Foxton Kings - BlackieBlueBird - GRDNS

Foxton Kings - Burn.

Following on from their single Money Money, Perth's Foxton Kings have added yet another smouldering rock song to their arsenal with the fittingly-titled Burn. Full of rhythmic swagger, Burn oozes confidence and charm as it delivers a banquet of meaty riffs and catchy melodies. 

Honing the turbulent, all-consuming emotion of falling in love with a complete stranger, Burn sounds as enchantingly lustful as it should.

Produced by Andy Lawson, Burn is taken from Foxton Kings' 2019 EP offering With Love. Full of yearning and desire, Burn pays homage to the age-old ache of unrequited romance... a song written for lonely lovers everywhere.

The combination of Joel Stevens, Cliff Johnson, Dane Koek and Alex Barker brings out the best in all of them. The band's chemistry, both in writing and performance, is their biggest asset, and reveals itself in everything they do. Bringing pop sensibilities to stirring rock songs without diluting them, Foxton Kings will be showcasing their new material this November with a series of single launches across Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. FACEBOOK.

'Burn' is a feisty, high energy piece with plenty of rock and roll attitude coursing through it's veins. A sub three minute blast, this is a mighty tease for their E.P.

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BlackieBlueBird - Flying Too Close To The Ground.
   
BlackieBlueBird are the vocalist Heidi Lindahl and the composer Nils Lassen; together they create delicate torch songs of reverb and echo that captivate the listener with resonating guitars, lap steels, mandolins and a choir of mermaids that sporadically embraces Heidi’s golden voice. The echoes of love and longing, hellos and deceiving goodbyes live within her unique and clear vibrato.

Ghost River symbolizes a subterranean river of memories that flows beneath our cities while on the surface we live our lives behind walls, among buildings and clamorous streets, ever pursuing our hopes and dreams. Unaware that deep within we are influenced by the Ghost River, we fulfill what lies in our destinies as tiny twigs floating along the flow of a gentle water stream.

Resembling a dream, Ghost River is an album that dwells in a drumless, cinematic atmosphere filled with romantic soundscapes of yearning desire and melodic choruses that caress the ear in a liberating and cathartic way.

All songs are written and produced by Nils Lassen. The album is a cooperation between T&E Records, Poisonic, and afmusic. Ghost River will be released on Vinyl, CD and as a download on 23rd of November. BANDCAMP.

The third of twelve tracks on the forthcoming 'Ghost River' album is the delectable song 'Flying Too Close To The Ground' a piece that well demonstrates the sheer creative quality that is present in every song.

This is a fabulously refined collection of music, with some beautifully crafted material that might be termed dream pop, although the depth and sophistication of the album doesn't feel conveyed enough through just that one label. If the featured track appeals to you, then make sure you you check out the album, it really is that good!

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GRDNS - Hydraulic Lover.

Bradford’s resident desert rockers GRDNS showcase Hydraulic Lover, a masterful slice of psych-pop taken from their debut EP, released via UK label Dance To The Radio later this month.

Marking their boldest exploration into psychedelia to date, the band’s newest effort builds on widespread plaudits throughout the blogosphere (DIY, Clash, Dork), debut festival appearances at Live At Leeds/Gold Sounds and numerous support slots alongside fellow rising acts including Gengahr, Husky Loops and whenyoung.

Discussing their upcoming release, frontman Jacob Lyons stated: “Hydraulic Lover is about accepting all the bad attitudes, stupid shit and low vibe activities you get up to when you’re young. It’s the idea that song people treat each other like sexbots and the action of love is more hydraulic than passionate”.

Produced by James Kenosha (Pulled Apart By Horses, Dinosaur Pile-Up, Rhodes) GRDNS’ Hydraulic Lover is out 15th November via Dance To The Radio and will be available on all digital platforms. GRDNS is Jacob Lyons (vocals/guitar), Sam Gledhill (guitar), Cameron Harrison (bass) and John Fitzpatrick (drums)

Live Date: 15 Nov – Salt Beer Factory, Shipley (supporting PINS) TWITTER.

GRDNS are clearly doing something right especially if you measure that, by the number of appearances they have made on Beehive Candy this year, with the latest track 'Hydraulic Lover' notching them up to four features since February. Opening with some fuzzy guitar riffs, the band are soon into their vibrant and catchy alt rock style with those gorgeous psychedelic overtones adding some real edge.

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Rude Audio - Buffalo Tom

Rude Audio - Rumble on Arab St

London electronic music outfit Rude Audio have announced 'Rumble on Arab St' as the final single off their new 'Rude Redux' EP, accompanied by a video created by Robert Bell.

This new release sees the band refine their trademark sound, fusing their love of woozy dub with throbbing electronics. Here, house music, flecked with Arab and Indian vibes, also shamelessly cavorts with dub. These five tracks go down easy and brings you into sci-fi trance mode.

Ahead of this release, Rude Audio previewed 'To The Sun', complete with a new virtual reality-inspired video, directed by Ali Ingle, as well as 'To The Half Moon', for which Robert Bell also created the video.

Earlier Andrew Weatherall, premiered several tracks from the new EP on his radio show. This EP appeal to fans of Weatherall himself, as well as The Orb, Future Sound of London, Duncan Gray, Adrian Sherwood, On-U-Sound, Hot Chip, and Jagwar Ma.

Based in South London, Rude Audio is a collective with a history of putting on fantastic underground parties, releasing the occasional dubby Balearic opus, engineering for the disparate likes of Paul Weller, Lemon Jelly and Royal Blood and generally mooching about anywhere that doesn’t have bouncers or operate a dress code. WEBSITE.

We shared 'To The Sun' from the 'Rude Redux' E.P. back in August and commented at the time "If dub or electronic music in any shape or size is of interest to you, then dive head first into Rude Audio's music, your in for a very pleasant musical journey". 'Rumble on Arab St' the final single from the collection, I would suggest confirms that our comments regarding Rude Audio's music were reasonable to say the least.


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Buffalo Tom - Overtime.

Ahead of their forthcoming European tour, which starts in Copenhagen on 27 November, Buffalo Tom share the new video for "Overtime", a song that appeared on their recent album Quiet and Peace, out now on Schoolkids Records.

The video was directed by Rachel Lichtman from Network77.com (an absurdist music-and-comedy sketch web series). It was edited by drummer Tom Maginnis' daughter Marlena.

Singer-guitarist Bill Janovitz explains more about the video: "The idea came from the song lyric. Rachel wanted to depict a real woman at various points in her life, from childhood into motherhood. She had some of her own Super 8 footage of her mom Susan. When Rachel loaded it with the music, it just seemed to synch up perfectly. There was this footage of her mom from childhood to motherhood, all Super 8, which has to be a fairly rare case for someone of that generation.

So it is all real vintage footage of one person's pivot points, from young childhood to young adulthood. Also Tom’s daughter Marlena Maginnis edited the video, so its all in the family!"

Quiet and Peace is a compelling 11-song set that finds the trio—singer-guitarist Bill Janovitz, bassist-vocalist Chris Colbourn and drummer Tom Maginnis—simultaneously mining their best-known sonic elements while breaking new ground on emotionally resonant new tunes such as "All Be Gone," "Roman Cars," "Freckles" and "CatVMouse."  Buffalo Tom's first collection since 2011's Skins, Quiet and Peace was mixed by John Agnello (Kurt Vile, Sonic Youth, The Hold Steady) and marks the band's first collaboration with producer and fellow Boston alt-rock legend David Minehan, renowned ex-leader of the Neighborhoods. WEBSITE.

European Tour Dates:
Tue 27 Nov - Copenhagen, DK - Pumpehuset
Thu 29 Nov - Berlin, DE - Bi Nuu
Sun 2 Dec - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso
Tue 4 Dec - Bristol, UK - Fleece
Wed 5 Dec - London, UK - Electric Ballroom
Thu 6 Dec - Birmingham, UK - Institute 2
Sat 8 Dec - Eindhoven, HOLLAND - Come as You Are Effenaar

'Overtime' typifies the sheer quality of Buffalo Tom's music, in this case as Americana and Alt Rock seemingly merge together beautifully. The video makes for a fine companion.


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The Arthur Brothers - Grascals - Kidsmoke - Henry Jamison

The Arthur Brothers - Flawless.

The Arthur Brothers began life as a recording project and quickly grew into an artistic alliance centered around the biological brothers Matt and Danny Arthur and the producer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist J. C. Wright. Their music is inspired by a mutual obsession for inventive song-craft and a cross-generational love of classic albums with dramatic, bold and intriguing productions.

Driven by a devotion to the recording process and a passionate desire to make a record full of mystery, melody, diversity and depth - the Arthurs and Wright, along with a coterie of talented contributors have been on a long and challenging creative expedition. 

The Arthur Brothers’ second release is a song of icy emotion and heartfelt soul searching about the complexities of broken love and human fallibility. The regretful and remorseful narrative plays out with Matt Arthur's tortured, distorted vocal set into a mountainous and cinematic backdrop of dark majesty that conjures up images of Himalayan vistas and arctic landscapes.

Cavernous drums, moody pianos, visceral guitars, and the ominous drones of accordions, harmoniums and drunken trombones all punctuated by the haunting backing vocals of J. C. Wright and Danny Arthur. ‘Flawless’ is out now on ClearLight Records / Declared Goods. TWITTER.

There is something quite expansive and dramatic about 'Flawless'. The second single (we shared their first in September), The Arthur Brothers create an imaginative atmosphere with stirring harmonies, mysterious vocals and a powerful soundtrack, two songs in and they are firmly on our radar. 

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Grascals - Heartbreak Hall of Fame.

The award-winning Grascals bring a new single from their forthcoming album with the song “Heartbreak Hall Of Fame.” Smooth but driving with a classic sound, “Heartbreak Hall of Fame” merges vintage Country with modern Bluegrass in just the right way, a combination the Grascals do so well. Written by Larry Joe Cox, Ray Edwards and Dicky Minor, it tells the story of unrequited love and a man whose suffering is endured through this bitter lament. “Somewhere in the record books, There will be your name. And a list of all the hearts you broke while you played your cheatin’ game”

Lead vocals are performed by the band’s young, talked-about singer John Bryan with sterling Grascals harmonies by the recognized voice of Terry Eldredge and the resonant baritone of Terry Smith. “Heartbreak Hall of Fame” is the most recent single from this band’s upcoming release that follows the success of their 2017 release, Before Breakfast.

Great musicians will always find a way to make good music, but for great musicians to make great music, they must form a bond – one that, more often than not, goes beyond the purely musical to the personal. For The Grascals, that bond has been forged at the intersection of personal friendships, shared professional resumes and an appreciation for the innovative mingling of bluegrass and country music that has been a hallmark of the Nashville scene for more than forty years. WEBSITE.

We don't feature that much traditional country music on Beehive Candy however 'Heartbreak Hall of Fame' has something special about it and works for me. I suppose the modern Bluegrass element is what does the trick for me, that and the superb musicianship that is impossible to ignore, and the characterful vocals.


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Kidsmoke -  Rising Sun.

Welsh dream-pop outfit Kidsmoke share their urgent new single Rising Sun, the first from their upcoming album expected next year. The track is a pulsating psychedelic journey, spatially and sonically.

Produced by Bill Ryder-Jones and Russ Hayes, Rising Sun reveals a raw, driven and far-flung sound with an unwavering energy, with incorporating influences from My Bloody Valentine’s Suesfine. With lyrics of fortitude and resilience combined with dreamy vocals and harmonies, the band throwback to their indie heritage.

Both the music and lyrics showcase the strength of Kidsmoke’s sound: ‘The first two lines I wrote for Rising Sun were ‘I don’t want to follow’ and ‘I feel your love” describes frontman Lance Williams, ‘I wanted the song to be centred around those lyrics, so I started thinking about how they could be linked somehow. The song ended up being about pushing against what other people expect of you, even if that pressure is coming from the people you are closest to.’

The waves made by Kidsmoke’s shimmering brand of indie-pop do not stop in their native North Wales. With a sync-feature on Charlie Brooker’s Netflix series Black Mirror, they burst into 2018 with single Sister Sadness (named one of Steve Lamacq’s ‘6Music Recommends’ tracks of the year), were featured as The Sunday Times’ ‘Breaking Act’, supported Gaz Coombes and were invited by Robert Smith to play his Meltdown Festival in support of The Joy Formidable.

The band have spent the summer in the studio with long-time producer Russ Hayes, and recording with Bill Ryder-Jones, for their forthcoming debut album expected next year. TWITTER.

'Rising Sun' is our second song feature for Kidsmoke following on from 'Sister Sadness' which graced our pages back in February this year. This is more of a refreshing indie rocker musically, however the dream pop sensibilities are present through the melodic and engaging vocals and harmonies.

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Henry Jamison - Boys.

Henry Jamison’s songcraft has been praised as being “written like the Great American Novel. He crafts his lyrics with metaphor, juxtaposition, and a certain poeticism resonant of vagabond folk heroes or members of the literary canon” (Billboard), and Henry will prove that to be true ten-fold on his upcoming album ‘Gloria Duplex’ (out Feb. 8, 2019 on Akira Records).

The new album, which was produced by Thomas Bartlett (Sufjan Stevens, The National), and features strings by Rob Moose (Bon Iver, Arcade Fire, Phoebe Bridgers) and mixing by Patrick Dillet (Rhye, David Byrne), creates a lush and enveloping environment for the Burlington, VT musical bard to hold a magnifying glass to the topic of masculinity in 2018.

Henry Jamison has just released “Boys” the second single from ‘Gloria Duplex’ which finds him exploring the ways in which boys are indoctrinated into one-dimensional men. “The crux of this song is contained in the line ‘we used to feel our rage just like the sea, now we get it on an installment plan” he explains.

“I'm talking about myself and I'm talking about the repression that many men unknowingly experience today, that is both a cause and a result of an insatiable drive to prove ourselves. What could our vital forces yield if we weren't taught to stem them off into needless power games almost from our first breath? I don't know, but I'm willing to guess that it wouldn't be the insane "race to the bottom" in which we're now engaged.”

Elsewhere on the album, Jamison can be found sitting in a boardwalk bar drinking whiskey while pondering emotional repression, reflecting on the socio-economic divide of our culture while watching a group of chummy, Ivy League students ride a train out of NYC, and detailing overt expressions of masculinity lived out through a game of Grand Theft Auto. FACEBOOK. 

It has been a while since we last featured Henry Jamison an artist who has consistently impressed Beehive Candy. The new single 'Boys' is gentle and gorgeous, with absorbing lyrics delivered with natural feeling, and the musical backdrop is soft and yet sublime.

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Noctorum - Beans on Toast - Wovoka Gentle

Noctorum - Piccadilly Circus In The Rain.

Noctorum recently announced the impending release of their fourth album 'The Afterlife' - the duo's first long-play in seven years, which will be released exclusively on CD and gatefold vinyl to PledgeMusic contributors in November 2018. The general release of this album will happen in February 2019 via Schoolkids Records.

Noctorum is guitarist/singer-songwriter Marty Willson-Piper and producer Dare Mason. The duo present their new single 'Piccadilly Circus in the Rain', following up the first single 'A Girl With No Love'.

Named for the village Noctorum, located near to their childhood homes on The Wirral (near Liverpool), Dare and Marty liked its association with night and its Latin derivation. This collaboration has an eclectic focus, making the quiet loud and vice-versa, singing words that might be spoken and playing indoor instruments that should be heard outside. It has to be imagined to exist.

"Perhaps city-living is by definition a difficult slog - high rents, a constant pressure to earn, an uphill battle that traps you in a vicious circle that has you so focussed on the job of survival that your aspirations, your dreams, are swept aside, pushed out of reach as all your waking hours are spent treading water, your imagination drowning, your ideas lost in the rush hour," says Marty Willson-Piper.

"Piccadilly Circus In The Rain addresses the struggle and questions the romantic notion of London as a cultural melting pot - music, galleries, nightlife, history, energy, red double decker buses, unarmed friendly Bobbies, the cover of Abbey Road and the Queen. Singling out this city is purely coincidental but in truth, for most people with artistic tendencies "London brings you to your knees". WEBSITE.

'Piccadilly Circus In The Rain' explores the reality that London is not such a romantic and creative place to be as an artist. Having lived and worked there for many years in the past, I can see where this is coming from and can't really argue, the song itself is beautifully crafted and quite touching.

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Beans on Toast - Alexa.

British folk/indie singer-songwriter Beans on Toast is debuting his new single and video for "Alexa." The track and it's accompanying animated video (created using discarded Amazon boxes) is a commentary/cautionary tale that examines the future of voice-activated Internet and oncoming Amazon world domination.

Kicking things off with this spoken interlude from Beans: “This one’s got an intro that goes “ALEXA play Beans on Toast... ALEXA” so nobody can listen to it on their Amazon Echo", the track is funny but thought-provoking-- one of Beans trademarks. "Alexa" appears his 10th studio album “A Bird In The Hand,” set for release on December 1st.

For "A Bird In The Hand," Beans got back in touch with Ben Lovett of Mumford & Sons, who had produced his first album a decade ago, and together they hatched a plan.

Utilizing the hospitality of Lovett (whose band were spending much of their time at London’s legendary Church Studios making their next record), Beans found himself enjoying the same incredible facilities during off days and late nights, to lay down "A Bird In Hand," along with with the help of in-house engineer, Riley MacIntyre.

Calling in mutual friends, Ben and Beans arranged a team of incredible musicians, including Mumford & Sons’ live drummer Chris Mass and Dutch artist Christof van der Ven on guitar. Ted Dwane offered bass on a couple of tracks, and Ben himself took up piano and production duties to bring a clear, contemporary, and unique vision to the Beans’ songs. The result is arguably Beans on Toast's finest album to date. The album is diverse, easily switching between folk ballads, punk bangers, and swing numbers without ever losing sight of itself or it's listener. WEBSITE.

'Alexa' is a gorgeous and timely song, with some sharp and witty lyrics that anyone familiar with voice activated web devices might quickly identify with. For those more cautious about allowing such devices into their lives then the song might put you off even more. Me, I'll just play around with other folk's Echoes, I'm still coming to terms with Hal in 2001 A Space Odyssey - "I'm sorry Dave - I can't do that".....


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Wovoka Gentle -  Peculiar Form Of Sleep.

Following the release of the wonderfully titled single '1,000 Opera Singers Working in Starbucks', which was included in the official soundtrack of FIFA 19, London trio Wovoka Gentle have now shared new track 'Peculiar Form of Sleep', out now on Nude.

 "It’s something to do with that moment between being awake and asleep, where thoughts bleed into dreams and everything seems to make both no sense and perfect sense", the band says. "You’re sliding between these contrasting, dense passages that still feed off one another and congregate around some kind of narrative, which maybe is the whole narrative. The title is from an E.E. Cummings poem: ‘to exist being a peculiar form of sleep’.

Wovoka Gentle are an experimental three-piece from London, comprised of William Stokes and twins Imogen and Ellie Mason. Taking its root in folk and Americana songwritng, the Wovoka sound draws upon the psychedelic soundscapes of the late 60s as well as contemporary experimental, pop and collage music; marrying classic instrumentation with sampling, analogue synthesis and sound manipulation. WEBSITE.

Back in September we shared '1,000 Opera Singers Working In Starbucks' and described that track as "upbeat, creative and oozing charm, this is a touch quirky and a whole lot addictive". Now we can follow up with their new piece 'Peculiar Form Of Sleep' where the bands creative charm and knack for merging musical styles and instrumentation is all apparent again.

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