Fresh - Wildes - Dana Gavanski - Tragedy Ann

Fresh - Babyface.

London DIY punks Fresh have announced their forthcoming new album, ‘Raise Hell’, out 1st July on Specialist Subject. Alongside the announcement, they share lead single ‘Babyface’, a song written in early lockdown, “hence the ‘boredom’ refrain” says lead singer and songwriter Kathryn Woods (cheerbleederz, ME REX). “It’s a song about having a mind that’s both overstimulated and under-stimulated at the same time. The light, airy synths make it a cry for help masquerading as a pop song.” This is a sentiment that runs through much of ‘Raise Hell’ – the push and pull of conflicting emotions, wrestling with opposing personality traits, the tension between learning to self-love and yet wanting more.

Fresh have been an unwavering fixture within the UK punk scene since their first record in 2017. A joy to behold live, lead singer Kathryn Woods honed her craft not only fronting Fresh but as a member of several heralded indie and punk bands, including cheerbleederz and ME REX alongside Fresh bandmate Myles McCabe.

Their new album radiates with their signature mischievous British charm and flourishes of brilliant pop punk flair – though underestimate Fresh at your peril. ‘Raise Hell’ dares to dive deeper than most, delivering Woods’ darker moments and contemplative thought processes through the sharply focussed lens of upbeat indie punk.

Having shared another single from the album towards the end of last year, Fresh have shown no sign of slowing down; ‘Morgan and Joanne’ references the story of a blind date that went viral in 2019. “It’s about queer joy and queer visibility” says Woods. “I wrote Morgan & Joanne because I was so struck by the charm of Morgan and Joanne and how they turned what had the potential to be a typical first date into an adventure. The song is about the magic of meeting someone who you really fancy for the first time and kind of escaping into a different realm with them. I think popular media and historical narratives tend to make queer relationships tragic instead of focusing on all the joy and possibilities that they hold, so I wanted to put a song out there that’s sweet and funny and empowering to counter that a little bit.”

specialistsubject · FRESH - Babyface

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Wildes - Woman In Love.

London singer songwriter Wildes returns this week with her new single "Woman In Love". The new track is the first to be heard since her 2020 EP 'Let You Go' and debut EP 'Illuminate'. Sonically falling somewhere in a Bermuda Triangle of Angel Olsen, St Vincent and PJ Harvey, Wildes' music sits within an entrancing skeleton of folk songwriting, all the while lifting the listener up on a storm cloud of cinematic electronics and her sharp, honest lyricism. Wildes’ sound is one that never falls short of empowering, and new single "Woman In Love" is a biting first taste of her currently unannounced debut album, due for release later this year.

Produced by St Francis Hotel (Michael Kiwanuka, Little Simz) - "Woman In Love is a song of anger," Wildes explains. "It's all about the facade presented by someone who isn't all that happy, and the rage that lies under the glassy exterior. I had put on a brave face for so long when I was in fact feeling underestimated, scared, manipulated, and cornered. I wanted to release that fury and fear in to a song and be honest for the first time about how I was feeling. The music was part inspired by artists who occupied my head at the time - PJ Harvey, Patti Smith, SASAMI. Unapologetically honest women and musicians. They gave me permission to come out of the box I'd been cowering in."

Wildes is the solo project of Ella Walker, a singer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in London. “Come on and bare your teeth” urged Wildes on her soaring debut single "Bare". And bare she did, tenaciously carving out a path that saw her release 2 acclaimed EPs; ’Let You Go’ and ‘Illuminate’, which have over 60 million streams across platforms to date; firm radio support across BBC Radio 1, 2, and 6 Music, as well as Radio X, KCRW, and European stations 3FM, Flux and Radio Eins.

The viral success of Wildes grabbed the attention of Danger Mouse, who became her publisher, and led to over 20 notable syncs on US TV shows like Suits, Scream and The Royals. On top of UK tours supporting Isaac Gracie and Ardyn, Wildes' music has received widespread press support from outlets including Consequence, The Line Of Best Fit, Metro, Stereogum, Notion, Clash Magazine, DIY Magazine and more.

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Dana Gavanski - I Kiss The Night.

Taken from her forthcoming album When It Comes which is out on April 29 through Flemish Eye, Dana Gavanski has just shared the video for the opening track on the LP, "I Kiss The Night". The video, directed by Gaia Alari, is made up of 1,700 hand-drawn frames, around 12 drawings per second, creating a beautiful stop motion animation that fits the music perfectly.

“The nocturnal and lulling atmospheres evoked by Dana's song,” says Gaia, “had me design a video treatment that aims to represent a dreamscape, or, more precisely, the moment of drowsiness happening right before falling asleep. By entering the door of the liminal space between awake and asleep, the character erases the external world and enters within her brain, experiencing a maze made of layered visions, distorted perception of self, time and space, intrusive thoughts that range from playful-bizarre-uncanny sequences to reassuring memories, in the attempt to fall asleep and finally shut the door.”

Dana wrote the song whilst cat sitting alone in her friend’s apartment in Montreal: “It’s an ode to the night, learning to lean into its magic and the spookiness of solitude in a winter storm.” Yesterday Is Gone is the follow-up to her 2020 debut When It Comes. It was started in Montreal, ended in Belgrade, recorded back in London at Total Refreshment Centre, and then mixed by Mike Lindsay (Tunng, Lump).

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Tragedy Ann - The Shield.

Every note of The Shield urges you to surrender to the infectious sense of wonder evoked when driving North and West around Superior. Vivid storytelling pairs with rich strings to create sweeping vistas, with the listener in the passenger's seat; The Shield is as lush and dynamic as the locations it describes. The name of Stuart McLean is invoked, and is not done lightly: this new single by Tragedy Ann rings with a familiar awestruck love and gratitude for the landscapes that define travel in this part of the world.

With their upcoming album Heirlooms (May 6, 2022), Liv Cazzola and Braden Phelan issue a call for deeper connection with each other and with the natural world. The answer to this call is reflected both in the collaborative creation process and the meaningful ways in which Heirlooms will be shared. Setting these intentions rooted them and provided the insight needed to nourish the project and create something lasting.

"We want Heirlooms to encourage listeners to question their individual choices and reconsider the experiences of others in their communities, provoking critical thought rather than merely expressing our opinions. In order to encourage this in others, we must do so ourselves." Heirlooms is an opportunity to reconnect, share stories and learn.

The album is a follow up to their 2018 release Matches which garnered them two ‘Songs from the Heart’ songwriting awards (Folk Music Ontario), international critical acclaim, Canadian folk/roots radio charting, and syndication on CBC Radio and Stingray Music.

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Dani Ramos - Deer Scout - Laurie Biagini

Photo by Francisco Barrachina

Dani Ramos - Dime Algo.

Sound of Berlin shares hypnotic video for Dani Ramos' "Dime Algo" Columbian Berlin-based producer and DJ Dani Ramos reveals Dime Algo EP via Sound of Berlin, digitally available everywhere now. 

Originally from Columbia, Dani Ramos lives in Berlin and embraced the electronic scene with performances alongside the likes of Luciano, Martin Buttrich, Nick Warren, Hiroko Yamamura, Clive Henry, Seth Troxler, Ryan Crosson, Shaun Reeves, and Guti at premiere events ranging from Circolocoin Cartagena, BPM in Costa Rica and venues such as Ministry of Sound, SONAR, Pacha in Ibiza, Watergate, CDV, Hoppetosse, and counting.

Infused with lean basslines, crunchy drums, and rapid-fire high-end jabs, Dime Algo EP aims for peak times and is an excellent addition to the current tech-house revival. With a higher BPM, the EP features jerky drums cutting through layers of static kick drums, while floaty vocals rise and fall in the background.

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Deer Scout - Synesthesia.

On Friday Deer Scout will release her debut LP Woodpecker on Carpark Records. Songwriter Dena Miller began writing songs under the Deer Scout name in her Philadelphia dorm room as a college freshman, before the project grew as she began popping up on DIY shows around New York and Philly, sharing stages with people like Waxahatchee, Joanna Sternberg, Gobbin Jr, Told Slant and Yowler while periodically putting out singles on Bandcamp and cassette. 

Six years on from those first singles her debut LP has proved worth the wait, with the pre-release tracks earning praise from places like NPR's All Songs Considered, Stereogum, NYLON, BrooklynVegan,  FADER, and a host of others. Now Miller is sharing a final single from Woodpecker, a track called "Synesthesia."

"'Synesthesia' is about associative memory and inexplicable connections between sounds, places, and experiences," Miller explains. "It was written on the train ride home from a show that absolutely captivated me and jogged a bunch of memories. It’s about different points in my life that share the same undercurrent for no clear reason."

Woodpecker is a record about memory and the subconscious. And like an unforgettable dream that keeps you puzzling over its riddles for days, it’s as packed with direct symbols as it is with ruminative haze. “I approach songwriting as a process of boxing things up, or putting away a time capsule,” Miller, who wrote the album over a period of six years. It’s a culminating collection of the project’s many sounds and influences to date, from Philly’s punk cooperatives to Oberlin’s conservatory experimentalism to New York’s DIY history. At the center is Miller’s assured guitar fingerpicking and boldly clear voice, firmly grounded even as it gently probes uncertain emotional and musical terrain.

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Laurie Biagini - Do What You Gotta Do.

Today we share our third taster from Laurie Biagini's forth coming album and once again it's a catchy addictive track full of good vibes. To recap Laurie is a songwriter-singer from Vancouver, British Columbia Canada, whose music would appeal to fans of 1960’s California sunshine pop.  Her sound and compositions have been compared to The Beach Boys, The Mamas and the Papas, Carol King, The Carpenters, and Jackie DeShannon. Her main influences include these artists along with The Beatles, The Byrds, The Monkees, The Turtles, and Jan & Dean.

Laurie has played piano by ear since age five, alongside ten years of classical piano training. She only started writing music in August 2006, after writing her first song which came to her with music and lyrics simultaneously one afternoon as she was commuting home from work. Since then, she has completed and released four albums.

Almost all of Laurie’s songs have been written, composed, performed and recorded by herself, with the exception of a few songs from her third and fourth albums which featured guest vocals, guitar tracks and lyrics.

Laurie Biagini · Do What You Gotta Do

Roscoe Roscoe - Sondew Lerche feat. Aurora - Geowulf

Roscoe Roscoe - Secret Underwater Love.

East London based five-piece Roscoe Roscoe have released a dreamy new single “Secret Underwater Love,” out now on Slow Dance Records / Missing Piece Records. The track comes off the back of the success from the band’s first two singles, the “ferociously alive” (NME) “Brain Retrieve,” and the “brilliantly psychedelic summer romp,” (Under The Radar) “Jacob’s Ladder.”

“‘Secret Underwater Love’ is one of our oldest songs,” states frontman Charlie Read Clarke. “I wrote and recorded the first demo when I was about 15, long before I'd even met half of the band and since then I think there have been at least 3 different recorded studio versions until this one. It has a special, weird place in my heart that both floods me with equal parts nostalgia and cringe. Despite being the least mature of all our songs, it felt worth releasing after all these years, as our sound feels like it is forever changing. The track was recorded at Famous Times Studios in Hackney with my Dad.”

The band met at The Brit School (following in the footsteps of Black Midi, who also formed there) and came together through a shared love of 60s counterculture and psychedelia. Rather than sheerly revivalist, however, their music comes from being part of a generation who have been able to take non-specific and widely drawn sources via the infinite bank of the internet. Other influences the band have cited include avant-pop groups Stereolab and Broadcast, along with evident echoes of Wand, Tame Impala, and Crumb in their music as well.

In 2019, they played a BBC televised performance at Glastonbury despite having no released music. Their charged, inventive live performance was also invited to The Southbank Centre for Nile Rogers’ Meltdown Festival within just a few months of their formation and in 2021, they closed the Rising stage at Green Man Festival.

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Photo - Synne S. B. Bønes

Sondew Lerche - Alone In The Night (feat. AURORA).

Sondre Lerche released Avatars of Love, his most ambitious work to date, via PLZ / InGrooves. The 14 song double album features contributions from AURORA, CHAI, Felicia Douglass (Dirty Projectors), Mary Lattimore, Rodrigo Alarcon, and Ana Müller. Also released today is the official video for the album’s closing single “Alone In The Night” (feat. AURORA).” On April 30, Lerche will embark on his first US tour in more than 5 years. The tour will make stops in Seattle Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and more.

Lerche explains: “‘Alone In The Night’ was the first recording I did for the Avatars of Love album. It put everything in motion, and surprised me greatly. I heard AURORA's voice singing it in my mind one day when I was out running in the sun. So I asked her if she'd sing it with me. It felt extra special, because I had just returned home to Bergen after 15 years of living in the US. And she was one of the first to greet me there. It's a song about what happens to our bodies and souls when we fall in love, and then again through the passage of time, when we age and die. It's ultimately about our memories and dementia. How frail we really are, and how heartless the process of aging can be to lovers."

This morning, the album was highlighted as one of the best albums of the week on NPR’s New Music Friday podcast, with NPR Music’s Cyrena Touros calling it, “A journey start to finish… I feel like I could spend six months just listening to this one album and I could find so much to mine and explore." In their four star review, American Songwriter said, “An impressive accomplishment, Avatars of Love probes the depths of desire to extraordinary effect." Recently, Lerche released the official video for the album’s 10+ minute long centerpiece “Avatars of Love,” which was praised by FLOOD Magazine and Stereogum, and was named one of the best songs of the week by BrooklynVegan and Under The Radar.

“This is without a doubt the biggest, boldest, most complex thing I’ve ever done,” explains Lerche about the new album. “At the same time, it was also the easiest, most natural, and most liberating. As an artist, it’s the kind of project you always dream about.”

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Geowulf - Drown.

Australian alt-indie duo Geowulf returns with a new song “Drown.” The song is the perfect track to kick back and reflect on good love, even if it’s not the right kind of love.  The track also comes with an official video with stunning images of a late-night drive into the unknown.

Speaking about the song, Star explained “Drown was another song Toma and I finished in lockdown over Skype and as difficult as that was I think this song is pretty special because in a way this song is about love (or a form of it) and how when you can fall in love it can be magical but not always right. This song is about finding a new space to exist in love or friendship after the breakdown of a relationship.”

Of the video, Star added “This video was filmed at the first time Toma and I had seen each other in two years due to covid and lockdowns. We wanted to channel a pop noir  “Natural Born Killers” vibe and had such a great director in Tim Heinrich and his sidekick Jordan Kaye. It’s moodier vibe for us and we’re all about it.”

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Carmody - Chew Magna - Amitida & Alberto Merelo - Skinny Lister

Carmody - Hurricane.

London based singer, songwriter Carmody releases new single "Hurricane", lifted from her upcoming debut album Imperfect Constellations. Out 6th July via Young Poet, the album features collaborations with Alfa Mist, Tom Misch, Conor Albert, and Laura Misch.

In matters of healing, we often don’t know how much we are carrying until we truly pause to take stock. Carmody has long been using music as a way to uncover her subconscious, examining the complex web of relationships that surround her. In the face of memory and generational grief, Imperfect Constellations is split into four main parts (or 'Constellations') and draws on her own experiences of alternative therapy, entering a world of discovery and recognition.

Co-written and co-produced with Avi Barath (Berwyn, Priya Ragu, Pa Salieu) and Calum Duncan (Alaskalaska, Rachel Chinouriri, Jones), new single "Hurricane" opens Imperfect Constellations in magisterial and captivating fashion, paying homage to a specific family member, painting her character into full tumultuous vision.

“My Grandma once told me that she doesn't dream, and that if she does, it’s not in colour. I was just like wow, that line has to go in a song,” Carmody laughs. “We have a strange relationship, because she's quite a difficult, but very loveable woman. She’s quite rude, she's really crass, she's got a lot of love but she can't often feel it. It's about me trying to get through to her, but also recognising that I feel like I am quite like her. I wouldn’t call it depression, but I struggle with sadness, and there’s a lot of sadness that she's had in her family that she's just carried. That hurricane feeling; I feel like I carry some of that too.”

Over the years, Carmody has crafted a sound that fits her well, complimenting her lyrical dexterity with melodies that evoke the timelessness of Joni Mitchell and Joan Armatrading while nodding to the modern alt-folk of Laura Marling and Big Thief. When Carmody began work on Imperfect Constellations, it was this sound that she was aiming for, rich in detail and emotional substance.

Commenting further on the release of "Hurricane", Carmody said: "I am very close to my grandmother, she is the matriarch of our family and the thread that holds us all together. She looked after me a lot when I was younger and taught me how to sing. She is quite an unusual character. I think she struggles to live in the present and acknowledge the love that orbits around her, we are quite similar in this respect. This track explores my frustration with her, and with myself, to appreciate the things we do have, rather than what we’ve lost."

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Chew Magna - 4232.

Further teasing their forthcoming self-titled debut album, Manchester’s most raucous, riff-fuelled jam band Chew Magna are getting philosophical with newest release ‘4232’ – an anthemic eruption pounding to the traditional teaching of ancient thinkers, in pursuit of freedom. 

“Lyrically, ‘4232’ is a joyous song about existential freedom, perhaps even alluding to the concept of authenticity,” tells the band’s singer and nominated spokesperson, Laurie, of the track’s inspiration. “The song stems from the wisdom of German philosopher, Martin Heidegger. He said, to be human is to navigate the correct way to live in the world when most things occur without reason or are the result of an accident. Ultimately figuring this out, he says, leads to a more authentic life because you can question expectation.” 

Serving up their own alt-rock antidote to lifelessness in the modern age and delving deeper into the band’s poetic and philosophical fascinations, ‘4232’ is powered by Chew Magna’s tried and tested approach to ‘spontaneous’ song writing. Melding ideas together in the former furniture warehouse where they rehearse, melodies emerge from endless instrumentals and boundless imagination to capture the raw emotion of live performance.

Selected from the Chew Magna album sessions recorded with SWAYS producer Martin Hurley in The White Hotel, Salford, ‘4232’ hurtles along with a chorus akin to alternative Sonic Youth tuning. Playfully screwing with structure, added instrumental ‘choruses’ embrace elements of Krautrock, Post Hardcore, Punk, Noise Rock and Shoegaze as Laurie calls out; “You’re running cos you can’t slow down / You’re running cos there’s time to save / Running cos you figured it out yeah / Running cos you can’t be late.” 

“Sonically, 4232 is our most intentionally shoegaze track to date,” Laurie tells. “Its title comes from the weird timing parts in the verse, although we changed it so the numbers are wrong and don’t suit the structure… it should really be called 4323!”

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Amitida & Alberto Merelo - Closure.

Amitida Is a 18 years old Singer Songwriter from Iran. An inspiring artist with her catchy lyrics and top line vocals. I love working in different genres such as (rock,electro pop ,house ,dance indie/pop) but currently I’m focusing on Electro Pop House and Dance Music. Music is my passion it’s what’s inside me and Since the age of 13 I have been songwriting and singing . In the last few years I have also been learning production.

I had been using a vocal coach to help me with my performances and to help me find my true voice but everything else was completely self taught. My musical inspirations and the people who make me want to do music are Adele and Taylor Swift they are amazing artists. My biggest fan and supporter is my Dad helping me and encouraging me to follow my dream. Recently being signed to Happy Sounds Productions in London with the first Single “Tricky Boy” produced by BOI SYCO. With more release to come from these two in the coming months. 

Also working with other artists from the label on other projects the 2nd single to be release is “CLOSURE” with Alberto Merelo. The duo are also working on another project together, to be released in 2022 I plan on working with different producers and artists and regularly release music on streaming platforms also performing live at gigs and showing the world what i have to share. 

Alberto Merelo is a Uk based Music Producer/Composer born in Cádiz (Andalusia, Spain) in 1990, Starting his music career at the age of 17 When he learnt how to produce and compose music by himself. Starting in the hip hop genre and making tracks for different artists, He then begun to produce in different genres such as Rap, R&B, EDM, Pop, Reggae, Dance Hall, Reggaeton and other Latin music genres. Since coming to the Uk Alberto is working as a social worker and has a Masters in Studies and Intervention in Inmigration, Development and Vulnerable Groups from the University of Huelva (Andalusia, Spain). 

Starting his own music production company in 2017 called 'Greedy Game Muzik'. Working with lots of different artists and genres. Also working on his own album hopefully to be released late 2022. In 2021 Alberto was signed to a London based record label Happy Sounds Productions Ltd where he has started working with different artists from the label. The first release will be a track called “Closure” in collaboration with the amazing Amitida.

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Skinny Lister - Like It's The First Time.

“Like It’s The First Time” is a chipper cut from the band’s latest album ‘A Matter of Life & Love’, a raucous record that pays homage to all the greatest things in life.

The exultant song celebrates the thrill of being on the road with a gang of your best mates, set to a foot-stomping beat, dizzying melodies and elating vocal harmonies. As frontman Dan Heptinstall says of the track: “‘Like It’s The First Time’ is a well-trodden ode to life on the road as a touring musician. The travelling, the shows, the hangovers and, most importantly, the connection with the friends and supporters of the band that we get to hang out with along the way. That feeling of often being so far from home yet so utterly at home.”

Creating the mood and atmosphere reminiscent of the final moments of a rowdy night out — when the bar is closing, eyes are blurry and you have a fuzzy feeling in your stomach whilst you jump around to a forgotten throwback track blaring on the radio — “Like It’s The First Time” took on a more bittersweet undertone when touring and “good times with good friends” were put on hold. Something that they were also keen to capture in the official video accompanying the track. As Heptinstall adds:

“It’s a track made all the more poignant for us in the wake of the pandemic, which saw us take a lengthy break from touring. It's been great to be finally back on the road ‘doing it all over again’. The video perfectly mirrors the images I had in my head when writing the song. It’s great to have such memories captured this way, and serves as a reminder to look forward to those we’ve yet to make. Bring it on!”

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Loud Forest - Jill Lorean - Ritual Cloak - Willi Carlisle - Colyn Cameron

Loud Forest - Easy To Love.

We have the brand new single "Easy to Love" from alt/pop meets folk duo Loud Forest. The track is the second single off of the band's forthcoming full length album Family Tree set for release in May 2022. "Easy to Love" is a folksy, meditative tune with stunning harmonies. Rachel confides on the inspiration behind the release, "I’ve spent a lot of years with a hard heart, trying to be strong and power through. Through my own journey of motherhood and growing, therapy and working through love, I’ve had to really do the hard work of mending this hard heart, learning to listen and let my heart guide how I think and feel. This is not an easy road, but it’s been the best and most beautiful path to working toward a tender heart."

The band Loud Forest is based in Los Angeles, CA where Bernard and Rachel Chadwick, a married couple, collaborate out of their experimental project space in Pasadena. Merging elements of alternative rock, Americana, and pop as well as post-punk into their moody, crafted indie rock, their earliest albums won a dedicated fan base and radio attention.

An album-oriented band, Loud Forest is doused in indie credibility from years of self-releases, homemade microphones and hosting rock shows in their studio. With influences ranging from Wilco to the Staples Singers, from Bob Dylan to Trey Sivan, from Spoon to Anderson .paak - the band distinguishes themselves with an acute attention to hooky melodies and intentional lyricism that plays with themes of love, fidelity and family. Drawing inspiration from their two daughters, Bernard and Rachel started the band to end all other bands they were in; a merging of creative forces and a project surrounded by their LA community.

Their 4th and forthcoming album, “Family Tree,” returns to their DIY approach; a beautiful lockdown creation of sparkly jams and alternative rock anthems that tell stories of their childhood through raw and angular expressions. Coming May, 2022.

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Jill Lorean - This Rock.

This Rock is the debut album from Glasgow trio Jill Lorean, following on exquisitely from their 2020 EP Not Your First, musing on nature, relationships, love, grief, motherhood and memory over frenetic, hypnotic drum beats and playful, subversive bass and guitar lines.

Jill Lorean as a living breathing thing, featuring Jill O’Sullivan (Sparrow And The Workshop, Three Queens in Mourning) in collaboration with Andy Monaghan (Frightened Rabbit) and drummer Peter Kelly, the band is a unique beast inhabiting its own world, incorporating elements of many genres from folk and lo-fi to post-punk and underground rock.

At its heart This Rock is a timeless rock record rooted expert musicianship, perfectly capturing that live band spirit while commenting on where we come from, where we live and how we interact with our surroundings, while maintaining a raw energy that cruises from the danceable freak folk of ‘Black Dog’ to hook laden ode to love songs ‘Walls’, all the while O’Sullivan’s unmistakable soothingly yet intoxicating vocal performance thrusts your attention front and centre.

Nature runs as a central vein through the record, taking a chance to disconnect from the sometimes disorienting digital world, taking step back and putting a lid on the noise and appreciating the natural world on ‘Beekeeper’, and then human nature on eerie pulsing of opener ‘Breaking Down’, which makes a statement on the meaning of freedom to different people.

Meanwhile, This Rock looks to generations of women, from childhood to granny-hood, from tracks inspired by O’Sullivan’s five-year-old daughter asking “what is war?” and how to broach such a dark subject matter with someone so young, to trying to capture that childlike spirit again on the urgent, powerful single ‘Mothers’, while ‘Kneading’ looks to Jill’s granny and her extraordinariness through some people’s unextraordinary lens.

“I like to feel surprised, I want people listening to it to feel alive and awake. And a lot of music feels a bit stale and gentle. And now you can say, Alexa, I would like some exercise music or I'm in a sad mood play me sad mood music. And I feel like, I just want to shake Alexa and be like, Alexa, fuck off. I just want people to listen to the music and feel a little bit stirred or slightly disturbed by it.

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Ritual Cloak - Witaj w Domu.

Ritual Cloak follow-up an ambitious year of releases (Divine Invasions, A Human Being is the Best Disguise & Orange Crush) with a collaboration between the duo and photographer Michal Iwanowski.

Witaj w Domu was recorded during the Divine Invasions sessions, but it felt like the track deserved to stand alone. Having been inspired by Iwanowski’s photographic project, Go Home Polish, Ritual Cloak composed a piece of music in response, inviting Iwanowski to contribute spoken word, drawn from writings of his 1900km journey between his two homes - Wales and Poland. Michal narrates three stories, all different, yet all similar and asks, just like the photographic project, where is home? The answer is elusive and complex, a riddle that transcends time and administration.

“The title of the song was inspired by images of Michal’s mother and family awaiting his return as he walked the final stretch towards the family home in Poland, holding the sign Witaj w Domu (Welcome Home). We wanted the title to completely contrast the hostility of the graffiti that Michal felt compelled to respond to. The composition even features audio sampled from a live streamed video of his arrival at his family home. The sounds and voices of his family played a key part in closing the track as these are the people that mean the most to Michal, especially the sound of Michal’s mum’s laugh weaving between the piano notes that brings an emotional texture.” - Ritual Cloak

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Willi Carlisle - Tulsa's Last Magician.

Willi Carlisle is a poet and a folk singer for the people. Like his hero Utah Phillips, Carlisle's extraordinary gift for turning a phrase isn't about high falutin' pontificatin'; it's about looking out for one another and connecting through our shared human condition. On his anticipated second album, the magnum opus Peculiar, Missouri (coming July 15, 2022 on Free Dirt Records), Carlisle makes the case across twelve epic tracks that love truly can conquer all. 

Born and raised on the Midwestern plains, Carlisle is a product of the punk to folk music pipeline that’s long fueled frustrated young men looking to resist. After falling for the rich ballads and tunes of the Ozarks, where he now lives, he began examining the full spectrum of American musical history. This insatiable stylistic diversity is obvious on Peculiar, Missouri which was produced by Grammy-winning engineer and Cajun musician Joel Savoy in rural Louisiana. The songs range from sardonic trucker songs like “Vanlife” to the heartbreaking queer waltz “Life on the Fence.” 

The album also imbues class consciousness in songs like “Este Mundo,” a cowboy border ballad about water rights, and the title track’s existential talkin’ blues about a surreal panic attack in Walmart’s aisle five. Though Carlisle's poetic words evoke the mystical American storytelling of Whitman, Sandburg, and e e cummings, ultimately this is bonafide populist folk music in the tradition of cowboys, frontier fiddlers, and tall-tale tellers. Carlisle recognizes that the only thing holding us back from greatness is each other. With Peculiar, Missouri, he brings us one step closer to breaking down our divides.

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Colyn Cameron - Fault Lines.

After almost four years since Sad & Easy, Colyn Cameron is excited to be sharing a new album Freehand. While living in Vancouver, BC, the new material emerged within the paradoxical spaces of experimenting with dispersed and concentrated rhythms. He used the material to explore themes of technology, adventure, self-worth & love with mild nods to worldly trepidation. The album was again recorded mostly at home, with additional instrumentation from close collaborators Aiden Ayers and Josh Contant.

It has now been ten years since the release of Wake Owl’s first album. In the years since, Colyn has also composed original music for 2 feature films and numerous different independent projects, and formed new musical and broader artististic collaborations.

Early this year, Colyn and other local Vancouver collaborators founded the record label Market Garden Records. It will serve as a foundation for releasing his new music and supporting collaborations.

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St.Arnaud - Pete Galub & Matt Kanelos - Tamer Berk - Clea Anaïs’

St.Arnaud - Loving.

Following on from the release of his stunning comeback single ‘Catching Flies’ at the start of this year, fast-rising singer and songwriter St.Arnaud is now continuing the support for his forthcoming sophomore LP ‘Love And The Front Lawn’ with the sweeping new effort ‘Loving’.

Much like what we heard on ‘Catching Flies’, ‘Loving’ looks to evoke the more uplifting and heartfelt side to his songwriting. Blending a strong mix of folk, indie-rock and pop influences throughout, his newest gem showcases a wonderfully lovelorn artist at the helm, brimming with bright and shimmering textures.

Speaking about his latest offering, he said, “I’m really proud of this one. I wanted to take my songwriting in a more personal, story-telling direction. Once the backdrop was set with the syrupy-sweet chorus, I felt like I could colour and create contrast with scenes from my day-to-day life, including the (unfortunately true) August morning, waking up to find a stranger’s defecation by my car door.”

Edmonton indie-pop songster St.Arnaud is a little bit of everywhere to everyone. Working alongside his brother and fellow creative, the YouTube animator GingerPale, St.Arnaud found a loving home on YouTube and Spotify with legions of eager listeners and was swept up in dozens of tour dates across Canada and the USA. His debut album was a DIY tour-de-force of fun-loving melodies overlaying themes of death, loss, and anxiety. His new album, 2022’s Love and the Front Lawn continues the sad lyrics/happy melodies framework but with a new instrumental palette. St.Arnaud has performed with Basia Bulat, Reuben and the Dark, and Lucy Rose among countless others and has performed at stages across the world including at Reeperbahn, New Colossus Festival, FOCUS Wales, and Tallinn Music Week, along with been featured on Exclaim!, BeatRoute Magazine, Indie 88, and more.

“I want the album to continue the thread of self-reflection, vulnerability, and rawness” that made up The Cost of Living (2019) says St.Arnaud, “but with notable departures in texture and form.” Steeping in the likes of the raucous and fun-loving 70s’ Big Star and Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers, the ghostly and intimate Damien Jurado, and the wandering and clever narratives of Charlotte Cornfield, Ian didn’t forget about his innate talent for writing singable hooks and to practice his sha-la-las.

St.Arnaud · Loving

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Pete Galub & Matt Kanelos - Museum of Brotherly Love.

Pete Galub, is a songwriter/guitarist based in New York City. 'Museum of Brotherly Love' is a  collaborative song with Matt Kanelos and it is a beautifully crafted song with intriguing lyrics and superb musical production.

Pete Galub is a songwriter and guitarist from New York City. He has released two solo albums, and currently sings and plays guitar in the band Tape Hiss, which includes members of Sonic Youth, The Modern Lovers, and Arthur Russell’s band.  You can hear Pete Galub’s songs and guitar playing in indie filmmaker Hal Hartley’s films “Meanwhile” and “My America. 

Author Rick Moody says, “Pete Galub is sort of an amalgam of things that are important to the last thirty years of rock and roll. You can hear Television in him, and The Replacements, and The Feelies, and The Clean, and The Individuals, and Freedy Johnston, and Pavement, and the dBs, etc. But his playing is so great and his songs so impassioned, that he transcends the density of influence and becomes totally his own.”

Matt Kanelos is a pianist, composer and sought-after collaborator in the New York City. He draws equally from both his music conservatory background and his 20 years of experience in the folk and experimental music scenes of New York and Chicago. In recent years, Matt has performed and recorded with Carol Lipnik, Ed Pastorini, Aldo Perez, Kyle Sanna, Dana Lyn, Oren Bloedow, Jenifer Jackson, Jon Lundbom, Lorraine Leckie, Richard McGraw, Pete Galub, Chris Moore and Joe Adamik. Kanelos has released four well-received albums as a leader. New York Music Daily praises his album Love Hello as "a masterpiece of pensive, allusively lyrical psychedelia."  About his album Silent Show, NPR says “Kanelos crafts tunes that sneak up on listeners — that begin harmlessly but ultimately overwhelm with the weight of their poignancy, sorrow and joy.”

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Tamer Berk - Tragic Endings.

Indie pop singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Tamar Berk has released “Tragic Endings”, the second single from her upcoming sophomore solo album Start At The End. “Tragic Endings”, like previous single “your permission” (which was featured on NPR’s New Music Friday playlist) starts out relatively simple and paired back in its arrangement, before building up the energy and layers of instrumentation into an anthemic chorus that shows off the dynamic range of Tamar, whose style bridges the gap between piano driven indie pop ala Regina Spektor and harder rocking power-pop / indie rock of artists like Soccer Mommy or Liz Phair.

Lyrically, “Tragic Endings” deals with some of the darkness that gripped Tamar in the aftermath of suddenly losing her father, as the song begins with Tamar mulling over the question “Tragic endings happen all the time / will I be any different?” as she tries to compose herself in front of a checkout clerk at the grocery store. But much like the rest of Start At The End, Tamar manages to extract humor and catharsis from otherwise morbid topics. Even as she describes “losing faith in happy endings”, you get the sense that Tamar is learning to find empowerment from this state of uncertainty, even when that can be difficult. Sometimes we need words of encouragement to pick us when we’re down, but sometimes, as Tamar emphatically declares on the song’s sing-along chorus, “don’t you promise me that things will work out fine / that’s not what I’ve seen lately”, and “Tragic Endings” is an uplifting anthem for anyone who is looking for relief from the problems weighing on them but doesn’t want sugar coated advice that’s detached from reality.

The single release is accompanied by a music video for “Tragic Endings” that features Tamar performing the song intercut with footage of her riding a rollercoaster on a oceanside boardwalk, a neat little metaphor that speaks to the experience of trying to keep it together when your environment around you looks so picturesque and perfect, but internally you feel in complete flux – riding a rollercoaster of emotions.

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Clea Anaïs’ - Under the Blue of the Moon.

Calgary based musician Clea Anaïs’ compositions centre on two things: their multifaceted artistic sensibility, and an emotional intelligence as sharp as a shard of bright-coloured crystal. After years spent working within her collaborative band, RALEIGH, and recording with bands like Woodpigeon, 100 Mile House, Reuben and the Dark, and Astral Swans, she unveils her debut solo record, Circle Zero, this week.

With genre defying production and inimitable vocals, grounded in nostalgic groove and lush pop stylings, Circle Zero was born from an intense period of challenges, but makes a point of focusing on moments of beauty to evoke hope.

Circling fundamental personal truths, and acknowledging basic desires we share as humans, Clea acknowledges that “the best of the old has come forward on this journey, and the other space has been filled with new support, new love, a renewed iteration of myself.”

Filled with allegories, “Under the Blue of the Moon” out today imagines youthful freedom on the other side of global doom, beyond the conventions of dissolved human structures.

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Blunt Chunks - Josephine Philip - Alice SK - Nadia Sheikh

Blunt Chunks - Natural Actors.

The Toronto-based project, Blunt Chunks, helmed by Caitlin Woelfle-O'Brien (Jaunt) has now shared its new single, "Natural Actors" which comes with the news of a debut EP, Blunt Chunks which is set for release on May 6, 2022, via Telephone Explosion Records. Featuring Scott Hardware and members of The Weather Station, Luna Li, Broken Social Scene, Hooded Fang and more, the new EP grapples with the many functions of heartache, using music as a mechanism to memorialize the past and the first step to breaking a cycle of self-neglect.

Produced by David Plowman (The OBGMs, Islands) and Nathan Burley (Young Clancy), the EP harnesses a weightless style of guitar-driven pop where Woelfle-O’Brien blends spacious psychedelic country with the unignorable churn of 90s alternative rock. The result is a record deeply uncomfortable with secrets. Woelfle-O’Brien opts to honour — with a Dolly Parton-esque devotion to clarity — her motivations for past entanglements, both devastating and exalting. And yet, the EP rings with quiet optimism, steadfast in its search for the kind of love that’s attentive, honest, and transformative.

This first single, "Natural Actors" is a stunning intro to the new EP gently placing Caitlin's scintillating vocals on top of twinkling piano and off-kilter percussion. Speaking about the track, Woelfle-O'Brien says: "I wrote this song in 2015/16 when I was in a relationship with someone who I was also living with. He would go to work in the mornings and I would wake up slow, drink too much coffee, and kind of mill about until I went to work in the afternoon.

"This day I had eaten cotton candy for breakfast (leftovers from going to The Ex – a big fair in Toronto – the night before) and had too much Turkish coffee and was wired. I had been drinking wine every night since the previous holiday season so I was a bit ashamed of my health. I sat down and wrote the song in one go and recorded it into my laptop mic. As I finished the recording, my partner walked through the door. It was about him but hopefully he didn’t hear it, lol. The beds were recorded at the now-defunct Trailer Studios in the East End of Toronto. People say the lyrics to this one are strange/unique and I guess that’s true! It’s just a domestic song, I feel like it’s my “unhappy housewife” song. Like a woman in the wrong place for her own light to shine. I’ve struggled with that a lot over the years."

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Josephine Philip - Little Boy.

Little Boy is the 4th single from Josephine Philip’s forthcoming solo album We Get Lost And Found. The song is released on her label Midnight Confessions. Little Boy fragile and poetic song about breaking free of the heavy chains of lost love. Releasing yourself from the sedated state of delusion. The composition reflects this state of mind; sometimes on the verge of collapse, returning with intention and hope, shuffling drums, hazy vocals, distorted guitars, and lyrics like a mantra for release.

Josephine Philip lives and works in Copenhagen. She is inspired by a wealth of artistic expression; choral works, contemporary art and performance, jazz standards, experimental music, film, literature and classical music, and uses this inspiration to tell her engaging tales and stories. Philip released her debut single as a solo artist, Call My Name in May 2021 and her second The Clue in October 2021. Both songs have been in heavy rotation on Danish radio station P6 Beat and have been very warmly received on both Danish and foreign music media. In March 2022 she released her 3rd single No. 7.

The new album - We Get Lost And Found - is written and produced in collaboration with Copenhagen based producer and musician Lasse Martinussen and will be released in May 2022. Josephine Philip was one half of the now defunct dynamic duo JaConfetti, was a founder of and served time in the all-female Ska outfit Favelachic and the dancefloor popular sound system Dullen & Dyken.

The singer crosses genres, having worked with several renowned producers including co-writing and featuring in Christian Löffler’s ‘Running’ (which would appear in the Our Girl Series) and ‘The End’. As one half of the duo Darkness Falls, Josephine Philip has worked with Trentemøller, who acted as the producer for their EP and album. The duo also won a Robert prize (the Danish version of the Oscars) for Original Song of the Year for their contribution to the Danish film Shelley. During this time, they opened for the likes of The Shins and Yelle. Independently, Josephine has toured with Trentemøller performing at major festivals such as Coachella and South by Southwest while earning support from publications such as Nothing But Hope And Passion, VENTS Magazine, Electronic Groove, and EDM Sauce.

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Alice SK - Sweet Like Honey.

Alice SK has been raising eyebrows with a series of vintage-noir style singles recently that combine her haunting soulful voice and fresh sounds of the London scene that express authentic stories and work their way into the soul of the listener.

Next, Alice SK presents, “Sweet Like Honey”, a guitar pop song about all consuming affection. The instantly infectious track accelerates in its chorus with a Strokes-esque fuzzy lead guitar and an art pop style recalling perhaps Liz Lawrence or Bat For Lashes, with Alice’s own guarded charm coming through in her softly yearning vocals. 

The single comes from Alice SK’s forthcoming debut EP “Electric”, produced by Muca (Los Bitchos, L.A. Salami) and set for release on 25th March. It follows Alice’s tracks “Another Girl's Man”, “Hidden Paradise” and most recently “Run Away”. Alongside Brazilian bossa nova legend Roberto Menescal, Alice also featured on Muca’s single “Until We Meet Again” which caused a stir during the summer and the track will also be released as part of the EP package.

“Sweet Like Honey is about longing for the whole of someone and wanting another person to take away your troubles”, says Alice. “It’s about being able to lean on them completely and be vulnerable around them.” She adds. And throughout “Electric”, Alice shows this ability to unveil complex emotions and convey candid personal stories within simple yet engaging musical gems. The EP is like opening up a beautiful trinket box of intriguing and eclectic keepsakes that invite you into Alice’s deep and melancholic world.

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Photo - Birgit Murd

Nadia Sheikh - Deep Waters.

Serene and sulky in equal measure, “Deep Waters” is a tender track that sees the singer-songwriter artfully weave creamy vocals amongst glistening acoustic guitar lines. Demonstrating her knack for combining heart-on-sleeve singer-songwriter sensibilities with a more anthemic alt-rock approach to instrumentals, the hazy new cut is plucked from Nadia Sheikh’s new EP ‘Undefined’.

Speaking on the origins of the track, Nadia Sheikh says: “”Deep Waters” holds a special place in my heart. I wrote it when I was really young but it’s one of those songs that just sticks with you through the years but never quite fits with what you’re doing — until “Undefined” arrived. It just felt natural for it to be the focus track of the EP and I’m so happy with the reaction people have had to it. Many say it’s their favourite song off the EP!” 

With gauzy guitars that linger in the air like mist on a dusky winters day, “Deep Waters”’s ansty calm is paired with a befitting new video that was directed by Nadia alongside Rita Gratacòs. Tranquil but with a distinct dark undertone, the video sees Nadia joined by her band — Rowan Davies (bass) and George Gardiner (drums) — as the trio play through a rendition of the song while perched on a blustery clifftop in front of overcast skies. Aptly filmed on a drizzly, dismal day, Nadia explains of the video’s inception: “It may not look like it, but it’s a very DIY and low budget video. 

It was filmed on a very cold, very windy, very wet day in November last year. It was well worth it though. It’s shot only on a handheld camera. The boys, Rita and I drove to Seven Sisters and all the outdoor shots were filmed in one morning/early afternoon. We didn’t have a lot of daylight and we only had one shot at filming this. The weather was both kind and inconvenient, but we made it work and we’re all so happy with the result.” With shots of Nadia submerged under water interspersed amongst clips of thunderous waves and sputtering sea spray, the video comes to a close with a subtle twist. 

Nadia adds: “I really wanted to create a dream/reality juxtaposition in the video playing with the water reference, but it was clear I couldn’t swim in that weather, so I came up with the idea of the bath shot at the end (watch until the end!). I think it really represents the moodiness but also the calm of the song.”

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Walter Martin - YOVA - The Moneygoround - Daniel James McFadyen

Photo - Melissa Martin

Walter Martin - Hunters in the Snow.

Beloved songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and Walkmen co-founder Walter Martin released his new album The Bear through his imprint Ile Flottante Music. His sixth studio album since embarking on his acclaimed solo journey just under a decade ago, The Bear is a poignant collection of autobiographical story-songs that Martin described as "the kind of album I've been building towards for my entire career."

Martin also released today the official video for "Hunters In The Snow." The album opener sets the stage for The Bear, with Martin drifting from scene to scene as if strolling past a series of paintings in a museum gallery. Of the video, Martin stated, "'Hunters In The Snow' takes place in the snowy northern landscapes of my dreams. A city boy's pastoral fantasy of hunters and horses, death and decay, getting lost in the storm, and longing for home."

Written during last year's cold, bleak winter in an old 1800s schoolhouse in upstate New York that Martin converted into a studio, The Bear is an unexpectedly warm and inviting collection, one focused on growth and family and the power of human connection. The songs are gentle and engaging, with spacious arrangements often centered around fingerpicked electric guitars and romantic piano flourishes from Oscar-nominated Minari composer Emile Mosseri. Martin's idiosyncratic vocals are similarly amiable, delivered with the loose, casual demeanor of an old friend who's pleased as punch you decided to stop by.

Like much of Martin's catalog, The Bear is chock full of delightfully vivid imagery and fueled by an infectious love of language, but this time around the lyrics leave more to the imagination, stepping away from explicit narrative forms in favor of more abstract and intuitive streams of consciousness. What ultimately emerges is a lifetime's worth of deeply personal snapshots and reflections all jumbled together, a family photo album dumped out on the floor and gathered back up into a swirl of moments and memories that manage to tell a million different stories all at once.

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YOVA - Make It Better.

YOVA have just released their alluring debut studio album ‘Nine Lives’ worldwide.  Released on Quartertone via Cargo, across this introspective project YOVA offer evocative vocals, textured arrangements and spellbinding storytelling.

In tandem with the release, YOVA have revealed a chilling, dystopian video for one of its most prominent tracks: “Make it Better”, created with video directors Tom Linton and Phillip Reinking. A track intended to haunt you to the very core, “Make It Better” fuses piercing viola work, drill-like repetition and disturbing visuals that couldn’t be more apposite in the current climate. Talking about the track, vocalist and songwriter Jova Radevska says:

“This song symbolises the society we live in & the culture of "following the leader" wherever that may lead to. We are told “tick that box & we'll make it better". When did we surrender to "make it better" - it repeats throughout the years, new polished promises, talk of a better tomorrow. We become so accustomed to the amniotic state we live in because it keeps the status quo.” Featuring Radevska addressing her audience in front of an “OBEY” propaganda poster, the video makes a timely and impactful statement that touches on themes of control, peer pressures and dictatorship; vividly complimenting the track’s shadowy narrative.

As Radevska adds: “When someone dares to be different & decides to fall out of line, it quickly becomes frowned upon & they're accused of wrongdoing. History teaches us that true change comes from individuals not from governments. The video has a government official doing a speech but her true colours start to show during the speech & when she becomes aware of it she quickly covers her hand so as not to be noticed. Blinded by distractions & consumerism the puppets in the video are programmed to do what everyone around them does. It takes true courage to break off the chain & escape the factory line.”

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Photo - Heather Doyle

The Moneygoround - Stupid Fight.

“‘Stupid Fight’ is a song about wasted time in tension with your partner,” said The Moneygoround’s Dennis Ellsworth (he/him). “It usually ends easily, but in the moment, it brings a frustrating dynamic to the day. These lyrics are very stream of consciousness and lay out the simplicity of the situation, often overlooked by the participants.”

“I see all your mistakes, slow motion as it breaks into our bitter feelings,” Ellsworth sings over a wall of warm guitars and organ drone. “By then it’s way too late, and I’m wishing I could fade off into a fog, but everybody knows it isn’t gonna solve any of your woes.”

“It’s an upbeat song, with a Rolling Stones swagger in the chorus,” he said. “The ultimate point here is to see the frivolous nature of these moments in life, and to show a lighthearted side to the inevitable in any relationship. Nothing is perfect, and that’s ok.”

“Stupid Fight” hails from the band’s debut album, Cruisin’ and Swingin’ with The Moneygoround (out today). Produced by longtime Ellsworth collaborator Joel Plaskett, the album was recorded at Fang Recording in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

"Cruisin’ and Swingin’ with The Moneygoround features twelve songs,” said Ellsworth. “The record was done live off the floor in a matter of four days at Fang. The essence of it was to perform these songs as a group, with little in the way of overdubs. The mix was quick and inspired by the idea of letting the music speak for itself.”

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Daniel James McFadyen - Mr. Lipless.

Nova Scotian singer-songwriter Daniel James McFadyen began his musical journey by playing at small, bustling pubs in and around the Annapolis Valley. Daniel's music began to gain popularity after the release of his single "Goin' Back (The Wolfville Song)," an ode to the small town where he began playing music professionally. Daniel now has two EPs under his belt and his most recent album, August, I'm Yours, is nominated for an East Coast Music Award.

"The song is inspired by a man I met in Guatemala while I was playing there a few years back," Daniel explains. "I was playing at a bar on Lake Atitlan in a small town called San Marcos La Laguna. While I was playing, a small man with long black hair approached the stage with a bongo drum; he seemed eager to play. I signaled for him to come on-stage and he joined me. We played for hours together only communicating through music and I found it amazing that he was able to adapt to any style he heard while having no context for this western music."

Daniel tried to communicate with the man in English and Spanish, with no luck. Later, he asked the bartender about the man and found out that the bongo player was from a small village of only a few hundred people who preserve their Ancient Mayan tongue.

"It was hard to imagine being in a situation when I could only properly communicate with a few hundred people for the rest of my life," said Daniel. "A few years later I returned to the lake and I was not able to find the man and the bar had closed down, and I did not even know his real name. It was then I came up with the name "Mr. Lipless" and decided to write a song about him."

Daniel James McFadyen · Mr. Lipless

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