I would guess, just perfect for performing live.

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Will Johnson - Nervousness Fangs.

Background - “Nervousness Fangs” is Johnson’s first output since his 2016 Record Store Day 7” single “Inclined”, which is currently in contention for a 2017 Grammy nomination for Best American Roots Performance. If you’re a Grammy voter, please do keep him in mind! ;)

Perhaps best known as the drummer in the indie rock super group Monsters of Folk alongside Jim James, Conor Oberst, M. Ward and Mike Mogis, Will Johnson has had an incredible career as a singer-songwriter and musician. 


He’s fronted various influential indie bands like Funland, Centro-matic and South San Gabriel, along with collaborating with legendary artists like Jason Molina on their joint Molina and Johnson album in 2009 (Secretly Canadian). He also teamed up with Jay Farrar, Jim James and more on the Woody Guthrie archive project New Multitudes, a project that created a tribute album of new music from Guthrie’s unrecorded lyrics to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Guthrie’s birth. Facebook here.

Live Dates:
11/05 - Dallas, TX - Tree’s #
11/30 - Athens, GA - Georgia Theatre (Sold out) %
12/01 - Athens, GA - Georgia Theatre (S
old out) %
12/02 - Athens, GA - Georgia Theatre (S
old out) %
12/15 - Montgomery, AL - Montgomery Performing Arts Centre %
12/16 - Lafayette, LA - Acadiana Center For The Arts %
12/17 - Thackerville, OK - WinStar World Casino %
# - w/ Bob Mould
% - w/ Jason Isbell


'Nervousness Fangs' is a fine acoustically driven song. Will Johnson's definitive vocals are backed by gentle vocal harmonies, in what is a beautiful roots based song.

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Bad Reed - Stained Glass.

Background - Paris, Ontario pseudo-rockers Bad Reed channel a multitude of popular influences into unique snapshots of passion. Small-town art-pop going big places...

The quartet released their first professional studio EP mid-2015 online for free and are now touring south east Canada supporting this new music release. The group's second release is slated to hit the market in early 2017.

"Their self-titled EP is just three songs long but provides vivid glimpses into their sound, which has    a strong melodic drive and an equally forceful punch of power guitar lines." -Chris Kompanek, The Huffington Post, January 27, 2016

Bad Reed is Costa Chatzis on percussion, Austin Sharpe on bass, Sydney Sollazzo on vocals and keyboards, and Graham Walker on guitars. Hailing from small towns and diverse backgrounds, this group consists of members with varying music tastes. Their sounds are likened to acts from Hozier andJack White to Snarky Puppy, The Mars Volta and Amy Winehouse.

Bad Reed is engaging and danceable. Overcoming the odds and getting even. Bad Reed is coming for you... Expect to hear them on more radio stations, to see them touring farther, and hitting harder for years to come. Website here.


Latest single 'Stained Glass' kicks off with a deep bass line and builds as band and vocals kick in. It's a funky rocker, production is meaty and clear, and there is enough melody to support the very real energy that runs throughout the track.

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Blood and Glass - Whiskey.

Background - Blood and Glass will have a new video for Whiskey, the first track off the album Punk Shadows which is set for release in winter 2017 on Simone Records. The video, directed by visual artist Brigitte Henry, draws us into a world of lost disco, as kitsch and strange as a David Lynch film, in which Morgan and Lisa play ghostlike characters. Just like the song, the clip is both sombre and playful.

Blood and Glass is moody punk fronted by a woman, but this is in no way girly music. Their song Whiskey was written for the guy in the Pink Floyd tee shirt sitting alone at the bar. The over-thinker. The one who enjoy s being an oddball. The one who goes home alone every night and falls asleep with his hand down his pants. So, in fact, this song is for all of us; we've all been that guy once or twice.

Punk is not a hair style. It is not a fashion statement. Punk is the expression of inner freedom, says Lisa Moore, front woman of Blood and Glass. Their upcoming album, Punk Shadows is catchy and moody at once. It is playful and full of colour yet cinematic and full of emotion. Website here.


With a dark thunderous beat and breathy vocals 'Whiskey' is somewhat hypnotic, until the chorus line takes the listener into another place. The video perfectly captures the songs feel, intriguing and seductive, and with very deep hooks.

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whenyoung - Actor.

Background - Irish trio whenyoung have announced their second single Actor, which will impact on 25th November. Actor is the follow-up to debut single See How They Run and is an immediate burst of melodic rock ‘n’ roll with a swarm of unruly jangly guitars, commanding drums and sweet yet punchy vocals. Despite an untainted youthful sound, lyrically the song has a profound meaning. The band say;

“Actor is about contorting your character to fit into a disfigured view of the perfect self in order to belong. It's about acting every day and projecting artificial images of yourself through social media and in real life interactions with others. This helps to reassure you that you are important, relevant, interesting and necessary but behind it all there’s a sinking feeling. It’s not you. It’s an act. It’s tiring.” “These days we’re all doing it. It seems to be essential but there has to be another way, an honest existence.”

whenyoung are Aoife Power (Vocals/Bass), Niall Burns (Guitar) and Andrew Flood (Drums) who originate from Limerick in Ireland but are currently based in London.

First meeting as teenagers, sneaking into the only indie bar of their city in Ireland, they bonded over cheap vodka and The Velvet Underground. Soon after, Niall moved to London, with Andrew and Aoife quickly following, and here they began writing songs together. After a handful of packed out London shows, Whenyoung have just announced a further date at Shacklewell Arms on 24th November. Facebook here.


I like 'Actor'. It's melodic, powerful (but not overpowering) and the balance between Aoife's melodic vocals and the bands potent performance is just right.

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Joana Serrat - Cloudy Heart feat. Neil Halstead.

Background - Spanish songstress Joana Serrat has revealed her new video for 'Cloudy Heart’, directed by Manson. The song, taken from Joana’s 2016 album Cross The Verge, is a shimmering pop-like duet with Neil Halstead (Slowdive, Mojave 3) and also features The Wooden Sky’s Gavin Gardiner on guitar. Describing the inspiration behind the video, Joana explains:

“We wanted to capture the contrast of the song’s lyrics by matching them with the dark and the light in the video. I like the fact that we also shot some of it on the beach (it’s actually a really cool detail that links me to Neil [Halstead]’s home) and it’s beautiful the idea of singing to someone that you can’t see but you can feel. I love all the superimposed images that represent the chaos and doubts of the multiple people we can become when nothing’s clear. I love that dusky Lynch road. The heart’s paths are not clear and easy.” 


Following on from her September shows opening for The Jayhawks, Joana Serrat has been confirmed to support The Handsome Family in Europe in February, which will be immediately followed by three headlining shows in The Netherlands, before heading to Austin, TX in March for her SXSW debut. UK dates TBA. Facebook here.

'Cloudy Heart' reminds me in part of a gentle Camera Obscura song. Nothing wrong with that, the comparison benchmark is set high, and it's a long way accent wise from Spain to Scotland. This is a beautiful melodic song, the video captures the mood very well, and I'm left hoping Joana and Neil might consider another collaboration.

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Gemology - Come Around.

Background - The brand-new dream-pop single from Gemology, a collaborative bi-coastal duo comprised of NYC’s prolific singer/songwriter Joanie Wolkoff, and LA-based producer/multi-instrumentalist Natasha Chitayat. "Come Around” stands still in time with joyful synth accents, radiant guitar, ethereal vocals and a gripping message that radiates a steady glow even under the duresses of our current reality.

Wolkoff and Chitayat are not your average pen pals. The two first shook hands in 2014 while they were trapped in a Brooklyn recording studio during a torrential rain storm. By the time the storm had passed Gemology was officially alive and kicking, followed soon after by their anthemic first single, "First & Last”


In their words, “We wrote "Come Around" together through the digital ether with an entire continent between us. When we do hang out on the same soil, we get to be our giddy, goofball old-soul selves and get fired up over bubble tea and urban wildlife... and of course, we dish the dirt about love. We wanted to capture that energy and gift it, distilled in a song, to people at any age, in any location or any walk of life. "Come Around" is a love song shimmering with uncertainty and euphoria.” Facebook here.


'Come Around' has a melodic synthy musical background that comes to life even more with the dreamy vocals. Oozing with atmosphere, this is a delightful and soothing song.

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Monday, 2 May 2016

Three Good Ones: Winters End - Bad Sounds - Joana Serrat

Winters End - Thoughts.

Background promo - Winters End have released their new single Thoughts, the follow-up single to their critically acclaimed 2015 single Mayfair. Comprised of siblings Marissa and Christopher Pinto, Winters End are a Sydney-based indie, electronic duo. Formed in October 2011, they have toured twice internationally for the Indie Week Music Festival in Canada and the Youbloom Music Festival in Los Angeles in 2014.

Winters End's follow-up release to their critically acclaimed 2015 single Mayfair, comes in the form of Thoughts. Thoughts was recorded in Sydney at A Sharp studios and Studios 301 with esteemed record producer Lachlan Mitchell (The Jezabels, The Whitlams, The Vines).

 If you combined the wistful synth sounds of Stevie Nicks, Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush and added an Adele-like narrative, complete with heart wrenching and honest lyrics, the result would be Thoughts.
Thoughts is a beautiful piano-based track which starts sparsely and progresses with layers of synths and strings, expressive drumming, and a soaring lead vocal. This progression results in the creation of the 'big' sound that Winters End have become known for.

It was last August that we had the pleasure of featuring Winters End for the first time, back then we described the track Mayfair as "a powerful and stirring song". New single 'Thoughts' continues to see the duo develop and produce high quality indie pop, the latest offering is both melodic and powerful, if anything surpassing their previous work.
 
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Bad Sounds - Avalanche.

Background promo - Following debut single 'I Feel' in December 2015, and receiving praise from everyone from The Line Of Best Fit to Noisey and radio spins from Zane Lowe (Next Hype), Phil Taggart, Annie Mac and Huw Stephens at Radio 1, Bad Sounds return with the release of new single ‘Avalanche', out 29th April via Killing Moon Records.

Co-produced by Duncan Mills (Peace/Spector), the Bath based 5-piece take their upbeat-pop sound to new levels; fusing cheerful pop hooks, fuzzy guitar lines and an undeniably addictive chorus, bringing sounds of the 70's and 80's into the 90's Brit-Pop era, with a twist.

Bad Sounds play a run of UK festivals in support of the single including appearances at Field Day, Dot To Dot and The Great Escape.

UK Tour Dates are as follows:

20 May - The Great Escape, Brighton
28 May - Dot To Dot, Bristol
12 June - Field Day, London
2 September - Festival No. 6, Portmeirion.

This is one of those instantly addictive songs. In fact the above promo has pretty much used up all the immediately apparent descriptions of what is such an uplifting song. If you have not got the energy to dance to it, then just enjoy the enormous smile it puts on your face.

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Joana Serrat - Cloudy Heart ft. Neil Halstead.

Background - Joana Serrat on Cloudy Heart - "Cloudy Heart was built together by David Giménez and myself. The song talks about the very moment when a couple feels like strangers, after coming out of a long journey through darkness together. I like the light that chorus spreads around and the strength that suddenly appears in this part. I feel that it's a generous and genuine song.

While we were writing it, we knew Neil Halstead (Slowdive / Mojave 3) should sing in this song. We met whilst playing in the same festival in Barcelona few years ago. Neil listened to the demo version and said yes immediately. He then went on to play electric guitars on two other tracks on the album - Lonely Heart Reverb and Lover."

It's not surprising that Joana has already received considerable attention both in the mainstream music press and on radio. This is such a gorgeous song, simple as that really, a gorgeous song.

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Saturday, 19 March 2016

Saturday Double: Joana Serrat - Jon Meadows

Joana Serrat - Tug Of War.

Background promo - Talking about Tug Of War Serrat says; "Tug of War is a song that talks about the people of my generation that once followed all the paths we were told to walk. We did obey, believing in what we've been told. At the end of this road we were supposed to find the good life and all that we end up seeing is a death land. We are going to be the first generation that won't surpass our parents."

Cross The Verge, just as its name promises, shows us another side of Joana Serrat, who so enchanted audiences on her 2014 album Dear Great Canyon. On Cross The Verge, her third album, Joana lays bare all the cracks, inconsistencies and fears that come with life, with the album revealing itself to be an especially beautiful tribute to the acknowledgement of loss and the acceptance of the uncertain.

To record this album, Joana Serrat travelled from her home in Vic, near Barcelona, to Montreal, Canada to team up with producer Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire, The Barr Brothers) in his analogue studio, The Hotel2Tango. In the recording process Joana was joined by the likes of Gavin Gardiner (The Wooden Sky), Aaron Goldstein (Daniel Romano, City & Colour, Cowboy Junkies) and the acclaimed Canadian auto harpist and vocalist Basia Bulat. Elsewhere, Neil Halstead (Slowdive, Mojave 3) and Ryan Boldt (The Deep Dark Woods) joined Joana in two duets from two different approaches; the shimmering pop of Cloudy Heart and the wrought Americana of Black Lake.

Howard Bilerman’s approach results in Cross The Verge feeling like a natural progression and a show of real maturity. Her ability to never waste a lyric or syllable where something need be said and never miss an opportunity to breathe life into a song’s darker corners, illustrates her creative growth. Cross The Verge is a beguiling collection of songs that move with great ease between the precious evanescence of Lonely Heart Reverb, Oh, Winter Come or Flags, and the vigorous guitar sound that predominates in Desert Valley, Tug of War, and the moving Black Lake. There’s elegance in the trotting Americana rhythms of Saskatoon (Break of Dawn), I Follow You, Child and the crystalline Cloudy Heart.

This year sees a return to Primavera Sound Festival for Joana, with the festival’s El Segell del Primavera label releasing the album in Spain. Loose were quick to sign her up for the rest of the world, thereby providing Joana with her dream home for her unique talents.

'Tug Of War' opens with a rich musical texture, ideal for Joana's absorbing vocals. The songs fairly brutal message is delivered with warmth, and a sense of need to get the point over. It also suggests we are in for a real treat with her third album.

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Jon Meadows - Mojo Rising.

Background promo - From the home of innovative pop music - Nub Music - comes the New EP from self taught, Indie Rocker Jon Meadows – ‘Hymns’. Fresh from achieving a top ten album in 2015 award, Jon Meadows bridges the gap between albums with an EP of biblical proportions; 'Hymns' explodes with the anthem '1234' and reignites track after track. Standout track Mojo Rising has the grit and hard edged sound expected from Meadows whilst 'Mirror Sidewalk' shows a songwriting craft is being mastered. 

Jon Meadows released his debut album 'Escape' on Nub Country Records on the back of the success of the raw and powerfully melodic single ‘Days Like These’. Voted on of the Top 10 Albums of 2015 by the renowned reviewer Mike Koehler; From the Kasabian sounding 'Pirates and Cowgirls' to the typically Liverpudlian sounding 'Break Me In Again' and the epic ‘Velvet Sky’, this album leaves you with hooks and melodies that you will be humming day after day.

Drawing inspiration from Kurt Cobain and Elliot Smith to Josh Homme and Lee Mavers, Jon effortlessly blends styles together to complete an entertaining and promising debut. Jon has been playing guitar since the age of 15 and decided at the age of 30 to start writing songs. 3 years later he has a catalogue of over 50 songs, receiving airplay on a multitude of radio shows.  Totally self taught on the guitar, drums and bass, Jon has a passion for creating soundtracks to people’s lives and memories.

This is one feisty EP. 'Mojo Rising' typifies the raw potent power that makes every track demand some attention. It's indie rock with a 'hard edge' to borrow the expression in the promo above. The other four tracks on the EP are no less passionate, albeit one called 'Mirror Sidewalk' allows you to catch your breath and suggests that Jon has a lot more to his musical creativity.

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Joe Kelly & The Royal Pharmacy - Cult Of Venus - Tora Luna

Joe Kelly & The Royal Pharmacy - Cast Me Down. Newport's Prodigal Son Joe Kelly & The Royal Pharmacy announces his 2nd album, t...