Montgomery Church - Sue Foley - Dot Allison

Montgomery Church - The Great Divide.

Cielle Montgomery and James Church are Montgomery Church - a blend of acoustic folk, Americana and bluegrass influences, grown and distilled in the Snowy Mountain ranges of country New South Wales.

With their organic union of dobro and guitar, harmony vocals and thoughtful songwriting, this captivating duo are enthralling in their dynamic intimacy and offer up some of the sweetest darn sounds being heard around

Australia's alt. country scene right now! Since their formation, Montgomery Church have been quietly but quickly gathering a fan base who site their undeniable chemistry as a rare and beautiful thing to see live.

"Montgomery Church are like the Australian version of Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings but if Gillian was the daughter of Allison Krauss...sitting on a porch, with tea not whiskey... I'm a tad obsessed! The most graceful duo literally gracing stages right now!" - Fanny Lumsden

“The Great Divide” is written about a defining time in Australian history when strangers from all corners of the world emigrated to the Snowy Mountains of NSW to accomplish one of the greatest engineering feats of our time - the building of 'The Snowy Scheme'. This snapshot is seen through the eyes of a post-war immigrant worker who, along with over 100,000 others, risked their lives whilst enduring the harsh mountain climate and extreme working conditions to achieve this extraordinary conquest. Featuring Church’s hallmark sound on dobro & lead vocals as the centre piece of this track, it’s hard not to get swept up in the raw emotion and sheer magnitude of this historic tale.

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Sue Foley - Dallas Man.

Stony Plain Records announces an October 22 release date for Pinky’s Blues, the new album from award-winning blues guitarist/singer Sue Foley. Featuring several Sue Foley originals, as well as songs from some of her favorite blues and roots artists, Pinky’s Blues was recorded at Fire Station Studios in San Marcos, Texas. Joining Sue Foley (guitar, vocals) for the recording sessions were Jon Penner (bass), Chris “Whipper” Layton (drums) and Mike Flanigin (Hammond B3 organ), who also produced the album.

To support the release of her new disc, Foley will embark on an extensive tour schedule that includes both an official showcase at the upcoming September Americana Music Conference in Nashville, as well as a set at the Kessler Day Party Showcase during the conference.

Pinky’s Blues is the follow up to Sue Foley’s breakout album The Ice Queen, released in 2018. Foley’s new album is a raw, electric guitar driven romp through the backroads of Texas blues, with Foley’s signature pink paisley Fender Telecaster, “Pinky,” at the wheel. She won “Best Traditional Female (Koko Taylor Award)” at the 2020 Blues Music Awards in Memphis, was nominated for a Juno Award (Canadian Grammy), and she took home the award for “Best Guitar Player” at the Toronto Maple Blues Awards. For the last few years Foley and her band have kept a rigorous touring schedule across the USA, Canada and Europe. Some highlights were appearances at The Beacon Theater (NYC), guesting with Jimmie Vaughan (opening for Eric Clapton) at Royal Albert Hall in London, Montreal Jazz Fest, Ottawa Blues Fest (w/ Buddy Guy), Moulin Blues (Holland), NPR’s Mountainstage (with Bela Fleck), Doheny Blues Fest, and the Jungle Show in Austin, Texas.

The disc’s first single, “Dallas Man,” also bears special significance to Foley. “I realized when I wrote 'Dallas Man' it was just about all these great guitar players from Dallas and right around there,” Foley says. "I've always been infatuated with Blind Lemon Jefferson and had been reading about him and working up some of his songs. Between Blind Lemon Jefferson and Frankie Lee Sims, and then working on some Freddie King and always watching Jimmie Vaughan came the idea of 'Dallas Man.' Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan, Freddie King, T-Bone Walker, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Frankie Lee Sims, Anson Funderburgh, Zuzu Bollin, Doyle Bramhall II, Denny Freeman and Derek O'Brien all came from that area. That's almost a whole album right there!”

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Photo Maria Mochnacz

Dot Allison - One Love.

From her first album release in twelve years Heart-Shaped Scars, Dot Allison premieres the tranquil new video for "One Love," the third single from the critically acclaimed album.  "We ended up shooting the video on what turned out to be two piping hot days in July in and around Bristol & Wales " says Director Maria Mochnacz, (PJ Harvey's longtime visual collaborator). She adds, "We did keep an eye on the weather and move dates to fit to make sure we got good weather as the video was entirely weather dependent but had no idea it would be quite so hot! 

It was myself, John Minton - wonderful low fi experimental camera man and all round one man band, and Honor and Hopey Parish - I've known Honor and Hopey all their lives, from before they were born!  During one of the lockdown stages I went to sit in their garden - and they started doing a KPop dance - so I stored that memory away and asked them if they'd be up for being in this video...we drove off in John's car the four of us with my giant mirror ball packed in the boot and a whole host of other low fi lighting devices…"

"One Love" is about someone feeling unsure in a relationship, needing reassurance. "The flower metaphors are rare flowers used to signify a rare,  precious, all encompassing love.  Blood Camellia suggests flesh, veins and a pulse, Fire Lilies imbue a sense of passion and Juliette Rose seems to hint at Shakespeare,” Allison says of the single.

Heart-Shaped Scars gathers many threads of Allison’s broad interests – not just musical but literary, philosophical and her interest in science and nature are integral to Heart-Shaped Scars overall aesthetic.. Allison’s father was a botanist, and her mother a musician; eventually, the DNA of music took this former bio-chemistry student in a very different direction – and with good reason too.

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Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters - Heavy Manners - We Were Promised Jetpacks - TeenCanteen - King Park - Jessica Smucker

Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters - Dallas / Reverie.

Since April, Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters have been releasing music from their upcoming collection, The Devil and The Deep Blue Sea, a concept suite built from songs recorded under the straitened circumstances of quarantine and envisioned as a “deconstructed album,” released, not as a package, but in a series of paired singles, with each pair drawing on both of the titular concept’s two sides. 

The latest, “Dallas” and “Reverie,” finds the Organic Records artist bearing down on unanswered questions, whether they’re framed in a slowly simmering country-rocker (“Dallas”) or by the more introverted, acoustic treatment of “Reverie.”

“‘Dallas’ is kind of a tribute to our old tour van, Toby (no vehicle of mine goes without a name),” Platt notes — though, as is often the case, the ostensive subject barely makes an appearance in the song’s lyric — ”and also to all that went on in the years I spent traveling the country in that van. 

It’s weird to look back on that time and realize how young I was for a lot of it. This is a song about feeling older but maybe not any wiser…or wiser just by virtue of understanding how little you know. The track features Kevin Williams on keys and my dad, Mark Platt, on harmonica.”

Amanda Anne Platt · Dallas

 

Amanda Anne Platt · Reverie

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Heavy Manners - Flamin' First (2021 Fresh Mix).

The reason for the release of the new mix is that Heavy Manners are featured in two new Ska-centric books! In Defense of Ska by Aaron Carnes and was released in May; Skaboom! An American Ska & Reggae Oral History by Marc Wasserman was released on July 27.

Heavy Manners formed in the early 80s and both headlined and played support slots at Chicago's earliest punk, Reggae, and new wave clubs, including Tuts and Park West. They opened for a wide array of national and international acts including The English Beat, The Clash, Third World, Jimmy Cliff, The Ramones, The Go-Gos, Grace Jones, and Peter Tosh, who produced tracks for the band that would appear on a 7" record and later a CD and 12".

Heavy Manners, who have played out sporadically in the last decade, is comprised of vocalist Kate Fagan, vox/sax/keyboard player Frankie Hill, drummer Shel Lustig, guitarist Mitch Kohlhagen, multi-instrumentalist and singer Kevin Smith and bassist Joe Thomas (who replaced original bass player Jimi Robinson, who passed away in 2018).

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We Were Promised Jetpacks - Not Me Anymore.

Scottish alt-rock trio We Were Promised Jetpacks today share a new cut from their forthcoming album Enjoy The View – single ‘Not Me Anymore’ showcases a different side to the band. Moving away from the complex guitar driven rock they’ve become known for, the track offers a change of pace and a glimpse into what to expect from Enjoy The View, which is released on 10th September via Big Scary Monsters.

Talking about the track, lead vocalist Adam Thompson says; “I started this song within a few days of us having finished recording our 4th album. I had felt completely lost leading up to recording that album but after finishing recording it, I began to feel like I was turning it around and that maybe everything was going to be ok. I didn’t necessarily feel it was going to be a song for a Jetpacks record but once we got into writing this album together, we felt it that it definitely had its place along side everything else we were working on. We loved our demo version of this song so kept it pretty true to that when recording it. All the vocals were a sort of stream of thought, and we kept it that way. We were originally thinking of putting this song in the middle of the record as a bit of an aural break but by the time of submitting the track list we couldn’t see it being anywhere else but first.”

Accompanying video by Adam Keene and Mathew Marchlewski also highlights the theme of change and progression. “The concept of not being yourself anymore evokes an image that never ceases to change. An evolution of life in motion. Labels peel away and leave the underneath unrecognisable. That’s where we connected with the song, and that’s where we went” they said of the video.

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TeenCanteen - How We Met (Cherry Pie).

To mark the five year anniversary of their lauded debut album, Say It All With A Kiss, Glasgow four-piece TeenCanteen have decided to unleash This Is How It Starts, the collection of recordings that should have been their debut album four years prior.

This Is How It Starts is a raw, fresh exciting record that captures the buzz that surrounded TeenCanteen when they first burst onto the scene, it’s a record full of joyous eccentricities, delightful pop drenched harmonies and some Scottish indie pop royalty cameos to boot (Duglas T. Stewart (BMX Bandits) and Eugene Kelly (The Vaselines)), but ultimately it’s the sound of friends making music together, finding their feet and gives huge insight into the begins of an exciting band.

TeenCanteen are Glasgow formed four-piece known for their sticky soda pop harmonies, stomping beats and classic pop sensibilities, they were championed by BBC 6Music’s Marc Riley and went on to release SAY Award long listed album Say It All With A Kiss (2016) and acclaimed EP Sirens (2017).

Lead vocalist/synth player Carla Easton comments: “Having written and released five albums I can look back at this with different eyes and I think it’s good, it’s energetic, it’s the sound of four friends in a room having fun learning as they go and discovering how they sound together. This Is How It Starts is a key part of our journey and story that has been lost and overlooked.

TeenCanteen · HOW WE MET (CHERRY PIE)

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King Park - Coffee Cheques.

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 · Coffee Cheques

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Jessica Smucker - Dinosaurs.

Lancaster, PA-based singer-songwriter Jessica Smucker is gearing up for the release of a new single, an irrepressibly catchy slice of synth pop called “Dinosaurs.”  The song balances melodic buoyancy provided by her five-piece band, with markedly darker themes that reflect a nagging sense of despair for a future that to her resembles a “slow-rolling apocalypse.”  

Indeed, the song wastes no time illustrating that fact as the opening lyric reads: “I thought the world would end in blood and bones...” Dark stuff for sure, but the song is not without a sense of optimism as well.  Ultimately, Smucker chooses living in the moment and embracing the hope found in nurturing a home and family and finding a fragile peace.  “Dinosaurs” will be released digitally on August 13.

Recorded at Kinsey Audio in Lancaster, PA and co-produced by Chad Kinsey and Matt Thomas, “Dinosaurs” features Thomas on synthesizers and organ, Mike Bitts (The Innocence Mission) on bass, and Paul Murr (Jeffrey Gaines, Fauna Flora) on drums. Megan Woodland Hewitt (The Wild Hymns) and Keith Wilson (Movies With Heroes) provide layered vocal harmonies and counter-melodies. The track was mixed by sound engineer and singer-writer Steve Ward (Cherry Twister), and mastered by Grammy-nominated sound engineer Philip Shaw Bova (Feist, Devendra Banhart, Angel Olsen).

The video, showcasing a stylized and slightly surreal version of her home life, was directed by Joe Terranova and produced by Reverie.

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Josienne Clarke - Alphanaut - The Hengles - Lia D'Sau - Tacsidermi

Josienne Clarke - The Collector.

“You’re the collector / You’ll keep me forever / A small unknowable thing / With you as preceptor,” Josienne Clarke sings on new single ‘The Collector’, a song inspired by writer John Fowles' novel of the same name. For her new album A Small Unknowable Thing, due out this Friday, Clarke is flying solo. No label, no musical partner, no producer. For the first time since her early beginnings, Clarke is in complete control of her songwriting, arranging, producing, release schedule and musical direction.

On 'The Collector', Clarke experimented with unusual sounds, marrying earthy folk with cutting industrial noise. Recording the sound of her phone interface via her Cornell amp, Clarke processed it using some Logic pre-sets to make a sound that eventually resembled an angle-grinder. It’s heavy noise grates and cuts, reflecting the horror of the woman’s treatment.  “Having read [Fowles’] book again, I just identified with some of the themes of it. [The protagonist] doesn’t see her as a human being. She has all this power and then none at all, because her’s was a power she’s unable to use for anything; the man’s was always greater. It’s a power that makes you really very vulnerable.”

It’s an experience the vast majority of women making music today can identify with. Despite writing a plethora of critically acclaimed songs, winning a BBC Folk Award, opening for Robert Plant on his European tour, playing prominent slots on some of the UK’s biggest festivals or even taking a leading role in The National Theatre’s revival of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s Good (after being personally chosen by Cerys Matthews no less), Clarke felt daily self-doubt as a result of an industry that variously gas-lit, put-down, questioned and othered. A Small Unknowable Thing is, at least in part, about recognising there are still existing structures to keep women in their place – but it’s also about having the courage to break those structures down too.

After leaving her label, musical partnership and home (Clarke moved to a small village on the outskirts of Glasgow with her husband), she started afresh. Gradually, as she slowly began to write and record once more, the album’s narrative arc emerged and Clarke found herself again. “It’s an empowered narrative, not a weak and vulnerable one,” Clarke says of the album. “It was a conscious decision to walk away from my career as it was and there’s a positive message on this record: there’s a lot of reclaiming the narrative.”

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Alphanaut - Shake the Rhythm

Avant-garde Southern Californian music collective, Alphanaut, are back with a dynamic new track. ‘Shake The Rhythm’ follows the release of lead single, ‘Virtual Love,’ along with the announcement of their album out on October 15th. 

As the second single, the bright horn section lends a big band influence, while the pizzicato chorus hook adds a playful pop element. This special album edit features a gradual chorus fade towards the end that’s taken over by a jazzy improv jam session where the musicians let go of traditional song structure and have some fun showing off their chemistry as a band.

Told through Mark Alan’s colorful vocals dripping with TLC, ‘Shake The Rhythm’ is about embracing your individuality and dancing to the beat of your own drum, even when it seems like everything is trying to stifle your shine. 

The uplifting animated video that accompanies the track is by artist, Matt Brown. Staying true to themselves and to the theme of the album, each track tells the stories of fictional characters that embrace their own unique place in the world; even if it is different than those around them.

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The Hengles - Find The Way.

The Hengles have never sounded more danceable than on their new single Find The Way! It’s going to move your feet! You just can’t stop the beat! Jingle-jangle Hengle Pop in its purest form, but with just that little extra twist, to give it that boogie feel. Bet you can’t resist a big smile on your face when you hear this golden tune. Simple as it may seem, meticulously crafted and styled in their Hok-P Studio near Amsterdam, to fit your precious ears. Yes, Pop music is a serious business!

You don’t have to Find The Way yourself, because it is already here. But if you do, remember where you heard it first!

In the past year, The Hengles have made considerable progress internationally. That resulted in airplay on radio in among others: Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, USA, UK, Denmark, Australia, Canada, Phillipines, Sweden, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Hungary and Austria. Singles from the band also entered the iTunes / Apple Music charts in: Netherlands, Finland, Belgium and Switzerland.

The distinguished gentlemen of The Hengles have more than earned their musical spurs in the past. The guys from Amsterdam played in illustrious 80s and 90s bands like Fatal Flowers, Treble Spankers, Supersub and Jack Of Hearts.

TCBYML · The Hengles - Find The Way

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Lia D'Sau - Bird.

For Lia D’Sau, songwriting is a declaration. The 18-year-old singer-songwriter explores her thoughts on womanhood, relationships and social issues with maturity and curiosity, using music as her toolkit. “Having other people write songs for me seemed daunting, terrible,” says D’Sau. “I’ve been taught to look deeper at the world since I was a child, and I have things I want to say.” 

Born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel, D’sau grew up listening to her parents’ favorite R&B records, with her father being a former boy band member himself. D’sau began singing at age eight, eventually attending music camp in New York City at age fifteen.

Lia is excited to share her new single, out August 13th. Here's what she had to say about it: "This song means a lot to me, especially after these last 2 years of isolation and feeling trapped: in our homes, our countries, our heads. 

I wrote this song after I came home from watching the sunset at the beach one day, which is something i started doing daily during these times, and I was listening to "good days" by SZA. I think it was the day it came out, and I just felt so free, and alive like I hadn't felt in a long time. This song is meant to be like a breath of fresh air after being stuck in a basement for a year".

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Tacsidermi - Ble Pierre.

Tacsidermi are back and how we have missed them! Gwenllian Anthony from the ‘Welsh Music Prize’ winning band Adwaith and multi instrumentalist Matthew Kilgariff have crafted a sublime pop song in ‘Ble Pierre’. Every note played is powerfully evocative of never-ending, carefree summers and romantic escape and wonder.

Tacsidermi with the support of David Newington (Boy Azooga) on drums and mixing by Matthew Evans (KEYS) find a perfect marriage of Jane Birkin / Serge Gainsbourg 60s French pop, Stereolab’s 90s dreaminess and The Happy Mondays, Paul Oakenfold infused Balearic heartbeat.

With Gwenllian’s beautiful restrained vocal delivery set at the centre of the mix the listener falls yet again under Tacsidermi’s spell!

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The Grahams - Suzanne Santo - Film School

The Grahams - Beyond The Palisades

The Grahams’ Alyssa and Doug Graham are New Jersey raised, New York bred, but Nashville based — a cross-section of regional influences that allows them to slip in and out of genres like they’re changing clothes. Their unique sound landed them at the top of the Americana charts when their first album, Riverman’s Daughter, was released in 2013, led to the critically acclaimed Glory Bound in 2016, and their affair with a more alt-pop sound on 2020’s Kids Like Us (co-produced by the late Richard Swift and Lucious’ Dan Molad).  

Their music has landed them in every major music publication and grown them a legion of dedicated fans around the world. In 2021 their music has evolved again into a nostalgia-inducing mellow gold sound with a nod to mid-century soul and classic UK pop. If that sounds like a mouthful, it’s by design. Consider their upcoming three song EP Sha La La (October 15th) a moment of bliss before the duo’s next full album, due in 2022.

A tongue-in-cheek reference to a laissez-faire approach to life, Sha La La is The Grahams’ attempt to exorcise the pains and disappointments of the last 14 months. Rather than writhing in self pity and judgement, or aspirations driven by narcissism, they decided to simply let go of trying to control or overcome the situation, liberating themselves of their anger and who they thought they were, while embracing who they may become.

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Suzanne Santo - Mercy.

Suzanne Santo shares powerful new song “Mercy” Sophomore album Yard Sale out August 27 via Soundly Music; on tour this summer and fall with Gary Clark Jr, Jade Bird, Arlo McKinley, Murder By Death

Austin, TX-based indie-rock and neo-soul artist Suzanne Santo has shared “Mercy,” the newest single from her forthcoming sophomore album Yard Sale, due out on Aug 27 via Soundly Music and follows the release of “Bad Beast,” “Common Sense,” and “Save For Love.”

“Mercy” is a powerful song that seemingly touches on specific situations, but the moral of the story is that mercy requires compassion, empathy, and forgiveness, for others and for ourselves.

The new album, Yard Sale, delves into the ideas of discarding wants, sentimental treasures, largely in the form of people and places that have lost meaning or no longer serve you. Letting things fall away to make space for better things to come.

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Film School - Said Your Name.

 "Said Your Name" is out now. Greg has this to say about the track “This is probably my favorite track on the album. I love the way Noël’s vocals glide over the top of the instruments and gently lead the listener through this breakup song.

So many breakup songs are about fucking over, or getting fucked over. The ensuing anger can almost make that type of breakup easier;  it’s black and white. This isn’t that. 

This is about a couple that still loves one another, but are changing as individuals and unable to align. I love the way Noël’s vocals glide over the top and gently lead the listener through this breakup, she really captures the situation.”

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Astrid Swan - ADAM & ELVIS - La Bonte - Nichole Wagner

Astrid Swan - Not Your Mom.

Quite a touching story – Astrid Swan will release what is her 5th studio album in October this year. After being shortlisted for the Nordic Music Prize and a second nomination for a Finnish Grammy, Astrid has put together what may well be her final group of songs in what is a lullaby to her daughter to grow up with.

To give a little more context, in 2019, Swan published a memoir Viimeinen kirjani, which touches on her personal experiences of mothering, artistic development, life with metastatic breast cancer, analysing the contexts of feminism, class, whiteness, Finnish and American cultural confluence, romance and illness culture.

Speaking about the new record, Astrid said, “Mothers sleep at night (or at least wish to). In their sleep they cannot mother, because they go away into dreams, just like the kids they tucked into bed in the evening. At night mothers are adrift in the world, they have their secrets, their past selves and their current desires. In the morning mothers are back but dreaming renews them and makes them better in the day.”

Soliti · Astrid Swan: Not Your Mom

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ADAM & ELVIS - The Landlord.

The Landlord channels the nervous energy internalised by the modern tenant. It is partly inspired by lived experience and Guy Shusbrie’s 2019 book; Who Owns England. With the Landlords’ rights axiomatic in our confused liberal society; freedom means the freedom to control and extract. This short agitpop song lays bare the feudal hangover still haunting modern Britain, over modulated synthesisers à la Happy Mondays and Snapped Ankles.

Last week a historic court ruling meant John Christodoulou – a Monaco-based property magnate and 82nd on the Sunday Times Rich List – was ordered to pay £19,000 to four of his ex-tenants for failing to correctly license his property last week. 

With many others facing eviction now the eviction ban has been lifted and with no plan in place to tackle the housing crisis we are chomping at the bit to get out and play our polemical style of disco and hopefully be part of an important change and show that good mental health cannot be achieved without secure housing for all.

ADAM & ELVIS · The Landlord

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La Bonte - Francis Right.

“Some of my favorite songwriters past and present have been able to tell stories through their writing, and Francis Right is my attempt at this same craft. It follows a character that is continually dealing with loss at every turn, every attempt at finding a better path in life. Through the disillusionment of falling time and time again, the story resolves in the arms of a loved one, comforting the character at their lowest.”

And here's a quote from Eddie Ramos, the animator “Using a combination of After Effects & frame-by-frame animation in Photoshop to emulate a hand-drawn style, this music video for the song "Francis Right" takes direct inspiration from the song's lyrics. Through a series of abstract scenes, we follow the character Francis Right as he navigates the aftermath of a broken relationship, and the road to finding closure.”

After a decade of playing in punk and hardcore bands in Southern California, Garrett La Bontestarted La Bonte in 2015 to explore his impulses for work grounded in patience: slow resonances, discomfitting absences, and wayward, creeping catharses.

The project is also, importantly, deeply personal. Don’t Let This Define Me, La Bonte’s debut record, frankly articulates the loneliness and isolation of love lost, but avoids confessionalism or saccharine sentiment. The songs are embodied and exacting, with a gutteral affective impact. The record is built of loss, but it bears no traces of a lack–in the song writing’s enlivened and intelligent sense making, we find renewed strength in radical articulations of deep vulnerability. LaBonte feels his way to planting his feet on the ground, and we do, too. Despite life’s litany of chaos–love’s dissolution and other furies–this record leads us (haltingly) forward.

Over two years, several friends and collaborators (Eric Shevrin of Young Jesus, Brooke Dickson of The Regrettes, Janey Riech of Layman, among others) helped bring this record to life. It was recorded, mixed, and produced by Colin Knight at Paradise Records (Fury, Death Bells, Diztort).

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Nichole Wagner - Monsters.

Austin's Nichole Wagner is back with a moving and poignant new single, "Monsters". Born out of a bout of depression experienced during the pandemic, the themes tackled on the new track are ones that so many of us can relate to. "Monsters" comes a little over year after 2021's Covers EP Dance Songs For The Apocalypse and will be featured on Wagner's upcoming second full length album, which will be out in the first quarter of 2022. 

For the track, Nichole once again tagged producer and engineer Justin Douglas, who has worked on both her first album and EP. Together the two brought to life Wagner's vision for the song at Douglas's King Electric Studio in Austin. The band they put together for the song provides a lush musical landscape that pushes Wagner's lyrics and vocals to the front while complementing them perfectly.

Wagner says of the song : "I started writing Monsters with the second verse during one of the worst bouts of depression I experienced during the pandemic. During that time, I was struggling to hold on - feeling very isolated from my communities and family. Just as the fog started to lift, so to speak, a friend of mine lost their mother and I just didn’t have it in me to reach out, as much as I wanted to.  I knew nothing I could say would help, and that even opening that discussion would send me back spiraling. The first verse came last, as I started to reckon with the clean-up and the broken parts. I am ever grateful to the SIMS Foundation here in Austin, for making mental health services available to musicians and industry folk."

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Favours - Basement Revolver - Lenny - Lindsay Jarman

Favours - Right Back.

Favours are made up of Jacq Andrade and Alex Zen. They released their first LP, “Made to Wait”, in 2020. It was recorded at Candle Recording Studios in Toronto. Their song “Stowaway” was featured on Netflix and CBC Gem. Recently, Favours joined forces with Jacq’s brother, Mark Andrade and built a home recording studio in a former halfway house in Mimico. 

Throughout the pandemic, Favours tracked a ton of music in their home studio. Their EP, “Left Behind”, will be released in 2021 and it features a fresh dreampop, new-wave sound inspired by their shared love of the DIY post-punk feel of Robert Rental. 

The band collaborated with a strong team for this upcoming EP. They enlisted the talents of Broken Social Scene’s Brendan Canning who plays bass on the EP, the engineering chops of Tallies’ Dylan Franklin who engineered the drums and bass, and the mixing prowess of Alexandre Bonenfont.

Favours · Right Back

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Basement Revolver - Skin.

Hamilton’s Basement Revolver has always centered around the friendship of bassist/keyboardist Nim Agalawatte and guitarist/vocalist Chrisy Hurn-Morrison. Lead guitarist Jonathan Malström and drummer Levi Kertesz round out the band’s larger-than-life sound. 

With tour plans on hold through 2020, Basement Revolver found time to wrestle with questions about identity, faith, mental illness, and sexuality. Their forthcoming sophomore LP, Embody, is explicit about these new ideas and new thoughts, addressing them with a deeper sound and crisper production to adroitly express the complexity of the world.

“Skin,” the first single to be shared from the album, is a self-aware slow burn. Desperate to feel like her body was okay or good enough, Chrisy was perched on the edge of a dock when this song began tumbling out. The first time she has ever explicitly written about the struggles she feels with her body, “Skin” has helped Chrisy love the parts of her body that have often been scrutinized in the mirror.

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Lenny - Willow.

Lenny is a folk-pop singer-songwriter from British Columbia, currently based in Montreal. Her vocal and lyric-driven melodies tell visual, emotional stories which explore the complexities of relationships, learning from her mistakes, and embracing her bisexual identity in her mid/late 20’s.

Her Debut EP, Personal Celebrity, is a mix of indie rock/pop, and stripped down ballads. It describes the arc of connecting with your inner power and intuition. From getting lost in relationships and losing your sense of self, to reconnecting with your intuition, learning to say no to what no longer serves you, and allowing yourself to live more authentically.

Lenny’s sound has been influenced by songwriters like Joni Michell, Shania Twain, Leslie Feist, Bahamas, and Adrianne Lenker. She performs regularly throughout Montreal, and in 2019 was selected to participate in YES Montreal’s What The Pop! Showcase for emerging artists in Montreal. She’s also part of Rebl House Media’s artist roster.

Lenny’s music is thoughtful, honest, and romantic. Don’t let her softness fool you – she sings about hard truths and lessons learned. She’ll make you laugh and cry in the same show, and her songs might bring up some real feelings for you. Pay attention to her lyrics, and Lenny’s music might heal you like it heals her.

Lenny · Willow

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Lindsay Jarman - The Gallery.

With Laurel Canyon folk vibes that mix and mingle with a Nora Jones-esque, jazz-influenced delivery and production, Lindsay Jarman’s music exudes a depth and maturity far beyond what one might be inclined to expect from a debut full-length album. But to hear her tell it, the songs are less creative endeavors and more a means of healing; of processing life’s painful moments and putting them out into the universe, enabling her to view them much like one admires the paintings on a gallery wall.

“There were extremely painful moments of my life that I was able to get some catharsis for through writing certain songs on this record … they definitely added to who I’ve become as a person,” Jarman says. “Patience is passion tamed, and the rapture that prevails the willful processing of trauma holds healing and gratification in its palm. This record offered that hand to me, and I took it. I found shelter there.”

The songwriter spent time in New York, writing jingles for a score house, before relocating to Georgia and enrolling in UGA, completing her studies in Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management several years ago. While she attributes much of her musical background to her father, she also nods to the value in self-discovery and individuality, enlisting the help of friends in the Atlanta music scene and connecting with producer/engineer Damon Moon to create The Gallery.

“I reached out to Damon, we went and had coffee, and it was an immediate connection,“ Jarman says of Moon. “The emotion and care he showed the music was something I had never had.”

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Lore City - J.D. Wilkes & Legendary Shack Shakers w/Jello Biafra - Nelson Sobral - Tidal Wave - Kat Von D - Birdtalker

Lore City - Participation Mystique (Album).

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow never was. Move your piece around the board, sheath of the physical. Light the lamp within. Corral. Catch sight of a fireball careening across the sky, blazing. Something is on fire, and it’s coming down on us. Lull into the love that is afforded to you, lull into the lead of sleep, lull into the movies. 

Push, pull. Marching to our realizations, marching to work, marching to our resolutions. And you’re waiting, waiting for that call to come. Standing across from, standing next to, coming to a standstill. Earthly divide. The eternal afternoons, parallel. The moments when something moves closer. A phantom ship wafting, calling home across the water. Recreating the familiar, ancient original feeling. An expanse, cascading.

Queued up in a world of limbo and revolution, Lore City tunneled into new songs, finally sending Alchemical Task to press in the early summer days. By then, they were halfway through Participation Mystique. Original Feeling cleared the way, and by the time Buttons materialized with somber holiness, they knew it was finished. Another installment for the continuum, its contents esoterically encyclopedic.

Lore City is an American art rock duo formed in 2011 and currently based in Portland, Oregon. Band members include Laura Mariposa Williams (vocals, keyboard, guitar) and Eric Angelo Bessel (percussion, keyboard, guitar). They met in 2003 as peers in the College of Visual & Performing Arts at Syracuse University. Reconnecting years later, Laura and Eric formed Lore City in 2011 and married shortly after that.

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J.D. Wilkes & Legendary Shack Shakers w/Jello Biafra - Rawhide!

Twenty-five years. Two-and-a-half decades. A quarter of a century. A long time no matter what you are talking about. So it’s no surprise J.D. Wilkes wanted to celebrate that milestone for his band, the Legendary Shack Shakers.

Founder/frontman/multi-instrumentalist Wilkes decided the best way to commemorate a quarter century of making music with his band was — of course — by making more music. But like most long-lasting groups, the Legendary Shack Shakers have had a lot of band members come and go through the years. So a “family reunion” was planned, one that would host past members and the current lineup for celebratory recording sessions. The result is the group’s new full-length offering from Alternative Tentacles, Cockadoodledeux, due out October 8, 2021.

The title is a nod to the Shack Shakers’ 2003 album, Cockadoodledon’t. Though not their debut record, it was the one that broke the group to a wider audience. Its explosive collision of punk, blues and country was perhaps what made the Shack Shakers legendary.

Cockadoodledeux, however, is more singular in its focus. Wilkes had been yearning to set his rock ’n’ roll leanings aside and record something new. This time, instead of hopping genres as many of his albums do, Wilkes wanted to explore one genre alone. He wanted to just make a country-and-Western record.

“Our older albums jump around all over the place, genre to genre, styles that are almost diametrically-opposed even,” he says. “But this record jumps only within country music itself. It's a big-tent genre, really. It has all these little subgenres within it providing endless variety. From Western swing and rockabilly to spaghetti Western and bluegrass — and even Tex Mex.”

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Nelson Sobral - In The Middle Of The Night

Background from Nelson - I was down in Nashville writing, performing, and fired up after playing at The Bluebird when I had the riff for my gritty new single bouncing around in my head.

The lyrical slant for "In The Middle Of The Night" started to form as I wanted to share the experience with my wife who was back home in Toronto.

I'm a huge classic soul & country music fan, and this track hits the sweet spot.

This rockin' song is about those early days of dating when it feels like you're the only two people that exist. You keep it your little secret because you don't want anyone to know yet, so you hang out in the middle of the night when there's no one else around. – Nelson Sobral.

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Tidal Wave - Next Year.

Tidal Wave is a seven-piece art rock band known for their powerful soundscapes and diverse instrumentation.

Formed in 2018, the group met each other working and performing in the local live scene in Toronto. This eclectic group of songwriters was initially put together by guitarist and lead vocalist Connor Young who assembled guitarist Marco Carboni, guitarist and producer Marcus Retterath, drummer and keyboard player Mike Poisson, violinist and vocalist Joey Assaad, violinist Brittany Iwanciwski, and bassist Kyle Texiera.

Whether you are listening to their recorded or live material, the band meticulously layers it’s elements to give the music a full wall of sound with forward momentum. It is an ever present atmosphere composed of rich textures of guitars and synthesizers, with a delicate balance between soaring string lines and strong vocal melodies. The name of the band rather accurately depicts the overall tone of an unrelenting unstoppable force.

Tidal Wave evokes the melodic elements of indie rock bands like Arcade Fire, while creating compelling production-heavy ambient synth and guitar textures comparable to Godspeed! You Black Emperor and My Bloody Valentine. In 2020 they released their single “Our Silhouettes” on all streaming services and will be releasing their EP in the fall of 2021.

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Kat Von D - Fear You.

Gifted multi-hyphenate Kat Von D shares synthwave driven single ‘Fear You’. On the track, impassioned paranoia seeps through the cracks of her delivery as she details “being scared to let yourself fall in love,” bathed in a gorgeous retro soundscape laced with instantly recognisable 808 drums. Lyrically, the track explores trust, self-exploration and the concept of overcoming your inner fears when it comes to fully committing your heart to a loved one. Written with Linda Perry, the single was produced by Kat and her band members Gregg Foreman AKA Mr. Pharmacist (synth 1), Sammi Doll (synth 2) and Dave Parley (drums).

Talking about the track Kat says; “this was originally my favorite track. It still might be! I chose it to be the fifth song, because five is my favorite number. Lyrically, it’s about how you can’t lose if you don’t play. You’re so scared of taking the leap and trying, because you assume you’re going to fail. I was in a relationship where we were too scared to make it real. It was self-tormenting. You’re building it up to fall apart. You want to know someone wholeheartedly, but that would require you to get over your fear. You just won’t.”

The new cut follows on recently released singles, the driving darkwave laced ‘Enough’, the vulnerable synthwave slow jam, ‘I Am Nothing’, which found the talented artist at her most intimate and vulnerable, and the debut single ‘Exorcism’ - defined by Billboard as “a darkwave bop about love, loss and change” - which unveiled the album's recurring theme, in Kat’s own words; “‘Love Made Me Do It’ is a collection of all my hopeless romantic thoughts poured into one album.”

‘Love Made Me Do It’ sits at the core of Kat’s universe, proving that music is her first and strongest passion. Having been a classically trained pianist since her youth with a deep appreciation for music of all genres, Kat poured her soul into this long-awaited full-length debut album. The project features collaborators including Dave Grohl, Linda Perry, Dave Sitek (TV On The Radio), Peter Murphy (Bauhaus), Danny Lohner (Nine Inch Nails), Ladyhawke and Charo.

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Birdtalker - Old Sob Story.

Nashville-based indie/folk group Birdtalker announced their anticipated sophomore album will release on October 8th through AntiFragile Music. The self-titled effort is the follow-up to their 2018 critically acclaimed debut One. With their new album, Birdtalker find solid ground and step into their own with their most confident and unrestrained set of songs to date. They also released today their new single "Old Sob Story," a rollicking song exemplifying the band's newfound creative freedom. Full of bravado and sass, it brazenly marches into new distortion-soaked sonic territory.

"'Old Sob Story' is about getting out of the head and into the body and a deeper sense of knowing," stated the band. "It feels like an echo of 'Heavy,' but instead of being sensitive and melodramatic, we're very open-handed and unabashed, almost silly. Lyrically, it's got a 'I'm tired of myself' vibe; just done with the old and ready for the new."

Fronted by couple Zack and Dani Green, along with Brian Seligman (guitar), Jesse Baker (bass), and newcomer Chris Wilson (drums/percussion), Birdtalker explore how to navigate the unknown, embrace uncertainty, and learn to let go. With the unexpected success of their 2017 breakout single "Heavy" (now over 80 million streams), the band had to write, record, and release their first album with a sense of urgency. The whirlwind debut (which garnered acclaim from Rolling Stone, NPR Music, Billboard, World Cafe, American Songwriter, and Relix among others) led to non-stop touring, festival appearances, and even their debut performance on the world famous Grand Ole Opry.

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Gabrielle Ornate - Annabel Gutherz - Jenny Stevens and the Empty Mirrors - Lady Di - Reb Fountain - Oliv

Gabrielle Ornate - Waiting To Be Found.

Background from Gabrielle - My name is Gabrielle Ornate and I craft bohemian pop/rock tracks for the modern world. Kaleidoscopic soundscapes made from walls of epic synthesisers, adorned with riffing guitar and bass. Led by powerful vocals singing ethereal lyrics.

Think Kate Bush meets St. Vincent and Tame Impala brewed into a brand new sound of my own.

I’ve been releasing music since early this year and have received lots of playlist support on Spotify, reaching a combined streaming figure of almost 190,000 streams on my two singles.

I’ve also had radio support from BBC Introducing for each of my releases (including my upcoming single), as well as being featured in Tom Robinson’s Radio 6 Mixtape.

Gabrielle Ornate · Waiting To Be Found

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Annabel Gutherz - Remnant.

Singer-songwriter Annabel Gutherz shares her new single and lyric video, “Remnant,” from her upcoming debut album ‘Loose Ends.’ “Remnant” is an emotionally poignant coming of age track. Atop Americana-influenced guitar and understated percussion, Annabel's soothing vocals croon about lost friendship: “You were someone that I used to know / But where oh where did that girl go / Now you’re just a remnant of that dear old friend / Stuck in the body of Miss Pretend.”

An ardent and perspective storyteller, Annabel's diaristic lyricism, honeyed melodies and full-bodied vocals take listeners on a journey as she writes from the heart with raw honesty and emotional conviction. On "Remnant," she uses the personal as a vehicle into the universal, capturing the complex mutability of friendships as we move from adolescence into adulthood."It’s a song about the evolution of a friendship from childhood to adolescence, and how the dynamic between two people can change as they grow… And sometimes grow apart," Annabel says.

Montreal-based singer-songwriter Annabel Gutherz made her debut in 2018 with “Legends,” a philanthropic song whose proceeds are donated to education-based charities. After spending the past few years honing her musical talents at Berklee College of Music, Annabel is now preparing to share her debut album, ‘Loose Ends.’ The 11-song record is due out later this year and was co-produced by Dominique Messier, a long time band member for Céline Dion and owner of Studio Piccolo in Montreal, Quebec.

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Jenny Stevens and the Empty Mirrors - The River Rolls On.

Jenny Stevens, aka The Ukulele Girl, is a Welsh vocalist, musician and songwriter. On graduating from a Pop Music degree in the early 2000’s, Jen immediately bagged a singing job with her first pro band, and thereafter spent several years fronting various pop/rock cover acts, performing live to audiences across the UK. 

After 20 years of singing other people’s songs, lockdown 2020 rather surprisingly saw a return to songwriting for Jen who, having not written a song since her late teens, began collaborating with musicians all over the globe on original material. The projects span a wide range of genres from Metal to EDM, via Rock, Blues, Country and Hip-hop. Many of these collaborative efforts, along with some of Jen’s solo tracks, have subsequently been released and are available on music platforms. Still a sucker for a cover, Jen enjoys returning to her performing roots, and every so often she can be seen covering songs in her characteristic jazzy/reggae style (yes that’s a thing!) in videos featuring her trusty ukulele, on her YouTube channel. 

Although the international collaborations will keep coming, Jen is taking some time in 2021 to concentrate on her own solo material, as she has many of her own stories still to tell. Follow her on Spotify to keep up with her new releases.

The Empty Mirrors is a song project that specialises in quirkily visual and sometimes dark alt-pop. We tell stories you’ve never heard. We take you to places you’ve never been. You might feel a little wobbly afterwards, but it’ll pass. Our debut EP, ‘Puppets, Dance!’, was released in November 2020, followed by a single, ‘Kaleidoscope City’ (feat. Bruno Rocha), in March 2021.

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Lady Di - Young Savage.

Norwich trio Lady Di release new single from their debut album ‘I know You Know I’m Perfect’.

Lady Di are made up of Lisa Horton, Iain Ross and Jan Robertson – all former members of art-rock/indie-pop outfit Bearsuit (Fortuna Pop / Fantastic Plastic). They are also the alter egos of synth poppers Mega Emotion.

They play grungy dumb-ass punk, inspired by drunk summer nights and the likes of The Breeders, Urusei Yatsura and The Lemonheads.

Following early radio support from John Kennedy at Radio X and BBC Introducing for their debut single ‘AAAAAA’ the band are pleased to reveal a new single ‘Young Savage’ from their debut album.

“I’m not scared of growing old, I am afraid of growing cold” sings Iain in this track about growing up and becoming a parent. It was recorded by Magoo’s Owen Turner in the wilds of Norfolk at Sickroom Studios.

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Reb Fountain - Lacuna.

Alternative folk artist, Reb Fountain, is back in the spotlight today with her latest single, 'Lacuna' from upcoming album IRIS.

Reb Fountain’s 'Lacuna' is anthemic, poetic and rocking. "Less musician more a force of nature,” (Ambient Light), Reb’s single 'Lacuna' is sound evidence that IRIS captures the qualities of Reb’s enigmatic live performance and songwriting prowess in album form. Her rhythm section - Karin Canzek & Earl Robertson - form the backbone of of the song's landscape, illuminated by the expert production of Dave Khan & Simon Gooding, whilst Reb performs a masterful deep dive into our world and emerges with a tale of discovery and self exploration abound.

As with all of Reb’s writing there is an underbelly to the obvious. The strong rolling beat ushers the listener through what appears to be a tale of new love —"You know I can’t be whole with the sum of us apart". Reb reveals the bigger sense — “Lacuna is me describing what’s it like to grow into oneself, to wrestle with the intangible nature of our human condition, to see who we are. Unifying our many selves - the sum of our parts."

The 'Lacuna' video was shot in Queenstown, by director Lola Fountain-Best capturing Reb's vision of "exploration and transformation; a dance with our many selves". They fashioned wings out of wire and foliage and went to work filming rogue amongst autumnal skies and a forest of sunflowers.

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Oliv - Too Much Love For You.

New Zealand-hailing hidden gem Oliv is back again with her shimmering second single, 'Too Much Love For You'.

From the picture-perfect coastal town of Nelson, Oliv is gliding onto the scene with her own ethereal brand of indie pop, weaving angelic vocals and glittering synths to narrate and navigate the intricacies of human emotion. 'Too Much Love For You' is no exception, showcasing Oliv's raw and vulnerable lyricism amidst dreamy layers of instrumentation. "It is a song about giving someone more love than you get in return and the aftermath of leaving that relationship without blaming yourself for its ending," Oliv explains.

Previously collaborating with BAYNK, Sachi and Flight Facilities, Oliv has racked up over 70 million streams to her song writing name and is now channelling her talent into her solo project. For Oliv, music has always been a form of self-expression and with her calm charisma and strong inner compass, she never fails to inject her heart and soul into everything she creates. As a blossoming artist, Oliv has already been turning heads with her debut single 'If You Find A Way To Heaven', receiving almost 200,000 streams and landing herself a spot on Spotify's Soft Glow playlist beside soft pop superstars like Troye Sivan, Clairo and Sufjan Stevens.

Alongside the single release, fans will be treated to a Brigerton-reminiscent music video, serving up a whimsical pastel period-style beachside delight. Directed by her sister (Georgia of Broods) and Matt Clampitt, Oliv runs free on her own terms, ripping down the sand on a quad bike, pink puffed sleeves and all.

After already playing to a sold out home crowd in Nelson, Oliv is ready to spread her glow across the country with plans to tour New Zealand and beyond, once restrictions finally open their doors. With a collection of new singles sparkling on the horizon, make sure to keep your eyes on Oliv - she won't be New Zealand's best kept secret for much longer.

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