Showing posts with label Rachel Bochner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rachel Bochner. Show all posts

Sunday, 19 July 2026

Jont - Aderyn - The Stanford Family Band - Rachel Bochner - John R. Miller

Jont - Another World.

Following the May 2026 release of his latest album, Walk Right Through, Nova Scotia-based singer-songwriter Jont returns with “Another World.” Chill, uplifting, and emotionally expansive, the single traces the full arc of romantic love from connection and separation to reunion and renewal. Blending indie, alternative, rock, and shamanic folk influences, the track feels both timeless and transformative. It captures the beauty of love not as a destination, but as an ongoing journey.

Originally one of the oldest songs in Jont’s repertoire, “Another World” found new life after relocating from the UK to Cape Breton. Long written but never fully realized, the track suddenly revealed itself through the region’s rich Celtic musical traditions. What had once been a straightforward love song evolved into something more communal, celebratory, and alive. “I suddenly felt the 3/4 time signature come through,” Jont explains. “The singalong ‘la da da da da’ chorus outro arrived, and I imagined a heaving, sweaty dancing crowd singing at the top of their lungs.”

At its core, the song seeks to capture the entire emotional landscape of romantic love while refusing to define it as something effortless. “Love isn’t all honey and roses,” Jont says. That reality emerges during the song’s breakdown bridge, where the central couple part ways before ultimately finding their way back to one another. Their reunion is elevated by a soaring synthesizer performance from longtime collaborator George Hoyle, whose contribution became one of the song’s defining moments.



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Aderyn - Please.

Beehive Candy will let Aderyn tell the story for her brand new single 'Please' accompanied by a mesmerising new video. "I have a voice memo of me writing this song, and top to bottom I wrote it in twelve minutes. That's how you know there's a monster of emotion inside you that needs to work its way out.”

"It's built into human nature to love without reciprocation - to pour ourselves into deities or people that don't give us clear answers. Once I started treating religious faith as an allegory for how I felt towards this person, the lyrics poured out.” "The chorus is brutally honest. It's basically saying: I will spend my life being devoted to you, even if I have all these questions. There's insecurity, there's anger - these are the ingredients of love that swirl in with the good stuff.”

“This is my favourite song I've recorded. I'm obsessed with the swirling, grungy intensity we created with producer Gethin Pearson (Charli XCX, Orla Gartland) - it's exactly the type of music I love to listen to. We were inspired by Nineties touchstones like Mazzy Star and Elliott Smith, as well as artists like Lucy Dacus and Du Blonde. I was so excited when Owain Fleetwood Jenkins (Billie Marten, Cate Le Bon) offered to record some organ in his Pembrokeshire chapel. It was the finishing touch the song needed to give the outro a feeling of rapture.”


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The Stanford Family Band - Go Again (EP).

Brighton’s C86-inspired, retro sunshine pop quartet The Stanford Family Band return in radiant form, announcing their sophomore EP Go Again (out July 17th). The Stanford Family Band extends the musical lineage of lost pop music, threading together the bittersweet glow of ’60s airwaves and open-field festivals with the glammed-up intimacy of ’70s singer-songwriters. Their music aches and shimmers in equal measure, carrying a sense of longing that feels both timeless and vividly alive.

Produced by Harry Hayes of Spotted Horses, who also contributes to the songwriting throughout, the record carries a fondness for the melodic charm of Nilsson and McCartney, lending a timeless softness to its more yearning moments. Colourful, vibrant, warmly analogue, and musically inventive, the EP pairs the melodic richness of The Beach Boys with a whimsical, melancholic honesty, recalling the vintage-minded songwriting of acts like The Lemon Twigs and Drugdealer.

With this EP, The Stanford Family Band nods to the sounds of the era while deepening the band's own distinctive voice. Fully embracing their love of ’60s and ’70s music through analogue tape recording and restrained production, the release builds confidently on the quartet’s debut. From moments of heartfelt intimacy to passages of shimmering guitars, vintage synths, and swelling organs, the EP showcases a band with a clear sonic identity and a growing sense of self. 

Speaking about the album, the band explains: “Go again is a sequel - we went for another EP as we felt we had some unfinished business in that area and wanted our last record to have a companion on the shelves. It’s been fab to have Pad and Harry with us this time around and to have more evenly split writing contributions, we think everyone really shines. We’ve tried to cover all bases with this one, Baroque, Sunshine and Power pop galore.” 


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Rachel Bochner - Say That You Don't.

Brooklyn-based artist Rachel Bochner has built a reputation for sharp, emotionally charged indie-pop that cuts straight to the core. Since her debut, she’s carved out a space defined by candid lyricism and an unflinching willingness to explore the messier edges of love, identity, and self-discovery. 

"Say That You Don't" explores the guilt that can follow the end of a relationship, even when leaving feels like the right decision. It's about still caring for someone you've hurt and wishing you could take that pain away.

Bochner shares, "In the wake of my break up, I was consumed by guilt. Staying was not an option, but leaving came with the price of hurting someone I still cared so deeply for - who still cared so deeply for me. I couldn’t help but indulge myself with the inherently selfish fantasy of “Say That You Don’t.” If I could snap my fingers and make all the hurt and lingering love they feel disappear… would it alleviate my guilt? If they looked me in the eyes and told me they barely even thought about me after I left… that they are better off now without me… could I sleep a little better at night?"


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John R. Miller - The Great Unknowing (Album).

One of Americana’s most revered songwriters, John R. Miller, releases his highly anticipated fifth album, The Great Unknowing, via Rounder Records. Arriving to widespread critical acclaim, the album caps a breakthrough chapter for the West Virginia-raised artist, who also announced his Newport Folk Festival debut, where he will receive the prestigious John Prine Fellowship Award, as well as his return to The Grand Ole Opry on July 23rd. Alongside the brand new release, Miller also shared a music video of album standout "Steering Wheel Drums," offering fans an intimate glimpse into one of the record's emotional centerpieces.

Speaking about his excitement over the album’s release, Miller stated, “"I'm very proud of what Adam Meisterhans and I were able to achieve at Leon Russell's Church Studio with a truly stellar group of Tulsa players, and so happy to finally share it with the world!"

As Miller began work on his fifth album, The Great Unknowing, he set out to challenge himself both creatively and geographically. Born in the Washington, DC area and raised in West Virginia, Miller has built a reputation as a thoughtful, boundary-pushing voice in alt-country and Americana, drawing from punk, traditional Appalachian music, and less conventional rock influences. For this record, he left his comfort zone behind and traveled to Tulsa to record at the legendary Church Studio, drawn by the city’s deep musical legacy and its ties to artists like J.J. Cale. 



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Monday, 8 June 2026

Austel - Rachel Bochner - Taxi Girls - A100s

Photo - Artemis Szekir-Rigas
Austel - Mirror To Mine (Album).

Devon-born artist and producer Austel (Annie Rew Shaw) has shared her exquisite second record ‘Mirror To Mine’. The ten track body of work sees Austel dig deep, seeking answers and courageously excavating long-lost memories. The album is a self-produced accomplishment, released independently and mixed by the brilliant Grace Banks (English Teacher, Squid, Haim). 

The album's focus single and closer ‘Coast To Coast’ is a rich offering that ruminates on a decade-long journey, which began when Austel left home. From taking bold, brave strides into music to finding a more established sense of belonging, it was written just a few months after meeting her long-term partner, as things started to fall into place. The track touches on shifting priorities and moving into a different stage of life. ‘I think I always know which songs will open and close an album, and this song, with all its themes of homecoming and both departure/arrival, felt so right to end the record - wrapping up this chapter.’ Austel shared. 

The arrival of Mirror To Mine signals progression both personally and professionally for Austel. The beautifully expansive project is an acoustic-led endeavour, anchored in nylon string guitar, subtle ensemble arrangements and evocative, delicately placed field recordings. Austel’s efforts in the run up to the album haven't gone unnoticed. With support from the likes of Metal Magazine, Under The Radar, Ones To Watch, The Line of Best Fit and Clash Magazine, who flagged Austel's music as ‘charming’ and ​​’a space for reflection’. Single 30th Day was featured on alexrainbirdMusic’s May 2026 compilation. 

Originally from Devon but now based in London, Austel brings a detail-oriented, emotionally intuitive approach to each project, with a growing portfolio spanning genres and formats. She has a first-class honours MA in Creative Music Production and was long-listed for Breakthrough Producer and Self-Producing Artist of the Year for the 2024 & 2025 MPG Awards. Austel is a member of 2% Rising (a community for female and gender-expansive producers) and an advocate for safer, more inclusive practices within the music industry.


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Rachel Bochner - Happier You’re Gone (SASE).

Brooklyn-based artist Rachel Bochner has built a reputation for sharp, emotionally charged indie-pop that cuts straight to the core. Since her debut, she’s carved out a space defined by candid lyricism and an unflinching willingness to explore the messier edges of love, identity, and self-discovery. Now, with her latest single “Happier You’re Gone (SASE)”, she enters a new chapter, one that feels both deeply personal and transformative.

At its heart, “Happier You’re Gone (SASE)” is a reckoning. Written from a place of distance and hard-won clarity, the track reframes the aftermath of heartbreak into something more introspective, and ultimately liberating. What initially reads like a breakup song reveals itself to be something more nuanced: a confrontation with the past self who stayed too long, ignored too much, or simply didn’t yet know better. For Bochner, the meaning stretches across multiple interpretations, whether that’s a past lover or a more complicated, internal goodbye, but ultimately lands as a letter of good riddance. “A post-breakup note, or a ‘see-you-never!’ to a formerly destructive self,” she explains. After finishing the song, she added “SASE” (self addressed stamped envelope) to the title as a final, knowing detail, a small piece of context for those paying closer attention.

Inspired by a vivid dream in which she encountered a previous version of herself, the song captures a striking realization: I’m happy she happened, but I’m much happier that she’s gone. It’s this duality that gives the track its resonance, balancing vulnerability with a sense of resolve. Sonically, “Happier You’re Gone (SASE)” leans into an indie-pop landscape with alternative edges, reflecting Bochner’s evolving sound. Produced by Jackson Hoffman, the track pairs its emotional weight with a textured, expansive backdrop that allows her voice, and her story, to sit front and center.


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Taxi Girls - Secret Handshake.

Montreal’s Taxi Girls just returned with “Secret Handshake,” the new single and video and on Stomp Records. Following the punch of their debut “Say It,” the track offers a second look at the band’s upcoming LP Static, out June 26. If the first single kicked the door open, this one tears the walls down.

Formed in 2022, the all-female garage punk outfit has quickly carved out their place in Montreal’s underground, the kind built on packed basements, blown speakers, and nights that don’t really end so much as fade out. You can hear the city all over it, somewhere between a late-night dépanneur run, a half-crushed pack of DuMauriers, and the spill of bodies onto Saint-Laurent after last call. There’s a sense the band picked up half their moves from late-night VHS hangs, rewinding Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains, digging into The Runaways, Girlschool, and Nena’s The Stripes, then running it all back louder and faster.

“Secret Handshake” reveals a softer side of Taxi Girls, showcasing the band’s sweeter and more vulnerable side. Written from a place of love and longing, the song captures the feeling of wanting a summer fling to last a bit longer than the fading season. Even when summer is over, you’ll always have your secret handshake.

The lyrics paint a picture as old as time: sharing something special with someone and wishing it could last beyond the summer. Even when time and distance make things complicated, friendship never fades, and you know you’ll always have your secret handshake. As Static takes shape, it's clear this record is not just a collection of punk songs. There is something for everyone. Loud, raw, soft, sweet, gritty - enough to make you want to pick up the phone and call an old pal or have a solo kitchen dance party on a Tuesday afternoon.


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A100s - Rude and Lovely / Too Rad To Be Sad.

Southern California’s A100s are a brand new band nearly a decade in the making from the core songwriting duo of Matt Hensley (accordionist of Flogging Molly) and Sean Wheeler (vocalist of Throw Rag), playing music inspired by vintage ska & reggae with a touch of Conjunto accordion.

The band has released a new music video for their second single, the title track from their debut LP Rude and Lovely, currently available for pre-order via Pirates Press Records. The LP is scheduled for release on July 10, 2026.

“Rolling through Mexico City looking out the backseat window like one hundred times before...taking in the rhythm of the city, I see a rotulo on a beauty salon’s storefront: ‘Rude and Lovely,’ hand painted to perfection,” explains Wheeler. Unable to get the phrase out of his head, he excitedly called Hensley immediately. “That's it! The perfect statement for what we had been doing musically!”

“Rude and Lovely” follows their debut single & video, for “Too Rad To Be Sad.” Regarding “Too Rad To Be Sad,” Wheeler points to it as a message of hope & resilience. He says it is about “reminding those around us to keep their heads up. Stay in the light and remind them that they are loved, appreciated, and necessary for the bright future ahead.”



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Soft Loft - Alex Dupree - Allegories - Penny Lane Pickets - Marie Dahlstrom

Soft Loft - Wednesdays. Soft Loft returns with their new single “Wednesdays,” an uplifting indie-folk anthem about learning to rely on your...