Eve Goodman - Louise Aubrie - Georgia Lines - Wyndow

Eve Goodman - Wave Upon Wave.

'Wave Upon Wave', the latest single by North Wales singer / songwriter Eve Goodman is an exploration of the healing power of the sea. Its lilting, rolling melody is one part ‘Bryter Layter’ Nick Drake, early 70s golden period Sandy Denny and the other Eve’s captivating and unflinching musical honesty. 'Wave Upon Wave'’s emotive heart balances the songs questioning yearning with the need for comfort …… the comfort of being carried along the waves towards an awaiting shore.

Eve explains the origin of the song: "I wrote the vocal parts in one sitting, and never changed them. In fact, the entire vocal recording is the original demo that I created when trying out ideas late one night. I started off with the simple lilting melody of 'wave upon wave upon wave', and loved the way the structure of this sentence means it could go on infinitely. This idea of infinity sparked the next line, 'day upon day upon day'. The sea is vast, infinite, timeless.The song grew from there really, like a wave rolling towards the shore, building strength and power and beauty.” The single was recorded and mixed by Luke Evans at Somewhere Studio and mastered by Katie Tavini.

About the Song: "I wrote the vocal parts in one sitting, and never changed them. In fact, the entire vocal recording is the original demo that I created when trying out ideas late one night. I started off with the simple lilting melody of 'wave upon wave upon wave', and loved the way the structure of this sentence means it could go on infinitely. This idea of infinity sparked the next line, 'day upon day upon day'. The sea is vast, infinite, timeless. The song grew from there really, like a wave rolling towards the shore, building strength and power and beauty.I particularly love the autoharp.

The sounds of the strings as they are played sound like the gentle pull and creaks of the mast, and it feels like you're on a boat. Luke did a beautiful job of building a soundscape for the vocals to float on."

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Louise Aubrie - Ours.

Indie Rock/Pop songstress Louise Aubrie has announced the release of her 5th studio album 'Antonio', due October 15, 2021 on all platforms. 'Antonio' is a truly transatlantic affair; written in New York, recorded in London, and mixed and mastered in Los Angeles.

Louise Aubrie elaborates on the new album's unique inspiration: The title is inspired by a line from the Jacques Brel song 'La Chanson De Jacky': "Même si on m'appelle Antonio" - "My name would be Antonio". It's a brilliant fantastical song about fame being fleeting, and imagining how life might be in the future: being washed up, reflecting on the glory days!! Marc Almond did a brilliant cover of it - one of my favourite songs - and I created a vision of who Antonio might be: an aging European lothario going round the clubs.  A lot of the songs were inspired by that image - I don't know anyone called Antonio in the real world!

Musically, 'Antonio' finds Louise Aubrie in her sleekest form, pumping out hooky, melodic tracks, and cutting straight to the point. No doubt, her kinetic sound is born of a deep connection to the city; Louise splits her time equally between her hometown of London and her adopted town of New York City. The striking cover artwork is an homage to The Pet Shop Boys 'Actually' album cover.

Louise Aubrie recruited several world class collaborators for this album including her mentor Boz Boorer (Morrissey's MD/co-writer). Recorded at Studio 55 and RFL Studios in London, 'Antonio' features Frank Horovitch on guitars, Boz Boorer on guitars, keys and percussion, Andy Woodard on drums and bass, and Roger Joseph Manning Jr on guest keys. It is produced by Andy Woodard, mixed by Ken Sluiter and mastered by Dave Collins in Los Angeles, CA.

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Georgia Lines - Call Me By My Name.

The hypnotic piano driven ballad showcases Lines’ exquisite vocals and emphasizes why she is one of the most mesmerizing voices in the country right now. Written at the end of lockdown in 2020, Tauranga-based Lines teamed up with acclaimed writer and producer Djeisan Suskov (LEISURE, Benee, Paige) to create the understated, yet powerful "Call Me By My Name."

The single is accompanied by a music video that is best described as a visual piece of art and features the directorial debut of Georgia Lines herself. “I loved being a part of the directing process in this video. My inner bossy 12-year-old self came to the surface in the director’s chair.

The song explores human relationships and the challenges we all feel as humans. “It’s about the tension that is felt in every relationship whereas individuals we want to be seen, understood and valued for who we are,” says Lines. “... But knowing that compromise, sacrifice and a willingness to learn and grow is necessary to love another human. “I am so incredibly proud of this one,” Lines continues. “Djeisan [Suskov] is such an incredible writer and producer, and it has been such a privilege working together on ‘Call Me By My Name’.

‘Call Me By My Name’ continues a stellar 2021 for Georgia Lines. The recently released ‘No One Knows’ achieved top 100 radio airplay and saw performances across a range of media outlets in Aotearoa. Lines also embarked on a co-headline tour with LAIIKA and was one of the performers at TUAWAHINE alongside Anika Moa, Annie Crummer, Paige and Tami Neilson. Georgia Lines is a star on the rise with an exquisite voice that promises even more to come. Watch this space!

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Wyndow - Pulling On a String.

Following the success of their first two singles ‘Take My Picture’ and ‘Two Strong Legs’ Wyndow (Laura J Martin and Lavinia Blackwall) return with their eponymous debut album.  The project was ignited by a love of Robert Wyatt and an off-hand idea of collaborating on a version of his song ‘Free Will and Testament’. In a time of weird interludes, the self-examination of the song’s lyrics opened the pathway to themes examined throughout the record, that of being and wanting and the battle between knowledge and knowing. Who am I and do I see myself the way others see me?

What follows is an exploration of the uncertain and the impermanent.  According to Martin, they are “tunes for whacked out worriers lifting weights in the worry gym,” where “feeling uneasy never felt so easy." Reflections flit between two pendulums as each wrote and recorded remotely and exchanged these dog-eared musical postcards to see each others’ responses.  Eschewing the “band in a room” aesthetic out of geographical necessity they focussed on maximising the sonic palette of each song, doing exactly what each piece demanded without thinking about who had to play each instrument.

The songs on Wyndow exist in the space between waking and sleeping, hazy tales that unfurl and engulf the listener in a slightly uncanny sense of familiarity. New single ‘Pulling On A String’ is based on the feeling of walking familiar routes and wishing they took you elsewhere, the duality of holding on to the familiar yet pulling yourself nearer to the beyond and the unknown.

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Vera Ellen - Big Little Lions - Skidders - Girlpuppy

Vera Ellen - I Want 2 B Boy.

Vera Ellen shares a second sensational single, ‘I Want 2 B Boy’, from the upcoming album ‘It’s Your Birthday’ out October 8th via Flying Nun Records.

‘I Want 2 B Boy’ explores the depths of identity — and the incertitude that can arise from opening a can of this particular brand of worms. Sonically, the track makes immaculate use of synthesizers, and scratches our itch for a spirited sing-a-long. Equal parts triumphant and ambivalent, the sonic delivery oscillates between the two, showcasing Vera’s incredible song-writing prowess.

Vera has said on the track, “Ahh.. the multiple layers of feelings you get when you step into yourself. Joy! Pain! More confusion! You spend your life trying to find your footing and often when you do, you just step into another layer of questioning."

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Big Little Lions - Hold On.

Written and produced by Big Little Lions (Helen Austin/Paul Otten) “Hold On is a dramatically, intense song written from the perspective of someone helping to guide and comfort a friend who is experiencing depression.” We have the pleasure of including the lyrics to the song below as Big Little Lions continue to share another gorgeous monthly release this year!

In the dark corner is where I’ll find you
There’s a spark fighting to light the shadows in your soul
Heavy heart crawling towards desire
You’ve been starved
Hungry to find a taste to make you whole
feed the void that you control
oh
Hold on
Hang on tight so you can
Hold on
You’ll have to fight to keep your body off the floor
Only then you’ll find the door
I’ll cover you
While you battle with all your demons
Help you through
The maze of your mind you feel will never end
But I know that you got this
oh

BigLittleLions · Hold On

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Skidders - I Wonder (feat. Andrew James).

Skidders (aka Steve Skidmore) is back with a brand new single taken from the forthcoming studio album Friends & Family Vol.2.

I wrote the song for my wife to appear on volume 2, but rather than wait until it's release, I wanted to publish it earlier, hence the single! But as a love song, and with my vocals, I really could not to it justice - hence the addition of Andrew James' incredible vocals. Together with the bass, mixing and mastering of the amazing Paul Hogg, although a simple song, it is one I am most proud of. I thank Andrew & Paul from the bottom of my heart and I really hope you will like it as much as I do.

Andrew James: Andrew is well know in the Cotswold area of England, and kept everyone sane during the COVID pandemic with his "Stay Sane Sessions" performed live on Facebook and YouTube throughout shutdowns. I was honoured to record guitar for some songs of his songs and Andrew reciprocated with some fab keyboards on Bukechi videos. Check out our cover of Bonnie Raitt's beautiful song I can't make you love me that Andrew lit up with his piano.

Paul Hogg: Paul is an amazing musician, producer, sound engineer and most of all, a lovely friend. Not only these virtues, but he also composes and publishes several genres of music under his name and also that of 'The Ox', the latter being amazing electronica and downtempo music.

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Girlpuppy - Miniature Furniture

Girlpuppy aka Becca Harvey is sharing her new single "Miniature Furniture" through Royal Mountain Records. Written in collaboration with Lunar Vacation and produced by Phoebe Bridgers' co-conspirator Marshall Vore, it's the second track from her debut EP, Swan.

With an opening tour with The Districts already scheduled for October and her first live performance at Chicago’s Riot Fest, girlpuppy's return with "Miniature Furniture" showcases her effortless confessional indie folk, earnestly examining her own emotions and writing beautifully forlorn pop songs that pierce straight through the heart.

Harvey explains, “This song is a culmination of experiences from a summer where I was traveling back and forth to Chicago and Pasadena all whilst coping with a difficult break up. I was having a really tough time dealing with the breakup, but instead of addressing the feelings I was experiencing, I distracted myself with travel and spent time with friends. I often find myself trying to hide from confronting my emotions head on by doing things to keep myself from thinking about how sad I am, so this upbeat song really embodies the fleeting feelings of happiness while also being so depressed.

I associate great memories with this song because I wrote it with two of my friends Grace Repasky and Maggie Geeslin (of Lunar Vacation) and it was such a fun experience. The "miniature furniture" title is a reference to an exhibit at The Art Institute of Chicago that I visited during that summer."

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Glass Heart String Choir - Lleuwen - Julia Bardo - Alicia Walter

Glass Heart String Choir - California.

Wrapped in the warmth of cinematic strings, airy siren choirs, and yearning lead vocals, California invites us to pause as we begin reaching out again for the things we love and missed during our collective isolation, and consider how much they, and we, have changed.

Friends-in-arms reveling at the intersection of classical virtuosity, existential poetics, and art-film surrealism, Seattle art-pop duo Glass Heart String Choir weaves golden lyrical threads of haute-art into their achingly beautiful orchestral tapestry.

Always ambitious in their quest to create unique compositions that stand out from other string-heavy chamber-pop, their latest release California is a beautiful art-song reminiscent of Damien Rice or Joanna Newsom.

The song begins in warm orchestral depths, with Williams delivering the song’s hook, “Do you remember?” in delicate yet sanguine tones, setting us up for the tug-of-war between fond recollection, consolation, and sorrow that permeates the compact 2:30 song, floating upon multi-instrumentalist and producer Katie Mosehauer’s elegant violin melodies and choral soundscapes suggestive of contemporary soundtrack composers Yann Tiersen and Jocelyn Pook.

The 100+ string-sections and near-operatic highs of previous releases are replaced with an airy, Enya-esque choir that haunts the piano-driven bridge, and boldly carries the song forward in its latter half, bringing a soft new dimension to the traditional repertoire.

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Lleuwen - Rhosod.

“My roses are fragile, and come with thorns. . . ” Here is a line from 'RHOSOD' (Roses) written, composed, recorded and performed by Lleuwen Steffan in her home in Brittany. Lockdown has been a time of home recordings. She usually composes her songs with guitar, and used most of her lockdown time to learn something she always wanted – the piano. All her gigs were cancelled mid-tour in 2020 so she had the time.

Nothing beats real connection, so when she was given the opportunity to work with producer Erin Costelo, Lleuwen seized the opportunity. What started as a few polite zoom meetings snowballed into long discussions about production, mixing, mastering and talks about the lack of female music producers, or more so, the lack of recognition.

This song is just the beginning of their partnership. Written on piano and using her zipper lighter as percussion, Lleuwen finds joy in the lo-fi. “This is a song you planted in my garden. From my garden to your radio, to your ear and back into essence”, says the song that ends with poet Sion Llewelyn’s translation of the Serenity Prayer. RHOSOD is the first of two songs composed by Lleuwen in partnership with the National Eisteddfod of Wales and National Arts Centre Canada, with Erin as producer.

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Julia Bardo - No Feeling.

Following the release of her recent single Do This To Me, Manchester-via-Italy singer, songwriter and guitarist Julia Bardo has shared new single and video No Feeling, taken from her eagerly awaited debut album Bauhaus, L’Appartamento released on 10th September via Wichita Recordings.

No Feeling is a dreamy alt pop song, which builds with a teasing guitar riff to a soaring melodic chorus of earnest and relatable lyrics about the everyday need to do things you don’t want to do and having ‘no feeling’ for them. The video, directed by Georgie Brown, features Julia role-playing different life tasks interspersed with a neon-tinged glam live performance.

Julia says; “‘No Feeling’ is about doing things just because you exist, not because you want to actually do them. Because we are trapped in a cycle of rules in society; you must have a job, go out, drink, talk to people, be sociable, believe in something, and do what other people do in order to survive in the world. Sometimes even the most mundane tasks seem too much to handle.”

“For the video, I wanted to portray this idea and set the scene in a white, sterile space, showing how these actions can make us feel stuck in an endless loop of time - going through the same motions every day without feelings or emotions, and how that can build and eventually become out of control."

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Alicia Walter - Suit Yourself.

Following on from the release of her highly-praised debut solo single ‘Prelude’ earlier this year, singer and songwriter Alicia Walter, formally known as the lead singer behind the Chicago-based art-rock outfit Oshwa, is now continuing the support for her first solo studio album ‘I Am Alicia’ with the vibrant new offering ‘Suit Yourself’.

Much like what we heard on ‘Prelude’, ‘Suit Yourself’ sees her branch out from behind the confines of her previous outfit to explore a bolder and more multifaceted direction. Accompanied by the stunning Falyn Huang-directed video, we see Alicia show off her fresh and exuberant spirit as she sings and dances around a beautiful, old house in upstate New York.

Speaking about the new release, she said, “Suit Yourself” is a motivational anthem empowering myself to follow my dreams and do what I want to do in life, “cause babe, this ain’t that long of a ride.” I'm asking myself to stop worrying about what everybody else thinks or about what’s “right,” and to show up for myself and chase my wildest dreams —because the universe might just deliver!

“In the video, we see me at home, getting up out of bed and becoming who I want to be. We watch as “pretend” —playing dress-up with different personas and careers, dreaming up what I could be —becomes reality, me stepping into my fullest potential (and, *suitably,* a glam power jumpsuit!).”

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Molly Hanmer & The Midnight Tokers - Piper Butcher - Robert Ellis Orrall

Photo - Dave Clancy

Molly Hanmer & The Midnight Tokers - Sick of Me.

"Sick of Me" is Molly Hanmer's first single in three years and the first offering off the band's sophomore album Get Loose, due out on September 2021. The song comes after the release of Molly's debut album Stuck in a Daydream, released in 2018 with warm recognition from the National press and radio.

Get Loose parts ways from the Americana-themed compositions of its predecessor and dives deeper into Molly's passion for rock, blues, and psychedelic melodies. Lyric-wise, this new record feels more personal and brings awareness to political and social subjects that had an impact in the band when writing and composing the songs. As the title implies, this album is less restrained or unrestrained, hence "Get loose".

The 10 songs included in Molly Hanmer's upcoming album are longing for freedom to shake off the confines of the pandemic as well as our own critic or fears/inhibitions, urging us to break free, physically and emotionally.

"Sick of Me" was chosen as the song to kick off this new album. Musically fun, dynamic and radio-friendly, it could be the soundtrack of any Route 66 road trip; lyric-wise, the song is an acknowledgment of the fact that ultimately we need other people, with the pandemic keeping us isolated from one another. The importance of connecting with another, and aims to be a reminder that “me, myself, and I” can’t be our sole focus.

"Sick of Me" was written in the height of lockdown, at a time when it was impossible not to be real. And what was real for us was this loneliness, this longing to connect with others, which felt both vulnerable and even a bit perverse. There was anger, too, which you can hear as the song kicks off with this relentless immediacy. And "Sick of Me" was also cathartic, a way we could express our feelings, without breaking the furniture. And if you hear a nod to Iggy and the Stooges or the Buzzcocks, well, you wouldn’t be wrong. In sum, "Sick of Me" is an expression of the angst and longing we felt during a profound and painful time in our shared history.

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Piper Butcher - Before The Thunder.

Off the back of her debut single that debuted at #3 on the iTunes Alternative Chart, Newcastle singer-songwriter, Piper Butcher, is back for more with her brand new track, “Before The Thunder”.

Piper is one of the hottest new names to hit the Australian Americana scene and “Before The Thunder” is sure to capitalise on the success of its predecessor.

Piper says, “the song emanates a story of when someone wants something they can’t have and tries to cross the line to make it happen”.

The song brings about different side of Piper showcasing strong melodies and bluesy guitar licks that would make even John Mayer proud. Her versatility shines through and cements a class act that can straddle genres with the best of them.

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Robert Ellis Orrall - Sunshine.

Today, Robert Ellis Orrall shares the summertime-ready single “Sunshine” from his forthcoming album 467 Surf and Gun Club, out August 27 via Infinity Cat imprint Fixation Records. Accompanied by a music video starring power-pop Infinity Cat band Nectar and released on the same day as the label’s 19th birthday, “Sunshine” is every bit as nostalgic as it is catchy-as-hell.

“This song's about making the sunshine, spreading the sunshine, and letting the sun shine on the people you love,” says Orrall. “I'm hoping good times are back in style and our days can get a little bit brighter, no matter what the weather is outside.” He continues, “I asked Nectar - a band I like a lot - to make a video because they share my hopelessly optimistic in-spite-of-reality wish that we will all find a little more sunshine in our lives."

Nectar adds, "We filmed the video on one of the hottest days of the summer, so we were truly fueled by sunshine. The upbeat, good vibes of the song really set the mood and we had a blast!"

Owner of Infinity Cat Records and father to JEFF the Brotherhood’s Jake and Jamin Orrall, Robert Ellis Orrall is a Nashville legend. At the helm of the beloved indie label for almost two decades, he guided Nashville's punk-rock underground and launched the careers of bands like JEFF, Diarrhea Planet, Be Your Own Pet and Daddy Issues out of the now-demolished house at 467 Humphrey Street. But Infinity Cat is not his first success story. By the time he launched the label in 2002, the Massachusetts-native had already enjoyed a milestone-filled career as a major-label artist and behind-the-scenes songwriter, racking up Top 40 hits from the ‘80s through the 2000s and co-producing Taylor Swift's multi-platinum debut album.

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The Accidentals - Katherine Aly - Anya Hinkle - Hush

The Accidentals - Go Getter.

The Accidentals, an indie folk-pop, rock trio, announce the October 1 release of their new album Vessel, co-produced by John Congleton (St. Vincent, Lana Del Rey) and Tucker Martine (Decemberists, First Aid Kit). Following their critically acclaimed release Time Out Session 1, the new album blasts through the isolation of the last eighteen months with a shot of alt-rock muscle. “Go Getter,” the first single off the album, has a catchy-as-hell melody with a much-needed message – “Shake off the pressure, sometimes you’ve gotta burn it down to build it better.”

While the accompanying music video for “Go Getter” features Goonies-era cinematography and a relentless search for the elusive “goat," the song’s lyrics compel the listener to keep moving forward even as life gets heavy.

“‘Go Getter’ is all about not getting bogged down in the details,” the band explains. “Each single art on the Vessel album is a piece of the final album art. When the album comes out the whole picture is revealed.” They continue, “The Vessel album is about letting go of the small stuff and keeping an eye on the wider perspective. ‘Go Getter’ just feels like it embodies the spirit of the album; it says, “we’ve got this.’”

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Katherine Aly - Glow & Ignite.

New single Glow & Ignite by Katherine Aly has just been been officially released. Despite being a relative newcomer, Edinburgh-based Katherine Aly is generating a significant buzz. 

The new single Glow & Ignite received it's first spin via BBC Introducing. Phoebe I-H & Shereen Cutkelvin enthused, "..that hook is So catchy, we’ll be singing it for sure. Katherine is definitely reeling us in with those ear worms.."

Featured in Vogue Italia, Artist of the Week in The Scotsman, she’s been championed by The Skinny, Tenement TV and airplay courtesy of BBC RAPAL, Amazing Radio, as well as stations across the USA, Canada, France, and as far afield as Australia. Katherine Aly has performed at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Hidden Door, Tenement Trail, Kelburn Garden Party and legendary venues such as The Dublin Castle (London) and King Tuts Wah Wah Hut (Glasgow).

Katherine Aly · Glow & Ignite

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Anya Hinkle - Eden and Her Borderlands (Album).

Anya Hinkle is making her debut as a solo artist with Eden And Her Borderlands, an album that's roots music in its most modern form now available from Organic Records. The album — which includes six critically acclaimed singles— further cements Hinkle's reputation as an artist with vivid storytelling, vibrant musicianship and arresting honesty, which in the past have led her to win the MerleFest Chris Austin Songwriting Competition and be a finalist in the Hazel Dickens Song Contest for her song “Ballad of Zona Abston,” featured on her former band Tellico’s 2018 release Woven Waters which had a #1 single, #1 band and #2 album ranking on the Folk DJ charts in November 2018.

Of Eden and Her Borderlands, Hinkle says, “Eden represents the essence of life, the wholeness, innocence and perfection that is our birthright, those things that seem to get stripped away from us along our journey. The past year isolated us and, despite the hardships of the pandemic, I had an opportunity to view myself and my circumstances differently. Living in uncertainty, I cancelled all my plans and lived more in the moment. I became more grateful for what surrounds me: my home, my pets, my family, my neighbors, my community. I gained a deeper appreciation for those that support us: mail carriers, medical workers, grocery store clerks, the guys on the garbage trucks. I began to feel unexpectedly open and curious, like I was moving ever closer toward Eden by breaking open my heart and mind.”

“This album is an expedition through the great pandemic experiment, with songs that touch on the many facets of a life in isolation. ‘Lady Luck’ asks, ‘Will you hold the line for me?’ asking the existential questions that surfaced: Am I doing what I am meant to do with my life? Is it time to make a change? ‘Road of the Winds’ searches for Eden, for the Motherland, beseeching the winds to ‘lift me up, take my hand, fill my sails and guide me on again.’ There were storms, like the one described in ‘Hills of Swannanoa’ — ‘then it rained, Lord it rained, oh the tears came pouring down like rain.’ There were benevolent spirits like ‘My Faithful Sparrow’ who ‘at the dawn from the sky, you spread your wings and fly on down to me.’ And there were times when there were no words, like the far-ranging instrumental ‘Meditation: Beyond the Shores of Darkness.’”

Anya Hinkle · Eden and Her Borderlands

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Hush - Land Waves.

The indie art-pop band, Hush, forges dynamic and ethereal songs that bring together a multitude of different instruments and talents. 

Their songs touch your heart with beautifully expressive lyrics while entrancing your ears with genre-bending sounds. 

The duo was formed by singer/songwriter Jessica Deutsch of the Toronto chamber-folk group Ozere, and multi-instrumentalist music producer Tyler Emond, who performed under the moniker Tennis Partner. 

Together they’re bringing a fresh new wave of music to listeners around the globe.

 

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French for Rabbits - Jennah Barry - Baba Ali

French for Rabbits - The Overflow.

Surfacing nearly a decade ago from long oceanic shores, dream-pop luminaries French for Rabbits create music that feels like it has been crafted from the fabric of the New Zealand landscape and psyche – with its salty waves, isolated coastlines, expansive skies and friendly, approachable people. That is to say, their music is at once intimate and expansive, welcoming and wary, poetic but piercing. Emerging from a vibrant local folk scene alongside other idiosyncratic talents Marlon Williams, Aldous Harding, and Tiny Ruins, together the band have released three records - NZ Music Award nominated EP Claimed by the Sea; Spirits and 2019’s The Weight of Melted Snow. 

They’ve toured in the US and Europe, opening for acts such as Lorde, Agnes Obel and performed at SXSW, Iceland Airwaves and WOMAD. Despite racking up millions of streams and seeing their music appear in shows from Vampire Diaries to Being Human, the band have remained close to their DIY roots co-running local label Home Alone, and performing in various other bands in their Wellington home-town.

New single ‘The Overflow’, the title-track from their upcoming LP, is their most immediate and compelling to date - the song is an optimistic take on anxiety and panic attacks - hopeful and soothing on the surface, with deep-seated fears close beneath. Frontwoman Brooke Singer is locked in a battle between head and heart as she seeks to rationalise the mechanics of a panic attack - yet, the song is weightless and optimistically bright in delivery.

“Nobody needs to hear about the admin of an indie musician, but I can tell you – it could be a mountain higher than Everest if you let it,” explains Singer. “At times, I’ve found myself on the edge of burn-out and having panic attacks…I dream of living in a cabin by a river, with a dog and fireplace and a simple life with friends around for dinner. But I’m also filled to the brim with ideas for projects, new songs and new challenges,” she continues, a tug of war familiar to many creatives. “It’s just a river, a current / it’s just a heartbeat out of time” she sings, lulling herself back to reality when her heart is racing.

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Jennah Barry - Venus in Heat.

Jennah Barry is back with a new single, Venus In Heat, which like that LP, is produced by Colin Nealis (longtime Andy Shauf collaborator and bassist).

It's right in line with the groovy 70s-inspired acoustic pop of Holiday, with her vocals front and center as they should be.

Here's a quick quote from Jennah about the track: This song is about the first few days of falling in love, when you feel great and terrible all at the same time.

 

 

 

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Photo - William Spooner

Baba Ali - Thought Leader.

New Jersey native, London-dwelling artist, Baba Ali has today released his new single, "Thought Leader which trails previous tracks playlisted by BBC 6 Music and KCRW and tipped by Clash, NME, The Line of Best Fit and Paste. Premiered via Lauren Laverne on 6 Music, this latest single, which welds fuzzy guitars with a propulsive electronic beat, arrives as another installment of the forthcoming debut album, Memory Device that comes produced by Al Doyle (Hot Chip, LCD Soundsystem) and is out via Memphis Industries on August 27, 2021.

Baba says of "Thought Leader": “The demo started out really bare with this sampled Warsaw drum beat and an overdriven bass line I’d recorded while still in America. I sent it over to Nik in London at about 3 AM UK time and he sent loads of guitar takes back for me to work with like an hour later. It was quite clear the song had potential. When we finished off with Al, the song managed to not lose its more punk energy and influence, as Al was intent on not cleaning out any grit. An added bonus was having Al play live drums and bass on the recording, which let him get away from the desk and to get his hands dirty.."

"The self-directed music video for Thought Leader was made in collaboration with visual artist Dan Tombs (www.2ms.studio) , and took inspiration from the 1976 video work This Is a Television Receiver by British artist David Hall."

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The Felice Brothers - Jane Honor - Bethany Ferrie - Louie Short - The Wild Feathers - The Greeting Committee

The Felice Brothers - Silverfish.

The Felice Brothers have released “Silverfish,” the third song to be released from their forthcoming album From Dreams To Dust, out on September 17, 2021 via Yep Roc Records. They’ve also shared the official music video for the song, compiling found footage and micro insect video shot by James Felice himself.

“I found all the bugs in this video just walking around where I live or work,” James explains. “I have a lens that I attach to my phone, and I keep a keen eye out. Little in life brings me more joy than seeing a speck of something on a leaf or a sidewalk, getting in close and observing a little life unfolding before my eyes."

Rolling Stone described the album’s first single "Inferno" as “a swirl of blurry adolescent recollection and Nineties pop culture ephemera” and “...a promising taste of what’s to come.” The second single, “Jazz On The Autobahn,” received praise from Consequence of Sound, Cool Hunting, and was featured on NPR Music’s New Music Friday Playlist.

The Felice Brothers have also announced a US tour to celebrate the release of the new album. The tour will kick off on September 16 at New York’s Bowery Ballroom and will make stops in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and many more. Tickets are on sale now. Find a full list of tour dates below and at TheFeliceBrothers.com.

From Dreams To Dust sees the continuation of the new lineup of The Felice Brothers that debuted with Undress, consisting of Ian Felice, who shares songwriting and vocal duties in the band with his brother James Felice, bassist Jesske Hume (Conor Oberst, Jade Bird) and drummer Will Lawrence. The album was written and produced by The Felice Brothers, and features Bright Eyes’ Nathaniel Walcott on trumpet and Mike Mogis, who mixed the album, on pedal steel.

The 12 songs that make up From Dreams To Dust follow the band’s tradition of opting to record in unconventional spaces, similar to their debut album which was recorded in an old theater in New York and their self-titled, which was recorded in a chicken coop. The Felice Brothers found their new recording home in an 1873 church in upstate New York that Ian renovated himself. Though the church had fallen into disrepair, it was Ian’s dream to acquire the property and renovate the 30x40 one-room church.

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Jane Honor - There Won't Be Any Music.

Jane Honor is a 20-year-old singer/songwriter born and raised in New York City. When she was 18 years old, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a music career and study music industry and songwriting at USC Thornton School of Music.

She has been singing and writing since 8 years old, and has performed at various venues including The Berklee Performance Center, Ashford and Simpson’sSugarbar, Prohibition, and the world-famous Apollo Theater.

Honor writes most of her songs herself, and her music is produced by Jed Elliott of the Struts. She combines modern indie-pop with timeless influences such as Fleetwood Mac and Regina Spektor.

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Bethany Ferrie - This Is Where I Leave You.

23 year old singer/songwriter from Glasgow, Bethany is back with a brand new single following the release of 'Bones.'

'This Is Where I Leave You' is a song full of raw emotions and honesty. The songwriting and production lend to Ferrie's new sound that holds a maturity first displayed in Bones. 

The track is the next single from the artist's upcoming EP yet to be announced.

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Louie Short - What Can I Do.

The Toronto/LA-based artist, Louie Short has shared his new single, "What Can I Do" which arrives as a precursor to a full album titled OMW 4ev that is set for release later this year via 444%. Louie has always maintained the quote "the genre is songs" as a mantra for his music and "What Can I Do" and the forthcoming album follow this sentiment, arriving as the second installment of Short's sound trailing his 2019 debut, Cherry, Cherry.

“What Can I Do” has an interesting journey of its own. The song was written by Louie’s father Michael Short and an artist named BJ Cook in late 70s Toronto. It was recorded with the intent of selling it – possibly through BJ’s ex-husband David Foster (Ringo Starr, Mary J Blige) – but nothing came and the tape disappeared. 40 years later, in the process of clearing out the old studio, an engineer who had always liked the recording digitized and emailed it to the writers. His dad played it for him and Louie cut the record shortly thereafter. In Louie's words, he says "a good song never dies!"

Expanding further, Short says: "People are drawn to beginnings and endings, whether it be falling in love and breaking up, or emerging artists and artists passing away. Things in the middle of their life tend to be neglected. I think that this forgotten middle space is exciting and uncharted. It holds a certain poignancy because it doesn’t have the manipulative magnetism of creation and destruction, birth and death, to grab your attention. It just has itself existing."

Short's music arrives as a display of someone obsessed with the craft of songwriting. With a bio that previously stated, "he's not not trying to be Carole King", Louie is someone entirely focused on piecing together the best songs that he's capable of doing. Louie serves as the sole architect of the project, polishing his DIY instincts from songwriting through to mixing and drawing comparisons to Pavement, Alex G and Cass McCombs along the way.

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The Wild Feathers - Ain't Lookin'.

The Wild Feathers have signed to New West Records and will release Alvarado on October 8th, 2021. The 12-track set was produced by the band and follows their 2020 career-spanning odds-and-ends collection Medium Rarities. Formed in 2010, The Wild Feathers have released three critically acclaimed studio albums, one live record captured at the historic Ryman Auditorium, and toured with Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Bob Seger, and more.

After a major tour with Blackberry Smoke was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic last year, the group hunkered down in a small cabin northwest of Nashville in VanLeer, TN. Using the confidence gained from self-producing three new songs found on the Medium Rarities compilation, The Wild Feathers decided to keep things in-house, producing themselves, which was a part of the hard-scrabble work ethic that got them their success in the first place. 

For the first time without a fancy studio, the band were confident and calm during the process, which cohesively allowed the sound to be exactly what they felt like instead of having to answer to anyone. Knocking out 14 songs in just four days, they bonded over barbecues and beers and there was a warmness that hadn’t been present since their early days. This relaxed approach is reflected in the laid-back nature of the songs featured on the stellar Alvarado.

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The Greeting Committee - Float Away.

Kansas City-based band The Greeting Committee announce the release of new album Dandelion, out September 24th via Harvest Records (BANKS, Donna Missal, Best Coast). Alongside the album announcement, the band release their emotionally revealing new single "Float Away" and its accompanying animated video – offering an up-close and unguarded look at the way depression warps our self-image.

Upcoming album Dandelion was produced by Jennifer Decilveo (MARINA, FLETCHER, Bat for Lashes) and mixed by Dave Fridmann (The Flaming Lips, Tame Impala). Anchored by a gorgeously airy vocal performance from frontwoman Addie Sartino, “Float Away” opens on a candid piece of confession: “Glad it’s raining so I don’t have to go outside and pretend I’m happy just to be alive.” The track unfolds in fuzzed-out riffs, frenetic rhythms, and incandescent textures as Sartino documents her inner turmoil with an intense level of detail.

“There’s a line in the chorus that says, ‘Stale rye, once an apple’s eye,’ which is a way of saying, ‘I used to have so much potential, and now I’m sitting here frozen, and I don’t know what to do with myself,’” she notes.

After slipping into a moment of anti-nostalgia (“Haven’t felt this since/Listening to the 1975 while getting high/In somebody’s basement party”), “Float Away” closes out with another bit of personal revelation: “Treading water’s getting harder/Don’t let me fall another martyr.” But despite its undeniable melancholy, “Float Away” embodies a strangely exhilarating energy thanks to the stormy urgency of The Greeting Committee’s sound and the pure catharsis of its uncompromising honesty.

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Lakes - Sam Teskey - NOGA

Lakes - Retrograde.

Watford based six-piece ensemble Lakes have just shared the moving new single Retrograde, taken from their forthcoming new record ‘Start Again’. The band recently announced their signing to Big Scary Monsters for the new album, out 30th July.

Talking about the new single, co-lead vocalist Blue Jenkins said "Retrograde is inspired by a particular experience of trying and failing pretty spectacularly to navigate an avoidant attachment, despite impassioned arguments for the cause on both sides. It's about how confusing and frustrating it can feel to try and work together with somebody only to keep coming up against the same problems, and how sad it still is when you finally have to let it all go."

After a handful of self-releases and a stint of heavy touring with the likes of Nervus and Orchards, the pandemic forced Lakes to slow down, having been catapulted a long way in a short space of time through consistent hard work and sheer tenacity. The six individuals that make up Lakes took the opportunity to formulate new ideas ready for their newest offering, and fired by a strong ‘do it yourself’ ethic, they collaborated remotely on bringing each other’s stories to life. The resulting album, mixed by Neil Strauch (Owen, Owls, Joan Of Arc, Anathallo, Slow Mass etc), captures themes of healing, hope and relief.

“This batch of songs has been a vehicle for healing for all six of us in some way, so there are a lot of different but raw themes throughout the record. Even though we’re currently all isolated from each other, the one person you can’t escape is yourself,” says co-lead vocalist Roberto Cappellina. “We talk about anything from mental health to addiction; from break ups to cutting out toxic friends, to postpartum psychosis. We’ve been to some dark places between us, but ultimately, ‘Start Again’ is about coming out the other side. This record is about facing that darkness, owning it and letting go of the past. It’s about being at peace with it and moving forward and saying that it’s actually OK to start again.”

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Sam Teskey - Love.

Inspired by the cycles of life, Sam Teskey, guitarist of critically-acclaimed, blues-soul band The Teskey Brothers, announces his debut solo album, Cycles, a collection of music influenced by the great English psychedelic bands of the late ’60s & ’70s, out on Decca Records on Friday 8th October. The first track on the album Love, out today, is a stirring, pastoral folk song that establishes the album’s own life cycle, ending with the reprise Then Love Returns.

Born out of lockdown in early 2020, with touring at a stand-still, Teskey relished in the opportunity to return to his vast back catalogue of incomplete musical musings he’d amassed whilst writing for The Teskey Brothers over the years. Painstakingly digging through old demos, spending time with the development of the songs, keen to make a record that would be enjoyed as a complete body of work. Starting where most finish, he settled on the track-listing before recording a note, thoughtfully building on the original ideas, with each track evolving to seamlessly melt together with the next.

On his debut album, Teskey says: “When on the road touring, I spend most of my time writing songs, so I have a massive collection of songs and ideas ready to go. Once I figured out that they all work together like that, it happened really organically. I love listening to albums that have progression and take you on a journey. A big point of this album is for people to create their own journey and their own story. I can say many things about the record, but I want to leave the experience up to the listener. It feels nice to put the creativity back in the listeners’ hands.”

Cycles offers a thrilling and immersive journey; the seven tracks ebb and flow like a stream of consciousness, shying away from traditional song structures and negotiating a range of genres from orchestral balladry, dissonant and ambient soundscape, all the way through to folk and heavy psych-rock. Determined to capture the music in its purest form, Teskey, enlisting the help of musician friends, live recorded the album almost exclusively live to tape at his analogue home studio in Warrandyte.

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Photo - Sarah Fosco

NOGA - Any Kind Of Dream.

After years of touring the world on bass with Cass McCombs, Renata Zeiguer, and many others, NOGA (aka Noga Shefi) has regrouped to bring listeners The Alchemist -- a short collection of new songs out July 30. Inspired in part by Paulo Coelho's classic mysticist novel of the same name, The Alchemist follows NOGA's experience of untangling life's great dualities: dreams and reality, light and dark, known and unknown, self and other.

Today NOGA has shared the second single from the EP, "Any Kind of Dream" -- a tender, colorful, shimmering song about letting go of something that is no longer serving you in order to create space and allow new ideas. Of the song, NOGA says, "When there is new space after letting go of something heavy and old, there is so much lightness and space to dream of a new vision."

Written during a quiet period of time off in Israel, NOGA recorded the EP back in NYC at the Relic Room, with Scott Colberg on bass and guitar, Jason Nazary on Drums, and Frank LoCrasto on piano and synths. The EP was mixed and mastered by Greg Saunier.

In the novel The Alchemist, the protagonist is made to take on a great quest spanning years and continents. It is not just about chasing dreams, but about the refinement of the alchemist's skill and ability to turn something worthless into gold. On "The Alchemist," the EP's titular, opening track, NOGA grounds her anxieties by reminding herself that the heart and mind is responsible for how one experiences reality. Just as the alchemist can turn cheap metal into gold, NOGA's songs are inspired by the magic of turning unfortunate situations into wisdom and love.

The Alchemist follows NOGA's Mutual Heart Vibes EP (mixed and mastered in collaboration with Ryan Power) and her debut album Calla Lily, which she describes as "songwriting as a way of controlled demolition."

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Penelope Antena - Alyssa Joseph - Joe Taylor Sutkowski - Mara Simpson

Penelope Antena - Back To Stay.

Living and creating in the shadow of an esteemed family legacy, alone in the woods on a mountaintop in the Occitanie region of southern France, Penelope Antena is the heir to a musical throne of mythological stature… and one she lives up to with newfound ambition to push tradition into a 21st Century soundscape. Her 2019 self-produced LP Antelope (KowTow Records) put her otherworldly production style on full display, declaring Penelope as a visionary songwriter and creative force.

Her mother is the renowned singer Isabelle Antena (a pioneer of Electro Samba), her grandfather jazz pianist Marc Moulin (the reason Blue Note opened its EU headquarters, and who was sampled by the likes of Jay Dilla). Fast forward to today and Penelope is carving out her own genre melding path that has garnered praise from the likes of Rolling Stone, Marie Claire, France Inter, and many others.

By integrating tradition and technology, Penelope provides a unique voice in international indie and electronic music. Her forthcoming 2021 release (via Brooklyn’s boutique label Youngbloods) exemplifies an expansion of her creative inspirations, adapting folk, Americana, and gospel sensibilities.

Recent highlights include performing at legendary venue, La Villette in Paris, touring the US in the fall of 2019, 2020 singles “20 Down” and a collaboration with Minneapolis based artist Peter M, “First PO”.

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Alyssa Joseph - leaning.

Rising indie-rock singer Alyssa Joseph releases a beautiful lyric video for her song “leaning”, which can be found on her critically acclaimed “alive” EP that dropped last month. 

“leaning” describes the period after she graduated college when she was forced to move back home with her parents in New Jersey and face judgment from the world while she longed to move to Nashville. The lyrics candidly expose the difficulties young millennials go through post-grad, as she declares “all my money goes to student loans and the god-damn government”.

The lyric video, which Joseph recorded while driving around Nashville, takes the song full circle. Showcasing the lyrics in the video allows viewers to understand the meaning behind this vulnerable song on a deeper level. When she sings, “they say it’s strange that I’m still leaning, but I’m still leaning” she is being honest that even as an adult she doesn’t have it all figured out and it’s okay to ask for help. The video showcases the understated beauty of “Music City” and offers a sense of hope that dreams can still come true. Even though Joseph was stuck in New Jersey living with her parents when the song was written, her dream of moving to Nashville materializes in the video.

Alyssa Joseph is a thriving singer-songwriter based in Nashville, Tennessee. She has toured through Texas and up and down the Northeast, playing at Sofar Sound shows in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Louisville. Her recent EP -- titled “alive” and released on June 4th, 2021-- received wide acclaim from the local and national press, including Guitar Girl Magazine, Music Crowns, Broadway World, and a five-out-of-five star review on Square One Magazine. She is an advocate for body positivity and creating a more diverse and inclusive space within the music industry.

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Joe Taylor Sutkowski - What Luck, Goodbye.

The New Jersey-born now Brooklyn-based artist, Joe Taylor Sutkowski is today announcing details of his debut album, Of Wisdom & Folly alongside sharing the first single, "What Luck, Goodbye." Sutkowski, who is known for his work fronting Dirt Buyer and playing under the Jotay moniker wrote the forthcoming ten-track record, which is out via LA-based artist-run label, Danger Collective Records on August 13, 2021, as a series of five different pairs of stories, each telling the tale of a different character.

While taking a run through pandemic-stricken Brooklyn in 2020, Sutkowski found himself inspired by the odd and visually appealing lyrics of Chocolate USA (a lesser-known project of Elephant 6 / Neutral Milk Hotel collaborator Julian Koster). The endearing depiction of a pretzel-headed schoolgirl named Sherry inspired a swirl of ideas and characters for Sutkowski, who wrote the first song – "Sherry Had a Pretzel Head" – for the record immediately after returning home from the run.

Sutkowski’s warm, emotive vocal delivery and fingerstyle classical guitar are the clear foundation for the album, something cemented with this first single, "What Luck, Goodbye". As a narrative, it arrives as the mirror track to the album opener, "Jordan Was a Little Bottle Rocket" and tells the story of Megan, a desperate dreamer who finds a bottle rocket named Jordan in the pocket of her jacket who she flies away with.

In addition to its precise instrumentation, Of Wisdom & Folly showcases Sutkowski’s ability to paint colorful and defined lyrical illustrations, while maintaining a creative voice and vision that keeps the album grounded. Though the album’s puzzling nature often feels like a dream, the perspectives of the characters are lively, heartbreaking, and ultimately human. “It’s supposed to be vague and make you feel strange, but also at ease,” Sutkowski says, “but I express many real feelings through the medium of characters and their stories.” The performances on the album feel connected to its content and vulnerability, with ominous outros and the inclusion of imperfect studio moments that create a tangible intimacy.

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Mara Simpson - In This Place.

UK multi-instrumentalist and story-teller Mara Simpson has announced her new album In This Place will be released on September 24th, 2021. A heady blend of alt-folk, analogue synth and classical composition, In This Place is a tale of quiet rebellion and taking back control. Fittingly, the new album marks the start of another new journey for Mara. In This Place will be the first record to be released on Downfield Records, a non-profit imprint set up by Simpson, placing artists at its centre. “I want to try and promote transparency and equality, assist other artists to get public funding and to ‘pay’ forward the time and resources I’ve benefited from,” she says. The label’s mission is to see musicians paid fairly and release records through a creative and joyous process. 

Whilst the struggles of 2020 will go down in history, for Mara it was 2019 that was the tough one.  A year spent consumed by worry, whilst in and out of hospital with her one year old daughter, had left Mara feeling like she was playing a constant game of catch up with a world that wouldn’t slow down. With songs ready to be recorded for her new album, she headed into the studio to record with her producer. 

“I stepped into the studio not needing my hand held, just my voice heard” explains Mara, who quickly came to the realisation that she was working in a toxic environment with a producer whose moods everyone had started to dread. “Ironically, at the end of a year spent managing my daughter’s breathing issues, I had an asthma attack induced by the studio’s hypoallergenic cat,” she laughs. “Enough was enough.” 

It was whilst waiting for a train that she had the sudden realisation that the album she was recording would never see the light of day. Struck by an overwhelming feeling of failure, Mara began to ruminate on the time and money she had wasted but then something clicked. “Perhaps it’s something about train stations, the coming and the goings, that allows a stagnating frame of mind the grace and space to clear,” she says. “The funny thing is, upon realising failure, the despair I’d been feeling was now replaced with something else...Relief”. 

Feeling re-energised, Mara called her dream producer Ellie Mason, of Voka Gentle, and together the pair began working on a new record. “I’ve been more hands-on with this album than I’ve ever been, taking a much more active role in production. Throughout the whole process Ellie has heard my voice, and been open to any possibility” explains Mara. “We’ve stumbled across golden moments, recording four part harmonies in Brighton’s oldest church, using every drum there is in Brighton Electric, layering New Zealand bird song with tape delayed piano, all thanks to her nurture, playfulness and kindness,” she continues. 

Title-track ‘In This Place’ is about the confrontation between mother and newborn child. The ‘sizing-up’ of one another as they embark on a new journey together. “When I left home to travel around the world and was so worried about breaking my Mum’s heart,” says Mara. “I just remember her saying that your children are never yours to keep. This is a song about the rawest of loves, and the fact that however much we love someone, they are never ours, and the beauty in that.”

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Vök - Central Heat Exchange (feat. Stephanie Smith) - Lexie Roth (feat. Willy Mason)

Vök - Skin.

Icelandic trio Vök have shared the stunning video for their enchanting and reflective new single Skin, which is out now through Nettwerk Records.

New single Skin follows recently released single and video Lost in the Weekend, which gave an early taste of their new material recorded last year in their Reykjavík studios. The single was the follow-up to their acclaimed 2019 album In the Dark, which was written and recorded by the band in collaboration with producer James Earp (Bipolar Sunshine, Fickle Friends, Lewis Capaldi).

With every track, Vök continue to develop their progressive alt-pop sound and Skin cements just how intricately captivating the band can be. Opening emotively and delicately, the song builds to an ethereal and pensive chorus that lyrically conveys someone not knowing who they are and being stuck in their own ‘skin’. The expansive video, directed by Arnar Helgi, shows the band performing in a stunning location at Rauðhólar outside of Reykjavík amidst a backdrop of mountains and neon lights as the sun sets.

Lead singer Margrét says; “Our character has been living by the standards of her community but feels like she is betraying herself. She is afraid of who she is becoming, as that person is someone that she doesn’t relate to, and she feels trapped and doesn’t know who or what she is – she is stuck in her own skin.”

Through their unique and lushly layered sound that blends electro and indie with forward-thinking pop and a self-assured aesthetic, that is just as striking as their sound, Vök continue to cement their position as one of the most exciting alternative bands right now. Following two critically acclaimed albums, Lost in the Weekend and Skin are just the first musical moments in an exciting year for Vök, with further new music announced soon.

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Central Heat Exchange (feat. Varsity's Stephanie Smith) - Directly Down.

Central Heat Exchange (C.H.E.) is a collaborative project by musicians spread throughout the US & Canada, primarily in the Central Time Zone. Split across Austin, Chicago, & Winnipeg, its core members are Adam Soloway of Living Hour, Santiago RD of Daphne Tunes and Jacob and Paul Stoltz of Varsity and Pool Holograph, though their forthcoming recorded output involves a broad network of collaborators that include members of Broken Social Scene, Lala Lala, Fran, The Weakerthans, Sun June, Do Make Say Think and many others. Today they are formally announcing their self-titled debut album (due out September 10th on Birthday Cake, Citrus City and Sunroom Records) and sharing the single "Directly Down," which features lead vocals from Stephanie Smith of Varsity and drums from Lala Lala's Abby Black.

"'Directly Down' started as a demo for another project, Discus," says Paul Stoltz. "It was initially tracked in March at the beginning of quarantine while Jake and I were planning to record the second Discus LP. As it became apparent that we were not going to be able to record in person for quite some time (still haven’t), I added this song to the mix for CHE."

The drum machine, rhythm guitar, bass, and post-chorus ambient sounds were all tracked by Paul on a Tascam 4-track tape machine. Jake tracked some loose vocal melodies for the song in addition to his lead guitar, but was unsatisfied with the way they turned out. That's when we turned to Stephanie Smith from Varsity, an amazing singer and frequent collaborator or ours. The whole track has a stumbling, spiraling vibe that Stef highlights in her lyrics beautifully, taking Jake's initial lyrics about a depressive spiral and morphing it into a song about humans destroying the earth."

"It's a song about humans destroying the earth," Smith continues. "We’ve destroyed it so much by now that maybe we're past the point of no return but maybe we’re not."

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Lexie Roth - Western Skies feat. Willy Mason.

Like many artists, acclaimed pop-folk singer/songwriter, Lexie Roth, found inspiration in the world shutting down and then slowly coming back to life. Roth is dropping a poignant new single, “Western Skies,” set for release on July 9, via American Songwriter.  Roth plans to release the official video for “Western Skies” later this month.

"I wrote Western Skies after spending a significant time on the west coast and on the road driving across the country, over six times now,” shares Roth.

“There is a certain innate grief that comes over me when driving through small desolate towns. I wanted to imagine what my personal pain would feel like through the lens of a husband being widowed by his beloved wife and being left to raise their children without her. I wanted to depict how moving it is for him to see her."

Produced by Roth, “Western Skies” features vocal contributions from Willy Mason, as well as ethereal slide guitar riffs from Roth’s father, Arlen, a virtuosic guitarist who has performed and recorded with the best artists of his generation, including Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Simon and Garfunkel, The Bee-Gees and Phoebe Snow. The soon-to-be-released video for “Western Skies” was directed by David Henry Gerson, whose work has won prizes from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Sundance Film Festival, and has been acquired into the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in NY.

Raised between Westchester, New York and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, Roth released her eponymous, bluesy debut album in 2012, which included the song ‘Call You My Hon,’ featured in the award-winning film Maria My Love. Roth, who is often compared to artists like Lucy Dacus and Jenny Lewis, has a way of creating music that is soul-inflected, with the wisdom and weight of American music history in an eminently listenable contemporary package.

Lexie Roth · Western Skies feat. Willy Mason

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