The Day - Kopper - Sarah P - Short Shadows - Jess McAvoy

The Day share a catchy and imaginative dream pop song. Kopper provides us with a six minute epic piece that is full of passion and power. A firm favourite of Beehive Candy is Sarah P, who has impressed us since her days with Keep Shelley In Athens, the new E.P. is a real treat. Short Shadows vocals are a splendid affair as is the fabulous musical backdrop and finally we have Jess McAvoy whose addictive bluesy rock song is given extra edge by her guitar licks and fabulous voice.

The Day - Grow.

"'Grow' is quite literally about growing up through different phases of life and your very personal 'pursuit of wisdom'" says Singer Laura Loeters. The song is about farewells" and realizing how you grow older yourself by watching close people around you getting older.

Laura adds: "Like many of our songs when I came up with the first idea it sounded more like a quiet more folky song. But when I picked it up on electric bass with our drummer at rehearsals it became much more of a grooving pop song than we first intended."

The Day are Laura Loeters from Utrecht/Netherlands and Hamburg based Gregor Sonnenberg. Since meeting at 'Hogeschool voor de kunsten' in Arnhem the two keep reconciling distances, differences and always new approaches and perspectives. What runs like a thread through all of this is the interest to take charge of things themselves, try out and grow on it together.

The Day is where whimsical Dream Pop meets a DIY ethos learned from hardcore. A sparse, springy and rapturous dynamic alternates with a wildly imaginative dream-pop harmony, rock and synths create just as inspiring contrasts as the refreshing, reduced postpunk references.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kopper – Winter Sun.

Kopper is the brainchild of visionary London musician and experimental filmmaker Jon Williams. Born in a soporific small town in Kent, the artist packed up to London to build something louder, fiercer and more anthemic. Jon is joined by his fellow provocateurs, artists and all-round renaissance men, band members: Ed Smith and George Town.

Elegant, emotional, energetic – the early dusk of a November evening has enticed London artist Kopper from hibernation. Their debut single, Winter Sun (released on January 10, 2019) evokes the inner warmth of a cold evening through soulful guitar and exploding electric soundscapes. Its big heart and dreamy scope enchants like a burnt dusk skyline, delivering something that will glow through your stereo on bitter nights.

The track’s sierra tones tell a story drawn from romance, heartbreak and old lives passing into the dark. Inspired by the likes of the National, the War on Drugs and Arcade Fire, it’s littered with moments of tenderness and contemplation ripped apart by glorious, cinematic melodies. This sumptuous and exciting song from one of London’s extraordinary talents is the first from Kopper’s debut EP Fading Fires, due for release in Spring 2019.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sarah P. - Maenads E.P.

Maenads is a triumphant return for Sarah P, where the artist explores the theme of female power – its magic, strength, and imperfect perfection.

With her debut album Who Am I (2017) praised amongst music lovers and tastemakers alike, Sarah P. returns to celebrate feminine power and her Greek heritage with a transcendent collection of songs known as Maenads. The former frontwoman of Keep Shelly in Athens does not shy away from revisiting the past as she uses music, aided by magnificent, self-directed visuals, to divulge her endless accomplishments: be it her openness about mental health and the creation of her monthly zine EraseRestart aimed to wipe out the stigma that surrounds it, to the lobbying for the protection of artists’ rights as an active member of IAO (International Artist Organisation).

“This record is the link between my previous work and what’s coming. Free symbolised my rebirth as an artist, Who Am I helped me discover different music paths and Maenads is representing 100% me, both musically and as an individual. I’m not big on classifying my music in genres, because I believe that this process is taking away from the magic of listening. I think that Maenads is way more accessible than my previous work, yet mysterious and uncommon.” (Sarah P.)


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Short Shadows - Nothing Good Comes Out Of Preston.

Short Shadows, a self-professed short-ass, middle-class, north suburban smart-ass punk with a piano has written the soundtrack to your public transport journey. The alter ego for Andy Coates; a singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist from Melbourne, War Anecdotes From The Northern Suburbs takes indie rock, hip-hop, jazz and punk and blends it all with wry observations, punchy horns and suburban soundscapes that are epitomised in lead single Nothing Good Comes Out Of Preston.

Coates has entertained audiences Australia wide while fronting his nine-piece band Frankie Wants Out. FWO, who brought original party-swing back on to the music scene, could play a classy cocktail bar one night, then a grungey pub next and worked hard gigging, recording and touring for over ten years.  While still paying tribute to his love of swing music, Short Shadows is a step away from the jump-blues and focuses on the peculiar styles of suburbia.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jess McAvoy - Do What You Want.

With the recent release of her newest single “Do What You Want,” Jess McAvoy just released the lyric video. Harkening back to the golden oldies with an infusion of rock, pop and blues, Jess McAvoy delivers “Do What You Want” with an astute lyricism that is seldom heard in music today.

Coming about in a playful way, McAvoy wrote the single when she seeing someone even though her heart wasn’t quite open to a romantic commitment, but both she and her partner were open to having a good time together.

Even though her friends were all up in arms over the idea of it, Jess’ outlook was very much towards the idea that good things happen when we all feel good. So, from a law of attraction standpoint, it’s important to move towards things that make us all feel the most like ourselves, even if it’s not meant to last forever.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hajk - Marble Mammoth - Henry Jamison - Porteau - Living Hour

Hajk are polished, melodic and with some R&B vibes rather catchy on their new song. It's been some time since we featured Marble Mammoth and the alt rockers return with a stunning couple of tracks. Henry Jamison's beautifully crafted songs continue to impress, whilst Porteau offer us an exquisite piece that exudes both feeling and quality. Living Hour's vocals are gorgeous and the musical backdrop is a perfect complement on this wonderfully lush song.

Hajk - Breathe.

Hajk have released a brand new single entitled 'Breathe', the third and final single from the upcoming album 'Drama' that is out on February 15th on Jansen Records. The track is a soaring, emotional R&B-tinged song with an instantly infectious melody guided by Sigrid Aase’s powerful vocals that enthrall throughout.

Behind the sheen though, the band's Preben Sælid Andersen has explained that 'Breathe' is actually, "about the ability to believe in yourself and the ones close to you. It’s about trying to hold on to something, but deep down you know it's already too late. Breathing is also something we have talked about a lot during the making of this album, and it now serves as a theme throughout the record, in the lyrics and with actual breathing sounds hidden all over. Being able to take a step back and take a deep breath can be the only right thing to do sometimes."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marble Mammoth - The Light.

Marble Mamoth have just released a new single The Light.

It’s a track in two parts with a fuzzed out bass, a didgeridoo and sampled seagulls from The Beatles.

It is the second single release after the debut EP, and the band are planning on releasing two more tracks this spring. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Henry Jamison - American Babes.

Henry Jamison’s upcoming album ‘Gloria Duplex’ is out February 8th on Akira Records, and is shaping up to be not only a formidable follow-up to his stellar debut album ‘The Wilds’ (which has over 90 million streams on Spotify alone), but also an insightful deconstruction of what it means to “be a man” in 2018. And this week Henry has unfolded another chapter in his exploration of masculinity by releasing the fourth single from the upcoming set, “American Babes”.

If album cuts like the previously released “Boys” and “Gloria” acknowledge the ways young boys are enlisted into a “toxic fraternity” by society, “American Babes” is a mini tableau of that society as a whole. As Henry describes it, “The verses are about a group of students that I saw on the train from New York to Vermont years ago and about a homeless man who I talked to once in Baltimore. The juxtaposition isn't totally worked-out, but it's loosely about young people who still feel some trust in institutions and an old man who felt utterly failed by them. When the structures of our lives crash down, what can we lean on?”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Porteau - River Song.

Do we really have a choice? Does instinct guide us home? These are the questions posed in “River Song,” the first single from Water’s Gate, our forthcoming debut album. At the time, the lyrics were simply poetry I wrote in a journal during summer evenings spent in a remote Alaskan village. We were independently writing ideas/songs that neither of us necessarily intended to combine together; we weren’t trying to write a record. This poetry was a catalyst, and “River Song” as a whole naturally revealed itself.

I found myself inspired to write “River Song” while watching salmon swim in the streams. Their journey back to spawn is magnificent – one that brings life, but ultimately ends in death. Using the earth’s magnetic field, like a compass, the salmon return to their final resting place. I was struggling to wrap my head around accepting the natural cycle of life. Seeing the salmon’s instinctual guidance drawing them back to their place of birth helped me discover where I needed to be “River Song” is not a story with a concrete ending. Ask yourself – do we really have a choice? Does instinct guide us home?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Living Hour - Water.

Winnipeg’s Living Hour shares "Water," the second single from their upcoming album, Softer Faces. The band teamed up with filmmaker Ryan Steel for a short film to accompany the song.

Steel says:  "'Water' is a video about winter in Winnipeg. The video was shot covertly on the streets and in the homes of friends and grandmothers. Liminal spaces such as buses, shopping malls, and arcades all percolate together. Periods of rest and the textures of winter were captured on the outdated medium of 16mm film."

Everything about Winnipeg’s Living Hour has been expanding since their humble basement beginnings in 2015. What started with dreamy love songs inspired by the cinematic sky of their hometown has transformed into even more sprawling and expansive expressions on their latest effort, Softer Faces due March 1, 2019.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Running Red Lights - And The Kids - Rina Mushonga - Money For Rope - Ivan & The Parazol - Popincourt

Still catching up on some bands and artists whose new tunes came our way a few days ago. Running Red Lights atmospheric and gentle song exudes emotion, And The Kids serve up a hook filled indie rocker with a message, whilst Rina Mushonga continues to consistently impress us with her distinctive and charismatic music. Melbourne's Money For Rope share some timeless psych rock with plenty of determined attitude, and Budapest's Ivan & The Parazol are rocking with style and class. Finally we have the first of four fine songs from Popincourt's new E.P, a refined and charming collection of material.

Running Red Lights - Calls of Prudence.

Nostalgia is an addictive comfort to snuggle up to when the present day seems intolerably bleak.

“Calls of Prudence” is a moodier, more sorrowful track in comparison to our previous, most recent releases. It was penned during a moment where I felt myself longing for the vibrancy of youth, the thrill of experiencing things for the first time. 

One day, I was feeling particularly nostalgic and found myself reflecting on the days when I was young and could get blissfully drunk without having anyone or anything to answer to, without regard for the time that I was wasting. I curled up on my sofa with my notebook, my grief and my imagination, and I did what made sense – I began to write.

I hope you can find some solace in “Calls of Prudence.” - Scarlett of Running Red Lights.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And The Kids - No Way Sit Back.

And The Kids have shared a new song from their upcoming album When This Life Is Over out February 22 on Signature Sounds (Lake Street Dive, Josh Ritter, Dustbowl Revival). “No Way Sit Back” is a rollicking indie rock attack of the media and the toll it takes on minorities. While it's written from the queer perspective, the message isn't limited to one viewpoint. The joyful melody clashes against a stabbing line, "The world was never made for, Made for us." When This Life Is Over is the beloved Northampton group's third full-length and the most dynamic declaration of their distinctly rambunctious sound to date.

Since their earliest days as a band, And The Kids have embodied the wayward freedom that inspired their name. “When Rebecca and I were teenagers we just lived on the streets and played music, and people in town would always call us kids—not as in children, but as in punks,” says Mohan. On their third full-length When This Life Is Over, the Northampton, Massachusetts-based band embrace that untamable spirit more fully than ever before, dreaming up their most sublimely defiant album yet.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rina Mushonga - For A Fool.

Rina Mushonga released a new single For A Fool on January 16th through [PIAS] Recordings. The Dutch-Zimbabwean pop innovator unveils the latest track from her imminent second album In A Galaxy on February 15th. Listen to For A Fool here

Having played a handful of low-key London shows towards the end of 2018, Mushonga makes her first UK live foray of 2019 when she plays London’s Shacklewell Arms on March 19th. Tickets go on sale on Wednesday 16th January and are available to purchase here.

The track unraveling into shape at the end of the album sessions having existed in various guises over the years. Explaining the origins of the track, she says; “this is an old love song or rather heart-ache song. Old, in the sense that it was plucked into existence over a period of time- in parts fictional in others less so.” Mushonga adds further; “in a way it chronicles a betrayed lover tormented by the desire to trust again whilst acknowledging that everything has been tainted and can’t go back to how they were.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Money For Rope - Actually.

Melbourne psych-rockers Money For Rope will release new album ‘Picture Us’ on March 8, 2019, following international tours which have previously taken in shows across Primavera Sound, Glastonbury & SXSW, alongside support slots for Courtney Barnett (also an early champion of the band). Details of a 2019 UK headline tour from Money For Rope in support of the new album are soon to be announced. The band are trailing the album announcement with lead single, ‘Actually’.

Spawned from the same fertile Melbourne music scene which has fostered not only Barnett but also other friends including King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard, The Goon Sax and Rolling Coastal Blackouts Fever, Money For Rope are releasing ‘Picture Us’ off the back of a dogged touring habit which has kept them on the road near constantly for the last four years. Entirely self-produced, mixed & mastered by the five piece - comprised of Jules McKenzie (guitars, vocals), Rick Parnaby (keyboards), Erik Scerba (drums), Chris Loftis (drums), Ted Dempsey (bass) - ‘Picture Us’ was recorded over the course of a single summer in Victoria, Australia on the coastline of the Southern Ocean.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ivan & The Parazol - Changin.

Following the release of the laid-back, West-Coast-influenced ‘Nr. 1003’, ‘Changin’’ showcases another dimension of Ivan & The Parazol’s creative prowess. Energetic from the start, the second single in the lead up to the band’s third full-length uses the saturated sing of distorted guitars and grooving basslines as an invigorating platform for frontman Iván Vitáris to deliver vocals bursting with character and colour. Rhythm-led verses let loose into a youthful, melodic chorus which is deserving of a place as the soaring opening of a coming-of-age indie film.

Ivan & The Parazol, a four-piece Budapestian band carrying the spirit of 70s glam-rock and incorporation of modern psych-rock instrumentation, making for an amalgam reminiscent of a Brian May-Kevin Parker compound, with their flamboyant guitar solos and overdriven octave-pedals on guitars. The upcoming album ‘Exotic Post-Traumatic’ was produced and recorded by Grammy Award-winning Wil Anspach (Muse, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Justin Timberlake, Frank Ocean) at the renowned EastWest studios in LA; hallowed grounds where Sinatra, Michael Jackson and Foo Fighters are just a few of the notable names to have recorded their material there.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Popincourt - Blue Winter.

Following an album "A New Dimension To Modern Love" (2016) and a couple of singles (including one for a Jam Tribute), Popincourt is back with a new 4-track EP - featuring Susanne Shields on backing vocals and Olivier Bostvironnois on electronic arrangements. The EP contains four ballads, one for each season, exploring new sounds in the studio and mixing acoustic guitars, vintage keyboards and loungy electro vibes.

The ideal soundtrack for a picnic alongside of the Thames, the pure pop of Popincourt, an Illegitimate child of Paul Weller and Roddy Frame, makes it seem like you are traveling. His new EP looks like a postcard written during a blue winter. In the spring, we wander in the alleys of Hyde Park, serenaded by the clean guitars of "Green Spring". Then begins the red summer, conducive to romances that are come and go on a Brazilian beach. The final scene is a landscape of William Turner lit up by the fantasy colors of autumn. Crossing the Channel to the sound of this '4 colours 4 seasons', is the guarantee of a "voyage that will last a whole year", to paraphrase another lover of the London sound.» Pierre Mikaïloff.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Misty Coast - Jenny Teator - Distant Stars - LAGS - Geppetto & The Whales - Acrylic

We commence with some fabulously sweeping shoegaze from Misty Coast, plus a no nonsense rocker and brand new single from Jenny Teator. Distant Stars are synthy, mysterious and seductive, whilst LAGS offer up some potent and almost furious post rock. Geppetto and The Whales add refinement to the collection with a beautifully crafted song, and to round off today's selection Scottish band Acrylic share a catchy and fresh alt rocker.

Misty Coast - Backseat Warriors.

Misty Coast is the dream-pop, shoegaze amalgam from Linn Frøkedal and Richard Myklebust (previously part of the Norwegian noise rock act The Megaphonic Thrift). September 2017 saw them release their critically acclaimed debut full-length, attaining a Norwegian Grammy nomination. The Bergen-based duo now gears up for their sophomore album Melodaze, which the band themselves has simply described as their “Berlin rebel album”.

The entirety of the second full-length was written under the brutalism of the German capital’s architecture, during their two-month stay in the locality of Schöneberg through winter 2018. Stationed in an icy-cold outpost, observing local smoky beer joints and the groaning of car exhausts through the sub-zero night, Misty Coast have created something reminiscent of the bleak optimism of Cocteau Twins, where heavily distorted guitar hooks and pulsating bass lines meld with Frøkedal’s effervescent vocals.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jenny Teator - Surrender.

Surrender is about lust and curiosity. It talks about the primal want you get when someone comes into your life and they leave you wanting MORE. It’s more than just “I’m attracted to you”. It was this powerful gut feeling that took over my body, creating thoughts of what it could be like with this person. I think we are quick to disregard those moments and immediately feel “dirty” or “wrong” for thinking those thoughts. I’m saying, embrace it. We are only human. The possibilities are endless y’all. - Jenny Teator.

Jenny Teator is a St. Louis native who’s made her move to Nashville sharing her soul through her guitar and vocals. Performing for over a decade, Teator’s music shows her strength and confidence both in solo shows, collaborations, or when she performed with her long-term group Jenny Teator and the Fevers – a sexy blues/rock band that rocked Columbia, Missouri for years. Inspired by singers Grace Potter and Susan Tedeschi, Teator has a very straight forward lyrical style and the music follows the feelings of those words verbatim.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Distant Stars - Robots (Do It Better).

The Melbourne/Caen 2 piece (named after Ultravox lyrics), deliver 5 tracks of warped pop that spill their minimal/dark/cold waves over the edge of the infinity pool.

The title track is the final release on Detonic Recordings "Minimum Viable Product" singles series, it is featured as track 3 on the vinyl compilation LP.

"cerveau facultatif
mémoire en périphérique
disques durs externes
perd pas ta plaque à induction magique
robots do it better
my computer does it better
no need for you anymore
outdated format"


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LAGS - Knives and wounds.

Italian post-hardcore band LAGS have announced their return with their new single 'Knives and Wounds'.

Speaking about the 'Knives and Wounds', frontman Antonio Canestri says, "‘Knives and wounds’ is the opening track of our new album and is the first song we wrote for the new album. It’s a song written in collaboration with our former singer (Luca de Santis aka SUVARI) and addresses two very important themes in the record: a disease and the search for a cure; the difficulty of being sabotaged by our own body, the failure in breaking down the "walls" in our mind, that most of the time we build as a form of self-defense from others and also from ourselves. The video is based on the concepts expressed in the lyrics and it was written by the director Stefano Pedretti: “I am my own fears, that’s what I’ve become.”"


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Geppetto & The Whales - Faust.

Here’s a new video that sets the bar high in terms of being incredibly beautiful. It’s from Geppetto & The Whales’ long awaited new album ‘Passages’ out yesterday on PIAS:

The track is called ‘Faust’ and is set in a lo fi production oozing with honey-like pedal steel, subtle jangly guitar and restrained strings, conjuring up picture-esque campfire and log cabin reflection.

The accompanying video is an exploration of the innocence and freedom of youth with stunning visuals of a young inquisitive man investigating a forest, playing with fire, cigarettes and insects as the track softly soothes the imagination, a perfect ode to the misunderstood. Some great guest musicians feature on the album including Ben Lester (Tallest man on Earth), Rob Moose (The National, Arcade Fire) & Trever Hagen (Bon Iver).


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Acrylic - I've Got Too Many Friends.

Glasgow's Acrylic prepare to kick start 2019 with the release of their infectious new single I've Got Too Many Friends, out now and premiered via Clash with early features on Tenement TV, Netsounds, and BBC Rapal amongst others.

The single is a soaring slice of indie rock from the offset, filled with jangling hooks, sweeping guitars and effortless harmonies throughout.  Frontman Andreas Christodoulidis' rich baritone vocal feel instantly reminiscent of the likes of The National's Matt Berninger, giving the track an undeniably defiant and endearing sound.  Talking about the single, Andreas elaborates "I've Got Too Many Friends is about feeling as though you've found yourself in an ideal situation, with all the pieces falling together, and knowing that you've still going to mess it up.  It's about a rift developing in a relationship and explores the naive idea that sex will resolve your issues, even though it will, in fact, be a colourless and sad affair and will most likely send you straight to the abyss."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------