Eucereon - Alice SK - Pierce Turner - Scarves

Eucereon - Go.

Eucereon is a UK/US based DIY singer, songwriter, and producer. Improvised guitar riffs, beats, and vocals shaped through her loop station along with personal and introspective lyrics create the ambient landscape of the music. Eucereon now unveils her haunting new offering ‘Go’. The folk-tinged indie ballad combines wistful vocals and a foreboding guitar line with delicate synths, creating a melancholic soundscape to capture the dark themes of the track. 

“Go is about codependency masquerading as love, and the fear of leaving when you're made to feel you can not leave. The context of the song is based on one particular evening, as many of my songs are. ” Eucereon explains.

Using her loop pedal to create layers of guitar riffs and vocal harmonies, she created the somber atmosphere of the track. This song went through several different sets of lyrics before the ones it ended up with, coming from an improved stream of consciousness technique Eucereon often uses when writing lyrics.

With a global effort behind the track, ‘Go’ was written in Denmark, produced in the UK, and now released in the US. Eucereon’s music is an intimate reflection of uncertainty and perseverance. The performances are intimate and immersive, taking the audience on an ethereal journey through music and visuals while making them move with beat.

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Alice SK - Run Away.

London artist Alice SK's new single “Run Away” is a striking vintage-noir track about being trapped in our minds and how this can lead to us being our own worst enemy. Alice’s haunting, soulful voice sounds classic yet modern through the influence of cultural icons, such as Ella Fitzgerald & Joni Mitchell, and present-day acts, like The Strokes, to create something fresh.

The single comes from Alice SK’s forthcoming debut EP “Electric”, produced by Muca (Los Bitchos, L.A. Salami). “Run Away” is the fourth track to be unveiled from the EP, following the release of Muca’s single “Until We Meet Again” and Alice’s tracks “Another Girl's Man” and “Hidden Paradise”. Alongside Brazilian bossa nova legend Roberto Menescal, Alice featured on “Until We Meet Again” which caused a stir during the summer and the track will also be released as part of the EP package.

Written in lockdown, when we all had a lot of time to reflect on life, relationships, and our own thoughts, “Run Away” captures the moment at when we start to overthink and analyse and start on a self-destruction landslide without realising that it’s happening. The track’s production has an organic feel and an unsettling intrigue with a vinyl crackling backdrop and dark enveloping moods that build to great effect. Portishead vibes are blended with the uniqueness of Alice’s deep and low vocal tones as the track grows out of control.

On the track, Alice says, “The track is meant to start off as being quite reflective and then as it continues and spirals more into our deeper thoughts and the subconscious, it becomes increasingly more desperate as we get a greater sense of not being able to escape.”

 

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Photo - Chris Schoonover

Pierce Turner - Where It Should Be.

The legendary Irish-born/NYC-based performer Pierce Turner releases a new single titled “Where It Should Be” off his forthcoming album, Terrible Good, which is set for release on February 25 via StorySound Records. The album was made in collaboration with another Irish-New Yorker, Gerry Leonard (David Bowie, Rufus Wainwright, Suzanne Vega). “Where It Should Be” is a soulful celebration of life with Leonard’s ambient-like guitar entwining with the serene strings provided by guest David Mansfield (Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Review, Johnny Cash, Lucinda Williams). American Blues Scene premiered the music video saying “the theme of mortality runs through the song, but so does the promise of a new day.”

“We all live in hope, illogical hope, but real as anything that we can touch or feel,” says Turner on the inspiration behind the song. “We always believe that there is a bright sun up ahead somewhere, even on our darkest day. Life is all around us, it’s a constant distraction, and that itself is life itself, blinding life. We assume the world will do a normal turn, and that everything will be where it should be, and it is.”

An Irish-American musician in the truest, and most literal, sense, Pierce Turner lives half the year in his hometown of Wexford, Ireland, and the other half in his longtime adopted hometown of New York City. Both places are reflected in his songs, which frequently move between these two different worlds. Since he began his solo career in the 80’s, he’s worked on a broad range of projects including writing for opera, scoring movies, and composing a contemporary Mass. His genre-bending songwriting has led Turner to collaborate with legendary producer John Simon (The Band, Leonard Cohen, Cass Elliot) on 1991’s Now Is Heaven and composer Philip Glass on projects such as 1986’s It’s Only a Long Way Across and “Yogi with a Broken Heart.”

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Scarves - Heavy Eyes.

Over the past few years, and through a few different iterations, Seattle-based math-rock emo-punks Scarves has established themselves as, “One of the city’s top notch rising acts,” according to KEXP. In that same paragraph, the words “jarring” and “abrasive” also appear so that starts to paint a picture of the dichotomy that has been at play for the band and its frontperson/founder Niko Stathakopoulos.

Their last LP, Dinner Dates for the End of Days, offered individual portraits of end-times that found the light through the darkness. Three years later, a lot has changed for the...uh...but Scarves are still here for all of our sakes.

Stathakopoulos shares of the song: "'Heavy Eyes' is a song about two things. The first is celebrating the absurd joy you can only find by spending your most hopeless moments with someone you truly and deeply love. The second is about feeling envy that you didn’t write that one part in ‘Friday I am in Love’ where Robert says, ‘It’s such a gorgeous sight to see you eat in the middle of the night’ because that might be the most romantic sentiment ever penned.”

 

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Teeniest - Alyssa Gengos - Gabrielle Metz - Buster Baer

Teeniest - A Hand to Hold Forever.

Beehive Candy are really fond of these two artists music whether together as Teeniest or apart in other ventures. This song is no exception as the (and we quote) "acoustic-guitar-based and thematically seems all warm & fuzzy, but the accompanying vibraphone and eerie science fiction/horror undertones create a rather unsettling vibe."

The video notes tell us: This music video for this song is inspired by the virtual reality game, Lone Echo 2, an emotional highlight of which is two friends holding hands. In this outer space adventure, the two friends are Captain Olivia Rhodes and her assistant robot, Jack.

Excellent writing and voice acting (Troy Baker and Alice Coulthard) really give Jack and Liv vitality and personality. Olivia has a fully-realized human character. Through banter, jokes, and working side by side, she becomes your friend -- this emotional connection is the real surprise in VR.

When she is in peril, you feel a visceral need to come to her aid. Of course you know it's all a digital illusion. But the magic of VR happens because the immersive illusion becomes "real.”  What fascinates me are multiple levels of perception, illusion, and meaning in VR, and the Lone Echo games raise interesting questions about consciousness, artificial intelligence, and human connections.

A hand to hold forever in this world
A hand to hold forever

A simple question: what do you want?
Shouldn't have to answer with excuses and caveats
I pursued everything and I felt no fear
At the end of the line everything is clear
All I really need is

A hand to hold forever in this world
A hand to hold forever

It was unexpected, out of the blue
Didn't fear rejection - you knew what was true
The world was no longer what it seemed to me
Just a simple gesture was everything to me
All I really need is

A hand to hold forever in this world
A hand to hold forever

The end is coming, I'm gonna disappear
Memories are flooding, some I hold so dear
One surpasses everything, stands outside of time
Feeling the warmth of your loving hand in mine.
Oh I think I found it

A hand to hold forever in this world
A hand to hold forever.

 

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Photo - Morgan Hamilton

Alyssa Gengos - Cheerleader of The Universe.

During this past year, when the stimuli from the outerworld ceased, Alyssa Gengos was having some weird-ass dreams. In one that stuck with her, she dreamt 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.

Quote from Alyssa: “Cheerleader of the Universe” is sort of surreal; it’s a bunch of associated phrases that form a comforting lullaby. I think of the Cheerleader as the fairy godmother inside my own head. My grandma was a cheerleader, and so was my mother, and I became one in high school as well. I never really wanted to do that as a kid – I just kinda fell into it because my friends and I decided we’d all do it together. 

Still, I felt like I was doing some service continuing this cheerleader mythology that my grandma had started. Now, facing the next chapter of my life, I call upon the Cheerleader of the Universe for guidance. The music video is dreamlike, matching the sentiment of the lyrics. In it, I frolic across a Southern California beach in a dress I sewed myself.

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Gabrielle Metz - More Hearts Than Mine.

Gabrielle Metz bares her vulnerable side in her cover of Ingrid Andress’ “More Hearts Than Mine”.  If there was ever a perfect cover song for Metz, this is it. Not only does this song showcase her beautiful range and vocal inflections, but it also conveniently brings to light her attention to the vocal details paired with her ability to transition into character in order to correctly convey the emotional experience of this song. 

She grabs the listener from her first note and keeps us mesmerized until the final note. Her sometimes gritty vocal combined with her emotional delivery is exceptional.  The deliberately honest lyrics are perfectly conveyed with the silvery vocals from Metz matched with a beautifully simplistic piano line (Damon Fichter, Nashville, TN and produced by George Alexander, Nashville, TN). 

If they were to break your heart, they’d be breaking a lot more hearts than just one. “The first time I listened to Ingrid’s song I was immediately transported into her world and felt a deep connection to the lyrics.  I typically do not record covers but I have been itching to record this song since 2019.”  - Gabrielle Metz

Gabrielle has been nominated for Alabama Music Awards Best Female Country in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. She has also been nominated for Alabama Music Awards Best New Artist in 2018 and 2019. Gabrielle is also on Country Sways 2021 Artist to Watch.

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Buster Baer - Sleepy Baby.

Indie-pop artist Buster Baer has just released a new song, “Sleepy Baby.” The track serves as a sweet little ode to the sleepiest of lovers with gentle, romantic lyrics, an upbeat melody, and a swinging beat. The tune matches Baer’s vintage style perfectly, creating an aural experience that will leave his audience moving and grooving to the warmth of his music. “Sleepy Baby” is a reminder from Buster Baer that it’s ok to not be ‘on’ all of the time and to get some sleep. The track is now available on digital music platforms worldwide.

“Sleepy Baby” is more than just a cute little diddy. Buster Baer describes his inspiration for the song: “Almost every single romantic partner I’ve had seems to have picked up some weird guilt about falling asleep while we’re hanging out. I don’t know who made them feel like they had to be a performing monkey, but having a person feel comfortable enough to sleep around you is an extremely intimate and beautiful thing.” Baer, who produced the track and played all the instruments himself, expands, “I just wanted to provide some evidence to the collective unconscious that there are lovers who won’t expect you to deny your biological necessities for their egos, and I did it by producing huge, glorious cascades of violins and trumpets, which I didn’t know how to play prior to recording."

Hailing from Hermosa Beach, CA, Buster Baer is a uniquely gifted multi-instrumentalist. Baer’s love of music first led him to the drums at age 12, but he did not get serious about music until years later. He moved to New York for college to pursue beat poetry, where he first learned the guitar, and later, the bass guitar. From there, his musical journey took him to New Orleans and San Francisco before landing back in LA. Inspired by Bootsy Collins and The Beatles, Buster Baer aims to push the boundaries of music and “give people a smile or a tear when they need one shaken loose.”

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Sweet Tempest - Faye

Photo - Tina Dubrovsky

Sweet Tempest - Modern Justice.

"This is our song about worldwide misery and we would love for you to dance to it” – Sweet Tempest

‘Modern Justice’ is the 2nd song in a trilogy of new tracks with accompanying videos directed by Matthew Thorne. It is a closer look into a series of gritty, grubby, thought-provoking vignettes filmed in Eastern Europe in stark but nonetheless nuanced contrast to the bright lights and sleek surfaces of the songs.

“This song is about the strange and almost perverse situation, wherein one is sat here in the center of Europe where things could be considerably worse, and reading, seeing or hearing about the immense amounts of injustice inflicted upon people around the world. Modern Justice’s’ original inspiration was a different kind of power imbalance: the demonstrations about democracy in Hong Kong and how screwed they seemed and, it turned out, were. Worst of all, the disheartening realisation that to some extent, you’re completely disconnected from it, sometimes even stimulated by it.” In close connection to the statement of the song the music video for ‘Modern Justice’ documents the lives of young Bulgarian bodybuilders who nonetheless remain powerless.

Drenched in 80s synths rewired for the 2020s, ‘Modern Justice’ is a bold statement of intent from Berlin-based duo Sweet Tempest. Musically recalling artists like Lykke Li, Little Dragon and La Roux, with Pet Shop Boys’ literate pop and Stevie Nicks’ otherworldliness among further crucial ingredients. The meaning of the song with the accompanying video is indicative of how Sweet Tempest never shy away from difficult topics, whether political, social, or indeed personal.

Contradictions surround Luna Kira and Julian Winding, originally formed in Copenhagen. Aside from that ambiguous moniker, there’s the fact they want people to dance to songs about inequality and prejudice, and the way those songs are sometimes superficially frigid yet always warm-hearted beneath. If you ask them who inspired them, too, they’re as likely to point to Tom Waits as Ace of Base (though only the latter’s first album. It’s important to make that distinction.) And then there’s their personal history, an ‘Are they? /Aren’t they?’ soap opera which went on for over a decade.

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Faye - Alexandria.

Indie Rock musician Faye has released her latest single “Alexandria.” The song is about being in love with someone you can’t have. In an age of heavy production, Faye embraces an authentic garage sound with a focus on lyrics and a raw vocal that blends with smooth electric guitars and drums as she sings of Alexandria, the girl we’ve all wanted to be at some point in our lives.

“This one night, I came back from hanging out with the guy who was in love with Alexandria. I was really sad, because he would tell me all of these things, compliment me, and basically lead me on, and then run right back to her,” says Faye. “But I sat down —  it was like, 1am, and this idea for a song popped into my head which was to not make it about me being sad or losing the guy but to revolve the story around her. I wrote it in about 15 mins. It’s definitely one of my more vulnerable songs.”

“Alexandra” was written and performed by Faye and produced by Jon Fintel at Relay Recording and features Jon Leonard on guitar, Jared Knutson on guitar and drums, and Jenna Jaworski  on bass.

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Yard Arms - Noir Disco - North Mississippi Allstars - Winter Grain

Yard Arms - Pirouettes.

After the successful release of their recent single ‘Hollow Ankles’, Bristol-based melancholic pop duo Yard Arms return with follow up single ‘Pirouettes’, released today.

Forming in 2018, their first year saw them release their hauntingly beautiful debut EP ‘Maiden’, soon followed up by their sophomore EP ‘A Glossary of Broken Humans & Beating Hearts’. Their third studio EP 'Sanctuary Lines', described by Atwood Magazine as a "heart-on-sleeve exhaust of emotion" was released in June of 2020.

Pirouettes - recorded, mixed and mastered with long-term collaborator and producer Josh Gallop (Phoxjaw) at Stage 2 Studios in Bath - is a playful insight around the concept of karma and the fragility of modern day brain health. ’They’re probably thinking this scene is senseless as well’ encapsulates the track’s theme and the idea that everyone is just as clued-in or perhaps as clueless as the next.

“It’s how we present this to one another that seems to be a great irony”, says frontman and lyricist Noah Villeneuve, who throughout this track, shows an unwavering ability to move between sugary-sweet power-anthem choruses and moments of lyrical tenderness.

Musically, Yard Arms are demonstrating what has become somewhat their signature ’sound’ in this track, evoking the classic 80s influence of The Cure and Echo & The Bunnymen with more present day indie acts such as The National, Bleachers and Death Cab For Cutie. A short two minutes-thirty burst of pulsating indie pop melancholia with synth laden, alt-romance-rock. The accompanying music video follows the band throughout their most recent UK run of dates alongside the likes of The Slowreaders Club, Phoxjaw, The Nightmares and The Inspiral Carpets’ Tom Hingley.

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Noir Disco - Settin' Sons.

The Chicago-based project of brothers, Nolan and Carter Dickson, Noir Disco, are today sharing the video for "Settin' Sons" alongside the release of their debut album, NOW! 2073 which is out now via Terrible Records (Hubert Lenoir, The Voidz). The new single which closes the album follows previous support from Brooklyn Vegan, Northern Transmissions, Clash, Pigeons and Planes and more. It further cements the trio's spellbinding take on punk, psych-rock, indie-rock and electronica forging a truly unique sound.

"Settin' Sons," which premiered via Under the Radar Magzine earlier today, opens with spangled acoustic guitar before erupting into something bigger introducing warbling electric guitar and programmed drum beats. It finds the trio leaning into their psych-rock-adjacent sounds more than anywhere else on the record, producing one of its more tender, introspective moments.

Speaking about the making of the new single, the band explains: "The song is Carter’s take on what NOW! 2073 opening track ‘workCHANGEchangeWORK’ means to him. Carter wrote "Settin' Sons" on his guitar and then began recording it with Henry, after which Nolan, who happened to take mushrooms about an hour before they started recording, stumbled upon the guitar takes and began to add every other instrument without thinking about it, to which Carter & Henry came home, looped the improvs then structured the song. Carter’s vocal recording process on Settin Sons was a special moment for the band because it was then we realized that Carter is Rocky, Nolan is Mick and Henry is Pauly, characters from the American classic movie series Rocky."

The brothers who sing and play alongside their friend, Henry Miller have developed something of a cult following over the year; NOW! 2073 marks their grandest project yet, signposting the band’s evolution into a new freeform way of creating. Taking direct inspiration from artists like David Bowie, Kate Bush and The Doors, the new music similarly submerges you in cartoonish art-pop landscapes (think “Happiness Is A Warm Gun” if it was made by Arcade Fire during their Reflektor era) that seem to evolve in real-time.

 

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Photo by Jason Thrasher

North Mississippi Allstars - See the Moon.

North Mississippi Allstars will release Set Sail on January 28th via New West Records. The 10-song set was produced by Luther and Cody Dickinson and follows their Grammy Award Nominated 2019 album Up and Rolling, which was met with wide critical acclaim. Set Sail features an appearance by Stax Records legend William Bell on the album standout “Never Want To Be Kissed” (which Bell also co-wrote and co-produced).

After 25 years, twelve albums, four Grammy Award nominations, and sold out shows everywhere, North Mississippi Allstars open up their world once again on Set Sail, welcoming other family into the fold. As sons of the legendary producer and musician Jim Dickinson, Luther and Cody Dickinson started the band in 1996 as a loose collective of like-minded second-generation musicians who shared a local repertoire and regional style. Over the years, the lineup has shifted by design, and with Set Sail, they mined the talents of Jesse Williams on bass and Lamar Williams, Jr., the son of Allman Brothers bassist Lamar Williams, Sr, on vocals. During the Allman Betts Band Family Revival, the Dickinsons first linked up with Lamar, becoming fast friends and collaborators, paving the way for Set Sail.

“The chemistry we have with this lineup is powerful,” observes Luther. “We are all second-generation musicians and share a telepathic, relaxed ease about creating and performing. I believe music is a form of communion with our loved ones and conjuring this vibe with members of musical families can be inspirational. Lamar and I are like-minded. I’ve never had the pleasure of working with a singing partner like Lamar. He has a true-blue quality in his musicality that will pull you in and break your heart. At the same time, Jesse grew up playing music with his brothers and his father—as did we. He plays like a sibling. I’m drawn to musical families, regardless of style. Playing with second- or third-generation players allows us an easy unspoken musical dialog. It’s not a big thing; it’s just what we do. We never had to figure out what it means and takes to be a musician. We all inherently know.” He continues, “Each generation has to reinvent itself and shed the skin of the elders. On Set Sail, we feel as if we’ve once again ‘broken the code,’ and know what we want and how to get it.”

Today, Holler premiered the video for the album highlight “See the Moon," saying "Like the timely arrival of superheroes. Just when you needed them most, North Mississippi Allstars return with a lively injection of positivity and uplifting roots funk to rescue us all." Of the song, Luther Dickinson says “The last verse was improvised in the studio, on the mic, and touches on our belief that music is a celebration of life. It’s a joy to sing with Lamar Williams, Jr. and Sharisse Norman.  We have been touring hard, and are so grateful to be back on the road. Music is essential and we are honored to serve." See the “See the Moon” video directed by Joshua Shoemaker.


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Winter Grain - Hollywood & Hard.

LA-based folk pop duo Winter Grain released their new EP, Hollywood & Hard, along with focus track "Pages." This marks the second project with Grammy award winning producer Ryan Hadlock (Brandi Carlile, Vance Joy, The Lumineers.) Winter Grain consists of married couple Kate and Secily Anderson, who found love with each other shortly after experiencing the chemistry between themselves as musicians/collaborators, and then as humans.

Hollywood & Hard was recorded at Seattle’s Bear Creek Studio in October 2020, with the help of musicians Elliott Klein (electric guitar,) Taylor Carroll (drums,) and Dune Butler (bass,) with guest features from Adam Neely (bass on “Pages”) and Ryan Hadlock (mellotron on “Pages.”) This marks the first release where Secily and Kate can finally call themselves a duo, confidently claiming Winter Grain for themselves. They felt that “In the past, we had both been set on letting a large group of collaborators define who we are and we finally found the time to come to terms that this project is mainly the two of our hearts.”

With influences ranging from Bonnie Raitt, Fleetwood Mac, The Milk Carton Kids, to First Aid Kit, Kate and Secily trade off vocals that weave together stories of nostalgia, growth, frustration, love and all the in-betweens. The anthemic single “Fists” is a timely call to action released in January of this year. Kate Anderson explains, “With all of the political turmoil and civil unrest, we both felt the growing importance to not only point out the tensions, but remark on how easy it is to let something good like a spark turn into something destructive. It became a song that tried to capture both our sadness and our hope.”

Using music as a cathartic outlet, Kate wrote the acoustic country ballad, “Passenger Seat” in remembrance of the 3 years her biological mom left her family from the pivotal ages of 9-12. Winter Grain comments that when they perform this song, it “captures both joy and sadness: joy of a mother who realized her kid wanted nothing more than to be with her mom, sadness of a kid whose mom took three years to turn the car around." While coming to terms with leftover emotions, Kate was able to find closure in the moment her mom told her the song had become one of her favorites. Her mom said that "she could really hear how badly I wanted to be in the passenger seat,” Kate explains. "I just cried in disbelief, as I had very intently meant to convey the sadness reflected in that empty seat."

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Massage - Blooms - Ziemba - Wilma Nea

Massage - I'm Going In A Field.

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 December 10 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.

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.

“The songs on Still Life and Lane Lines seem to straddle the line between indie and pop without exactly being ‘indie pop,’" Romano says. “To me they feel more like descendents of ‘college rock’ — a moment that lasted from about 1986 to 1991, right before the underground and the mainstream converged, when it seemed like any scrappy indie band might stumble across a hit.”

Mt.St.Mtn. · Massage - I'm Going In A Field

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Blooms - Focus.

Blooms first burst onto the scene in 2014 with her dark blend of electro-pop and debut EP, ‘If’. Since then the Irish born artist has won the acclaim of the likes of Wonderland Magazine, Noisey, Complex and Clash Magazine. Having honed her craft over the years, Blooms now returns with an ethereal new offering ‘Focus’. The dark indie-pop track incorporates hushed vocals and frosty synths which capture the emotion and longing behind the track’s meaning.

"It's about loving someone but not knowing if you're in love with them. It's about questioning why you can't focus on them or feel the love they have for you, about feeling guilty for not being grateful for what you have" - Blooms shares

The new release follows on from Blooms’ most recent offering ‘Text Me When You Get Home’, a haunting and poignant track that sought to raise awareness on the issue of women’s safety. The track highlighted the hard-hitting reality of all the actions that women and girls feel they must take themselves to try and stay safe in a culture of male harassment and violence against them.

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Photo - Ian Torres

Ziemba - Set In Ice.

El Paso-based artist, Ziemba – a moniker for songwriter, producer, vocalist and pianist, René Kladzyk – is today sharing a duo of singles, "Set in Ice" and a cover of the holiday favorite, "I'll Be Home For Christmas," the latter of which arrives with a technicolor video directed by Kladzyk. These two tracks follow on the heels of last month's release, "Fear" arriving as another installment of Kladzyk's forthcoming album, Unsubtle Magic which is due out next Friday, December 10 via Sister Polygon Records.

The holiday season is a horrible time to be grieving. Family gatherings and omnipresent nostalgia can amplify a loved one’s absence, becoming constant reminders of what is lost. René is acutely aware of that feeling. After Kladzyk’s father suffered a stroke in December 2019 and died on January 2, 2020, Christmas associations were radically and permanently transformed. Unsubtle Magic navigates the holiday season through the lens of grief; journeying “a year and a day” from the initial loss through the following Christmas, a grim anniversary.

"Set in Ice" and "I'll Be Home For Christmas" provide two crucial cornerstones to the record. The former is a reinterpretation of a song that her father wrote in December 1974 while he worked as a touring musician under the moniker Aurel Roy. 

When discussing "Set in Ice," René explains: "He [my father] wrote hundreds of songs during his 12-year music career, but when my mom got pregnant he quit music entirely and got a 9 to 5 job at an automobile manufacturing factory in rural Michigan. Growing up, he seldom talked about that chapter of his life -- as a kid I was always curious about it and would try to pry stories out of him. He mostly would just say he didn’t remember, or that it felt like another life. But when I started working as a touring musician he was so proud of me, something I think is a rarity for parents of broke musicians. He would comment on how difficult what I was doing was, and started to share more stories from that time in his life with me. Beyond being his kid, we formed a new bond around our shared trials as working musicians. He was a trusted (and sometimes brutal) advisor and a constant cheerleader. After he died, his songs and lyric notebooks became an important gateway for me to continue expanding my relationship with him. His version of "Set in Ice" was an unadorned piano ballad, but I reimagined it as a driving song, picturing him at the wheel on long solo road trips. It has an endless quality to it that I identify with: “get up every morning just to sing these songs.” Covering his songs feels like a form of magic, a way to bring him back for just a moment, or to catch a glimpse of a version of him I never knew in this life."

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Wilma Nea - Days Like This.

With her dynamic expression, shaped by influences from Fiona Apple, Ane Brun and Kate Bush, Wilma Nea debuted with the EP "Issues" in 2020 and quickly received a warm reception from a united group of critics, including The Line Of Best Fit, NBHAP, Aftonbladet and Dagens Nyheter. As Wilma gets ready to release her debut album "This Too Shall Pass" on March 4th, it's with an equal force. 

Now she releases the single "Days Like This" taken from the upcoming album with an accompanying music video in a moody 60's setting. In the video we see Wilma portraying entrapment and being stuck in old patterns.

"It was really fun to shoot all the scenes, especially the dancing. I love the world we built and I think all the scenes really speak. For example, at the end there's a little sequence where I control myself as a puppet with hand movements, which I think represents taking control in a cool way."

The video is directed, filmed and edited by Ebba G. Ågren, based on concepts from Wilma and Ebba. It was filmed in the summer of 2021 at Studio Stor in Malmö. The choreography is by Monica Malmén.

On the upcoming album "This Too Shall Pass", where Wilma also debuts as a producer, we hear an artist exploring stories about daring to communicate her needs, daring to let go and start breathing again. An honest, raw and naked portrait of relationships, the importance of self-respect and growing as a person.

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Black Bordello - The Sully Band - Chrissi Poland - Mae Mae

Photo - Lou Smith

Black Bordello - Drones.

Peckham, London based band Black Bordello today release new single "Drones" and announce their new EP 'White Bardo', out March 2022 via Hideous Mink Records (Opus Kink, Fake Turins, Body Horror). With inspirations ranging from PJ Harvey and Björk to Aphex Twin and David Bowie, Black Bordello's carnivalesque blend of art-rock, punk, jazz and Turkish psychedelia is a wholly unique aural experience.

Recently supporting the likes of Goat Girl and L.A. Salami as well as being handpicked by The Libertines to support them on their November UK tour, Black Bordello are a truly captivating live proposition. Regularly appearing on the London underground circuit alongside fellows risers Opus Kink, Blue Bendy, Modern Woman, Malady, Honeyglaze and Robbie & Mona, they have organically garnered a reputation as one of the most exciting live acts in the country.

The band's self-titled debut album was released in 2020 to a small but fervent wave of acclaim from publications including So Young Magazine ("It takes very little persuasion to fall under Black Bordello’s spell") and Loud And Quiet ("...simply calling Black Bordello's self-titled debut album 'genre-defying' doesn't do it justice. This album is an exercise in world building.")

The band announce their first body of work since their debut album, new EP 'White Bardo' - out next March via tastemaker indie label Hideous Mink Records. The announcement coincides with the release of new single "Drones" along with an accompanying video directed by Lou Smith. Written during lockdown 2020, (somewhat illegally) in a basement underneath a closed pub, "Drones" opens with a theatrical descending bass line, before erupting into a roar of magisterial brass, fizzing synth runs, and frenzied percussion.

Discussing the initial inspiration behind the track, vocalist Sienna Bordello said: "The idea for 'Drones' came about after I watched a documentary about a Drone pilot. He was a gamer who had been headhunted by the US military and recruited into the military workforce. He was given a gaming station with Xbox-like controllers and vintage screens which showed simplistic colours, much like the platform arcade games of the 80s and 90s. He was given missions like ‘cut the grass’, ‘trim the weeds’, ‘tidy this area’. After his service was done, he suffered PTSD when the realisation that he’d been controlling the distribution and attack of drone missiles on civilians sank in. I thought of this as an interesting subject matter for the song, namely because we were in a global pandemic and all life as we knew it had been halted, yet at the same time the UK and US (amongst others)  governments had put more money into military than ever before, and had recruited more troops to attack parts of the middle east throughout our so-called ‘international emergency’. I was gobsmacked that they were passing needless military operations whilst the world was distracted by the pandemic. Every person in this situation is a puppet, but who is pulling the strings?"

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The Sully Band - When The Battle Is Over.

On March 11, 2022, The Sully Band, voted Best Live Band at the 2020 San Diego Music Awards, will release their debut LP, Let’s Straighten It Out, conceived in the hallowed halls of Henson Recording Studio in Hollywood, California (formerly A&M Studios). With Let’s Straighten It Out, Sully and his bluesy, nine-piece beast of a band take us on a journey through the ups, downs, and all-arounds of love by way of 10 classic ‘60s and ‘70s soul, blues, and R&B tunes. The album will be released via Belly Up Records, and marketed and distributed by Blue Élan Records.

This labor of love album was recorded in only five jam-packed days, with “mostly-live” versions of carefully curated love-themed songs that made a mark when they were originally released and yet also feel relevant today. Sully’s soulful, heartfelt vocals cut across layers of horns and guitars that take the listener on an emotional arc of joy, disappointment, struggle, and redemption.

Multiple Grammy Award-winning producer Chris Goldsmith (Blind Boys of Alabama, Ben Harper, Charlie Musselwhite, Big Head Todd) provided the musical curation that makes up Let’s Straighten It Out. Treasured tunes like Billy Preston’s “Nothing from Nothing” and Jackie Wilson’s “Higher and Higher” share the tracklist with lesser-known nuggets like “Hallelujah, I Love Her So” by Ray Charles; the title track, first recorded by Latimore in 1974; Shuggie Otis’ “Ice Cold Daydream”; and “I Wish It Would Rain,” first made a hit by The Temptations. Acclaimed San Diego soul singer, Rebecca Jade, shared vocal duties with Sully on Mac Rebennack (aka Dr. John) and Jessie Hill’s “When the Battle Is Over,” while on “If You Love Me Like You Say,” the late Albert Collins is evoked by Anthony Cullins, the 20-year-old guitar sensation from Fallbrook, California.

Anchored by Grammy Award-winning slayer of the bass, James East (Eric Clapton, Elton John, Michael Jackson, and many others), The Sully Band is composed of seasoned, accomplished players who hail from diverse locales like Japan, Panama, and the island of Lemon Grove. The horn section features sax-flute-harp-man Tripp Sprague (Kenny Loggins, The Little River Band, Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, The Four Tops) and trumpet and flugelhorn player Steve Dillard (The Righteous Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd).

Sully himself is an enigma. He caught the music bug at age six after picking up a nylon-string guitar and playing the first few chords of “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay” with his dad. In high school, the barrel-chested, all-American football player rocked out to Boston and Foreigner with his buddies, starred in every show-tune-laden musical theatre production through college, and ended each day with James Brown or Stevie Wonder on his Pioneer receiver.

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Chrissi Poland - Destination Home (E.P).

Becoming a parent completely changes one’s perspective. Singer-songwriter Chrissi Poland chronicles her journey through music and motherhood in her upcoming EP Destination Home. Vocalizing the raw balance of being an active touring musician and a new mom to a two-year-old baby girl, Poland speaks her truth about life within her contemporary styled tracks.

Poland’s passion for music was fueled when she was born into her musically inclined family and has only flourished since then. Rooted in Poland’s shift of view when she embarked on motherhood, Destination Home shares how this journey has influenced her music and all aspects of life. The songwriter’s honest mid-tempo EP highlights the universal ups and downs of parenting while striving to achieve one's dream. Hoping to inspire parents across the globe with this intimate project, Poland shares:

“When I began to write the songs for what would become Destination Home, I was a new mother and had just come off of my first tour since my daughter had been born. After growing and carrying this little human, suddenly she was out in the world, and then a handful of months later, I was out in the world, without her. What an unsettling, strange and often at times debilitating feeling, to suddenly be away from her for stretches of time. And so goes the plight of every working mother around the world, no matter what field of work.” Poland continues, “I remember being on a plane with tears streaming down my face as I wrote the words to 'Destination Home,' grappling with feelings of guilt and anxiety, of general unease."

A personal and yet recognizable sentiment, the multifaceted musician aims to let her story be heard while inspiring others to believe in their own dreams as well as in themselves. Poland shares: “The whole EP turned out to not only be a letter of love to my daughter, but to mothers and caregivers. To all the mothers and caregivers everywhere who are forging ahead with their careers and also being loving parents and guardians, I see you! This is for you.”

Chrissi Poland · Destination Home

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Mae Mae - Apple Boy.

Atlanta-born and Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Mae Mae will soon announce the release date and track list for her debut EP, Gummy Heart Eyes. 

She has released the second single from that record, “Apple Boy” a fizzy pop song with a stylishly groove.

“Apple Boy” joins Mae Mae’s previously released debut single from Gummy Heart Eyes, “Squishy” a song that Consequence called “an easy, playful, sunny ode to a happy afternoon” and lies “somewhere between cutesy and dreamy.”

 

 

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Pastel Blank - Mild Orange - Wild the Coyote

Photo - Bella White

Pastel Blank - Picture Perfect.

Victoria, British Columbia experimental art-rockers Pastel Blank released their latest single, “Picture Perfect,” as they continue to tease material from a debut record, due in 2022.

Discussing the track, guitarist/vocalist Angus Watt, noted, “‘Picture Perfect’ is about infatuation and idealization; how the heart sways the eyes. Starting with a few fragments inspired by Jobim’s ‘Aguas de Marcos’, the bulk of the song was written by myself & Oliver (Hollingshead) in one sitting, with Oliver playing the drum part on his lap. Unlike most of the songs we’ve worked on, this one was simply recorded in my apartment using a Tascam 388 tape machine that producer David Parry (Loving, Alice Phoebe Lou, Jons) lent me.”

Formed in 2019 in Victoria, Pastel Blank pull influence from the jerky rhythms and genre-blending curiosity of Talking Heads as well as the interlocking guitar-work of post-punk luminaries Women. Their music cloaks experimentation in pop-minded song structures. Skeletal, wobbly guitars squeeze around the propulsive engine of thumping bass and drums, driving the beat forward as Watt’s percussive vocals weave a stream of cryptics into tongue-in-cheek wordplay reminiscent of heroes such as Stephen Malkmus or Dan Bejar.

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Mild Orange - What's Your Fire? / Hollywood Dreams.

Formed in 2018, Mild Orange are made up of childhood mates, frontman Josh Mehrtens and lead guitarist Josh Reid, with bassist Tom Kelk and drummer Jack Ferguson. Their internet-cult following has reached fans from Cairo to Cape Town, Lima to LA, Seoul to Sydney, London to Ulanbutar giving them close to 50 million YouTube views alone. Together they create energetic, summer-bummer psychedelic rock complete with compelling lyrics and are known for their relaxed and buoyant sound. Their music has racked up close to 50 million+ YouTube views combined and on Spotify millions of streams including 16 million+ alone for their breakout single, ‘Some Feeling.'

"We recognise that everybody's 'fire' is going to be different, so we would like to leave this song up to personal interpretation, whether that 'fire' be political, societal or one's personal motivations. For me, 'What's Your Fire?' came from a time in my life where I was trying to figure out who I am, or who the person I want to be is. 

It asks oneself some intense questions, though hopefully helps oneself find light in the idea that there is always something that you can do to improve yourself or the world around you - no matter how big or small. It's when we ask ourselves these questions that we consider a potential answer. We have been playing it as an encore at our concerts and festivals in NZ for over a year now, and since then, it has been a highlight of our live sets with it always being the main takeaway from the set when we talk to fans after the show.

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Wild the Coyote - Under the Weather.

Wild the Coyote has released his newest single, “Under The Weather,” from his upcoming EP, 7 Roses. The EP’s second song revives the heavy and powerful experience that Coyote brings to the country music world. “Under The Weather” is available now to stream and download on all streaming platforms worldwide.

“Under The Weather” pairs strong guitars and emphatic vocals to create a unique sound only Wild the Coyote can deliver. The western, outlaw-country track adds rock, alternative, and blues elements to give the record its distinctive edge. Produced by Joseph Holiday and engineered by Tito Woods, the song covers a harrowing topic that shook Wild the Coyote to the core. “Under The Weather” follows the story of a man trying his best to keep it together for his family, but can’t shake the troubles of drugs and alcohol that are tearing his family apart. "I had never been inspired to write a song the way that I was with ‘Under the Weather,’ and in a way, I’m not too proud of that,” says Coyote. Listeners can feel the emotion radiating from the lyrics through his powerful storytelling. 

“With this song, I was at the wrong place at the wrong time and witnessed a devastating argument between family over drugs and alcohol destroying their relationship,” says Coyote. “It was painful to see the destruction those two poisons can have on a relationship, especially when there are kids in the picture. I’ve had my share of troubled run-ins with alcohol, so I went and wrote a song that hurt me to the core.” His ability to bring an immersive story to life through music has led him to create a unique and original listening experience.

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Guy Verlinde - Hogleg Band

Guy Verlinde - Up on the Mountain.

Today is the release of the new single Up on the Mountain by #1 Belgian blues and roots artist Guy Verlinde. It is an Americana song about the "circle of life" with  a river as a metaphor. Just as a small river at its source carries already all the power to flood a valley, everyone has everything inside to become the person he or she should be. 

The rhythm of the drums, percussion and banjo symbolizes the rippling and flowing of the river that rises more and more towards the end of the song.

When there is no budget for shooting videos, you need to be creative. This video has a unique concept as it was filmed by the audience from every corner of the Minard theatre. It is disturbing for an artist when people try to film during a concert. 

But at the end of the concert by Guy Verlinde & The Artisans of Solace in the Ghent Minard Theater, the audience was explicitly asked to film the performance during the song "Up on the Mountain" with their phones. The more than 100 videos were edited into one video clip by the young filmmaker Erno Baelus. Beehive Candy say's - This is a really fine live video for a highly notable song.

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Hogleg Band - How It Feels To Be A Cowboy.

Hogleg Band, reckon they are Louisiana's own "country super group" and their new release 'How It Feels To Be A Cowboy' suggests they might have a point. 

The core band consists of Grammy award winning drummer Brian Brignac, on lead guitar one Dr Mullet; keys stands Corban Barnes. "Lightnin" Lucho Bolivar from Barranquilla, Colombia on lead guitar two. 

Chris Roberts, legendary bassist for Blues king Johnathon "Boogie" Long on bass guitar. Gram Rae fiddler & Harmonica player from Mississippi, with Richard Comeaux on Steel guitar Lance Woolie on lead vocals.

The band tell us that the initial release from this record is a "fast driving song called "How It Feels To Be A Cowboy" . This is a very upbeat rocking country ditty. How It Feels To Be A Cowboy is a true story told in song about being hard headed and living the outlaw life. This song rides fast and raw and has the grit and goods to back it up." We have to say, we agree!

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Render Sisters - Eliyanah - Parks N' Rec

Render Sisters - I Don't Wanna Know.

Pop-country duo Render Sisters, composed of best friends and sisters Mary-Keaton and Stella Render, continues their blossoming maturation and obvious sisterly kinship on their new single, “I Don’t Wanna Know.” The new tune finds the sisters singing about the unpredictable nature of relationships in the modern world. Releasing everywhere digital music is available today Monday, November 29, “I Don’t Wanna Know” is the sixth single the teen duo has released since their emergence in 2020.

Mary-Keaton and Stella wrote the song with Nashville-based songwriter Doug Kahan (Trick Pony, Clay Walker, Jon Pardi) on a recent trip to Nashville, but the idea behind the song came from an actual relationship which Mary-Keaton had recently been involved in back in their hometown of Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

“I knew that I really liked this guy at the time, but I was scared that if I knew his past that I may not like him anymore,” Mary-Keaton admitted. “I wanted to get to know him for who he was, and give him a chance, but I have always been the type of person that gives someone the benefit of the doubt, too. Until they betray me, or prove me wrong in some way."

Stella was also cautious about the guy's past, and encouraged her sister to remain the same way. However, the younger of the two was the primary instigator for turning her older sister’s relationship scenario into a song.

“Every single time I tried to talk to her about it, Mary-Keaton would always reply, ‘I don't wanna know,’” Stella recalled. “So one day while songwriting, and talking about this guy again, Mary-Keaton again repeated ‘I don't wanna know,’ and then I knew we had to find a way to spin this into a song about her situation.”

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Lauren Marsh Photography

Eliyanah - Somebody Else.

Alt-pop artist Eliyanah's latest raw and cathartic offering, 'Somebody Else', delves into what it's like to handle the painful end of a long-term relationship as well as adapting to life after it. Soft grooving percussion echoes through nostalgic keys, angelic vocals, ethereal harmonies and bouncing basslines, as she blends the very best of indie, pop, alternative and electronic elements.

“The song explores the complicated and painful twists of navigating a long-term relationship's end, as well as confronting yourself in its wake.” Eliyanah shares

The song was co-written with Eliyanah’s brother Simon Woodley as well as musician Ben Scott (Tom Walker, Mahalia, Ed Sheeran). Eliyanah then worked alongside producer Hugh Fogerhill and mastering engineer James Birt to bring the track to life, Eliyanah succeeds at creating a nostalgic and introspective track that resonates with all who listen.

Eliyanah · Somebody Else

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Parks N' Rec - the year that everything changed.

Background from Parks N' Rec: I am telling the story of reflection and acceptance; adaption and redefinition.

After spending nine months in remote parts of Central and South America, I landed in New York City this fall. The shock of that transition combined with witnessing a metropolis hoping for a revival was interesting. I wanted to capture that recalibration of human behaviour, and the beauty of that challenge. You'll hear a melancholic mood that comes from a place of strength.

The single artwork is taken from the Hubble Space Telescope of stars populating globular clusters. The video was produced with edits of that celestial footage. The video hopes to encourage the journey and offer new perspective.

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Georgia Lines - Bonnie

Georgia Lines - I Got You.

Captivating singer-songwriter Georgia Lines has unveiled her stunningly emotive new single and video "I Got You." Layered in dreamy, atmospheric strings which floats over a chilled groove, "I Got You" is hook-laden in melody, performed by Georgia’s uniquely soaring vocals. The Tauranga-based artist is compelling in her storytelling, reflecting on change, loss, acceptance and letting go.

“At the time there were so many things in my world that were changing, including dealing with the grief of losing a family member,” says Georgia. “It felt like life was becoming a game of giant jenga with so many pieces being pulled out from under me, whilst trying to hold everything together. ‘I Got You’ is about the process of learning to let go, whilst continuing to hold onto the few things that you know to be true.”

Co-written and produced by Djeisan Suskov (BENEE, Matthew Young, Mitch James, LEISURE), "I Got You" is the very first song the now prolific duo wrote together in 2020. Written fresh out of Aotearoa’s first lockdown, the track is reflective of Georgia’s growth mindset in navigating the challenges of pursuing a career in music during a pandemic.

“Covid has required loads of adaptability, positivity and constant changes in perspective,” says Georgia. “The biggest mindset shift that has helped me navigate this unknown, has been the conscious decision to make sure that every part of the journey is enjoyable. For me, keeping this perspective along with having an incredible support network, has helped me navigate through the hard yards and all the challenges that Covid has brought to pursuing a career in music.”

Also released is the stunning new music video to accompany the single, directed and produced by Georgia Lines herself. Drawing on nature’s elements and spaces where all is falling apart, Georgia crafted the video to sit in the same visual space as the music does sonically. “Conceptually I loved the idea of creating a video that had aspects of the elements in it (water/sand/nature/grain),” says Georgia. “I loved the idea of creating beautiful graceful movements mixed with static poses amongst these big piles, and loved the idea of creating different spaces within the giant warehouse we filmed in, to bring different ideas visually to the video.”

“Working with Chelsea Jade on the Choreography over zoom was also such a highlight. I loved working with her for "No One Knows," and was so pumped to get to work with her again for this one.” With a number of upcoming live shows and tours, including performing as a headlining act at Festival One and supporting Dave Dobbyn at Black Barn, Georgia Lines is showing no signs of slowing down.

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Bonnie - 8000 Miles.

Love can fill the whole universe but sometimes it can be the size of a pinhead. Bonnie has just releasesd her new song “8000 Miles”.

This rhythmic and danceable song moves stylish between Triphop and Pop and can best be described as a love song without the happy ever after. A true rollercoaster of emotions just as real life itself.

Carried by an interchangeable rhythmus, groovy guitar and Bonnies warm, haunting voice it tells us about the highs and low of love.

Bonnie, who has found her style in Rhythm & Blues, Pop, Country and Rock best described as “Vintage Soul and Roll” releases her inner tragic diva and shows us a completely new facet as an artist.

The song has been written by Bonnie herself and Hoffi Hofstetter. It is produced by Rico Horber.

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