Rev Rev Rev - Arlo Parks - Eyesore and The Jinx - Toronto Tabla Ensemble - Freezing Cold - Sara Ontaneda

Rev Rev Rev are back for a second appearance here with a new video and song '3 Not 3', a sub three minute blast of primal rock, with the vocals buried deep into the mix, this is pretty hypnotic music.

Arlo Parks shares a video for 'Second Guessing' a smooth and refined song where her beautiful vocals are surrounded by a gently rhythmic soundtrack.

Liverpool trio Eyesore and The Jinx new song is 'Leisure Time'. The vocals menace and dare you to not pay attention as the band deliver some potent rock hooks.

We are always on the look out for original and different music and Toronto Tabla Ensemble track 'Dream Symposium' is just incredible as is the video.

We have the full debut album from Freezing Cold which is entitled 'Glimmer'. The bands music is somewhere between alt and indie rock, and they carve out a consistent band sound, the vocals are really good for their musical style and the musicianship is tight and shifts from full on rock to gentler arrangements with apparent ease. This is a debut album to be proud of. 

Sara Ontaneda has just released 'Hey Maria' a gentle, highly melodic and wonderfully crafted indie pop song, where her vocals exude charm and beauty.
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Rev Rev Rev - 3 Not 3.

Clocking in at less than three minutes and set to visuals that are equally unsettling and apocalyptic, "3 not 3" is consumed from start to finish by primal percussion, thick distorted guitars and walls of feedback and distortion. All casting a dark menacing shadow through which, trying to break through, are Laura Iacuzio’s saccharine yet still somewhat foreboding vocals.

Since the release of their self-titled debut album back in 2013, Rev Rev Rev – based in Modena, Italy – have repeatedly been hailed as one of the finest new shoegaze bands, clocking up airtime and praise from BBC 6 Music, NPR, Drowned In Sound, Clash Magazine and Bandcamp Daily.

The quartet is set to embark on a tour touching United Kingdom, France and Switzerland next month.

Live show schedule runs as follows:

Thursday 17th Oct Bremgarten (CH), KuZeB
Friday 18th Oct Paris (FR), Supersonic
Monday 21st Oct Southend-on-Sea (UK), Railway Hotel
Tuesday 22nd Oct Bristol (UK), The Lanes
Wednesday 23rd Oct Hull (UK), New Adelphi
Thursday 24th Oct Northampton (UK), Garibaldi Hotel
Friday 25th Oct Nottingham (UK), The Chameleon
Saturday 26th Oct London (UK), The Waiting Room.


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Arlo Parks - Second Guessing.

It's been an extraordinary few months for Arlo Parks, who just recently celebrated her nineteenth birthday. In amongst the study and subsequent sitting of her A-Level exams, the London based musician/poet signed a record deal with Transgressive, headlined her first London show, played to a packed out crowd at Glastonbury Festival (where she was also invited to perform live on BBC television), debuted her live offering across Europe and found herself nominated for an AIM Award. Now, as she readies herself for a lengthy tour across the UK as main support to Jordan Rakei, she has announced the release of her eagerly anticipated second EP and shared the first single, 'Second Guessing'.

'Second Guessing', a song about doubt and the expectation that adulthood should be characterised by stability and having everything under control, is in Arlo's words, "an exploration of the existential misery that comes from a desire to be successful in a way that pleases everyone. However it's also a song about strength and the possibility of self fulfilment". Its rhythmic, melodic soundscape plays spotlight to her delicate vocal, and the story being told through her hard truth-telling lyrics. With one listen, it is easy to see how she increasingly considered the majestic voice of Generation Z and has won over fans including Killing Eve's Jodie Comer, Lily Allen and Amandla Stenberg.

Growing up in South West London, half Nigerian, a quarter Chadian and a quarter French, Arlo Parks learned to speak French before English. A quiet child, she'd write short stories and create fantasy worlds, later journaling and then obsessing over spoken word poetry, reading American poets such as Ginsberg and Jim Morrison and watching old Chet Baker performances on YouTube. These days she references Nayyirah Waheed, Hanif Abdurraqib and Iain S. Thomas as her favourite modern poets, and it is clear that their works are as influential on her song writing as any musician. Books too, such as The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. Parks says, "the way Murakami writes in that book is how I aspire to write my songs; gritty and sensitive and human."

Fela Kuti's 'Water' and Otis Redding's 'Sittin On The Dock Of The Bay' sound tracked Arlo Parks' childhood, but it was aged around 13 that she discovered King Krule; an artist who would heavily influence the music she writes today. Later listening to more hip-hop (from Kendrick Lamar, MF Doom and Earl Sweatshirt to the more confessional sounds of Loyle Carner) and rock (Jimi Hendrix, Shilpa Ray and David Bowie), as well as the subdued, pained sounds of Keaton Henson, Sufjan Stevens and Julien Baker, Parks explains, "I would write stories so detailed you could taste them, while maintaining the energy and life of the hip-hop I loved."


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Eyesore and The Jinx - Leisure Time.

Eyesore & The Jinx return with their new single and freshly announced live dates, including a free headline London show at the Waiting Room on 4th October.

Their previous singles saw them commenting on social media isolationism and an overall doomed feeling in society due to the current political landscape. Twitchy, socially minded, acerbic post-punk has always felt natural for Liverpool trio Eyesore & The Jinx. There was never a plan to be a ‘political band’, it’s purely the result of writing about what they see and feel in their lived experience.

Leisure Time feels like a new phase. A very different tempo, a different groove, a different approach –  sharpened in the studio with producer Daniel Fox, also known as the bassist from Dublin’s much loved Girl Band. The track sits right at the centre of their live set, surrounded by two minute assaults – but they are all singing from the same hymn sheet. What Eyesore & The Jinx do very well is create absolutely dreadful characters that live at the heart of each track. Reflecting modern life in Britain without the need to preach political views.

“From the perspective of an unhinged holiday maker, ‘Leisure Time’ points a greasy, heavily lotioned finger at the care-free nature of the British expat. Whose enduring commitment to enjoying themselves, at the expense of other cultures, remains as visible and as grotesque as ever. It is, in short, a sun-stroked blather on the most miserable of holidays.” Josh Miller – Eyesore & The Jinx

Eyesore & The Jinx are part of an exciting group of bands and artists that make up the cohort of Merseyside taste-makers Eggy Records. The label acts as a co-operative, a supportive group of creatives and misfits who have built something very special, recently profiled by the NME. There seems to be a spotlight on what is happening with this group of artists, with Eggy being selected to host a showcase at this year’s BBC 6Music Festival, of which Eyesore & The Jinx headlined, not to mention Eyesore’s recent trip to Russia to play two festivals as part of the UK Russia Year of Music with label mate newbies STORES. Their first international trip as a band was certainly a memorable one.

Their sphere of influence is quickly expanding out of their home region. Their last two singles received extensive national radio support, including a 6Music Roundtable win for ‘On An Island’ produced by Jonathan Hartley from iconic Liverpool psych-surgeons Clinic. Their most recent single ‘Swill’ was the first track they recorded with Daniel Fox alongside Matt Freeman at Fresh Goods Studio, Birkenhead. This relationship worked very well and the band headed back in soon after to record their forthcoming EP. Leisure Time is the first single to come from this future release, funded by a special PRS Foundation Momentum fund in conjunction with Liverpool City Council.

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Toronto Tabla Ensemble - Dream Symposium.

For over 25 years Toronto Tabla Ensemble (TTE) has produced ground-breaking music that crosses cultures and borders. A Canadian pioneer, TTE started collaborating in the 1990’s with Japanese Taiko, Flamenco, Kathak dance, and Rock ‘n Roll with the Tea Party. Founded by Artistic Director Ritesh Das, TTE has a JUNO nomination and recently received a Global Music and Independent Music Award in 2019 for their album Bhumika.

Their latest music video Faceoff has been screened at international film festivals receiving accolades from around the world. Their music has been licensed for commercials, films and as the theme music for CBC Radio’s Metro Morning. What sets TTE apart is their ability to draw from the rich depths of North Indian Classical percussion to create rhythms and grooves anyone can dance to. TTE is not fusion nor is it World Music; this ensemble creates Canadian born music with a traditional influence bringing together the best of the world for an incomparable listening experience.

About Dream Symposium - 'Dream Symposium' is based on a traditional Tabla composition that is usually taught at an early stage of learning. Ritesh Das was influenced by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and composed this as a performance track featuring many different percussion instruments to create an orchestral feeling. “In preparation for the seventh album we wanted to create a music video for 'Dream Symposium' that included the youth and to focus on their strength as players, but also keep a sense of fantasy and humour.”

TTE are delighted to be attending WOMEX ’19 in Finland this October 2019.


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Freezing Cold - Glimmer (Album).

Freezing Cold came together in early 2017 as friends. Having spent time growing up together in the New York DIY music community in bands like Bridge and Tunnel, Weed Hounds, and Aye Nako had the members Jeff Cunningham (guitar & vocals), Angie Boylan (drums and vocals - who is also currently the touring drummer for Sleater Kinney), and Nick Rice (bass) have all known each other for years.

They released a 3-song demo, making a music video for their song “Shape of Escape” and playing shows throughout the North East of the US. Their introspective heart-on-the-sleeve style of indie rock mixed with the unspoken musical magnetism that brought them together was evident in their early performances.

The band’s debut album combines lush sounds with earnest storytelling, creating music that is reminiscent of Lemonheads, Throwing Muses, Sebadoh, Archers of Loaf, Ride, with a dash of punk, rounding out select tracks with keyboards and a few with a string section. Listening through Glimmer and standout tracks “New Ways to Wait”, “Parentheses”, “Teenage Insights”, and “Squint to See” the band defy simplistic genre comparisons. The only thing that the listener can be sure of is that these songs are inward in their thinking and played close to the chest. Their influences are as varied as the members, which shines through in the varied pace and approach of Glimmer.

Glimmer not only introduces us to a band at the beginning of their stride, but also to a group of individuals with a passion for their craft. The album was recorded and mixed by engineer, producer, and recording artist J Robbins (Against Me!, Promise Ring, Lemuria, Jawbox) at Magpie Cage Studios in Baltimore in March of 2019.

Make sure to catch Freezing Cold when they’re in your area as the band plans on touring the US and Europe in the near future. The band will celebrate the release of Glimmer at the Footlight in New York on September 28th.

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Sara Ontaneda - Hey Maria.

Multi award-winning Ecuadorian-American singer songwriter (based in NYC) Sara Ontaneda's music is often described as alternative pop, Sara incorporates folk, R&B and South American sounds into her unique signature sound.

About "Hey Maria": The inspiration behind "Hey Maria" came when the singer was visiting her family in Ecuador and the TV was on. The news channel she was watching was talking about the shocking statistics of Femicide and Violence Against Women in Latin America and the world. The singer realized how a lot of times women are judged unfairly when getting into these situations.

Sara Ontaneda is an award-winning singer-songwriter based in New York City. Her music is a colorful blend of Pop, R&B and Folk sounds with heart-felt lyrics in both Spanish and English.

Sara discovered her passion for music at a young age. At age 7 she started piano lessons and at age 9 she joined her school's choir in Miami, Florida. Throughout her childhood, splitting time between Guayaquil, Ecuador and Miami, she studied classical music. The love for music placed her in Berklee College of Music where she majored in Contemporary Writing and Production. She graduated with honors and received scholarship awards for her efforts.

After a year of hard work, Sara finished her first EP, "Marte y Júpiter" where she took the roles of writer, recording engineer, and producer. The EP was released on July 14th, 2015 and received numerous positive reviews from journals in Latin America and Spain. This led Sara to tour in Ecuador as well as many cities of the US, including festivals like South By Southwest (SXSW 2017), MUSIKFEST, South Florida Folk Festival, and others.

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Kristina Stykos - Brudini - Ted Z and The Wranglers - Ben Watt

Kristina Stykos has released a new album entitled 'River Of Light'. The country/folk singer has delivered a superb collection of material where the lyrics take you on a variety of journeys. The music can be gritty, stripped back or warm and exuding Americana rock styles, what remains at the centre is Kristina's unique vocals that convey emotion, determination and more, and the comparison to Patti Smith is a fair one albeit more regarding the delivery than the sound. With thirteen songs this really is a musical feast to enjoy.

We have to go back over two years for our only other feature for Brudini that said, the new song 'Pale Gold' adds credence to the old cliche "it was well worth the wait". The musical arrangement is simply wonderful and Brudini has distinct and captivating vocals, put simply I can't wait for the November album release.
 
Ted Z and The Wranglers return just weeks after our first taste of the bands music with new song 'Corner Store'. Once again the classic country rock vibes are everywhere, the bands instruments spar with each other and the feel good nature is notable.

We have a brand new video for Ben Watt and his song 'Sunlight Follows The Night'. An emotional and poignant song, the musical set up is around piano, double bass and drums, that allow Ben's voice to carry the feeling on this wonderful song.
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Kristina Stykos - River Of Light (Album).

Award-winning outlaw country/folk singer songwriter exemplifies pure determination and a fiercely independent spirit. Kristina Stykos's dark, self-produced, poetry-soaked music, lyrics and original vocal cadence bears resemblance to rock n' roll/punk icons like Patti Smith. Her recording studio, Pepperbox Studio, is solar, wind and generator powered.

In 2017, Stykos was diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia, a disorder that
makes speaking and singing difficult or even impossible. That doesn't stop Kristina from continuing to write and record new music; it simply changes how she does it.

Stykos describes the album "River of Light" as 'an exciting departure from anything I've done before.' "I'm a poet-musician working at the outer boundaries of the music industry, and I believe that we can all take control of our own message."

Kristina Stykos is a music producer, recording engineer, songwriter, radio host, podcaster and musician based in Vermont.

Kristina solidified her launch as an audio engineer in 2008, earning a certificate in studio production from the Berklee School of Music. As of 2019, she holds producer credits for upwards of 30 albums created at her hill-top recording loft, Pepperbox Studio: a solar, wind and generator powered, fully off-grid facility. She is also founder-owner of a small, Americana label, Thunder Ridge Records.

Her recent albums include three collaborative projects: The Detangler (2018) with Ariel Zevon, daughter of Warren Zevon; Beautiful Blood (2013) with singer-songwriter Steve Mayone of Brooklyn NY, and Raven (2011), with Grammy-nominated pianist Philip Aaberg of Montana.

Kristina's newest solo album River of Light (2019) brings in Jackson Browne guitarist Val McCallum, along with other notable friends & session players.

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Brudini - Pale Gold.

A demo of the song was written 5 years ago, and in a world that seems to be turning darker, the narrative turned out to be strangely prophetic for the artist, who was once an owner of Soho´s tiny literary-bohemian bastion The Society Club.

“The release coincides with the UK leaving the EU, and me ultimately abandoning London, the liberal, multi-cultural bastion which has been my home for the last 13 years. And the song echoes my sadness over both these events, yet maintains a sense of hope for a new future and shift in my priorities as I return to my homeland, Norway, to be closer to my three year old daughter.”

Pale Gold is the 3rd single from forthcoming debut album From Darkness, Light which is due for release in November. It follows the critically acclaimed singles Reflections and Emotional Outlaw.

Growing up amidst the mountains and fjords of Bergen on Norway’s southwest coast, with a Norwegian father and a Thai mother, a sense of otherness, of not quite fitting in, led Brudini to travel. To Tokyo, to Paris, to New York and eventually to London and the high-stakes world of city traders. A world of huge wins and heavy losses – lucrative but not entirely fulfilling.

While his daytimes were spent in the rapid pace trajectory of a modern capitalist society, evenings were increasingly passed in Soho, amidst a world of artists, musicians, performers and poets. A chance encounter with Babette Kulik eventually lead him to become part-owner of now legendary bohemian-literary Soho outpost The Society Club. As part of this hidden, free-spirited scene of creatives, Brudini began to conjure his music - singing in underground venues in Soho and Hackney armed with guitars, piano and analogue synthesizers, flanked by a rhythm section of local jazz musicians and drawing praise from NYC punk legend Danny Fields (Iggy Pop, Jim Morrison, The Ramones) in the process.

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Ted Z and The Wranglers - Corner Store.

Ted Z and The Wranglers, of Southern California, deliver outlaw country-charged rock. Ted's catchy story-songs are fully-realized tales of love, regret, getting older and getting in trouble. The band stirs up it's Americana influences, featuring quick picking and bluesy slide guitar over galloping train beats and swinging shuffles.

The Wranglers are Collin Mclean (bass), Jackson Leverone (lead and slide guitar, vocals) and Jordan Lipp (drums). The band has honed it's sound on big stages and in biker bars alike. They get audiences dancing and bring them back for more.

Ted Z and The Wranglers were signed to Rip Cat Records in 2015. Their first label release, Ghost Train, was recorded at Yellow Dog Studios in Wimberley, TX and produced by Monty Byrom (Big House, Eddie Money). 2017 Winner Hard Rock Rising LA, Jam in The Van (2017) Headlined Sturgis Buffalo Chip (2018).

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Ben Watt - Sunlight Follows The Night.

Completing a compelling trilogy of albums since his late-flowering return to solo songwriting and singing six years ago, Ben Watt releases his fourth LP, Storm Damage on January 31, 2020, and with it a new sound and fervency. The first track to be shared is "Sunlight Follows The Night" with an accompanying video by award-winning film maker Rahim Moledina, who wrote and directed the video for the title track from Watt's album Hendra in 2014.

"Dawn always breaks out of darkness," says Watt of the song. "For all the struggle there's always a way out."

"I needed a fresh approach," says Watt, 56. "The album came out of an intense period of personal anguish and political anger. Sometimes repeating yourself musically feels disrespectful to the sharpness of your feelings. You have to search for a new way to capture the energy."

Across four decades Watt has maintained a committed forward-looking course, from the ardent echo-drenched folk of his early solo work with Robert Wyatt, through seventeen years as musical mainspring and co-lyricist in the best-selling Everything But The Girl with Tracey Thorn - and ten at the helm of his smart electronic label Buzzin' Fly - to his recent moving non-fiction and mid-life solo albums, the award-winning Hendra (2014) and Fever Dream (2016).

New album Storm Damage is no exception. Sonically adventurous, lyrically detailed and engaged, the album - written and produced by Watt - is a personal journey through anxiety and change cut through with an insistent defiance.

"My closest half-brother died unexpectedly in 2016, only four years after my half-sister," he says of events surrounding the album's origins. "I got stuck for a year, angry inside and angry at the political world casually detonating around me. I felt half powerless, half driven. When the songs finally came, some were dark, yes, but there is always room for light. Always. I just tried to put that across."

Sonically the album forgoes the acclaimed twin-guitar approach of its two predecessors, and boldly shifts focus onto - in Watt's words - "a future-retro trio" of upright piano, double bass and hybrid acoustic-electronic drums, set against a half-lit backdrop of lone analogue synths, spiralling echo spins and impressionistic 'found sounds' adapted from online public-domain recording archives. Low's Alan Sparhawk makes a guest appearance on electric guitar and harmony vocal.


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Helga - The Handsome Bandit - Artificial Pleasure - Mr Ben & The Bens

Helga has released a collection of five songs on her new E.P 'The Autumn Lament'. Each track is distinct, the moods change as does the level of power or melodic construction and overall this is one very compelling E.P.
  
The Handsome Bandit have shared a video for 'Believe You Me' a song described as progressive piano pop/rock, I could not put it better I'd just add that it is exceedingly catchy.

It's been some time since we last featured Artificial Pleasure they return with 'Side By Side Together' a hook laden and vocally led alt rocker that is the first taste of their new album due next year. 

Mr Ben & The Bens have released a video for their recent single 'Transmissions' a sprightly indie pop song and ahead of the forthcoming album 'Who Knows Jenny Jones?' due in October.
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Helga - The Autumn Lament (E.P).

Hailing from the dark forests of Dalarna, Sweden, HELGA re-emerges from the wilderness to release her intense second EP ‘The Autumn Lament’ on September 20th.

Writing from the solitary confines of her cabin with just a guitar for company has given Helga’s songwriting a unique sense of introspection. Employing an eclectic blend of pop, metal, post-rock, goth, folk and classical influences to devastating effect, Helga tells us that the new songs are:

“a musical translation of my inner and physical world. I personally love reverb-drenched music and sounds, drawing inspiration from my dream world, the misty forests, and Swedish folk music.”

In a time when the environment is ever more under threat, it’s only natural that meditation upon the state of the world, while full of beauty, is tinged with darkness and melancholy.

Opening with the previously released pop-goth destroyer 'Mörker' we are immediately transported into a sinister and engaging landscape. Tribal drums, throat singing a la The Hu and ominous strings soon give way to churning bass and razor edged metal breakdowns, with Helga’s haunting vocal remaining a solitary guide through the dark.

Elsewhere across the 5 tracks on ‘The Autumn Lament’ we find Kate Bush meets Opeth influenced tracks like 'Into The Light' and 'Worlds Apart'.

Proving that despite proudly emerging  from black metal roots, Helga is willing to embrace modern pop and folk elements. Distinctly melodic without giving up it’s unsettling character, it makes for an eclectic, unique blend, and cements Helga’s status as one to watch on the dark pop / nu-goth scene.


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The Handsome Bandit - Believe You Me.

Celebrated as “a refreshingly catchy new band that’s fearless, demands the stage, and charms their audience!” The Chicago Band, The Handsome Bandit discovered its unique cocktail blend of Pop-Rock with a sprinkle of Swing when two creative singer-songwriters merged their artistic passions.

Eric Niequist’s powerful lead vocals and edgy bass riffs weave alongside the intricate piano melodies and warm vocals of Allison Hogan. The Handsome Bandit will have you energized and enthralled with their foot stomping sing-alongs, dynamic ballads, and thunderous anthems!

“Believe You Me” an original work by The Handsome Bandit. This track is progressive Piano Pop/Rock changing tempos and written in compound time. Influencers: Panic!, Fall Out, Queen, Ben Folds, The Dear Hunter


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Artificial Pleasure - Side By Side Together.

Mixing style, art school flair and an arsenal of killer songs, London’s Artificial Pleasure made a strong impression with their debut album ‘The Bitter End’. Earning the support of NME, The Guardian, The Independent, The Line of Best Fit, Dork and Clash, the four-piece inspired references with LCD Soundsystem, Talking Heads and Brian Eno while making music entirely on their own terms.

Now Artificial Pleasure have morphed into 2.0 mode as they drop their brand new single ‘Side By Side Together’. It’s the first taste of their second album which will follow in 2020.

‘Side By Side Together’ represents a confident evolution in Artificial Pleasure’s sonic approach. While it plays on their love of the greats of the Stax Records era, their rich textures of synths ensure that the track looks boldly towards the future rather than merely playing homage to the past. Topped by frontman Phil McDonnell’s charismatic vocal and complemented by vocal harmonies from JYLDA and bass/synths from Sam Mason (of Die Mason Die), it’s anthemic future-soul played with the vibrancy of road-hardy touring band.

McDonnell wrote the song in the back of the band’s tour van while driving through Europe at night. It was subsequently recorded with engineer Moritz Kerschbaumer (Foreign Poetry) in his studio in Hackney Wick, East London.

‘Side By Side Together’ is a love song about friendship and the need for unity and kindness in a world that is progressively getting more fd,” says McDonnell. “The long nights, long drives, the hardships, the fun, the falls and high points of touring all bind us together in a way that goes beyond friendship and they are experiences that bond people for life, regardless of distance.”

Artificial Pleasure’s Phil McDonnell (vocals/guitar) and Dom Brennan (synths/production) are life-long friends. By the time they were adults, their individual projects didn’t share much common ground: Brennan was producing ear-bleeding electronica while McDonnell was playing the hugely demanding repertoire of Frank Zappa in a touring cover band. But friendship and a shared passion for music overcame such expectations, and they recruited jazz/funk specialist Lee Jordan to provide the grooves to complete their vision for Artificial Pleasure.

Renowned for their inventive visuals, especially on ‘Wound Up Tight’ which pushed McDonnell’s endurance to the max, Artificial Pleasure also gained respect for their theatrical life show - a confrontational mix of Sid Vicious hedonism and Bryan Ferry suave.

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Mr Ben & the Bens - Transmissions.

Mr Ben and The Bens share the video for their recent single "Transmissions", taken from the forthcoming album Who Knows Jenny Jones? which is out on 25 October via Bingo Records. Mixing psychedelic indie-pop with funky Chic-style bass-lines, the song is a danceable cosmic disco number. The video follows Ben as he dishes out free basslines to the unsuspecting public of Sheffield.

"Transmissions" is a pivotal track on the album, which is the story of a shrinking violet called Jenny Jones in 1970s Sheffield. The song is about Jenny’s abduction by aliens in a graveyard where the aliens impart disco knowledge to her through signals transmitted via a sensory deprivation tank.

Mr Ben and The Bens is the brainchild of polymath Ben Hall. The record is an experimental pop exploration of a kitchen sink narrative with a celestial twist. Originating from Lancaster’s thriving co-operative scene (home to The Lovely Eggs among others), Ben is now based in Sheffield and his adopted city has had a profound influence on the concept of the new album.

Mr  Ben and The Bens head out on tour in October, starting in their hometown of Lancaster and ending in their adopted city of Sheffield.

On Tour in October:
Fri 25 October: Lancaster - Yorkshire House
Sat 26 October: Huddersfield - Northern Quarter
Sun 27 October: Newcastle: Cumberland Arms
Tue 29 October: Manchester - Gulliver’s
Wed 30 October: Nottingham - Rough Trade
Thur 31 October: Cardiff - The Moon
Fri 1 November: London - Sebright Arms
Sat 2 November: Sheffield - Delicious Clam.


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Lucie Tiger - Hollywood - Jordan Mackampa - Shhe - Winola Oak - Between Suns feat. Crudded Badz

Lucie Tiger shares the A and B side for her new single namely 'Apple Tree' and 'Baby Don't You Go'. The singer songwriter delivers a fresh sounding mixture of folk and country rock, her vocals are upbeat and melodic and the musical arrangement just right for these two tunes.

Opening with their new single 'Parachute' Norwegian three piece band Hollywood have just released their new album 'Close To You'. Quoting their promo for the album "Close To You” is a record full of guilty pleasures, grandiose choruses and cinematic lyrics wrapped in a sound of 80s and 90s alternative pop". It's a very honest description making my life easy, it's also an album worth hearing in full.

Back in 2017 we featured Jordan Mackampa a couple of times and it is a real pleasure to share a new song from him entitled 'What Am I'. Beautifully arranged and allowing Jordan's incredible vocals to shine, this is a timeless soulful song, I really hope it's not too long until we hear more from this very talented artist.

It's just four weeks since we first featured Shhe who returns today with another captivating song entitled 'Emma'. We described the previous track (Saint Cyrus) as "refined and dreamy" and this piece progresses from there adding atmosphere and feeling to her increasingly impressive repertoire.

Winola Oak has already gained our attention in a big way twice this year, firstly with a stripped down version of her debut single (He Don't Love Me) and then last month with 'Break My Broken Heart' a song that has attracted huge attention. She returns with both a stripped version and a live one for this fabulous track.

Between Suns feat. Crudded Badz share a fine video for 'Fractured Life'. The feisty vibe and mixture of genres are equally matched by the music video, on paper I am far to old for a song like this, but it is just so catchy and imaginatively produced.
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Lucie Tiger - Apple Tree / Baby Don't You Go.

Lucie Tiger is excited to release her newest single Apple Tree and its B-side Baby Don’t You Go, two songs that show her reverence for decades gone by while staying fresh and modern in a world that desperately needs more love.

Recorded and produced at Delta King Studios in Sydney (The Middle Kids, Dean Lewis, Guy Sebastian), Apple Tree is a glorious melting pot of slide guitar and organ, delivering flashbacks to when Dylan went electric mixed with Australia’s newest export, The Teskey Brothers. Meanwhile, Baby Don’t You Go is an ode to those in love and those who want to be in love with soaring vocals grounded by barn dance drums and stunning piano lines.

‘Apple Tree paints a picture of a beautiful place in the countryside,’ explains Lucie Tiger, ‘all it needs is the love of your life to show up and it’ll be perfect. Baby Don’t You Go is a classic love song but with an old-school blues twist right at the end.’

After releasing the single, Lucie Tiger will be heading over to the United States to tour Chicago, Nashville, Muscle Shoals, Memphis and Clarksdale - cities and towns that mean so much to her, inspiring and almost magical places. Especially when it comes to Clarksdale, where Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil. As well as playing shows, Lucie will also be recording in some of the most famous, historic studios in the history of modern music - Sun Studios in Memphis (made famous by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, as well as Chris Isaac, more recently) and FAME Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals (which has hosted the Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, the Allman Brothers, not to mention Tim McGraw and the Dixie Chicks in recent years) to name a couple.


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Hollywood - Close To You (Album).

Norwegian three-piece Hollywood is the new consummate of, until recently, solo artists; Billie Van, Jonas Alaska and Mikhael Paskalev. Like their collective namesake suggests, the band invokes not only a hallmark of dreams for the aspirational through equally dreamlike compositions, but also the melancholy and heartbreak of the most that don’t ‘make it’. Unironic and unabashed panoramas of late-80s high-school romance sheen with nostalgia, while some tracks reveal cinematic melodramatics, painting the full-length with a range of conceptual textures.

New Single ‘Parachute’ crawls like a Cigarettes After Sex-esque alt-rock ballad, beginning with vintage harpsichord synthesisers which act as a central theme to the track. And meeting with a delicate fervency, the softly spoken tones of Alaska move from the monophonic, to the polyphonic when fellow band members harmonise and craft a draft of sound.

The project is the result of a creative excess amongst three close friends. After contributing to each other's solo successes for the last decade, the time was finally ripe to begin blurring their boundaries and discover a bolder, more playful approach to their songwriting.

The band was conceived around the same time they set up their own record label ‘Braveheart’ and studio in Oslo. A fresh vehicle for their own individually established artistic careers as well as their newest collective pursuit.

“Close To You” is a record full of guilty pleasures, grandiose choruses and cinematic lyrics wrapped in a sound of 80s and 90s alternative pop. The new record is produced by the band themselves over a period of two years, and mixed mostly by their own Mikhael Paskalev. The result is an unusual and interesting voyage, which takes many turns between different styles of songwriting and production. Hollywood has been playing some of Norways key festivals already, such as Villvill Vest and Øya. This autumn they will tour Norway’s largest cities with a more intimate concert experience.

Hollywood release ‘Parachute’ and their debut album ‘Close To You’ on the 20th September via their own label Braveheart.

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Jordan Mackampa - What Am I.

Jordan Mackampa steps further into his true self with 'What Am I'. The questioning single is executed with soulful resilience against a backdrop of resplendent horns, harmonious percussion and orchestral strings - and if you listen closely - a funk undertow.

It's the kind of song that sweeps you off your feet, carried by Mackampa's powerful-yet-amicable vocals reminiscent of Lianne La Havas .The zenith of the track, around the three minute mark, is especially poignant as the songwriter pivots between uplifting instrumentation and his own sense of unknowing. He repeats’ "what am I supposed to do?" capturing the feeling of a generation, lost. As the track comes to an end, Mackampa leaves us without an answer, left to ponder the question on everyone’s lips. ‘What Am I’ was produced by Dani Castelar (Paolo Nutini).

Sarah Speaking on the track, Jordan quotes: "What Am I is a modern take on Marvin Gaye’s classic ‘What’s Going On’, highlighting the state of the world right now, from multiple wars in different territories; how the earth is dying, to the border control problem & how it’s been dealt with. It’s a lot of ‘hopes and prayers’, changing of display pictures to blue, but all trickling down to a stop soon after, as it’s no longer in the forefront of the media.

I wrote this song in the mindset of how I need to do more but don’t know how because I am only one man, trying his best to make change within the means available."The London based soul singer is the combination of his Congolese roots and midlands upbringing. His soul soaked, indie driven tracks swim in the sounds and stories of the cities he’s inhabited over the years. Inspired by his mother’s love of the great soul singers, Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers and Curtis Mayfield, Jordan combines his timeless vocal with catchy melodies and heartfelt lyrics to create an exciting hybrid of alternative pop and soul which will enchant and uplift in equal measure.

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Shhe - Emma.

Scottish-Portuguese artist and producer SHHE has today shared a brand new single taken from her forthcoming self-titled album. Emma is a pulsing reflection of an unhealthy relationship. SHHE is the alter-ego of solo artist Su Shaw, a captivating songwriter who wraps carefully constructed electronic soundscapes around delicate yet self-assured vocals. The artist’s upcoming self-titled debut album tracks a period of intense personal change, due for release 11th October on One Little Indian Records.

The musician only had to release one single, Eyes Shut (which premiered on Dazed), to find herself signing a record deal with One Little Indian Records and opening for Kathryn Joseph on her February UK tour.

"This is not a song about unrequited love. It’s about something that feels more destructive" said SHHE. "There’s an internal drone that you hear from the beginning, this constant reminder, an uneasiness. It feels a bit symptomatic of motion sickness. It's overpowering. And there are all these mixed messages, this confusing build up of hopefulness and hopelessness.

"It’s about a relationship that is unhealthy. You still have unanswered questions and you’re still trying to make sense of everything. The track is about the aftermath of that. It’s about letting go. It's about seeing things how they really are. It’s about reclaiming strength through that process."

To question her own identity, SHHE had to first deconstruct it. This involved leaving her former life in Fife, including her relationship, and relocating to Dundee, where SHHE found herself in the company of creatives – dancers, musicians, visual artists – who helped to widen her musical vision. One of those people was photographer Harry Clark, who was also a dancer with Scottish Dance Theatre at the time, and who collaborated with Shaw on her first outing as ‘SHHE’ on the attention-grabbing single Eyes Shut. Incorporating visuals in the form of contemporary dance gave Shaw a wider understanding of how other mediums could impact and enforce the message of her work; the video for the single told the story of a love affair and a journey of self-discovery between two male dancers.

SHHE has found herself on the precipice of unlimited creativity and she’s ready to dive in headfirst. Her debut record is only the beginning of this journey.

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Winola Oak - Break My Broken Heart (Stripped / Live Versions).

Swedish born, LA-based artist Winona Oak releases a haunting stripped version of new single “Break My Broken Heart” via Neon Gold Records / Atlantic Records. Earlier this week, Winona Oak shared the live piano performance video.

Winona Oak about “”Break My Broken Heart”: “You have to be brave to love someone with all your heart. But the biggest risk in life is to not take any risks at all. As long as we’re breathing, what’s one more scar?”

Born and raised in the Nordic forests of Sweden on a small crop of land called Sollerön - known as the Island of the Sun - Winona Oak is every bit as enchanting as her origin story. With a childhood spent encountering more animals than people, she grew up a trained horse acrobat and pursued creative expression however she could, writing poetry and songs from a young age. Born into a musical family, Winona sang throughout her youth and began playing violin at 5 years old and piano at 9 years.

After moving to Stockholm to pursue her passion for music, a leap of faith to attend Neon Gold Records’ writing retreat in the Nicaraguan jungle in 2017 led her to Australian electronic maestro What So Not. She would go on to co-write his next two singles "Better" and "Stuck In Orbit", eventually stepping into the spotlight as both the writer and featured artist on his 2018 single "Beautiful" HERE, which took home the 2019 AIR Award for Best Independent Dance Single at the Australian Independent Music Awards.



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Between Suns feat. Crudded Badz - Fractured Life.

Following last year’s extraordinary debut single, Sun Ra, with its eye-frying psychedelics and glam strut, their brand new single is Fractured Life, a song about life on the road which in the space of three-and-a-bit minutes hits disco, hard rock, grime and ends up somewhere hot and exotic.

Featuring grime artist, Crudded Badz, the track showcases Between Suns’ universal appeal; where grime and rock have met to form a relationship that stands as a testament to both worlds.

Produced by music legend Nick Tauber (Thin Lizzy; Marillion; Toyah), their disregard for convention and expectations set them apart as one of the most exciting rock acts in years. The combined talents of songwriter and guitarist, Paul Lisak and astonishing vocalist Nausicaa, no reference points will make sense, yet your mind will try to compute some order to their kaleidoscope of musical freakery – Jimmy Page sharing a house with Judy Garland; Boney M scrapping it out with Jimi Hendrix; Abba joined in marriage to Ravi Shankar by Reverend Ice Cube. Forget everything you’ve ever heard – Between Suns are the real deal.

Detroit – New York – Seattle – Leytonstone. The new music hub of the world is in East London and it’s all wrapped up in one band. Fine artist and guitar virtuoso, Paul Lisak and French operatically trained chanteuse Nausicaä met despite circumstances seemingly conspiring to keep them apart. Signed up to an online company designed to pair up singers looking for musicians, Paul was not even in the market for band mates and was in the habit of deleting the daily deluge of email notifications as soon as they hit his inbox. For reasons unknown, on this particular day, he deleted all but one. Days later, he opened it to find a young French girl looking for a band - a classically trained singer who had left France for London and the music scene which had provided so many of her favourite artists, despite being unable to speak a word of English. Their united determination to challenge the norm through their art led to an extraordinary musical relationship which over three years and the expert stewardship of the legendary producer, Nick Tauber is finally ready for the world to taste.


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The Locals - Pat Tierney - MIMICO - Jolene Dixon - Camp Howard - Kid Creole and The Coconuts - Dead Naked Hippies

The new album from Chicago's The Locals is 'Minutes, Seconds, Degrees'. The band waste no time, in getting into some full on alt rockers, the energy matched by impassioned vocals and slick and solid musicianship and the hooks flow constantly throughout the album.

From Australia we have Pat Tierney and 'My Sweet Love' a beautiful folk roots song where his melodic vocals simply shine.

MIMICO have shared a video for 'Common Tar', a song where the synths and vocals flow intrinsically together as the guitar and drums add further momentum.

Jolene Dixon has a video for 'Dreamer' where her fabulous vocals and instinctive Americana song-writing sensibilities are both notable to say the least.

Indie rock band Camp Howard latest song 'Swimming At Night' has a catchy nature as the melodic vocals and striking harmonies stand out as the understated musical backdrop allows them centre stage.

We have the latest single and video form Kid Creole and The Coconuts entitled 'Checkin' My Colonies'. It's something of a departure from the music of his eighties heyday nonetheless it's a really fine song and worth the share.

Dead Naked Hippies alt rock style is feisty on 'Eyes Wide' a song that exudes determined passion and some powerful rock hooks.
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The Locals - Minutes, Seconds, Degrees (Album).

The Locals have been a part of the Chicago music scene for over a decade and have toured extensively in the States and performed dates in the UK. They have played marquee stages and music fests all over the US including Summerfest (Milwaukee, WI), YouBloom (Los Angeles, CA), Dewey Beach Pop Fest (Dewey Beach, DE), MidPoint Music Fest (Cincinnati, OH), Halsted Market Days (Chicago), Chicago Pride, House of Blues Chicago, Double Door, The Metro and Schuba’s Tavern.

The band’s new album Minutes, Seconds, Degrees was recorded by Steven Gillis at Transient Sound in Chicago and follows the EPs Stereostatic Funicular (2013) and Salt (2010).

The last few years have been marked with personal tragedy for lead singer/songwriter, Yvonne Doll that has taken her out of the music scene. The death of her best friend (killed by a drunk driver) inspires many of the tunes on the new album. Yvonne was also diagnosed with Meniere's Disease, an incurable inner ear disorder that has made it difficult to play music.

She has fought her way back through tragedy and health issues and is now very excited to return to the stage and deliver this deeply personal music. The new album, Minutes, Seconds, Degrees chronicles the depths of the human experience, deep sadness, overwhelming love, fear and triumph.

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Pat Tierney - My Sweet Love.

North Coast NSW based lap slide guitarist and roots troubadour Pat Tierney embraces a tender, ruminative reflection on love and loss with his latest album Red Moon and an accompanying national tour. Dark folk overtones and a weissenborn guitar acts as the seed of the album, driving the songs to come together.

'Tierney was tight and accomplished as he brought his brand of roots to those starting their Friday night early. I’d definitely look at investing some time into discovering Pat Tierney.' The AU Review

Embodying that folk and roots space with a little bit of soul Tierney is a true songwriter and poet, bringing an old school approach with modern tales of love, loss, hope and social justice. Having recently returned from his U.S. tour through California and San Francisco Red Moon marks a turning point in Tierney's development as an artist.

“I’ve dived pretty deeply into my being to present these songs. It was just time to strip some of those shields and walls away that we all tend to put up. I got to a point where, I knew if I was going to be a genuine, real singer-songwriter with something to say, I had to lay it all out and show more of myself. The recording process really taught me a lot about who I am and where I want to take my music. It’s been a blessing.” Pat Tierney

Recorded high on a mountain top amongst the beautiful hinterland of the Sunshine Coast, the new album dives deeply into the earthy folk tones of Bob Dylan and Neil Young whilst shining a brighter light on Tierney’s signature slide guitar sound and unique voice. Produced by roots music maestro Pauli B, the album was recorded over the past 18 months at Yama-Nui Studio and will be the follow up to Tierney’s 2015 debut album, Wild World Blues.

Red Moon follows a big 12 months for Tierney, who recently embarked on his debut shows in the United States, supported the likes of Aussie rock legend Russell Morris, roots-reggae lords, The Beautiful Girls, and released the first two singles from the upcoming album to great success with features on Double J, Triple J and the 2019 Surfline film ‘The Art Of Scoring’.


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MIMICO - Common Tar.

MIMICO shares their new video "Common Tar". Their album Hi-Action is due out October 25th on Hand Drawn Dracula. Check out the video premiere here.

MIMICO is an interstellar trio formed in Toronto in 2011 comprised of Ben Oginz, Jeremiah Knight, and Nick Kervin. Named for a Toronto suburb, they traffic in an expansive brand of psychedelic, synth driven post-rock. Their forthcoming record, Hi-Action, combines the influences of film music and prog with a homegrown Sci-Fi mysticism.

Produced by Justin Small of the Juno award-winning instrumental band Do Make Say Think, Hi-Action features cameos from violinist Laura C. Bates (Volür) and vocals from Ida Maidstone (Hush Pup). Recorded partly at the legendary, countryside Bathhouse Studio during a sweltering heat wave and later, during a polar vortex in Toronto at Palace Sound, the warm analog sound of Hi-Action features heavy use of Mellotron, vintage synthesizers, and searing guitar tones. Moving from one hazy extreme to the other, Hi-Action travels the zig-zagging trajectory of the band’s sound.

The crushingly heavy space-motorik trio’s live performances have earned them direct support invitations from King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Preoccupations, Do Make Say Think, Protomartyr, and Metz. Mimico’s Hi-Action will be released worldwide the fall of 2019 via Hand Drawn Dracula.


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Jolene Dixon - Dreamer.

Jolene Dixon is a genuine American Singer Songwriter talent born and raised in Franklin, Tennessee. The daughter of the Donivan Cowart the celebrated Country Songwriter and Recording Engineer who helped give us timeless music from the likes of Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell (just to name a few).

Jolene grew up in a truly musical enviorment and began singing and harmonizing with her sisters and musician parents from a very tender age. Jolene spent countless hours as a guest in her Fathers studio soaking up the sounds and magic during sessions with some of Country and Americana music's greatest legends. As one can imagine it all made a lasting impression and Jolene began expressing her own experience creatively through song.

Simply put Dixon is a natural, her songs and voice are as rare and unique as they are classic and time honored.  The combination of both traditional and modern influences both musically and geographically helps create a sound that is a well brewed cocktail of great Americana. There is a duality in Dixons voice that is equal parts innocent and seasoned. Her songs seduce the listener with beautiful vuenerablity, honesty and a genuine optimism that celebrates and soothes the broken hearted. The classic autobiographical story telling that we've all come to love and expect from Country does not dissapoint in Dixons songs but they certainly aren't limited to that framework.

As an artist who divides her time between Tennesse, New York and California it is not a surprise that this unique cultural synthesis is also reflected in the sound of the music. Currently putting the final touches on her debut LP with Producer, Songwriter, Musician extrodinare Kyle Krone at the helm, expect to hear and see great things from this promising new talent in the very near future.


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Camp Howard - Swimming At Night.

Camp Howard is an indie-rock quartet based in Richmond, Virginia fronted by songwriters Nic Perea and Wes Parker, and backed by Matt Benson and Brian Larson.

The band composes songs in both English and Spanish (courtesy of Perea - who is Mexican). The group released “Juice EP” in May of 2017 through Egghunt Records.

In May of 2018, the bands efforts were rewarded with a support tour opening for Stone Temple Pilots. Camp Howard has continued to tour and grow with an emphasis on tight musicianship and honest self-expression. The band is currently preparing to self-release a new full-length record in the fall of 2019.

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Kid Creole and The Coconuts - Checkin' My Colonies.

80s legend Kid Creole, with 4 decades of worldwide hits with his band, The Coconuts, including 'Stool Pigeon', 'Annie, I’m Not your Daddy' and 'I’m a Wonderful Thing Baby', the Sultan of Suave, the High Priest of Hip and the Prince of Pizazz is proud to announce the release of his latest single, 'Checkin’ My Colonies', on his own label 2C2C, a home for both his own music and for those who refuse to be categorised and pigeon-holed.

Having introduced Latin, Calypso and Jive to a brand-new audience, crossing genres and breaking boundaries throughout his career, his new single sees him teaming up with two of his sons, Dario (aka Youngr) and Lorne (aka Lornae), a scintillating, oozing, electronically tropical slice of Creolism which sees Kid still at the top of his game.

'Checkin’ My Colonies' sees Kid Creole with a luxury of extended time in the studio alongside Youngr and Lornae, a far cry was his days in the 80's where everything had to be 100% completed before entering the prohibitively expensive studio. Kid himself explains:

“I told them that my way of working was not to create lyrics or melodies on the spot in the studio. This was based on my training from the old days - studio time cost money. The place to write lyrics and develop melodies was at home, where time was free. But the NEW BREED didn't care about such things. It was their studio and they could care less how long it took to come up with the goods.

To make a long story longer, we worked together for 12 hours. I wrote the lyrics, despite Lorne telling me "You're better than that" every time he disagreed with a line. I contributed to the melodies against all odds. I suffered abuse heaped on top of abuse. They dissed me left and right about my choices:

"Dad, that's old school! You gotta sing it like this" or "We got to auto-tune that line, Dad, you're out of tune!"

After 12 hours, I was ready to slap one of them. But I liked the results. Lorne insisted that the track wasn't finished. He wanted to put another 12 hours into it. I refused. To this day, even after the song was mixed and prepared for release, Lorne says "It's not finished!" Luckily Dario agreed with me. Not only was it finished, it was great.

I love the song and I love the animated video that was done by Dario's friend, Emrah Tumer. Sometimes a struggle is necessary to achieve greatness. I still have the scars to prove it”.


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Dead Naked Hippies - Eyes Wide.

Relentless, punchy alt-rock outsiders Dead Naked Hippies return with exuberant new single ‘Eyes Wide’ on 20th September. A coming of age, outsider anthem, ‘Eyes Wide’ opens with stark guitar stabs before frontwoman Lucy Jowett takes centre stage with a bold, confident & striking vocal. The track builds into a huge chorus, culminating in the hook “With eyes wide, I am not blind.” It’s a huge statement of intent from the Leeds based band, showing they are ready to take arms.

‘Eyes Wide’ was produced & mixed by Grammy & BRIT Award nominated producer Tom Dalgety (Pixies, Royal Blood, Rammstein), & mastered by Grammy nominated engineer Robin Schmidt (Placebo, The Black Keys, Pale Waves). It is the follow up to visceral single ‘Young Male Rage’ which gained support from BBC 6Music & The Independent.

Frontwoman Lucy explains; "Eyes Wide is for the outsiders, the pieces that don’t quite fit the puzzle, those growing up & growing wiser but not by societal norms or expectation, instead blossoming in their own beautiful way. For those making their own shapes, decisions, perspectives, words and waves in their own time & seeing the world through their own eyes. 26 years in and I’m not the person the child or the teenage me thought I would be, or should be by expectation. No shame. Eyes Wide is a celebration of it.

I spend a lot of time trying to make sense of our modern world, so these themes always end up creeping into Dead Naked Hippies songs. So much time is spent communicating & consuming in the digital world now, it can be easy to look at what we see of people on the internet and make assumptions about their life, happiness and compare our own when what we’re looking at doesn’t even touch the sides. I’m a culprit of doing this and knowing what it’s like to be on the receiving end I would never want anyone under the impression that I or our band has it all figured out cos that is definitely not the case. Eyes Wide is an ode to imperfection in this sense, and I’m so passionate about keeping things real and opening up about mental health. The relationship we’ve built with our audience is really important for that."

It was their first time working with renowned producer Tom Dalgety & Lucy continues; “We approached the production similarly to the sentiment of the track, capturing each element at its purest & punchiest. We make a lot of noise for 3 people as a live band, which is where we feel most at home so it was very important for us to capture this on the record, & (producer) Tom was integral to that, leaving us with a track we’re extremely proud to share."


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bdrmm - Madame Psychosis - Faultress - Very Good - The Electric Arch - Kacy & Clayton - Portland

bdrmm first appeared here in October last year and the new song 'Shame' makes for a refreshing return as the mixture of lighter shoegaze and to use their expression ugly pop, works so well together.

We have previously shared a couple of songs from Madame Psychosis and the opportunity to present the new album 'Survivor' is to good to pass up on. The band mix alt pop and indie rock together with clarity and passion, they are quite open about their musical influences, yet manage to present a distinct and very fine sound.

There are a couple of songs to hear from Faultress namely 'Marilyn' and 'Beating Heart'. Both are notably different, the vocals give some continuity, however the creativity and delivery is outstandingly good.

Sean Cronin the man behind Very Good has also shared a couple of tracks recently with 'Ghost Warning' and 'Adulthood' showcasing his off the wall creativity. Genre defying and veering towards experimental at times, there is something quite likable about these songs, I just haven't figured out what it is yet.

We have the debut single from The Electric Arch entitled 'Crisps & Crackers'. What starts out as something of an alt pop piece slowly drifts into a psychedelic fusion of sounds, the slacker rhythm keeps it on track as the song becomes rather addictive listening.

Kacy & Clayton are back for a third time this year with 'That Sweet Orchestra Sound' where the psych folk duo are more country and folk orientated on this beautiful and melodic song.

Portland share 'Killers Mind' where the Belgian singer-songwriters Jente Pironet and Sarah Pepels deliver a sublime pop song with gorgeous dual vocals, it's our second feature for them, hopefully there will be more.
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bdrmm - Shame.

bdrmm combine a flair for weaving together dreamy sonic textures and introverted small-town sketches, channelling hazy adolescent disconnection into a washy synthesis of Beach House, jangly slackers DIIV and otherworldly shoegazers Slowdive. They’ve found a kindred spirit in cult shoegaze label Sonic Cathedral (Spectres, Lorelle Meets The Obsolete, Echo Ladies), to whom the Hull based quintet have signed.

Their first release is the ‘If Not, When?’ EP on October 11th – a tying together of their acclaimed slacker-shoegaze gems thus far, led by brand new single ‘Shame’. Retaining most elements of their signature sound, ‘Shame’ also introduces some post-punk components – staccato vocals, and hypnotic rhythms giving the track a purposeful drive. It relays a relatable theme, as vocalist and songwriter Ryan Smith explains:

“’Shame’ is about the heartache of having to tell someone you care about the most that being together can’t work, for whatever reason - having to be the person who takes it upon themselves to do the right thing, even though it feels so wrong.”

Releases from the band so far have caught not just the attention of Sonic Cathedral, but of numerous tastemakers in The Line of Best Fit, MTV, So Young, and DORK. As well as this, Radio 1’s Huw Stephens and BBC 6Music’s Steve Lamacq & Jon Hillcock are big fans, and John Kennedy invited them on for a Radio X live session, with pedigree coming in too from Andy Bell of Ride on his Boogaloo Radio show and Simone Marie of Primal Scream on Soho Radio.

Live invitations have become bigger and bolder, supports with Trudy & The Romance, Her’s, Gengahr and Horsey, as well as capacity sets at Tramlines, Gold Sounds and especially a chaotic, raucous homecoming show at Hull’s Humber Street Sesh making bdrmm exciting stalwarts on the live indie scene.

The band worked with Alex Greaves (Working Men’s Club, The Orielles, Heavy Lungs) to bring their self-styled ‘gross dreamy noise’ to life.

Joining lead singer and guitarist Ryan Smith in the line-up is brother Jordan Smith (Bass), Joe Vickers (Guitar), Daniel Hull (Synth & Backing Vocals) and Luke Irvin (Drums).

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Madame Psychosis - Survivor (Album).

Madame Psychosis is a five-piece alt pop and indie rock band from Toronto. Members include singer Michelle Mondesir, guitar players Bret McCaffrey and Rene Ip, drummer Jaina Tharakan, and bass player Giovanni Paola.

The quintet came together in late 2014 after a conversation at a wedding, where a mutual friend of some of the eventual band members suggested a jam session. This very unlikely jam session resulted in what became Madame Psychosis. Five years later, the band continues to write and perform original music. Though their sound is often compared to Metric or a cross between the Black Keys and Alabama Shakes, the band cites a number of musical influences from an array of genres. These artists include Whitney Houston, Freddie Mercury, The Smiths, Arctic Monkeys, Spoon, Wilco, Pearl Jam, Guns N’ Roses, Smashing Pumpkins and War on Drugs.

The band first made waves with their self-titled debut album, released in June of 2017. Alan Cross, the internationally syndicated host of The Ongoing History of New Music, selected the single "Space Motorcycle" for his weekly Top 11 Playlist in August of 2017. The album was also featured on 94.9 The Rock FM's emerging artist spotlight, Generation Next, in May of 2018. Four songs from the debut album were showcased, including "Space Motorcycle", "Run", "On Top of the Game", and "Mellow". The band supported the album by performing at venues across Toronto, including at the legendary Opera House and the iconic Horseshoe Tavern.

Coming off the heels of this positive reception, Madame Psychosis was invited to perform on the nationally televised segment of Global’s The Morning Show in January 2019. They were also selected to perform at Canadian Music Week in May 2019 and cracked Dropout Entertainment’s Top Picks for CMW 2019. The band also released two music videos in 2019 for “Just Wanna Be Myself” and “Crashing Down”. A third music video for “Kapow” is currently in progress.

Madame Psychosis is now turning their attention to the release of their forthcoming sophomore album, Survivor. They have released three singles from the record. A Journal of Musical Things calls the aforementioned lead single, “Just Wanna Be Myself”, “a fun, upbeat song with sweet yet edgy female vocals”. They followed with “Crashing Down”, which was called “mellifluous magic wrapped in a grungy garage rock exterior” by Odd Nugget. Most recently, “Kapow” drew the attention and acclaim of several writers and playlist curators from around the world. Buzz Music calls it a “heart-dropping anthem”. Lefuturewave refers to it as “a brilliant piece of music”.

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Faultress - Marilyn / Beating Heart.

About ‘Marilyn’/‘Beating Heart’ - The seductive crawl of 'Marilyn' sets a fantastic pace for Faultress's 5 Myths EP. Its dark and minimal tone and stacked vocals underpin an emotionally dynamic vocal performance. But the nature of its seduction is quickly revealed to be a snare. Faultress offers us a different kind of femme fatale, one whose vulnerabilities are centre stage, deconstructing the masculine idea of femininity by showing it as an air-brushed performance for the male gaze:

"Would you love me on a bad day? Would you love me every state I'm in / I am not performing today / No it's not that kind of day. / And I would rather hide me away / Where I can't be your Marilyn." 'Beating Heart' explores the role of the human bonding hormone oxytocin in making us feel closer to each other than we really are. It resists easy-reach hooks, favouring sharp and stylised grooves in its vocal loops and synth bass. An ode to post-coital bliss, 'Beating Heart' is instrumentally as carnal and as naked as its subject matter. 'Marilyn' was named one of the moderators' songs of the year by Fresh Faves.

Faultress is an extinct word for a female criminal, and this musical project is about wearing your unpolished faults and imperfections on your very female sleeve. As an artist, Faultress embodies the challenge to heterodoxy implied in her name, which she wields as a firebrand to write incisive and psychological songs that offer us a look into the complex fragmentation of feminine power, desire and mental health in a rapidly changing musical and cultural world. Faultress's prime influence is Kate Bush, a soul she shares a love of theatricality with - Faultress has a playwriting MA from RADA - alongside a diverse set of influences that includes the likes of James Blake, Aldous Harding, FKA Twigs and Joni Mitchell. Her full banshee show is a six-part girl choir replete with synths and drums. In her solo shows Faultress plays piano and loop stations. With the release of her 5 Myths EP, she reveals herself something of a polymath: lyricist, musician, singer and storyteller employing the full spectrum of her skillset to make unforgettably charged music.

See Faultress live:
26th October - Union Chapel supporting Eska and London Contemporary Voices
8th November -  Headline show at The Laylow, Ladbroke Grove, London.


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Very Good - Ghost Warning / Adulthood.

Adulthood is the third album from Sean Cronin and his project Very Good. A multi-instrumentalist and formally-trained double bassist who is both a composer in the traditional sense and a songwriter in the popular sense, Sean Cronin has worked primarily in the realm of jazz (bebop, swing, New Orleans, modern, etc.) over the last 20 years. But that only tells part of a story that spills forth from Adulthood in rich, naked — and often bitingly funny — detail. In many ways, it's a universal story: You freak out, you drift, you lose your way and you chafe against the pressures imposed upon you by the outside world.

Then, as Cronin discovered, the real challenge begins once you come to realize that the biggest obstacles are actually internal. The age itself may vary, but sooner or later the truth hits. "I got to, like, 28-29," Cronin says, "and it was like 'Oh. I actually know what I'm capable of, but now it's just a matter of what I do with those abilities.' By that point, you know what they are. So then it's about putting them forward in the world."

Therein lies the conflict at the heart of Adulthood.

Now several years (though not quite comfortably) removed from the conflict, Cronin has essentially lived several musical lifetimes in one. From classical piano training as a young child to his first real gig at age 12 playing country music in bars with his father, it was on to punk bands, then the orchestra pit for musicals followed by touring with bluegrass acts, theatrical scoring work, indie rock, collaborations in modern dance, etc.

Musically speaking, Adulthood comprises all of those things. We can readily identify the influences Cronin drew from to create the pastoral folk balladry of "Tree Dreams," the magnificent, opera-esque buildup of indie epic "Without You Around," the funked-up Band-style Americana of the title track, the choral transcendence of "Light's Refrain," etc, etc. with a little bit of influence from both absurdist and classical literature thrown-in for good measure.


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The Electric Arch - Crisps & Crackers.

The Electric Arch shares their debut single "Crisps & Crackers" and announces their debut record Out of Range.

“Crisps & Crackers” immediately sinks into a nodding groove that never lets up, as Marler adds reverbed guitar shimmers, streaky distorted riffs, and a mouthwatering bass solo over a steady, plunky piano lick.  His lethargic, stoned delivery grounds the psychedelic instrumentals to keep things from drifting too far of into the ether, and each respective part is leveled perfectly within the mix. It sounds positively gorgeous and Marler finds just the right balance between exercising his obvious virtuosity and doing justice to the song’s sturdy melodic structure. It’s psych-pop par excellence.

The Electric Arch is based out of Chateau St. Philippe in Bayou St. John, New Orleans. The live version of the band includes James Marler, T-Rey Cloutier and Sir Alex Smudge Smith. Drummer and surf guru Ron Bocian plays with the band on the West Coast while Mr. Binkles the Spider Monkey covers Deep South gigs.

Out of Range features Marler’s compositions, translated, recorded, and produced by vaping enthusiast Matthew Cloutier. Recording sessions took place in the attic of a 1908 double shotgun mansion, with the humble sounds of the past captured through classic gear from the 1960’s and 70’s. These sessions, fueled by fish sticks, beans, beer, and tequila, typically began in the late afternoon and ended just before sunrise. Various friends would drop in to offer philosophical insights around the “cocktail plank”. All sessions were attended by a Hungarian scent hound and a cat of unknown origin.

The 11 songs on Out of Range are short films about disconnection and disentanglement (éloignement et liberté), shot up close or from a distance. Inspired by 60’s French pop, surf music, garage rock, and the wobbly sounds of troubling times, Out of Range goes high, low, and far away…

“Crisps & Crackers” speaks of depression and the universal consolation of comfort food. “Postcard to Celeste” stars a lush artist appealing to his estranged lover to join him in his seaside redoubt. The figure in “Las Ramblas” struts through an urban promenade of feminine beauty, drawn ever forward toward “the little death.” A romantic wanderer dives deep inside a vintage travel poster in “Granada.” “Porcelain Hole” enters the dark forest of a nativist cult, shield in one hand, sword in the other. “Saturday Night into Sunday Morning” celebrates the temporary escape of late night bars and after hours culture. In “Moving to the Islands,” the cynical and affluent flee the mainland in the face of impending disaster. The early morning haiku of “Lullaby (for Donostia)” savors the calm before the world wakes up. Modern war machines pulverize classical architecture in “Lost City.” An adolescent musician aches for his popular ex- girlfriend in “Can’t Stand It.” Finally, “Western Civ” launches a new backwards dance craze.

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Kacy & Clayton - That Sweet Orchestra Sound.

"That Sweet Orchestra Sound" is the new single by Canadian psych-folk second-cousins Kacy & Clayton. The track is taken from the new album Carrying On, which out via New West Records on 4 October 2019. The 10-song album was produced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and recorded by Tom Schick at The Loft, Wilco’s recording studio and rehearsal space in Chicago. The band have announced a UK and EU tour for Jan/Feb 2020.

"That Sweet Orchestra Sound" was written as a tribute to the rural dance bands of the area where Kacy Anderson and Clayton Linthicum's grew up, Wood Mountain, Saskatchewan (population very few). These dance bands referred to themselves as ‘orchestras.’ One such band, the Romansky Orchestra from Fir Mountain, featured Kacy’s Grandpa Carl in their line-up when he was in his teens.

The track was premiered by Clash who said; "Kacy & Clayton are able to reach towards the timeless while delivering something highly individual."

Carrying On follows the international acclaim for their previous records Strange Country (which Q Magazine called “A beautiful album that nudges a classic past into a brave future”) and 2017’s The Siren’s Song (described by Uncut as “Ageless and beguiling. A classic record for this or any other time.”)

Kacy & Clayton's sound is equal parts homespun, coming from a family and community where playing music is an ever present part of social gatherings, and the rare country, blues, and English folk rock they obsess over and collect.  It’s an arresting amalgamation of psychedelic folk, English folk revival and the ancestral music of Southern Appalachia. For Carrying On, Clayton cites as influences: Bobbie Gentry’s Delta Sweete, Hoyt Axton’s My Griffin Is Gone, Cajun fiddle music, and the steel guitar of Ralph Mooney, who played on many of the records that defined the Bakersfield country music scene of the 1950s. Sixties psych has also woven its way into these new songs; Kacy enjoys telling people that they live 250km from the mental hospital that coined the term “psychedelic.”


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Portland - Killers Mind.

Belgian upcoming talent Portland had an amazing summer. The band helmed by singer-songwriters Jente Pironet and Sarah Pepels played Rock Werchter and Pukkelpop and in between they finished their debut album with producer David Poltrock (Triggerfinger, Hooverphonic).

“Your Colours Will Stain”, mixed by Grammy Award winning producer/mixer Eduardo De La Paz (Local Natives, Frightened Rabbit), is set for release on October 18 through [PIAS].

This week they release the brand new single ‘Killer’s Mind’. A story about getting hurt, dealing with it and eventually moving on to better experiences is set against pure pop brilliance.

An ominous synth follows a commanding beat, Jente and Sarah trading verses and finding angelic harmony in a sneaky chorus that’ll warm up your auricle for the remains of the day. It’s dark versus light with some killer hooks. Highly addictive stuff!


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