Isabel Rumble - KĀMA - Mollie Elizabeth - Maddison Kate - MF Tomlinson

Photo - Elise Idiens

Isabel Rumble - Soften.

Indie-folk songstress Isabel Rumble just released her captivating single 'Soften' and its elemental music video. Her 2023 debut album 'Bird Be Brave' was embraced by the music scene with open arms, drawing praise for its intimate songwriting, gaining a Folk Alliance Australia Award nomination, and going on to spur an international tour across Europe and Australia. Having supported artists like Lior & Domini, Daniel Champagne, Holly Arrowsmith and Ireland’s David Keenan, Isabel Rumble is a rising star in Australia's sky. 

'Soften' is a perfect picture of the kind of songwriting that has earned Isabel Rumble her flowers: she aimed to write a song that encapsulated "acceptance of choices made, and a longing to return to the knowing of the body," and delivered in full. 

Exploring how it feels to surrender to an inevitable change through soft, intertwining guitar riffs and tender vocals this song feels like listening to a careful, vulnerable conversation. Then, with a gentle burst, the song blossoms with keyboard and slow-jam drums, exploring the quiet strength drawn from those who came before.

Filmed on Thaua Country, Yuin Nation, in the far southern valleys of NSW, this sepia-toned visual offering moves with the land that shaped it. Minimal and elemental, the video captures Isabel's body in gentle motion amidst ancient rock formations. It is a quiet conversation between self and place. 'Soften' is a song that teeters on the edge between light and dark, softness and strength, and this video captures that dance.

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KĀMA - Is It So Or Not.

KĀMA recently released the single Is It So Or Not, taken from the debut album Propaganda. Is It So Or Not blends post-punk, art-rock and experimental minimalism influences for a romantically restless anthem. 

The sonic energy crosses industrial territories: the tinkling of the guitars weaves a hypnotic plot for a gentle and deep baritone voice questioning the nexus between reality and imagination, while the pressing bass riff and the nervous and broken drums prepare an imaginary meeting between the Smiths, the Jam, the Talking Heads and the Einstürzende Neubauten; the rhythmic breaks wink at the concrete experimentations of Pierre Schaeffer; the crooked intersection of the final guitar arpeggios pay homage to the minimalist phasing of Steve Reich.

The song is paired with a surreal video clip, featuring the metamorphosis in negative blue of the faces of the four members of the band, as a visualizer for the reality-imagination nexus on which the song's lyrics are built. With Is It So Or Not, KĀMA confirm their unmistakable style: contaminated, cultured, in the sign of the most audacious and contemporary alt-rock.

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Mollie Elizabeth - Doe Eyes.

Following her debut EP Dirty Blonde, Mollie Elizabeth delivers a visually stunning music video for “Doe Eyed” (dir. Maya Sassoon). The 21-year-old Washington State-based artist Mollie Elizabeth released her debut EP via Neon Gold / Virgin Music, known for her whimsical, melancholic, and empowering songs, the Pacific Northwest artist describes her music as “tiny worlds”, a refuge shaped by her upbringing in the Washington woods, suffused with old-Hollywood elegance and emotional depth. Mollie co-produced her newest song, “Doe Eyes”, along with her Dirty Blonde EP with Dean Reid (Lana Del Rey, Marina) and co-written with Reid and GRAMMY-nominated Casey Smith (Olivia Rodrigo, Ashe, Benson Boone).

Mollie adds: “I have always had a bad habit of romanticizing things/people that are now lost to time. This song is really the anthem for all the girls and guys out there who just can’t help but think one more night might be a good idea- even though it’s definitely not!”

Last month, Mollie released “Until We Meet Again” - a dusky, cinematic ballad steeped in Old Hollywood glamour. With a rare blend of chic elegance, playful confidence, and sincere sweetness, she infuses the track with timeless allure. The single was produced by Dean Reid (Lana Del Rey, MARINA) and co-written with Reid and GRAMMY-nominated songwriter Casey Smith (Olivia Rodrigo, Ashe, Benson Boone).

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Photo - Samuel Murray

Maddison Kate - More To Me.

Meanjin-based folk artist, Maddison Kate, continues to deliver raw emotion with her warm tones and tender melodies in her single 'More To Me' (just out Friday, July 11). She brings a contemplative and honest energy on this stunning new track, providing a glimpse of her upcoming EP 'What I'd Say To You', out on Friday, August 8.

Maddison Kate's journey into music started at age 9, where she would perform at open mic nights with just her vocals and her guitar, and since then her career has taken off to soaring heights. Now, she has a number of notable venues under her belt, including Gympie Music Muster and Queensland Music Festival, and recently, opening for Kyle Lionhart, on the Queensland leg of his 2024 ‘Careless’ Tour. 

Her poetic sound, folk melodies, and earthy tones have led to plenty of eyes on her and won her competitions like the 2TM Discovered Competition for Tamworth Country Music Festival and Queensland Music Festival’s On Song competition. 

'More To Me' is an introspective tune made from the gentle plinking of piano, soaring violin, charming guitar and vocals that play with the spectrum of emotion and become something angelic. This gentle song explores the overwhelming feelings about being better off without someone unless they grow and change, and hoping for that change regardless.  With her enchanting voice and delicate composition, this song is an introspective and meditative folk-pop number that moves like a playful dance. 

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Photo - Andrea Zvadova

MF Tomlinson - Die To Wake Up From A Dream (Album).

MF Tomlinson releases new album 'Die To Wake Up From A Dream' on PRAH Recordings. Tomlinson plays a run of in-store dates this coming week before embarking on a headline tour this October.

MF Tomlinson's third studio album 'Die To Wake Up From A Dream' marks the final chapter in a trilogy of self-produced full lengths, following his 2021 debut 'Strange Time' and 2023's 'We Are Still Wild Horses', respectively drawing universal praise from Uncut, Mojo, The Times, The Arts Desk, Record Collector, The Line of Best Fit, CLASH Magazine and many more.

An opus on human experience, new album 'Die To Wake Up From A Dream' is an urgent and vivid description of the times in which we live. Inspired in part by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov’s installation Labyrinth (My Mother’s Album), the album confronts darkness head-on; mapping the psychic geography of our reality, journeying through personal and collective dreamstates before emerging into a nuanced, grounded sense of hope.

Encompassing folk, shoegaze, art-rock, prog and orchestral traditions, the new album was produced by Tomlinson in his studio in Poplar, London. Meticulously captured one instrument at a time, 'Die To Wake Up From A Dream' is a psychoacoustic odyssey of impossible proportions.

From the post-punk pulse of today’s focus single 'Dream Of You' and the grandeur of album opener 'Blink And You’ll Miss It', to the liminal landscapes of instrumental pieces 'A Dream' and 'A Meadow (Part I)', Tomlinson’s work remains characteristically expansive.


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Lavinia Blackwall - The Kentucky Gentlemen - Anand Wilder - MF Tomlinson

Lavinia Blackwall - We All Get Lost.

New single We All Get Lost’ tackles emotional struggles with both introspection and hope. Of the new single, Lavinia says: "The single was written during a time when I was still a teacher and was finding the job particularly stressful. I was looking for a way out before I broke. We all get lost sometimes whilst trying to find our way in life and this was an important detour that taught me a lot."

With influences spanning from Jefferson Airplane to Weyes Blood, The Making is a testament to Blackwall’s ability to weave together diverse musical inspirations into a cohesive and compelling body of work with songwriting at its centre.

Lavinia Blackwall, the celebrated voice behind Trembling Bells, is set to release her highly anticipated new album The Making on May 30th via The Barne Society. A rich tapestry of folk, rock, and psych-power pop, the album showcases Blackwall’s unparalleled vocal prowess and evocative songwriting, further cementing her reputation as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary music.

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Photo -  Peyton Dollar

The Kentucky Gentlemen - To The Moon.

Twin-brother country duo The Kentucky Gentlemen share "To The Moon," a soulful country ballad with background vocals from their friend Brittney Spencer. Accompanied by a music video with footage of all three vocalists recording in the studio, this is the final single released ahead of the pair's full-length debut album Rhinestone Revolution (out June 6 on River House Artists).

The Kentucky Gentlemen on their new song: "'To The Moon' reflects the bittersweet emotions you feel when nearing the end of your relationship. It's a farewell drenched in nostalgia, love, and reflection, but most importantly acceptance. Within those emotions you often get the desire to make that last night together feel like something extraordinary – one last time to relive the beautiful moments and show each other what could’ve been before the inevitable goodbye. This song carries both a sense of closure and the aching recognition that this love has reached its final chapter…and that’s okay.”

The Kentucky Gentlemen have been making their way in Nashville's country music scene as independent artists for the last decade while simultaneously embracing, defying, and expanding the constructs of genre. Recorded with producer David “Messy” Mescon (Megan Moroney, Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande, Reyna Roberts), Rhinestone Revolution encapsulates the infectious blend of authenticity, self-acceptance and joy that has led them to quickly become one of Nashville’s most exciting new acts. The album is already garnering early praise for its singles, including "Made for Movin' On," which Rolling Stone called "a catchy mid-tempo country-rocker that contains layers of depth," and "Country Hymn," which prompted MusicRow to declare "These guys always know how to bring the party." "To The Moon" follows their latest single, "Whiskey Does" a boot-scootin' drinkin' song that Wide Open Country called "fun, upbeat, and an overall banger."

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Photo - Jo Zasloff

Anand Wilder - Appointment in Samarra.

Yeasayer co-founder Anand Wilder releases new single “Appointment in Samarra” via Last Gang Records / MNRK Music Group, his first solo release since a 2023 ambient album and the follow up to his 2022 solo debut I Don’t Know My Words. Opening with the sounds of a harmonium and a flute, the track uses an inevitable confrontation with death as a metaphor for music industry dynamics – “hanging on for dear life” amidst the trials and tribulations of being an artist in today’s landscape. 

Anand Wilder on the new single: “This song started out as a harmonium and flute call and response jam with Walter Fancourt, and then I added Scotch tape and clinking glass sounds for the beat. Lyrics came from a series of text messages with my other producer, Jachary, who also laid down bass and Juno Synths. Kaleidoscopic delayed out baritone sax and ngoni by Walter on the double breakdown section. Title from ancient Mesopotamian tale recited by Boris Karloff as Byron Orlok in the Peter Bogdanovich film, Targets.”

On his 2022 solo debut I Don’t Know My Words, Wilder took the spiritual exercise of going solo seriously. Stripping his songcraft down to the studs, he recorded every note himself. The hard work paid off, earning praise from Stereogum, NPR Music, Consequence and many more. Since then, he released the 2023 ambient album Cannibalizing The Conductor and two tracks with Maia Friedman celebrating Last Gang Records 20th anniversary. He’s also kept busy touring throughout the US and performing DJ sets at the Crown Heights bar King Tai.

With “Samarra”, Wilder returns to the collaboration and the art rock experimentation he made his name with as a member of Yeasayer. He collaborated with Walter Fancourt, a guest saxophonist on Yeasayer’s Amen & Goodbye to help write and record, as well as lauded multi-instrumentalist Jachary to co-produce. The new track features a soundscape that’s reminiscent of the lush synthetic palettes of the 1980s. Similar to Yeasayer’s music, a mix of synths, strings and harmonies bring to mind the psychedelic worldbeat and electro-pop of the critically-acclaimed Brooklyn band.

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Photo - Andrea Zvadova

MF Tomlinson - I'm On The Border.

Today MF Tomlinson reveals new single 'I'm On The Border', the latest glimpse of new album 'Die To Wake Up From A Dream', out 11th July on PRAH Recordings. A reflection on Tomlinson’s real-life experience of facing potential deportation from the UK, 'I'm On The Border' transforms that anxiety into something poetic and transcendent. Built around piano, strings and synth bass, the arrangement unfolds with cinematic grace. We hear strings, waves recorded at Chesil Beach, electronic timpani and a Beach Boys-style drum track processed to sound like a battlefield; with the beauty and chaos evoking fragility and defiance at once.

What begins as a meditation on borders - political, emotional, existential - becomes something more: symbolic brushes with death, a mourning for those in far darker situations, a resolve of belief in human connection. “How could they tear us apart? / The answer is they can’t,” he sings, delivering the line with quiet conviction. The result is a song that’s both intimate and immensely powerful, drawing inspiration from artists like Yo La Tengo, Tindersticks, Nick Cave and Cat Power.

Speaking more on the song, Tomlinson shared: "I began writing this song in 2014 during one of the worst periods of my life, when I was fighting to earn the rights to continue to live in the UK. Lyrically, the song is purely about my personal experience, but as the recording progressed, I began to channel the incredible sadness I was feeling about the conflict that surrounds us into the arrangement.

The experiences I’m describing in this song shone a light on how hidden, often invisible, the injustice of how our borders are controlled really was to so many around me. My case is the best case example - the tip of the iceberg. I’m one of the lucky people who have been successful in gaining citizenship, for many it is impossible. I would love it if this could be a window into just how emotionally devastating these systems can be, to keep those who are in real peril closer in mind, to resist those who want to make our world smaller, and to remember just how lucky we are."

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Amanda DeBoer Bartlett - MF Tomlinson - Blue Foundation - The Kentucky Gentlemen - Woahgetter

Photo - Aleksandr Karjaka

Amanda DeBoer Bartlett - Storm.

“Storm,” the latest single from Amanda DeBoer Bartlett (of Ensemble Dal Niente), is out today on all platforms. Following the dreamy sway of March’s “Skyscraper,” “Storm” hits with fire and force—a driving, fiddle-charged collaboration with the powerhouse players of Fiddle in the Middle. It’s folk fusion with heart: Appalachian grit colliding with Irish fiddle fireworks, all sweeping into bold, cinematic terrain.

Amanda recorded this one at Chicago’s Electrical Audio with producer Taylor Hales, continuing her blend of classical training, experimental chops, and raw Americana spirit.

The full album Braided Together arrives June 6, and she’s just announced a string of Midwest tour dates this June, including appearances in Des Moines, Milwaukee, Omaha, and Chicago—joined by a rotating cast of special guests like Abbie Sawyer, Ben Eisenberger, and Fiddle in the Middle.

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Photo - Andrea Zvadova

MF Tomlinson - Blink And You'll Miss It.

MF Tomlinson unveils the new single 'Blink And You'll Miss It' a lush, expansive second taste of new album 'Die To Wake Up From A Dream', out 11th July on PRAH Recordings. MF Tomlinson will launch the new album with in-stores at Rough Trade East, Rough Trade Bristol, Drift Records in Totnes and David's Music in Letchworth.

Written in collaboration with Is Tropical's Gary Barber, new single 'Blink And You'll Miss It' opens the album with a blend of shimmering beauty and melancholic depth. Softly plucked guitars, feathery flute runs, and warming saxophone interweave with luminous harmonies, as Tomlinson explores the challenge of staying present: 'I try to keep all the pieces from drifting away / Here in the darkness.'

With nods to the sonic mastery of Galaxie 500, My Bloody Valentine, Astral Weeks and Bon Iver all in the same breath, Tomlinson thinks of the song as “the sound of all of your life happening at once.”

Speaking more on the song, Tomlinson shared: "The song is about aging, at any age. As the album's opener, it flows seamlessly from We Are Still Wild Horses down to the beat. It’s a moment — a view from a great height — when the full weight of the distance between the person you used to be and the person you are now hits you like a freight train. It fills you up and empties you out all at once. Everything that has happened brought you here. You can never go back, but then again, you don’t need to. All of those moments are still happening endlessly inside you. You’re holding them all like a vessel."

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Blue Foundation - Close to the Knife (Album).

‘Twilight’ soundtrack legends Blue Foundation dropped their new album ‘Close to the Knife’ on Friday!

Blue Foundation is renowned for their distinctive fusion of electronic music and dream pop. Drawing inspiration from the ethereal nature of dream pop and a moody, introspective atmosphere, the band creates immersive soundscapes characterized by emotive vocals and intricate production. Their music often evokes a sense of melancholy and reflection, resonating with listeners who appreciate ambient, emotive melodies and introspective themes.

Blue Foundation's music has been featured in various popular films, such as Michael Mann’s ‘Miami Vice’, and TV shows like ‘The Vampire Diaries’. Their song ‘Eyes on Fire’ gained significant fame after being included in the soundtrack of the movie ‘Twilight’. Blue Foundation is sampled by Lil Durk featuring French Montana on his track ‘Fly High’ and Young Thug's song ‘She Noticed’. They co-wrote the song ‘Taurus’ for Machine Gun Kelly.

‘Close to the Knife’ begins a new chapter for the band as Nina Dahlgaard Larsen joins their lineup.


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Photo - Peyton Dollar

The Kentucky Gentlemen - Whiskey Does.

Twin-brother country duo The Kentucky Gentlemen release "Whiskey Does," a boot-scootin' drinkin' song about pouring one up to get over heartbreak. It is the latest single from the pair's full-length debut album Rhinestone Revolution, which is out June 6 via River House Artists.

The Kentucky Gentlemen on their new single: “We had an absolute blast recording this one. 'Whiskey Does' is one of those ‘drinking 'cause I want to stop thinking’ kind of songs — the kind you blast when you're laughing through the heartbreak. Sometimes it’s easier to toast to the losses when you’ve got a good vice in your glass. Breakups suck, but whiskey doesn’t.”

The Kentucky Gentlemen have been making their way in Nashville's country music scene as independent artists for the last decade while simultaneously embracing, defying, and expanding the constructs of genre. Recorded with producer David “Messy” Mescon (Megan Moroney, Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande, Reyna Roberts), Rhinestone Revolution encapsulates the infectious blend of authenticity, self-acceptance and joy that has led them to quickly become one of Nashville’s most exciting new acts. The pair announced the album last month and shared the music video for their song "Made for Movin' On," an earworm blend of old school country and 2000s pop that Rolling Stone called "a catchy mid-tempo country-rocker that contains layers of depth." Earlier this year, they released the come-as-you-are country bop "Country Hymn," which prompted MusicRow to declare "These guys always know how to bring the party."

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Woahgetter - Even Dad Had A Fiver On Love.

Following the release of their single ‘I Can’t Love You Anymore’, alt-indie collective Woahgetter explore the absurdities of contemporary romance with ‘Even Dad Had A Fiver On Love,’ out this week via Silent Kid Records.

Fusing angular guitars, lush chamber strings and infectious avant pop melodies, the latest offering from the Northampton based group is a sharp, unsentimental lament on postmodern alienation delivered in the guise of an increasingly manic internal monologue spilling out in front of a mirror.

"I'm sure most of us can easily call to mind a 'Dad' figure that has seemingly very little invested in the notion of love," says Woahgetter of the titular character, "but even in the coldest of cases, there's usually some small stake in something classifiable, if only tenuously, as love... which probably says more about the nebulousness of the word 'love' than it does about any particular individual.”

The narrative is delivered by an end of tether baritone, accompanied by five other (as far as we are aware) genetically unrelated voices, giddily riffing on the limitations of a seemingly singular eponymous anti hero and is set against an assuredly danceable and momentarily anthemic arrangement. With the fusion of vocal tones, the chorus reflects a relatable frustration towards the meaning of love and how to find it in an increasingly chaotic world.

The self-produced track promises to resonate with fans of sharp-witted, deeply affecting storytelling. Imagine if The National taught a masterclass in brooding indie rock and Father John Misty delivered a lecture on musical storytelling, Woahgetter would be the brilliantly rowdy students who learned the lesson, then blew up the classroom.

woahgetter · Even Dad Had A Fiver On Love

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MF Tomlinson - Hippie Flowers - Little Low - Franklin Gothic

MF Tomlinson - Die To Wake Up From A Dream.

MF Tomlinson shares the album's centrepiece and 9-minute title track, ‘Die To Wake Up From A Dream’. Sonically drawing from the work of John Martyn, Talk Talk and My Bloody Valentine, Tomlinson tells us of dreams of monsters in his childhood, before drifting into long days and nights of weary work. The new album 'Die To Wake Up From A Dream', is out 11th July on PRAH Recordings.

“It speaks to the sensation of drowning in the years. Scenes flash by so fast we soon know that we are in a dream, then a nightmare," he says.

As the song’s steady pulse builds to an unholy crescendo - digital effects warp and distort like the walls of the world crumbling. But – "When you die in a dream you are safe. When you die in a dream you dream another dream. This is the deus ex machina for us all to remember - that for most, when things seem darker than ever, happiness still exists beyond the tiny parameters that we have set for it. In realising your own power you set yourself free - not one day, but right now. This song is a treatise on resilience, hope and the frankly wildly psychedelic experience of being alive," Tomlinson says.

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Hippie Flowers - Happy Happy Joy Joy.

The Berlin-based producer collective, Hippie Flowers, has entered its first phase of transformation, a true changing of the guard, as originally envisioned. As a result, the music will take a fresh direction, deviating slightly from their previous singles. The new style is also reflected in the artwork, signaling a new beginning.

The collective’s first release under this new chapter is the single Happy Happy Joy Joy, a vibrant blend of progressive house, future house, big room, and EDM influences. The track’s lyrics reflect a positive, carefree outlook on life, embracing the moment and enjoying life as it comes. Let the music take you on a journey of joy and freedom.

In the musical melting pot of Berlin, a producers group of sonic adventurers known as Hippie Flowers are stirring up a delicious brew. Their eclectic mix swirls with the vibrant flavors of Euro House, Dance Pop, Tropical House, and Electro Pop. Over the years, they've been musical chameleons, releasing tunes under a myriad of monikers across a smorgasbord of labels. But in the flower power of Hippie Flowers, they've found a common ground where their preferred dance beats harmoniously blend. They're armed with a volley of singles, just waiting to be catapulted into the musical stratosphere. Who knows where their individual paths will lead or if they'll intersect again? It's as uncertain as a choose-your-own-adventure novel.

TCBYML · Hippie Flowers - Happy Happy Joy Joy

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Photo - Brittany Rose Queen

Little Low - Dark Beer Archives.

Boston, Massachusetts-based punk/indie outfit Little Low release Sunshine Guilt via Sell The Heart Records (U.S.), Thousand Island Records (Canada), and Waterslide Records (Japan) on May 9. The band has also shared the single, "Dark Beer Archives".

With their introspective lyrics, twinkly and melodic guitars, and heart-on-sleeve delivery, the band draw inevitable comparisons to emo pioneers like The Get Up Kids, Hey Mercedes, and Jimmy Eat World. Simply put, Little Low deliver a cathartic and hook-filled sound that is equally reverent of its forefathers while bringing to the mix some magic that is unmistakably their own.

Formed by Christine Atturio of Save Ends and Mike Assatly of Beartrap, the East Coast outfit ire completed by Tom Ciesluk and Brad Rheault, both of Save Ends and No Trigger. Their fiery debut LP, Sunshine Guilt, was recorded at Anchor End by Trevor Reilly of A Wilhelm Scream, and offers a vibrant discovery of love, loss, and the bittersweet moments that linger long after they’ve passed. Sunshine Guilt reminds listeners that sometimes it’s OK to feel a little low—but it’s a lot harder when signing along to these songs with the people you love.

“This song is about learning the hard way that when it comes to drinking there is a fine line between things being fun and things getting out of control,” says Atturio. “I’m always trying to find a balance in life, and it remains a constant struggle. But what I eventually realized was that at the end of the day, it’s always going to be on me. I can be my own best friend or my own worst enemy.”

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Franklin Gothic - Echoes (Album).

It's a real pleasure to feature Franklin Gothic's second album. Musically I just cant easily pin this beautiful collection down, one moment you are mellowing out, the next your energy levels are soaring. Either way the craftsmanship is superb and makes this a must hear album in full.

Franklin Gothic's second full-length album Echoes is the musical project of Portland-based songwriter Jay DiBartolo. Weaving melodic indie pop with atmospheric shoegaze and noisy dream rock, Echoes emerges as the perfect soundtrack to first kisses and tear-filled goodbyes. With the help of producer Erik Blood and drummer Alex Westcoat (Pickwick), DiBartolo crafted an album that centers on themes of repetition and self reflection, delving into the emotional cycles and internal struggles he often finds himself revisiting.
 
DiBartolo fell in love with music while watching skateboarding videos as a kid in New Jersey and never looked back. He was inspired to teach himself to play guitar and began writing his own songs, producing, and self-releasing bedroom recordings throughout high school and college. After graduating, he put a band together and toured the Northeast while working as a recording engineer for music festivals and televised performances.

Soon enough, DiBartolo made the journey to the Pacific Northwest, settling in Seattle, WA. He started a new band and released a record with Michael Benjamin Lerner of Telekinesis. Then the pandemic hit, that band dissolved, and Franklin Gothic was born. This was his first time teaming up with Erik Blood to release the debut LP Into the Light (2022), which received critical acclaim from KEXP, BBC, Bandcamp, and more.

On Echoes, DiBartolo embraces growing pains, reminding us that sometimes it's necessary to step into the discomfort. A touch melancholy yet so damn catchy, it’s the idealized mixtape that summons the emotions of long-forgotten moments that went on to shape our lives. Languid echoes of post-rock, skating on the edge of innocence, Echoes puts everything in its right place.

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Crying Day Care Choir - Great Time - MF Tomlinson

Crying Day Care Choir - The Dreams Of Alice.

After a successful summer performing at festivals such Sziget Festival, Malmöfestivalen, Be Alternative and many more, Swedish alt-follk trio Crying Day Care Choir recently formed their own label ELZ Productions, with their first release an internationally groundbreaking EP with cover art by Damien Hirst and the art itself as source of inspiration.

CDCC’s new EP ‘Give Me Something Vol.1’, the first of three new collections released in the coming months, explores the relationship between art and music and challenges the idea of how music is created. The full album acts as a continuation of Damien Hirst's project ‘The Currency’, where he explores the concept of value through art and money. The Currency contains 10.000 unique pieces, with different titles produced by an AI generator that's been fed with some of the artist’s favourite music. The buyers of these different art pieces were left with the decision during the summer of 2022, to either keep their physical piece or to keep the NFT version of it and let the physical painting burn.

This project led to new artistic ideas for the musicians in CDCC, and the concept for the record ‘Give Me Something’ took shape. The idea is to take the titles from the burnt artworks and put them together as lyrics, thus giving them new life in a new art form -“Reborn, as songs”.

With Damien Hirst’s permission the work began in September. Damien Hirst’s artwork ‘Give Me Something’ will act as album cover for the release. The world famous artist however is no stranger to the concept of making album art with his latest involvement being in Drake’s ‘Certified Loverboy’ from 2021. CDCC is Jack, Sara and Bill Elz. A Swedish band always breaking new ground by exploring new sounds to mix with their patented brand of indie folk.

Crying Day Care Choir · The Dreams Of Alice

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Great Time - Feather - Live in Philadelphia.

Great Time doesn't want to fit in a box. Living up to their name, the band just wants to have a great time making music that they love. Tired of being advised to "pick a lane" by some of their industry peers, Great time set out to create music that celebrates their wide-ranging sound, incorporating genres from synth-pop and electronic to jazz, punk, rock and R&B.

Prior to the first single, 80z Slo Jam, on the upcoming album Live In Phildelphia, their most recent releases are a series of EPs titled “Sounds Like ____”. The band had the idea to turn the EP titles into a Mad Libs type of game "so that someone could put their own adjective or descriptor for the EP in the blank space," explains singer/multi-instrumentalist Jill Ryan. The projects explore some of the different sounds and styles that influence Great Time. “Some people thought [our 2018 debut LP] 'Great Album' was all over the place, so with the ‘Sounds Like’ series, we decided to lean even further into our multi-genre tendencies and place the option of categorizing or putting us in a box on the listener.”

True to their vision, each EP carries a different sound. On Vol. 1, Great Time create a blissed out atmosphere, with R&B and neo-soul melodies. For Vol. 2, the band zones in on its electronic and pop influences, creating a livelier soundscape that feels ripe for dancing. Whereas Vol. 3 shows a guitar-heavy, more traditionally rock-influenced side to the three-piece group, with individual tracks ranging from punk to acoustic folk.

With their "Sounds Like _____" EP series completed, Great Time's next project is a live album that features the new material, allowing existing fans and new listeners who haven't had the opportunity to see them perform yet enjoy how the band stunningly transforms their songs for live performances. Great Time are so excited to be sharing "Feather (Little Dragon Cover)" ,  the next single from this project is just out.

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MF Tomlinson - The End of the Road.

London-based, Brisbane/Meanjin-born singer-songwriter MF Tomlinson releases his new single "The End Of The Road" - the third track from his upcoming second album We Are Still Wild Horses, out 17th February 2023 via PRAH Recordings (Falle Nioke, the Umlauts, Pozi).

‘The End Of The Road’ is a magical realist hymn for the end of the world. A paean to community and culture - celebrating the hope of humanity in the face of the hopelessness of the human race.

Inspired by his memories of the Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion protests of 2019, Tomlinson’s song plays like a vivid dream in which all ‘the people like me and you’ (those who believe in justice for human beings and the rest of the natural world) convene to enjoy the apocalypse in unison – traveling from Trafalgar Square to the bucolic vista of End Of The Road festival in Dorset, one of the last transcendent communal experiences he had before the onset of the pandemic.

With ‘Last Waltz’ arrangements and luminous vocal imbuements from frequent collaborator Connie Chatwin, Tomlinson verbally paints this paradise under silvery starlight. Protesters and friends all gathered together, crooning with open hearts - at peace with the coming darkness that they know will sweep them away to whatever awaits on the other side. It’s a breathtaking vision of the human spirit, filled with love, compassion and beauty until the very last breath. In that same breath, it's an impassioned protest song - a statement of defiance from a crowd of people to those in power:

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Wylderness - MF Tomlinson

Wylderness - Chet Chat.

Arriving as a third and final glimpse into their upcoming sophomore album,  Wylderness have unleashed a scintillating new shoegaze cut: “Chet Chat”.  Boasting their knack for creating sprawling soundscapes and deeply textured instrumentals, Wylderness’ latest offering arrives as the band gear up to release their long-awaited second album ‘Big Plans For A Blue World’ (out 15th July, via Succulent Recordings).

Written when Marz of Wylderness experienced the full, frightening force of an earthquake while on a trip to Greece some years ago, the new track finds the singer and guitarist reflecting on what was a life-changing event and seeking to emulate the force of nature that reverberated through him that day. As Marz remembers: 

“I was on the balcony of an apartment in Athens writing lyrics for this song when all of a sudden there was this enormous roar and the building started shaking. The earthquake lasted about 15 seconds but seemed like it went on forever. Everyone was fine thankfully and I wanted to write something about what had happened, but not make it too obvious and clunky, so it ended up being a bit cryptic.” 

Echoing the raw sonic energy of a tectonic shift, “Chet Chat” ripples like an agitated seismic wave impacting the earth’s surface. From its sparse and seemingly tranquil beginnings, the track builds towards an immense crescendo as towering electric guitars, warped organ grindings and distorted rhythmic pulses stretch-out into a six-minute shoegaze epic that evokes the likes of DIIV, Spacemen 3 or Sonic Youth at their climactic heights. 

Recorded at Giant Wafer Studios on a farm in rural Wales, and with wonky organ sounds added in by producer Rory Atwell, the enigmatic new track sees Wylderness further find themselves in their sound as they deftly forge their own cataclysmic and confident path on their second studio outing.

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MF Tomlinson - A Cloud.

London-based, Brisbane/Meanjin-born singer-songwriter MF Tomlinson returns today with news of his signing to PRAH Recordings (the Umlauts, Pozi, Group Listening) and the release of a new single "A Cloud" - the first music to be heard from from his much-anticipated second album, which will come out on PRAH early 2023.

The album’s lead single and opening track "A Cloud" is accompanied by the first part of a theatre, dance, and film work conceived, directed and choreographed by MF’s collaborator Daisy JT Smith. The album, and the film, will be unveiled piece by piece throughout the year. MF Tomlinson's return today follows his debut full length ‘Strange Time’, self-released in 2021 to critical acclaim from publications including Mojo, NME, Clash, bandcamp, Gigwise and more.

Inarguably his finest work to date as a songwriter and producer, "A Cloud" sets the scene of what’s to come. Marrying elements of 60's folk, folk-rock and psychedelia to thrilling effect - complex, dramatic, intimate, delicate and breathing, Tomlinson’s words are carried away by finger-picked guitars, double bass and soaring flutes that float effortlessly before a canopy of foreboding atmospherics and lush-turned-sinister string arrangements descend on the track with crushing weight.

A curious, dream-like snapshot into Tomlinson's psyche; "A Cloud is about how painful it is to live without your innermost desires," MF Tomlinson explains. "It is, in the same breath, about how beautiful life is despite all of its sadness, and how even the smallest moments can satisfy your spirit. It begins where Strange Time leaves off. In my apartment, from my window we move through scenes of the street, through memories and hallucinations."

Though it would seem we have come back down to earth by the song’s close, it is not the same world - drifting out of sync with reality, we find ourselves on a new trajectory that could be transcendence or a descent into madness.

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Jitensha - ElectroBluesSociety feat Boo Boo Davis - MF Tomlinson - Ana Egge

Jitensha - Sojourn.

Jitensha is the garage rock love child of Erin Rose Hubbard and David Martinez. Their sound is a silvery union of honey sweet proto-punkiness and modern indie that is harmonically reminiscent of 1950s rock & roll. 

With just vocals, electric guitar and drums, stealing a niche somewhere between the White Stripes and the Civil Wars, Jitensha nestles catchy, poignant melodies into hard hitting rock grooves. 

Lyrically, the duo toes the line between realism and optimism, focusing on social justice, environment and psychology, bringing you on a winsome journey of the human experience. 

Jitensha has released two full length studio albums, Buck Moon and Periscope. Their single “Sojourn” dropped on March 19th 2021.

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ElectroBluesSociety feat Boo Boo Davis - You Better Watch Yourself

Third single release from the 'transatlantic quarantaine sessions'. Between 1998 and 2020 Boo Boo Davis used to tour in Europe several times each year and we recorded a lot of his music during these tours. Because of Covid 19 this is not possible at the moment. There for the guys from ElectroBluesSociety (based in he Netherlands) started to exchange idea's and demo tapes with Boo Boo in East St Louis (special thanks to Chris Brown).

ElectroBluesSociety;  Two guys and a bunch of junk with a broad taste and an open mind mixing the old with the new. Modern technologies combined with 30+ years of live stage experience in the European blues / roots music scene.

Boo Boo Davis;  Born and raised in Drew, Mississippi. He's a survivor and belongs to the last generations of musicians that write and play the blues based on first hand experience of a hard life in the Delta.

Black and Tan Records · You Better Watch Yourself - ElectroBluesSociety feat Boo Boo Davis

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MF Tomlinson - A Long Day.

MF Tomlinson, the project of London-based Australian singer-songwriter Michael Tomlinson, today releases new single "A Long Day" – the final taster of his upcoming debut album Strange Time, out April 9th, self-released.

Quickly following his debut EP 'Last Days of Rome', debut album Strange Time was written slap-bang in the middle of 2020; confined to his home, Tomlinson created a stripped-back home studio set up and the songs immediately began to flow.

Born out of this strange liminal space of constant uncertainty that we’ve been living in, his candid poetry and expansive sonic caress capture a true-life portrait of a world in turmoil – sonically taking in elements of acid-folk, chamber-pop, progressive rock and contemplative indie-folk.

Latest single "A Long Day" is perhaps the prime example of the latter. Following previous album singles "Strange Time" and "Them Apples" which have been widely praised across the board by NME, DIY Magazine, The Line Of Best Fit, The Independent, Clash Magazine, Secret Meeting, Beats Per Minute and more – "A Long Day" is a soothing meditation on the vastness of experience. It finds Tomlinson rising early to work in a bakery - “at the end of a long day / it’s just gone lunch,” he opines while Ami Koda’s flute flits all around. Cyclical and breathing, it's heartrending and uplifting all at once.

Speaking on the new single, MF Tomlinson said: “I feel like it [A Long Day] takes me on a journey from the beginning of a normal day to the end of the day. It doesn’t really have a chorus - it kind of flows in quite a cyclical way, so by the time I hit the last notes I feel like it’s transported me personally through all the experiences that directly inspired the song. It essentially deals with the big and the small things that exist in our everyday mundane experiences – no matter how significant or insignificant they might appear at the time – how it all feeds into our concept of memory and the idea of 'living in the moment'."

In essence, MF Tomlinson is the solo work of Michael Tomlinson. Dig a little deeper though and you uncover an intriguing new layer to the project. Calling upon a global network of collaborators and musical friends to bring Strange Time to life (a network he refers to as his "MF's"), across its 6 tracks and 32 minute run time Tomlinson and his MF's explore a rich tapestry of sounds and influences.

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Ana Egge - The Ship.

Sometimes a sea shanty isn’t just a sea shanty. With “The Ship,” the heralded singer/songwriter Ana Egge has taken the traditional shanty and transformed it into a modern-day parable. Soft but still clearly defiant, “The Ship” portrays sailors, fed-up with being robbed of their personal power, realizing they have been complicit in their captain’s greedy, ruinous ways, so they stand together against him and stop participating in burning, to quote the song, “the sides of our own ship.”

A reflection of our times, the single was written during the pandemic by Egge with her friend, Irish troubadour Mick Flannery. “2020 stopped us in our tracks,” Egge explains. “We had more time than ever to consider our priorities and confront the results of our actions, personally and collectively. It is in our hands to put this ship on a new course. We can and we will."

To Egge and Flannery, the ship is the Earth and the captain represents greed and waste. The song speaks to the need of the sailors (and, in 2021, working people of all types) to do the right thing, not only for themselves and each other but also for the future of their children.

Because both Egge and Flannery are parents to young daughters, the song’s concern for the future and future generations is a very personal one for each of them. The video for “The Ship” further reinforces this theme as director Ingrid Weise has constructed it by utilizing beautiful and haunting imagery of her own daughter in nature.

Egge and Flannery composed “The Ship” in a uniquely COVID-era fashion — via Facetime. During the quarantine, the two friends starting doing nightly songwriting sessions, even though Egge is based in Brooklyn while Flannery lives across the ocean in Ireland. “The Ship” stands as one of the earliest results of this transatlantic collaboration, which they have continued into this year.

“I loved writing this song with Ana, as I have with all our collaborations,” shares Flannery. “I’m proud to have been a part of it.” Egge likewise raved, “co-writing with Mick has been so much fun and such a mind meld. Sometimes it feels like we’re finishing each other’s melodic sentences."

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Sweet Crude - Swansea Sound - MF Tomlinson - Eric Bolander

Sweet Crude - La Rêveuse / Under New Moons.

The New Orleans-based six-piece band Sweet Crude announced Dualité: have a new double A-side singles series where the group will release pairs of songs where one is sung in Louisiana French and the other in English. In celebration of Mardi Gras, the band released the first installment today with two brand new songs “La Rêveuse” and “Under New Moons.”

“Tours? Nope. Money? Broke. Launch a blitz of bilingual bangers in 2021 because we can? Putain ouais (hell yeah, and pardon our Louisiana French),” explains singer Sam Craft. “Through confinement and a lack of gigs, we’ve steadily built up a loyal Patreon following with whom we’ve been streaming and chatting on a regular basis. They’ve been inspiring us to keep going and to write like crazy. We show them brand new ideas, they give us feedback, and we are now self-producing and self-recording a whole new body of work for approximately zero dollars. Dualité is the result, or really the start, of this new frontier. The first two tracks to kick things off showcase our French and our English sides. We remain dedicated as ever to creating new avenues to celebrate our Louisiana roots.”

“‘La Rêveuse’ (The Dreamer) is an all-French song and carries the premise that we are all living in someone else's dream. In the song, our dreamer is likened to a little kid playing on the beach, building sandcastles and romping around. Unbeknownst to our baby-god, we are actually all denizens of her temporary sand creations and are at the mercy of all her arbitrary whims. It could kinda explain why everything is so dang weird all the time. Not exactly being conspiracy theorists, we wanted the music to have a certain tongue-in-cheek bounce to it, while maintaining the drama of COVID-induced desperation.”

“Meanwhile, ‘Under New Moons’ is a reality check. On a stream one day, our fans offered us the prompt to write a song about self-care during lockdown. We narrowed that idea down to the moments in life when the best self-care is to disengage from that person (place or thing) that provokes all your worst habits. This moody, minor-key bop takes you on a push-and-pull emotional journey.”

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Swansea Sound - Indies Of The World.

‘Indies of the World’, the new single by SWANSEA SOUND, is a call to arms. Its aim is to revitalise the Global Pop Underground, making it strong enough to vanquish the corporate behemoth. OK, it’s just a limited release 7” single.  But the revolution has to start somewhere.

Hue Williams and Amelia Fletcher of the Pooh Sticks were reunited a few months ago on the first SWANSEA SOUND single, ‘Corporate Indie Band’.  It attracted lots of interest and airplay and sold out in a few hours.  Since then, second single ‘I Sold My Soul on eBay’ has been released as a one-off (on eBay) and played on many radio stations.

‘Indies of the World’ will be released simultaneously on four different Indie Labels of the World.  There’s no need to buy an expensive import: It will not be released on Spotify, Apple Music or other corporate streamers.

‘Indies of the World’ is for record-lovers, indie dancefloors, non-corporate radio shows, and the flourishing online indie DJ/blogging scene. Flipside ‘Je Ne Sais Quoi’ is a duet in which feckless male Hue is berated by nonplussed female partner Amelia.  It’s like ‘C is the Heavenly Option’ after a lovers’ tiff.

From Rob & Amelia - The song and the video are a celebration of ‘indie’ in its most meaningful sense, i.e. independence from corporate control, with a DIY attitude to playing, recording, releasing records and making videos.

The video was made by Amelia and Rob, using the 7” single sleeve art by Welsh artist Catrin Saran James.  Swansea Sound started during lockdown, so the band are used to sending each other bits of music, ideas for songs and video footage.  It will be a strange and disconcerting moment when they are finally able to meet.

Indies of the World is the first release on new UK label Skep Wax, but it’s also coming out on sister labels Formosa Punk in Japan, HHBTM in the USA and Lavender Sweep in Wales.  It’s available digitally on Bandcamp, but isn’t on Spotify or Apple or any the other corporate streamers because they aren’t sisters, they are ogres.

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MF Tomlinson - Them Apples.

MF Tomlinson, the project of London-based Australian singer-songwriter Michael Tomlinson, today releases new single "Them Apples" – the second track to be heard from Tomlinson's upcoming debut album Strange Time, out April 9th.

Quickly following his debut EP 'Last Days of Rome', Strange Time was written slap-bang in the middle of 2020; Tomlinson, confined to his home, created a stripped-back home studio set up and the songs immediately began to flow.

Central to the album is new single "Them Apples" – a psychedelic seven-minute treatise on modern paranoia and social media addiction, taking in elements of acid-folk, chamber-pop and progressive rock along the way.

The song floats on glistening organ and bluesy guitars as Tomlinson contemplates how “even when we’re really here, half of us hangs in the air.” Guest vocalist Connie Chatwin (Sam Smith, dodie) takes up the choric role, playing the voices of morbid-yet-irresistible headlines, singing sweetly to him about SOS notes found in cheap clothes from Bangladesh, and the Venetians losing their city to rising tides, dragging him deeper into the doomscroll. As the opus descends into a beautiful clutter of flute, sax and noodling guitar that mirror his overwhelmed mind, Chatwin’s mellifluous tones turn into cackles as Tomlinson finds himself powerless to resist the screen, begging “talk to me world, tell me everything.”

At almost 8 minutes long, it's the album's undeniable centrepiece, both stylistically and thematically. Speaking on the themes behind the song, Tomlinson explains: "Originally it was because Viljam (Nybacka, co-writer of the song) asked me, what have you been doing? I said 'I can't remember, I've been so busy'. I thought that was intriguing - the intensity of life rendering each day featureless. Then the pandemic hit and everyday really was the same! I knew then that this was one of those - a song about EVERYTHING all at once, a real rabbit hole."

Adding further context to Connie Chatwin's Greek Chorus-inspired backing vocals, Tomlinson explains: "They are tweets, feeds, stories from phones and various other devices. They are the voices in our heads that only we can hear as we go about our daily lives, inaudible to others outside of our personalised versions of reality on our screens. The meditative chorus lyric is the reason for the season, the compulsion and anxiety to find the answers and validations that we want from the world through the portals that we carry around with us."

The track's video is "a reflection of the hyperreality of 2020" – according to director Tomas Jef. Shot on a digital camera and then processed through analogue video equipment; custom-built video effects machines and redundant BBC Studios-salvaged broadcasting equipment, Jef went on to say: "All this time we spent indoors staring at screens, the whole year was like one blurry memory with a weird sense of time passing slow and fast at the same time. Different scenes in the video suggest the contrasting worlds between imagination and reality."

"Them Apples" also features contributions from guitarist Angus James and clarinet from Joe Connor. Its sound palette is part-inspired by seminal British folk band Trees' second album On The Shore, and Tomlinson's time playing in the On The Shore Band alongside members of Trees, Metronomy and Friendly Fires.

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Eric Bolander - Cold Men.

Eric Bolander has officially released the music video for “Cold Men” -- chronicling the Blackjewel Miners protests in Harlan County, Kentucky in response to owed back pay.

This new single, produced by regular Bolander collaborator Duane Lundy (Sturgill Simpson, Ringo Starr) in Lexington, Kentucky, is a natural transition in Bolander’s catalog as a deeply-emotional protest song in an ever-tumultuous world. While it is based in the realities of a specific event, it serves as a cathartic microcosm of the pain so many have felt in the past year.

Sonically, Bolander’s music gallops through the crossroads of John Moreland and Bruce Springsteen (circa Devils & Dust), from rollicking explorations of struggle and its broken remnants to bitter, cynical prayers.

Bolander’s sensitivity to the human condition stems primarily from humble roots in the small eastern Kentucky town of Garrison, stretching at the edge of the Appalachian foothills and running along the Ohio River Valley. Growing up in a low income household instilled within him a sense of hard work and fighting for what he wanted in life. His mother was a homemaker (whose family had ties to several bluegrass legends) and his father a union carpenter and construction worker, both pivotal forces behind his early development.

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