Phogg - Classic Water - King Park - Kids Love Surf

Phogg - From The Station.

In September 2019, Phogg's second album "Mofeto: Mashine Adamkosh" was released, an album "about robots that take over the world" which was well received and praised in Sweden and internationally. 

After the cheers of "Mofeto", Phogg took on the challenge of recording two albums at the same time. The goal was to work on these albums in parallel and release them at the same time.

Recording two albums at the same time would prove to be an extremely bad decision and the band was burning out mentally. For a time they floated around with neither direction nor goal, just waiting for their instincts to come to life again.

The music video to the single ”From the Station” is taken from Phoggs upcoming third album ”The Sharkness” that’s being released 16th of April.

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Classic Water - Heart to Move (live recording).

Leading up to debut album Concrete Pleasures coming out March 19th, Utrecht-based indie band Classic Water release the last of a series of live videos. Enjoy this live version of the band’s latest single Heart To Move.

The videos were produced in a barn in the Dutch town of Wijk bij Duurstede. The sound was recorded by Matthijs Thomassen; the video was shot by Classic Water’s keys player Lotte van Leengoed.

Facing reality - Heart To Move is the story of someone wrapped up in the stories he tells about himself, so much so that he is simply unable to tell the real from the unreal, the truth from the lie. When disaster strikes, the narrator is confronted by the gap between his yarn-spinning and the real world.

Classic Water - The songs of Classic Water bring to mind driving through dusty backroads of deserted villages, thinking back on what once was but will never be again. The surreal words of singer Tom Gerritsen are guided by stretches of intertwining melodies, alternated with brief bursts of rock and roll. In an earlier life, Tom released folk music as The T.S. Eliot Appreciation Society, playing over 180 shows in Europe. Seeing Classic Water perform live is a visceral experience. The debut album Concrete Pleasures was recorded and produced by Stacy Parrish (T Bone Burnett, Alison Krauss & Robert Plant) in a 14th century farmhouse in Sweden.

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King Park - This is the End.

King Park has been turning out mercurial, high-contrast indie rock since they released their 2017 breakout track, “Stay.” Gritty and lush, the quartet’s sound mirrors the antitheses of their hometown, Hamilton, Ontario: on the one hand, blue-collar and raw, and, on the other, artful and lovely.

Following their self-released debut EP, The Light I Can’t See, King Park won the 97.7 HTZ-FM’s Rock Search 2018 contest, which helped launch other Canadian rock groups like Finger Eleven, the Trews, and Glorious Sons. The basement-to-ceiling intensity of their live show has since continued to earn them a growing and devoted following across southern Ontario.

At the heart of the group you’ll find childhood friends and musical co-conspirators Timon Moolman (vocals, guitar) and Tyler Heemskerk (bass, vocals), rounded out more recently by guitarist Brenden Campbell and the animated Nate Wall on drums.

Sneak peeks of their upcoming 2021 full-length, Everett, show the quartet exploiting its strengths. Guitars chime, drums thwack, and Moolman’s broken-up baritone—which often veers into shouted speak-sing—is ornamented one minute by barber shop harmonies, and the next by barstool gang vocals. Songs like “This is the End,” “Stuck in the Middle,” and the title track set up camp in that familiar moment after life has fallen apart, and before a way forward seems possible. King Park’s Everett promises a collection of elegies for ordinary, apocalyptic losses.

King Park · This Is the End

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Kids Love Surf - Moment.

Kids Love Surf are a collaborative project from Hastings.

They were brought together by the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown and decided to make tunes while they had the time. They have been collaborating remotely from March 2020 onwards combining their love of all things dreampop.

The first single 'OYO' was championed by BBC Introducing South (they said 'Dreamy sounds') and the band have now followed that track up with the very excellent 'Moment'. They have also picked up plays from Amazing Radio and have had coverage from a lot of blogs like Mystic Sons, Subba Cultcha and Come Her Floyd to name but a few.

Live is a problem for everyone at the moment but in an ideal world they will be out gigging in late 2021. A November tour is now in the planning stage as well as a follow up to the current single and more tunes should be with us very soon

Kids Love Surf · Moment

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Caoilfhionn Rose - Melby - William The Conqueror - The Long War - the Slowlinks

Caoilfhionn Rose - Fireflies.

Manchester singer-songwriter Caoilfhionn Rose (pronounced Keelin) has today shared a new song from her luscious, soulful new album Truly. ‘Fireflies’ echoes a message of hope that permeates throughout the album.

Talking about the new track, Rose says: “To me, ‘Fireflies’ has a nostalgic and comforting feel. It’s about feeling hopeful about the future ‘though there may be dark clouds the sun will always come’. There are references to older lyrics I have written. The line ‘free from all the chaos’ is a nod to a song I collaborated on with The Durutti Column. The song is about acknowledging the past and moving on as ‘time is always healing’.”

Truly moves through a tapestry of curious musical inflections; nods towards folk, jazz, ambient, electronica and even a subtle influence of psychedelia, it never stands still to take a breath, despite its ethereal and delicate core. Out April 9th on Gondwana Records (Mammal Hands, Portico Quartet, Matthew Halsall, Hania Rani), in Truly, the young singer-songwriter has accomplished a body of work that is both sonically and lyrically wise beyond her years.

Co-produced by Kier Stewart of The Durutti Column following Rose’s collaborative endeavours with them on their album Chronicle LX:XL, the musician’s song writing draws from a diverse palette of influences, including Building Instrument, Rachel Sermanni, Alabaster dePlume and Broadcast. Rose also professes to a love for beautiful, stripped back, piano based music, such as Dustin O’Halloran and label mate Hania Rani.

Truly came to exist due to a deep-routed need to create – even though its conception was interrupted as Caoilfhionn Rose recovered in hospital from an illness, she found strength within writing music. “In Spring 2019 I took part in a gig swap with my good friend and fellow musician Kristian Harting who is from Denmark. We played several gigs in the UK but unfortunately the Denmark part of the tour was cut short as I was taken ill. I was hospitalised for several weeks and have taken the last year out to recover” says Rose. “I gradually returned to finishing my second album” she continues. “Coming back to creating after being unwell was challenging but also therapeutic. This record marks a difficult time of my life and writing it helped get me through that. I am really grateful to have music as an outlet.” It may be this tremendously challenging period that has abetted its characterising qualities.

Rose’s beautifully restrained vocal is all at once soothing yet mesmerising. She demands and holds attention through her evident talent yet hypnotises the listener into a trance with her experimental tendencies. “After being unwell, getting back to recording helped me recover my voice after not singing for so long. Finishing bits of songs, writing lyrics and recording vocals helped me get back on my feet and get better.”

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Melby - Somewhere New.

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. During the pandemic in 2020, the band have worked on new material in a new way. From these sessions, we've previously heard 'Common Sense' and 'Old Life' and now the dynamic 'Somewhere New' follows.

On 'Somewhere New', 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. 'Somewhere New' is a track where Melby embrace their talent as songwriters, both combining multiple genres and building crescendos.

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 Somewhere New: "The Somewhere New demo really set out to be this ambitious attempt at an indie song inspired by classical counterpoint composition. However, it evolved into something else when we started rehearsing it together, definitely to the better. The end result is this maxed out two-part journey spanning from low-key indie to intense psych-rock. So lean back and enjoy the ride, I guess."

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William The Conqueror - The Deep End.

South West England trio William The Conqueror released today their new album Maverick Thinker through Chrysalis Records. A record of cuts and bruises, wrapped within bittersweet leftfield rock n roll tunes, Maverick Thinker is razor sharp, dripping with the blues and an oft sardonic vocal delivery.

William The Conqueror is fronted by Ruarri Joseph, a wry, patient storyteller, who has managed enough living to portray a world-weary wisdom in his words, but balances it all with enough optimism to suggest he hasn't quite lived. Maverick Thinker is a record of short, sharp shots to the arm. Fuzzy college rock with chops, one foot lingering menacingly over the distortion pedal.

Recorded in Los Angeles at the infamous Sound City Studios, Ruarri, Naomi Holmes (bass) and Harry Harding (drums) rattled through the album's ten tunes at a breakneck speed. Which turned out to have been a good thing, because the sessions were cut short as the pandemic took grip. With the studio doors locked, the band spent a final, eerie day wandering a deserted Venice Beach before flying home early, captured by the band and featured in their video for "Quiet Life." All that chaos brings a certain unpredictability to an album that nods to some of the US lo-fi greats and yet arrives at something innately British.

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The Long War - Robot Heart.

The Long War is a shared battle story between five people who have each fought to actualize their dream of becoming musicians. 

Unified onstage, in the studio and on record, they are a shared belief, a war of attrition. A shared philosophy between five people, all on the same path, that through hard work and honesty, beautifully authentic music can be made.

"Robot Heart," the brand new single from The Long War, was inspired at a time of feeling alone and cooped up through the fall months. Staring out the window watching crows fly above as they do in Vancouver every single day at the same time to the same spot, over and over again. 

It's routine, instinctual – but in a way also mechanical, built in. "Robot Heart" alludes to our own default habits in matters of the heart and the longing to reprogram, to stop making the same mistakes.

The Long War · 02 Robot Heart

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the Slowlinks - One Shoe.

the Slowlinks is a shared battle story between five people who have each fought to actualize their dream of becoming musicians. Unified onstage, in the studio and on record they are a shared belief, proof that the journey is worth the war.

But if not for one fateful night in Dawson City, The Long War might have never happened. It was there that singer/songwriter Jarrett Lee landed after leaving his hometown of Ottawa, a frustrated and disillusioned cover musician. He traveled across Canada trying to make sense of life. Inevitably, he ended up another lost soul drawn to the silence of the Yukon. It was there, under the northern lights, that the spell was broken. His muse was born on the horizon and the songs began to spill out of him.

An invisible pull guided Jarrett toward Vancouver and his next chapter – autobiographical tales that reflect the landscapes and places that have inspired him as well the people who have come and gone throughout it all. “I see the world as a collage of moving pictures and so I try to write and produce songs that capture the cinematic essence of life.”

Building out from this foundation of storytelling Chad Gilmour (guitar/vocals), Jess Lee (keyboards/vocals), Neil Williamson (drums) and Jonny Battistuzzi (bass) each come to The Long War through their own journeys and provide support in beautiful musical and vocal arrangements. With lasting hooks and strong melodies the band’s sophomore release UNDER A HEAVY SKY is cathartic, deeply personal and speaks to those who have both loved and lost.

Formed in Vancouver in 2016, The Long War won the 2017 CBC Searchlight Contest and their song “Breathe In Breathe Out” was listed as one of CBC Music’s Top 100 songs that year. Their first album LANDSCAPES debuted on CBC First Play and the band has been featured on Q with Tom Power and in the pages of Canadian Musician Magazine. They’ve toured across Canada performing at the CBC Music Festival in Toronto, Banff Performance In The Park as well as the reopening of Ottawa’s National Arts Centre as part of the Canada 150 Celebrations and the Break Out West stage at Folk Alliance International in Montreal.

The Long War is a war of attrition. It is a shared philosophy between five people all on the same path that through hard work and honesty, beautifully authentic music can be made.

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Animai - Moontype - Colour Tongues - Byla Rose - Hawkmoon

Animai - Island.

No (wo)man is an island but somehow Animai finds brilliance when deserted.

Her 3rd self release since 2020 does not disappoint. A homecoming of sorts, Animai revisits her 140 roots, with a nod to Zero 7. This time her lone production, arrangement and lyrics promise to lull the listener into serenity. A perfect soundtrack to your morning meditation or after a stressful day.

She says "I wanted the production to match the emotional intention, but slowly the track turned into a paradox (calm music with turbulent lyrics) which I actually prefer, in fact the track really calms me down" She laughs with a surprised tone "I've accidentally written my own personal lullaby".

Created by slicing up and layering her voice to make a vocal pad with an off beat harp pattern, there is a sense of uncertainty that only makes the calm even more compelling when it arrives.

Animai's interests in the Arts spans many disciplines. She has worked with instrumentalists, cross genre remixers, photographers and filmographers and is excited to continue to collaborate and promote more art forms in her future projects. On ‘ISLAND’ Animai couldn’t wait to work with Finnish collage designer and animator Laura Matikainen, the result a striking piece of artwork and mesmerising video that encapsulates the emotions and lyrical content of the track, and Animai's hypnotic music production.

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Moontype - 3 Weeks.

Last month, Moontype announced their debut LP Bodies of Water (due out April 2nd on Born Yesterday Records). The announcement coincided with the release of the band's single "About You," which recently appeared on NPR's All Songs Considered, and followed their stand alone debut single "Ferry," which received an overwhelming response when it was released in late 2020, earning comparisons to Galaxie 500 and Beach House in The New York Times and praise and "most anticipated LPs of 2021" nods from outlets like FADER, MTV, VICE, Stereogum, NPR, Paste and Bandcamp. Today, the band are sharing a third single from the LP, the beautifully understated "3 Weeks."

Beginning with a simple finger-picked guitar and vocal arrangement that eventually blossoms into an array of vocal harmonies in the song's final third, it's a track that perfectly captures the uncertain thrill of a new crush. A quieter song than the band's earlier releases, it's a gorgeous example Margaret McCarthy's remarkable ability as a songwriter. A song that beautifully captures the the nuance of feeling and subtle details that makes the raw honestly of her writing resonate.

"I wrote this song in the midst of a big crush that was mixed with a new friendship and a new job and a new city," McCarthy explains. "I was trying to get a handle on how to move through this phase of transition while also having a feeling that was too big to really put into words. I kept waiting for the moment to come, when I would know exactly what to say and how to say it, but it never came."

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.

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Colour Tongues - Wasted.

Since their inception, Colour Tongues have taken hits and weathered storms, both literally and figuratively, and they’re still alive to tell the story. Boasting a nurse, a carpenter, an actor, and a dog walker, the band combines elements of math and progressive rock with dreamy indie pop.

James Challis, Colour Tongue’s singer and guitarist is an Australian native whose father was a high ranking member of the Sahaja Yoga cult in the early 80’s and 90’s. Thankfully for Challis, his mother got the kids out.

As a child, Challis would bang his head on his pillow every night before bed. When his mother asked him why he answered: “I’m banging on my pillow to a song I have in my head.” Instead of ADHD pills, he was given a guitar.

As a young musician, Challis was in awe when introduced to Transatlanticism and Plans by Death Cab for Cutie. Inspired by the poetry and imagery in the lyrics, and the songwriting relationship between Chris Walla and Ben Gibbard, Challis was determined to form his own band.

Over the next couple of years Challis leaned heavily into music and moved to Vancouver where he met bass player Dan Lavergne via craigslist. The two clicked musically and began writing together, forming the band Colour Tongues with two other musicians: Hamish Miller (guitar) and John Bazuick (drums). The band recorded a self-titled EP before Bazuick and Miller left due to internal strife. Challis and Lavergne, their bond now stronger than ever, continued, committed to finding the right musicians to complete their vision for Colour Tongues.

Colour Tongues · Wasted

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Byla Rose - How Far (E.P).

The spring is a spectacular time to meet your new favorite song-poet/singer. BYLA ROSE is the nom de plume of Julia Rose Cummings, and her debut How Far blossoms into the world on March 5, its effervescent Laurel Canyon pop-soul a perfect soundtrack to a season of joyful change and the sweet blues of moving on.

Cummings calls her music Pacific Coast Folk, and if that reminds you of certain classic hissing summer lawns and dear pals falling in love in dive bars, spot on. Her influences are not overt but span decades of emotionally blissful but mindful music you may have inherited from your parents (Cohen, Waits, Al Green) or discovered on your own (Mazzy Star, Fiona Apple).

Now based in Seattle, she was born in Bolinas, CA, grew up in Hawaii, and went to college in Oregon. BYLA ROSE are Cummings’ middle names, and both evoke the possibilities of the Emerald City, where people journey out to reinvent themselves inside the beauty of rain-nourished foliage and battered Western tenements

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Hawkmoon - Infinite Mirror (Album).

From the band - We're Brisbane band ‘Hawkmoon’. Our second album ‘INFINITE MIRROR’ was released late last year. If you haven’t checked it out yet, we would love it if you could! Our Biography with some more info on the album is attached.

The record is a cohesive collection of surreal, woozy, psychedelic sounds and raw, dark acoustic arrangements. An album that creates a dark but hopeful mood for a dark, uncertain time.

The recorded was preceded by two singles – 'A MIDNIGHT BALL' - a unique mixture of psychedelic rock and waltz-pop with a dark undercurrent and 'THE WIDOW' - a song that combines a dark, slinky groove with a jangly, melodic chorus of bright guitars and memorable vocals.

The next single from the album is ‘DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE’ – a woozy, organ driven song inspired by late 60’s psychedelia covered in harmonies.

HAWKMOON · Infinite Mirror

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Talkbøx - MARBL - Cassady Southern - Lady Dan

Talkbøx - People People People.

Talkbøx creates an unique type of music fusing electronic music with retro acoustic elements.

Talkbøx (est. 2019) consists of producer/beatmaker Dion Peters (Dion Dash), Dana Havrylyuk and guitarist/writer Mitchell Giebels. Both of these guys and girl have their history in music: Dion having the experience working as an electronic music producer and DJ for nearly 10 years and Mitchell being a professional photographer who has worked with some of the greatest musicians to have faced the earth. Dana is currently a student at the Maastricht conservatory in the Netherlands.

The music style of Talkbøx positively resembles the 80s in the western world, and is usually quite happy and cheerful.

Talkbøx about new single People People People: "At the end of June 2020 we started writing People People People. It was on a summer evening where we actually had no intention of writing music. After we had swum that night, we got inspired to create music in the studio. Mitchell had brought his guitar that night just in case, and played some chords to which Dion started whistling. This is how the cheerful flute part in the song originated. We got so enthusiastic about how quickly we came up with this cheerful melody that we wrote the lyrics that same evening.

We didn't do anything with the song for a while until Dana joined, she sang the lyrics. The lyrics are based on personal experiences of depression, which is actually the opposite of the song's cheerfulness. This contradiction can be found in the lyrics as well: wanting to be in the spotlight and going for it all, but feeling depressed at the same time. Being in your own world and running away from reality. Crying for help, but not feeling understood by your loved ones. Enjoying the company of others, but still battling with that contradiction because you'd rather retreat yourself."

TCBYML · Talkbøx - People People People

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MARBL - It's Always Our O'clock Somewhere.

Israeli folk / pop musician MARBL releases her new single “It's Always Our O’Clock Somewhere” today March 5th!

“I wrote this song right after a breakup. At first I tried not to write, it was too fresh and too painful. After not touching the piano for a few days, I picked up the guitar, which I had only started learning as an instrument three months earlier. The music and the lyrics gushed out of me with such force that I couldn't resist. It was like first aid for my heart. The song is about this feeling of leaving a part of you behind while your common sense doesn't understand the language of the heart and you can't feel relieved because of it. ”- MARBL

The touching video, filmed, staged and edited by Tomer Levi, shows the sunset of love and hope in each subsequent dawn, a metaphor on the same cycle in the sunsets and in the dawn of the heart.

MARBL, who also works as a vocal coach in Tel-Aviv, was able to generate a great media response worldwide with several singles and her last EP "The Flight of the Hawks".

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Cassady Southern - You / Drowning.

Sydney-based singer songwriter Cassady Southern is releasing two new singles in advance of her first full-length album.

You is an upbeat pop rock song which packs a punch and Drowning is a big searing ballad. Both showcase Cassady’s songwriting ability and draw on her musical influences including the Rolling Stones, the Divinyls and Powderfinger.

With this new material Cassady has once again surrounded herself with excellent musicians, including Peter Austin and Nathan Cunningham on guitar, Craig Orth on bass and John Duffy on drums.

Cassady has also been working  with excellent producers and engineers in the making of these latest tracks, including Marshall Cullen (The Divinyls, The Church and Hoodoo Gurus), Michael Zuvela (Vera Blue), mix engineer Russell Pilling (Choirboys, Rose Tattoo, Lemonheads, Grinspoon and Midnight Oil),  and mastering engineer William Bowden (Gotye).

“I’m really happy with these new tracks”, says Cassady. “I spent a bit more time on pre-production this time. In 2020 I studied music production at SAE Creative Media Institute and I was able to apply what I was learning to make some demos and work these up over time”.

“It was great to record with guys who I have been playing with for a while and who are really talented and experienced. It was also a thrill to work with someone of the calibre of Marshall, who was very generous with his time”.

You and Drowning follow two EPs which Cassady has previously released: Don’t ask me in 2012 and Heart in 2016. Both of these releases have been played on radio and earnt positive reviews.

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Lady Dan - No Home.

“No Home" comes as the second installment from Tyler's debut album, I Am the Prophet which is out April 23 on Earth Libraries – I feel that this new track demonstrates a new angle to Tyler’s quite stunning songwriting, fusing these magnificent string sections with whispered guitar and introspective textures, it also finds Dozier's voice at its most isolated providing quite a chilling performance. 

The record itself is a deeply personal project for Tyler, digging into her conflicting opinions on the Church and her experience growing up within it, attending ministry school in Birmingham, AL, and also the patriarchal restraints that her life was put under via the Church/ex-partner and how these impeded her growth. "No Home" looks in part at this, whilst also paying testament to her father's passing (Dozier left school to go and care for her farther back in Dothan, AL before he passed away) – it's a song about grief, and losing comfort/home, whilst also being about taking ownership and knowing that she made certain decisions to help better her own life (leaving the school also helped allow her to prioritise music).

Each track on the debut record poses a new narrative, arriving as multilayered existential quandaries of empowerment and restriction, of life and death, or of faith and its absence. Songs are littered with poetic imagery and Biblical allusions knotted together with Dozier's frankly quite brilliant songwriting. To me, there are some comparisons to the aforementioned Katy Kirby, but also Julia Jacklin, Mattiel (who Tyler supported on a West Coast tour), etc – her take on this country-psych sound is pretty compelling.

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Ida Mae Feat. Marcus King - Oracle Sisters - Bernice

Photo - Joe Hottinger

Ida Mae - Click Click Domino Feat. Marcus King.

Today, the Nashville-via-London duo Ida Mae announced their new sophomore album Click Click Domino, which follows their critically-acclaimed EP Raining For You and breakout debut Chasing Lights. The husband-wife duo Chris Turpin and Stephanie Jean has also shared the title track from the record, which features a blistering guitar performance from Marcus King. Click Click Domino will be released on July 16th, through Thirty Tigers.

Filled with thunderous production, killer riffs, and an insatiable rhythm throughout, "Click Click Domino" is among their most raucous tracks to date. Ida Mae writes, "This was written kind of as a knee jerk song. The unfiltered noise of social media, concerns surrounding social engineering, the lack of emotional connection and physical disconnection gets to all of us. We all know how easy it is to falsify an image, be it in fashion / politics / or any aspect of your everyday and in a lot of people's lives it has become a necessity to play into it. I wanted to write the lyrics to ‘Click Click Domino’ almost as Twitter statements, counting characters, making a short sharp stream of consciousness commentary."

"The riff was originally inspired by the playing of one of our favourite guitar players Pop Staples and it slowly morphed into something that in my mind almost echoed moments of Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac. It kicked up a gear when Marcus King came over and we stood side by side, soloing call and response guitar lines over the outro. The attitude of his playing was perfect."

Adding to this Marcus King says, "A warm summer Nashville evening, enjoying a whiskey beverage with my lady and two of our best friends in town, Chris & Steph of Ida Mae. I listened through the track ‘Click Click Domino’ and was immediately floored by the raw nature of the recording, the intensity and the undeniable, delightfully British rock sound I had grown up being captured. I’m honoured to have played on this track. What a powerhouse album and what a powerhouse band."

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Oracle Sisters - I Don't Wanna Move.

Parisian trio Oracle Sisters have today shared ‘I Don’t Wanna Move’. With this, they also announce the release date for their next EP, ‘Paris II’, due April 7th 2021 via New York independent label 22TWENTY (Madge, Fat Trout Trailer Park).

Talking on the track, the band add “I Don’t Wanna Move is a duet between Chris & Lewis  about desire, the song plays out like a town crier’s rhapsody with all the ancient laments, hopes and dreams of a wayward rake, or a seaworthy mariner rolled into a blanket of harmony.”

Over the past twelve months, Oracle Sisters have built up a loyal and global following, blurring the lines between music and visual arts. Now, Oracle Sisters turn their attention to its sequel, their next EP ‘Paris II’ , due for arrival on April 7th. Building upon their first EPs thematic premise of music lifted from a utopian vision of the French capital (where the band are currently located) the upcoming body of work shows the duel side “of that world...coming back down to earth to explore the darker sides of the psyche while probing some allies of hope” add the band.

With members hailing from across Europe and the UK , the band are uninhibited in their influences, finding inspiration within the art, cinema, philosophy, and music of the world over; resulting in a sound that is both sonically sophisticated and warmly familiar. Lyrically, they explore timeless narratives of love, mysticism and spirituality, scattered with intriguing insights into their own personal lives and experiences resulting in songs that are cryptic yet inviting.

Oracle Sisters have been working hard in Greece currently finishing off their debut album. Along the road, they’ve also played impromptu shows on the island of Hydra with friends from Fontaines D.C & The Murder Capital   – capturing the troubadour spirit of the band.

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Bernice - Lone Swan.

Today, ahead of the release the band are sharing the album's final single "Lone Swan."

"When we think of swans, we think of them coupled, distant, on water - beautiful, peaceful, sailing," says Bernice leader Robin Dann. "We know them as aggressive, hissing, dominating, at odds with our world. Lone swan feels conflict, curiosity, and longing. On a deserted road, city street, snowy mountain, suburban pool, forest, nightclub, airplane, crop circle, cloud - she absorbs as much as she releases. She doesn’t quite fit in anywhere she lands, wonders what is real, and her longing for connection carry her forward one webbed foot at a time."

Eau de Bonjourno is the Bernice's first collaboration with producer Shahzad Ismaily, the acclaimed multi-instrumentalist who has worked with artists as varied as Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, Elvis Costello, Iggy Pop, John Zorn, and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy. While their genre reconstruction remains distinctly Bernice, Dann’s lyrics bring a newfound focus to storytelling in the present moment, compassionately meeting ourselves where we are, and finding joy in spaces that are familiar but ever changing.

Eau de Bonjourno, according to Dann, “openly plays with the shape of a pop song,” drawing on the band members’ backgrounds in jazz, subverting rhythmic formulas, and resting in grooves that sit just outside of predictable. Instead of letting instruments take extended solos, the tone is set on opener “Groove Elation” with brief blurts of synthesized sax, patient passages of space, or clusters of beats, tenderly held together by Dann and Williams’ intimate vocals. The album’s sound is experimental in its truest definition, chopped up like musique concrète and then delicately placed back together with the loving touch of a scrapbook collagist.

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Clea Anaïs - Electric Religious - Dorothea Paas - Kyle McKearney

Clea Anaïs - Hazy Days.

Calgary musician & RALEIGH co-founder Clea Anaïs returns to music today with the release of her debut solo single, “Hazy Days.” Anaïs had taken a break from music to pursue a career in aviation. COVID-19 had other plans. With the world in a pandemic lockdown, Anaïs' focus returned to her first love… music.

Discussing “Hazy Days,” Anaïs stated, “'Hazy Days' captures that moment when you meet a new person and know simultaneously you love each other, but that no matter how things play out you won't move forward in this life together. It is about the practice of really being present with someone, because the second you let go, time will catapult you forward again, and the moment will be lost forever.During the second verse, I imagine the tailors of time embodied by wise deities in the original gardens. I envision them spinning the tapestry of fate from delicate spider web timelines. The track stretches and plays with our perception and relationship with time and reality. ‘Hazy Days’ feels like a brief flash of summers past, and I hope the listener is transported to a nostalgic moment they would like to remember."

A mixed race, multiethnic artist, Clea was raised in Calgary by a Mauritian dancer, and a British painter, Clea’s compositions center on two things: her multifaceted artistic sensibility, and an emotional intelligence as sharp as a shard of bright-colored crystal. Clea creates art that moves in interesting ways, and through this there are moments when she is vulnerable, and those moments move you because they are some special combination of being listenable, evoking thought/memory, and feeling new.

Her session work spans many genres, having worked with Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire) on his project Music for Heart and Breath, doing residencies at the Banff Centre, and recording with bands like Woodpigeon, 100 Mile House, Reuben and the Dark, and Astral Swans. “Hazy Days” is the first of two singles expected in early 2021, hinting at a full-length album.

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Electric Religious - Catherine.

Electric Religious is the project of Edmonton-based Métis singer-songwriter, Brandon Baker, whose guitar-driven music has been described as “bursting with inspiration, insight, and hope.” 

Deeply influenced by the psychedelic sounds of Jimi Hendrix, Baker took his moniker from a Hendrix quote: “When I get up on stage, that’s my whole life. That’s my religion. My music is electric church music. I am electric religion.” The debut Electric Religious album, Yeah, Yeah, No (2018) featured the single “Revolution,” which achieved a coveted spot in the CBC Searchlight Top 100 in 2019, and spent multiple weeks at #1 on the Indigenous Music Countdown. 

A virtuosic guitar player whose live performances are undeniably impressive, Baker has performed for audiences as large as 50,000 during the opening ceremonies for Red Bull Crashed Ice, which was broadcast to over 1.7 million viewers. Other accolades for Electric Religious include an “Artist to Watch” nomination at the Edmonton Music Awards (2015), and a nomination for Aboriginal Artist of the Year in Baker’s home province of Saskatchewan (2009).

Electric Religious · Catherine

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Dorothea Paas - Anything Can't Happen.

Beloved Canadian songwriter, Dorothea Paas is today sharing her new single, "Anything Can't Happen" alongside which she is announcing her long-awaited debut album, also titled Anything Can't Happen and set for release via Telephone Explosion Records on May 7, 2021. For over a decade, Paas has played her unique, prismatic style of folk songcraft for audiences across North America, and lent her talents as a guitarist and vocalist to artists including Jennifer Castle, U.S. Girls, and Badge Époque Ensemble. The songs on this album have been a long time coming, transforming through a near-infinite number of forms whilst being performed at house shows and in sold-out venues.

All of this makes Anything Can’t Happen feel far more mature and complex than a debut album. It’s a statement of purpose, the next step in a decade-long process of artistic growth and evolution, and a bridge between the DIY style of Paas’s previous cassette releases and a more refined studio sensibility. Recorded between Hamilton, ON, and Toronto, and mixed by Max Turnbull (Badge Époque Ensemble and U.S. Girls) and Steve Chahley, these songs bring a diverse range of musical influences into the conversation: inflected with the layered reverberations of Grouper, shot through with the piercing harmonies of the Roches, electrified with the searing energy of Sonic Youth. You can hear Neil Young in the grittiness of the title track’s guitar; Joni Mitchell’s Hejira in the album’s lyrics, Fairport Convention in Paas’s voice. The influence of Stevie Wonder – one of Paas’s greatest musical role models – is present too, in the album’s conceptual foundations.

This first album-titled single is a meditation on trust at three levels – in relationships, in the self, and existential trust in the future. In tandem with these ideas, the music, which draws on off-kilter percussion fused with Paas's silvery vocal and guitar work, moves from rhythmic and confrontational, to drifting and introspective, and finally comes to an anthemic, euphoric conclusion.

The refrain "anything can happen at any time" is sung with confidence, but its meaning is ambiguous. Layered guitars, stacked harmonies, and heaven-bound synths feel big and bolstering, while also carrying a wide range of emotional possibilities including abandon, joy, fear, and grief.

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Kyle McKearney - Devil Water.

Kyle McKearney is a well-accomplished artist & songwriter; ready to take the world on with his unique, modern-vintage, Americana sound.

Born and raised in small-town northern BC (Canada), Kyle grew up surrounded by family and their love of Country & Bluegrass music. After high school, Kyle had the opportunity to move to Nashville, TN, where he spent his days submersed in learning how classic Country and Rockabilly songs were crafted. He eventually made his way back to Canada and settled in Calgary, AB, where him and his brother Shade started a band together. It was then that Kyle really dug in, and started perfecting his skills in: singing, songwriting, all aspects of recording, touring and performing, which have led to being a full time career.

Over the years, Kyle’s been a part of a few successful projects that found him: co-writing a song with Roger Taylor (of the legendary band, QUEEN), on a national tour with Nick Carter (the Backstreet Boy), along with garnering three Top 20 CHR/Top 40 hit songs on Canadian commercial radio, a top 30 at Pop/Hot AC radio, a Top 30 on Active Rock radio, and a Canadian Radio Music Award nomination in 2017 (an incredible feat for an independent artist).

He spent 6 months of 2019 on the road, playing guitar and touring across North America with Queen’s production of “We Will Rock You” the musical; his 15th year of experience in touring. To date, he has sold over 35,000 digital units equivalent.

Kyle has also co-produced all of his new music with Russell Broom (Paul McCartney, Jan Arden, George Canyon, Brett Kissell) and has just released his debut single “Devil Water.”

Kyle McKearney · Devil Water

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Bandicoot - The BluesBones - Leahy - Anthony Steller

Bandicoot - Dark Too Long.

Reclaiming for a new generation the poetry of Dylan, the stark beauty and unhinged Rock and Roll of mid-70s John Cale, and Badfinger's melancholic timeless songcraft, this is Bandicoot. Their sound flows like post-industrial blues through Swansea's rain-soaked concrete streets.

Bandicoot have earned a ferocious reputation, thanks to their raucous, overflowing live shows that spin euphorically from post-punk and krautrock to glam stomp and art-pop sensuality at the drop of a note.

‘Dark Too Long’ is Bandicoot‘s debut single on Libertino, a song they describe as a “frenzied cry of desperation from the depths of excess and loneliness, influenced by the driving rhythms of NEU! and Can.”

"Bandicoot are wired instinctively to the cathartic screams of John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band, the lustful danger of The Velvet Underground, and CAN's cinematic propulsion. They are the art-house provocateurs of Warhol's Factory brought to life on Swansea's rainy streets" - Libertino

Libertino · Bandicoot - Dark Too Long

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The BluesBones - Sealed Souls.

We just wanted to share with you this new lyric video. This song is taken from our latest "Live On Stage" Album.

The song "Sealed Souls" deals with the madness of War. Sometimes a song is just a little more then just a song. 

Sometimes a song is also a message. And Sealed Souls is this kind of song. About the insanity of war and all the suffering it brings. Sometimes images speak louder then words. But combine Lyrics, Music and images and maybe it becomes even more powerfull!!

The BluesBones is a band of 5 passioned and experienced musicians, playing blues/rock with undiminished feeling and skill. Their original songs vary from blues rock over mellow and sensitive blues ballads, swampy slide to more heavy rock. This extended range of styles generated a diverse fanbase in Europe and beyond.

The band, formed in 2011, released its debut album in 2012 and was elected public's favorite at the Belgian Blues Challenge the same year. The band was declared winner of the same contest in 2016 and finished 2nd out of 26 countries at the European Blues Challenge in Horsens/Denmark in 2017. The BluesBones played over 400 shows all over Europe and performed at festivals like Blues Peer festival, Ribs & Blues festival, Moulin Blues, Swing Wespelaar festival, Scinawski Blues Festival, Cahors Blues Festival, Breda Jazz, Randers Blues Festival, Blues‘n Jazz Rallye, …

The BluesBones had the pleasure to share the stage, be support act or jam with artists like King King, Jimmy Vaughan, Seasick Steve, Tommy Castro, Guy Forsyth, Laurence Jones, Danny Bryant, The Nimmo Brothers, Jimmy Thackery, Dan Patlansky, …

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Leahy - Tears.

Canadian band Leahy’s brand new album, Good Water, brings the five women of the group – Leahy sisters Julie, Erin, Maria, Siobheann, and Denise – freshly to the fore, in singing and especially songwriting, along with brother Frank on drums, and introduces the newest addition to the band, Xavier, son of Frank, on accordion.

As the songs on Good Water took shape, a new edge to the band’s sound began to emerge with the addition of electric guitars which spurred them on to explore the outer edges of their traditional/Celtic/folk/roots musical origins, pushing well beyond that footing.

The record’s latest single, “Tears,” is another colour and sensibility in Leahy’s music journey. It reflects the fact that the band members are influenced by so many different genres and this comes out in different ways. Here is a nod to a rock style – with a very heartfelt deep lyric. It’s a beautiful contrast that is not soft and not hard – it’s grounded which is consistent with their sound over the years.

North 28 Music · Tears

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Anthony Steller - In The Story To Be.

Since my sophomore year high school, I’ve been single-handedly writing and producing original music in my garage studio. What started out as a few singles evolved into a fully polished album. I am inspired by classic rock legends of the 1960s and 70s such as The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, The Moody Blues, The Small Faces, and The Rolling Stones. 

I intend to bring sounds from these unforgettable decades back into the spotlight in the next few years. My plans are to start my own band after high school and continue to create and perform new music in the Dallas Fort Worth area.

The Album: "In The Story To Be" is a rock concept album that represents my personal story of struggles in a way that aims to connect and relate to people that listen to it. The album consists of songs about false hopes and miseries, all the way to uplifting songs about learning how to live strong once again. Part of the reason I wrote some of the songs I did was to replace the music I grew up to love because at a point in my life, I was scarred by heartbreak and couldn’t listen to them without feeling sorrowful. 

I aim for my music to connect to those moving through their own darkness so I can give hope for what is to come for everyone’s future no matter where they are or what they are going through. All guitars, percussion, keys, and vocals were proudly recorded on my own, and the tracks were all mixed and mastered by myself. Would love it if you could take a listen!!

Anthony Steller · In The Story To Be

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Heavy Feather - Yndling - Postdata - Ontarians - The Sarandons

Heavy Feather - Sometimes I Feel.

Heavy Feather release "Sometimes I Feel", the fourth and final single leading up to the Swedish root rock band's upcoming sophomore album "Mountain of Sugar". "Sometimes I Feel" stands out from the rest of the album as guitarist Matte Gustafsson takes on the role as lead singer. Delivering a psychedelic, organic tune that brings the true sound and feel of the late 60's to the modern world. "Sometimes I Feel" is released on The Sign Records February 26.

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.

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Yndling - Childish Fear.

Yndling is the dream pop project of Norwegian artist Silje Espevik. This musical endeavour is the result of wanting to take complete creative control over her music. Through delicate soundscapes and oscillating synths, Yndling invites listeners into her own world, offering a place of escapism and resonance through her lyricism.

Her debut single “Childish Fear” is composed of a hushed, muffled bassline, beatific drums, flows of shimmering synths and hypnotic, celestial clouds of production, creating an engrossing paradise of sound and a melancholy atmosphere. Produced by Adrian Einestor Sandberg, the track drips in intimacy creating a stunning contrast to the story behind the tune which entails her fear of intimacy. Yndling divulges, “The song is about that stage in a relationship where there isn’t really that much new and exciting to discover about each other, and capture the fear that I might not be enough once the shimmering glow of first expressions fade.”

The dream-pop artist has an ability to create magical, dreamy soundscapes that are haunting and emotive, originating a fresh new sound and giving insight to an array of mixed emotions allowing listeners to have a raw view of her heart. “Childish Fear” gradually develops a thicker texture resulting in a full bloom of sound. The vocals are tender and ethereal, the backing vocals are almost unrecognisable as a voice floating throughout the track creating a wash of a dazy utopia to indulge in. Yndling shares, “I wanted to communicate a mood or a feeling with the song that evolves and becomes more consuming as the track unfolds.”

Yndling takes influences from artists and bands such as Beach House, Tops, Crumb, Hatchie and Mazzy Star. When it comes to songwriting, the Norweigan artist often allows her feelings or experiences to engross her for a while in order to fully submerge herself in the reality of the emotions. She explains, “I think there is so much power in letting a feeling or experience be all-consuming, just for a little while, and I really need that to write music.” Along with always trying to be as honest and vulnerable as possible, Yndling has an understanding that when writing, it is important to “throw away the fear of being too honest or maybe telling a truth that’s not recognized by everyone else and that may feel a little too close for comfort.” Yndling offers a kaleidoscope of imagination and feeling throughout her music and ensures her lyrics are just as positively affecting.

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Postdata - Inside Out.

POSTDATA, the solo music project of Wintersleep frontman/songwriter, Paul Murphy, is to return on March 5, 2021, with his third record, Twin Flames (out via Paper Bag Records) tipped so far by MOJO, The Guardian, Secret Meeting, Brooklyn Vegan and more. He's today sharing his new single, "Inside Out", which features Murphy's friend, Andy Monaghan of Frightened Rabbit, on synthesiser/keys.

A breathtaking and introspective new album, brimming with deep wonderings and intricately excavated soundscapes, Twin Flames – which comes co-produced by Bristol-based Ali Chant (PJ Harvey, Perfume Genius, Portishead) – borrows its namesake from the centerpiece song on the album. Twin Flames is about a storm, but perhaps more importantly, it’s also about a fire burning through it. Paul says that being in a storm can be a freeing and powerful experience. “You’re navigating this place…you can’t really see super far in front of you,” he says. “I kinda like that place.”

"Inside Out", which comes off the back of the Guardian, FLOOD and Under The Radar-tipped single, "Nobody Knows", is one of the new album's crucial cornerstones, welding together crystalline indie-pop sensibilities with a swooning melody and an infectious singalong chorus. It arrives as something that is unashamedly optimistic with Murphy keen to create something which acts as a guiding light through the pandemic, something which celebrates rather than dwells. Speaking about the track, Murphy says: "I didn’t really know what to do with this song at first. It has this open-hearted feeling to it and I usually try and mess with a song lyrically or darken it up when there’s something musically so light and warm. I don’t know why that’s always the inclination. For this though, and maybe it was because I completed it during the first lockdown period, I wanted to really celebrate that warmness or joyous quality, to lift it up. I hope that it lifts you up a little bit too."

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Ontarians - No Regrets.

Canada's new alt-country heroes ONTARIANS release "No Regrets," the second single from their debut album The Greatest Short Story Never Told, due out March 12. Like its preceding single "Time," "No Regrets" -- available on all digital platforms and Bandcamp -- evokes the spirit of the alt-country insurgency's heyday of the 1990s, with its simple video offering a glimpse of the freedom we've all been missing over the past year and hope to get back to soon. 

ONTARIANS singer/guitarist Frank Deresti describes the band's approach in broad terms by saying, “Between glasses of Pernod, car troubles and lots of laughter we wrote songs about various stages of life we found ourselves in—past, present, and a hypothetical future. Once we had a clear goal in mind, it was like a reservoir of creativity was released that had been building up for a long time.”

The band's other co-founder, multi-instrumentalist Craig Smith adds, "“The general guiding rule has been ‘anything goes.' Frank and I pursued any idea either of us came up with, as long as it felt good. And even though the album took two years to finish, when we were together in the studio there was a real sense of urgency to be productive. We didn’t have the luxury of living in the same city, so I think all of that concentrated effort really comes across on the album.”

The members of the band ONTARIANS don’t live in Toronto, although their sound isn't far removed from the distinctive brand of country rock that ruled Toronto’s Queen Street West during the glory days of the Horseshoe Tavern, the Cameron House and the Rivoli.

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The Sarandons - Caught In A Dream.

This past year has been the ultimate test of whether familiarity breeds contempt. When you're marooned at sea together, all sorts of things start to creep in. More insidious than contempt, the people we're locked in with start to become a piece of furniture in our lives.

Days on repeat. Love ignored.

Our producer Dan Hosh (City & Colour, Arkells) asked us if we had anything slower and more melancholic to round out the upcoming EP. "Caught in a Dream" is it. Lightning struck and within a few days all the pieces, including the dreamy intro/outro, fell together. 

Lyrics were drawn from the zeitgeist (pre-capital raid, so talk of enemies at the gates and insurrection must have been in the ether) to describe those mundane struggles of a relationship.

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