Mamalarky - Greg Cockerill - Phil Mitchell Band

Mamalarky share 'Drugstore Model' ahead of their debut album due out this coming Friday. The song is a vibrant mixture of indie pop and punk, there are plenty of catchy moments and a few twists along the way, overall it's a fabulous taster for the album. We have also added the first single 'Schism Trek' which unfortunately passed us by in September however is another notably engaging and original track.  ===== Toronto based Greg Cockerill has shared 'No, Never Alone' and it's a really fine piece which exudes some timeless natural rock vibes, some smooth guitar licks and his vocals add both feeling and gravitas. ===== Phil Mitchell Band latest single 'My Love Is True' has already gained considerable attention. That's hardly surprising this is absolutely exquisite and something of a genre melting pot as indie rock and EDM dance music collide beautifully, the melodic vocals are the icing on the cake!  

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Mamalarky - Drugstore Model / Schism Trek.

In September, Mamalarky announced their debut full length with the single "Schism Trek." The band, who have recently re-located to Atlanta after stints in Austin and LA, have been the subject of a rare mid-pandemic buzz ahead of the release of their album on their new label Fire Talk (Dehd, Pure X, Corey Flood), earning early praise from outlets like NPR, VICE, Billboard, Bandcamp, The Grey Estates, Pond Magazine, Refinery29, Alt Citizen, and The Line of Best Fit. Yesterday Mamalarky shared the final single from the LP ahead of its Friday release, a track called "Drug Store Model."

"'Drug Store Model' is an epiphany in realizing how much I wanted to unlearn and reject power dynamics in relationships," guitarist and vocalist Livvy Bennett explains to CoS. "I kind of allowed myself to fully embody the immature side of myself; to both acknowledge and make fun of myself in regards to the serious inner work that needs to happen to really function in a 'give and take' relationship. Since writing this I definitely feel more able to engage in relationships that really nurture growth, but it’s an ever-evolving process I'd reckon."

“I don’t think Tinder was created to connect bandmates,” bassist Noor Khan says. But in 2018, that’s just how she connected with singer and guitarist Livvy Bennett, who had put a call out for a bassist on the dating app. Livvy was a year into her life in Los Angeles where she had been working in the music industry and playing shows as both a solo artist and as a duo with longtime collaborator Dylan Hill, who is Mamalarky’s drummer. With their friend Michael Hunter on keyboard and synth bass, they recorded their self-released debut EP Fundamental Thrive Hive but were in need of a full-time bassist who could properly distill the “patchwork of different influences that comes together as a cozy quilt you can cuddle under.”

“I was swipin’ for a bassist which makes me cringe to say now,” Livvy adds. “I just had no idea where to start meeting people to play music with in a new city!” In the end, she found Noor, and the final piece of Mamalarky’s puzzle was complete. "Using the best technology the world has to offer, I was able to find my best friend who I'd travel the world with in a few months time.”

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Greg Cockerill - No, Never Alone.

Born in Montreal, raised in Alberta, living in Toronto, Greg Cockerill’s music is a unique expression of Canadian Roots. Growing up and discovering classic albums from John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix amidst the exploding grunge rock scene of the early 90’s, Greg picked up a guitar and played in as many bands as possible ranging in style from hip-hop and r&B to jazz and country. Going on to formally study music and getting a degree in composition/arranging and jazz guitar, he found himself inevitably drawn back to his roots in Alberta, and to his roots in rock, blues and country music.

In Calgary, Greg discovered the power of songwriting. This quickly led to the formation of The Greg Cockerill Band and he released his debut album Summertime & Heartache in May 2008 which received nationwide radio play. In 2010, Greg relocated to Toronto and re-formed a new Greg Cockerill band, releasing Festuca in 2011 with his brother Joshua Cockerill and Stew Crookes. The album garnered industry praise and generated a faithful following in the local music scene playing residencies at the Cameron house and the Dakota Tavern.

As well as fronting his own band, Greg also works as a sideman and session musician and arranger. Most notably his collaboration with blues renaissance man Paul Reddick won the JUNO Award in 2017 for Blues Album of the Year. Currently, Greg has a new roots band playing alongside Steel guitar virtuoso Burke Carroll and Kurt Nielsen on the Double-bass. He released three new music videos in July 2019 through the Unicorn Project. He’s currently in the process of recording a new full-band studio album with the first single to be released in the fall of 2020.

Greg Cockerill · No, Never Alone

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Phil Mitchell Band - My Love Is True.

A stylistically unique Indie Rock Band from day one, the members of Phil Mitchell Band have been singing, performing, and playing in sync as if they’d been together their entire musical careers. 

Throughout the course of the band’s union, they have won over the hearts of music lovers from all walks of life; performing at a variety of venues, making loads of public appearances, all the while recording new music. 

Learn more by exploring the site, and feel free to get in touch with any of your comments and questions.

"My Love is True". Is an EDM Dance song of Phill Mitchell Band's "A Better World" Album

Phil Mitchell Band · My Love Is True

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Bonader - Facing Mountains - Kama Vardi

Bonader shares a gorgeous analog synth based song entitled 'Backseat' her vocals are dreamy and oh so engaging, and the music sumptuous on this moving piece. =====  Facing Mountains new album 'Season's End' has been sometime in the making as the artist explores different musical ground. We have two tracks from the collection, namely 'Echo Returns' and 'Season's End'. Both give a good feel for the collection where Xander delivers a mixture of melancholic vibes, dramatic intensity and often personal lyrics. ===== Kama Vardi has just released 'The Gate' along with a video for the track. This is an absolutely beautiful song, to describe it as catchy is an understatement, its taken from the new album 'Moonticket' due out on 27th November.

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Bonader - Backseat.

Ellinor Sterner Bonander creates experimental, cinematic pop with a penchant for electronica and alt-jazz composition. Her lyrics often concern themselves with existential questions about the world, seen through a feminist lens.

On new single ‘Backseat’, warm analogue sounds mirror the comforting safety of childhood, dreamlike strings envisage the daydreams and unlimited imagination that a child can have. These musical elements stand in stark contrast to the lyrics, which express the ‘rug pulled out from under you’ feeling of adulthood, the fragility of human existence and the risks people face every day.

Bonander tell us “This song is about growing up and the unwillingness to see the world as it is. As a kid you would fall asleep in the backseat of your family’s car, with that comforting feeling. The night wasn’t scary, it was just…safe. Now, you have to walk home alone with the keys in your fist, looking over your shoulder.”

ICEA · Bonander - Backseat

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Facing Mountains - Echo Returns / Season's End.

Facing Mountains' compositions are defined by intimate and personal lyrics, drifting on melancholic melodies. Colourful arrangements are shadowed by ambient textures. The album 'Season's End' is a collection of songs that nests itself inside you and takes on a new identity as the story slowly unfolds. Season’s End came to life in June 2019 and started off as a one-song experiment. After focussing on classical music for many years, Xander felt the Season's End necessity to incorporate and explore different styles of music. 

The first song Xander wrote was The Beggar. Little did he know that this would
create such a creative influx. Spending months in isolation, writing one song after the other, Season's End gradually took shape. Recording 'Slowing Down in Daydreams' meant the capstone of the album. Season's End was born. 

In Facing Mountains' musical realm, opposites do not contradict but rather complement one another. Contemporary, classical, alternative and pop music can coexist. Or, as Xander puts it: "It's all about what you communicate and by what means. If a song is meant to expand your ego and display how good you are as a musician or producer, I believe you are missing the point".

The personal and heartfelt music of Facing Mountains was born out of a longing from Dutch composer and songwriter Xander Slikker. After treading on numerous musical journeys, he has found a way to combine his love for classical, alternative and electronic music and shape it into one identity.

Facing Mountains · Echo Returns

Facing Mountains · Season's End

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Kama Vardi - The Gate.

The Gate is the fourth and final single to be released from Kama Vardi’s new album ‘Moonticket’ (out 27 November). Indicative of Kama’s style, The Gate’s simplistic folk-pop harmonies and quaint yesteryear hint of French new-wave offer a gorgeous backdrop to Kama’s tender, enchanting vocal.

Musically inspired by ‘40s pop and noughties songwriters such as Adam Green and Bonnie Prince Billy, and lyrically by French romantic poets such as Baudelaire and Rimbaud, The Gate oozes a dreamy romanticism and bitter-sweet melancholy. Kama was inspired to write the song from the point of view of her friend after watching her fall in love for the very first time, as Kama expands “She was all over the place - ecstatically happy, but also very scared that everything is going to blow up in her face, that she's going to somehow pay for her feelings, for letting herself get carried away.”

The Gate’s accompany video is a recreation of the final scene of ‘The 400 Blows’ by François Truffaut, filmed in a tiny 30-family village up in the Galilee mountains where Kama grew up, filmed by her friends Lior Shalev and Noya Globen on a simple camera and iPhone.

The Gate was produced by Israeli-American producer Sagi Shahar, and recorded between New York and Tel Aviv, and features musicians across both cities, including Harrison Keithline, Noga Davidson and Shay Roth.

Kama Vardi is a critically acclaimed Israeli artist who, like bygone artists such as Nico, Molly Drake and Joni Mitchell, writes song centred on honestly and depth, with each track on Kama’s forthcoming album ‘Moonticket’ being a story of her life experiences or – as in the case of The Gate - observations of loved ones. Kama has previously released a debut album ‘Forgetmenot’ (2012) and a double E.P. ‘Satchel-Sof Ma’arav’ (2016) which were both critically acclaimed in her homelands of Israel.

The Gate is the forth single taken from forthcoming new album ‘Moonticket’, following Under The Sun, the cover of Nico’s These Days (2020), and first single Whatever Will Be (2019) which received play on Israel’s biggest radio stations, featured on Shazam’s most searched for songs in Israel, and was included on Apple Music’s ‘Israeli Essential Rock Song Of The 2010s’ and ‘100 Best Songs of 2019’ lists.

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All Things Blue - llawgne - Flight Attendant - Palberta

All Things Blue are a Los Angeles pysch-shoegaze band and they have just released 'Lully' ahead of their debut album 'Get Bit'. The song itself slowly opens with gorgeous vocals and plenty of originality, adding some refined musical accompanyment. ===== llawgne (aka Mathias Engwall) shares 'Reverie Neverending' a song that is smooth flowing dream pop with a hint or two of showegaze, the melodic hooks making the piece really stand out. ===== From Flight Attendant we have the new track and video for 'Comedy Show'. The Nashville based quintet serve up a song that builds both musically and with intensity, it's a little dramatic and very enticing, the video conveys all of that. ===== Palberta return just over a month since we featured 'Before I Got Here' with another new song and video for 'Corner Store'. Once again the vocals and especially the harmonies are notable and the stripped back music complements well.

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All Things Blue - Lully

Los Angeles pysch-shoegaze rockers All Things Blue have released the latest taste of upcoming debut album Get Bit, in the shape of contemplative new indie-ballad "Lully".

The project of singer-songwriter India Coombs (aka Blue) and guitarist Jon Joseph, All Things Blue’s new album Get Bit follows a series of hype-building EPs and singles, tackling the personal and the political with equal vigour. “I feel like everybody has a spaghetti brain,” India says. “In one moment you're talking about politics and what's going on in the world, and then the next moment you're thinking about somebody that you really like. It’s the ups and downs of the human brain.”

New track "Lully" leans more toward the political, with India zooming in on cotton plantations in Arizona and putting the magnifying glass on environmental sustainability.

India Coombs said: "My brother sent me an article about farms using flood irrigation on their cotton crops in Arizona and how unbelievably wasteful it is. Cotton is the most widespread profitable non-food crop in the world and its current production methods are completely environmentally unsustainable."

Taking inspiration from the weirder, psych-leaning corners of indie-rock, and especially Aussie psych legends Pond, whose latest album Tasmania tackles Australia’s own brand of climate change-related horrors, Get Bit brings together influences from across the guitar music spectrum. “Tipsy” is a loose, lo-fi romp that recreates the feeling of its title, while “Buddha and Penelope” is a woozy slice of psych-pop. Then there’s “Scratch,” a blistering 40-second tirade against unrealistic expectations, which sees All Things Blue bare their teeth and take cues from gutsy garage rock.

Traversing genres and sounds with impeccable clarity, Get Bit is an open, giving record that allows and beckons listeners to make their own interpretations, and get whatever comfort and validation they need from its songs of rage and love. In an era of oversharing, the album is a tonic with which to use your imagination, project yourself onto, and take these songs into a whole new world.

India and Jon originally met in LA at the age of 18, having both independently moved to the city; Coombs driving across the country in her broken down pickup truck from Philadelphia, and Jon hailing from further south in California. The pair wasted no time becoming friends and firing out an eclectic assortment of demos. They did so namelessly for some time, but eventually settled on "All Things Blue”.

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llawgne - Reverie Neverending.

‘Reverie Neverending‘ is the exciting first single from Mathias Engwall aka llawgne’s upcoming 2021 album Nevereverie. A classic shoegazed dreampop song, Mathias explains ‘Reverie Neverending’: “its about waking up one day and realizing you've been practically living in a daydream all your life. You discover that everyone around you has been living in the real world all along, and are miles ahead of you in their lives.” 

“In your romantic mind you were the protagonist of the movie, but in reality you didn't even get cast in it. And, most importantly -there is no movie.” “I wanted to convey this with a kind of a mildly euphoric but also melancholic wall of sound - think Tom Petty and Deehunter mixed with a classic Swedish indie-vibe”.

llawgne is the brainchild of Gothenburg's Mathias Engwall who had early praise from first 2019 single, ‘The White In Its Eyes’, a dreamy pop song that found its way onto the PSL Top 20 and several major playlists. 

A showcase of ambitions for strong melodies within soundscape balanced with beauty and noise. The previous single ‘Love + Somebody’ was described as "Sonic Youth meets Chris Isaak", getting buzz from Savantmusikmagasin, Hymn, We All Want Someone To Shout For and more. Mathias also works as a record producer, mixer and mastering engineer in Sweden. He has done remixes for Loney Dear, and recently collaborated with David Ahlen.

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Flight Attendant - Comedy Show.

Nashville based quintet Flight Attendant have just issued a video for their dark and sensuous new single, the ironically titled ‘Comedy Show’. Released to coincide with the ongoing election circus in the USA, the song is a sombre, melodic and thought-provoking ballad with a lyric that comments on the current social and political landscape in their home territory of Nashville TN where they will be performing on Sunday.

Flight Attendant lead singer Karalyne Winegarner states that the song "serves as a gentle warning to not lose sight of what’s important in a world filled with so many distractions. The song is supposed to remind you that the easier road of plugging up your ears and laughing your problems away is a temporary fix that won’t hold. The line ‘There’s a ghost from tomorrow’ is a warning to get our heads out of the distraction box and take a long look at our world and ourselves and start changing and improving the one life and world we have to live in. This song is close to our hearts as a band and I couldn’t think of a more perfect time to release it than when the distractions seem to be at their loudest."

A video for ‘Comedy Show’ switches between Winegarner distractedly watching the endless gabble emanating from a TV screen and scenes of her walking through sumptuously colourful woodland to a river in which the band can be seen immersing/cleansing themselves.

Displaying wide-ranging influences that span from Lana Del Rey to Vivaldi, Flight Attendant established themselves locally via a series of ecstatically received live performances prior to lockdown, while the June 2020 release of anthemic single ‘Man Of Chaos’ saw them begin to gain international acclaim via a number of excellent reviews.

The band is currently hard at work creating their debut album with Grammy winning producer Charles Yingling to be released in 2021 by Moraine Music in association with Membran.

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Palberta - Corner Store.

Last month, the beloved NYC trio Palberta returned to announce the follow up to their breakout 2018 LP Roach Going Down, with their clear-eyed fifth album, Palberta5000 (out January 22nd, 2021 on Wharf Cat Records). The album was announced with a deep-dive feature on Stereogum that explored the more expansive and pop-forward style on this new release from a band long-heralded as one of the most original and idiosyncratic bands in the East Coast DIY scene. The announce was also accompanied by the release of the single "Before I Got Here," that created a stir even by the standards of critical acclaim that have greeted the band's earlier releases, earning comparisons to ESG and Delta 5 in The New York Times, being described as "everything great about Palberta" on NPR's All Songs Considered, and garnering glowing coverage from spots like Pitchfork, NYLON, Paste, Consequence of Sound and BrooklynVegan among many others.

Now the band are sharing a second single from their new LP, a track called "Corner Store". Opening with just guitar and voices that builds to full band as the band's three members (Nina Ryser, Ani Ivry-Block and Lily Konigsberg) continue expanding and mutating their layered harmony parts in ways both beautiful and bewildering, before eventually casting their instruments aside entirely in an extended a capella breakdown. The track is full of elements that have been common to Palberta's songwriting for some time, but are given a new depth and power here, and a confident display of Palberta's growing mastery over their sound.

"'Corner Store' is a song we’ve been playing live for a while now and has gone through many transformations over time," Ryser explains. "It culminated in this final version once we discovered that it needed an a capella breakdown that would slowly bring us back into the groove. Though it’s a classic Palberta move to fit in a 3-part harmony whenever we get the chance, it felt crucial. This song tells a story about strolling to the corner store, a sacred place we all know and love, on a Sunday afternoon to meet your friend and you see them on the front of the Sunday Times. And once they arrive, you do a double take and say to them, 'hey! No way! I saw you at the corner — I saw you on the front of the Sunday Times!'"

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Flor and The Sea - Sketch Club - Rampton Prom - Looms

Flor and The Sea have just released their new E.P 'Kings & Queens'. Last month we shared 'A Candid Lie' from the collection and we now have the full set streaming below, this really is a sumptuous collection of indie electro music. ===== Yesterday Sketch Club released 'Futile Pursuits' which is a rhythmic and sweeping alt rocker with some fabulous melodic hooks. ===== Rampton Prom debut single 'Too Baby' is a stunning and dreamy song that flows along and demands an immediate replay. ===== Brooklyn rockers Looms have shared 'Obvious' a song that packs plenty of power, emotion and some very catchy vibes.

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Flor and The Sea - Kings & Queens (E.P).

The songs of Flor and the Sea’s debut EP Kings & Queens invite listeners to surrender themselves to the stream of music: to dream, to dance and to defy the world’s tumult for a moment and abandon themselves to the group’s heady stylistic fusion. Pop elements meld with electronica throughout their songwriting, inviting a host of esoteric influences from dubstep, synth pop and trap to join them. 

It’s a melting pot of style that recalls the work of Flume, Miike Snow or Alt-J. Co-produced by composer Dieter Dolezel and mixed by Moritz Enders (Casper, Kraftclub), the songs are a multifaceted exploration of sound and songwriting. From the lilting mythology-evoking arpeggios of ‘Arcadia’ to the electro propulsive ambience of ‘Dark Minds’ and the bleak dystopian piano keys chiming through ‘Reconnect’, Kings & Queens reveals a restless group with a unique and voracious musical chemistry.

Munich-based indie/electropop duo Flor and the Sea was founded in 2015 as a five-piece project. With the release of debut singles ‘Hold Your Breath’ and ‘Shed No Tear’, as well as live gigs at Digital/Analog Festival and the Muffat Winterfest among others, the band generated a lot of buzz in short time and were featured as ‘Band of the Week’ by the Suddeutsche Zeitung/SZ Junge Leute in early 2017. After the group split up later that year, Marc Aretz (guitar/synth) and Chaem (vox) decided to keep Flor and the Sea alive as a duo. 

Redesigning their sound from scratch, they incorporated influences from bands like Alt J, Radiohead and Portishead. Singles ‘Dark Minds’ and ‘Reconnect’ were birthed from the rubble and led to widespread acclaim, receiving regular airplay on radio stations like Ego-FM, Bayern 3, M94.5 and BR Puls, and landing glowing reviews on international blogs like Composer's Toolbox and York Calling. Capping it all, the duo performed live on Radio Fritz ‘Live on Air’ for the first time. Flor and The Sea resumed live performances in 2019, while simultaneously producing their debut EP Kings & Queens, and put together an elaborate new program with their own light show, visuals, masks, and the support of additional live musicians. A first taste of this show was presented at renowned festivals Theatron Musiksommer and Sound of Munich Now in 2019. 

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Sketch Club - Futile Pursuits.

“Futile Pursuits” is a reflection on the things we pursue in life that don't end up being good for us. Be it a relationship, a career or a dream, sometimes the things we chase the hardest end up being entirely unhealthy occupations. And sometimes as we stand in the bright lights of hindsight, we can see we were set to fail from the start.

Recorded in March at Phaedra Studios, Melbourne with producer John Lee (Augie March, Bananagun, Laura Jean), with mixing & mastering taking place remotely via several hundred discerning phone calls over the following months during lock-down. Originally hailing from Dublin, Phillip Island and Brisbane, Sketch Club formed in Melbourne in 2009 via a classified ad left on an online forum for music nerds.

The band quickly settled on a song writing method that works best for the indie-rock outfit - 3 gentlemen making noise in a red velvet room until something good happens. And good would be some cinematic pop with a dark edge & a little swagger.

With songs from their 2017 EP “Primal Calls & Graceless Falls” finding their way on to radio rotation and Spotify’s New Music Friday (NL) playlist, the 3-piece continued to write, play and chin rub their way towards a new body of work. This inspired time has resulted in the band’s debut LP “Departure Lounge Transmissions, out 4th December 2020!

Sketch Club · Futile Pursuits

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Rampton Prom - Too Baby.

Self-professed, ageing, wannabe pop stars, Jonny (Bubs), Ryan (Breeze) and Gina (Queen G) reveal new project Rampton Prom.

Out of a dead-end band that fell apart after years of utter disappointment, three members regrouped to form the new alt-pop project. 

Debut single 'Too Baby' takes cues from their influences of contemporary pop and US hip hop, with their unique mix of choppy beats, poetic lyricism and quirky analogue arrangements (plus a sprinkle of vibraphone).

'Too Baby' is the first track we made together as ‘Prom. We wanted to make a low-key pop groove with a lyrical sense of unease. "I guess I feel like a bit of a wimp sometimes, like I need to toughen up". - Gina 'Queen G' Leonard.

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Looms - Obvious.

"Obvious", is the new standalone single from Brooklyn rockers Looms, their second of 2020 following “My Stupid Life”.

On the track, the band's Sharif Mekawy (lead vox, guitar, keys) shares, "this is a song about realizing how obvious your feelings are for someone after being so uncertain."

Looms entered the studio in January 2020 with the goal of recording five new songs and releasing them throughout the year as singles. The first song was to have an accompanying music video and be released coinciding a trip to SXSW. Unfortunately, everything derailed once March came, and we took a few months apart to deal with the world.

'My Stupid Life' (which has new meaning in these times) was finally released in June, and we've been rehearsing, livestreaming, writing, and trying to continue on as a band as best we can in the moment. It's a weird year for everyone, but we're moving forward.

Good Eye Records · Looms - "Obvious"

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Falcon Jane - Loryn Taggart - Leif Vollebekk - HOPdot

Falcon Jane has shared 'Feelings' just ahead of Friday's album releases 'Faith'. We have already had the pleasure of featuring two songs from the new album and the latest 'Feelings' is another fine reminder of her knack for creating original and lovable music. ===== From Loryn Taggart we have 'The River' where the folk and singer songwriter shares a gently opening and intimate song, the build is gradual, the end is fabulous and in between we are treated to some wonderful vibes. ===== Leif Vollebekk has released a new original song entitled 'Long Blue Light' it's accompanied by a cover of Bon Iver's '29 #Strafford APTS'. We are just sharing 'Long Blue Light' which is a gorgeous piece that just funnels emotion. ===== HOPdot contacted us directly with 'Before We All Go Under'. They are a father and daughter duo and collectively they are simply fabulous as is born out with this gentle, intelligent and beautiful song. 

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Image - Brendan George Ko

Falcon Jane - Feelings.

Ontario-based project Falcon Jane, led by lead singer and songwriter Sara May, are today sharing "Feelings", the final pre-release track to be lifted from their forthcoming Line of Best Fit, Earmilk and American Songwriter-tipped album, Faith, which is out this Friday, November 13, via Darling Recordings. Stream the new single here.

Faith serves as the follow-up to Falcon Jane’s debut album Feelin’ Freaky, which firmly established May’s self-labeled “plez-rock”. Still keeping some of those previously pleasant summer vibes, Faith sees May steer towards a darker spiral—one that personifies the often isolating meanderings that come with figuring it all out. “A lot of the songs on the album are written from me to me,” she explains. “It’s about trusting in yourself and believing in the thoughts and feelings in your own mind.”

The new track, "Feelings", which features heart-wrenching guitar work from Branson Giles, arrives a song love song written about rediscovering love that you thought had disappeared. "A rekindling, a reawakening," explains May. "It's about letting go of the past in order to pursue a new future. Establishing a new belief system and a new way to express love." Once again featuring May's celestial vocals that are this time laced around jaunty, blues-infused guitars, "Feelings" offers up a real highlight from the forthcoming record, establishing itself as another crucial segment to the emotional core of Faith.

Faith has found Sara May going back to the beginning: her home, her beliefs, and herself. This intention gave her the ability to take another look, to reassess, to breathe. Writing under the Falcon Jane moniker, May explores the intimate experience in getting to know yourself again, highlighting the banal but beautiful ebb and flow of our every day. Her new record is an investigation into what it means to be alive and the often painful experience of the ordinary. As someone who describes herself as “emotionally guarded,” Falcon Jane is May outstretched, breaking through the introspective wall and inviting us in on the experiment.

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Photographer: Simon Pelletier

Loryn Taggart - The River.

I once moved across the world for someone I thought I loved. I didn't listen to myself, or my heart, I just followed the wind. My gut told me one thing and I ignored it. That person made me feel like I wasn't good enough, strong enough, or smart enough to face life alone.

"The River" is a song about relocating internationally for love, and realizing that it was a one-sided sacrifice. I need a man to cross the river is said in a sarcastic measure.

I want anyone listening to look at their current relationships and really question why and how they serve their wellbeing. Start to question the balance between self-love and love given. It's important you have people in your life that are willing to sacrifice for you, the way you would for them.

Weird how we walked as strangers / no rhythm and no bond / A year of love / it took this long to get you in a song is one of my favourite lines, signifying the relationship arch of going from strangers, to dating, to being in love, to strangers once more.

Sadly, and by an unfortunate loss, my father passed away this year. I was in and out of the studio for about two months while I grieved, but the experience of recording this song led me to heal much faster than I anticipated. My father was with me the entire way. He was my biggest fan and really loved this song. I hope it's meaningful for you, too.

Loryn Taggart · The River

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Image - Vanessa Heins

Leif Vollebekk - Long Blue Light.

We have the new double single release from the critically acclaimed Polaris Prize nominee, Leif Vollebekk that comes as one original track titled "Long Blue Light”  and a cover of Bon Iver's “29 #Strafford APTS”, out now via Secret City Records (SUUNS, Wilsen, Braids).

Vollebekk has drawn critical acclaim in his time as a musician from the likes of The New York Times ("pensive and restless, blossoming with stream-of-consciousness verses that bear the marks of long nights spent alone on the road"), Pitchfork ("understated and affecting"), NPR, FLOOD, The FADER, The Line of Best Fit, Paste, Sunday Times Culture, World Cafe, KCRW and more. Alongside press and radio support, he scooped a Polaris Prize shortlist nomination for his record, Twin Solitude, shared stages with the likes of Sinéad O'Connor, Angie McMahon and Beth Orton, and sold out North American headline tours.

Leif has been highlighted previously for his moving way with lyrics and his ability to build brooding and deeply emotive atmospheres, tying 60s folk music with jazz sensibilities. This batch of new music from Vollebekk hints towards his penchant for this style, producing a new original – which features drummer, Homer Steinweiss (Amy Winehouse, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings) and esteemed lap-steel guitarist, Cindy Cashdollar – and a take on one of Bon Iver's 22, A Million numbers.

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HOPdot - Before We All Go Under.

Background from David of HOPdot - A little about me I've been collaborating with a lyricist for a few years now sending songs to publishers, music companies etc. 

I was looking to get songs placed with artistes getting some positive feedback now and again, to cut a long story short decided to try and make a go of it myself with the help of my daughter Amy.

Amy is singing the vocals with myself playing instruments and production, due to covid in 2020 haven't been able to collaborate or do gigs locally in Durham hoping to do so in the future.

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Michaela Bekenn - AJ Rosales - Muca & La Marquise

Michaela Bekenn recently released 'The Earth Has Music' and thankfully it came our way this week. The Toronto based artist has a multitude of skills which include creating intimate, refined and beautifully arranged singer songwriter pieces, as this track amply demonstrates. ===== Chicago singer-songwriter AJ Rosales has shared 'If Not Today'. AJ has drawn a number of impressive comparisons and his music is hard to pin down into any one genre, more importantly though this is one powerful and irresistible song. ===== We are also just catching up on Muca & La Marquise who released 'October Blues' unsurprisingly at the end of October. The vocals are quite stunning as is the sumptuous bluesy musical backdrop, there's shades of Jeff Buckley but come on, surely nobody can complain about that.

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Michaela Bekenn - The Earth Has Music.

Michaela Bekenn is a Toronto-based interdisciplinary singer-songwriter, sound therapy & yoga practitioner, dancer, and storyteller. She was steeped in the arts from a young age, growing up within the Shaw Festival Theatre community where she spent two seasons as an actor. Telling stories through song, movement, and spoken word has been a guiding force in Michaela’s work and daily practice. 

Michaela currently serves a wide variety of demographics as a sound therapy practitioner, yoga teacher, meditation facilitator, and arts educator with youth. She has offered sound baths and performed at major festivals such as Download Music Festival (England) and Electric Picnic (Ireland). 

Michaela has had years of training in vocal technique and musical storytelling, and often captivates listeners with her raw and honest sound. As a songwriter, Michaela’s intention is to share music that is both enlivening and grounding for the listener, which encourages self reflection and community connection. 

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AJ Rosales - If Not Today.

Chicago singer-songwriter AJ Rosales just released the single "If Not Today." Recorded and mixed by Doug McBride at Gravity Studios, Chicago and mastered by Oli Morgan at Abbey Road Studios, London it will be featured on Rosales's fifth studio album Manifestations, set to be released on Friday, Nov 27. 

This collection of tracks is over two years in the making and his live performances of the songs have been eliciting enthusiasm from a diverse fan-base. His previous releases Ultramarine, Resistor, The Earth and Shoal EP, and Daughter Product (Fatigue) have garnered college and mainstream radio airplay and have impressed critics, leading to shows across the US.

His style is not easy to classify, perhaps "progressive acoustic" is the best term, but he has been compared to Pete Townshend for his rhythmic approach, to Cat Stevens for his emotive delivery, to Robert Fripp for his experimental explorations, to Bob Mould for his expressiveness, and to Nick Drake for his soulfulness. Ultimately, he delivers his own unique hybrid sound, blending multiple genres into a cohesive and modern sensibility that sounds like "AJ."

AJ Rosales, who has been playing guitar since his mid-teens, has opened for the international touring acts Vertical Horizon and Modern English and one of his previous singles, "Sweetest Thing" (from the 1999 EP Earth and Shoal), was included on CMJ's Certain Damage CD and was featured on WBEZ in Chicago. The title track from his 2004 album Resistor received airplay on WXRT and won glowing reviews from the Illinois Entertainer, Americana UK and Left of the Dial.

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Muca & La Marquise - October Blues.

Following the release of their previous singles, London and Blue Moon Bossa, which gained the attention of industry heavyweights such as Roberto Menescal and Will Gompertz, Muca & La Marquise return with a Bluesy Ballard, 'October Blues'.

Imagine, for five minutes, being able to lose yourself to a female Jeff Buckley singing on a 'Since I've Been Loving You' style ballad with a Gilmour inspired guitar solo.

If you can do that, you've got what Muca & La Marquise are all about.

Muca & La Marquise is Muca's brainchild musical and visual project.

For this time, Muca teamed up with Tiago Judas, a painter/illustrator, who had his comic 'The Liquid Mystery and The Solid Fatality' brought to life in an animated video for the track which was filmed by Tom Casey and edited by Luan Pali.

A full album is expected by the first semester of 2021.

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Lusterlit - Red Spot Rhythm Section

It's been a couple of years since we last shared a song from Lusterlit (time flies and all of that) so it's a big welcome back especially as their new song 'Squealer' is just so good. It's something of a departure from the last song share however it's still something special as the rhythm and vocal passion simmer together wonderfully. ===== Another band serving up some original and creative vibes are Red Spot Rhythm Section who recently shared a couple of imaginative and hook filled tunes, namely 'Hard To Give Thanks' and 'Foundation'.

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Lusterlit - Squealer.

With their songs created for Bushwick Book Club, BBC founder, Susan Hwang and BBC contributor and producer, Charlie Nieland, have joined forces to perform as the new, literature-inspired duo—Lusterlit. Both vocalists and multi-instrumentalists, Charlie and Susan alternate lead vocals and harmonies while supporting each other on guitar, bass, synth, traditional Korean drum and accordion.

Squealer features Marlon Cherry on percussion and was originally performed with him and Wes Spaulding for a Bushwick Book Club / Parsnip Ship collaboration in Long Island City right before elections in 2019. Inspired by George Orwell's ANIMAL FARM - lyrics:

"You do not imagine we pigs
are doing this in selfishness and privilege.
It’s for you day and night we grapple.
It’s for you we drink that milk and eat those apples.
I detest them myself.
Our sole object is preserving our health.
If we fail in our duty and fall flat,
do you know what would happen? Yes, Jones would come back."

You do not want Jones to Come Back.

Are all the revolutions doomed?
The power returning to the few.
Boxer is as good as glue
when you let them lie to you.

Dream of a utopia
trying to hold on to the hope that you
can make the world you want if you avoid the traps.
Can the answer be as simple as that?

You do not want want Jones to come back.
Some animals are more equal than others.

They’ll distract with songs and ceremony,
spinning truth and changing history.
Pigs squeal fear and distraction.
Readjustments not reductions.

Don’t listen to the pig squeal
telling you the hunger in your belly isn’t real.
Fear and distraction from what you know is true.
He’ll squeal a reality of lies to you.
Who will you listen to.

Chorus
You do not want want Jones to come back.
Some animals are more equal than others.
Four legs good two legs bad...

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Red Spot Rhythm Section - Hard To Give Thanks / Foundation.

The brainchild of Chicago-based musician and multimedia artist Joshua Siegal, Red Spot Rhythm Section fuses folk, indie rock and World Beat on the new single "Hard to Give Thanks" B/W "Foundation."

In March of 2020, the Red Spot Rhythm Section went into the studio to begin recording a new two-song single, but unfortunately the studio’s doors had to close - along with most businesses - before the end of the month. Undaunted, the group continued to work with the engineer and guest artists remotely, while recording additional parts at their home.

The single features the guest talents of Shane Jonas (Akasha, Lowdown Brass Band) on vocals, Mike Bruno (Spare Parts) on drums, and Michael Bizar (AJ Croce) on lead guitar.

“Hard To Give Thanks” is a short but rollicking tune with an outlaw-country back-beat and a melancholy message. “Foundation” is a love letter to the future with a jammy feel and world-music overtones. "Hard To Give Thanks" / "Foundation" is a result of the love, effort, and hope of everyone involved.

Rhythm Guitar, Keyboards, Bass, Percussion - Josh Siegal
Vocals - Shane Jonas
Lead Guitar - Michael Bizar
Drums - Mike Bruno
Engineer - Doug Bistrow
Master - Rollin Weary
Cover Art - Shannon Belock
Words & Music by Red Spot Rhythm Section
Produced by Red Spot Rhythm Section

Red Spot Rhythm Section · Hard To Give Thanks / Foundation

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Kai Strauss - Grace Gillespie - Rosie Carney - WeatheredMan and The Noise

Kai Strauss shares the title song for his forthcoming album 'In My Prime'. Comprising of eleven tracks this is a powerful, high quality collection of stylish blues and blues rock material ===== Grace Gillespie is back with her beautiful, personal and gently melodic song 'The Child' making it appearance number five this year. ===== Rosie Carney is another regular here and long may that continue as she presents another song from Radiohead's 'The Bends album this time we have 'Black Star' where to say she puts her own mark on it is something of an understatement. ===== WeatheredMan and The Noise have released 'Natural Force' and the band serve up some feisty, hook filled rock that has plenty of depth and layers considering there's just two of them.

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Kai Strauss - In My Prime.

After 25 years on the scene Kai Strauss is no longer “just another guitar player from Europe”. First as musical mastermind in Memo Gonzalez’ Bluescasters and later under his own name, Kai has built himself a reputation of a purveyor of authentic blues traditions. He gets his inspirations from all the great players and does not restrict himself to just one type of blues.

His versatility does not get in the way from consistency in style and quality. And after receiving many awards for his previous releases we dare say that “In My Prime” is yet another step up in his already impressive body of work.

He pays tribute to his musical heroes, mostly from the 70’s giving his own twist to their characteristics and with his ever soul filled voice.

His previous albums have been best sellers in the European blues community and have been lauded with great reviews all over Europe. We did not believe it possible but now are convinced that Kai Strauss and his fabulous band have delivered yet a better album than anything they released to date. The new album In My Prime is due out November 27th 2020.

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Grace Gillespie - The Child.

Grace Gillespie is a London-based artist and producer originally from Devon, who spent much of 2017 touring as part of the live line-up for 4AD’s Pixx. In 2019 Grace received PRS’s WMM funding and consequently released her debut EP ‘Pretending,’ which garnered support from the likes of The Line of Best Fit, Clash and Earmilk. This year she has received support from the ‘Help Musicians’ ‘Do it Differently’ award, and is using this to release an EP in the autumn. 

 Some of her notable live shows include supporting James Morrison at Dingwalls, Camden and headlining the folk stage at Tipping Point festival in Newcastle. Her first two singles found their way onto Spotify’s ‘Fresh Folk’ playlist and received extensive support from Apple Music, appearing on their ‘A-List’ and ‘Best of the Week’ playlists, as well as backing from NME, Crack In The Road and The Wild Honey Pie. Her most recent singles have been playlisted on Spotify’s ‘Fresh Folk’,‘Garden Indie’ & ‘The Lovely Little Playlist’. 

She has received radio plays from BBC 6 music as well as being a featured artist on BBC Introducing London. Her early demo of ‘Restoration’ saw her tipped to Q Magazine by Newton Faulkner and brought her to the attention of Kaleidoscope, who worked with her to produce her first solo releases in 2018. Her sound takes influences from the folk, alternative and dream-pop traditions, providing a backdrop to her intriguing vocal melodies, shifting harmonies and introspective lyricism.

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Rosie Carney - Black Star.

Rosie Carney shares "Black Star" in advance of releasing her ambitious quarantine project covering Radiohead's seminal mental health album The Bends in its entirety. The tracks follow her stunning interpretation of "Bones" which found strong support from many music sites.

As with "Bones", "Black Star" is shared today as a home-made video shot in Carney's beautiful rural home-county of Donegal, Ireland. "One of my favourite things about this song is the non-sugar coated realness of it", she explains.

"It’s very bleak and sad when you start to realise a relationship is on its way out. I feel like everyone has been in that situation where you just kind of aimlessly fill your day with crap to distract yourself from thinking about someone (even though you are the whole time). Throughout the record I tried to keep as many songs in their original key as possible, but when I started learning Black Star, I wanted it to feel like I was almost talking in the verses, so I purposely lowered it to the point it was nearly uncomfortable for me to sing. The words are so direct and bleak and honest I didn’t want to risk them going unheard."

Tackling a ground-breaking stretch of pop history requires tact and dedication to make it your own. Rosie Carney’s personal connection to the music brings to bear her stunning take of The Bends. Co-produced by Rosie and JMAC (Luz, Haux), the project is a poetic example of things coming full circle - it’s not the first time Carney’s battles have dovetailed with her love of Radiohead. She recalls going to see them as a teenager and having an anxiety attack in the arena. She blacked out and woke up in the first aid room and covering the band has acted a a form of therapy, as, like so many others this year, her original career plans and mental health were derailed by the pandemic.

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WeatheredMan and The Noise - Natural Force.

Simon Bradshaw (AKA WeatheredMan) is a performer, writer and producer currently working out of a number of studios across the north of England. After many years of various bands and projects, he has accumulated support from all the UK’s premier tastemakers (NME, Q, Mojo, Lamacq, Jo Whiley, Zane Lowe, Peter Hook and his treasured John Peel session), completed mulitiple US and European tours (including 3 trips to SXSW) and has synched songs to films and TV shows such as Snatch and Gossip Girl. Still recording as WeatheredMan, last year his many volumes of varied output were recognised when he was nominated as Best UK Solo Artist and for Best UK Song by the indie bible Pure M (alongside luminaries such as Zayn Malik, Kate Tempest, Adam Ant and Gaz Coombes). As producer he has recently worked with K-Pop all stars “Super M” on their next single due out later this year.

After a successful EP in 2019 (C-30 Duets Vol 1) and a Christmas single, WeatheredMan now presents his 2 piece rock band – WeatheredMan and the Noise –and their new single, “Natural Force”. It’s raw. It’s loud. It’s 2 men who should know better, playing as if their lives depended on it.

WeatheredMan says, “This is a song about finding out that somebody doesn't love you anymore. The sentiment is not of course an original one but my experience certainly was. A brutal unstripping of everything I thought I knew. I mean let's face it...I'm going to write a few more like this...

Musically it's a 2 piece rock band playing as if their lives depended on it. Recorded pretty much live and in the room. It doesn't mess around.”

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Bear of Bombay - GIUNGLA - Tempesst

Bear of Bombay shares 'Night Tree' the first single excerpt from his 'Something Stranger', debut EP. Lorenzo Parisini has been creating electronic and dream-wave music for sometime and it's good to hear plenty of his originality and vibrancy is still fresh and present. ===== GIUNGLA has just released 'Walk On The Ceiling'. The project of Milan based artist Ema Drei, this is a smooth, rhythmic and striking track. ===== We first featured Tempesst in July 2016 and a number of times since. Taking a little look back at our older features and noticing the number of hits for their new piece 'Walk on the Water' this would appear to be a real and deserved breakthrough song, it's nice to have been a small part of that journey.

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Bear of Bombay - Night Tree.

'Night Tree', is the first single excerpt from 'Something Stranger', debut EP by electronic / dream-wave project Bear of Bombay (Milan-based artist Lorenzo Parisini). 

Active in the Italian underground scene since the 90s and after having played at major festivals, sharing the stage with the likes of Mark Gardener (Ride), Lorenzo Parisini now starts a new course characterized by ethereal electric guitars and synth carpets, rhythmic loops and minimal harmonies, giving birth to a very personal hybrid of psychedelia, electronica, shoegaze and new wave.

The obscure electropop ride 'Night Tree' is the first single excerpt from the EP 'Something Stranger' is now available.

Here and there Bear of Bombay music may remind of bands like LCD Soundsystem, Tame Impala, The Notwist and The Vacant Lots; but at the end of the day, this is an extremely original piece of art, remetabolizing new wave, 90s and 2000s indie-rock, contemporary psych-pop, dreampop, shoegaze and indietronica in a very personal way. 

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GIUNGLA - Walk On The Ceiling.

GIUNGLA is the project of Milan based artist Ema Drei. ‘Giungla’ means ‘jungle’ in Italian and it’s in this sort of tangled-happy-place, where Ema’s minimal pop songs come alive with in your face attitude.

New single, ‘Walk On The Ceiling’, was recorded in 2019 in London with esteemed producer Andrew Savours (My Bloody Valentine, The Kills, Black Country New Road). “Working with Andy in his studio was cool because throughout his career he has worked with some of the musicians who made me fall in love with my instrument (especially Nick Zinner from Yeah Yeah Yeahs)” explains Drei. “We tried to create a sound that was modern but timeless with a main focus on guitar”.

Collaboration is key for GIUNGLA, an artist who likes to take inspiration from other creative mediums and channel it into her own work. Whilst on the hunt for artwork for her forthcoming E.P, thanks to curator Tommaso Speretta, Ema had the pleasure of meeting with Swedish painter Sophie Westerlind at her studio in Venice where she first saw the painting ‘Martina’s Flowers’. A close up from which would go on to become the cover art for new single ‘Walk On The Ceiling’. “I chose this painting because its brushstrokes, full of matter and movement, immediately felt right for my music, but also because of the story behind it” says Ema.

Before experiencing lockdown in Venice, Westerlind had never painted flowers, but due to the new restrictions she found herself yearning for a connection with nature and flowers became a symbol of that. Thanks to a tip-off from a friend, Martina, Westerlind managed to find a woman who sold flowers and met her in an alley behind Campo Santa Margherita to buy a bouquet. “Before giving me the flowers she wanted me to smell the perfume, then she told me to hurry back to Giudecca as if we had just exchanged something forbidden. While I was walking back to my studio a lady in the street saw me and shouted at me 'where did you find those flowers ?!' Painting them felt like doing something very precious and secret” she explained.

‘Walk On The Ceiling’ similarly presents an intimate and delicate dimension, inspired by late nights spent writing notes and thoughts on her phone, head under the covers and the light of the screen in her hands. “I like to think of the phone light as a candle to be protected and given to someone special” says Ema. “The perspective is upside down, as if those who stay awake at night to write were in another reality; it is about the beauty of looking for a bit of mystery and magic even in a protected and domestic environment, trying to be braver than you are during the day”.

GIUNGLA · Walk On The Ceiling

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Tempesst - Walk on the Water.

London via Australia folk/psych rockers Tempesst today announce their new single "Walk on the Water", released alongside a stunning new video shot in the mountains of Snowdonia. "Walk on the Water" is lifted from the band's recently released debut album Must Be A Dream, via their own label Pony Recordings.

Directed by the band's drummer Andy Banjanin, the video places the band in the heights of Snowdonia. Speaking on the video, Banjanin said: "We drove up to Snowdonia just the five of us, to hang out and shoot the video last winter. On the first day after we hiked up the mountain with all of our instruments and filming gear, we finally arrive at this incredibly beautiful lake just under Snowdon and set up ready to shoot the first scene. We were on the side of a mountain and I had a remote for the camera so I could operate it from the drums but it was about 50m away. Over the course of the first take, literally the very first shot, the weather changes from clear at the beginning of the song to full blizzard by the bridge. None of us know what to do so we just keep going until the song finishes before freaking out and packing everything up soaked and freezing. We didn’t get any more filming done that day, but it turned out to be the best shot of the video."

A wide-eyed excursion of folk-tinged psychedelia with nods to Spiritualized, Galaxie 500, the Flaming Lips and the Beach Boys, Must Be A Dream is a dense, sun-kissed record that explores themes of identity, purpose, ageing, love, loss, substance abuse, the death of loved ones and remembering the beauty beneath it all.

Consisting of Sunshine Coast, Australia born twin brothers Toma (vocals, guitars) and Andy Banjanin (drums); the band is rounded out by fellow Australian’s Kane Reynolds (keys) and Blake Misipeka (bass), and Swiss/American guitarist Eric Weber.

Now all residing in London where debut album Must Be A Dream was written and recorded, Tempesst have become well known for their sweeping, psych-touched indie rock - touring previously with the likes of Pond, The Temper Trap, Albert Hammond Jr, Jet and widely lauded by the likes of Lauren Laverne (BBC 6Music), Jack Saunders (BBC R1), Noisey, DIY Magazine, The Financial Times, Clash Magazine, NME, The Line Of Best Fit, Beats Per Minute and more.

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