Tonota 80 - Ben Glover - Ennor

Tonota 80 - Could Do Better.

Background - With a moniker taken from a vaporising device featured in the 1970's sci-fi novel 'A Whirlpool Of Stars, UK punk-rock trio 'Tonota 80' transmit news that their new album 'Killer Sands And Beating Hearts' will be released via UK/US label Engineer Records on 23rd March 2018.

Originally becoming acquainted through a chance meeting in their local record store; the Maidstone/Kent based musicians David Bloomfield (Vox/Guitar), Richard Pronger (Bass/Vox) and John Edwards (Drums) met again several years later and hatched 'Tonota 80' upon the UK music scene. 

Despite the band being firmly routed in old school British punk reverie, the 3 piece bring in subtle influences from an myriad of genres. Citing the likes of Husker Du, Dinosaur Jr, Swervedriver and Radio Birdman as some of their most influential peers - Tonota 80 are encased with a penchant for brash guitar riffs, colossal melodic hooks and 60's inspired vocal harmonies.

Their self-released debut 'Jonesing For Chips' brought much welcomed support from revered BBC 6 Music taste-maker Steve Lamacq and captured them many fans of underground British rock music. After time spent out to write and produce new material, the punk fuelled anthems of Tonota 80 caught the attention of Engineer Records who shall deliver the digital/CD release of the bands latest creations. FACEBOOK, TWITTER.

'Could Do Better' is a blistering two and a half minutes of classic punk. The track is packed full of hooks largely due to a few subtle chord changes, and when you add in the attitude fuelled vocals, the song really gains traction. 


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Ben Glover - Ride The River (feat. Kim Richey).

Background - Born and raised in Glenarm, Northern Ireland, Nashville based Ben Glover has been hailed by journalists around the world as one of Northern Ireland’s finest exports. A compelling songwriter, who was awarded International Song of the Year at the 2016 UK Americana Awards with Gretchen Peters for their co-written song “Blackbirds,” a song which appears on Glover’s album Atlantic and serves as the title track to Peters’ 2015 solo album, his impending studio album, Shorebound, sees him evolve even further as an artist and collaborator.

The newfound sounds and shapes that comprise Shorebound mark a moment in Glover's musical history — a moment that nods to the past decade of his artistry even while pivoting into the next era. “I’m a believer in cycles, and 2018 will mark ten years since I released my first album,” Glover says, “so it feels very much that this album is a major turning point in a cycle. Shorebound is an acknowledgment of where I am and a celebration of the people who I’ve gotten here with.”

A truly personal collection, Glover is a storyteller who can offer intrigue and insight, while his listeners lose themselves in his rich vocal. Heading up the album is the Kim Richey collaboration, Ride The River.

“Ride The River” is the story of two lovers conspiring to get free together, dreaming and planning their great escape from the commitments of the world. When writing the song Kim Richey and I wanted to use the sense and symbols of time to show just how far these characters would go in their pursuit of being together. No matter what elements and obstacles stood before them they were moving through it all with complete devotion to one another." WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.

Tour Dates:
Thurs 10th May – London, King’s Place (supporting Mary Gauthier)
Fri 11th May – Carlisle, Carlisle Folk and Blues Club  
Sat 12th May – Aberdeen, The Blue Lamp
Tues 15th May – Birmingham, Kitchen Garden Cafe 
Wed 16th May – Tadcaster, Everything Good Goes  
Thurs 17th May – London, King’s Place (supporting Mary Gauthier)
Fri 18th May – Worthing, Coastal Connections          
Sat 19th May – Cambridge, The Junction
Sat 26th May – Culdaff, McGrory’s [Ireland]
Thurs 31st May – Larne, N. Ireland, Larne Town Hall 
Fri 1st June – Belfast, The Black Box.

Ben Glover's rich and distinctive vocals and the gorgeous harmonies from Kim Richey make 'Ride The River' a majestic song. The musical arrangement is refined and beautifully constructed making this one very special and enticing track.


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Ennor - Farewell To Atlantis.

Background - ‘Farewell To Atlantis’ encapsulates the reckless energy of Ennor’s West Cornwall roots to make for three minutes of folk-rock perfection. Sun-drenched melodies, sprightly rhythms, and open road lyricism peg it as the sort of performance that could only hail from the UK’s surfer heartland. It’s both a homecoming story and a bittersweet meditation on change and the passing of time. Frontman Tom Elliott wraps his lyrics in a heartfelt melodic sensibility that recalls the arena-baiting energy of The Gaslight Anthem as the group meander effortlessly through infectious verses, sing-along choruses and a raucously rising middle eight.

The careful balance of driving rock instrumentation and folk lyricism is one ENNOR strike with aplomb. The group headed back to Elliott’s hometown of Penzance to shoot the video for the track with director John Freddy Jones, set in an old outhouse overlooking the Atlantic which the singer spent much of his youth writing in.

With their musical and emotional roots embedded in the far corners of Cornwall, Ennor write songs that have a palpable sense of openness and raw emotion. It’s the culmination both of their journeys across the UK and a nostalgic longing for the Cornish sea. By turns both folk and rock, the four-piece’s infectious sound has garnered attention from London to Penzance, as well as the acclaim of BBC Introducing. The poeticism and sincerity of frontman Tom Elliott is propped by the blistering work of the rhythm section. Adam Williams’s driving drums and the dexterous string work of guitarist Jack Rennie and bassist James Creed has earned their sound a new moniker: ‘Californwall’ - a fitting epithet to describe the perennial summer in their songwriting.

Drawing influence from the likes of Frank Turner, The Gaslight Anthem and Ben Howard, Ennor spent the summer of 2017 touring their sunshine sounds across the UK to the like of Ronnie Scotts, The Eden Project and Boardmasters, before heading into the studio to record new works ready for 2018 and the turn of the seasons. FACEBOOK, TWITTER.

Lively, natural and pleasing 'Farewell To Atlantis' is a marvellous mixture of upbeat rock tinged with some delicious folk sensibilities. West Cornwall is a fabulous place for a holiday (despite the unpredictable Atlantic weather), I'm guessing from this at least some the locals know that it sure beats city life.


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The Claudettes - The Magic Numbers - The Goldberg Sisters - Sugar Candy Mountain

The Claudettes - Don't Stay with Me / Pull Closer To Me.

Background - An old upright piano, a snarling electric bass, Phil Spector-ized booming drums and seductive Cool School vocals get into a punk-blues brawl at the studio of Grammy-winning Black Keys producer Mark Neill. On their head-spinning new album, The Claudettes summon vaudeville blues, ’60s soul and Cramps-like psychobilly. Behold Dance Scandal at the Gymnasium!, the band’s third full-length for Yellow Dog Records and first to feature their touring lineup of piano, drums, “Bass VI” guitar and three singers.

Pianist/songwriter Johnny Iguana airs grievances about the numbing and divisive effects of an Internet-dominated world all across these songs. “Nobody knows how to talk to each other these days,” begins the song “Give It All Up for Good,” while “Bill Played Saxophone” follows American political nemeses through periods of smoldering bitterness and revenge fantasies. “Death and Traffic” begs for stories of saved lives and heroism amidst the onslaught of bad news, then “Utterly Absurd” bemoans the age of the hair-trigger Google search: “Thought dies as transmission rise…‘fast and now’ killed ‘I know how.’” And need anything more be said about the prescience of “Naked on the Internet”?

Neill invited the Claudettes to his Georgia studio after being introduced to the band by Dave Cobb (Grammy-winning producer of Sturgill Simpson and Lake Street Dive). The Claudettes recorded at Soil of the South for ten days, taking advantage of Neill's vast knowledge and collection of vintage equipment.

“Mark insisted that, no matter how loudly we crank amps live, we record at conversational level so he could turn his vintage preamps up and use his best old mics,” says band leader Johnny Iguana, who has recorded with Junior Wells, Buddy Guy and a host of other blues giants along with his own punk-organ band oh my god. The result: a big, warm sound straight off the ’60s 45s that Mark spins between takes for inspiration.

The piano-guitar-drums core of each song was recorded in a single take, as were most vocals. Neill, who shuns the practice of building tracks in Pro Tools, had the band run through songs again and again until “The” take arrived. Marxophones, mellotrons, rare fuzz pedals and an array of percussion instruments were broken out to finalize Neill's vision for each track.

Here the Claudettes introduce the singer who’s been touring with the band for two years: Berit Ulseth. “Berit went to the New School in NY for jazz vocals, but she’s got a tone you can’t learn,” says Iguana. “Sometimes she reminds me of Carole King and her soulful ‘I Feel the Earth Move’ vocals…but she’s also got this Patsy Cline warmth and lushness to her voice.”

Ulseth urges a lackluster partner to set her free in “Don’t Stay With Me,” propelled by an insistent orchestral bass drum, then reveals the exquisite nuances of her voice on the transfixing ballad “Pull Closer to Me.” Bassist/guitarist Zach Verdoorn yodels the album’s carnival-ready title cut and takes urgent solos on “Total Misfit” and the aforementioned “Naked on the Internet,” a song that sounds like the ’60s but looks to a future where our only lasting legacies are unwanted searchable ones.

What’s traditional on Dance Scandal at the Gymnasium! are the blues, soul and rock ’n’ roll touchstones and the antique instruments and equipment used to document them. What’s new and indescribable are the punk-laced energy and sum total of these songs, musicians and producer Neill, who describes this album thusly: “Haunted cabaret...David Lynch movie music crossed with Allen Toussaint’s driving piano sound! And sort of like when you’re driving late at night in the South and two radio stations are coming in together and it’s perfect!...Like Otis Spann and Mark Sandman from Morphine sitting in with Keely Smith. I'm kind of riffing here but seriously nobody sounds like them...I love this new record, it’s crazy good." WEBSITE, BANDCAMP.

We have two of the twelve songs that make up The Claudettes forthcoming album 'Dance Scandal at the Gymnasium!'. 'Don't Stay with Me' and 'Pull Closer To Me' give the listener some idea of what's in store on the album, the emphasis being on "some idea." The band have a delightfully unique musical sound, the vocals add melody and plenty of feeling to the songs, whilst the bands creative zest ensures each track has some unique attributes, alongside varying levels of energy and attitude. Collectively this works, the musical hooks are everywhere. Not being certain of what each piece might bring, adds to the excitement, this really is an album worth some time digging in to.


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The Magic Numbers - Sweet Divide.

Background - I never wanted to be a part of anything, the cool kids at school, the pretend outlaws. I was always an outsider, we’ve always been an outsider band. We don’t fit in, never have and never will. Especially now. As you get older you realise your strength in not giving a f. You realise what you’ve been trying to do your whole life. Create something that’s yours, your own world, your own views, make something special, start your own gang but always be You within it. Don’t conform. Don’t fall in line. Be free. Be inspired. Inspire. Live & Love. To all the Outsiders – Romeo, The Magic Numbers.

Mercury Prize nominated and multi-platinum selling London quartet The Magic Numbers have just shared the studio-shot video for the recent 6 Music-supported single, 'Sweet Divide'. This is the first piece of new music from the band following a three-year hiatus and taken from their forthcoming album 'Outsiders', available through Role Play Records on May 11, 2018. Outsiders captures The Magic Numbers fired by a renewed sense of purpose, immediately apparent on first single ‘Sweet Divide’, with the band’s melodic facility bolstered by a newfound, grittier sensibility. Watch here. In support of the Outsiders, the band will commence a headline tour of the UK through May - dates below.

Comprising of two sets of siblings, Romeo and Michele Stodart and Angela and Sean Gannon, The Magic Numbers have sold over a million albums worldwide across their career and scored a slew of hit singles. The band quickly shot to media attention after selling out London’s Kentish Town Forum solely on the strength of their loyal fanbase prior to the release of their 2005 self-titled debut - an album that would later go on to pick up a Mercury Music Prize nomination and break into the UK Top 10 Charts.

Hit singles – including ‘Forever Lost’, ‘Love Me Like You’, ‘Love’s A Game’ and ‘Take A Chance’ – and three hit albums followed. Alongside the band’s success, the Stodart’s have lent a hand to projects including releases from Jane Birkin, Spiritualized, Chemical Brothers, Kathryn Williams and Ed Harcourt, plus Damon Albarn’s Africa Express, with Michele Stodart releasing two solo albums to date, duetting with Conor O’Brien of Villagers along the way. FACEBOOK.

It's been a while since I last listened to The Magic Numbers and the latest song will have me digging out their debut album which was a real favourite of mine at the time. 'Sweet Divide' is a driving rocker from the opening moments, the guitars are powerful, the vocals and harmonies add even more rock swagger, this is one very addictive "play me again" track, and some!


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The Goldberg Sisters - When Or Where Or Why.

Background - On May 4th psych-pop artist The Goldberg Sisters will release their new album HOME: A Nice Place To Visit. Known as the musical alter-ego of actor, musician, filmmaker and photographer Adam Goldberg, (and his mythical sister-twin "Celeste") The Goldberg Sisters have shared a new song "Where Or When Or Why."

Movie audiences got to know Goldberg from his performances in films such as Dazed and Confused, Saving Private Ryan, The Hebrew Hammer, A Beautiful Mind, and 2 Days in Paris as well as from equally memorable appearances in TV shows like Friends, Entourage and Fargo. Music fans, however, haven’t always found him so easy to pin down. This year they‘ll have his brilliant new album, HOME: A Nice Place To Visit.

Goldberg recorded the 2009 dream-pop album Eros and Omissions over a six-year period with a variety of musicians, including Steven Drozd of The Flaming Lips. But the pace quickened on the first two albums issued under the Goldberg Sisters moniker, 2011’s self-titled offering and Stranger’s Morning from 2013, on which Goldberg played all the instruments and which was recorded by engineer and longtime collaborator, multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Andrew Lynch (Nav/Attack) in Goldberg’s garage.

Goldberg and Lynch teamed up once again in the garage for the new Goldberg Sisters’ album, HOME: A Nice Place To Visit. Goldberg again did all the instrumentation save for violins and trumpet. Goldberg’s elasticity as a multi-instrumentalist and producer is nothing short of astonishing considering he lacks anything in the way of formal training and didn’t even think of seriously making music until his early 20s. “I started playing drums as a kid,” he recalls. “I played along with songs on the radio but mainly Bowie records.” WEBSITE, TWITTER.

Psych pop is the description and psych pop it is! 'When Or Where Or Why' has an energetic, upbeat musical backdrop, the piano is delightful and the vocals ensure the song stands out, adding melodic hooks and extra vibrancy.

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Sugar Candy Mountain - Split In Two.

Background - Sugar Candy Mountain shares the first track and video for "Split in Two" off their upcoming album. "Split in Two" was produced by Jason Quever of Papercuts and the video was directed by TG Eaton. Do Right is due May 4 on PIAPTK Records.

Part travelogue, part response to the current, turbulent climate, Do Right gives voice to the deeply nested anxiety of modern times attempting to offer a balm.  Nature it seems, is where the band often goes to calibrate it’s moral compass so frequently upended by the daily news-cycle.  Sugar Candy Mountain invites you to join them on this journey singing “There’s a quiet place I go when I need to find my way/ There’s a quiet place inside/ Come on in just knock and a door will open”.

Musically, the band remains rooted in 60’s and 70’s rock, with their signature honey sweet vocals. Do Right leans more heavily on synthesizer than the band’s previous records lending the album a more modern feel.  The album pairs the ephemeral orchestral arrangements of The Beach Boys with the pop sensibility of George Harrison on “All Things Must Pass”.  

Oscillating between the hazy psychedelic pop of Mild High Club, the driving energy of Dungen and the danceable familiarity of The Supremes, Do Right is a perfect cocktail of old and new, imploring the listener to take a ride into the sunset with Sugar Candy Mountain. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.

Atmospheric and yet sprightly 'Split In Two' has dreamy melodic vocals and a soundtrack that adds some swirling vibes, for want of a better expression. It's catchy and imaginative, which is a pretty good combination to start off from.


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Rich Girls - Roxy Rawson - Diā - Be Like Pablo

Rich Girls - Wayne.

Background - Garage/art rock trio Rich Girls share their new track, "Wayne," the second single off their forthcoming debut full-length release, Black City. The album was recorded by Travis Harrison at Serious Business, Brooklyn and Sean Beresford at Blighty Sound, San Francisco. It was mastered by John Greenham at Infrasonic. Black City is due out April 6th via Tricycle Records.

Rich Girls return with a heady new pop sound and nine songs that pull their minimal garage into ambitious new territory. Songwriter Luisa Black unveils a new sonic toolkit, adding vintage synths, dark marimbas and ambitious melodies to the trademark Rich Girls verbed-out sound. The songs are awash in contrasts, veering between aggresssion and tenderness with lyrics about insurrection (“In the Street”), a power ballad about post-addiction love (“Wayne”) and the band’s biggest departure yet, a slurry synth-driven track set to a motorik beat (“Hit”).

Black channels the zeitgeist of heartbreak in “Blood Brother,” a garage rock obit for America. Since their early releases, Rich Girls have pushed against genre, taking a raw garage sound and pulling it into art pop territory. Here Luisa Black’s complex sensibilities are on full display, with an album that swings hard between pop melody and punk rage. Black City is the first full-length from the NYC trio. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.

Just a month after featuring the song 'Hit', Rich Girls return with their second single 'Wayne' from the forthcoming 'Black City' debut album. This time we have a slow and expansive sounding alt rocker, the music is solid and richly layered, the vocals add some melodic hooks as they passionately call out for your attention, bring on the album.

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Roxy Rawson - Rounded Sound.

Background - Bay Area artist and classically trained musician Roxy Rawson has debuted her new single "Rounded Sound". The track comes off of Roxy's forthcoming album Quenching the Kill, dropping on March 23rd via independent release.

Born into a Mormon community in Hitchin, Roxanna Rawson was introduced to music through Church hymns, but first found her feet in Paris where she studied violin and piano at University of Paris VIII. Surrounding herself with local jazz performers, she joined several orchestras and spent much of her time studying classical and baroque styles of music. Rawson found her own voice however, developing a unique vocal style through singing ‘jumping jazz intervals’ on the streets of the French capital. She also joined an African Choir, adding yet another multi-cultural layer to her sound.

Rawson left Paris for London in 2004, and  joined an anti-folk collective by the name of AsYet, working alongside alternative original talents such as William Nein, David Goo, Miss Jo Williams, Fiona Bevan and Left with Pictures. She soon attracted the attention of producer and label owner Al Mobbs (Damon Albarn). A development deal with Sony led to her debut EP Changing Things, released on Ambiguous Records (2009) and the coinciding single "Fingers". Quenching the Kill is Roxy's debut full-length album. FACEBOOK.

In January we shared 'Black Eyed Soup' from Roxy Rawson and today we have 'Rounded Sound' taken from the soon to be released 'Quenching the Kill' album. The vocals are vibrant and delicious, the music is gentle and twist & turns in harmony with the singing, this is different, in a good & perhaps even unique sort of way.

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Diā - Valentine.

Background - Diā is the stunning project of composer and performer, Danielle Birrittella. Her debut EP, Tiny Ocean, released with Manimal Records, features songs produced by Joey Waronker (Beck, REM, Atoms for Peace), Tim Carr (The Americans, HAIM) and Frankie Siragusa (theLAB).

Raised on a Hindu ashram, she sang ceremonial ragas as a child, which led to training and performing as an opera singer throughout the U.S. and Europe. Along these travels, she began experimenting with music and writing song fragments on a ukulele, which was gifted to her by her brother. Diā reminisces how she "would literally sit on the floor of my bathroom and come up with melodies". Encouraging reactions from those close to her, reinforced her musical path.

Diā 's practice as a classically trained opera singer induced an incredibly critical ear. Her influences of classical music, such as Baroque and French Romantics are beautifully infused with modern experimental cinematic folk within her music. With the critical success of her debut EP Tiny Ocean, Diā  is set to release the highly anticipated follow up single ‘Valentine’. Featuring poignant lyricism, with 60’s vintage soundscapes the single creates a moody and ethereal tale of yearning for a lost love. ‘Valentine’ highlights Diā's signature style of lush baroque-pop and cinematic folk.

Diā has found success, being featured in such prestigious outlets as Huffington Post, Wonderland Magazine, The Line of Best Fit and The 405 among others. Diā's previous single ‘Covered in Light’ was used as the official song for the trailer of popular indie film, Newness. FACEBOOK.

Back in October 2016 we featured Diā and the track 'Covered In Light' taken from her 'Tiny Ocean' EP. Fast forward to now and it's a welcome return with the new song 'Valentine' a piece where the music is cleverly arranged providing an imaginative backdrop for some gorgeously melodic and charmingly timeless vocals, it's been worth the wait.


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Be Like Pablo - My Kind Of Girl.

Background - Imagine if The Beach Boys sounded like a Scottish indie band from the 90s. This is Be Like Pablo. The band make hook-laden pop tunes with four-part harmonies, fuzzy guitars and 80s synths. New single My Kind of Girl is a love letter to 70s new wave heroes The Cars and classic pop from the 50s and 60s. Lyrically, it’s a story about falling for someone who others see as unearthly - somebody who’s laughed at for being introverted and different but who is, in actual fact, intelligent, creative and brilliant.

Lyricist Ewen Watson explains further: “It was a straightforward song to write and as a result has a simplistic charm.” Ross Watson, also of the band, describes My Kind of Girl as “our attempt at writing a super concise, to the point, pop song. The style and arrangement is very much influenced by songs from the 50s and 60s, particularly Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.”

Having released their debut album ‘The New Adventures’ in 2014, Be Like Pablo returned last summer with the single ‘There She Is’ and have had support from the likes of NME, Clash, The 405, Drowned In Sound, and many more throughout. They have previously performed at T in the Park and in session on BBC Radio 1 and Radio Scotland and have also had notable airplay from Dermot O’Leary and Steve Lamacq. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.

It's just over a year ago that Be Like Pablo appeared on Beehive Candy and it is a delight to have another chance to feature them this time with 'My Kind Of Girl'. It's powerful, pleasing and just so catchy, if "Scottish Retro Surf Rock" isn't yet an established genre, then surely this qualifies as the starting point.


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Team Picture - Long Branch - Leon III - Frankiie

Team Picture - (I Want Your) Life Hack.

Background - Leeds-based six-piece, Team Picture have just shared their new single ‘(I Want Your) Life Hack’ released through Big Dumb Music Ltd. In line with sharing the new single the band have announced details of their Matt Peel-produced (previously Autobahn, Pulled Apart By Horses, Eagulls) 7-track mini-album ‘Recital’ (via Big Dumb Music), due for release on June 1, 2018. The band will support the release with a full UK tour throughout May and June, taking in festival dates at The Great Escape and Liverpool Sound City, before headlining The Shacklewell Arms, London on May 31, 2018 and The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds on June 1, 2018 - their largest headline show to date - full dates and ticket links below.

Split into two contrasting halves of three songs with a segue track running through the middle, ‘Recital’ is in part attuned to the band’s sagacious take on pop whilst also touching on their temperament for caustic guitar. Released earlier this year, ’(I Have a) Little Secret’ set the tempo for the first half of proceedings whereas new single, ‘(I Want Your) Life Hack’, finds the band delving into their fondness for post-punk sounds. Speaking about the new single, guitarist Josh says: “This is a Talking Heads song from an alternate dimension, performed by a bizarro-world version of the band, who have half the talent, twice the fuzz pedals, and are fronted by David Byrne's fictional idiot brother Malcolm.”

Since forming in 2016, Team Picture have earned praise at Radio 1, BBC Introducing and secured multiple spins at 6Music with support from Huw Stephens, Tom Robinson and Steve Lamacq, as well as ticking off support slots with the likes of Parquet Courts, Psychic Ills, The Orielles and Ulrika Spacek. In addition, the band have performed at the likes of Bluedot Festival (along with Warpaint and the Pixies), the Wire-curated Drill Festival and Manchester’s Neighbourhood Festival, as well as selling out their own curated ‘Du The Katman’ night at Leeds’ Hyde Park Book Club. A full UK headline tour including festival dates will take place throughout May and June, including stops at Liverpool Sound City, Brighton’s Great Escape and a headline show at London’s The Shacklewell Arms. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.

UK Tour Dates:
5 May | Sound City, Liverpool
6 May | Hit The North, Newcastle
6 May | Sounds From the Other City, Salford
17-19 May | The Great Escape, Brighton
31 May | The Shacklewell Arms, London
1 June | The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
2 June | Long Division, Wakefield
4 June | Hug & Pint, Glasgow
5 June | Polar Bear, Hull (Club Show)
6 June | Jimmy’s, Manchester.

A booming drum beat followed by a determined rhythm opens '(I Want Your) Life Hack' a creative song where power and eccentricity come together, in something that might be described as post punk or not as the case might be, whatever this piece is, it's wonderful!


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Long Branch - Lilacs.

Background - Toronto/Honey Harbour band Long Branch releases their debut full-length album, Found the Setting Sun, May 25, 2018 on boutique label DWR, home to Michelle McAdorey's Polaris Prize long-listed album, Into Her Future.

Long Branch recorded Found the Setting Sun at Noble Street Studios throughout 2016-17 in a series of sessions helmed by Executive Producer Gavin Brown. Co-produced by Long Branch and Shaddy Roman, the album gathers ten songs from the group's repertoire, and expands on the sound the band first introduced to audiences with their self-released 7" single, "Lucky Me/Just in Case" in 2015.

Dead leaves, bare trees, redemption, and resurrection are embodied in the fuzz-fueled guitars, violin, and vocal harmonies of Long Branch's sound. Formed in 2014, the band is stacked five-high with members from beloved Canadian combos, Adaptor 45, Chicken Milk, The Good Family, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, and Venus Cures All.

Long Branch's sound emerges from a solid guitar bedrock, with haunting violin voicings and the layered harmonies of the band's four formidable frontwomen supported by nuanced, driving rhythms. Introspective, moody, and evocative, Long Branch songs are narratives of overcoming hardship. Yet the songs are hopeful: A whisper of sadness appears one moment only to be blown away by grit and determination. FACEBOOK.

'Lilacs' is a charming rocker, where the guitars seemingly dual gently with each other as the vocals add passion and additional melody, all delivered with style, grace and just a little rock swagger.

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Leon III - Between the Saddle & the Ground.

Background - The principle members of Leon III (Leon The Third), Andy Stepanian and Mason Brent, span the space between Houston, TX and Richmond, VA, but their debut album reaches into a different kind of space, with psychedelic flourishes supported by alt-country and Americana tones their self-titled album, slated for release on Cornelius Chapel Records May 11th, looks to contemporaries like Khruangbin as much as it does to the Grateful Dead. With a rich cast of players including drummer Brian Kotzur (Bobby Bare, Silver Jews), pianist Tony Crow (B.J. Thomas, Andrew Bird), singer Jordan Caress (Laura Cantrell, Justin Townes Earle), guitarist Chris Scruggs (grandson of bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs), and pedal steel wizard Pete Finney (Justin Townes Earle, Kelly Willis), who joined with storied producer Mark Nevers (Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Lambchop, Silver Jews, Yo La Tengo) to help add texture and definition to these already sharply rendered songs. Leon III was the last album to be finished, top to bottom, in Nevers' Beech House Studios in Nashville before it was torn down.

Stepanian says that the first single "Between the Saddle and the Ground" "ties directly to a quote from some British history scholar from the 1500’s named William Camden;  “Betwixt the stirrup and the ground, Mercy I ask'd; mercy I found”.  I came across this line while reading annotated lyrics to the Grateful Dead song “China Doll”.  It was cited as influencing the line “yesterday I begged you before I hit the ground” from that song.   I was instantly intrigued with the concept implied in both lines - that it’s never too late for redemption and salvation and that it might even be found in the split second between the saddle and the ground presumably after being shot off of your horse.   I built the song around that idea.   Not the horses, but the redemption and salvation part.  I even dropped a line from China Doll “tell me what you done it for?” into the chorus as an homage or small thank you to lyricist Robert Hunter who wrote a large portion of the Dead’s lyrics. There is a lot of Grateful Dead behind the curtain of the entire record."

Leon III's album takes you for a ride, checking out “From These Heights,” a tune that falls in and out of focus like trying to read your phone after a few too many cocktails, woozy with the sound of pedal steel and the thrum of a mandolin. Right next door, “Paper Eye” meanders into psychedelic territory with the pulse of a synthesizer rubbing suggestively up against the sweep of a string section and some dub-like production touches. In addition, Leon III gives their own lysergic spin on “Jesus,” one of the signature tracks on The Velvet Underground’s 1969 self-titled third album, and find fresh insight in the song’s spiritual pleadings.

Taken as a whole, Leon III’s debut is a multi-dimensional ride through ten thematically interconnected and musically rich tunes. The songs are filled with dark corners and shadows but still have their share of sing along, anthemic moments. If Stepanian and Brent wanted to break from their alt-country past, they have clearly done so without wholly abandoning the idiom. In the process, they have paved the way for a diverse and varied future for Leon III. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.

There is something of a southern rock meets alt rock feeling coursing through 'Between the Saddle & the Ground' a song engulfed in richness and passion, and some of that timeless rock & roll organic beauty.


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Frankiie - Glory Me.

Background - Sometimes it takes time apart to regain an appreciation for what you have. At least, that’s what Frankiie experienced during the winter of 2016/17.

After three years, one EP, several tours, and a debunked reality TV show pilot, we began to question the direction in which we, as a group, were heading. Frankiie comments "Naturally, we began drifting towards individual interests. One of us started a fashion line while another released a solo EP. One became a school teacher, and the other moved to a small island community to work and surf. Despite these changes, it didn’t take long before our paths crossed once more – this time, with a renewed zest for our musical and adventure-seeking bonds".

Frankiie spent the past year writing new material and working alongside Jason Corbett (Actors) at Vancouver’s Jacknife Sound to finish up their debut full-length “Glory Me” and the forthcoming record’s first single/video. contemplates death, one’s self and the mysterious beauty of life.

Is our experience of death a true reflection of how we lived? Like many tracks on the album, it explores the questions of meaning and purpose – feelings that heavily shadowed our lives before we took time for self-discovery. FACEBOOK.

'Glory Me' is a glorious song (excuse the pun) with hints of sixties all girl group splendour and a modern lush musical arrangement. It sounds like taking time out has been a good move, especially if you can return with music of this calibre.


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