Sluka - KINLEY - Katie Burden - Emma Charles - Frank Moyo

Sluka have shared 'VIP' accompanied by a video that is a dog lovers dream. Using the expression below the song is beautifully Avant-Alternative and some. === KINLEY has just released her self titled album from which we have 'Tuesdays Child', we shared the song 'Washington' last month and both typify the sheer quality of the album. === Katie Burden has released her 'Edge Of Sleep' E.P we featured the title track a couple of months back and now have the full E.P from this talented & creative artist. === Emma Charles makes her fourth appearance on Beehive Candy with the gently melodic folk pop track 'Connecticut'. === Frank Moyo just released 'Friend Of Mine' which is a refined and very catchy alt rocker.
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Sluka - VIP.

San Diego-based Avant-Alternative Rock artist Sluka and the immersive new music video for single VIP, taken from the full-length album Ready to Connect.

Sluka is a 4-piece alt rock/post-punk project consisting of Lis Viega (drums, vocals), Alexandra Holt (street can, theremin, vocals), Anna Eppink (bass, vocals), and singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Christopher Sluka.

As usual, Christopher Sluka's lyrics here are thought-provoking and metaphorical, observing the human condition with a loving eye and a wry sense of humor.

The Eric Bishop-helmed music video features a strong cast of talented humans and puppies for your gushing pleasure. Message from the Artist: "Visit the nearest shelter and find a pet to rescue YOU!"

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KINLEY - Tuesdays Child.

KINLEY is a talented songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who spent ten years touring the world as a member of the band Hey Rosetta!. When not on tour with her friends, she finds time to write and record her own music.

KINLEY has just released her new self-titled album. The album was produced by Colin Buchanan (Sorrey, Paper Lions). This is her second album working with Colin at The Hill Sound Studio in Charlottetown.

According to KINLEY the process was an easy stating, "we work well together and the recording process flowed nicely. I would bring my songs written in chicken scratch on my notebooks, a bunch of snacks, and after we got all the gossip out of the way we would record. I really love the pop sensibility that Colin adds to songs. He really made them more exciting."

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Katie Burden - Edge Of Sleep (E.P).

Katie Burden's atmospheric art rock has an ineffable, visceral quality to it. Her taste for the theatrical and shamanistic delivery often conjure up the ghost of Jim Morrison but in a modern context, her sound falls somewhere between Perfume Genius and CocoRosie.

After being raised in a small hippy town in Colorado, Burden spent her formative years bouncing around NYC and San Francisco. In 2012 she moved to LA, and after attending a meditation retreat, synchronistically fell in with a group of blue chip musicians including Jennylee and drummer/producer Norm Block (L7, Jennylee, Ghost Recon Breakpoint) who became the catalyst behind her future output. Together they recorded Burden's 2014 debut EP My Blind Eye and the 2016’s full length KP Strange Moon, which garnered overwhelmingly positive press from tastemakers such as Magnet, Noisey, Nylon and Flaunt.

In 2017 Burden moved to Long Beach, composing new material in a house behind a periwinkle fence while studying to become an art therapist. The songs that would eventually come to make up the Edge of Sleep EP were initially inspired by dreams, liberally taking unexpected twists and turns without needing to conform to songwriting norms. “There’s that ancient Toltec wisdom that describes our conscious life as a waking dream that we sort of project into the world,” Burden reflects. “Edge of Sleep’ refers to an occurrence that shakes one from their waking dream and brings about a new perspective or way of seeing.”

Back in the studio with Norm, the two artists began the process of committing this collection of versatile and inventive songs to tape, looping field recordings, playing handmade bells, and sifting through a sea of tones to find the correct colors to flesh out the songs. The final recordings are like insulated worlds, pregnant with moody little moments and cathartic performances, dark and unusual, brave and innovative. “People tell me that when they listen, it stirs something inside them that they can’t quite put their finger on,” says Burden. “I love the idea that this music is soliciting a hard to define pang of emotion for people.”

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Emma Charles - Connecticut.

On the fourth single taken from her forthcoming EP Connecticut, Los Angeles-based folk-pop singer/songwriter Emma Charles pulls out all of the emotional stops for a heartfelt new song of the same name, that maps out the musician’s journey from her hometown to a new life in California.  One of three new Doug Schadt-produced tracks on the four-track EP (Shaed, Maggie Rogers), “Connecticut” takes a hushed, chiming guitar-based melody that provides an evocative backdrop to the story of her cross-country journey and slowly builds to a gorgeously transcendent crescendo.

The Connecticut EP was released digitally on February 21 on Sky Records, the pop unit of the Resilience Music Alliance. It is the follow up to her recent singles “You” and “Vertigo” (which appears on the recent NOW That’s What I Call Music! 72 as a featured “What’s Next” selection.

Says Charles: “Doug and I wrote this song about my cross-country road trip from Connecticut to Los Angeles in early 2019. The song encompasses my journey from what’s familiar to what’s not, and reminds me to appreciate Connecticut for what it was able to give me. Detailing the car trip literally while emphasizing the underlying appreciation for home and childhood is why this song is one of my favorites I’ve written. Doug was able to channel that emotion with his stunning production, building the track from minimalist to an explosive but tastefully emotional ending.”

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Frank Moyo - Friend Of Mine.

Frank Moyo is a slow player in a fast world. The Canadian-Italian singer, songwriter and guitarist serenades like a busking bard of the 21st century. His Waves EP and singles “OK Dolce” and “West End” have already cultivated a reputation for Moyo in his hometown. But describing the singer as a suave, smooth and sultry voice with soft hands on the strings is too simple. Discussing feeling with the artist is more candid. “I want people to be able to imagine they are on a beach in Italy when listening to my music,” he says. But while one track might take you to the beach, “another may take you into a car going 180 miles per hour.”

Growing up in Toronto Moyo first learned chords as a child, picking up what he could from family, friends and later the live shows he could get into. It wasn’t long until his bandmates and him we’re sneaking into their own performances. With a taste that meanders from Motown to James Brown and Isaac Hayes to Italian icons like Lucio Dalla and Toto Cutugno, Moyo’s sound is hard to pin down. The folk- informed rhythms that Moyo employs on tracks like “OK Dolce” mingle with pop sensibilities and the laws of ancient attraction that seem as rooted in Greek mythology as they do Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues”.

As things speed up in an industry that’s begging to slow down, Frank Moyo is a voice of reason, and it sounds good.

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Fassine - Penniless Cove - Stumbleine

Fassine return here for a fifth time with 'Magpie' a song that sees the trio drifting into a more dream pop orientated mode and doing so with characteristic style and imagination. === We have the new album entitled 'Onion Peel' from Penniless Cove and it really is an impressive collection of quite unique songs, sometimes lighter and sometimes more dark folk in nature, but always consistently special. === Ahead of his seventh album ‘Sink Into The Ether’ Stumbleine has released 'Supermodels' and it's a gorgeous dreamy and melodic affair from this talented and creative UK producer.
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Fassine - Magpie.

Asserting a fierce electronic element to their acclaimed pop formula, London industrial-pop trio Fassine will release new album FORGE on March 27 via Trapped Animal Records & Cargo Records.

Previously released lead album track “Bloom” is the band’s response to the obsession of perceived beauty in perfection. Follow-up single “Magpie”, out today, is a glistening slice of dream-pop which examines the tempting allure of love and acceptance. "A Magpie-type lover and all that comes with it, luring us in to the hope of a beautiful relationship", explains frontwoman Sarah Palmer.

A gripping tribute to the unassuming heroes on the fringes of society, Fassine's new collection is bolder than ever, elevating the London trio’s distinctive take on electronic music with heavier, more aggressive instrumentation. The band has garnered acclaim from The Guardian, The Independent, Clash and more with comparisons spanning Trent Reznor to Berlin-era Bowie.

Since their last release, Fassine’s XTC cover of “That Wave” appeared on the Sky Arts documentary on the seminal band, This Is Pop. Their track “Whatever It Takes To Help You Sleep” played as the backdrop to Netflix’s first feature film “Velvet Buzzsaw”, and ”Leaves” was featured on Oprah Winfrey’s Queen Sugar. FORGE means ‘to create something strong and enduring’. With this new album, Fassine has embodied the grit and grime of their personal heroes and wield an industrial and hard-hitting piece of craftsmanship.

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Penniless Cove - Onion Peel (Album).

London-via-Pembrokeshire songwriter Penniless Cove (aka Phoebe) has always taken a left field approach to creating music. Performing a number of different instruments, her tracks lean on a number of various genres, bringing elements of Folk, Blues, Jazz and Pop together in a unique vision of her own work. Her unique brand of songwriting has led to tours across the UK and Europe in recent years including performances at Latitude Festival and Cheltenham Jazz Festival. She’s also performed alongside Imogen Heap in London and was invited to perform on Radio 4’s influential ‘Loose Ends’ earlier this year.

A music obsessive from a young age, Phoebe studied classical piano growing up in rural Pembrokeshire, before also picking up French horn, guitar and jazz vocals. She performed with a number of orchestras and bands while writing with her sister (who she still writes with to this day). She was a regular on the live circuit in Wales before moving to London to study music and develop her sound further.

I grew up in a pretty but small town with not-so-much to do. I was in all of the music groups I could find, which meant playing as many instruments as possible, including learning the French Horn. As a teenager, I was in a feisty girl band in my friend’s attic and did a lot of hanging out on the beach, singing songs around fires. Although my parents didn’t play instruments, they were really into music from different corners of the world - I remember lots of wild dancing in the kitchen.

She soon found herself releasing music and debuted her EP ‘Out on a Roof’ in 2012. She then followed up with her album ‘Tipped Like Titanic’ in 2016, with each release developing her sound and style in new ways. Her first two releases received support from 6Music, Folk and Honey and BBC Radio 4. Her new album “Onion Peel’ ebbs and flows between haunting pieces of dark folk such as “River Lea”, and satirical songwriting gems such as “Time to Get A Cleaner”. There’s a vibrant honesty throughout the record, that feels as raw, awkward and emotive as the stories she tells. On the new album, Phoebe states:

It’s a break up album - the songs all share similar themes of change, sadness and feeling lost. They highlight moments like being inside an argument (Silence Sits Like a Boom), the feeling of deep longing when you’re trying to sleep (Valium) or wanting something to grow when you’ve invested so much (Petits Filous). With my sister, we drew out the intricate details that make it personal, honest and at times, funny. There are lots of influences in the album. When writing, rehearsing with the band and producing with Tom, I listened to a massive range of music. A lot of folk, jazz, soul, and funk, but also quite niche music from different cultures, so I think lots of those sounds come through.

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Stumbleine - Supermodels.

As the title suggests, UK producer Stumbleine’s seventh album ‘Sink Into The Ether’ offers a deep submergence within a celestial upper region somewhere beyond the clouds. Thriving on the space in between things, ‘Sink Into The Ether’ is chilled, heavenly and thought provoking. It’s another multi-faceted creation of glowing sonic vistas that are set to enrapture in 2020.

The album envelops the listener from the outset with the soft, pitched sway of “Sonder”. The track ebbs through calming shadows, showcasing Stumbleine’s warm, electronic glow and gamut of influences, with hushed hypnotic delayed sounds, vocal samples and snappy beats.

Stumbleine’s skill at blending an array of electronic timbres washes over the largely instrumental record, exemplified in “Supermodels”, with its lo-fi chorus-drenched haze building to an emotional, percussion-driven climax. Here, and scattered about the album, RnB vocals are chopped-up, but glistening a dark, dreamy hue. A cover of the Hole song, “Malibu” features Elizabeth Heaton of Midas Fall. Her delicate, dream-like vocals waft over the hazy instrumental waves like tendrils of smoke, as they both grow ever more desperate, and slowly crash.

Elsewhere on the album tracks like ‘Lost To The World’ come together more immediately with flourishing synths and soaring backdrops overlaid by a heady bass and intricate beats, while ‘White Noise Therapy’ invokes a cinematic Tokyo-set film score peppered with playful soft pianos. “Lost To the World” swings in addictive pitched-vocal punches, circling itself into a spiral. “Your Angel Was Fake” has a hopeful darkness about it, recalling electronic shoegaze and witch house artists of the early 2010s. It scales and then pulls away, at once breathing and stopping, full of blanket synth pads and subtle snaps of percussion.

Also known for his work in post-dubstep trio Swarms, Stumbleine has steadily built a cult of admirers around himself following collaborations across his varied albums and EPs with the likes of ASA, Shura, Violet Skies, Birds of Passage, Steffaloo and more. His sound, if it can be compared to anything at all, straddles post-rock shoegaze soundscapes with ambient electronica and experimental movements into something that can be both an ASMR hug to the ears yet also similarly arresting, fractured and off-kilter depending on which way things flow. As different sounds shift in and out, narratives become clear slowly and disappear quickly throughout Stumbleine’s kaleidoscopic visions. The album will be available on digital platforms, CD and a pressing of 500 LPs on cream vinyl with a free album CD inside.

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Bleach Day - Forever Honey - Villages - Agnes Obel

Bleach Day just released 'bbs in the grass' a song that has a mixture of psychedelic vocal overtones and a creative choice of instrumentation. === Forever Honey share 'Christian' where the gorgeous melodic vocals and harmonies are accompanied by some slick guitar driven pop/rock. === The video for 'Cremation' by Villages enhances the songs story, however it's the mixing of traditional folk storytelling and more modern musical sounds that really does impress and please. === Agnes Obel hardly needs any introduction or support from Beehive Candy however ten years on and she is still testing musical boundaries and with the splendid song 'Camera's Rolling' ensuring that the new album 'Myopia' will get even more attention.
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Bleach Day - bbs in the grass.

Bleach Day released their second single “bbs in the grass” from their forthcoming album as if always, releasing March 6th via Birdwatcher Records.

The band elaborated on the track’s meaning: “‘bbs in the grass’ is the end of a cycle that comprises the full album as if always. A series of musical movements erupting into existence, the track is propelled by a multitrack orchestra of driving percussion, thick bass, hailing piano notes, and twinkling Wurlitzer.

“bbs in the grass” is reflective yet forward looking. “It is the truth learned at the end of a long introspection. It is celebratory, but accepting of the fact that you’ll soon be back in this very same spot - ending the cycle, so it can begin again.”

Their lead single “in limbo” caught the attention of Various Small Flames and Austin Town Hall, among several others, and was featured on this Cottagecore Spotify playlist, which i-D Magazine shared on their story covering the niche cultural aesthetic.

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Forever Honey - Christian.

Forever Honey is the new NYC-based project of Liv Price (vocals, guitar), Aida Mekonnen (guitar, vocals), Steve Vannelli (drums), and Jack McLoughlin (bass.) Finding common ground over a love of jangly, guitar-driven pop of the late 80s and harmony-saturated rock of the 60s, the four draw lyrical inspiration from personal experiences and self-reflection. Forever Honey's debut EP Pre-Mortem High is slated for an April 24, 2020 release.

Pre-Mortem High is the band's personal coming of age story put to music - the sound of girls and boys telling their girls and boys when enough is enough; the moment when sweet nothings whispered in the wee hours become spotlighted by sunlight, revealing holes of truth and promise.

Written on the heels of the band's relocation to Brooklyn, this record covers the anxiety of getting older, the thrill and danger of frivolous summer nights, and the pursuit of honesty. Channeling the clever, no-nonsense spirit of 90's brit pop and the jangly guitars of 80's new wave, Pre-Mortem High is their attempt at capturing the intensity of personal relationships and life in a new city, all within the confines of four songs.

About "Christian" - "Christian:" The song was actually the last to be written for our upcoming EP and came together really quickly...sort of like it's always been there. We were looking for something upbeat, and this was the result right before we went in to record. Writing it also may have subconsciously brought up some things about ourselves and the nature of our relationships at the time.

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Villages - Cremation.

Not many bands can credit a Rankin Family singalong as the impetus for their start. For Villages, it was a catalyst. In the late aughts, traditional music was the furthest thing from the minds of Matt Ellis, Travis Ellis, Jon Pearo, and Archie Rankin. Having left their Cape Breton homes for the allure of the big city, the musicians formed Mardeen – a group steeped in Halifax’s history of melodic pop- rock and anchored in the vein of their musical heroes such as Sloan, The Super Friendz, and Thrush Hermit. Long heralded as one of Atlantic Canada’s hidden treasures, Mardeen amassed heaps of praise from critics and peers alike.

Steadfast, prolific, and revered, Mardeen found themselves looking back on their heritage after an unexpected trip down memory lane. “One late night, a singalong of Rankin Family tunes broke out,” says vocalist Matt Ellis. “I remember saying to the rest of the band that we need to write something that evokes the sound of home.”

Named after an essay penned by Cape Breton illustrator Kate Beaton, Villages was born. Beginning with a song called “Hymn After Hymn”, the group parlayed their newfound appreciation for Celtic and British folk into a four-song EP with the same name. Produced by East Coast icon Joel Plaskett, the output cemented the four-piece as an entirely new entity focused on melding the melodies and lyrical influences of their deep-rooted history with contemporary instrumentation, moods, and sounds.

This turning point culminates on the self-titled Villages full-length. Recorded at their home studio in rural Nova Scotia with producer Thomas Stajcer (Joel Plaskett, Erin Costelo), the record presents a unique take on life in the Maritimes. From the opening ethereal thump of a distant kick drum and chiming distorted chords on “Awakening of Spring,” to the reel- esque drive on “Maggie of the Cove” and “Sarah’s Whistling Tune,” to the country-tinged inflections on “At Your Door,” the eight-song LP tells the story of four young Nova Scotians coming back to their traditions on their own terms. Ringing like a rural anthem, Villages serves as a reminder that while it’s easy to leave.

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Agnes Obel - Camera's Rolling.

“For me Myopia is an album about trust and doubt. Can you trust yourself or not? Can you trust your own judgments? Can you trust that you will do the right thing? Can you trust your instincts and what you are feeling? Or are your feelings skewed?” –Agnes Obel

For almost a decade, Agnes Obel has been one of the most unique and genre-defying artists in contemporary music. Last Friday, Obel released Myopia, her highly-anticipated new album which is out now on Blue Note Records in the U.S. and Deutsche Grammophon in the rest of the world.

The official music video to accompany the album’s opening track “Camera’s Rolling” is now released. Created by long-term collaborator and partner Alex Brüel Flagstad, and featuring the pair’s dog Woody, the video accompanies the themes within the album and continuously follows on from the videos for the albums’ previous singles “Island Of Doom” & “Broken Sleep.”

Following the same principles as with her previous albums (Philharmonics, Aventine and Citizen Of Glass), which she completed as a one-woman project in her own Berlin home studio, Obel has been under self-imposed creative isolation with the removal of all outside influences and distraction in the writing, recording and mixing process. “The albums I’ve worked on have all required that I build a bubble of some kind in which everything becomes about the album.”

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Kate Kelly - Sophie Morgan - Lewin - The Stick Arounds

Kate Kelly has just released 'Quiet as a Mouse' accompanied by a video, the song itself is a gentle, melodic and quite personal indie folk piece. === Sophie Morgan makes a welcome return to Beehive Candy with 'Bar To Bar' following on from 'Marmalade' and again her alt folk is simply beautiful. === Lewin shares 'Sorrow' the third single ahead of her debut album. This is a gorgeous track from the singer-songwriter, the story around it (see below) makes it even more poignant. === The Stick Arounds recently released 'The Singles Club' album from which we have 'Connection' which typifies the quality and refreshing multi genre rock the band deliver.
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Kate Kelly - Quiet as a Mouse

Following up on her promising debut LP The Wonder of It All, Nashville-based artist Kate Kelly is back with "Quiet as a Mouse", a heartfelt new single that reveals another side of her artistry. With her two previous records, New Heartbeat EP in 2016 and The Wonder of it All in 2018 greatly influenced by jazz and soul music, "Quiet as a Mouse" marks a shift in her musical direction. Inspired by artists such as Phoebe Bridgers, Feist and early-career Ingrid Michaelson, Kate Kelly is now exploring a more indie-folk, ambient sound. Her new track could be the artist’s most personal and vulnerable song to date.

"I wrote ‘Quiet as a Mouse’ several years ago as I explored feelings of abandonment after a breakup. It was an all-consuming emotion, one that I felt in my body and in the passing of time. This song became important to write as I learned how much of myself could be regained through being left alone. It is an exploration of being left, leaving, and saying goodbye. There is strength in our endings if we honor the pain" confides Kelly.

The singer-songwriter teamed up with New-Orleans based visual artist Virginia Walcott to create a simple yet powerful black and white music video that adds another layer to the meaning of the track.

"The pain of feeling detached or unwanted in the presence of someone who once felt like home can be paralyzing. For this reason, it seemed obvious to us that the video needed to first create feelings of discomfort, rawness, disillusionment, and fear. But the song doesn’t just address the difficulties of leaving and being left — it takes you on a journey through what it feels like to fall and then rise, embracing a new beginning. There is a turn at the end of the video that sheds light on the joy, freedom, and renewal that exists if you truly move through your pain. You can find that home is not just another person, place, or feeling — it’s also yourself" explains Virginia Walcott.

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Sophie Morgan - Bar To Bar.

Sophie Morgan has announced new single Bar to Bar, which is out now and taken from her Marmalade EP out on 20th March.

Singer-songwriter Sophie Morgan has established a loyal following for her gloriously spellbinding alternative folk sound over the past few years, through the release of two EPs Sons & Daughters and Annie and stand-out tracks Above You and Hey Annie. Over the past year, Sophie has been refining her sound and her new 4-track EP Marmalade was produced at Urchin Studios in London with Matt Ingham (Laura Marling) and features co-writes with Benjamin Francis Leftwich and long-term collaborator Simon Jones (The Verve).

New single Bar to Bar follows recent release Marmalade and is an emotive track, which opens delicately before building to a gloriously upbeat chorus that showcases Sophie’s honeyed vocal perfectly. The track also features vocals from Archie Faulks, who co-wrote the track with Sophie. She says;

"Bar to Bar was the last song written for the EP, right before we were booked to begin recording. All the songs had already been decided but then this came around the corner and we couldn't ignore it. The song is reminiscing on being fourteen and beginning my musical adventures; meeting an older bartender, writing, recording, gigging across the town and falling in and out of love along the way. It was written with the wonderful Archie Faulks who lends his velvety voice to the recording and also stars in the music video."

Born and raised in Cheshire, 22-year-old Sophie began playing piano and songwriting at an early age, after being brought up on a musical education of Nick Drake and Van Morrison and later introduced to Joni Mitchell and Carole King. The influence of her father’s record collection led to recent covers of The Waterboy’s The Whole Of The Moon and The National’s Bloodbuzz Ohio, which is accompanied by a video inspired by the original.

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Lewin - Sorrow.

Lewin is the fresh musical leaf that has been turned by songwriter and musician Jara Holdert. ‘Sorrow’, the third single off Lewin’s upcoming debut album, is the most prophetic of all her tunes of goodbye. A song written while still in a relationship with her love, muse and producer Aaron Ahrends - In ‘Sorrow’ Lewin imagines exactly how her love might leave her; the small signs that point to a slow detachment, then the moving van in the parking lot, and the final scene where he’s gone, only the memory of him left.

Ironically, a year after she wrote the song, it happened exactly like she’d predicted. He moved away to Berlin without much of a warning, and it was a first step in the disintegration of their relationship. She had known it would hurt - in her lyrics, she pleaded to a personified Sorrow to try and be tender with her heart.

Half a year before the break-up, the track was recorded as one live take, to which some organ and backing vocals were added afterwards. It needed to be this way, organic and without a click-track, as Lewin lets her timing follow her story-telling, bringing her band into an emotional dynamic that slowly crescendoes to the refrain. As such, the recording captures the full arc of an musical journey and possesses the raw energy of a live performance.

Only much later did they discover that they had been filmed while playing; Aaron, the man himself, had started filming when they recorded the take. This makes for a very special document; an intimate insight into the recording process, the studio atmosphere and the focus of Lewin and her band around her. But, like in love, he disengaged before she did; Aaron puts the camera down while she’s still singing. We switch to images of a landscape flitting by; footage taken from the train to Berlin.

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The Stick Arounds - Connection.

After the release of their sophomore album ‘Ways To Hang On', The Stick Arounds found themselves with a few extra songs, and some more ideas, not to mention a hankering to continue the recording process with which they had started to find their stride. So what did they do? A single a month for all of 2019, of course! Thus the Hot Singles Club was born.

Twelve months (and 12 songs) later (seven new tunes, three covers, and studio versions of two songs from the band's live debut LP 'Mystery Garage'), they found themselves with a collection that would make a nice little LP. The resulting album highlights the band’s penchant for melody, three part harmony and crunchy guitars. There are sonic nods to Teenage Fanclub, Sloan, Guided By Voices, Yo La Tengo and The Jayhawks, but with an authenticity that could only be The Stick Arounds.

Oh, you'll also find a chimey power-pop spin on a Tom T. Hall classic, a gritty Cheap Trick number and a resurrected Beulah classic. Good stuff.

In short, “Hot Singles Club” is a snapshot of a band at the top of their game that also provides a peek at the record collection that made them what they are today.

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DOLLY ZOOM - Cormac O Caoimh - LIJO - WHOOP-Szo - Teenage Dads - Autre Monde - Chrysalism

DOLLY ZOOM are a synth pop band from Brisbane, Australia and have just released 'I Think You'd Know By Now' a mixture of warm synth vibes and atmospheric vocals. === We have to go back to 2017 for our last Cormac O Caoimh feature however 'I'm In Need' ensures that it was worth the wait, this refined song is our first taste of his new album due in May. === We are always on the look out for fresh creativity and LIJO and her new song 'Stranger Danger' does all of that with the video making for a fine companion. === With a rich expansive sound WHOOP-Szo share 'Amaruq' a gorgeous alt rocker. === From Melbourne, Australia we have Teenage Dads with the upbeat 'Adrenaline Rush' which is full of blissful sixties pop feeling. === Autre Monde share 'Brain Upon Your Pillow' a rhythmic, potent and feisty indie rocker. === North London's Chrysalism has released 'Forget Me' a short, gentle and emotion filled song that just wraps itself around you.
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DOLLY ZOOM - I Think You'd Know By Now.

Four-piece synth-pop outfit from Brisbane, DOLLY ZOOM return with their retrospective and melancholic second single 'I Think You'd Know By Now'.

Staying true to their unwavering brand of psychedelic synth-pop,  'I Think You'd Know By Now', is driven by synths, crisp guitar melodies and reverb vocals. Reminiscent and honest, the song tackles the subject of traversing romantic relationships.

"'I Think You’d Know By Now' tackles the navigation of modern love through its often-confusing landscape. Each line of the song can be understood through two polarising interpretations of affection – innocent, or disconcerting", band member Ed Pascoe explains.

Blending psychedelia with progressive rock, DOLLY ZOOM  create a uniquely tight pop package that draws influence from the likes of Daft Punk, M83, Tame Impala and Porcupine.  After their debut single release in 2019, the synth-pop quartet saw their track 'Easy For You' played across community radios nationally and voted at #29 on 4ZZZ’s ‘Hot 100 of 2019’. In addition, the band's single received a number of plays on triple j's unearthed digital radio peaking to #4 on the Pop Chart and #14 Overall.

Get your ears around 'I Think You'd Know By Now' and keep an eye out for more from the Brisbane band as its set to be a promising journey for DOLLY ZOOM.


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Cormac O Caoimh - I'm In Need.

Cormac will be launching his new album (his fifth studio album in recent years) on May 15th 2020 in the Kino. The new album (Swim Crawl Walk Run) was recorded between 2018 and 2019 with Martin Leahy at the helm. The most ambitious album yet. It features 10 songs, multi-instrumentalist Martin Leahy playing drums, bass, keys and many many more, Aoife Regan on vocals, a string quartet, accordian and big songs tackling a wide varying spectrum of emotions in both a personal and fictional setting. The first single “I’m in need” will be out Feb 21st and the album due for release May 15th.

Now everyone is supposed to say their new album is the best. It is what people do. But Cormac has never said it. This is his 5th album solo (and his 7th overall) and he has never said it. He never thought it. Largely riddled with doubt and insecurity at this stage in an album’s release, his mind normally has moved on to the next album which will be ‘the one’.  Except this time. And he is going to start talking in the first person now too….

It is the first album I actually enjoyed making. I have been playing live with Martin Leahy for over 8 years but this is my first time making an album with him (he has played on other albums). It was a joy. I loved the whole process. It was relaxed, exciting, calm, manic. Everything. And the end product is something I could not be prouder of. The songs morphed and moved and grew during the process and the end result is an album I’m not sure I can top.  It is full of singles. I want to release them all and I can’t wait for the first one to get out there. During the writing of ‘I’m in need’ I did have the simplicity and directness of The Beatles ‘Help Me’ as an influence. ‘Help me’ as a lyric is so fragile and honest and sad…but the song isn’t. The song is catchy and poppy. It works on two levels. I wanted the same for ‘I’m in need’.  I wanted it to have meaning but more so a groove and be catchy. The feeling of the song also evolves. What starts as vulnerable ends up as a celebration of our humanity. We are all in need at times. Our feelings can be shaped by our thoughts. Musically the chorus gets more emphatic and joyful as the song progresses musically demonstrating the power of positivity.

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LIJO - Stranger Danger.

Stranger Danger is the final episode of two-part ‘My Every Part’. It is LIJO’s most upbeat track so far, but with a darker undertone: it narrates about taking pride in who you are regardless of expectations or judgement, but was written to address the lack of true connection.

LIJO: “I feel everybody is on an island or in a bubble more than ever - it definitely is easier to get in touch with people, but in the meantime it is also easier to watch, compare, judge and assume without really connecting.

Though the video is quirky and has a light feel to it, it only represents the sugar coating of a more serious thing - something that I feel is going on a lot these days. I think it’s important to remain both true to yourself and open towards others.”

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WHOOP-Szo - Amaruq.

WHOOP-Szo is a force of nature, sprung from a mixed-blooded experience of Canadian history with deep Anishinabek roots. Thunderous and ground-breaking, harmonious and generative—a WHOOP-Szo show envelops audiences in an emotional weather-storm that dances conscientiously between anger and discipline, frustration and hope.

They tell us about colonial injustice loudly and punishingly, with haunting chord changes and monolithic distortion. They explore the possibility of wisdom and empowerment, with acoustic melodies that calmly find space within crushing layers of politics and sound.

On stage and off, WHOOP-Szo engages communities with a powerful synchrony that invites people to feel and to heal. They are passionate storytellers that knock loudly on the door, and reward you tenfold for inviting them in.

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Teenage Dads - Adrenaline Rush.

A breezy, blissful bop plucked right out of the 60s, Melbourne's Teenage Dads today release the giddy inducing 'Adrenaline Rush' which premiered via Home & Hosed on triple j last night.

Self-made, self managed and incredibly fun live, Teenage Dads have whipped up two EPs and a debut album full of rich, reminiscent melodies over the last two years. Their newest creates a sweet - almost hypnotic - soundscape, packed with charming vocals, honky-tonk piano and groovy basslines,

Exploring a dreamy tale of finding love, vocalist Jordan Finlay explains "Adrenaline Rush is about the head over heels feeling you might get for someone, and how it can feel like something from a dream and completely change an identity"

Teenage Dads' kinetic energy and righteous live shows have propelled the band who recently toured nationally with Lime Cordiale and performed alongside Montaigne, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Ruby Fields and Northeast Party House. Arriving fresh from an appearance at St Kilda Festival and NYE on the Hill Teenage Dads soon join forces with The Moving Stills for a huge regional headline jaunt announced earlier this week. Tickets for 'The Antics Roadshow' featuring Teenage Dads and The Moving Stills are on sale now and Teenage Dads' single 'Adrenaline Rush' is out Now.

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Autre Monde - Brain Upon Your Pillow.

Autre Monde, a band fronted by Paddy Hanna (Girl Band back him on stage as a solo artist) – who’s name comes up regularly when talking to artists in the new Irish scene as a sort of idol to them thanks to him paving the way back into independent music when it had all but died down in the capital, are releasing “The Imaginary Museum” on Feb 28th via Strange Brew Records.

In 2018, they set themselves the task of creating a record to sound like it was made “by a band who were playing esoteric post-punk in 1979 but who are now transplanted to 1986 where a hit is demanded”. On the creation of the track, songwriter and bassist Padraig Cooney explains: "I wrote 'Brain Upon Your Pillow' as a kind of Latin-y folk ballad, all finger picked guitar. It was written in the midst of Autre Monde really finding its feet, understanding what we were as a band, and it was just natural that it would become this groove thing with a hint of desperation and drama.

That Grace Jones Pull Up to the Bumper beat, we'd be happy to play it for hours, so the song stretches out on it a bit before taking its other turns. It's a paranoid song, it's about not sleeping and the threats that torment the character at night. I always picture them as some kind of huckster made good for whom the con is over. It's Uncut Gems!"

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Chrysalism - Forget Me.

North London’s Chrysalism releases gentle, flowing new single ‘Forget Me’ ahead of debut EP ‘Your Name Here’, dropping on March 6th.

AKA Michal Vojtech, Chrysalism embraces everyday melodrama, crafting Lo-fi romantic songs set in a vintage-view futuristic world. He combines low-key RnB inflected indie-balladry with an eye for aesthetic taken from co-ownership of a visual arts collective. This spirit of collaboration is exemplified by Jakob Ogawa’s guitarist Axel Oksby appearing on the recording.

Crafting night-time vignettes as though precisely composing a photograph, ‘Forget Me’ is the latest sonic Polaroid developed in his darkroom. It’s a willowy waltz built around bubbling arpeggios, reminiscent of a lullaby in the way it drifts and becalms. There’s a solemn undertone too, as Michal expresses opaquely:

“’Forget Me’ is about car crashing with your lover at the speed of 130 BPM. It's about those few frames of saying goodbye. Like an old French movie. A small melancholic gesture. A smile. He leaves. This time for good.”

This recourse to cinematic influences is archetypal of the story-lead approach Michal usually takes. He swings from the sombre to the surreal; previous singles have taken on being haunted by the idea of love, Elon Musk stealing his girlfriend away to Mars, cult Japanese actor Tomokazu Miura, or the melancholy travails of a lonely Monday Nite DJ.

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Wilsen - Linaire - Brooke Annibale - Micra

Wilsen return with their new single 'Align' just ahead of the album 'Ruiner'. We have already shared a couple of tracks from the new collection and the latest again promises that we are in for a real treat. === We have to go back to October 2016 for the last time we featured Anna Atkinson, however she is back with her new project Linaire and the beautiful song 'Feeling' accompanied by her rich sounding Omnichord. === Another artist making her third appearance here is Brooke Annibale with 'I Will'. We don't feature that many cover versions but Brooke really does give this Beatles song her own stamp. === Micra have released 'Chemical Freedom' accompanied by a video, the dream pop duo really have created a gorgeous song (and it's welcome back here for a third time as well!).

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Wilsen - Align.

Today, the Brooklyn-based trio Wilsen released a new single "Align" ahead of their new album Ruiner out this Friday, February 21 via Secret City Records / Dalliance Recordings.

"'Align' is about the weight and occasional jolting effect of eye contact. That rare experience when connecting eyes throws you into a narrative," explains Tamsin Wilson. "The song was arranged with drummer Gabe Smith who helped us trim the excess and stabilize dynamics.  His involvement was crucial in our record-making process. We tracked the basics at Douglass Recordings and Johnny’s guitar overdubs at Black Lodge studio, using the original bedroom demo vocal percussion to kick off the song."

For the follow-up to their acclaimed debut I Go Missing In My Sleep, the trio comprised of Tamsin Wilson (guitar/vocals), Johnny Simon Jr. (guitar) and Drew Arndt (bass) partnered with acclaimed producer Andrew Sarlo (Big Thief, Bon Iver) and mastering engineer Sarah Register (Ariana Grande, Protomartyr, U.S. Girls).

For Tamsin Wilson, the album finds her moving towards personal self-acceptance. "I have an inherent shyness," she says. "I'm acknowledging and finding a way with it as I get older." Throughout the record, she comes to terms with her many sides, including her introversion and her inner, self-sabotaging monster to which the album title refers. On "Feeling Fancy," with her distinctively hushed vocals overpowering the track’s clamorous instrumentals, Wilson offers listeners a powerful, and celebratory, declaration that "Quiet’s not a fault to weed out."

"Making this record was somewhat of a coming of age process," Wilson explains. "We're getting older and becoming more deliberate, less precious, less measured. Overthinking less and trusting instincts more."

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Linaire - Feeling.

Linaire is the new songwriting project of Montreal-based singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist, Anna Atkinson. Linaire combines uncluttered electronic beats and ethereal synths with incandescent strings and poetically lucid lyrics to produce music that is at once spacious and full. Like plastic antiques, the songs feel both timeless and contemporary. Born out of Anna’s fascination with simple song forms and economic use of words, the songs explore themes of lineage, identity, time and anxiety.

In 2016, after a decade working as a freelance musician in Toronto, Anna took a break from performing and moved to Montreal. She took French lessons and spent months developing her knowledge of music production and live sound processing. She simultaneously began writing songs, examining the roots of her most debilitating emotions – anxiety, regret and depression. What emerged artistically was something very different from her previous records. Not only lyrically, but also stylistically, not least because of her use of the Omnichord in place of a piano or guitar. With its warm chords and simple beat box, the instrument pulled Anna in the direction of minimal electronic pop, a kind of crossing of Young Marble Giants and Harry Nilsson, two of her most significant sources of inspiration.

In the deep winter of 2019 Anna took ten songs and her Omnichord into a Montreal studio with co-producer and musician, Alexander MacSween (Bionic, The Nils). Three weeks later she emerged with an album that is certainly her most personally gratifying to date. From the very direct opener, Feeling, to the uplifting, Best I Can, and the darker meandering song, Oh Who, the album was made using a variety of synthesizers and drum machines and with an occasional appearance by Anna’s viola. The singing is at times nakedly intimate and at others almost anthemic, with floating layers of unison and harmony vocals. The album travels from beginning to end like a great collection of short stories.

In the last two years, Anna has performed Linaire in cities across Canada and in Japan and has been amassing a growing group of fans. She currently preforms solo and aims to add musicians to her live set as it becomes practical. Linaire’s eponymous album will be released later this year.

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Brooke Annibale - I Will.

Singer-songwriter/guitarist Brooke Annibale has this week released a rendition of The Beatles’ classic “I Will.” The new single arrives just ahead of her debut European tour date.

“I first learned this song over 10 years ago for my cousin’s wedding,” stated Brooke. “My cousin and his then fiancee each chose a song for one another. They kept the songs secret, until I played them during the ceremony as a part of their vows, one song from him to her and one song from her to him. It was a pretty special moment to be a part of. I’ve been covering the song ever since, every once in a while. I thought it would be cool to record and rearrange the song a bit, make it a little darker and dramatic, but still keep the song’s sweet and well, endearing qualities.

Her first ever European tour includes stops in the Netherlands, Germany, France, and the UK. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.brookeannibale.com.

Brooke’s latest album Hold To The Light has been met with critical acclaim from Billboard, Uproxx, The Wild Honey Pie, Under The Radar, and more, featuring production by Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter, Lake Street Dive) and guest musicians Josh Kaufman (The National), Matt Douglas (Sylvan Esso) and Zach Hickman (Ray Lamontagne, Josh Ritter). Brooke is currently writing new material for her next album that she will debut on the upcoming tour.

Tour Dates:
04/15 - Amsterdam, NL @ Cinetol
04/16 - Nijmegen, NL @ Merleyn
04/17 - Cologne, DE @ Wohngemeinschaft
04/18 - Rodenberg, DE @ House Concert
04/19 - Berlin, DE @ Auster Club
04/21 - Paris, FR @ Sofar Sounds
04/22 - Laval, FR @ Le Lardin Bavarois
04/23 - Fontenay-le-Comte, FR @ La Chopine
04/24 - St-Aubin-du-Pavail, FR @ La Grange du Pavail
04/25 - Mellionnec, FR @ House Concert
04/26 - Rennes, FR @ Bistrot Cocagne
04/29 - Winchester, UK @ Railway
04/30 - London, UK @ Slaughtered Lamb.

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Micra - Chemical Freedom.

Sydney's Micra have today released their swirling and euphoric new single, 'Chemical Freedom' via Liberation Records. 'Chemical Freedom' marks the start of an exciting chapter for the rising dreampop duo and is a spellbinding example of their ability to turn a melting pot of influences into their own hallucinatory indie pop perfection.

A technicolor journey through #NSFW chemical-fuelled erotic encounters, the theatrics of 'Chemical Freedom' is presented in a stunning music video directed by Justin Ridler. Having worked in the past with Baz Luhrmann and Iraxta Ansa, Justin perfectly captures the essence of the track using motion capture animation through psych-tinged lens distortion. The song and video arrives as music lovers around Australia continue to battle with state governments over harm minimisation approaches to chemical consumption. Speaking on video, Justin said "I was really interested in Roger Penrose's theory of the fractal universe and I think that plays into the clip. There's also a kind of paradigm shift that's occurring in the contemporary cultural landscape around drug use which I wanted to reflect in the abstract narrative that plays out."

'Chemical Freedom' was recorded at the band's own studio and mixed by Grammy-Award winning producer Ben Allen (Deerhunter, MIA, Youth Lagoon). Speaking on 'Chemical Freedom', Micra said "It's been so frustrating to see the narrow minded attitude of Australian authorities towards pill testing and drug reform. We wanted to shine a light on that and highlight the ways in which the whole issue is actually bringing young people together."

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Horse Lords - Jonathan Emile - Bartleby Delicate - Sour Widows - Lilly Hiatt

Horse Lords impress us with 'People's Park' an instrumental that is original, addictive and accompanied by a figure skating video that works alongside beautifully. === Jonathan Emile new album 'Spaces-In-Between' is featured in full along with a video for 'Try A Likkle More', collectively this is a wonderful mixture of reggae music with so many other genre influences enriching the piece. === Luxembourg artist Bartleby Delicate has a brand new single 'From Top To Toe' which mixes electronic music with a folk based anchor, the result is creative and original. === Described as a bedroom rock group Sour Widows obviously make good use of that particular room space with 'Open Wide' a slow paced track with fabulous harmonies and a close up and personal feel throughout. === It's only February and yet Lilly Hiatt is back with us for a third appearance this year with 'Candy Lunch' ahead of next months 'Walking Proof' album release, this time we have a more gentle and melodic country rocker to indulge upon.
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Horse Lords - People's Park.

Horse Lords have shared a music video for their single "People's Park" from their forthcoming album The Common Task (releasing March 13 via Northern Spy). The song title comes from a public park established by the Young Lords, a Latinx liberation organization. It was built both as a community-run community space and as a bulwark against development on a vacant tract of land in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood, which at the time had a large Puerto Rican population who correctly feared they were being pushed out. A modest utopian project compared to some of the other points on the album's titles' map of socialist modernisms but an inspiring assertion of the public's right to occupy public space.

"The music was an experiment in testing the limits of genre--in this case, reggaeton." says Horse Lords, "The project was approached with great respect for the history, techniques and repertoire of reggaeton, trying to extrapolate from rather than impose upon. The standard drum pattern underwent a process of distillation and recombination (this we must admit was not a minimally invasive procedure), mutating into a tiling rhythmic canon. Reggaeton's links to dub were emphasized in the production, overall the hope being a balance of reverence and playfulness.

The director, Corey Hughes, explains what inspired the video: "There is something other wordly about figure skating. The movements look supernatural, like they are floating in space or a virtual environment. What I really responded to in the track and the choreography is the balance between structured repetitive elements and looser improvisatory elements. I adopted a similar approach for the cinematography of the video, combining more formal static shots with fluid, energetic, and reactionary camera movements. Like the skaters themselves, the movement of the camera fluctuates in and out of sync with the track."

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Jonathan Emile - Spaces-In-Between Album).

Spaces-In-Between features 10 original compositions and was produced by well-known Montreal musician Paul Cargnello (Wesli, Lakes Of Canada, Satellites), along with his brother Christopher.  Two 'pre-release' singles off the album have already been well received by media internationally: the energetic Savanna, and the gospel-folk influenced acoustic ballad Moses.

Now, with his third and most recent release Try A Likkle More, Jonathan’s versatility and creativity continue to shine.  In Jonathan's words, “ Try A Likkle More, is a song about how time and effort equal love. In patois, “a likkle more” or “a little more”, means “see you later” or “au revoir”. In the lyrics, I play on the idea of time and love as a participatory action rather than an emotion or a passive state. Jamaica in itself is a colour filled phenomenological experience. The roots riddim with its easy skank and swaying guitar and bass are set at the speed of rural Jamaica. You can hear the one drop against the slow crash of waves. The guitar melody opens and closes the song like a story book.”

The Try A Likkle More video is an ode to the Jamaican diaspora that explores the concept of family, love and generational memory. Like Savanna and Moses, the video for Try A Likkle More was shot in Jamaica in the parish of Westmoreland, in Savanna-la-Mar (his family’s hometown) as well as in Negril, with a Canadian-Jamaican film crew. The video explores Jamaica and it’s lush abundance of the tropical island through the directors lens with vivid colours and brightness as he captures all of its beautiful memories, having the magic of love displayed in every shot. This is what carefree Negril looks like.


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Bartleby Delicate - From Top To Toe.

Bartleby Delicate is full of contrasts - with folk music rooted in the heart and his recent love for experimental electronic music. Starting as a singer-songwriter venture, the project morphed into a blend of philosophical phrases, finger picking guitar and experimental electronics, at times reminiscent of Daniel Johnston, at times akin to Bon Iver or James Blake.

This songwriting ability and nuanced performance style has led to support slots with the likes of Rhye, Tom Odell and Aldous Harding alongside festival appearances at The Great Escape, Reeperbahn Festival and SPOT Festival to name a few. Alongside this, he has been awarded accolades such as ‘Best Upcoming Artist’ at the Luxembourg Music Awards and best act at Crossroads Festival 2019.

The Luxembourg artist’s new single ‘From Top To Toe’ is an amalgamation of his analogue and digital vision that features dream-like synths and crisp, pulsating beats thanks to production with German electronic musician Taison (Lali Puna, Portmanteau) that Goerens has been a fan of for years. After travelling 1500km to play a show in Munich in which Taison happened to be the sound engineer that night, the two bonded on both a human and creative level. The pair agreed to collaborate on future releases and to dive deeper into Bartleby’s indietronica universe.

Monochrome with a touch of colour, ‘From Top to Toe’ tackles the paradox of memories we can’t remember, the subject of irrepressible memories, and their habit of worming their way to the forefront of your brain when you least expect it, Bartleby tells us "I’ve had some disconcerting experiences the last few years. The strange thing is that I struggle somehow to remember the exact origin of them but still those memories are haunting me. I think we are all constantly trying to repress things from our past and they come back from time to time fully present in front of us: from top to toe."

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Sour Widows - Open Wide.

Sour Widows are a bedroom rock group from the Bay Area, formed in 2018 by longtime friends Maia Sinaiko, Susanna Thomson and Max Edelman, and recently joined by Sam Edelman on bass.

Songs marked by driving harmonies address themes of relationship and reflection; layers of warmth, grit, and depth surface and fade in their two guitar dynamic. Carried by Edelman’s inimitable drumming, the four draw from influences including Big Thief, Duster, Pile and Forth Wanderers to create heavy harmonic alternative rock.

The term ‘bedroom rock’ is a nod to this intimacy - it could mean sleepy, dreamy, or weepy - as it captures the emotion behind the music. Post-Trash calls their debut single ‘Tommy’ “a perfect synthesis of slacker pop and punk’s tamer edges,” and asserts the band “is slated to blow up the indie scene.”

Through progressions that shift from subtle to biting, Sour Widows expose tender moments with an edge.

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Lilly Hiatt - Candy Lunch.

Lilly Hiatt is set to release Walking Proof on March 27th via New West Records. The 11-song set was produced by former Cage The Elephant member Lincoln Parish (Lucinda Williams, Lissie) and features guest appearances by Amanda Shires, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Luke Schneider, and Lilly’s father, the legendary singer-songwriter John Hiatt. John’s appearance on “Some Kind Of Drug,” marks the first time the pair have appeared together on one of her records. Walking Proof is the anticipated follow up to Lilly’s breakthrough Trinity Lane, which appeared on many year-end “Best Of 2017” lists including NPR Music, Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine, and more. Lilly also received an “Emerging Act of the Year” nomination from the Americana Music Association.

Following a whirlwind year of touring in support of Trinity Lane, and stripped of the daily rituals and direction of life on the road, Lilly found herself alone with her thoughts for the first time in what felt like ages. “When you’re out there on the road, you’re just kind of living, and you don’t have the chance to stop and think about how everything you’re experiencing is affecting you,” Lilly says. “When I got home, I realized there was a lot I needed to catch up on.” She did what’s always come most natural to her in times of questioning and uncertainty: she picked up a guitar.

As rewarding as Trinity Lane’s success was, the collection came from an emotionally challenging place, and Lilly found herself frequently visiting the hurt and struggle that inspired it as she spoke candidly to the press about her painful breakup, her struggles with sobriety, and the overwhelming sadness of her mother’s suicide.

Rather than succumbing to the weight of it all, Lilly managed to emerge stronger and more serene from the experience, treating it as a foundation from which she could begin the essential work of re-examining her relationships and the world around her. “When I got that little gap in my schedule, it gave me the chance to appreciate some mental stillness,” Lilly says. “I can be a pretty anxious person, but I found a sense of peace by deconstructing all of these interactions and emotions I’d experienced and reconfiguring them into songs. It helped me make sense of everything and learn to relax.”

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Very Very - Sass Jordan - The Saxophones - Brendan & the Strangest Ways - Diners

Very Very shares 'Badlands' accompanied by a video, a confessional and personal song with plenty of atmosphere. === Sass Jordan moves from her rock singer mode into some passionate blues with 'Leaving Trunk' ahead of her first full blues album due in March. === A month after we first featured The Saxophones they have returned with 'Forgot My Mantra' which is another exquisite song ahead of their 'Eternity Bay' album. === Brendan & the Strangest Ways have just released 'We Can Beat Mercury' a powerful hook laden country rocker. === Today Diners have released 'Cup Of Coffee' with a beautifully matched video for what is one smooth and very catchy song.
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Very Very - Badlands.

Before being banned from the United States for 10 years, Very Very had built a life in New York City. There she found herself crossing boundaries in a relationship based on manipulation, desire and bad decisions that would eventually crumble into disillusionment.

Her debut single, "Badlands," reflects on the role she played, confessed through raw lyrics and moody instrumentation. Written, produced and arranged entirely by the artist, "Badlands" is an alternative pop anthem that speaks to the darker side of desire. This is what temptation feels like.

The video for “Badlands” follows Very Very as she reaches the final stage of a sordid relationship. Moving with focus through memories, highways, and mysterious fields, she works through the complex process of a breakup, steadily fortifying herself for the end. If she wants to leave it behind forever, she'll have to burn it all down first.

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Sass Jordan - Leaving Trunk.

Sass Jordan is one of the premiere female rock singers in history, selling over one million albums worldwide. While she has touched upon Blues over her 40-year career, this is the first time she has focused exclusively on creating an album of songs in this tradition, that showcase her talent as a Blues singer. As Jordan acknowledges: “The blues has always been a huge part of my life. It’s a big part of what I grew up with. It’s been there through my entire career.”

Her first blues album arrives in raw, earthy style on the magnificent Rebel Moon
Blues, to be released on Friday, March 13 on Stony Plain Records. Co-produced
with D#, it’s the Juno Award-winner’s ninth studio album and first release in nearly a decade.

More crucially, it’s also a watershed that charts a new course in Jordan’s musical voyage while tracing her love of the blues back to its source. The album features eight songs, freshly interpreted and given the Sass Jordan treatment with her band the Champagne Hookers: guitarists Chris Caddell and Jimmy Reid, bassist Derrick Brady and drummer Cassius Pereira, augmented by blues harp master Steve Marriner and keyboardist Jesse O’Brien.

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The Saxophones -Forgot My Mantra.

With The Saxophones' sophomore album Eternity Bay out in less than 3 weeks, the husband-and-wife duo (Alexi Erenkov on vocals, guitar, synths, woodwinds, and Alison Alderdice on drums and vocals) have shared a third and final single, "Forgot My Mantra."

The Saxophones’ band name started out as a half-joke for the songwriting project of Alexi Erenkov, who, at that time, was a disillusioned jazz student. Erenkov had recently ditched the instrument, as jazz hadn't offered the room for self-expression that he sought. His solo project became a band when his wife Alison Alderdice joined on percussion, and their debut album, Songs of the Saxophones, was released just before the birth of their first son in 2018. Written aboard the boat they lived on together (amid the incessant rain of a northern Californian winter), the record established The Saxophones’ style, drawing from fifties exotica, west coast jazz, and seventies Italian lyricism. Drama seeps into The Saxophones' deceptively simple sound, transforming dreamy surf pop into thoughtfully textured pieces, with a spaciousness at the core.

The band's forthcoming second album, Eternity Bay, began to take shape just after the arrival of their first son, who shook up Erenkov’s writing routine far more than choppy boat waters ever did. "My music has always grappled with mortality and the meaning of existence," he says, "but the birth of our first son and the imminent arrival of our second has greatly heightened my sensitivity to these themes." The forced fragmentation of his hours, writing under inky late-night skies and through the liminal glimmer of dawn, brought new qualities to the surface of his songs. "While this record was influenced by a broad range of music," he explains, "the through line seems to be conveying a strong mood or sense of place. I love music that transports listeners to another space, whether it's Jonathan Richman making you feel like you’re walking the streets of Boston in 'I Love Hot Nights' or Arthur Lyman transporting you to a Hawaiian hotel lobby in the 50s."

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Brendan & the Strangest Ways - We Can Beat Mercury.

When Brendan Shea first started out as a songwriter in the early 2000s, Buffalo was a broken-down, industrial “Rust Belt” city whose best days were behind it.

Angsty, malcontented feelings came through in his writing.  He felt an overwhelming sense in his day to day life to move somewhere else to realize his full potential. So he did… twice. And those experiences made for some pretty good songs.

Fast-forward 15 years and Buffalo has undergone a major cultural and economic renaissance. There’s an expanding creative and artistic scene, and a general buzz around town that the best is yet to come. Shea says, “I feel like that’s a pretty perfect reflection of where I’m at musically with this new album and this new band. There’s just a lot of hope and excitement about what’s ahead.”

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Diners - Cup Of Coffee.

Lauren Records has announced the new LP from Diners and unveiled the first single from “Leisure World” via the Ambar Navarro-directed (SWMRS, CUCO, Soccer Mommy, etc.) video for “Cup of Coffee.”

"Back in the day, coffee commercials were akin to a very cheesy cinematic experience, tugging at your heart strings with unfathomably dramatic tales that did little to actually highlight the coffee." says the Grey Estates of the new video, adding "On “Cup of Coffee,” the video from Diners's upcoming album Leisure World, out 4/24, director Ambar Navarro puts Diners’s Tyler Blue Broderick at the center of their own glorious java commercial." The video comes ahead of the release of the single to streaming services everywhere tomorrow,

Leisure World (out April 24th) is the latest album from singer-songwriter Tyler Blue Broderick, who performs with the project Diners. Not only is it the most eclectic and ambitious album in the songwriter’s (already muscular) catalog to date—it’s one of the catchiest, most realized indie pop records released in years.

Like all of their work, Leisure World—which Broderick scrapped and rerecorded several times before landing on an aesthetic they found satisfactory—draws on the most enduring aspects of pop’s past. Its 13 tracks bring to mind the technicolored melodies of ‘60s pop icons like the Beatles and Zombies, the
chilled-out pop proficiency of Laurel Canyon legends like Carole King, and the wry, observational story-telling of Jonathan Richman, and, to cite a more recent artist, Jens Lekman.

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