Fortuna POP! - Colour Film (featuring Caroline Brooks of Good Lovelies)

Fortuna POP! - You Can Hide Your Love Forever.

Background - Indiepop institution Fortuna POP! quit the scene last year amid much gnashing of teeth from discerning music fans, going out in a blaze of glory with five days of sold out London shows by artists spanning their twenty year tenure, before label owner Sean Price fled Brexit Britain for a new life in Tokyo, Japan.

That would have been it for Fortuna POP!, were it not for the label’s Jukebox 45s Singles Club. With one final single still owed to subscribers, Price saw the opportunity to do something special for what would be the very last release on the label. Taking one of the label’s best-loved releases, Comet Gain’s classic 2001 single “You Can Hide Your Love Forever”, as his starting point, contributions were solicited from Fortuna POP! bands past and present for a Band Aid-style cover version.

Over twenty bands contributed, with the music recorded by a crack band featuring Amos Memon of Fanfarlo (drums), Emma Kupa of Mammoth Penguins (bass), Laura Kovic of Tigercats (keys) and Paul Rains of Allo Darlin’, Ben Phillipson of Comet Gain and Sam Ayres of Flowers (all guitar) at Soup Studios in London. Mikey Collins of Allo Darlin’ then recorded percussion at Big Jelly studios in Ramsgate, and The Victorian Horns aka Gary Olson (trumpet) and Kyle Forrester (sax) of The Ladybug Transistor put down their brass parts at Gary’s Marlborough Farms Studio in New York.

Vocals were recorded in various studios and kitchens around the world, with Amelia Fletcher of Tender Trap, Daniel Ellis of Martha, Lan McArdle and Owen Williams of Joanna Gruesome, Adam Todd of The Spook School, Bill Botting and Elizabeth Morris of Allo Darlin’, Jeff Greene and Dan Greene of The Butterflies Of Love, Lisa Horton and Iain Ross of Bearsuit, Katherine Whitaker of Evans The Death, Silvi Wersing from Chorusgirl, Helen King of Shrag, Rachel Kenedy of Flowers, Pete Dale of Milky Wimpshake, Darren Hayman, Pete Astor and Simon Love all contributing. Giles Barrett at Soup Studios then made sense of it all and mixed the track.

The result is a fantastic, uplifting indiepop anthem that’s sure to be lifting the lids off indie clubs around the world this summer and for many years to come. Oh, and there’s a B-side too, in which DC Feck of Thee Comet Gain International Psychedelic Pop Conspiracy may have had more than a hand. TWITTER.

'You Can Hide Your Love Forever' is an absolute feast of all things good, indie pop style. Despite the large number of talented contributors, the song has clarity and definition throughout. Feel free to sing along and enjoy the buzz.

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Colour Film (featuring Caroline Brooks of Good Lovelies) - Open Road.

Background - Music for your mind’s eye. With songs that play like home movies rich in imagery and characters, Colour Film is the stage name of Hamilton, ON's Matthew de Zoete. The moniker embodies his idea of songs as little films, where a combination of characters, stories, and emotions create a visual element in the listener's mind.

His latest release Super 8 blends pop and folk to set six of these cinematic songs in an atmospheric soundscape conjured with producer Les Cooper (Jill Barber, Good Lovelies). Imagine Nick Drake cheering up a bit and meeting Beck.

Since 2006, de Zoete (pronounced "duh-ZOO-tuh") has released three previous albums under his own name and toured throughout North America and Europe. He has shared the stage with acts such as Serena Ryder, Great Lake Swimmers, and Whitehorse, and he's performed at festivals including North by Northeast, Canadian Music Week, JUNOfest, and Stukafest (Netherlands). TWITTER.

Smooth, gentle and uncluttered 'Open Road' drifts along with an acoustic backdrop and some gorgeous duel vocals. Folk pop of sorts, the song is accompanied by a fine video that adds a little extra imagination to a refreshing piece.


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Grace Inspace - The Brother Brothers - Value Void

Grace Inspace - Uncertain, CA.

Background - English-American musician Grace Inspace has announced new single Uncertain, CA, which follows recent releases Watersource and Tame Teens, and is out now through AWAL.

Continuing her unique “Protest Pop” sound, Uncertain, CA is as fictional as it is true to life and addresses the uncertainty of living in America. Produced by David Peters and featuring Jane’s Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins, Grace takes things down a notch on Uncertain, CA, letting her vocals do the talking with a relaxed melody mixed with gentle steel drums. Grace says;

“Uncertain, CA - it’s a make-believe town, a microcosm of the state. I’m wandering through the town, the classic western stranger, the outsider, witness to this place’s constituencies and landscapes and seeing it is a land of topographical and cultural extremes - politically divided, deserted, overcrowded, majestically beautiful, scary, Paleolithic, ultra-modern. In California we are comfortable with the apocalypse and I think it’s because we know to call it by its other name, Rebirth, as well. Ultimately, like the fictitious town and very real state its named for, this apocalyptic song is optimistic.”

A lyricist and singer but also a drummer at heart, Grace plays drums and sings in a California trio Apocalyptic Kitchen. Many of Grace’s current songs began life as beats that she would play on her drum kit while singing melody lines dreamt up “on long window gazes, hours of window gazes, riding shotgun up and down the interstates in a big, lifted Dodge truck loaded with cannabis, survival equipment and guitars”. Her broad sound fuses electronic, country, hard rock and pop to create something that is musically unique and unequivocally memorable, all the while expressing matters close to her heart.

Grace has been working on two forthcoming EPs, produced in part by John King of the Dust Brothers and featuring Steve Perkins of Jane’s Addiction as well as Nick McCabe of The Verve, and will be announcing further music soon. FACEBOOK. 

The vocals are melodic, purposeful and hold a simmering level of emotion on 'Uncertain, CA' a gently paced pop song accompanied by a thoughtful musical backdrop, the steel drums giving the piece an additional layer of attractive hooks.

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The Brother Brothers - Frankie.

Background - Brooklyn-based Americana darlings The Brother Brothers have announced their debut album Some People I Know to be released October 19 on Compass Records. The Brother Brothers will embark upon a full U.S. tour this fall, including an extensive support run with I'm With Her and an album release show in Brooklyn on October 19 at Union Pool. Dates are listed below.

Identical twins David and Adam Moss honor a contemporary dissonance with the nostalgic tenderness of another time. Their stunning songcraft blends masterfully gentle guitar, cello and five-string fiddle with the sublime sort of two-part harmonies only brothers can carry. With palpably fraternal stage presence and wonderfully familiar heart, The Brother Brothers have earned repute among today's rising artists, having recently opened for Big Thief, Lake Street Dive, Shakey Graves and more.

More about the song: "Frankie" delves into David's longtime neighborhood of Red Hook in Brooklyn, the members of its community and the tumultuous development it's endured. His melodic testimony sings like a microcosm of problematic economic shift, both in NYC and across the country. In David's words:

I've looked upon the Statue of Liberty, and cherished the idea that someone can come to these shores and have the freedom to make a life unspoiled by an oppressive government or strong handed oppressor. But in her shadow I've seen money take precedent over the things I find most valuable: community, conversation, art, expression. These are the things that make us American and vibrant, but they are not things that allow us to pay our rent or buy property when faced with people who place more value in economics and finance ... value hardly ever begets values."  WEBSITE.

From the opening chords on 'Frankie' I was engrossed. The music has everything a classic Americana song needs to make it special, the vocals and exquisite harmonies take the piece even further, this really is a fabulous and timeless piece.


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Value Void - Babeland.

Background - London trio Value Void announce their debut album Sentimental, due out on 26 October via Tough Love, released on limited edition green vinyl, CD and download. Value Void are an offbeat proposition. A startling bolt from nowhere, their debut album Sentimental  is a collection of luxuriantly deep, shag pile-warm, analogue proto-punk. Paz Maddio and Marta Zabala grew up with each other in Azul, a small town south of Buenos Aires, where the seeds of this project were sown. They collaborate in the same way that Elton John and Bernie Taupin wrote songs, with Marta penning lyrics then taking them to Paz to spin them in to music.

The single "Babeland" was one of those songs. As Paz explains; "it was one of the songs we made while Marta was living in London and I was living in Azul, Argentina. So basically it was one of the first songs we made before we started playing". Upon deciding to flesh the songs out for a full length, they returned to TVT studios with Euan in April this year, tweaking the mix and laying down two new songs: “Mind,” a down tempo lullaby/lament in which the band track into the territory of early St. Vincent, Grouper or Julianna Barwick, supported by a raw dirge that blossoms in feedback, and “The Deluge,” which is also reflective but structured by a roaming curiosity and big chorus seeking road movie oblivion.

Marta first came to London on tour with the super-slanted art punks Los Cripis, where she met Luke Tristram (of Cop, Score and Owner) who released their record via his Unwork label. Paz followed to join them and scrape rent from the city's bars and cafes. 

By early 2017 the three of them were holed up in practice rooms, Luke adding Evens-esque basslines that laid concrete to their minimalist guitar-lead pop songs. Originally as WVS, they started playing shows with bands that had once orbited the tiny Power Lunches venue in Hackney and, since its death, were now to be found on bills at DIY Space, New River Studios and other dusty successors of its autonomous, cheap drink, creative-friendly spirit. 

In common with bands like Shopping, rudimentary surroundings and resources fed into nonetheless ambitious, hooky work. Songs such as “Teen For Him,” a self-effacing lark importing strains of Leslie Gore and the Velvets; the minimal, Guided by Voices-reminiscent chug of “Bariloche” and “Cupids Bow,” an up tempo, Breeders-esque standout, were lynch pins of a pummeling, inspired set. BANDCAMP.

'Babeland' is an uncomplicated and immediately likable song. Value Void's music is refreshing and engaging, it could be described in part as minimalist, I would suggest it's more a case of "less is more" as passion and emotion adds to the sound.

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Ace of Wands - Jan Mittendorp

Ace of Wands - 10,000 Feet.

Background - Drawing on a background of rock and roll, classical violin training and folk music, we expand our songwriting to incorporate facets of cinematic soundscapes, pop melodies and interlocking guitars and vocals.

Our debut single, “Grown From Good,” included a download code card embedded with wildflower seeds and accompanied by a glass jar of full of soil. The wildflower download cards encouraged our audience to engage with their environment and communities while consuming music. “10,000 Feet,” our new single and video, is being released today as a digital download, and is accompanied by an 8″ balsa wood glider. We are particularly interested in the idea of play as a philosophy by which to engage our music and our community. Facilitating an audience’s ability to move beyond the passive act of listening to the music is a central component of everything that we create together.

Filmed and directed by Samuel Scott, “10,000 Feet” is the second instalment in a trilogy of videos that carry themes of physical and spiritual transformation. This video introduces audiences to Anna Mernieks, our lead guitarist. Continuing the visual elements of Canadian landscapes, fire and fabric, “10,000 Feet” sees a change in the season from summer (as previously seen in the “Grown from Good” visuals) into winter. We hiked across a frozen lake, carrying 100-pound bags of equipment, to film the video. All costume components were built by hand (including the masks, capes, prop books and fabric entity.)

“10,000 Feet” introduces a character called the Lioness, and we watch as she completes her transformation from woman into animal. The Lioness will return in the trilogy’s final video, set for release this coming fall. Each of the videos will see our band travel through different landscapes and seasons, chronicling their journeys of self-discovery, self-hatred and self-love. TWITTER.

The vocals have something of an ethereal feel that builds into something more powerful as as the chorus unfolds. '10,000 Feet' musical backdrop is detailed yet expansive, and all to soon the song is over.


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Jan Mittendorp - St James Infirmary.

Background - KuvVer Records is a new sub label of Black and Tan Records. It is especially created to release refreshing cover versions of well known songs in any musical style. This is their first release.

Guitar player Jan Mittendorp recently started re-visiting songs that he hasn’t played for years. Here is his current version from one of the first jazz/blues songs that he ever played on a guitar (apr 45 years ago). 

It’s an instrumental version of this classic song with a touch of electro.

This new single is released digital and available on all major download and streaming platforms. LABEL.

This is a refined instrumental cover of 'St James Infirmary' with some fine guitar musicianship. It's a subtle performance that allows the natural blues feeling to come through, and the tiniest addition of some electro rounds things off beautifully.

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Armies - Mothers

Armies - Young Criminals.

Background - There's no voice quite like Dave Gutter's, a weathered coffee-and-cigarettes growl that can turn vulnerable to vicious and crackles like a vintage Fender amp when he screams. 

That voice is the result of the thousands of shows over the last 20 years fronting Rustic Overtones, the funky, psychedelic Maine rock institution that, to a certain crowd, are as synonymous with the state as Moxie soda and going "upta camp."

Gutter pays the bills as a songwriter; he's had tracks on recent albums by Aaron Neville, Tedeschi Trucks Band and in the Netflix show Narcos. His latest project, Armies, started as one of those gigs when he was hired to write a series of duets that were to be used in commercials and films. 

The project fell apart, so Gutter took his poppiest songs ever into darker directions. He teamed up with friend Anna Lombard, whose understated, ethereal vocals defined records by folk group Gypsy Tailwind. WEBSITE.

With their new album (Armies II) due for release next month, it's high time to feature the video for 'Young Criminals' released just a few weeks ago. Having had the chance to listen to all eleven tracks, the fact that I am a little late to the table with this song, is I would venture to say, irrelevant. The simple fact is, 'Armies II' is rammed full of  indie soul pop gems, fabulous duel vocals, and so many good vibes, that Beehive Candy would not be doing their collective duty, to let this album pass by!


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Mothers - Pink.

Background - “’Pink’ deals with the passage of time,” explains Mothers lead singer and songwriter Kristine Leschper of their new song from upcoming sophomore album Render Another Ugly Method, coming out September 7 on ANTI- Records. “It describes a series of memories within cars - cars of my childhood, recent past, and present - and subsequent feelings of childlike removal and helplessness. The video aims to reciprocate these three vignettes of idling, through limited actions and minimalist set design divided into three parts.”

Now based in Philadelphia, Mothers originated in Athens, Georgia where Leschper was attending printmaking school. In 2016 they released their debut album When You Walk A Long Distance You Are Tired to great critical acclaim.

When You Walk also kicked off a sprawling eight months of touring across the US, UK and Europe, as the group honed their take on left-of-center indie rock with an explosive and surprising live show that displayed how forceful the songs translated to a full-band setting. Influences on this album came from new music Leschper explored while on that tour, including polyrhythmic groups like T.P. Orchestre Poyly-Rhythmo de Cotonou and Lifetones, as well as rhythmically dense Fred Frith records like Gravity and The Technology Of Tears.

"The first time I heard Mothers I knew it was a band that I wanted to work with,” said John Congleton (St. Vincent, Angel Olsen, The War on Drugs), who produced Render Another Ugly Method. “So special and idiosyncratic, it is impossible to ignore their point of view. I loved making the record and seeing them work." FACEBOOK.

My initial description for 'Pink' (after the first listen) was seven minute plus of rapidly paced sonic intrigue. Then I reflected and thought that sounded vague and a tad pretentious. Another play and the vocals became more apparent as a key driver of this song, particularly as they drift slowly acting as a  juxtaposition to the rhythmic backdrop. Then I bothered to read the promo material that tells us that the piece deals with "the passage of time", and cue my own personal light bulb coming on. In that context and from an artistic point of view, a very fine song becomes an incredible song, or does that also sound a little to pretentious, if it does, I still stand by it....


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