Cape Weather - Verandan - Wooden Arms - Slaughter Beach, Dog

Cape Weather - Telephono.

Background - Cape Weather's debut single "Telephono" is out tomorrow. They signed to the Future Gods label a few weeks ago. The song prematurely hit Spotify a couple weeks back and got 'Fresh Finds' immediately and has been getting spins by several KCRW DJ's at the moment. It will drop everywhere this Friday, 9/8.

The band is a collaboration between Natalie Smith and Eric Jackowitz. They’ve both played in bands for years; Eric playing drums for Nick Waterhouse, and Natalie releasing music under solo monikers. With Eric at the production helm, the record was made over the internet, with instruments being recorded and mixed in LA, Oakland, Nashville, New York, and Europe.

 Instrumental contributors to the record include Ben Alleman (keyboards; Ryan Adams), Erik Groysman (composer; Drunk History), Joe Berry (keyboards + sax; M83), with mixing and mastering done Andrew Sarlo (producer; Big Thief). The inspiration for Telephono came from Natalie and Eric wanting to create a song like “Spooky” by Dusty Springfield, but inject it with their own sensibility. 

Dreamy vocals and a musical arrangement that is vibrant and refreshingly different makes 'Telephono' a sub two minute song, massively likable!

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Verandan - Short Dream.

Background - Helsinki based indie label Soliti! are proud to announce the release date for the upcoming Verandan EP. Verandan, is led by Cats On Fire alumni Ville Hopponen. Aiding and abetting Ville on his new adventure are the magnificent players Aleksi Peltonen (Puunhalaaja), Aki Pohjankyrö (Black Twig, LOVE SPORT), Kaarlo Stauffer (Black Twig) and Sampo Seppänen (Sofa Pets, Kynnet). Verandan were formed in late 2015 around songs written by Hopponen.

Hopponen expands on the origins of Verandan: “At the time I had an office job that really made me want to focus on something else the rest of the time. Since I have played music since 1876 but never really written any songs myself it was a slow and meticulous process. The only aim was writing and recording some songs that I could hopefully tolerate even in the future. And also to do this with the best musicians I could find and whose judgement I fully trusted. They really pulled everything together and made it work, contributing all sorts of good ideas.

There was no particular musical style in mind. The point was to explore different ideas and themes – musical and otherwise – that for some reason kept appealing to me, while at the same time chasing a particular kind of elusive ”mood”. Sometimes what came out was surprisingly ”traditional”, which is fine too since it was never about being inventive just for the sake of it. It was more about conveying exactly the right feeling, whatever that is.” Facebook here.

The first of six tracks on the new EP 'Short Dream' gives a fine flavour of what to expect from the rest. There are no passengers within this collection of material, each song is as good as the featured track & from a personal perspective sometimes better.

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Wooden Arms - Lost In Your Own Home.

Background - The new Wooden Arms album "Trick of the Light" is due next month (10/6/17 release date). The first single and video "Lost in Your Own Home" was publicly released last Friday 9/1 and is now available on all major platforms.

Previously a solo writing process by Alex Carson, for their latest release Wooden Arms has evolved into a collaborative, genre-fluid writing trio between Carson and other members Jeff Smith and Alex Mackenzie to collectively draw from their alternative, classical, and trip-hop influences. A truly impressive and deep album, "Trick of the Light" shakes off the shackles of folk and chamber-pop pigeonholing to include deeper instrumentation coupled with electronic elements to become something newer, darker... more strange.

"Trick of the Light" is Wooden Arms' twelve-track sophomore album that evolves the band's sound to include more electronic and experimental elements into their original chamber pop and folk roots. Lyrically the album deals with themes of perception of reality, irrational fear, personal social accountability, and mortality. The album was produced by Wooden Arms and David Pye (Blaenavon, Wild Beasts) and recorded at the historic Monnow Valley studio in Wales (Queen, Iggy Pop). Wooden Arms is; Alex Carson – Piano, Voice, Guitar, Organ; Jeff Smith – Guitar, Voice, Piano, Trumpet; Alex Mackenzie – Drums, Voice, Bass, Guitar, Piano, Percussion; Fifi Homan – Cello, Voice; Azita Mehdinejad – Violin, Voice. Website here, Facebook here.

The forthcoming album (Trick of the Light) comprises of twelve tracks. This is a collection of material rich in musical quality and beautifully arranged. 'Lost In Your Own Home' can only give a little feel for the whole, it's a fabulous track in it's own right, however Wooden Arms, can and do move from one creative style to another.


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Slaughter Beach, Dog - Fish Fry.

Background - Slaughter Beach, Dog (Jake of Modern Baseball) has just announced their new record Birdie coming out 27th October on Big Scary Monsters and Lame-O Records.

Slaughter Beach, Dog was started as a side project for Jake Ewald, one of Modern Baseball's two singer/songwriters. Born out of a case of writers block, Jake used the project to experiment with writing from the point of view of fictional characters in the fictional town of Slaughter Beach to break off from the ultra-personal technique he'd developed in his main project.

Since Modern Baseball announced their hiatus last year, Slaughter Beach, Dog has become Jake's main vehicle, giving him a chance to go all in on developing as a songwriter. Combining writing styles and flowing free between truth and fiction, the album takes Jake's signature mouth-full writing style, adds in some new influences from bands like Wilco, The Weakerthans, Jets To Brazil and Pedro The Lion, and comes out with something completely fresh. Website here.

'Fish Fry' is a catchy song where the vocals are central to the piece and just so pleasing. The music is robust, adding more hooks, but never over powering. As a glimpse of what is to follow, Slaughter Beach, Dog are well worth keeping in mind.


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Trudy and the Romance - WellBad - Adam & Elvis - M.I.L.K.

Trudy and the Romance - Is There A Place I Can Go.

Background - Somewhere among the daydreamers and heartbreakers, beauty queens and jock teens, Trudy and the Romanceare looking to lure you into their suitably skewed, cinematic world. On new single Is There A Place I Can Go’, the trios dubbed Mutant 50s Pop takes a more contemplative turn. The single is part of their Junkyard Jazz EP, which will be released through B3SCI on November the 17th. 

From character creation to alter-ego exploration, Trudys overtly-romanticised, technicolour realm runs deep. Like David Lynch dicing and splicing Walt Disney film reels, Junkyard Jazz EP is a larger-than-life introduction to their saccharine sound, right through to the Grease-style illustrations by LA-based artist Hello Thunderpuss.

Their upcoming Junkyard Jazz EP - recorded in former vicarage, Stockports Eve studios with producer David Pye - takes its title from another genre they use to describe their seemingly hotchpotch influences. “Our stuff’s like a collage and we’re trying to jigsaw it all together, explains Olly.

“The songs on the EP are meant to be loose but compact. It ties together as a bunch of different little stories; Junkyard Jazz, a messy love.To call Trudy escapism would be too easy. As with any great pop music, location falls into irrelevance. Whilst most bands dream of a world they can leave behind, Trudy is the sound of a band with their eyes-wide and keeping every option open. Live dates are over on Beehive Candy's tour news page, website here, Facebook here.

We featured Trudy and The Romance a couple of times in 2016 and the new track 'Is There A Place I Can Go' is well worth a share. The mutant 50's pop description helps to summarise the feel of this song, the timeless nature of this piece, the loose swaggering vibe, this is just fabulous!

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WellBad - The Rotten.

Background - ’The Rotten’ is the new single by German blues rock act out now WellBad from the album ‘The Rotten' (UK release date 29.09.17 -Blue Central Records/Membran).

His raspy voice is as dry as the soil in Death Valley. His full beard is as prickly as a desert cactus. And the atmosphere in his songs is reminiscent of movie scenes shot by Jim Jarmusch, Quentin Tarantino and David Lynch. The 27-year old singer and songwriter Daniel Welbat is an engaging, passionate entertainer and, together with his excellent band WellBad, he has impressed critics and enthused audiences wherever they have performed their very own brand of modern Blues Rock. 

WellBad will release their third album, ‘The Rotten’, in September. Paired with the raw,dirty sound of his bandmates, the Hamburg-based Welbat creates an idiosyncratic blend of styles that easily transports a classic Blues vibe right into the here and now. ‘The Rotten' is a genre-defying, elegant mix of Rock, Blues and Jazz and is produced by Stephan Gade (Udo Lindenberg, Niels Frevert), who also worked on the band’s second studio album, ‘Judgement Days’, in 2015.

WellBad have not only made numerous appearances already on major German TV stations, but they also made the podium of the ‘European Blues Challenge’, held in Torrita di Siena, Italy, in April 2016. Thatsame year they also represented Germany in the world´s largest international Blues competition in Memphis, Tennessee. In addition to some memorable concerts, the band had the chance to record a single in the legendary Sun Studios. Website here.

'The Rotten' has an uncomplicated blues rock soundtrack, that is just right for the gritty and menacing vocals. Hypnotic, rocking and at just under two & a half minutes duration, the song just begs to be played again.


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Adam & Elvis - She Bites Mosquitoes.

Background - New-wave experimentalists Adam & Elvis unveil the uptempo intricacies of latest release, ‘She Bites Mosquitoes’, the track is taken from the band’s album, ‘Through Snow and Small Talk’, released Sept 29th. Artfully displaying Adam & Elvis’ musical intuition, adroit syncopation and effortless manipulation of the Western scale – all set to a mesmerising surf-rock-meets-synth-pop pulse – ‘She Bites Mosquitoes’ deals with the hierarchical nature of young love and, so explains vocalist Patrick, “the desire to infiltrate tribes where you are 'Untermensch' (inferior people)”. This is something of a paradox given the superior sonics of Adam & Elvis’ new release, but then here is a band who make it their tune-filled business to defy accepted convention.

Bonded not only by blood but a taste for finding humour in the macabre, Patrick and Tom Malone are brothers whose sibling intuition extends to a penchant for songs as melodic as they are bizarre. Cut-throat guitars, dirty basslines and contorted synthesisers are their tools as the brothers pen hook-filled numbers with strange, poetic lyrics, often influenced by the stark realism in the wordplay of Patrick’s heroes Leonard Cohen and Charles Bukowski. 

This bold, thought-provoking prose is set to a musical backdrop of exhilarating wall-of-sound pop and primitive punk energy, unleashed by Patrick on guitar/vocals and Tom on bass/vocals respectively, with the aid of Steve Wraight (vocals/percussion) and Dan Robershaw (guitar). 

The Reading band have performed their adventurous, singularly intense live shows on the same bill as Fat White Family, The Zombies and The Correspondents, and garnered resounding praise for their blistering debut single, ‘Hanging Tree’, taken from their first long-player, Through Snow and Small Talk, to be released on the band’s own DIY Freak Power label in the autumn of 2017. It’s an album fizzing with ideas and energy, capturing Adam & Elvis in all their irreverent, witty and experimental glory, the sound of a group that have come of age and are proving as hard to pigeonhole as they are to ignore. Bandcamp here, Facebook here.

Musically vibrant and upbeat 'She Bites Mosquitoes' is a feast of sounds and fabulous vocals. Different and a little eccentric, just makes the whole thing even more wonderful, here's looking forward to the album.

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M.I.L.K. - If We Want To.

Background - Copenhagen based artist M.I.L.K. (real name: Emil Wilk) today releases the video for ‘If We Want To’ - the penultimate video in a line of 6 video releases, lifted from his acclaimed debut EP ‘A Memory Of A Memory Of A Postcard’. The video was co-directed by M.I.L.K. and Jonas Bang.

An intriguing concoction of tropical production, swaying percussion, and sumptuous melodies, M.I.L.K. is an artist who wants to do things a little differently. M.I.L.K. is the sound of summer and sand between your toes. In these uncertain times, we need all need a positive breath of fresh air. That's what M.I.L.K. is.

Fresh from signing to Capitol Music France and Interscope in the US - M.I.L.K.’s debut EP is a perfect introduction to his intoxicating brand of RnB-tinged yacht rock. 

Speaking on the video releases, Emil Wilk said: "I really felt a need to create something physical for the EP. It’s so unsatisfying when everything ends up as streams and links and statistics and internet, internet, internet. So I decided to create something that was more than just mp3 files, and create this video installation to give the EP a visual manifestation in a physical form. The footage is a mix of analogue 8mm shots from travels with friends during the last 6 month, and then more abstract studio shots. It's kind of a diary collage built around the themes and memories that inspired the songs on the EP.” Website here, Facebook here.

'If We Want To' is a smooth melodic song, which exudes beautifully chilled vibes throughout. Imaginative, the music is quiet blissful, the vocals simply charm the listener, this really is music that's good for the soul.


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Lachlan Vines - Glassmaps - Days Are Done - Reverend and the Makers - Helen Culver

Lachlan Vines - This Could Mean The End.

Background - Lachlan Vines combines soulful, emotive vocals with rich, colourful, modern sounds. His fusion of Rock, Soul, Pop and Electronic music provides truly original songs from the Sydney-sider.

Lachlan was born and raised in Inner-West Sydney where, as a die-hard Muse fan in high school, he started teaching himself to play piano like Matt Bellamy. Though piano was and still is his first love, as he went deeper into music and song writing he found a need to branch out to more varied means of musical expression, namely the electric guitar, which he learnt by listening to the likes of John Mayer and Stevie Ray Vaughan who taught him above all else the endless melodic and expressive potential of the guitar solo – a lesson Lachlan sure puts into practice with devotion, as can be heard in his new single, ‘This Could Mean The End.’ ‘This Could Mean The End’ was written, produced and recorded by Lachlan Vines at his residence in Glebe, Sydney, and partly in some hotel in rural NSW. 

“I started writing the song when I had just finished my uni degree and I was taking a celebratory solo road trip down to Melbourne. During that time I was in the middle of something back home, where I knew I was making some big mistakes, and I needed to get myself out of the situation. But I didn’t. Meanwhile, I had also just bought a new software synth on my computer, and I’d fumbled together this patch and just came up with this four-chord jam on it. The song came together quite naturally from the combination of the situation I was in, the music gear I was playing with, and the music I was listening to on that road trip,” says Lachlan. 

‘This Could Mean The End’ is like a joyride through some urban neighbourhood on a bright, clear day (with a brief stop off at church in the middle). It’s down-tempo but has a driving groove that keeps it moving throughout. It’s a care-free, laid back dance track. “It’s a really simple song but ironically so, because it’s about something really complicated – the self deceit of naïve oversimplification, of making a big mistake but convincing yourself it’s gonna turn out fine,” says Lachlan on the concept behind the track. Facebook here.

Some vibrant synths open up 'This Could Mean The End' accompanied by simple drum beats & some delicious guitar work along the way. Lachlan's smooth vocals add some additional feeling to the song, one that will get a good few further plays!

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Glassmaps - Hyponotised + I'm Sorry.

Background - Glassmaps is the solo project of Joel Stein, lead guitarist in the much-loved Howling Bells. After four successful albums with the band, the UK-based Australian stepped back from the global tours and high-end studios to embark on an exciting solo endeavour. ‘Strangely Addicted’, his debut album, beautifully utilises electronic and organic instruments, delivering melodic, punchy, infectious tunes coupled with psychedelic soundscapes. Autobiographical lyrics speak of universal themes of life, love and loss. 

‘Strangely Addicted’ was recorded and produced by Joel in Las Vegas, at the home studio of The Killers’ bassist Mark Stoermer, where Joel was staying while recording with Howling Bells. There, he discovered a soundproofed room filled with random instruments: tubular bells, a double bass, a three-stringed banjo, vintage guitars and an old Telefunken microphone, on which he recorded vocals for the entire album.

Stoermer himself guested on some of the tracks, including playing bass on ‘Summer Rain’, the excellent single released in May, while Howling Bells drummer Glenn Moule also featured. “I took my laptop into that soundproofed room and didn't really sleep for two weeks,” Joel recalls. “I would wake Glenn in the early hours of the morning to drum on tracks I had just finished. He’d sleepwalk his way to the kit and just nail it every time!”

The finished record, released on Lost In The Manor Records on 10 November, captures the sound of an artist spreading his creative wings. A flourishing that has been further enhanced by the assemblage of a red-hot band transforming Glassmaps into a slick live proposition, whose notable summer ’17 shows have included main-stage support to The Killers at Hyde Park and The Great Escape festival in Brighton. Website here, Facebook here.

We have two tracks to feature, 'Hyponotised' and 'I'm Sorry'. Both are good indicators of what's to follow on the impressive 'Strangely Addicted' album, where another eight songs await (and in my opinion deserve) some time & attention. There is a distinct musical style that permeates throughout the album, Joel Stein's vocals are pleasing and melodic, the music is creative and suggests that this collection of material has been something of a labour of love.


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Days Are Done - Never Let You Go.

Background - Days Are Done are singer-songwriter Emmy Kay (from Blackpool) and BAFTA winning TV & film composer Adam Lewis (from South Wales), who are both based in Kingston-upon-Thames. 

Days are Done are what could be described as a happy accident. Having both played in a series of different bands, both together and individually, they knew that they had a strong chemistry and when they finally sat down together to write as just the two of them, the flow was just natural. Realising that they had something special when they stripped their sound back to just the two of them and a guitar, they decided that this was their musical destiny. Days Are Done was born. The rest if history still in the making.

Over the last 18 months, the duo have composed a striking body of songs, mostly written in their front rooms in Kingston. Boasting an ‘old vs. new’ vibe, it is fair to say that their shared influences are married with their own distinctive sound to craft something rather timelessly magical. One of those key influences is  Nick Drake, whose song Day is Done inspired the duo’s name. Having formed the duo at what they thought was the end of a musical journey, the name fitted perfectly.

A bit of musical secret, they didn’t share the band with friends ahead of launching at a series of open mics where they road-tested material. Within a few months, they had recorded a live EP at a tiny coffee shop Hands Coffee (sadly no more) in their hometown. Armed with a laptop and microphones, they invited friends and family and recorded the whole show to release as two introductory EPs. Website here, Facebook here.

The vocal duet on 'Never Let You Go' is delivered with energy, passion and melodic clarity. A modern folk vibe is emphasised by the natural musical arrangement, that while quite energised as well, allows the vocals to rightly stand out.


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Reverend and the Makers - Auld Reekie Blues.

Background - Reverend & The Makers release a new single, ‘Auld Reekie Blues,’ taken from their new album, ‘The Death Of A King’, which is released through Cooking Vinyl on Friday 22nd September. ‘Auld Reekie Blues’ sees the Makers Ed Cosens take on lead vocal duties and is available now, along with previous singles ‘Too Tough To Die’ and ‘Juliet Knows,’ upon pre-ordering ‘The Death Of A King’ here.

‘The Death Of A King’ which was recorded at Karma Sound Studios Thailand, is the followup to the Top 20 album ‘Mirrors’, and will be available on CD, Deluxe edition CD, 12” Vinyl, limited edition 12” vinyl, cassette and digital download. McClure says of recording ‘The Death Of A King’ “As soon as we got there, the king of Thailand died. And there was a mad monsoon. Most of the town went into mourning and shut down, and all the people who worked at the studio were wearing black. There was this whole ceremony for the king, which was quite moving but it put a weird atmosphere in the air.”

The wave of love and optimism from a new generation towards Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party – whose progressive views McClure has tirelessly championed –  has found the singer fielding queries from the Al-Jazeera news-desk and appearing on Channel 4 News. Corbyn appeared on stage with Reverend and the Makers during the Labour election campaign at Wirral Live on May 20th. ‘We were playing at Tranmere with the Coral and the Libertines and I introduced him on stage and we got 20,000 people singing his name to ‘Seven Nation Army:’ “Oh, Je-re-my Cor-byn. Everywhere he went afterwards they started singing it.” Says McClure.

With five Top 20 albums already under their belts, Sheffield rock’n’roll radicals Reverend and the Makers have carved out a niche for themselves as one of the most enduring and incendiary acts on the British musical landscape. Website here.

There is something of a sixties feel to 'Auld Reekie Blues' or is that because of the flowers and dress code on the accompanying video. Melodic and very addictive, we might be fifty years on from the summer of love, however I cant help but feel, that this song references that time, even if only by coincidence.


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Helen Culver - Ctrl-Alt-Delete. Seven Year Glitch (EP).

Background from Helen - I’m Helen Culver, a singer-songwriter who creates words and noise with Liam Alexander, a producer. Together we’ve embarked on yet another sonic (not acid) filled adventure and conjured up four alternative pop songs. 

Lyrically, the theme of the EP consists of a woman who has decided to put herself first whilst refusing to humour anyone who stands in her way. 

From the industrial New Jack Swing of ‘Ctrl-Alt-Delete’, to the minimal 8-bit funk of ‘Red Light’, this EP is something you’ll want to write home to your mother about, telling her you’ve found ‘The One’. (Or ‘The One this week’ anyway, we don’t know how much of a clinger you are - your mum might just roll her eyes…) Bandcamp (releases September 8, 2017) here, Facebook here.

'Ctrl-Alt-Delete' is the first track on the new 'Seven Year Glitch' EP. The other three tracks are (to quote Helen Culver) also "alternative pop songs." I would just add, creative, hook laden & imaginative to her description.  

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Twin Seas - The Rural Alberta Advantage - Triggerfinger - Bermuda Angels - Nathan Xander - Úlfur

Twin Seas - Alpha Pup.

Background - On Friday, September 29th, LA Dream-pop newcomers -- Twin Seas -- will release their highly anticipated debut self-titled LP.  Following in the footsteps of fellow East-LA creatives, Chicano Batman, Twin Seas has built a strong following in the SoCal area, playing to energetic, dancing crowds!

Out of the East LA creative hotbed, Twin Seas was born. Inspired by 80s new wave, 60s psychedelia -- and of course, their own Latin roots -- Twin Seas creates a fresh soundscape that leads the listener on a voyage of warm tones and sun-kissed melodies. 

After forming in 2016, Twin Seas have made a name for themselves in the LA indie rock scene, playing to excited and loyal audiences all over the SoCal area. The crowd can't help but dance when the band breaks into favorites such as "Surf Wave", "Machine Gun", and "Alpha Pup." In a short time, the band has perfected the art of live performance. 

Twin Seas completed their self-titled record earlier this year at their home studio at La Mina, in the neighborhood of City Terrace. For this debut, they recruited the help of vocalist Chrisol and the rhythm section from Chicano Batman who are both featured on the record. The band's distinct sound, dubbed "New Wave-Dream Pop", is sure to provide the quintessential soundtrack for a summer day. Website here, Facebook here.

There is a feisty start to 'Alpha Pup' where the music quickly builds into a vibrant sound. It's just right for the vocals & some brief atmospheric background harmonies. The band really do have something of a unique sound with this song, lets hope they carry on with the style on the album.

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The Rural Alberta Advantage - Brother.

Background - The Rural Alberta Advantage, Nils Edenloff, Paul Banwatt and Robin Hatch, will release their new studio album The Wild on October 13th on Paper Bag Records in Canada, United Kingdom and Europe. Watch the Anne Douris-directed video for new single "Brother" here. Stream "Brother" here. Pre-order The Wild on limited-edition frosted vinyl here.

"Some people might hear the song as something bleak or overly dark, but I don't really see it that way," says Edenloff about "Brother". "In my mind, it's always been more about finding comfort in change, trying to embrace the idea of an unknown outcome and how those can often bring about the most positive result that you never knew was there."

The Rural Alberta Advantage have also announced North American tour dates which will see the band joined by Vancouver's Yukon Blonde for two months beginning October 20th. Canadian dates include stops in Halifax, Ottawa, Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto.

The RAA have already released two songs from The Wild -- "White Lights" and "Beacon Hill," which was inspired by the wildfires that ravaged Edenloff's hometown of Fort McMurray, AB last year. Tour details are available over on Beehive Candy's tour news page, Facebook here.

The Rural Alberta Advantage have always impressed me with their fabulous music. 'Brother' is a reminder of just how powerful & emotionally charged they can be, this is one stomping and addictive song, the album can't come quick enough!


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Triggerfinger - Colossus.

Background - New Triggerfinger album and video 'Colossus' - Colossus which includes the strutting single 'Flesh Tight' and the relentless fast-forward bassline driven 'Colossus'- offers killer guitar riffs, breezy melodies & festive glam rock, all in a mind-bending production by Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake, turning this album in a wild ride on a merry-go-round in Disneyland after dark. Matt Newman from Mount Emult made a crazy video to go with this track.

The Antwerp, Belgium based trio (Ruben Block, vocals & guitar; Paul Van Bruystegem, bass; Mario Goossens, drums) have built a solid reputation across Europe, the US and Canada as one of the hardest-driving and sharpest dressing bands around. With their self- titled debut album (2004), What Grabs Ya (2008), All This Dancing Around (2010) and By Absence of the Sun (2014) they’ve become a mainstay on the rock scene (the last two going platinum and gold, respectively). Their impromptu cover of the Lykke Li song I Follow Rivers became a major hit across Europe in 2012, and they were invited to open for The Rolling Stones in 2013 and 2014.

After four studio albums and the massive touring that came with it, it was time for a change. While writing Colossus Triggerfinger wanted to add a few new flavors to the mix. The band set off on a 40 date tour across 15 European countries with a first gig on Oct. 4 at Brighton's 'Hope & Ruin', and stops in Paris, London, Berlin, Warzaw, Budapest, Vienna, Bratislava, Prague, Copenhagen,Oslo, Amsterdam, Brussels and Luxembourg. Website here, Facebook here.

'Colossus' blasts into action, the band are thumping out some potent riffs, whilst the vocals are almost manic in nature. Whilst I would urge you to spare a thought for your neighbours, in Spinal Tap terms, this really should be turned up to eleven when played.

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Bermuda Angels - On the Run.

Background - Bermuda Angels have shared their new video "On The Run." The track is from their forthcoming debut self-titled album, which is out September 29th. "The video and song is about being in love with Bermuda Jones," the band's Sophie Kadow explains, "in love for the first time when you didn’t think real love existed.  It’s about being intimidated for the first time and losing yourself in the vulnerability." 

Bermuda Angels are Bermuda Jones and Sophie Kadow. They fell in love and wrote an album together while living in the secret room of a music venue. Sophie spends most of her time in CA making songs and videos with Bermuda. The rest of her time is spent painting in NY, where she’s from. Bermuda Jones owns The East Room, a music venue in East Nashville. He primarily lives on his desert ranch in 29 Palms, CA where he works on music with Sophie and his other writing projects.

The recording process of the new album involved an imbalance of work, art, and love.  Creating and fighting through constant chaos, moving from place to place, recording in multiple makeshift studios in 1 music venue, 1 taxidermy/oddities shop, 2 basements, 1 garage, 1 cabin, 1 adobe, and 2 houses- spanning 5 different states (CA, NY, TN, WV, ME.) 

 “The album was partly inspired by our surroundings and landscapes.," explains Bermuda "We explored the extremes of the weather spectrum in the US and spent a winter in Maine on Mount Desert Island surrounded by snow and windstorms and freezing cold, working on our sound.  A few months later, we spent our summer in an adobe in the desert in Joshua Tree, CA in incredible heat, working on our sound some more.  You could literally fry an egg on a rock outside.

We were also inspired by the excitement and turmoil of forming our relationship and planning our future together.  This seeped into the songs and overflowed throughout the album.  Developing our trust was important throughout the process and it comes in many forms.  Do I trust the other to follow through, to be honest to themselves and to me, to be faithful, to try his or her hardest, to create good music, to be understanding, to improve, to give support, and most importantly, to keep coming back. “ All songs on the album were written and recorded by Bermuda Jones and Sophie Kadow. The album was produced, engineered, and mixed by Bermuda Jones.​ Website here.

Rhythmic synths and sensual vocals give 'On The Run' an individual sound and an air of mystery. The video only adds to the feeling, on what is a very addictive track.


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Nathan Xander - Over You, Over Me.

Background - Trailer Fire Records is pleased to let you know that the album Blue House, by Nathan Xander, is out now. New York City-based songwriter, Nathan Xander is a troubadour in the Texas sense, when he’s in Texas. Or in the California sense when he’s there. Or the Chicago sense, oh, OK. You get it. The man writes like he travels: well and often. 

He’s as familiar with Brooklyn as his hometown of Union City, PA, Gillian Welch as with X. Nathan’s new collection of songs, recorded in a big blue barn in Upstate New York, is his best work to date, and we at Trailer Fire Records are thrilled to share it with you.

Blue House represents the work of a writer in the prime of his craft. Nathan’s years of touring, with their joyful wildness and melancholy, come through in these songs. “Over You, Over Me” evokes that duality, while songs like “Shadows” growl and pulse with the frivolous energy of an artist who likes to break things. 

“Pennsylvania” is as anthemic a song as ought to be written, a wholehearted Mellencamp-esque thumper about home, while “I Remember You Now” is a psychedelic memory in homage to friends Xander has met along his traveler’s way. Each song here is evidence of experience, which Nathan has in spades. Website here, Facebook here.

'Over You, Over Me' is the third of twelve tracks on the new 'Blue House' album. It's quite representative of what to expect from this well crafted and professionally arranged collection of songs. Nathan's vocals lend themselves to this natural style of Americana folk, where hints of country rock are often there.

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Úlfur - Fovea.

Background - NYC-based Icelander Úlfur announces his stunning new album Arborescence through figureight records – a new label founded by musician mastermind Shahzad Ismaily –  in October 2017.

A unique talent, Úlfur (Luxembourg-born, Iceland-raised, NYC-residing Úlfur Hansson) is known as much for his genre-defying experiments with homemade instruments and electronics as he is for his work with prominent Icelandic trailblazers Jónsi (of Sigur Rós) and Ólöf Arnalds, and Sweden’s Anna Von Hauswolff. As a composer – a graduate of Mills College, California – Úlfur in 2013 received the prestigious Young Composer of the Year award from the International Rostrum of Composers, and has had works commissioned by The Icelandic Symphonic Orchestra, the Kronos Quartet and l’Orchestre de Radio France.

Arborescence, his brave and immersive newest LP, navigates a trail between these many worlds. Its pieces are long form and dreamily (un-)structured, made up of soundscapes, electro-acoustic processing, vocals, synthesizers, electronic production, all framed by intricate, cinematic string arrangements (performed by label-mate and múm co-founder Gyda Valtysdottir) and cataclysmic explosions of noise (provided in part by the transcendent and superlative drumming of black metal hero Greg Fox). The record alternately traverses moments of stillness and vulnerability and moments of violence, covering all the ground between as it travels.

“The title is derived from that type of movement,” Úlfur writes. “Arborescence – the phenomenon of branching out, following the path of least resistance, growing from a seed, or a bolt of lightning as it rips through the sky, connecting different outcomes, possibilities to a single point of origin.”

Arborescence was produced by Randall Dunn (SUNN O))), Earth, Marissa Nadler, etc.), and also features the wonderful musicianship of Skúli Sverrisson (Blonde Redhead, David Sylvian, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Laurie Anderson, Ólöf Arnalds) and Zeena Parkins (Björk, Jim O’Rourke, Pauline Oliveros, Fred Frith, John Zorn). Website here.

'Fovea' comes with a #experimental over on Soundcloud, something that leaves me hopeful, but all to often disappointed. Not so with this song, the musical arrangement is delightfully unique, whilst being quite assessable, the vocals are dreamy and immerse themselves in the soundtrack. Original & enjoyable, the new album is firmly on my radar.

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