Bethan Lloyd - 7Descent - Marcus Lowry - Rowlette

Bethan Lloyd - No Umbilical.

Bethan Lloyd is a Welsh artist whose trance inducing vocals expand over an ocean of rave inspired production, harmonic layering and otherworldly ecstasy. Her sonic exploration has taken her from training as a classical singer, immersing herself in Berlin’s experimental music scene, to learning with magicians, masters and the ancient teachings of the natural world. In her latest single, No Umbilical, Bethan, producing alongside ‘Jet Pack Dog’ bandmate and master of noise Isaac Ray, takes her intense explorations of the spirit and emotional realms and blends them into something playful and danceable, a gritty experimental pop.

No Umbilical had been through a variety of alternate versions before arriving at the one we hear today from the upcoming album, Metamorphosis. Talking of impossible hertz and becoming the feeding ghost, it has always retained the stark lyrical ambition of its predecessors, but in its final form, Bethan and co producer Isaac Ray opted for a softer, rolling production, that hints at a 90s nostalgia with a modern twist.

Bethan’s lyrics delve into the philosophy of animism and her classical vocal training shines through in the choral layering that brings the piece to a close. Accompanied by a video shot on a now vintage handheld camera, on the outskirts of Berlin, in a decaying building where nature tries to regain a hold, No Umbilical, both aurally and visually, places itself in a liminal space between past and present, consumerism and ancestry.

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7Descent - Prisoner.

7Descent’s music video for their new song, “Prisoner” is a reminder that sometimes simplicity works best. Feauring new Lead Singer/Vocalist Saffron. The video is a multi-angled live performance, making it a very intimate experience for the viewers and the fans. Once the chorus hits, a “delayed” camera effect adds a cool effect layer to the video. Lead singer, Saffron belts her heart out and pours her soul into her debut performance. Saffron brings a new creative element to the band. She is heavily influenced by rock opera and her stage presence is authentically natural as she is a trained belly dancer.

“Prisoner” talks about the feeling of being trapped by love. The band recreates the emotion of the lyrics in their live performance with absolute abandon.The whole video focuses on the band and the band only. No props, no distractions bringing back the vibe of original rock bands from the 70's era.  Shot in one of Nashville's biggest sound studios, the viewer entertained by the live performance.  Ed Taylor's  lengthy but intentional guitar solo enters the song on cue reminiscent of a live rock concert. AJ Cremins on drums and Brian Coffey on Bass are in harmony with the shredding of Ed Taylor's guitar and Saffron's gritty intentional vocals.  Saffron carries those edgy long notes as if you are taken into a rollercoaster ride of emotions through rock music.

7Descent, consisting of four members, is a band that seeks to bring a personalized tone into the Nashville scene. Each member has their own feats and accomplishments that contribute to the band’s style. Influences ranging from metal mixes to opera & 80’s rock, the band hopes to showcase their personal style and unique approach to their music.

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Marcus Lowry - One Million Lights.

Marcus tells us: "One Million Lights” speaks directly to the beauty of life and the painful acceptance of its ephemerality.

At the time of writing my new single, I was reading Mary Oliver’s Devotions and was so inspired by her view of the world. It felt like she was so in tune with life and nature, embracing death with such calm and acceptance.

I struggle with anxiety and hurry sickness, so the inevitable passing of time is definitely a recurring fear for me. The songs on my upcoming album and the journeys depicted in their lyrics act as my own personal reminder that fear can threaten my ability to explore all of life’s richness.

So far in my career, I’ve been working as a guitarist in Montreal, accompanying other artists and singer-songwriters mostly in the jazz and folk scenes. I feel that I have grown so much throughout the process of crafting my debut album.

Marcus Lowry · One Million Lights

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Photo - Joanna O'Malley

Rowlette - Dreamer.

“Dreamer”, Rowlette’s first release of 2023, is an inspiring and intimate folk-pop track. In the unusual setting of a discount store, the song captures the beauty in everyday moments, and the feeling of knowing someone truly believes in you.

“I love this song because of its simplicity” says Rowlette, “I wrote it about a day a friend of mine came to visit me in my hometown. It was a wintery Sunday evening during the pandemic and there was really nowhere to go. We ended up going to Mr. Price and having a great time - it’s one of those places you always find things you didn’t know you needed! I got a lovely journal to write down what I wanted for the year, and I assumed he would think I was a bit silly, but instead he was just really supportive.”

“Obviously big gestures and that are nice, but I think there’s nothing better than when you can tell someone really believes in you and has your back.”

Talking about what she’d like from the song Rowlette hopes it reminds people to tell the people around them they believe in them; “Honestly there’s so much fake crap out there and online, I think the impostor syndrome is real for everyone! Tell your friends “You got this!” We all need to hear it sometimes.”

The acoustic pop track was produced by Dave Skelton and mastered by Aidan Foley. The singer’s distinctive vocals sit beautifully on top of her trademark acoustic guitar, alongside piano and some orchestral elements mixed with modern pop percussion and bass.

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Charlie Fittler - The Nude Party - Ellie Turner - Marek Kubula

Charlie Fittler - Dying Breed.

There is a saying that you have to live it to sell it, and if that is true, then Charlie Fittler, is the real deal. He has lived his entire 19 years on his family's fifth- generation Merino sheep property in the New South Wales Northern Tablelands outside of Armidale. This is the heartland, and country life runs in his veins.

That true country experience is laid front and centre on the lead and titled track lifted from his forthcoming EP – “Dying Breed”. “I wrote this song with my older brother Tom at home in 2021”, says Charlie. “I wanted to write a song that had a different arrangement but still had that traditional country rock vibe. The song is about imperfect people that sometimes aren't always what they seem”.

Both the single and EP are produced by Bill Chambers who – thanks to his traditional roots and outlaw ways - is the perfect fit as producer for the young artist. “Bill is a no-bs person, yet when he gives you advice about songwriting, recording or anything in general, he takes his time and is incredibly accommodating, and you shut up and listen”.

Chambers assembled a stellar A-team of musicians for the EP including Jeff McCormack (Bass), Rod Motbey (Electric Guitars), Glen Wilson (Drums), Mick Albeck (Fiddle) and Michael Sparrow (Harmonies) – joining Chambers (Slide Guitars, Mandolin, Dobro, Steel Guitar, Harmonies) and Fittler (Guitars) to round out the mighty studio band. Jeff McCormack mixed and mastered the track adding that further touch of Australian Country Music magic dust. The EP, “Dying Breed”, is earmarked for release on Friday 12th May 2023 and according to Charlie, he’s excited to unleash it to the world.

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The Nude Party - Hard Times (All Around).

The Nude Party returns with Rides On March 10th via New West Records. The 13-song set was produced by The Nude Party and mixed by Sam Cohen (Kevin Morby). Rides On is the anticipated follow up to their 2020 LP Midnight Manor which debuted at #1 on the Alternative New Artists Album chart. Met with critical acclaim, in their 4 out of 5 Star review, Mojo Magazine said they “...thrillingly embrace the moment… Top Class” while The Line of Best Fit said, “The band started with a really strong debut album, but Midnight Manor somehow takes this to new heights. You'll hear the Stones, you'll hear Lou Reed, you'll even hear a bit of Alice Cooper in there - and you’ll come away having connected with a new, intensely fulfilling sense of cool.” All songs included on Rides On were written by the band with the exception of “Somebody Tryin’ to Hoodoo Me,” by Dr. John.

Rides On, the band confidently says, is their best record. It’s also the most homegrown and the most organic record they have created to date. Unlike their first two albums, they decided to produce Rides On themselves. Tired of paying for studio time and being rushed, they used the funds they’d saved and spent a year building a studio space out of a barn in upstate NY. When the band met the Tampa-based engineer Matthew Horner, they discovered they had the opposite problems: Matthew had a collection of incredible gear with no studio and The Nude Party had a great new studio with no gear. So they invited him to move his equipment up to the Catskills to record an album together. Tired of paying for studio time and being rushed, The Nude Party methodically worked at their own pace. Out were the sessions lasting a strict handful of days. In were impromptu writing moments and picking every sound as they went along. The relaxed atmosphere of the sessions, and arriving with only loosely structured material, allowed the band to thrive in the studio. It also unleashed a diverse sonic texture compared to their previous releases. The lack of pressure allowed them to record over 20 songs, including some that dabbled in electro-pop and stripped-down country before settling on the final 13 songs.

Now The Nude Party release the second track from the album, “Hard Times (All Around).” Frontman Patton Magee said, “'Hard Times' started as a tune that Don demoed on piano. He showed it to me while I was driving down to Brooklyn from upstate, listening to early Bob Dylan demos. There’s an old American folk tune called '(Hard Times) Down on Penny’s Farm' by the Bentley Brothers in 1929. In 1965, Bob Dylan rewrote it as “Hard Times in New York Town,” changing most of the lyrics. I was listening to Don’s piano and thinking about that. Thinking about the folks in the country, and our friends in the city. Thinking about hurricanes and the Supreme Court. How much we are at the mercy of big movements we can’t control. How life gets hard on every one of us, with no exceptions. And feeling something heavy, but ultimately brotherly about all that.”

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Ellie Turner - One More Day.

Like any good folk songwriter before her, Ellie Turner hones in on the twists and turns of her journey—not so much her destination—to tell the collective story of her debut album, When The Trouble’s All Done. And Turner’s path has taken quite a few twists and turns. Originally from Dallas, Texas, Turner has always been creative, although her passion was initially channeled into visual art and design. “I was all set to attend Savannah College of Art and Design,” she explains, “but a last-minute conviction of spirit led me elsewhere. I ended up at The University of Arkansas on a total whim where I studied Economics, and more importantly, where I fell in love with folk music. It filled me up like nothing else ever had. I couldn’t get enough… I think that was probably when I first started to understand the power folk music had to stop time.”

After a few years working as an analyst for Southwest Airlines, she “finally mustered up the courage to leave my corporate gig for something more creative,” although she still didn’t pursue music. It would take one more year and a brief stint at the interior design company The Citizenry before she finally gained the confidence to say yes to the thing she truly loved. “I was at breakfast with my Dad on a Saturday morning when I made the decision to quit my job, sell my house, and move to Nashville. It was July of 2018, I was 26 years old, and I felt so behind,” Turner says. Fast forward to current day where Turner is on the cusp of releasing her first album, surrounded by friends and community and a steadfast dedication to crafting folk songs able to “stop time”—Turner’s songs do seem to exist on their own metaphysical planes, as meditations of sorts.

The first track from When The Trouble’s All Done is “One More Day.” The last song written for the album, “One More Day” features Turner’s signature soft yet piercing vocals, which feel like a secret told to a best friend, floating atop a lightly-grooving bed of acoustic guitars and upright bass. Album producer, and fellow recording artist, Jack Schneider sings the low harmony on the song’s refrain: “Just one more day until tomorrow / One more day you’re on my mind.”

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Marek Kubula - Satellite/Ramjam.

Marek Kubala, describes himself as an indie/lo-fi artist based in East London. His superb new E.P was released last Friday on shoegaze/post-punk label Shore Dive Records (UK). Comprising of two new tracks and two club mixes, (including slow psychedelic house maestro Mytron - Multi Culti, Les Yeux Orange, Razor N Tape), this is an impressive array of creativity and refined imagination.

Hailing from Huddersfield (UK), Marek Kubala has received critical acclaim with previous releases in the past 18 months, including on Outpost and EMI Publishing (KPM), and featured on BBC Introducing, Mystic Sons, CLOUT, Americana UK, Amazing Radio, and elsewhere.

Most recently, Marek's last single 'Fault Lines' appeared on episode 1 of BBC2 comedy show 'Cheaters' (Clerkenwell Films), broadcast in February 2022, sharing the soundtrack with the likes of Metronomy , Jungle and Biig Piig. Marek's debut EP 'Awhile', fused the progressive electronics of Air with the acoustic subtleties of Elliot Smith and Nick Drake. The followup single 'Fault Lines' marked a change in direction, with Marek adopting a more upbeat lo-fi indie sound with quirky electronics thrown in.

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Rogue Jones - Someone - Beans On Toast - Mary Anne's Polar Rig - Helene Cronin

Rogue Jones - 1,2,3 / Fflachlwch Bach (Bach).

These two tracks are possibly the most crystalline and pure expression of the album’s main theme – Bethan and Ynyr’s experiences of parenthood. They’re also good pop songs – so they felt like an appropriate AA-side.

1,2,3 - Like much of the album, this song was initially composed by Bethan on the piano. It features Ynyr and Bethan on trumpets but also features Ioan Hefin, the man responsible for performing Welsh music’s greatest and most iconic trumpet solo in Eryr Wen’s Gloria Tyrd Adre. It’s a song about love and the feeling of trying to comprehend the magnitude of the love that you can feel for someone. It can relate to any form of love but in this instance it was written when their daughter turned 3 years old, with Bethan trying to articulate and comprehend the outpouring of love felt for a child and the hugeness of childbirth; the challenge, escalation, triumph, glory and the raw vulnerability of it all.

Fflachlwch Bach - An ode to their first-born child. The inspiration came as Bethan was trying to compose something on the piano with their daughter in her lap scribbling over the notes. There’s beauty in normality and the everyday, joy in an average day with small children. The star of the song also makes appearance with a keyboard solo and her self-penned line;

‘What are you waiting for? A song or what?
I’m going to begin one now so open your ears!’

Between the writing and release of the song, the arrival of their second child has brought fresh distractions, beats and chaos to the piano, thus writing himself a part in the song. Llyr Parri on drums, Elen Ifan on cello, Mari Morgan on Violin join Ynyr and Bethan for this one.

Libertino · Rogue Jones - 1, 2, 3

Libertino · Rogue Jones - Fflachlwch Bach (Bach)

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Someone - Guess I'm Changing.

Dutch/British artist Someone (aka composer, producer, and visual artist Tessa Rose Jackson) shares the final single Guess I’m Changing from her second album Owls, both released today on Tiny Tiger Records. A lush, enveloping psych-pop track recalling the stirring emotional heights of contemporaries such as Feist or Sharon Van Etten and accompanied by a sci-fi visual telling the tale of an android’s awakening, created alongside up-and-coming Hollywood director David Spearing.

“This song and video are about rediscovering yourself”, explains Someone “Daring to break a pattern, to accept a chance in yourself and feel free in the journey.” Heavily inspired by the work of Stanley Kubrick as well as Netflix’s ‘Maniac’ and Apple TV’s ‘Severance’ series, the visual follows an android working in a postal factory.  “She lives the same loop every day,” explains Someone, “until she a postcard with a picture of a beautiful beach and she starts to realize there may be a bigger, wider world out there. Bit by bit, she starts to break the rules of her rigidly structured life, until finally she manages to break free.”

“We wanted to say something about being caught in the mundane routine, whatever that is, and how to break free of that” adds director and long-term collaborator David Spearing. “How the smallest, most seemingly insignificant thing could pull your whole world apart (in a positive way). A nice melancholy idea… set to the most beautiful song.”

Someone draws from her love of cinema in both her visuals and sound, with new album Owls starting life as a screenplay inspired by America’s forgotten towns and David Lynch’s strange, surrealist shadow worlds. Musically it has the beautiful songcraft and otherworldly psych-pop of her acclaimed debut Shapeshifter (2020) but with a rich, layered electronic sound inspired by the expansive soundscapes of French duo Air with elements of 90s and 00s trip hop.

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Beans On Toast - Back Out on the Road.

Back to the business he loves best - Beans on Toast - will be ‘Back Out On The Road’ throughout February and March 2023. Heralding the whopping 30-date UK tour ahead with its own anthem, the cult folk hero is releasing a new song custom-made for the journey ahead, simply titled: “Back Out On The Road” - out today.

A celebration of everything that makes the touring life and live shows the joyous experience they are, Beans’ new single is a universal heart-warmer destined to be belted out in venues nationwide this Spring. Speaking about the inspiration for the new track, Beans on Toast says:

“'Back out on the Road' is a love letter to live music, independent venues and the wonderful people who frequent them. It's a celebration of England and the joys of travelling this beautiful land.  I've been touring non-stop for well over a decade and have thousands of gigs under my belt, but it never gets old. Hopefully, this song will act as a thank you to all the people who come out to see me play, meaning I can continue on my journey. I think it's important for them to know how much I love doing this.”

An uplifting folk song with gospel flourishes to nourish the soul, it emerges as the first of three brand new singles from Beans set to be unveiled over the coming weeks. The songs are also confirmed to appear on Beans’ next album, which is already slated for 1st December 2023. Hinting how the new album is shaping up, he says: “Granted, it’s a long way off, but I wanted to draw a line after my last album and my quick turn at being a kids' entertainer. These songs are back to a more 'classic Beans' singing songs about the current state of the world around me and trying to make my opinions rhyme.”

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Mary Anne's Polar Rig - It Goes.

Rama Lama Records proudly presents 'Makes You Wonder', the new album from Malmö's art-rock-fuzz-pop duo Mary Anne's Polar Rig. Their sophomore effort is shape-shifting art rock that’s alternatively brooding and euphoric, the record is packed with irresistible melodies, needle-sharp guitars, scuffed-knees scrappiness and Hofvander’s snarling, growling and yelping vocals, but compared to their debut it vastly expands the scope of what they can do with it. The album will be out March 24th on all platforms, CD and a limited gatefold double vinyl.

New single 'It Goes' is out today and arrives ahead of the bands debut UK shows that will be held in London at the Cavendish Arms on February 17 and at the Shacklewell Arms on February 18.

About It Goes: Building a song slowly, starting off simple, sculpting it the way you want and gradually drawing in the detail until you’re left with something raw and real is a skill that very few bands master. But it's one that Swedish duo Mary Anne’s Polar Rig showcase on their new single, the sprawling, grandiose and pretty art-rock of “It Goes”.

“It Goes” has a curious shapeshifting quality to it, like sunlight shining through a rainstorm, casting glittering patterns on the water. The musical dexterity they display here doesn't take away from the fact that it’s a song that’s full of heart and soul, with an emotional intensity that almost bursts out of it.  MAPR throw everything they have at this one, like cooks tossing it all into the pot, and turn it into a hazy dreamworld, one that’s heavy and strange, but also deeply affecting and moving.

“‘It Goes’ just happened to be written right after I’d learned that really cool American Football riff”, says singer and guitarist Malin Hofvander, “and listened a lot to Lucy Dacus”. Guitarist Harald Ingvarsson says: “The song is built around the rhythm of a very unstable analog square wave modulation circuit. Add a veteran symphonic percussionist, a double bass player and some harsh tape noise. It’s that really cool MAPR riff”.

Rama Lama Records · Mary Anne's Polar Rig - It Goes

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Helene Cronin - Landmarks (Album).

Landmarks, as a record is a work of art in a world that no longer values "album projects" but wants quick and easy to digest song snippets and singles. Helene Cronin and Matt King spent a year and a half crafting it and the hard work shows.

Landmarks is the follow-up to Helene's 2019 critically acclaimed debut Old Ghosts & Lost Causes. While it has a similar vulnerability, it's heavier in terms of feel, topics and production. It includes her signature "life wisdom" songs. It asks questions, but gives few straightforward answers. Helene doesn't like to spoon-feed listeners. If the album feels more grown-up in content, it's because she's grown as an artist, stepping confidently into a role that requires her to be fearless about what she writes and sings about.

Matt and Helene began recording in June 2021. Listening to the tracks in the days following the studio sessions, it was obvious that these songs had weight and muscle. A few are tender, intimate ballads. But overall, the layers of instrumentation, the effects, the powerful drums, Byron House's bass, Kenny Vaughan's guitar work and Bobby Terry's atmospheric steel, acoustic guitar, mandolin and banjo riffs stepped these recordings up a few notches in terms of depth and energy. One song on the album "Just a Woman" even got a complete re-do a year after the first tracking session. In June 2022, the crew went back in the studio and re-recorded the song, with a new ending re-written by Helene and her co-writer Lisa Carver. Then a powerhouse quartet of women, including Wendy Moten from "The Voice" came in to sing the gospel-tinged BGVs that make the song soar in triumph.

Some might notice a stronger more powerful tone to Helene's singing on this outing. She's always thought of herself as a quiet singer, but with Matt King's encouragement, she seems to sing from a more authoritative place. It's likely that this batch of songs demanded it. In addition to a bigger voice, there are fatter, more complex, background vocals, layers of harmonies on songs that hint at the influence of ELO, Queen, Blue Oyster Cult and Sgt Pepper. The guitars rock with a retro-70s feel in places, jangling like something you might hear from the Byrds. No two songs on this record are at all alike! Working on this, their second project, it's obvious that Helene and Matt are finding a strength together. There is mutual respect between them and they bring out the best in each other, starting with careful song selection to balance the project and extending to the hard work, and fun, in the studio creatively crafting these 12 songs.

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The Rishis - Graham And The Band Upstairs - Kepi Ghoulie - Alpha Cat - Jupiters Dream - Crowes Pasture

The Rishis - Wake Up.

The Rishis duo of Ranjan Avasthi and Sofie Lute hail from Athens/Atlanta, and Tacoma. They are set to release their new album, August Moon, on April 20th, 2023, via Cloud Recordings. Though the duo has been together for nearly a decade, August Moon is their long-awaited debut.

The rishis are also the newest band to proudly bear the Elephant 6 logo, with many active members of the E6 collective rotating through the band's roster.

Musically speaking, August Moon is an album of gentle, lush, psychedelic songs with a hint of hazy, folk-rock. It isn't hard to imagine the rishis wandering around the subcontinent playing their songs with their friends, and everyone having a grand old time high on some lovely tea. It's hard to avoid singing along to songs like "Holiday" and "Jetstream", thanks to their catchy melodies. But August Moon isn't all folk-rock; "Holi" and "Just Between You and Me" are moody rockers that give Avasthi's songwriting muscle and make for delightful listening. Also worth noting is the Lute-sung "Make Me Love You", a country-rock ballad that will make your eyes shine. And let's not forget the closing song, "Uttar Pradesh", a tribute to Avasthi's Indian ancestral roots.

But August Moon is also an album of collaboration, as their pals also helped out with painting this sound collage. E6 alumni friends helping in it's creation include Scott Spillane (Neutral Milk Hotel), John Kiran Fernades (Olivia Tremor Control), Andrew Rieger (Elf Power), James Huggins III (Of Montreal), Andy Gonzalez (Marshmallow Coast), Peter Alvanos (Sunshine Fix and also Elf Power), Lucy Calhoun (Black Swan Network), Todd Kelly (Phosphorescent and also Great Lakes), Wild Rumpus founder Timi Conley, and co-producer Chris Byron.

August Moon is a poetic, intricate folk-pop record, that wins your heart with thoughtful lyricism, gentle melodies, and lush arrangements. It's the perfect record for the springtime, when life is blooming again and the heart is open to the simple charms of love and life.

Crashingthrough · The Rishis - Wake Up (August Moon)

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Graham And The Band Upstairs - Home To You.

Atlanta Folk Band Graham And The Band Upstairs bring on the authentic on heartfelt new single "Home to You", out today February 3rd on streaming platforms. This is a band comfortable in their own skin enough to pay tribute to the classics, taking influence from Bob Dylan and Neil Young for their brand of folk songwriting. Bittersweet and written with incredible depth, "Home to You" is worthy of repeat listens.

"I’ve always liked songs that feature juxtaposition. Girl by The Beatles is one of the finest examples of this where the melody and Lennon’s vocals creates this sweet bed of breathing grass that you want to just wrap yourself up in. But when you actually listen to the lyrics you realize that the song is anything but sweet. There’s a bitterness behind the lyricism that creates this incredible contrast with the music.

That’s what we tried to do with Home To You. We tell a story about someone navigating a complex relationship while Jeff (Jeff Dei Dolori, our lead guitarist) hooks the audience in with these fantastic, ethereal guitar licks and Veronica (Veronica Roman, our backing vocalist) and I try to evoke a similar sweetness with our vocals.

It’s a song I hope has a lot of replay value where someone could hear it one way, listen to it again, and then come away with a completely different perspective on the narrative of the song."

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Kepi Ghoulie - She's A Sensation.

Punk troubadour Kepi Ghoulie, in keeping with his yearly tradition, has released a surprise album of Ramones covers for this Valentine's season! The first single is "She's A Sensation."

"Ramones In Love" take those classic Ramones love ballads with their unforgettable melodies and reimagines them with a new shine by adding features like keyboards, horns, and more! This album is available on 12" neon pink vinyl, CD, and cassette.

For those not familiar with Kepi's annual tradition, he has been known to release a song or two ahead of Valentine's Day. However, with "Ramones In Love," Kepi delivers an entire album of love songs for us to enjoy! The track choices are something Kepi has been contemplating tracing back to his teenage years when he even made a tape of all Ramones love ballads in chronological order.

Kepi Ghoulie · She's A Sensation

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Alpha Cat - Wichita.

Alt-rock, alt-pop Americana songstress Elizabeth McCullough, aka Alpha Cat, crafts powerful, lyric driven songs in the vein of The Pixies and The Del Fuegos. She has mainly performed in the metropolitan cities of NY, LA and London but lives in the quiet and calming woods of upstate New York.

She’s been a critic’s darling from the go, with outlets like Spin.com and Buzzfeed showering her albums with glowing praise. Her debut EP, Real Boy, beat out Beck and Metallica for two weeks in a row on the CMJ National Add Charts. Her LP, Pearl Harbor, landed on several best of year lists while it’s follow up, Thatched Roof Glass House, received major global airplay, charting #1 on the NACC Add Chart.

Staying true to the ethos of her name, Alpha Cat’s newest album, Venus Smile ….retrograde, explores the dichotomy of intuition and power. “This record addresses the divisions in society and asks for them to be healed by addressing our commonalities,” McCullough asserts. “It’s a hopeful resolution and reconnection to a world that has become too divided, too extreme.”

On the animator: Michael Shapiro spent his childhood in the Bronx doodling, watching cartoons and learning classic art techniques from his mother. After high school, he started taking his art to the streets of New York, where without warning, New York City residents were confronted with the pervasive drawings that comprise Shapiro’s canon. Plastered on buildings, hanging in gallery windows and printed in magazines, his comics were picked up in national glossies and alternative weeklies across the country. Shapiro eventually moved to Austin, teaching himself to animate and eventually working with Johnny Depp, Michael Rapaport, Joe Ely, Russell Peters, Lily Tomlin. He now resides in his hometown of New York City, and has had his animation on Netflix, Discovery and PBS.

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Jupiters Dream - Good Lovin'.

Renee Lester's performance and songwriting vehicle Jupiters Dream, is the latest addition to the Nick Goovnia Music family.

Her velvety vocals and acoustic pop songs are the perfect combination for indie audiophiles and music for placement in film.

Fresh familiarity at it's finest, her music provides the groove to transport you to the the world of acoustic Pop.

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Crowes Pasture - Agree On.

Monique Byrne and Andy Rogovin perform moving and inspirational songs that are sometimes joyful, sometimes wistful, and oftentimes poignant. These songs reflect a mutual passion for life, family, and humanity. Their intimately blended vocal harmonies are mixed with an expressive and unique instrumental style that is best described as a “banjo-guitar romance.” Crowes Pasture’s style of intimate and soulful folk transports and connects listeners through universal experiences in their “skillfully crafted, emotional songwriting” (Chris Eastburn, award-winning composer).

Crowes Pasture has made waves with two EPs and three full-length albums in just six years’ time.  Their album,  Slow It Down, was released in June 2019 at the legendary Club Passim. Since its release, the title track earned Crowes Pasture a #1 song and the album debuted at #5 on the Folk Alliance International Charts. Since the release of their first album, Edge of America, the duo has had eight Top 10 songs on the folk charts, including “Take Back the Red White and Blue” (January 2022), their cover of Mary Gauthier’s “Mercy Now” (June 2019), and the timely and topical song, “Quarantine” (January 2021).

Over the past few years, Crowes Pasture has performed at a number of renowned east coast music venues, including Club Passim, Shalin Liu Performance Center, Rockwood Music Hall, The Bull Run, and Circle of Friends Coffeehouse, as well as performing as a supporting act for The Small Glories and The Kennedys. The duo has been twice honored with nominations as “Roots Act of the Year” by the New England Music Awards (2019 and 2022) and as “Americana Artist of the Year” by the Boston Music Awards (2019). They were named finalists for Best Group/Duo in the 2020 International Acoustic Music Awards, and for Best Group/Duo in the 2021 IAMAs for their song, “A Virtue and a Call.” The duo has toured up and down the East Coast and throughout Southern Ontario and Quebec, and is currently recording their third full-length album with award-winning producer Eric Lichter of Dirt Floor Studios.

The duo takes its name from the salt marsh/tidal flats known as Crowes Pasture, hidden away on the north side of Cape Cod, where the ocean tides recede twice a day to reveal intricate patterns on the shifting sands. This recurring cycle of creation and discovery evokes their own musical journey.

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Güero - Sivu - Mighty Poplar

Güero - Streams of Light.

Sacramento quartet Güero have returned a new single "Streams Of Light" this week, to announce their sophomore full-length album, Wednesdays, for an April 7 release via Dutch Records. Discussing “Streams of Light”, bassist Russell Volksen noted, "This song really has that doo-wop vibe, like Sam Cooke, The Ronnettes, etc. Russell always loved those songs, so he wrote the chord progression after listening to a lot of Black Marble and envisioned it as more of a dreamy pop song with an eight-note style bassline.

Rik came up with a vocal melody and the guitar riff. The catchiness of the ‘Streams of Light’ lyric gave Shea the idea to put together a three-part harmony to sit underneath Rik's vocals on the chorus and outro. Rik's vocal melody and lyrics give you subtle references to the era while allowing it to remain modern and original. It conjures different images in your mind but isn’t specific to one thing.

Through the course of playing this song as a band, it really morphed into the doo-wop style that it is now. Mike immediately gave it a signature feel with the boom-chick-chick, boom-chick rhythm on the drums, which after hearing it, we wanted that rhythm to start and the song. As the song began to take its final shape, Russell drew inspiration from 'Stand By Me' when finalizing his bassline. 

Shea came up with the rhythmic chords on the keys to cement the swing and dance feel to it. He also added a pulsing vibrato, short delay and a ton of reverb to help give the keys a traditional tone to the genre.  We really wanted to pay homage to something we love while keeping our individuality. It’s fun to have different styles of songs to play and this one feels like a real pop song."

 


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Sivu - Wild Horse Running.

Sivu (aka British songwriter James Page) returns with a new single "Wild Horse Running" - the first new music to heard from him in five years, following his widely acclaimed albums Sweet Sweet Silent (2017) and Something On High (2014).

Produced by long time collaborator Charlie Andrew - the Brit-winning, Grammy-nominated producer responsible for the tender, soaring styles of Alt-J, London Grammar and Marika Hackman - "Wild Horse Running" provides a glimpse into Page's renewed and galvanised sense of purpose and resilience, both as a songwriter and as a human. The song's release arrives alongside the announcement of an intimate headline show at Blue Moon in Cambridge on 25th February.

Borne from a need to escape - "Wild Horse Running" merges warbling electronic bass lines with delicate stabs of piano, as Page's unmistakeable falsetto glistens, shining through the compelling arrangements. "I’m a man / Still with something to prove", he offers in the track's opening verse - by his own admittance, a mockery of his own ego - which he quickly resolves - "I’m a man / I know it all means nothing in truth".

Delving more into the track's lyrical themes, Page said: ''Wild Horse Running' grew from this yearning to escape, whether mentally or physically I’m still unsure - but to me the image of a wild horse running is the epitome of freedom and conjures so many feelings of strength, resilience and really a triumph in physical evolution. From there the song just grew in my mind, with an almost cinematic view in my head.

I played on that imagery also, within the song mocking myself and my own male ego having this constant need to improve and selfishly fulfil my own desires over anyone else’s needs in the pre chorus, “I’m A man, I’m a man, still with something to prove, I’m a man, still I know it all means nothing in truth”. I think ultimately the song is just me trying to convince myself I’m not done yet and still have something to contribute. It’s incredibly self indulgent but a general battle I face within my core as a musician and now father."

 


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Mighty Poplar - Up on the Divide.

Free Dirt Records is proud to announce the self-titled debut album from new roots music supergroup Mighty Poplar. Bringing together Andrew Marlin from Watchhouse, Noam Pikelny and Chris Eldridge from Punch Brothers, Greg Garrison (Leftover Salmon), and Alex Hargreaves (Billy Strings), Mighty Poplar was formed as a vehicle for these artists to explore their love of improvisation through straight ahead bluegrass.

Mighty Poplar’s first single, “Up on the Divide,” was released today. It’s a beautiful song from the pen of cowboy poet and songwriter Martha Scanlan. At its heart, bluegrass music is about what happens when you commit to the moment. The joy of improvisation keeps the music fresh, and the fun of crafting ideas on the fly keeps the musicians on their toes. This true spirit of bluegrass infuses the self-titled record from Mighty Poplar, coming March 31, 2023 on Free Dirt Records. Regarded as some of the finest players of their generation, the playing is never showy and always in service of the song.

Though Pikelny, Eldridge, Garrison all knew each other from their early work with Punch Brothers, impromptu backstage jams with Marlin at festivals across the country were the key that unlocked the project. A lifelong song collector, Marlin selected and sang lead on most of the songs here, bringing classics as well as deep cuts from greats like Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard, John Hartford, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and Norman Blake. Throughout, the songs and tunes are as immediate and emotionally impactful as the playing is tasteful. Gathered knee-to-knee in a rural studio outside Nashville, the collaborative 10-track album emerged organically over a few days.

“It felt so special and effortless; it didn’t take work,” says Eldridge, “other than the work and effort we’ve put in the rest of our lives.” With their debut album, Mighty Poplar has captured the fierce and playful energy of an all-night jam between old friends who just happen to be grandmasters of the music.

Frankie Rose - L.T.Leif - Annie Stokes

Frankie Rose - Sixteen Ways.

"Counting the ways that things can unexpectedly fall apart on you before anything has even happened yet! The song 'Sixteen Ways' is about anticipation and getting your hopes up while simultaneously making lists in your head about how it can’t possibly work in out in your favor” -Frankie Rose

"Sixteen Ways" (out today) is the second single from Frankie Rose's new LP Love as Projection, her fifth overall, due March 10.

After spending nearly two decades establishing herself across New York and Los Angeles independent music circles, Frankie Rose returns after six years with a fresh form, aesthetic, and ethos embodied in her new full-length album Love As Projection, out March 10 on Slumberland. Celebrated by countless critical and cultural outlets over the years for her expansive approach to songwriting, lush atmospherics, and transcendent vocal melodies and harmonies, Love As Projection is a reintroduction of her established style through the new lens of contemporary electronic pop.

Painstakingly written, recorded, and engineered through some of the most tumultuous times in history, this new collection of songs harnesses the power and propulsion of Frankie’s early DIY-centric punk days without losing sight of the immersive, dreamlike world-building she’s been known for in recent years. Her love of new wave hooks and post-punk drive remain omnipresent, elevated by her utilization of modern production and an improved, polished palate of state-of-the-art instrumentation.

It’s more than a rebirth, a refinement, a resurgence – it’s a culmination of influence, a newly-defined scope using the tools at her disposal, a long-form project that was heavily considered for half of a decade – resulting in the most personal and accessible collection of art-pop that Frankie has delivered yet, propelling her signature melodies and dense, ethereal harmonies into the future.

 

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L.T.Leif - Gentle Moon.

Musician and artist L.T.Leif has shared "Gentle Moon" the opening track to the new LP, Come Back to Me, but Lightly, out now on Lost Map Records and OK Pal.

"Gentle Moon" is a long-distance love song, sung across lockdown and two seas. There is both an acceptance of distance, and a deep, unspoken longing for something different. It speaks to the push and pull of relationship, the elliptical and powerful movements of coming together and moving away again.

Ultimately, it's about getting thrown off of your own orbit by the needs or ideas of others, and that hard work of finding yourself again through your own body. Long treasured collaborator, Dallin Ursenbach, recorded this duet onto his cell phone while in isolation. I love how it touches on the spookiness of digital interactions, especially with someone known deeply, tangibly, and through your real life lived.

Come Back to Me, but Lightly is in large part inspired by the Northern sun, with references to celestial objects and the distances therein contained, from the perspective of a human here standing and thinking on the earth. I was drawn to these as both symbols of longing and warmth, and of shared experience or connection across the abstraction of distance.

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Annie Stokes - Goldenrod.

Over the course of the pandemic, during Annie’s first pregnancy, she took an online course on medicinal herbalism and learned that the vast majority of what Western gardeners consider "weeds" are actually medicinal plants with physical and spiritual attributes. “At the time, my community was struggling with political and cultural differences that seemed destined to tear us apart,” shares Annie. “I started to think about what it would look and feel like to love the weeds in your yard, and the people in your life, without trying to curate or change them.”

“Goldenrod” comes from Annie’s upcoming EP, Wild Rose, out March 2023. Annie Stokes is a dark Americana songstress and folk lyricist from the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in northern Virginia. Raised on musical theater and her mom's oldies, she began writing poetry and short stories at a young age. When she picked up a guitar at age 20, everything clicked and she fulfilled her destiny of becoming an emotional millennial troubadour.

"I like a hook, and I like a song that dredges up specific memories and feelings, rather than generic rushes of serotonin," she says of her songwriting style. "From the beginning, I would get inspired by snippets of conversations I would hear, or certain smells, or little moments."

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Logan Springer & the Wonderfully Wild - Kassi Valazza - H.C McEntire

Logan Springer & the Wonderfully Wild - Greenbacks and Gold.

Logan Springer & the Wonderfully Wild released their Americana Rock single, “Greenbacks and Gold” a couple of days ago. It’s off the album “Crow” due out March 3. A take on the anti-work movement, the song revolves around the idea of no longer dedicating your life to working for “the man” without being able to get ahead or partaking in the fruits of one’s labor.

“Greenbacks and Gold” tells the story of a blue-collar strip mine/gravel pit worker who is fed up with breaking his back for the profits of “The Man” who only takes from his town and keeps the workers on the verge of destitution. Romanticizing stickin’ it to the man, the narrator plans to rob the bank the strip mine uses to hold their profits. Springer says, “Growing up, I heard a lot of conversations like this; a lot of laborers are disillusioned by working their lives away for a big corporation but realized they have no other options.”

“Greenbacks and Gold” centers itself amongst the seasonal imagery and rural Midwest landscapes that can be found on the album. “Crow” navigates life in an uncertain world, telling the untold stories of rural, blue-collar life – the real problems Springer, his family, and neighbors have had.

Crow extends the theme of misunderstood animals that first occurred on Springer’s solo album, “Coyote – ‘kī-yōte.” Crows are thought to be dirty, trash birds when, in reality, they are incredibly intelligent and capable of learning. Springer says, “Your typical country song is like the social media of music; it only shows the good parts. I want to show what life out in the middle is really like, without all of the polish.”

The band recorded the album at Flat Black, a studio built in a 100-year-old barn on a farmstead in rural Iowa, as an homage to Springer’s home growing up. 

Logan Springer & The Wonderfully Wild · Greenbacks and Gold

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Kassi Valazza - Watching Planes Go By.

Portland, Oregon-based artist Kassi Valazza has signed with Loose (Margo Cilker, Jim White) for her forthcoming new album Kassi Valazza Knows Nothing set to release on May 26. Now she is sharing the first single from the 10-song set, “Watching Planes Go By,” which UNCUT calls a “slow-burning mix of Americana and Paisley Underground psych” as the opening track on their Sounds of the New West Vol 6 disc.

There has been a cult-like fascination growing around Valazza since the self-release of her 2019 debut album Dear Dead Days, which she followed with a surprise digital EP called Highway Sounds last year. She is seated squarely at the vanguard of new American songwriters strengthening and broadening the sound of country and western, both bearing the torch and bending the arc of roots music.

On Kassi Valazza Knows Nothing, the singer-songwriter uses the physical world around her to paint metaphors from the soul, carrying us through her mind and heart as an effortless narrator. Her gutsy and graceful vocal poetry is backed by swirling Western psychedelia created by multi-instrumentalists from Portland band TK & the Holy Know-Nothings. Though the music plays country cousin to British folk, calling to mind greats like Sandy Denny (Fairport Convention) and Karen Dalton, a Southwestern American streak carves its way through these solemn, sweetly sung melodies like a canyon.

"Watching Planes Go By” spins a cautionary tale about the dangers of standing still in life and accepting one's own fate. The song sets a curious and cosmic atmosphere of psychedelic folk-rock as Valazza reflects on the struggles of moving on, "Autumn leaves turn to yellow / and green turns to jealousy / Watching days go by." Valazza captures the romanticism of country crooners with the intuition of a realist poet, exploring themes of love and longing through metaphors from the natural world.

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H.C McEntire - Shadows.

H.C. McEntire releases her celebrated new album Every Acre via Merge Records. Along with the release, she shares a music video for “Shadows” feat. S.G. Goodman, a quiet rumination on surrender and loss, reminiscing and moving on.

“Like several of the songs on Every Acre, ‘Shadows’ is a result of a steady and balanced assembling of instincts between me and Luke,” explains McEntire. “We slowly and remotely wove together loose threads until we had something that resembled squares of cloth, eventually collecting enough of them to start stitching a quilt. He would send me instrumental voice memo recordings of chord progressions or guitar riffs—giving them funny titles we could remember, like ‘Boy Orbison’ and ‘Swamp Creature’—and I would take those and start building a world around them, adding vocal melodies and establishing some structure and eventually lyrics. ‘Shadows’ was the first of these collaborations, and it’s a great example of how Luke and I worked together on this album.”

Co-produced by McEntire, Missy Thangs and Luke Norton, Every Acre explores the acres of our physical and emotional homes, as she grapples with existential themes of grief, loss, and links to land and loved ones with an unwavering honesty. The album has received widespread acclaim from press including Rolling Stone, Guitar World, Under The Radar, BrooklynVegan, Our Culture, The Boot, No Depression and more. Pitchfork named it one of their “Most Anticipated Albums of 2023,” and Stereogum called “Rows of Clover” “a hell of a song, a soulful folk-rock outpouring.” McEntire is currently featured on the cover of INDY Week, and her single “New View” was recently hailed by NPR Music as “a song that evokes the winsome austerity of autumn via understated instrumentation reverberating with a warmth and sonic expansiveness reminiscent of Daniel Lanois' Acadie.”

Raised in the Blue Ridge foothills of rural Appalachia before earning her B.F.A. in Creative Writing, H.C. McEntire first established a reputation for her raw, soulful voice as frontwoman of Mount Moriah and later as a backup singer in Angel Olsen’s band. Her third solo effort, Every Acre is the follow-up to McEntire’s 2020 release Eno Axis and 2018 solo debut LIONHEART.

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Megan Brickwood - Holly Henderson - Michael J. Benjamin

Megan Brickwood - Trinity River Blues.

The rising musician, singer, and songstress Megan Brickwood is excited to announce that her upcoming EP Fifth Mile will be released on February 24, 2023. To mark the occasion, the artist has shared the first single from the EP "Trinity River Blues."

"'Trinity River Blues' is the first song I wrote in an open tuning," Brickwood explains. "I became interested in open tunings studying Joni Mitchell and Nick Drake. This DADGAD tuning was the first I tried, and it completely caught my imagination.

The idea for writing a song called 'Trinity River Blues' popped into my head one day while I wandered around by the Trinity River, feeling lonely and melancholy. Some weeks later when I was back in Los Angeles, working out of my little home studio, I started writing this DADGAD song that I initially conceived of as 'Colors in the Stream.' After I’d written the whole thing, I looked over the lyrics and realized that the song I’d written was 'Trinity River Blues.'"

“The creation of the videos was an adventure,” Brickwood exclaims. “I met Hannah, the co-creator and director for the ‘Trinity River Blues’ video through mutual friends in Redding, CA and we spent a lot of time scouting locations in the areas I’d spent exploring in my youth. ‘Trinity River Blues’ was filmed in McCloud, downtown Weaverville, and at Lewiston Lake. Since both of those songs draw heavily on my experiences in this part of the world, I wanted the videos to reflect that.”

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Holly Henderson - Wendy.

With her new single “Wendy”, Holly Henderson is further teasing her second album, “The Walls”, following the release of last year’s acclaimed single “The Planes”, which Clash Magazine described thus: “bejewelled psych-pop with folk qualities, her work has a haunting after-effect that can’t be shrugged off.”

The long-awaited sophomore release from the UK alternative singer-songwriter brings a very different side to Holly’s musicality and depth. While her debut album, “Monday Green” featured Holly’s impressive rock guitar work and alternative pop anthem prowess, her new work shows a more introspective, and slightly more delicate side to her songcraft.

“Wendy” is a uniquely fresh, yet retro infused ballad, told from the story of a person leaving their dog “Wendy” at home and promising her that she hasn’t been abandoned. It begins with the familiar whimsy and folk sentiments of Holly’s arrangements, and her dreamy, ethereal storyteller vocals. But as the band creep in, and Wendy’s world grows darker and colder, the warmth of the band, as more drums, percussion, guitars, mandolins and harmonies sweep in to remind Wendy, and anyone else listening, that they are never alone.

Recorded in a farmhouse in the English countryside, Holly’s new album “The Walls” brings Holly full circle from her previous Los Angeles recorded album. Finely crafted arrangements, sonic musings, and playful themes take us on a journey with Holly as she deconstructs her Brit Pop and classic influences and reassembles them into progressive-folk wonderment.

On “The Walls”, Holly said, “This album sits within a sense of place. As a songwriter, I can only speak of my own thoughts of home and belonging. I suppose this record is a wandering eye over the fleeting moments from the last few years, of when I felt at home, and when I didn’t. When I felt like the walls were tumbling, when they kept me safe, and when they became my prison. I learned the only way of breaking these patterns, was to let people step over the threshold.

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Michael J. Benjamin - The Deal Has Long Gone Down.

Evoking the likes of Johnny Cash or Leonard Cohen, “The Deal Has Long Gone Down” is a masterclass in mature and measured music-making. With gallant vocals that weave themselves niftily amongst genial plucking guitars, the poignant new track serves as both an introduction to the artist and a testament to his mastered craft. A song stricken with a paranoia for a world spinning ever more rapidly out of control, Benjamin says of the new release:

“The Deal Has Long Gone Down is difficult to pin down. I guess it expresses my fears for the modern climate we all live in, a changing world in danger of moving towards something dark and despairing. When the fortune-teller at the crossroads loses belief, you know it’s tough times ahead.”

Staking his place as a young musician set to shake things up, Michael’s soulful songs express a hard-won sense of authority: embracing the world with an engrossing, truth-seeking style of writing which belies his still-tender years.

Like most other millennials, Michael J Benjamin grew up with the entire history of music readily available at the click of a mouse. He embraced himself in the heroes of old, immersing himself in the works of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell, Johnny Cash and Paul McCartney, before finding more modern realms of influence in the songbooks of Lana Del Rey, Weyes Blood and Jack Antonoff.

And while many of his musical favourites are American, Michael’s literary influences have a distinctly European flavour with Baudelaire, Verlaine, Rimbaud and Hugo all seeping into the way he looks at his art. His songs flourish in a self-made world of creeping dusk, ever-aware of the foreboding, Lynchian darkness which will inevitably follow.

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