Moontype have announced their debut LP Bodies of Water, which will be released on up and coming Chicago imprint Born Yesterday Records. The announcement arrives on the heels of the release of the band's debut single "Ferry" in December which received an overwhelming response, earning comparisons to Galaxie 500 and Beach House in The New York Times and earning praise and even some "most anticipated LPs of 2021" nods from outlets like FADER, MTV, Stereogum, NPR, Paste and Bandcamp. To mark the announce of the LP the band are sharing a second single "About You."
"When I wrote ‘About You’ I was sitting in my apartment missing my friend who had gone abroad for the semester and thinking about all the moments that made our friendship so special," explains singer/bassist Margaret McCarthy. "The glue between us started to form while on tour, walking through Richmond VA for hours one night past confederate monuments and art on building walls. The friendship began as a crush but it slowly melted into something more lasting - we made a synth together, we wrote songs together - and I really just wanted to be around them most of the time! There was this feeling of being two magnets, pulling towards each other, but the pull doesn’t stay that strong forever and I wanted to remember what it felt like at the start. I’m grateful I wrote it down in that way because now me and my friend fall in and out of touch but every time we play that song I remember how special they are and how important they are to me."
The three players in Chicago’s Moontype orbited each other for years before they came in phase. Bodies of Water, their debut album for local label Born Yesterday, documents travel, insecurity, friendship, and the titular element—all of which are representative of the band members’ strong connection to place and to one another. “Being rooted in the landscape became important to me while studying geology, which completely changed how I think about the world,” offers songwriter, vocalist and bassist Margaret McCarthy of the album’s central themes. The arrangements themselves feel like open-hearted negotiations; sparse fingerpicking gives way to saturated tube-screaming as naturally as the changing of tides. Over twelve tracks, Moontype revels in the woozy concoction of its many influences, but always lands on punchy hooks, shifting between arrangements both spacious and mystifying without abandoning their conversational warmth.
Doohickey Cubicle (formerly Booty EP) are a dream-inducing synth-pop duo that ooze with creativity. Whether it’s their energetic and visually stunning live shows, their self-produced singles or their wealth of DIY music videos, they’re always up to something, and it’s always interesting.
Since 2017, Doohickey Cubicle – made up of Alli Deleo on keys/vocals and Francis Hooper on guitar/synth – have been creating art in multiple mediums, and always from the ground up. Beginning as a small project that mostly focused on self-recorded off-the-cuff late-night jams with humorous vocal improvisations, the group didn’t take themselves too seriously (hence the original, or current name). That being said, after a handful of shows, the duo began to realize that the audience felt differently, as they were visibly taken back not only by their ethereal musical presence, but by their captivating projection visuals, which have since then become a staple for the band’s live show. It wasn’t long after that they released their first EP What What and the Who Now? followed by the single Mascarpone in 2018, showing a new focus towards their work, and no lack of inspiration or momentum after being discovered as an up-and-coming power duo in Vancouver’s indie-pop scene. Since then the group has played festivals like Reeperbahn (Hamburg), Linecheck Festival (Milan), POP Montreal (Montreal), Music Waste (Vancouver), Rifflandia (Victoria, BC), Fringe Festival (Vancouver), and Westward Festival (Vancouver). They’ve toured in Italy the last two years in November, along with shows in Berlin and London, a Pacific Northwest tour, and shows in Calgary, Toronto, Montreal and NYC.
More recently, the duo released their new single Airbag with an accompanying music video on April 17th, which will be on their self-released debut LP Don’t Fix Anything 😉, due out in March 2021. Recorded between Montreal and their home studio The Juniper Room, and self-produced as always, Don’t Fix Anything 😉 is without a doubt their most ambitious musical venture to date, with countless collaborations with notable artists, multiple single releases, remixes, and numerous additions to their already towering arsenal of music videos.
The Besnard Lakes - Our Heads, Our Hearts on Fire.
Nearly five years after their last lightning-tinted volley, magisterial Montreal psych-rock band, The Besnard Lakes, have sworn off compromise, split with their long-standing label, and completed The Besnard Lakes Are The Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings (out now!) – a searing, 72-minute suite about the darkness of dying and the light on the other side.
The album’s newest single, “Our Heads, Our Hearts On Fire Again,” has that 3/4 waltz The Besnard Lakes love so much – the same 3/4 waltz that their song, “Disaster,” rested upon. It’s also a bit of a lament about how sad the band was when they parted ways with Jagjaguwar
They have passed through death and they’re here to tell the tale. Nearly five years after their last lightning-tinted volley, the magisterial Montreal psych-rock band have sworn off compromise, split with their long-standing label, and completed a searing, 72-minute suite about the darkness of dying and the light on the other side.
The Besnard Lakes Are The Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings is the group’s sixth album and the first in more than 15 years to be released away from a certain midwestern American indie record company. After 2016’s A Coliseum Complex Museum – which saw Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas attempting shorter, less sprawling songs – the Besnards and their label decided it was time to go their separate ways; with that decision came a question of whether to even continue the project at all. What use is a band with an instinct for long, tectonic tunes – rock songs with chthonic heft and ethereal grace, five or 10 or 18 minutes long? How do you sell that in an age of bite-sized streaming? How do you make it relevant?
“Who gives a s..t!” the Besnard Lakes realized. Ignited by their love for each other, for playing music together, the sextet found themselves unspooling the most uncompromising recording of their career. Despite all its grandeur, …The Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings honours the very essence of punk rock: the notion that a band need only be relevant to itself. At last the Besnard Lakes have crafted a continuous long-form suite: nine tracks that could be listened together as one, like Spiritualized’s Lazer Guided Melodies or even Dark Side of the Moon, overflowing with melody and harmony, drone and dazzle, the group’s own unique weather.
Here now, the Besnard Lakes finally dispensed with the two/three-year album cycle, taking all the time they needed to conceive, compose, record and mix their opus. Some of its songs were old, resurrected from demos cast aside years ago. Others were literally woodshedded in the cabanon behind Lasek and Goreas’s “Rigaud Ranch” – invented and reinvented, relishing this rougher sound. Some of that distortion makes its way into the final mix: an incandescent crackle that had receded from the Besnards’ more recent output.
Rightly – nay, definitively! – The Besnard Lakes Are The Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings is a double LP. “Near Death” is the title of the first side. “Death,” “After Death,” and “Life” follow next. It’s literally a journey into (and back from) the brink: the story of the Besnard Lakes’ own odyssey but also a remembrance of others’, especially the death of Lasek’s father in 2019. Being on your deathbed is perhaps the most psychedelic trip you can go on: in Lasek’s father’s case, he surfaced from a morphine dream to talk about “a window” on his blanket, with “a carpenter inside, making intricate objects.” That experience pervades the album, catching fire on the song “Christmas Can Wait”; elsewhere the band pays tribute to the late Mark Hollis and, on “The Father of Time Wakes Up,” they mourn the death of Prince.
In these scorched and pitted times, as the world smoulders, there might be nothing less trendy than an hour-long psych-rock epic by a band of Canadian grandmasters. Then again, there might be nothing we need more. …The Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings is a bright-blazing requiem: nine tunes that are one tune and six musicians who make one band – unleashed and unconstrained, piercing and technicolour. At the end of the golden day, the Besnard Lakes are right where they should be.
The latest addition to the Swedish musical pipeline is the charming americana duo, POOLS.
The two-piece outfit is the collective vision of multi-instrumentalist Fredrik Forell and lead vocalist Arvid Hällagård. Reminiscent of bands such as The National and The Tallest Man On Earth, POOLS combine americana, folk and gospel to create something quite remarkable.
POOLS marks the end of a journey for the pair, who used to function as the electro-pop group WYRES in addition to Arvid’s place within stoner rock band Greenleaf. However, it is also symbolic of their new beginning; the arrangements might be delicate, but their artistic intensity remains the same.
Their forthcoming album You & Us is a collection of poignant and haunting lullabies that landscape themes of loss and rumination, inspired by the divorce Arvid was going through as the album was taking shape. With the release of their debut record on the horizon, POOLS share their latest track ‘Looking For Trouble’ following the tender outpour of their last single ‘Walk’.
Pondering the future, ‘Looking For Trouble’ is a soft ballad, crafted by gentle piano, brushed snares and hearty vocals, detailing the prospects that could lie ahead for Arvid’s daughter. He says the track is about “…how when she gets older will go out to some bar and dance her way through the night, looking for trouble, which is actually the love that we all need and crave.”
‘Looking For Trouble’ will be available to stream on 28th January 2021 with debut album You & Us coming April 30th 2021 via Something Beautiful.
Gracie Nash is too young to remember the halcyon eras of classic pop songcraft, but she does remember what these songs meant to her growing up during the early 2000s era of fizzy divas and boy bands. Songs from the 1950s through the 1970s were an escape from painfully complex school dynamics. These songs gave Gracie hope, comfort, and courage. Today, the New York-based artist gives back with well-crafted and lushly orchestrated modern vintage pop songs.
Her songs perfectly encapsulate her eccentricities, tying together her playfulness and poetic sensibility as a lyricist, her theatrical musicality, and her love of influences such as Billy Joel, the Beatles, Motown, disco, Joni Mitchell, Carol King, and ELO. Her talents came full bloom while in college, and she graduated from NYU Steinhardt with a Master's Degree in Songwriting. Since then, Gracie has been a featured singer with the string group Little Kruta, and a featured artist with the New York Nashville Connection. Today, outside of her artist’s career, Gracie is a private guitar/voice/ukulele/songwriting teacher, and a Teaching Artist with the Metropolitan Opera Guild.
Gracie shares: I wrote “Sippy Cup” about 3 years ago when I was in the midst of the NYC dating scene. I had met a few nice guys, however the same issue kept creeping up: transparency. If you know me, you know that I’m the epitome of an open book. I treasure honesty & transparency so much in all my relationships... and yet I found myself swept up in these unfulfilling flings with mysterious & aloof men. One of the most notable romances was with a smooth-talking banjo player who constantly kept me on my toes. Inevitably, the affair fizzled out. At first I wondered what was wrong with me, why didn’t he want to open up to me? But upon reflection...I realized it wasn’t me at all.
I was catching up with my cousin & he asked me what had ever happened with the banjo player. Without skipping a beat I said “You know, it was like, I was a glass of water...and he was just a sippy cup.” And as the words came out of my mouth I knew that line had to go into a song. I imagine most people have dated a Sippy Cup at some point or another. While we’re trying to start clear & healthy relationships (a la a glass of water) we end up paired with a small & opaque person (a la a sippy cup). It happens to the best of us! I hope that my song “Sippy Cup” helps those who are looking for love have a good laugh at the ones who got away. PS. Just in case said banjo player is reading this...it’s water under the bridge and I truly wish him the best! If anything I’m grateful for the song inspiration."
Timid, the Brave is the solo moniker for Canadian songwriter Tim Selles. His 2011 self-titled debut EP, recorded with Scott Orr of Other Songs, was named one of iTunes Canada’s “Best Of” that year.
After growing somewhat tired of the grind of solo performances and simple recordings, Selles recruited a handful of other Hamilton musicians to lend their talents to 2017’s LP, Firesale.
The forthcoming record, Vuja De, builds on that communal transition, featuring Nate Wall (King Park) on drums and percussion, Ethan Rooney (The Good Hunters) on bass, and Gareth Inkster on pretty much everything else.
Set for a Spring 2021 release, the upcoming record chronicles the cyclical nature of life, exploring the possibility of finding new meaning in familiar experiences.
Like The Sun is the first single from the new album Arcadia by St Albans' collective Kill The Giants. The tracks is a retor slice of 80's electro funk.
Arcadia is their 4th album and is inspired by their love of the 1980's, amusement arcades and video games.
The band have received rave reviews from the likes of Hotpress, Steve Lamacq from BBC 6 Music & John Kennedy from Radio X.
Kill The Giants have mixed up genres at will on their previous albums but have gone back to the electronica of the 1980's for Arcadia. The album is influence by 80's pop, Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream and New Order.
The first single from the album is When i Feel Alone which is dedicated to all those who suffer from depression.
Rising independent pop powerhouse and 2021 One To Watch Aistè has released new single ‘Where You're Going Today,’ premiered on Hayes FM, and the accompanying official music video, premiered on A1234. Completed during lockdown, both the track and the video are entirely written and produced by Aistè herself.
The gorgeous visuals for ‘Where You're Going Today’ see Aistè reconnect with the pure and uncontaminated freedom, both physical and creative, that she found herself drawn to during the pandemic.
While waiting out the stay-at-home orders in her hometown in Lithuania, she started exploring her connection with the innocent child that she once was, free from the routines and chaotic energy of her daily life back in London. She found inspiration in the introspective and nostalgic feelings that surfaced, and this, combined with the creativity and restlessness that burst at her seams while in lockdown, produced a powerful moment of soul-searching and contemplation that she artfully translated into music.
‘Where You're Going Today’ is born out of the persistent feeling that there must be something larger, something almost holier than the capitalistic games we are trapped in, and that reconnecting with the child that lives within and guides each one of us is the best way to awaken ourselves from the stupor we've been living under.
"Change is inevitable, this much we've learned in 2020," says Aistè about her journey with new music. "We’ll change homes, countries, partners, ourselves in the pursuit to achieve our dreams and thus fulfilment. When all is said and done, after all these transformations, do we still remember the person who dreamed those very dreams? Is he, is she still around?"
'Where You're Going Today’ follows the release of latest singles, magnetic and futuristic ‘Mojo' and anti-capitalist anthem 'Money Is Life,' the official video for which was nominated in the Best Director category at the 2020 KlipVid Awards. After testing the waters with previous tracks ‘My Only Friend’, ‘Say When’, and 'This Will Happen’, as well as the bewitching ‘Blue Dawn’, Aistè breathes a new creative fire.
Strictly Elizabeth - These Little Things (I Get From You).
Strictly Elizabeth, announced today the launch of her second track from her monthly Full Moon Series, with the release of “These Little Things (I Get From You)” available now via all digital platforms. This is the second installment of new music to be released on the full moon since it launched last month.
Produced and Mixed by musician Ira Ingber, “These Little Things (I Get From You)” is a previously unreleased song of her own composition released via her own Data Water Records with virtual distribution by Dash/Go.
“We launched the Full Moon Series in the spirit of releasing what is complete to make room for new creative action and collaboration,” said Jessica of Strictly Elizabeth. “This month’s track, “These Little Things (I Get From You)” is about the person you become through habit and patterns of behavior.”
This is a deeply personal track for Jessica, who started to see that she was imitating the men she was in love with and wrote this song about that piece of self-discovery. She found that although she is much more aware of it now, it’s still a deeply ingrained pattern from childhood. The video for this song explores this theme.
The Full Moon Series next installment will be released on the next full moon, February 27, 2021 and subsequent full moons throughout the year. This series is a platform to release what’s complete and make room for new creative audio and visual pursuits coming from Strictly Elizabeth this year.
"As the only female-presenting member in a lot of past projects, I was often designated the 'mom role,'" said Kue Varo songwriter, Katrina Spreen (they/them). "As much as this identity was imposed, I enabled it, and had to come to terms with my inability to say 'no.' Sometimes when you mean to do right by someone, it can be misplaced, and you have to learn to do right by yourself first."
"No" hails from Kue Varo's debut LP, Daffodil-11, which Spreen recorded at Montreal's St Zo Studio. The album features Matthew Spreen on rhythm guitar, Chris Dadge (Alvvays) on percussion, Scott Munro (Preoccupations) on synth, and Rena Kozak (Child Actress) on bass and production duties.
"Daffodil-11 is a reference to Kurt Vonnegut's Slapstick, which is my absolute favourite book of all time," said Spreen. "It’s roughly about human decency for human decencies sake, without attachment to outcome. This album starts with an angry introduction to the planet, and ends with me trying not to bury her. It’s a very vulnerable and sometimes uncomfortable undressing."
The seven songs on Daffodil-11 each have one of two personalities attributed to them.
"Although I believe strongly that traits assigned a gender are silly, I enjoy exploring duality in the form of gender to help come to terms with what was imposed onto me," Spreen said. "Gender presenting is a fun visual way for me to do so through my art. Each song on this album has one of two personalities attributed to it: the mod princess light and magnificent of the 1960’s and the grungy 1970’s/90’s beatnik poet/failed artist who is bitter and feels entitled to be. These traits simultaneously exist within me and it’s incredibly liberating to lean into them as a form of expression and creativity."
Detroit’s psychedelic R&B outfit, Cousin Mouth, has released a new music video for their single, “New Memories,” an introspective story of facing your past, present, and future. The track is about learning to overcome past experiences and use them to find inner peace. “New Memories” is the first single off their upcoming album, MayflowerPeacemakerHolyredeemer, which is available for digital and vinyl pre-order now. “New Memories'' is available for viewing on YouTube and for streaming on Spotify.
Directed by Zach Hagy, the video starts with a groovy, persuasive guitar intro that shows Cousin Mouth’s lead singer Alex Burns, entering an old Cadillac. He takes a compelling drive through different parts of town, curiously passing by different versions of himself. The past experiences, selves, and relationships we all live with weigh on the present versions of ourselves. “This song is some of my reflections on how we confront and coexist with the past and how it affects our present and future,” says Burns. He eventually is face to face with himself and “The Muses,” who are played by background vocalists Supercoolwicked (Morgan Hutson) and Salakastar (Aja Dier). Burns is forced to battle the reality of what is in front of him and reflect on the life he wants to lead. The ability to overcome and live peacefully with this conflict is the central message Cousin Mouth wants to portray.
Cousin Mouth is the brainchild of songwriter and producer Alex Burns. Their sound is inspired by artists like James Blake, D'Angelo, and Todd Rundgren; moody and sultry R&B with some pop influence. The tone of their recently completed upcoming album, MayflowerPeacemakerHolyredeemer, reflects their signature groove, beat-based style mixed with a psychedelic-dreamy sound. When naming the band, "Mouth" came from Burns being a singer foremost, and "Cousin'' comes from the familial connection they access through music and the community that it builds. This is their second studio album following their 2018 debut album, Medusa released by Detroit record shop and label Paramita Sound.
Root rockers Heavy Feather are back with new music. Their upcoming sophomore album "Mountain of Sugar" is to be released by The Sign Records in spring 2021. The third single leading up to the album is entitled "Love Will Come Easy" and is out now on all streaming platforms.
When Heavy Feather's first album "Débris & Rubble" (2019) was released, it became praised by both press and audience; taking the band out to tour Europe. Now it ́s time for their second album, "Mountain of sugar"; an even rawer, heavier, and harder release than the previous one, still with the root rock and psychedelic touch at the very core.
“Mountain of Sugar” consists of 11 roots-rock tracks oozing with a 70‘s sound and feel, filled with attitude and raw vocals from blues singer Lisa Lystam. Catchy hooks and roaring guitar riffs are based on influences from the greats of the 60s and 70s, drawing inspiration from bands such as Free, Cream, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. The band then adds their own unique touch to the tracks, creating a unique and intricate sound that few can deny.
2020 started off with the band going into the No Regrets Fonogram Studio in Stockholm to record an album filled with soul and creativity. Still with musical roots in the '60s, the result was a rock album with a modern twist that undoubtedly fills a void on the rock scene today. Just like their first album, this one was also recorded together with the producer Erik "Errka" Petersson. With some help from Pink Floyd's former mixer table, he gave the songs completely new dimensions. In addition, the band had the honor to work with Magnus Lindberg, who has previously mastered bands such as Lucifer and Imperial State Electric.
Heavy Feather's single "Love Will Come Easy" is out now on all digital platforms. Their album "Mountain of Sugar" will be released by The Sign Records on April 9, 2021 on vinyl, CD and digital format.
Belle Tower is the lo-fi indie folk rock project of Tiohtià:ke/Montreal + Xwilkway/Halfmoon Bay based artist, Isabella Harned. Belle Tower is the genesis of Harned’s solo writing endeavours, after being an original member of the Montreal indie folk band, Saint Lo.
Isolation, solitude, pain, love and healing are key themes at the heart of Belle Tower’s collection; songs that explore heavy and vulnerable subject matter such as childhood trauma, resisting the male gaze, and embracing one’s identity.
With contributions from main collaborators Ben Robertson (Winona Forever, Schwey), Scott Boudreau (Mauno), and strings from Audreanne Fillion (Lovelet, Feelings Meetings, Crusssh), Belle Tower showcases ethereal vocals, dreamy guitar lines, and varied layered instrumentation resounding a sonic lightness in the upcoming EP ‘tend to’, out April 27th, 2021.
Life will start to come back to us. "Making Up For Lost Time" is an optimistic song with a sense of longing, a glimmer of hope through the long fog of isolation, whether it be from an old relationship or this last year.
The dreamy video for "Making Up For Lost Time" perfectly captures the emotions and beauty at its core. When you close your eyes after looking at someone you love, the image sits on your retina and slowly fades away, but the memory remains in your head, distorted. It's about time rushing forward and never able to catch up to your future plans. Lost opportunities and warning your past not to make the same mistakes, but feeling it is inevitable.
"Making Up For Lost Time" is the lead single from our full-length album Autopilot due in 2022, produced by The Raveonettes' Sune Rose Wagner.
By the end of the song, we would like for you to be excited to begin the next chapter in your life. Don't settle. Take chances, make mistakes, and acknowledge those same missteps. It's never too late to make up for lost time. - Paragon Cause
Adeola “Ade” Fabola is a Manchester based singer/songwriter whose upbeat acoustic pop is laced with rootsy folk, world music and jazz. His intricate figer picking and soft, soulful vocals combine effortlessly into a sweet feel good vibe that has drawn comparisons to Jack Johnson, Tracy Chapman and Nina Simone. Ade’s journey began in Kano, Nigeria where as a child he learned the piano and the guitar, laying a solid music theory foundation to his expression.
Ade continued his musical self-development by moving to Manchester in 2018 where his immaculate dress sense and intrinsic aptitude for entertainment has been wowing audiences at festivals, lounges and cafés alike.
Ade Fabola’s quest is to take pleasure in the small things, like realising after a show that a member of the audience seriously thought he was will.i.am. It could have been entirely plausible at a sold out Matt & Phreds, Manchester’s Iconic Jazz club, where many legends have played.
Come on Steven is a relaxing indie-pop song about watching the scenery change through a car window while thinking of the happy memories shared with friends along the way. From the desert’s teeth jutting from green cacti ribs to beach sands and tide pools, Come on Steven is the soundtrack to next summer’s road trip adventures.
Chateau Chateau is an evolving community of musicians led by power couple Alex and Rachel. With beginnings in an abandoned aerospace warehouse in 2018, Chateau Chateau has grown into Tucson’s favorite self-deprecating-glam-rock band - dusty and sparkly at the same time.
Previous singles from Chateau Chateau have already been played on radio in a.o.: Germany, Belgium, USA, Canada, The Netherlands, Australia, Phillipines, UK, Austria, Sweden, New Zealand, Luxembourg, Switzerland and France. Singles from the band also entered the iTunes / Apple Music charts in: Spain, Belgium, The Netherlands and France.
Alex (vocals and guitar) and Rachel (vox and keytar) have perfected the art of playing off of each other's strengths to make the ideal pair. Tom (drums), Jordan (keyboard and guitar), and Zach (bass and guitar) fill out the group. The band works from Alex’s home studio, where they write, demo, and record every song since their debut single, Crisis Party. During those first recording sessions, the band developed their creative bond and technical process, with each member’s insight and personal touch being implemented along the way. In addition to songwriting, the band takes pride in doing everything from start to finish, together, including recording songs, printing shirts, building props, and sewing stage costumes.
The band has often been noted for their colorful, flamboyant, and party-like vibe that is best on display in their wild and freaky live shows. Despite this festive atmosphere surrounding the band, you can find a much darker, sobering, and visceral imagery in their lyrics, as they frequent the deep end of subjects like mental illnesses, addiction, and suicide. The result of this blend between music and lyrics is a self-deprecating dramedy of five self-loathing introverts imploring their audience to sing and dance with them while they shoot confetti cannons and wave a 6’ tall magnifying glass.
Sarah McQuaid - The Silence Above Us (The St Buryan Sessions)
“The Silence Above Us” is the first single from The St Buryan Sessions, Cornwall-based singer-songwriter Sarah McQuaid’s forthcoming new album and video series filmed and recorded in the beautiful church of St Buryan, parts of which date back to the 11th century.
The St Buryan Sessions had its genesis last spring, when Sarah’s gigs and tours were cancelled due to COVID-19. Wary of the technical pitfalls of live-streaming, she decided instead to pursue a long-held dream of making a live album.
“I’ve always believed that there’s an element of magic in a live concert that’s really difficult to replicate in a studio,” she explains, “plus a lot of my songs have evolved and changed since I originally recorded them. I also felt like the standard of my own performances had really turned a corner in the last year or so, and I wanted to capture that on video — but with multiple cameras and high production values, not just somebody’s random film on a phone from the back of the room.”
Sarah set up a crowdfunding campaign on the FundRazr platform, and by the end of June it had reached over 100 percent of its £5,000 target, enabling her to hire an impressive team consisting of her longtime manager and sound engineer, Martin Stansbury, who produced, recorded and mixed the project; mastering engineer Stuart Bruce; Cornish filmmaker and director Mawgan Lewis of Purple Knif, who worked previously with Sarah on videos for her 2018 album If We Dig Any Deeper It Could Get Dangerous; and Eden Sessions veteran camera operator John Crooks.
“We wanted to try and somehow re-create what anyone would hear and see at a typical show,” Martin recalls. “Of course, what we wouldn’t have was an audience, so we looked for key factors that would influence Sarah’s performance. We decided to use her local church, a space she’d been singing in as part of the choir ever since she moved to Cornwall. We set her up as if it were a regular gig, no flash studio mics, just the same touring PA and monitors she’d walked onstage to a thousand times, so it would be truly home territory. There was a set list and she was to play her set and we would record it.”
Outlaw country mainstay Dallas Moore has released the first single and title track from his upcoming LP The Rain at The Boot. The single will be available on all streaming platforms January 29, with the full album slated for an April 9 release date.
2020 started like any other year for Dallas Moore. On the heels of his 2019 LP Tryin’ To Be A Blessing, Moore and his band were booked to perform over 300 shows for the tenth year in a row, prepped and ready to continue tearing up asphalt between dive bars and honky tonks across the country. However, as the global pandemic brought the live music industry to a screeching halt, Moore suddenly found himself with something he wasn’t familiar with after all those years of constant touring: downtime.
“I do most of my writing when I'm riding my Harley Davidson Road King or cutting grass,” Moore notes. “Our tour schedule had been so heavy for the last several years that I hadn't been doing very much of either. All of a sudden I found plenty of time to ride my bike and write.”
The songs came quickly, capturing a sense of renewed energy that Moore found in his downtime. “I hadn't written a song in nearly two years,” he recalls, pointing to the silver linings of being pulled off the road. “All of a sudden, eleven songs poured out in a three-week span. That makes The Rain different from anything I've ever done after all these years of constant touring.”
Make no mistake, though — The Rain is not a pandemic/quarantine-concept record — it still bears the timeless honky-tonk swagger for which Moore has become acclaimed over the years. From the flint-and-tinder autobiographical swagger of “Every Night I Burn Another Honky Tonk Down” to the timely awareness of “Better Days” and the album’s anthemic title track, this is Dallas Moore at the height of his craft -- a bona fide troubadour continuing down the path, even if the path might look a little different after 2020.
Moore and his band returned to Nashville’s OmniSound Studios — quickly becoming the band’s home court — to track the album, once again tapping the renowned Dean Miller as producer. Moore’s self-proclaimed “Honky Tonk Dream Team Band” consisted of Chuck “Lucky Chucky” Morpurgo (Moore’s guitarist of 25 years), Tim Galloway and Guthrie Trapp on guitar duties, Jenee Fleenor (CMA Instrumentalist of the Year) on fiddle, Chad Cromwell on drums, Steve Hinson on pedal steel and dobro, Gordon Mote on piano and organ, Lex Price on bass, Sweepy Walker on harmonica and Perry Coleman on backing vocals.
We are continuing working on our song sketches and home recordings and with the help of our dear friend and producer JP Sancho and with the blessing of Axis Mundi Records, Giovanna Ferin and United Talent Agency, we’re pleased to release music from our upcoming fourth LP, COLA SPIRIT.
This collection of tracks is inspired by Lawrence Krauss on A Universe From Nothing, the unicorn tapestries, and a desire after this intervening period to pinpoint the unreal locus.
Of the many people deserving of our gratitude up until now: former agent, greg lowe & the mystery jets. We thank you for strengthening us. During recording we utilised a(n) solina strings alongside our ageing bodies. We offer sincere contrition and apology for getting obliterated and lost at melt and needing rescue.
May our intentions redeem us, and our actions absolve us. With all of the above, in plenitude, with memories of catch 22 and beyond. For ten of the best years of our lives shared together. In dedication to the future.
Brooklyn based folk singer-songwriter Beth Henderson has released her debut E.P. Questions. Lyrically and vocally rich, the piece serves as a reflection of love and loss in Henderson’s life and the confusion that comes with trying to make sense of it all.
Written and performed by Beth Henderson, with production and instrumentation by Julian Giamo, the four song EP featuring singles “Wild One” and “Lovers from London” ponders the meaning of love while accepting there are no finite answers.
“Looking back on the loves and losses of my life, there is one thing that binds them all together—questions. With this EP, I’ve tried to put together the thoughts and feelings that still linger from relationships long gone in an attempt to make sense of what romance, at its core, means to me,” says Beth. “I’ll let you know when I have it figured out, but, in the meantime, I’m proud to present to you Questions straight from my heart.”
Beth Henderson is a folk Americana singer/songwriter from Brooklyn, New York. With a sound that flips easily between grounded assuredness and crystalline vulnerability (reminiscent of Laura Marling, Liza Anne, and Gillian Welch), Beth writes songs of loss, love, and relationships that just don’t quite work.
Born in Delaware, Beth first found her way to music through theater and began to perform once moving to New York City, at venues including Rockwood Music Hall, The Wolfhound, and Gold Sounds. She’s proud to kick off 2021 with her debut EP, “Questions.”
You can have everything you want and still feel down. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel and those difficult times are necessary to get to the other side. That’s the message of Subsurfer’s upcoming rock single, “Hollow” due out January 27.
Lead singer, David Montalbano says, “I had a lot of friends who have personally not made it through these dark times. It’s had a profound effect on me and the writing of the song. I want people and friends to know we are all in this boat together, and though it may look like I have everything that anyone would want, the Covid reset has affected me in profound ways as well.”
Subsurfer went back to the studio with, Brian Karscig, the engineer who produced their second album. The band wanted to capture the darkness and uncertainty of the moment, which is something they went through at the time they recorded that album. At the same time, the hope of light at the end of the tunnel is captured with back up singers and light keyboards. Montalbano’s melodic-pop-driven vocals dance within the grunged-out guitars, serving as a reminder that light can be found within even the darkest of times.
Subsurfer’s name is not an accident. David Montalbano. of the coastal San Diego based band quite literally writes lyrics as he surfs. Subsurfer came out of being in the surfing world. Montalbano says, “I used to compete professionally and all my songs came from there but most thought they came from a different, more personal place.”
The band who originally formed in 2010 has released three full-length albums: We Are Stars (2011) produced by Brian Karscig (Louix XIV), Devil’s Lounge (2013), LA LA LA (2015) produced by Steve Albini. The Bittersweet EP followed in 2019. They’re currently working on their fourth album, Subversive, due out in mid-2021. Weeds Season 8 featured, “Girl on Girl”, off their first album, We Are Stars.
Subsurfer is David Montalbano (rhythm guitar/lead vocals) Don DeOliveira (lead guitar/backing vocals), DJ Jansen (drums), and Barry Sinclair (bass).
Toronto-based experimental-pop artist, Jane Inc. (aka Carlyn Bezic who's part of U.S. Girls, Ice Cream and Darlene Shrugg) who's today sharing her new single, "Steel", the latest to be taken from her forthcoming debut album, Number One, which is out via Telephone Explosion Records on March 19.
Tipped so far by The Line of Best Fit, NPR, Brooklyn Vegan and Earmilk, unlike Carlyn's previous musical output, this is solely her project, written and produced by herself. She worked with a few extra hands on the record – members of U.S. Girls, Aquakultre and Scott Hardware contributed, as well as esteemed Toronto producer, Steve Chahley (Badge Èpoque Ensemble, Kathryn Williams) – but the fact that this is solely down to her is pretty representative of how deeply personal this record is to Bezic, emerging as an unraveling of her views on mental health and the role which social media/the internet can play in damaging it.
Sonically, the album brings with it a real myriad of different sounds, blending the worlds of off-kilter R&B with crystalline pop-sensibilities – her affinity for Prince adjacent sounds occasionally manifest, alongside touches of fuzzy rock, psych, and slick disco. Thematically, the album looks to unpack a whole host of pertinent themes – particularly in today's overconnected world – that look at online identities and the temptation to bring them to reality, how we make sense of the world when we feel complicit/victimised in its wrongdoing (climate change, etc), and how we understand and make sense of our mental health, relationships and structures.
I think Carlyn is doing something really interesting with this debut album, tackling some important issues in a frank and earnest manner all under the cloak of this shimmering experimental-pop. I think if you're into anything by U.S. Girls, Amen Dunes, or the likes of Melody's Echo Chamber, then there's a lot to love here, particularly with the warm fuzzy guitars, and blinging synthesisers.
HALLI is an art-pop artist currently based in Dublin, Ireland. Her music is a collection of minimalist synth-pop songs, equally indebted to the direct lyricism of Angel Olsen, as it is to the alt pop sensibilities of fkaTwigs.
Having released her debut single “FUKC FEAR” in October 2018 produced by Luke Potashnick, (65k Spotify streams), and after two years spent writing and recording across three different countries (The Netherlands, The U.K and Ireland), HALLI returns in 2021 with new single “Body Never Lies”.
A song that details the importance of having an open and honest relationship with your body, HALLI goes on to explain:
“Having moved to rural Netherlands as an act of self-isolation (under the guise of an artistic retreat) I eventually ended up bedridden from self-neglect. During this time, I was forced to recognize that my body deserved the same level of care as my emotional and mental wellbeing - and that there are repercussions to ignoring that balance. I think the song was a way to finally admit that I was mistreating myself. It’s an honest reminder of the body's fragility and how it will always mirror how it is treated.”
It comes supported by a video made by HALLI herself. She explains, “I filmed and edited the video over the course of a few weeks. It’s made up of several short vignettes all related to the theme of body dysmorphia and self-image. I wanted to explore the theme of delusion we can experience when looking at ourselves and the voyeuristic nature of identity. I used my own body and intimate camera work as tools for this.”
There’s a saying when life hands you lemons, make lemonade. Ottawa-born brothers, Cory and Jeff Papineau live by this saying. So much so, that they named their band Lemon Cash.
The band’s name was inspired from the brothers childhood when they ran a neighbourhood lemonade stand. The two brothers would come home each day celebrating their hard-earned “lemon cash”. To this day they share similar interests in music and continue to write and record music together.
They grew up in a very musical family along with a little sister, Taylor, who would often sing and help write songs in their music room at home. When the 3 siblings were very young, they wrote and recorded a jingle for their answering machine on their home phone line: “We can’t take your phone call, we’re busy through and through, but leave your name and number and we’ll get right back to you!” in acapella with three-piece harmonies.
While still young children, their father left home and their mother took on the challenging responsibilities of raising three kids on her own. The relationship with their father remained complicated growing up which inevitably had its challenges along the way while transitioning into adults. When times became tough, music was their therapy. It was the wisdom from songs and artists that gave them the strength to deal with situations without the guidance of a father. Music was also the lemonade that they used to make their mother happy.
From this the boys realized the magic and power of music and how much of an impact it does have on people. Cory and Jeff continued to steer that magic into forming the band, Lemon Cash.
Lemon Cash started out as a cover band, forming an alternative rock band with some local friends from their hometown of Ottawa, Ontario. The band had success playing lots of gigs, receiving radio traction and formed quite a substantial following for only a couple of years of playing together. After 3 years of playing as a five-piece band, the members of Lemon Cash decided to part on good terms and ended their days as a rock band.
Looking to evolve their music, Cory and Jeff found their sweet spot and transitioned into the country world where they would come to realize this is where their tastes and personalities fit best.
The inspiration to switch to the country genre came from their parents: Jeff Sr. and Sandra. They introduced Jeff and Cory to country music at a very young age. Listening to a wide range of artists such as Patsy Cline, George Jones, George Strait, Dolly Parton, Tim McGraw and Garth Brooks. These country legends became the inspiration for the brother’s beginning to write and perform their own songs with their signature blend of harmonies and a tinge of their love of rock music thrown into the lemonade of Lemon Cash.
Stockholm four-piece Melby have constantly been growing since their debut with catchy single 'Human' in 2016. In 2019, the band released their acclaimed debut record 'None of this makes me worry' which was followed by tour dates all over Europe. Cancelled tours in 2020 lead to the band working on new material in a new way. 'Common Sense' was released in December and 'Old Life' now follows alongside an animated music video made by Isabelle Friberg.
On the melancholic folk inspired 'Old Life', Melby continues to cement their role as one of the most interesting Scandinavian acts around, a band so home and accomplished within their sound that they're now ready to continue to experiment with it without losing their characteristic. The new material was mainly written and straight-away recorded in the studio in close collaboration with producer Alexander Eldefors, this is a completely new way for a band that previously in many cases have toured material for years before recording them.
The band often gets compared to fellow Swedes Dungen and Amason but Melby’s dynamic sound, with influences from folk, psych, indie and pop, stand out. The quartet's light, semi-psychedelic folk pop is led by Matilda Wiezell’s enchanting voice which fits perfectly with Melby’s unique musical landscape - a sound that's been called "otherworldly, and wholly brilliant" by The Line of Best Fit.
The band tells us about Old Life: "Old Life consists of an upbeat, sort of entangled, rhythmic foundation, playing against gloomy and almost dreamlike melodies on top. It sounds a bit like flying, looking down at the landscapes and people passing by beneath you. You're flying fast, but there's also this peacefulness to it. That feeling ties into the lyrical theme, that revolves around moving to another country, and leaving your old life behind."
The band consists of Wiezell, Are Engen Steinsholm (back-up vocals, guitar), David Jehrlander (bass) and Teo Jernkvist (drums) and formed while living together in a Stockholm shared housing.
Having garnered press support from the likes of BBC Radio 1’s Huw Stephens, the Bristolian outfit Goan Dogs gear up to release ‘Drinking On A School Night’, a promising guitar pop-anthem that lands as a new taster of their highly anticipated debut full-length ‘Call Your Mum’.
Consisting of 12 tracks, new album ‘Call Your Mum’ which lands on February 5th, 2021, sees the five-piece utilise dark elements of experimental electronica with warped guitar chords to contort and sculpt an unconventional structure into an exquisite piece of indie-pop with universal accessibility.
Discussing the inspiration for the album, the band say “It’s top advice for anyone in the privileged position of having a mum they can talk to. The album is filled with lost people, unfulfilled people, confused people, heartsick people and anxious people.”
This is evident on new their newest taster ‘Drinking On A School Night’. Connecting jangly guitar pop with skewed experimental synths, the songs raw energy is kept in check by Goan Dogs innate sense for structure, along with frontman Luke’s hazy vocals.
The band say of their new single: "Drinking on a school night is our latest piece of existential dread put to music. It’s a hypothetical glimpse into the future, where nothing much has changed apart from the fact that we’re older. Except it's irresistibly catchy and the vibe is straight fire. You’re not going to know whether to drown your sorrows or start dancing. We suggest you do both."
Following his self-titled debut full length last year, Venus Furs has shared a new video for track “New Inspiration”. The moody, late-night song has an encompassing psych rock sound with lyrics inspired by classic literature.
Venus Furs is the moniker of Montreal’s Paul Kasner, a multi-instrumentalist, writer, producer and self-described “perfectionist”. In the preceding years the act has taken many forms, supporting the likes of The Horrors and The Twilight Sad as he worked on refining and determining exactly what Venus Furs was meant to be. After years of hard work and multiple hurdles, Kasner is on the verge of releasing Venus Furs, a rigorously crafted set of songs that voyage heedlessly through sonic and mental terrain in a way that could only be the product of a single idiosyncratic mind.
This speaks to his remarkable determination to create the album he long envisioned, and has now realised with the dazzling Venus Furs. Once you press play on the self-titled record you’re immediately welcomed into a world of sound that sits at the nexus of psych rock and garage rock, shot through with grand melodic hooks that echo the British alternative scene that he’s always greatly admired, all produced with a finely-tuned ear and precise hand.
London duo Sunglasses For Jaws have announced details of new album Everybody's Made Of Bones with the release of new single "Walk Me Home". Creating widescreen, psychedelic instrumental music as a production duo since 2017, David Bardon and Oscar Robertson are branching out with their fourth full-length album, Everybody's Made Of Bones - out June 3rd via Pony Recordings.
Produced by Charlotte Kemp Muhl at (her partner) Sean Ono Lennon's studio in upstate New York, and mixed by Elliot Heinrich (Temples, Sorry, Parquet Courts) duo also recruited vocalist and actor Olivier Huband to join the band for the new album - taking on a new character of his own for the project - Frank.
"Frank is a deluded paranoid schizophrenic, essentially,” the band explain. “He believes that he's in a film, but he's not, just like everyone thinks that they're in a film in their own head. Really though, it's a man having a nervous breakdown. It's an exploration of method acting and having an existential crisis in this role you're playing. It's a bit meta and in the rabbit hole!"
As a trio, the band’s music took on a largely new shape, weaving Huband's hushed singing and spoken word narratives through their already vivid, colourful musical landscapes. "Sunglasses For Jaws is our vessel to experiment and make any kind of music we want to," the duo – who also produce for the likes of Miles Kane – explain. “This time we've given it a lot more intention and thought, and we wanted to create an entire little world.” The story and struggles of Huband's character 'Frank' are manifested magnificently across the sprawling, kaleidoscopic album while on opener and new single "Walk Me Home" the lyrics specifically zoom in on temptation and its potential consequences.
Speaking on the track, the band said: "The concept behind the song is that of temptation. Of making a decision that could have disastrous consequences. But, just as Eve plucked the Apple from the Tree, we want to take our own risks and taste our own apples. And those risks seem even more exciting when they’re forbidden. Who knows what could happen. What could change. How you could feel. You’ll never know unless you try it. So I’d just say this: don’t go home with strangers... unless you want to."
Diane Arkenstone, for over 20 years a pioneering musical force in a variety of genres, has kicked off a busy 2021 with the release of a new single and E.P both titled Beyond the Golden Sea via her label Neo Pacifica Recordings.
Best known for her soulfully meditative and heartfelt instrumental recordings, the 6-song EP contains new vocal work that evocatively merges her many musical muses—from guitar-based songs to sensual, beat-driven work. “Beyond the Sea” in particular takes the listener on an exotic trip to Zanzibar—one that she had planned and had to miss due one of her many heart surgeries. The effortless exoticism of “Beyond the Golden Sea,” which also features contributions from David Arkenstone, is truly transportive.
Says Arkenstone of the single: ‘While recovering from heart surgery, some of my family travelled overseas and I was unable to go along with them. They sent beautiful photos of Zanzibar, so I wrote a song imagining all the magic and wonder they experienced, and ‘Beyond the Golden Sea’ was born. The song took me so far away, that it felt like I was right there in Zanzibar. And it still does.”
Nick Babcock and Laila Kharouba make up your new favourite pop duo, Your Paris. Praised for their poignant lyrics and on stage chemistry, they’ve been told that even while singing about heartbreak, they make others want to fall in love.
Their pop tunes are fresh yet familiar upon first listen, and have been compared to Julia Michaels and Scott Helman. Since their commencement at the start of 2020, the duo has made a splash in the Ontario music scene.
They’ve opened for Toronto indie-rock band Birds of Bellwoods, have been featured by many media outlets including Global News and CTV’s Your Morning, and have organically grown their Spotify audience to over 16,000 monthly listeners.
Their last single “Rooms” reached new listeners after being placed on three Spotify editorial playlists:“New Music Friday Canada”, “It’s a Bop”, and “Fresh Finds: Pop”. They are determined to stay in the honeymoon phase of their career: in love with, and inspired by their music.
Samana return with the lo-fi psychedelic pop of new single ‘All One Breath’. Named by Elbow frontman Guy Garvey as his ‘Artist Of The Year’ on his BBC 6Music show, the sumptuous combination of Rebecca Rose Harris’s dulcet vocals and Franklin Mockett’s gently haunting piano can be streamed below -
Self-produced, self-recorded and self-mixed whilst holed-up in a remote part of France, ‘All One Breath’ is "a rumination of our interrelations with nature, and the impressions we carve on the world which surrounds us. Wisdom has been exchanged for naivety, which took the guise of intelligence, but the solution is buried within the ancestral part of each and every one of us".
Following the release of the 'The Spirit Moving’ EP in 2020, ‘All In One Breath’ will join recent single ‘Live For The Road’ on the forthcoming 'Melancholy Heat EP' set for release on 17th February.
Five Videos and A Yellow Coat by Matt Costa and Minh Pham. This all started because I asked Minh (visual artist Minh Pham) if she had a coat I could borrow. Turned out to be the cover of my record. Then, when the world shut down, I started working on something else.
I turned my apartment into a sound stage, bought green screens to stage stop frame photography, and made music videos for a number of the songs on my new record with Minh. A return to my adolescence of sorts, the process was evocative of making and editing skate videos myself on VHS, syncing the right trick to the sound that would elevate it to the next level.
Music has always been visual to me. Minh was able to take the record and translate the score to images - making miniature models, domestic objects, otherworldly dancers - commingling them all to find new meaning. It all came to life before our eyes, it was an uninhibited discovery.
The "Avenal" video was molded out of restrictions in a way that built the foundation for the rest of the videos. It was our first attempt at collaborating together. We both found common ground with using analog and digital techniques in our own practices so it made sense to continue and experiment with both mediums. We tried to embrace the digital era by using the computer to enhance a collage aesthetic, but not be reliant on it. An altered reality in two dimensional form that breathes life into inanimate - sometimes overlooked, commonplace - objects and in doing so brings dreams to life. Yellow Coat explores how when faced with challenges the formerly unnoticed becomes symbolic, evoking joy and wonder.
The five videos together address the concept of being sold an idea of what love is. In these videos we tried to tap into a Rorschach of ideas to address that association with two dimensional objects then broken up and displaced. Within that we tried to evoke the sense of joy and wonder; love has limitless possibilities and means something completely different to everyone. Love can conjure a sense of loss and simultaneously a sense of hope. We tried to capture pure emotion by displacing these things like fragments of a feeling. And the memories of love like a collage arranged into shapes or grids as one tries to make sense of it all. - Matt Costa
Looking to lift your spirits naturally? Experience the music of Accolades, a young 8-piece band from Toronto with an eclectic mix of progressive rock, funk, R + B, and Jazz with lots of wind power. Their sound is best served live so you can be fully immersed in their energetic vibe.
Accolades have been making a name for themselves since their recent tour through Ontario and Eastern Canada, playing festivals and engaging their audience in ways no other band can. It’s as if you are part of the show, not just a spectator. There are no walls with this band... everyone’s together, everyone's performing!
Since being signed to the independent label, Akashic Rekords in early 2018 - operated by multi-award winning producer Igor Vrabac- Accolades have been hard at work in the studio on their second EP slated for Early 2021, a follow-up to their debut self-titled and self-released EP in 2016.
two singles have been released to date featuring notable talent including Alexis Baro, and Yannick Allwood. Their music is the perfect elixir to a bad day and the feel-good vibes will last long after their last song has ended.
