Dana Gavanski - Kaya Usher - Parrot Dream - Lydia Brownfield

Dana Gavanski - Letting Go.

Following on from her debut album Yesterday Is Gone and her covers EP Wind Songs both released in 2020, Serbian-Canadian musician Dana Gavanski gives us a taste of what's to come next with her brand new single "Letting Go."

It's a slice of wide screen psychedelic pop. Dana and her band are also heading out on the road with Porridge Radio this week, a tour they will be embarking on by train in the interest of lowering their environmental impact.

Of the new single Dana says: "It's like a little mantra for me to sing, though maybe it’s a tad unconventional being that it’s not necessarily the kind of positive message we all associate with pop mantras. It’s more of an account of how the mind works to undermine us. It’s a subverted mantra. In the chord sequence I was trying to excite my ears and explore different melodies."

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Kaya Usher - Heart Clicks.

Kaya Usher's first single as a recording artist is Heart Clicks, a song about the transcending power of love and the ways in which it unites humanity.  The song comes a week ahead of the November 17 release of her debut album, All This Is, produced by Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene and Nyles Spencer. Mastered by Grammy award-winner Emily Lazar, the 10-track project also features Andrea Nann on back-up vocals and two of Usher and Downie’s children, Lou and Willo. Bringing to life the couple’s dream of one day forming a family band, All This Is will self-released and distributed by Arts & Crafts Productions, the label behind Downie’s solo career.

"This is a very personal album for me, not only because I get to jam out with my kids, but also because music has helped me to rise up and transcend what was holding me back,” says Kaya Usher. “Everyone can connect to music. My hope is that this album helps others reach new heights too.”

All This Is represents a reset. It is Usher’s story, told for the first time through a series of songs. Haunting melodies and soul-searching lyrics create an experience for the listener that reflects Usher’s awakening process, a journey that began when she fought breast cancer in her forties. The album speaks to her unraveling, her epiphany and, finally, her metamorphosis.

Kevin Drew met Usher in 2013 through Downie, and they soon became good friends. Their collaboration is heard throughout the album, in its robust compositions, ambient chords and hypnotic rhythms. Featuring her son Lou on keyboard and drums, her daughter Willo on harmonies and Usher playing classical guitar, organ, harmonica and providing vocals, All This Is is an offering almost thirty years in the making. The project was recorded at The Bathouse Recording Studio — a studio owned and managed by The Hip, near Kingston on the shores of Lake Ontario. The album art was designed by Willo.

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Parrot Dream - The End.

NY-based dream-pop duo Parrot Dream are sharing a new single, "The End." It's third and final in the band's 2021 song cycle following "Automatic System" and "Red Circle."

The band shares, "'The End' was not in fact written in response to world events. We were experimenting with big dark synth sounds and wanted to create something minimal but deep & dynamic. The lyrics are essentially final thoughts as a chapter closes and one created world ends. We all move through several worlds during the day; worlds we create ourselves, worlds created by systemic repression, worlds of relationships, worlds created by the illusions of capitalism, to name a few. The world ending in this song is specifically a world built around two beings facing a fire and brimstone type of demise."

Parrot Dream is the Brooklyn via Santiago, Chile duo of Christina Appel and Gonzalo Guerrero. Good Eye released their debut, Light Goes, which dealt with themes of disconnected memory and loss as the partners grappled with their different senses of home.

"The End" is part of a set of material that they had planned on recording in a studio in 2020 and ended up recording in their home throughout the year. It's also their first new work operating fully as a duo.

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Lydia Brownfield - Against The Light.

Lydia Brownfield announces the release of the single “Against the Light." It’s an anthem for those trying over and over again despite the odds and also a reckoning for those getting in their own way.  It’s off the upcoming album, Dig, due out November 19.

The frantic and impulsive tempo symbolizes a moth banging around the dark searching for the light. When she finds it she throws herself against it: “Around and round this light I’m flying banging loudly into the night, torn and broken but not beaten, I will throw myself again and again and again against the light”.

It reflects two areas of Brownfield’s own life she strives to get right, her music career and past relationships. She says, “This song kind of sums up my life. Even after failing at relationships, we all do it again. And again and again. We have to try. I always have to try. It’s the same with music. I’ve been at this for decades. But I still throw myself at it as hard as I can, with whatever I have. Or whatever I have left.”

Brownfield plays acoustic guitar, piano, strings and synths on “Against the Light”. The single produced by Fred Blitzer, also features Andy Harrison on electric guitar, Jeff Martin on drums, and Phil Maneri on bass.

The album travels the euphoric highs of being in love and the dramatic lows of breaking up and discovering internal power. Through genre-bending twists and turns of folk, punk, and pop, it explores the journey of getting caught up in someone else and losing sight of one’s journey of self-discovery.

Lydia Brownfield · Against The Light

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Alyssa Gengos - Mae Mae - KAVYA - Phonosonics

Photo - Morgan Hamilton

Alyssa Gengos - Gothenburg English.

Alyssa is a multi-talented producer who's been making records auteur-style on her laptop for years ("I feel most comfortable when I'm completely alone" she says in the bio below). Her music is straight forward in style, but elegant in construction and form.

Here's what Alyssa had to say about the meaning behind the song and the video: I began writing “Gothenburg English” in my head while walking around the titular city near the end of my Scandinavian sojourn. Six months prior, I’d left a long term partner behind in New York City, hoping the relationship would survive. It did not. I finally accepted the end of it while wandering around Gothenburg and the Delsjö wilderness on the outskirts of the city. A friend told me the local accent is one of the most sing-songy in the Swedish language, and it’s audible when speaking English, too, creating a kind of “Gothenburg English.” I think of this song as a road song in the sense of American road novels and movies. I sing about my travels during this time, and admit the realization that I came to once I returned home: I was ready to move on from the relationship that had brought me so much stress and misery. I

eventually left New York for my home of Los Angeles, where I filmed the music video for this song with the help of some of my oldest friends. In it, the audience gets a glimpse into my home studio , as well as different locations that left marks on my adolescence, as I connect the person I was when I first started making music to the person I have become.

During this past year, when the stimuli from the outer world ceased, Alyssa Gengos was having some weird-ass dreams. In one that stuck with her, she dreamed that an old school bully was being kind to her. “That was a very strange dream for me to have because I don't think about this person really ever,” she says. “But it reflected to me that I have this really deep desire to be liked.” So poignant was this realization that it makes two appearances on her debut full-length Mechanical Sweetness, which melds her dreams and personal nostalgia into a new-wavey indie rock homecoming album.

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Photo - Eliot Lee Hazel

Mae Mae - Squishy.

Atlanta-born and Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Mae Mae has released “Squishy,” the first single and video from her debut EP, Gummy Heart Eyes. With shimmering xylophone and mischievous bass fluttering throughout, “Squishy” is magnified by a kaleidoscope of whimsical sounds and an infectious hook as the track emulates the joyous emotions you feel when you’re surrounded by people you love.

Inspired by the bliss she feels from life’s little pleasures, Mae Mae’s storytelling reflects how her wide-eyed wonder and optimism collide with the world around her. The same is true of the song’s video, which depicts a home movie-style walk through a garden with her very sweet four-legged companion. 

The video’s calm and inviting aesthetic mirrors Mae Mae’s earnestness, “Squishy” is unconventional yet welcoming, reflecting how her distinctive charm blends into pop appeal.

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KAVYA - Lay Your Head Down.

‘Lay Your Head Down’ marks the 2nd release from KAVYA’s debut EP 'Know Me Better'. The song talks about what are the ingredients required for a friendship to stand the test of time. Friendship is a priceless gift which should be honoured and a common theme to be observed in a relationship of any form. What are the ingredients required to build on a promising friendship?

For KAVYA, it starts off with being present in the physical form with the other, opening up multiple conversation points, and understanding what makes the other person. Then, delving a bit deeper and exploring the future prospective she sees with the other, how she can contribute and enhance the other’s life and vice versa.

Aligned with prospective, it is equally important for her to uncover the individual’s aspirations and expectations so that she can be the friend who can encourage the other to achieve them, be aware and mindful of her role to not disappoint the other when expectations aren’t met. And in this entire process, if things don’t go as planned, she opens up the opportunity to ‘lay your head down’ and just be present as that is the truest point of friendship achieved - once of accepting the circumstances as is and not giving up on someone who you have invested your time and opened your heart too. That is the key to sustain a fruitful friendship built over time.

"Lay Your Head Down was written over many years where I found myself wanting to understand the various layers of all my friendships and what truly makes them special. This track is a tribute to my curiosity to connections made between people."

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Phonosonics - New Again (Album).

Phonosonics is a Canadian Rocksteady and Early Reggae band, pleased to announce their latest album New Again. Since 2015, this group has been dazzling audiences with their reverent yet modern take on Rocksteady, Ska and Early Reggae. Phonosonics began as the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist and producer Spencer Cleave and has grown to be one of Canada’s fastest emerging Reggae acts.

The band has been racking up accolades since their earliest days. Their releases have been featured on some of the most listened-to Reggae radio shows in the world and consistently charted in the top 10 on Canadian independent radio. They have opened for The Wailers and served as backing band for The Fabulous Lolo, Sister Nancy and Leroy “Heptone” Sibbles.

These connections to the worldwide Reggae community came in handy when production began on New Again in 2019. The album was slated for a 2020 release, but unfortunately sidelined by the pandemic. The group persevered and tenaciously finished putting together a beautiful and vintage-sounding collection of Rocksteady, Early Reggae, Ska and Blue Beat style tunes with a positive message.

With their characteristically painstaking commitment to authenticity and respect for the source material, New Again feels more like it could have been produced in 1970s Kingston than 2020s Victoria. Drawing on their friends in the Reggae community, they were able to recruit artists such as Leroy Sibbles, Horseman, Montreal’s Dr. Watson, and Roger Rivas of the Aggrolites to join in on the record. New Again is the story of rebirth and redemption, and its themes have taken on new meaning these past years. Phonosonics want you to know it's never too late to turn it all back around, and make it new again.

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KIN - Massage

KIN - The Runaways.

Ambient indie pop band KIN return with their most ambitious single yet, The Runaways. Following the success of their first three singles, which have been collectively streamed over 310,000k times on Spotify, their new track, unleashed last Friday, is a pulsating pop anthem with dreamy guitar riffs, beautiful melodies, and mesmerising beats. The song is produced by Josh Tyrrell (Lana Del Rey, Mark Ronson, Tony Visconti) and released with 3tone Music. 

The band is formed of Grace (performance maker and model), Ritu (lead in the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy and star in the film Red Notice alongside Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot and Dwayne Johnson) and Adam (last seen on stage at the National Theatre).

Their music blends electronic keys and catchy guitar riffs to produce a sound that is unique, dynamic, and constantly evolving. Influences include indie powerhouses such as The XX, Warpaint, Still Corners and Foals as well as female-fronted bands like Chromatics, Cocteau Twins and Soccer Mommy.

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Massage - In Gray & Blue.

Just a few months after releasing their acclaimed second album Still Life, Los Angeles indie-pop band Massage returns with Lane Lines — a six-track EP out in early 2022 on Mt.St.Mtn. (Cindy, Flowertown, Blues Lawyer) that finds the quintet expanding on their Sarah-meets-Creation Records sound with new touches of soft psychedelia, Feelies-ish frenzy and Haçienda-era escapism.

"This sparkling homage to New Order's Ibiza period is the first single off Massage's new Lane Lines EP.  If the first Pains album is your favorite, Massage are very much in that vein, but with a little more emphasis on '80s British indie, from Mary Chain noise to Field Mice preciousness. The lead track, 'In Gray & Blue,' is a warm, melodic winner that draws from a very specific influence -- the guitary half of New Order's 1989 Ibiza-made album Technique."

The band didn’t plan to follow Still Lines so quickly. But after the pandemic further delayed that multi-year project, Alex Naidus (guitar, vocals, former Pains of Being Pure at Heart), Andrew Romano (guitar, vocals), Gabrielle Ferrer (keyboards, percussion, vocals), David Rager (bass) and Natalie de Almeida (drums) leapt at the chance to make music together again in real life and started gathering on random summer evenings in the tiny rehearsal-space studio of producer-composer Andrew Brassell (Susanna Hoffs) with no clear goal in mind.

Lane Lines is the surprise product of those informal sessions — a flash of pent-up creative energy that serves as both a companion piece to Still Life and an exploration of textures and influences that didn’t quite fit the full-length but have always been deeply embedded in the band’s DNA, with new echoes of 1980s artists that sought to refract the 1960s through their own skewed prisms: Flying Nun, the Paisley Underground, The Feelies covering The Beatles, “Second Summer of Love” New Order.

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James - Nichole Wagner - The Alex Leach Band

James - Miss America (Library Session).

James are pleased to announce the release of The Campfire EP, available on November 19, 2021. Filmed at Broughton Hall in the UK’s Yorkshire Dales earlier this year, the EP features uniquely intimate versions of three tracks from James’ latest album, All The Colours Of You along with the added bonus of their classic “Just Like Fred Astaire,” taken from their 1999 record, Millionaires.

The Campfire EP will be exclusively available on the James store and at the merchandise store on their forthcoming tour. The release will be limited edition, numbered and include a QR code to download the Campfire videos.

Tim Booth says “The beginning of the new James 9 piece began at Broughton Hall. The sessions there felt magical. Here is a slice of the magic that we created around a campfire one evening...”

James will perform tracks from the new record and many more from their rich catalogue on the forthcoming arena tour with special guests Happy Mondays.

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Nichole Wagner - Raised By Wolves.

Austin, Texas's Nichole Wagner is back with another single and video to preview her upcoming full length album (2022). Once again teaming up with producer Justin Douglas, Wagner's 'Raised By Wolves" features a full band and does an amazing job of highlighting her chops as both a songwriter and a performer.

Confronting her upbringing in an honest and interesting way, Wagner says of the track:
Life as a child could be unpredictable (thanks to an alcoholic mother) and I had to grow up very early, taking on responsibilities that were unfair to my age.  It toughened me up but left scars and that trauma has a way of showing up when I don’t expect it. I would joke about having been raised by wolves, something I’d tell people to soften the edges when they didn’t understand where I was coming from - a shorthand to avoid sharing details. I’ve been doing a lot of work through it these past few years and it’s showing up in my writing in a way that I hadn’t been comfortable with before.

"Raised By Wolves" and it's video, which was created by Austin's Seela, come a few months after Wagner shared the first look at her upcoming album with the track "Monsters" and it's video. With these two tracks already set upon the musical world, it's easy to get excited about the aforementioned record. Wagner continues to grow and write compelling songs that are both incredibly enjoyable from a sonic perspective as well as highly relatable lyrically.

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The Alex Leach Band - Slip Slidin' Away / Up To You.

Although he has helped carry on the legacy of bluegrass founding fathers, singer/songwriter/guitarist Alex Leach and the eponymous band he fronts are joining contemporaries like Billy Strings in redefining what modern roots music and bluegrass are through originality and a purposeful evolution away from long held stereotypes. I’m The Happiest When I’m Moving, their Jim Lauderdale-produced Mountain Home Music Company debut, marked the starting point of that evolution, blending a couple of traditional-sounding touchstones with more contemporary original material and some organically framed nods in the direction of Americana and the broader roots music world.  Now, with the release of two new singles that display the breadth of their multifaceted talent, The Alex Leach Band are doubling down on their commitment to blazing their own, unique musical trail.

On the bluegrass side, “Up To You,” written with producer Jon Weisberger, delves deeper into Leach’s propensity for thoughtful lyrics and his fondness for the progressive and newgrass-flavored sounds of musical progenitors like the Country Gentlemen and Cliff Waldron & the New Shades of Grass. The band — Miranda Leach (vocals), Joshua Gooding (mandolin, vocals), Jason Johnson (banjo) and JT Coleman (bass), along with guest violinist Chris Sexton of Nothin’ Fancy and legendary studio drummer Tony Creasman — delivers a solid groove and supple, distinctive solos, as Leach delivers a meditation on how our views of situations reflect our individual outlooks and experiences.

“I am very excited to release ‘Up To You,’” notes Leach. “I brought the idea to Jon a few months back about an optimist and a pessimist on a trip together, and how each of them viewed a stressful situation. After writing for a bit, we decided to let the listener be the one to decide if they thought of themselves as a positive thinker or a negative thinker. I also want to compliment how tastefully the band played and sang on this track. I hope this song will cause the listener to think about how they deal with situations, all while groovin’ to the music — but at the end of the day, take it exactly how you want, it’s completely ‘up to you.’”

In contrast to the original “Up To You,” the group’s cover of Paul Simon’s “Slip Slidin’ Away” foregoes the ‘grassy accents of the banjo and delivers instead a carefully crafted yet utterly natural reading that focuses tightly on the singing of Alex and Miranda. Framed by Leach’s inventive guitar figures and Sexton’s subtle violin, the husband and wife duo reveal Simon’s enigmatic parables with intimate, sympathetic tone and phrasing, making the familiar masterpiece feel as if it’s being heard for the first time.

Syntax Creative · The Alex Leach Band - "Slip Slidin' Away"

Syntax Creative · The Alex Leach Band - "Up to You"

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Geowulf - November Ultra - Benz - Clever Hopes

Geowulf - Open Me Up.

Following on from the triumphant ‘I’ve Been Over It’, which marked Geowulf’s reintroduction to the world and the first glimpse of a forthcoming EP, the band return with brand new single ‘Open Me Up’.

‘Open Me Up’ is a country-tinged song written in the height of Covid that bristles with raw honesty and emotion as Star opines on falling in and out of love in a strange time.

About the track Star says: “Toma and I were having a brief catch up on the phone - I showed him a melody real quick I was working on, he was like “shit yeah I love it!” and we spent next two hours on FaceTime between London & Australia finishing the song. It’s a raw song for me that tells a personal story but it’s also one of my favourites we’ve done so far.”

Geowulf are an Australian alt-pop duo based between London, UK and Noosa, Australia. Childhood friends Star Kendrick and Toma Banjanin dived into the dream-pop scene in 2018 with their luminous debut album ‘Great Big Blue’ featuring their breakout single ‘Saltwater’. The duo followed up with their brilliant sophomore LP ‘My Resignation’ in 2019.

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November Ultra - le manège.

Often praised for her deep and warm voice, France’s November Ultra first entered people’s ears and hearts in November 2020 with the soothing DIY lullaby "Soft & Tender". Her first effort was quickly followed by the sweet and sour heartbreak anthem "Miel" and a maxi EP Honey please be soft & tender, which includes the gut-wrenching bonus track "The End." - giving us a taste of what this singer-songwriter is all about: comforting, personal, intimate and always very cinematographic bedroom pop.

Yesterday, she revealed the song “le manège” and showcases the musical roots of an artist who grew up listening to folk music, r&b and with a very obsessive Spanish grand-father addicted to 60’s musicals and Spanish copla, embracing all of it and proving the adage: "we contain multitudes".

Camila Cabello posted a video on TikTok using the song ‘’Come into my arms’’. As a singer-songwriter, she divides her time between recording studios and her DIY bedroom-studio, working for others as a topliner/songwriter (Jaden Smith, Kungs, Barbara Pravi etc) while recording, exploring and producing her own songs on Ableton.

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Benz - This Could Be The End (E.P).

Ebba Salomonsson (Benz) grew up in her stepfather's record store where she explored endless different influences and styles. Benz have signed to Rama Lama Records (Melby, Wy, Chez Ali etc.) and is back with another collection of songs packed with her playful and diverse psych-tinged indie folk.

Its a sound where Benz with big confidence lets her music both be direct and breathe - creating a musical soundscape for the listener to get swept away in. The new EP 'This Could Be The End' is out now. 

Thematically, the EP treats a broken relationship. But this is not your usual romantic sad-break-up-indie, as the lyrics tell the story about breaking up with an old friend. Ebba herself has compared the EP to "six seasons of Girls, a comedy-drama in a compressed format".

Rama Lama Records · Benz - This Could Be The End EP

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Clever Hopes - Shadow Waltz.

While in Tasmania, the island was on fire, and travel was limited to a small coastal region near the capital city of Hobart. 

Andrew spent his birthday in a beautiful beach villa with a woman he'd met along the way, who was already on her way elsewhere by the time he left the island. They swam as the ash from the fire was snowing down on the beach.

"Shadow Waltz" is about that conflict you can feel when you know things are changing and you need to say goodbye to who you were without fully understanding who it is you're about to become.

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The Money War - Sterre Weldring - Polar Klub - ModernFolkRevolution - Starlite Campbell Band

The Money War - Blood (E.P).

Rounding out a monumental 2021 with their distinctive graceful tenacity is WA indie pop/ rock duo The Money War with the highly-anticipated unveiling of their latest EP ‘Blood’ today November 5. Delivering elegant pop pureness that beats with the steely resolve of an indie-rock heart, Dylan and Carmen Ollivierre of The Money War approach their craft with unwavering sincerity, recounting intricate experiences through gorgeous melodies and elegant production.

Recorded at their studio where it was produced and mixed by Dylan, ‘Blood’ is about connection, exploring the binding ties of family, partners, even strangers, while showcasing the pair’s songwriting depth and refined sonic execution. The duo explain:

“The EP is a collection of songs that bookmark 2021 for us. We’re always writing, but these were the 5 songs that rose to the top and we felt that we needed to record.” Opening in a bittersweet flourish of nostalgic grace is title-track ‘Blood’, written about the complexity of family relationships and bloodlines, the contrast between the jovial strum of the guitar and the melancholic press of the keys a reminder of the reality of changing lives.

Next, ‘Miles Away’ begins its euphonious journey through golden saxophone solos and Carmen’s velvety vocals, the track’s transcendent melancholy spreading the disheartening feeling of being emotionally disconnected from somebody close to you. The EP’s centrepiece ‘Lost in the Rhythm’ arrives as a dreamy dance track, using gripping instrumental layerings and pulsing percussion to produce an addictive cadence as Dylan's warm, heartfelt vocals take the lead, delivering the track's introspective lyrical exploration of overcoming anxiety with a self-assured strength.

‘Zoom’ follows in a romantic cloud of longing, as gentle guitar, delicate vocals and a distance-crossing chorus weave a vulnerable tale of living through a long-distance relationship during a pandemic. Closing out the EP is ‘Man at the Station’ featuring warming indie-folk beats, cosy acoustic guitars, drifting violins and Dylan’s wholesome vocals to take us on a romantic late-night journey with a carriage full of strangers that become a little less so by the song’s end.

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Sterre Weldring - Turn Around / I'm Gone.

After the succesful singles 'Not With Me' and 'Remedy', Sterre Weldring will now release her debut EP 'Lost Lights'. Sterre Weldring’s debut EP is full of songs about lost but beautiful souls. People who haven’t really found their way in life yet but are trying to do better, hence the metaphor ‘Lost Lights’. Being lost can cause hurt to yourself or to others, but as these songs point out, can also teach you valuable lessons as there’s often a beauty, a rawness, hiding behind that kind of pain. Sterre reflects on this and on herself and concludes that after all the pain is relevant, as we can learn and grow from it, to evolve into a light that eventually isn’t lost.

At the age of 16, Sterre Weldring was still a bit young for the conservatory, but she made a very mature decision: she started studying songwriting at BIMM (Brighton Institute of Modern Music). In between studies, she completely immersed herself in Brighton's rich music scene. While jamming, and playing live, she quickly developed her own sound, which she describes as folk-pop. In concrete terms, this means that her songs have a pop structure, on which she puts a folk stamp on with her characteristic voice. Amy Macdonald is a common comparison.

After a successful 2019, including a place in the final of the 'Grote Prijs van Nederland' and a tour through the country during 'Popronde', the Amsterdam-based singer-songwriter is now releasing her new single. This song is part of her new EP, which will be released today November 5th.

 

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Polar Klub - I Feel It Too.

Singer and guitarist Lukas Heer plucks the best strings of self-irony: a musician who prefers to run away than to dance, writes music to which you have to stay. 

In rhythm, in motion, in mood.

With his project Polar Klub, he takes us on a journey through the 60s, 70s and 80s, drawing on the genres of psych-rock, post-punk and dream pop for his beats and riffs.

For the new track "I Feel It Too", the Glarus-based musician has again conjured a wonderfully cranky sound - completely in DIY feeling.

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ModernFolkRevolution - ModernFolkRevolution (Album).

You may not immediately recognize the name Lonnie James, but if you’re familiar at all with the Canadian indie rock scene of the 1990s, he was a ubiquitous presence, playing drums for a seemingly endless array of artists and significantly contributing to the most vibrant and influential period of Canadian rock and roll.

After a lengthy hiatus, and back home near Calgary, Lonnie James has now returned with a new project dubbed ModernFolkRevolution, whose self-titled debut album was released on Oct. 22. Its 10 tracks are, on one hand, a throwback to more innocent pre-Internet days, and on the other hand are a reminder that an organic approach to making music still packs an emotional punch. 

As a band, ModernFolkRevolution presents James’s songs in all their rough-hewn glory, recalling the lo-fi majesty of The Vaselines and Guided By Voices, coupled with Byrds and Kinks-style paisley-tinged flourishes.However the album might be classified, ModernFolkRevolution is a pure reflection of Lonnie James’s life—and life in music—after more than three decades. More importantly, it’s the sound of an artist finding a previously untapped well of creativity and using it to sow the seeds of future endeavours. Indeed, the ModernFolkRevolution’s time has come.

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Starlite Campbell Band - The Language of Curiosity (Album).

Renowned for their distinctive songwriting, unique sound with beautifully produced recordings, onstage chemistry and electrifying live shows, European and British blues award nominees the Starlite Campbell Band are Suzy Starlite and Simon Campbell who fell in love on stage and married following a whirlwind musical romance. Musically it's he classic sound of British blues and rock from the 60s and 70s, with some trips down sidestreets and byways - that they promise. Do they deliver on their album The Language of Curiosity?

Here's what "Blues Enthused" has to say about it: "Simon Campbell seems like a walking encyclopaedia of classic British axe heroes.  But overall his guitar sound is his own, and it’s remarkable that he eschews effects pedals in search of it.  Just as importantly though, The Language Of Curiosity is about well-constructed songs, about infectious melodies and worthwhile words, and the couple’s co-writing fulfils those ambitions with a bit of flair.  The Starlite Campbell Band’s bonkers devotion to their musical muse has produced another crop of goodies."

And Hugh Fielder at "Classic Rock" thinks that  “The Starlite Campbell Band have a fresh take on 60s and 70s British R&B, a clean sound and an enthusiastic approach that gives their second album “The Language of Curiosity an immediate appeal!”

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Vera Ellen - The Ragged Roses - The Ninth Wave - Arctic Plateau

Vera Ellen - Joy.

Vera Ellen has proven she is unstoppable! She has today released yet another video, this time for album closer and tear-jerker 'Joy'.

“I wrote ‘Joy’ for my nephews and nieces, who forgave me over and over for leaving them to pursue music, and who love me unconditionally. Children are magic.”

The video was filmed by Al Kalyk at the artist's 'It's Your Birthday' listening party in Los Angeles. It was filmed on an iPhone in a single shot and features Vera's backyard and a handful of kind friends. In the footage taken by Vera's mum in the 90’s seen at the end of the video, you can see Vera's sister holding her as a baby and her grandparents and family singing a polish lullaby.

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The Ragged Roses - Falling Out Of Love.

Now, take 2 gallons of Wanda Jackson,2 Gallons of Etta James, a spoonful Howlin' Wolf, a shot of Dick Dale, Add some Cramps and a pint of Nick Curran, mix that all up, shake it, stir it, and light it on fire. The result you get : The Ragged Roses

The Ragged Roses combine the rock & roll spirit of the 1950's with the attitude of modern roots gunslingers. It's a new band, female fronted by Katrien, the embodiment of wild performing art, combining stunning vocals with stunning looks, being backboned by - you can call them although their relative young age and wild raging hearts - veterans of the Belgian roots scene. 

Watch out for that slapping, walking, gypsy swinging upright bass and lightning blot guitars, surfing on a wave of groovy drums.

The Ragged Roses are now releasing their Debut album "Do Me Right", containing all self-written original songs and one cover of the great Del Shannon.

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The Ninth Wave - What Makes You a Man.

Glasgow's The Ninth Wave today announce their second album Heavy Like A Headache will be released on 11th March 2022 via Distiller Records. Alongside the album announcement, the band are releasing their new single "What Makes You A Man" with a stirring black and white accompanying video; the final installment of a trilogy of videos directed by Rianne White.

The new single and album announcement arrives off the back of a sold-out UK tour and a Scottish Album Of The Year nomination for their Faris Badwan (The Horrors)-produced EP ‘Happy Days!’. Heavy Like A Headache is the band's second full length album following their 2019 debut Infancy which garnered widespread critical acclaim and nominations for the AIM Award Album Of The Year and Scottish Album of the Year.

Produced by the band themselves and mixed by Max Heyes (Massive Attack, Doves, Primal Scream), Heavy Like A Headache explores feelings of grief, anxiety, anger and loneliness, and represents the 4-piece's most triumphant and diverse body of work to date.

New single "What Makes You A Man" tackles issues of consent, airing Millie Kidd’s deeply personal lyrics ["I will feel the shame that you don't feel / And I won't feel the same now this is real"] with a heavy, lurching instrumental that seethes with defiance.

Speaking on the release, Millie said: "What Makes You A Man is as claustrophobic as it is cathartic. It’s a journey of self deprecation, and how one event can be such a throwaway meaningless action for one half but be life changing for the other. I don’t want to blame myself for the degrading actions of others anymore - I want to stand up to this shame I hold with me, and recognize that it is not mine, I’m just the one carrying it.

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Arctic Plateau - Saturn Girl.

Emerging from an eight-year hiatus, songwriter Gianluca Divirgilio brings his darkest and most introspective thoughts to light with Arctic Plateau’s Songs of Shame. Thought by some to have seen its final days, Arctic Plateau instead became a vehicle for Divirgilio to battle his demons; to chronicle struggle, self-doubt, pain, disillusion, and guilt, and ultimately to allow his scars to take form as Songs of Shame. In doing so he has returned with an album of intimate and powerful performances that serve as the first steps toward a healing that has been decades in the making.

A series of impressions drawn from Divirgilio’s own experiences in the time since the band’s last release The Enemy Inside, this record is a compendium of lost love, missed opportunity, crestfallen remorse, and lasting trauma, self-inflicted and otherwise. It is a deeply personal record that often points its finger at the mirror and winces as it’s reflected back. But in its complex self-exploration it also gains life as a living document affording the artist an opportunity to turn the page, and by accord provides its audience safe space to look to the darkness within, feel the emotion freely, and eventually discover a path through.

The compositions on Songs of Shame mirror the duality of its themes, utilizing the disarmingly upbeat aesthetics of post-punk to balance the often-grim themes contained within the lyrics. They draw from the stark self-reproach of proto-goth, the bare honesty of singer-songwriter music, and the enigmatic sparkle of post-punk to create a strikingly memorable sonic landscape for the listener. Focusing these laments through the lens of something far brighter and more buoyant sows the seeds of healing in a manner that would be far less affecting were they represented in a parallel, dirge-like manner.

While the themes center around the many ghosts that haunt us, it is the music that makes them corporeal and affords the opportunity to create tangible separation, and that is ultimately an act of joy that befits the spirited expression witnessed in the songwriting itself. Songs of Shame is an album that channels sadness and exhibits a tortured soul lay bare, but there is a formidable maturity in its honesty and triumph in its catharsis, giving it the dual quality of lifting the listener up while acknowledging the daunting weight of carrying sorrows through the years.

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Kings Elliot - Syd Carter West - Buster Baer - Jackson Dyer

Kings Elliot - Call Me A Dreamer.

Rising London-based artist Kings Elliot unveils a new single “Call Me a Dreamer.”

An advocate for mental health, who has long struggled with her own, she explains, “after two months of thinking that I was better and that I didn’t need any support with my mental health. I ended up feeling worse than ever. Writing it helped me process my emotional instability. The roller coaster I am constantly on that I don’t know how to get off.”

The track is from her forthcoming EP, Chaos in my Court, set for release December 1 via Verve Forecast.

“Chaos has been ever present in my life. I’ve never known how to function differently,” Elliot explains. “The songs on this EP make up a world I’ve always dreamed of creating for my own escape, and now anyone who needs it can join me there too.”

London-via-Switzerland singer-songwriter Kings Elliot has accumulated millions of global streams around her first three songs—“I’m Getting Tired Of Me,” “Dancing Alone” and “Bitter Tonic”—all featured on the highly anticipated forthcoming EP. Elliot has been diagnosed with borderline personality and anxiety disorders. She explores this and speaks openly about her battle through her music, even releasing accidentally filmed footage of herself having a panic attack for her music video “I’m Getting Tired Of Me.”

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Syd Carter West - The Ugly Truth

From hushed intimacy to audacious authority: Syd Carter West possesses an extraordinary voice. Her artistry maps a fertile musical crossroads where Southern roadhouse blues and rustic country/Americana ignite with the bravado of Seventies arena rock. Finely tuned narratives and expansive melodies match the fierce and soulful vocals of the Vancouver, British Columbia based singer-songwriter.

By age 12, Syd was following a musical path as an opera student with vocal training and music theory studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music. Conveying words that audiences may not understand in multiple languages taught her to translate drama through eye contact and body language, techniques that she now employs on stage and in videos.

A provocateur, a magnificently expressive vocalist and a deeply evocative songwriter, Syd Carter West arrives as a new artist with commanding courage and disarming authenticity. “I’m still discovering myself,” she concludes “Genuine, and a little quirky -- I am an open book.”

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Buster Baer - Get Deeper.

Retro-sounding indie-pop artist, Buster Baer, is releasing his new single, “Get Deeper” (today) from his upcoming EP Mock Twang. "Get Deeper" redefines the stereotypical slow, sad break-up song. The upbeat track is about two people who still love each other, but need to take time to focus on loving themselves first.

The eloquent lyrics reveal the saddening truth Baer faces when he realizes that to move forward, he must take a break. “I think I love you enough to leave you for your own sake” is a bittersweet line in the song that perfectly summarizes the essence of this story.

Jovial yet intense, Buster Baer represents the nexus between many paradoxes. His demeanor, performance antics, and musical style balance on the tensions between opposites, often collapsing into clownlike comedy amidst deep grooves.

Born into a show business family that named him after Buster Keaton, the childhood Los Angeles influences of beach punk and low-rider doo-wop settle into eclectic blends, equal parts Beatles and Bob Dylan; Parliament-Funkadelic and Tom Waits; Black Flag and Otis Redding.

The songwriter’s upcoming EP release Mock Twang, is a collection of four tracks all performed and recorded himself in a warehouse surrounded by three junkyards in Downtown LA. The songs are smooth yet raw, tender and flippant, easy and also deep.

 

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Jackson Dyer - At Ease.

Sydney-born, Berlin-based indie singer-songwriter Jackson Dyer follows up his recent "Losing Light" single with the release of the visuals for the new dreamy indie pop single, "At Ease". The single is taken from Dyer's upcoming EP.

""At Ease" is a song about mornings at home, when the coffee is freshly brewed and the sun is filtering through the curtains. It’s about those moments of absolute contentment when you wake up with someone special besides you and the day is pure and untouched by the stress and obligations of the outside world. ‘At Ease’ was a calming song for me to produce, almost meditating on the warm optimism of mornings and love." - Jackson Dyer

Since arriving in Berlin, Dyer has shared the stage with Hozier, Hiatus Kaiyote and Alice Phoebe Lou, as well as playing a host of festivals and touring Europe extensively in support of acts like Mighty Oaks and Dennis Lloyd. His laid-back songs are often influenced by nature and he brings a mix of soul, folk and indie to his spacious production and evocative lyricism. Dyer is set to release a new EP this year, featuring a mix of collaborations with fellow Berlin artists, further developing his distinct style.

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Tunnel Vision - Carson Hoy

Tunnel Vision - My Way Out.

Steadily earning a reputation as Southern California’s preeminent emerging surf/reggae/ska band, San Clemente-based Tunnel Vision grew up in a beach-town with instruments in their hands and surfboards under their feet, emulating the surfer legends of reggae rock who came before them.

So when they were invited to join Ballyhoo and The Expendables (as the two iconic bands hit the road performing each other’s songs on this year’s ExpendaHoo tour), the supporting act decided to get into the spirit of things with a tour-influenced cover of their own. Tunnel Vision gives a nod of respect to their musical lineage as they reimagine their favorite surf-inspired Expendables tune with their new single “My Way Out” (out now on LAW Records).

“We really love the concept behind the tour, with The Expendables doing Ballyhoo songs and vice versa, so we are feeding off of that synergy with this single,” says Tunnel Vision lead singer and guitarist Hayden Hanson. “‘My Way Out’ is a cover of one of our favorite Expendables songs. We grew up listening and relating to this song since we were kids ...and we started learning to play it as soon as we picked up our instruments. We're just so stoked to be part of the tour; to get a chance to play with these bands every night and to release our own version of this song that means so much to us is surreal.”

“My Way Out” is a song that conjures romantic imagery of what it’s like growing up in an idyllic little beach town, where surfing is both the daily agenda and the day’s escape. But it is an imagery that carries the familiarity of home for the members of Tunnel Vision.

LAW Records · Tunnel Vision "My Way Out"

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Carson Hoy - Night Drive.

Self-produced recording artist, Carson Hoy, sweetens his confrontational lyrics with dreamy synth pop. 

Engaging repressed emotions with lyrics like, “My dream was to be a stuntman,” from his first single, “Night Drive,” Carson tells how the joy of life is removed after one’s dreams have been abandoned and the curative remedy is to free yourself by taking a “Night Drive.”

Verse One:

"The best thing I did was walk out on you
I was so damn stressed out I knew
I would be so left out lampooned
There would be no pleasure for you
I would way more rather do the things I like
Then we could stop all the lies and we'd be alright
We could wave goodbye to this cartoon life
And by the look in your eyes this'll be the night."

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Mall Girl - I.You.She - Century Egg - Hannah Scott

Mall Girl - Bubbly Cool Drink.

‘Bubbly Cool Drink’, the new single from Norwegian art-pop outfit Mall Girl, represents an exciting new chapter for the buzzed-about band. A string of infectious singles released in 2020, including ‘My Sweet Mall Girl’ and the fierce ‘Bad Girl’, cemented the bands reputation as an act to watch in the alt-pop arena. Now they are gearing up to release their debut album in Spring 2022, via Norwegian label Jansen Records.

Members Iver Armand Tandsether, Hannah Veslemøy Narvesen, Eskild Myrvoll and Bethany Forseth-Reichberg were forced to get creative when the pandemic hit, side lining best-laid plans to flesh out some songs before heading into the studio together.

"Because of COVID regulations and the four of us living in two different cities, we changed the way we worked with the songs quite radically in the months leading up to the studio recording,” Narvesen says. "We’ve always been very oriented towards the live performance of the songs, including when we compose them together in our rehearsal space. That way of working has led to some challenges when recording, as you end up listening to the songs in a different manner and might figure out you should have done everything differently."

While some put their creative endeavours on hold, Mall Girl opted to try something different. “We actually ended up ‘remote composing’ big parts of the album, with everyone working from their own home studio and bouncing ideas back and forth,” Narvesen explains. "This was a very welcome change of workflow for us, and it led to us writing some songs which probably wouldn’t have turned out that way had we been together in the same room."

Jansen Records · Mall Girl - Bubbly Cool Drink

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I.You.She - Sink.

Boston-based indie pop wunderkind I.You.She, AKA Aayushi Kumar, is gearing up for the release of a buoyant new song “sink!.” The song, produced by respected local Seattle musician Jake Crocker (her hometown), integrates irrepressibly catchy hooks with lyrics that illustrate the despair of a young person caught up in a sense of disillusionment with her life and an eventual realization that everyone is in the same boat.   Kumar exhibits a remarkable mastery of melody and lyricism in only her second single as a solo musical artist—she’s currently a freshman at the Berklee College of Music.  “Sink!” will be released digitally October 29.

Says Kumar: “I don’t believe in perfectionism but I really believed in this song and wanted to give it my all. In general, this person feels like their life is a mess and they feel a sense of emptiness.  To me the song is really about how struggle in life is inevitable. If I had to have one tagline for the song it would be ‘The grass is greener on the other side, but what if we were underground?’  I don't think this song is a negative one even though it may come off that way on a surface level. I think it's realistic and shows how struggling is inevitable and ok. We always think we're sinking but sometimes don't realize that everyone else is as well.”

 I like to stay informed on the local artists from Seattle and Jake, the featured artist and producer of ‘sink!,’ was a Seattle-based musician who I really looked up to.  He was a dream collaborator, and after some email/phone exchanges we started the process of working on the current version of “sink!”. I’m a freshman at the Berklee College of Music, The journey has been a long one but I feel so proud of this song and am excited to introduce my sound to the world.

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Century Egg - Moving On.

Century Egg is a band of escape artists with a focus on playing visceral punk rock. Today the Halifax, Nova Scotia-based quartet are sharing their new single, "Moving On" which makes up the first half of a double A-side single release, the second of which will follow next month. The new track is released via Forward Music Group. 

Following previous spots opening for the likes of Lido Pimienta – a self-proclaimed fan of the band with Robert Drisdelle, guitarist in Century Egg producing a track on her Polaris Prize-winning album, La Papessa – Partner, Julie Doiron, and more, Century Egg will be performing at Toronto's Handlebar on November 14 and La Sala Rosa as part of M for Montreal (Mothland's stage) on November 19 to celebrate the release of these new tracks. This new single, "Moving On" further cements their inspirations taken from Asian pop and rock artists such as Faye Wong, Jun Togawa, Spitz, Cui Jain, Pu Shu, along with the driving post-punk rhythm section and blistering guitar work taken from The Stooges, Thin Lizzy, etc.

Speaking about the new single, Century Egg says: "This is a song about trying to detach yourself from your past and let go of the trauma that holds you back from finally feeling better."

Century Egg is made up of singer, Shane Song (she/her), bassist/backing vocalist, Matty Grace (she/her/they/them), guitarist, Robert Drisdelle (he/him) and drummer, Megumi Yoshida (she/her). Away from Century Egg, Song works as a visual artist/video game artist, Grace plays in numerous bands including Cluttered (tipped by Laura Jane Grace of Against Me!), Drisdelle plays and arranges with Lido Pimienta (amongst other projects) and Yoshida performs in Bad Vibrations, Dog Day, Not You and more.

forwardmusic · Century Egg - Moving On

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Hannah Scott - Drawn To Darkness (Album).

London-based independent artist Hannah Scott is fast cementing her place as one of the country’s most exciting new songwriters, with her emotive, personal songs and striking voice. Hot on the heels of her recent sync success which saw No Gravity open an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, she releases her Help Musicians-funded sophomore album, Drawn To Darkness.

Co-written and produced with long-standing creative partner Stefano Della Casa (Ultra Music Publishing), Drawn To Darkness expertly combines organic, live elements with electronic sounds. The two artists have struck a perfect balance between Hannah’s traditional songwriting craft and Stefano’s unique cinematic production.

Hannah draws much of the inspiration for her music from her affinity with Italy. A year living and working on an olive press in rural Tuscany in her late teens provided the backdrop to her early work and she has found her musical home with writer-producer and multi-instrumentalist Stefano, who she met in London but may well have met years earlier when passing through the train station in Italy he was working in!

Further highlights for the pair include opening for Madeleine Peyroux to an audience of 2000 at Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre and travelling across Ireland with Paddy Casey to open shows for him in Dublin and in a tiny Irish speaking village near Galway! Their music has also been featured on BBC Radio 2 including a live session with Dermot O’Leary, BBC 6 Music, BBC Introducing, The Guardian, MOJO and Clash Magazine.

Hannah Scott · Drawn To Darkness

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