We featured Melby a couple of times last year and now ahead of their debut album due in April we have 'VCR'. It's an expansive indie rocker from the band and gives a glimpse of the album which packs some real variety driven by their distinctive sound. Skand have shared a new video today for 'Down To My River' a refreshing and uplifting modern folk song from this refined duo.
Melby - VCR.
Since debuting with catchy single Human early 2016 things have moved steady for Stockholm psych pop act Melby. The 2017 debut EP received praise from both Swedish and international sources such as Amazing Radio, Ja Ja Ja and Line of Best Fit, making Melby one of the most exciting names on the Swedish indie scene. The band returned with Reject and Overthinking last year, a year which then saw tour dates in London and Berlin, as well as all over Sweden. Debut album None of this makes me worry is yet another piece to the exciting puzzle that is Melby's music and another step in what is forming to be one very promising career.
The album is out April 12th on all digital platforms and limited vinyl via Stockholm label Rama Lama Records and Sinnbus.
The band often gets comparison to fellow swedes Dungen and Amason but Melby’s dynamic sound, with influences from folk, psych, indie and pop, stand out. The quartets light, semi-psychedelic folk pop is led by Matilda Wiezell’s enchanting voice which fits perfectly with Melby’s unique musical landscape - a sound that's been called "otherworldly, and wholly brilliant" by The Line of Best Fit. The band consists of Wiezell, Are Engen Steinsholm (back-up vocals, guitar), David Jehrlander (bass) and Teo Jernkvist (drums) and formed while living together in a Stockholm shared housing.
None of this makes me worry catches all of Melbys many qualities in a way that truly represents the bands musical expressions. Beautifully intertwined song and guitar melodies are often in focus and ranges between catchy pop to emotional melancholy. From childish, playful opener VCR to the closing dynamic live favourite Stalker there is a common theme, even if the inspiration comes from a wide variety of directions.
The duo band Skand from Marseille, France is releasing its first music video, Down To My River, from their album Dive an "Intimist Rock" album with a touch of blues.
Probably the most introspective and Folk track of the album, Down To My River asks us to dig deep within, to turn our gaze towards our own sensations, emotions, memories and projections.
It is about (re)-connecting to the present moment, and, in the midst of our inner chaos, to experience a feeling of peace.
For this track, Skand chose to use natural and organic sounds (leather, clay, wood...) and tribal voices evoking links with nature and roots. Gospel influences also elude to a sense of spirituality.
A semi-surreal music video accompanies 'Stimulus For Living' from Drahla but it's the bands creative mixture of punk and art rock that makes it's mark in a big way. Dylan LeBlanc's vocals are fabulous and 'Renegade' is one hook filled rocker, ahead of his next album due out in June. Tempesst make a much welcome return to Beehive Candy, their stylish alt rock has a fresher indie feel on 'Is this all that there is?' a catchy and very likable tune.
Drahla - Stimulus For Living.
Leeds-formed three-piece Drahla have announced their highly-anticipated debut album 'Useless Coordinates' will be released via Captured Tracks on May 3rd 2019. The band have shared the arresting first single 'Stimulus for Living' as a taster of the album along with a video.
‘Stimulus For Living’ is the second track taken from ‘Useless Coordinates’ following the release of ‘Twelves Divisions Of The Day’ last summer. The album was recorded in Yorkshire in the second half of 2018, and sees the band’s sound continue to evolve with the addition of saxophonist Chris Duffin across the record. Since finishing ‘Useless Coordinates’ the band have spent their time touring the US and Europe, including stops at Eurosonic and La Route Du Rock this winter.
Blending wiry, dark post-punk with unpredictable art-rock, Drahla have established themselves as a formidable and distinctive band across their three sold out 7” singles and 2017's Third Article EP. Formed in late 2015, Drahla quickly found their identity in Yorkshire’s fertile music scene with their minimal yet robust bass-heavy sound. Their reputation as a fervent live act is ever-growing, with the band being asked to share stages with the likes of Parquet Courts, METZ, Ought, Buzzcocks, The Cribs and multiple festival appearances - including Meltdown at the request of The Cure’s Robert Smith. (Photo - Sam Joyce).
'Renegade', the new album from acclaimed musician Dylan LeBlanc, will be released on 7th June through ATO Records. Produced by Grammy Award-winning Dave Cobb, the album features ten new songs including the first single and title track, which is out now.
Recorded at Cobb’s RCA Studio A in Nashville, the 10-song album features LeBlanc and his longtime band, The Pollies. Of the album, LeBlanc shares, “I wanted to write the same type of songs that matched the atmosphere the band and I were bringing live. So, I started with ‘Renegade,’ which was fitting since I felt myself going in a new, more intense direction with this record. In the studio, I let go almost absolutely and let Dave Cobb do his work. It was a different experience for me—how focused Cobb was and how quickly we would get live takes down. Mostly in one or two takes. Never more than three. It left me spinning at how quickly it all came together. With beautiful gear and a keen ear, it was fun to work with my best friends alongside Cobb. Over the course of ten days 'Renegade' was complete and ready for mastering. And I couldn’t be more excited to share it with you.”
Born in Shreveport, LA with time spent in Muscle Shoals, AL, LeBlanc has released three full-length albums including his most recent, 2016’s Cautionary Tale, which featured Brittany Howard (Alabama Shakes) and was produced by John Paul White (The Civil Wars) and Ben Tanner (Alabama Shakes). Of the music, NPR Music praised, “The third album from the Muscle Shoals singer-songwriter unfolds with the wariness of a social and spiritual outsider who broods his way to graceful defiance,” while No Depression declared, “There’s not a single song that deserves to be skipped on Tale—it’s a near flawless record, cohesive and self-assured.” Since his debut in 2010, LeBlanc has toured extensively worldwide including shows with Bruce Springsteen, First Aid Kit, Drive-By Truckers, Lucinda Williams, Alabama Shakes, Anderson East, The Wood Brothers and many more.
London-based indie-psych quintet Tempesst have released a new single entitled 'Is this all that there is ?' Recorded in Melbourne, the new single was written whilst frontman Toma was back in Australia in January. "I was at Little Cove, a beach in Noosa," he recalls. "It’s a little stretch of beach near a national park, it was totally filled with people. I just sat there in this ideal setting and realised how strange people are, especially when they’re at the beach. I wrote about what I saw and how it made me feel."
Continuing to expand on their '60s and '70s influenced psychedelic rock roots on 'Is this all that there is?' - their expansive instrumentals, sumptuous pop melodies, and progressive songwriting offer a welcoming breath of fresh air to the genre.
"What a bore to be obsessed with dying, like I'm the only one to put up a fight" they pose in the chorus, before questioning "Do I give up? Is this all that there is?". This single follows their widely acclaimed previous EP 'Doomsday' - which covered themes revolving around the band's daily anxieties, as well as the overstimulation and constant temptation that exists when living in a metropolitan city like London.
Originating in Queensland, Australia on the Sunshine Coast, the now London-based outfit – made up of twin brothers Toma (vocals, guitars) and Andy Banjanin (vocals, drums), and rounded out by Eric Weber (guitars), Kane Reynolds (keys), and Blake Misipeka (bass) – have been going from strength to strength over the past 12 months.
Australia's The Empty Threats have a new E.P. 'Ablutions'. Described as exploratory rock, it's a description that actually makes sense having listened to all four songs, what's more the individuality of each track doesn't dilute the quality or the overall vibe, this is one very fine E.P. Ted Kennedy's new song 'Forty' showcases his distinctive and very engaging vocals, the electronic musical backdrop is equally striking and the melodic hooks do the rest.
The Empty Threats - Ablutions (E.P).
Exploratory rock comes in many shapes and forms, though leave it up to The Empty Threats to fully embrace a cataclysmic sonic earthquake. The Adelaide four-piece declare a pretence of maligned, experimental rock and visceral psych embellishments.
The Empty Threats are proud to release their new EP into the world. After turning plenty of heads with a string of singles including 'Heavy', 'Loss Of Breath' and 'Magnolia', The Empty Threats' new EP, 'Ablutions', is out now via GD FRNDS.
Recorded, mixed and mastered by two-time ARIA Award-nominated producer, Matt Hills, at Hillside Studio, 'Ablutions' is a four-track masterpiece about cleaning oneself from negative and upsetting memories in the hope to move into a positive, more fulfilling future.
'Ablutions' sees the outfit put together a concoction of prog and psych rock, expertly blended to form four huge tracks that all compliment each other ever so smoothly. The body of work is filled with drenched guitar tones, booming, yet intimate, vocals, rolling electric clarinet solos and tight drum and bass lines to help bring the contemporary madness all together.
The EP is an internal look at a band who's changed and developed considerably. Further, it's a comment on remaining positive in the crushing reality of being a musician. Guitarist, Matt Schultz, explains.
"It's a reflection from the band about the change that we have been through over the past year or so. Commenting on our personal mental states, the state of society and trying to have a positive headspace moving forward."
Over the last year, The Empty Threats have really honed in on what makes an audience click. Their extremely energetic live performance has been put to hard work since embarking on their first national tour in early 2018. They've since been performing regularly to ever-growing crowds, including a main support slot for The Babe Rainbow.
It’s a brutal truth that you can’t help someone who doesn’t realize they have a problem. All your energy, support and love isn’t enough. Their addiction is out of your control. No matter how much it hurts, sometimes you have to let go.
My new song, “Forty,” came to me when a close friend relapsed after many years of struggling with opioid addiction. I remember thinking how the cycle of addiction and denial wears people down.
There were just so few people left around my friend that it dawned on me –the ones who remained, the ones who loved him most, were just the last ones to say goodbye.
I have an album’s worth of material that I’ll be releasing throughout 2019. I’m looking forward to performing these tracks live. I plan on growing Frequencies (a monthly concert series that I curate) this year, expanding to more cities and putting on larger events in Toronto. There is just so much going on in electronic music right now, and I feel lucky to be apart of it - Ted Kennedy.
Hannah Sanders and Ben Savage share a near flawless folk song where every component is just wonderful. Fafa Galoure's live session includes 'I Am The Sun' a refreshingly natural rocker that is full of hooks from the opening moments. Izzie Walsh's vocals are gorgeous on the melodic country song 'Sidelined' a vibrant and pleasing piece.
Hannah & Ben - Hidden Things.
Hidden Things is the first in a trilogy of singles by Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage. After widely touring for the past few years 2019’s singles reflect the duo’s relationship to the spirit of place; all three songs were written and arranged in different counties whilst they were touring their critically acclaimed album Awake in 2018.
The first in this trilogy, Hidden Things, takes its inspiration from a time spent in northern Sweden. Hannah says “I was reading my friend Francesco Dimitri’s novel “Book of Hidden Things”. I was sitting on the coast of Stockholme’s Archipelago reading a novel set in Southern Italy and I was moved by the idea that landscapes hold dreams - love, mystery, loss… Dimitri’s book is about how stories become part of our connection to landscape. Like stories, songs can be a way of bringing the land’s dreams to life…”
Huddled round a single microphone, singing intimate duets with just mountain dulcimer, dobro and guitar, Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage are an acoustic duo that look & sound classically timeless, yet their music is unique. Fleetingly, they may evoke a memory of Gram & Emmylou, Shirley & Davey, or Gillian & Dave but their distilling of musical influences from both sides of the Atlantic produces a refined sound that is decidedly their own.
Their unique unplugged presentation creates a widescreen, cinematic soundscape with open spaces and atmosphere, giving their beautifully pure vocals room to share the songs’ emotion and narrative. The material is as joyful and fun as it is intense, but the common factor is the duo’s warmth and confidence in each other; their natural ease and connection is clearly evident on the recorded music, and a genuine pleasure to witness on stage.
Fafa Galoure - I Am The Sun - Live Spring Sessions - 2019.
Fafa Galoure is set to release the brand new single “I Am The Sun”, the first track to be taken from the band’s upcoming ‘Live Spring Sessions’ EP. An unconventional love song, “I Am The Sun” bursts out of the speakers with a flare of adolescence and playfulness and represents an intentional back-to-basics approach,
Fafa Galoure is an intriguing Israeli "Deep Dive Rock" band fronted by vocalist and songwriter Efrat Cohen. The band debut album ‘As You Are’ was released at the tail end of 2017 and was backed up with numerous shows in their home country as well as a European tour.
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The foundations for the band were set in 2011 when Efrat returned from an extended trip to India and began shooting ideas back and forth with longtime friend and collaborator Asi Ashkenazi. The two began processing the materials Efrat had been accumulating and the compositions began to take on a life of their own. "For me the core of the song; the words, the content and the meaning come before the musical arrangement, I love this process in which we try to give the music different arrangements and expressions".
Following various iterations, today Efrat and Asi are joined by Omer Hershman handling live and studio production, Karni Postel in cello, Ofer Prion in the guitar, Ran Yakobovitch on drums and Adi Gigi on bass and double bass.
Manchester singer songwriter Izzie Walsh has announced the release of her new single Sidelined. With a unique sound that blends country, bluegrass and folk, Izzie Walsh has built an impressive organic fanbase over the last couple of years, following the release of her debut EP The Curse and successful single Take Me Back. Not only does she have two BCMA Awards and an Indie Week UK award under her belt, Izzie is also a former BBC Introducing Artist of the Week and recently performed on ITV’s Cold Feet. She will be releasing new material this year following new single and live favourite Sidelined.
The melodic and rhythmic Sidelined showcases Izzie’s powerful and wide-ranging vocal, accompanied by catchy banjo and Mandolin to create a modern country track. She will be releasing a live video of the track soon, filmed out in Canada late last year. She says;
"Sometimes life doesn't work in your favour and Sidelined is a song about that. It’s about working your hardest, even though you might come out second best, and still following your dreams even if they seem impossible; there's always another day to achieve them."
Izzie has been performing around the world over the last year, including a support slot with Curse of Lono, festival performances at the likes of Dot to Dot and Bluedot and her own sold out headline shows at Manchester’s Deaf Institute and London’s The Slaughtered Lamb.
