Monday, 27 May 2019

HunBjørn - Zoe Konez - Thandii - Party Hardly - Secrecies - Cream with a K

HunBjørn has released a video for 'All The Red' a gorgeous synth pop song where her distinct and dreamy vocals are matched equally by the beautiful musical backdrop.

South London's Zoe Konez writes and performs personal and thoughtful music as is demonstrated by 'We Got Lost' a song that showcases her talent and concern for others in a very fine way.

'Honey' from Thandii doesn't take long to stand out as a beautiful song, the vocals are gentle and melodic and the simple musical arrangement allows them to glide above as the perfect focal point for this piece.

Indie rockers Party Hardly were featured here a couple of times last year, now they make a welcome return with ' The Hopskotch Man' where once again their innovative and likable music is very hard to resist.

Secrecies give synth music some depth and edge with 'Life We Live' an addictive song drenched in emotion and feeling.

Finally today we have Cream with a K and the passionate and simmering pop meets rock song ' It Gets Me Down' where the subtle hooks gradually work there way in deep.
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HunBjørn - All The Red.

All The Red is a song about finding yourself again. It’s about pealing off layers, slowly build by what you think other people expect from you, and about a reaching for the essence and core of what really matters for you. “All The Red” is a metaphor for anger, envy, stubbornness - all the negativity that we sometimes find ourselves in, when we forget to listen to our own voices.

“Originally I wrote the song to my boyfriend, who battles controlling his temper in stressful situations. But it ended up having a more universal message for myself as well, about the importance of listening to yourself, of not letting the outside world influence how and why you do what you do - of trusting your own process”, explains Ulla Pihl, who’s behind HunBjørn.

“If we are able to give time and room for new acknowledgements to flourish, I’m sure that the negativity and all the metaphorical red will be softened and replaced by a surplus of energy and understanding for others. Then is much easier to be open and more empathetic, to the ones near to you, but also globally speaking”.

HunBjørn moves in an electronic dream pop universe. Her sharp productions mixes the soft and vulnerable with a more raw and direct approach. Catchy synth lines and dreamy vocals. She has a strong talent for using new technologies in her branding and marketing of her music and rapidly grew an engaged fan base with her messenger bot called the “She Bear Bot” and an interactive behind-the-scenes experience that fans could join, with personal V-logs, hidden Easter eggs and exclusive live videos.


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Zoe Konez - We Got Lost.

Zoe Konez has never been one to divide her music and personal life, and why would she start now? The South London songwriter spends much of her life connecting with people on hospital wards, making music with people in challenging circumstances. She’s also relentlessly developing her craft as a performer, having completed numerous tours across Europe in recent years.

A musician in the most complete sense, Zoe self-produces her releases. Constructing her songs from start to finish, she works from home, the studio and on the move, taking inspiration from all that’s around her.

Back for 2019 with a collection of brand new tracks to be released over the coming months, Zoe leads with indie-pop gem ‘We Got Lost’. It’s a track draped in dreamy, psychedelic guitar licks and soft, endearing vocals. On the new track Zoe states:

“I wrote the track in the first couple of days of January, in the quiet, reflective time before things started back for the year. I had changed the strings on my electric guitar and the opening chords were the first I played when I finished, and words fell out. I started recording it in my home  studio as I was still writing it. Lyrically the track explores social media and how isolated and pressured we all felt around that, as well as the division and confusion around Brexit"

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Thandii - Honey.

Margate based duo​ Thandii ​have today released new single ​‘Honey’​, as well announcing brand new EP ​‘Serious Town’​, will be released on July 5th.

Having gained support for their blend of sultry female vocals and upbeat pulsating bass lines on previous single ​‘Company’​, Jess and Graham now return with ‘Honey’​, a hint at a darker, and more muted tone from the duo on this melancholic-pop cry for help. This follows a sold out headline show at The Waiting Room in London.

A wistful vocal drifts over a morose and faltering synth; the beat trudges away like an emotional teen; all while Axelrod-esque synths and strings strike in the backdrop. An ode to the melodramatic, ‘​Honey’​ comes from the perspective of someone who believes they always make the wrong decisions in life. ‘​Honey, won’t you save me from myself?’ i​s the resigned outcry of someone who has nearly given up hoping they can​ change.

‘Serious Town’​, out July 5th on the band's own label Bad Hacker, sees a departure in tonality as well as the way it was recorded from Thandii’s previous works. ​“For the EP we chose to spend some time in a proper studio, rather than recording at home as we have done before. One of our favourites is a place called ‘Echo Zoo’ down in Eastbourne - it’s an analogue recording haven more akin to the Southern States than the southern coast of the UK.” T​ he duo wrote and produced the EP themselves and took inspiration from the darker side of the psyche. “Imagine if the voice in your head sang at a dystopian disco.”

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Party Hardly - The Hopskotch Man.

Leeds indie upstarts Party Hardly share fuzzed-up, melodic offering The Hopskotch Man, the first track taken from upcoming EP Modern Strife Is Snobbish dropping later this summer.

Constantly reshaping their sound as they mature and take influence from the urban cityscape and dirty undertones of Leeds and its thriving DIY scene, the quartet’s brand of off-kilter post-punk has swiftly won praise throughout the online community and looks set to continue with the arrival of their forthcoming EP.

Written after guitarist Matt Pownall suffered an injury resulting in reconstructive surgery which left him bedbound for some months, The Hopskotch Man was a culmination of the subsequent depression that tormented his mind:

“The Hopskotch Man is my anxiousness sitting on my shoulder. I would often have very vivid dreams during my recovery and a sinister man would always come and ask me to play a game of hopscotch, knowing full well that I couldn’t walk. The only way I got rid of this recurring nightmare was to look at him dead in the eyes and beat him at his own game. I’ve slept like a baby ever since".

Having already supported rising indie acts including The Magic Gang and Trudy and the Romance and gained BBC 6 Music airplay (Steve Lamacq), the four-piece are primed to continue their ascent with a slew of live dates to follow later this summer.

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Secrecies - Life We Live.

Awash in towering, reverb-drenched production, "Life We Live" is a prime example of the connected interplay between Shawn Magill and Joey Noga across their debut LP, Secrecies, which arrives on June 7th, 2019 via Idol Records.

By complete happenstance, Shawn Magill and Joey Noga met at a Cashmere Cat concert at Dallas venue Deep Ellum in 2017. They instantly connected over their obsession with sexy, synth heavy electro pop and formed Secrecies shortly after.

Together, their multi-layered chilling harmonies unite over playful pulses, evoking the heartaches and joys of passing youth.

They have performed with Alice Merton, Handsome Ghost, Armors, Swimming With Bears, Wilsen, Geneva Jacuzzi, Bad Bad Hats, Night Drive, Nite Jewel and more. Their debut album, SECRECIES, will be released on June 7th, 2019 via Idol Records.

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Cream with a K - It Gets Me Down.

Tokyo via London grunge-pop chanteuse Cream with a K (a.k.a. Lee Tatlock) returns with her latest indie earworm 'It Gets Me Down'. The scorching new track comes with the news that her highly anticipated debut album is on its way and set for release September 27th.

"All my music is Autobiographical, but I wrote 'It Gets Me Down' in LA shortly after I left Japan. I had been living for about 6 years in an extremely strict and controlled environment in Tokyo, and it was a steep learning curve coming to LA by myself", explains Tatlock. "Not only was I suddenly an unknown nobody in a sea of unknown nobodies but I just wasn’t used to speaking up for myself or even taking control of my own world. I think this song was a big step in the direction of 'finding my legs' as Cream with a K."

A musician, visual artist and former model, Cream with a K is most well known for her former involvement as the singer in the Japanese Pop band Neko Punch (Universal Music Japan). Having cut her teeth in the entertainment industry in Tokyo, she decided it was time to reconnect with the West through Cream with a K in early 2016, her first fully English project since her start in music. Pulling her influences from her hometown of London, her adopted hometown of Tokyo and pairing them alongside fuzzy grunge tones and etherial pop vocals makes her first solo effort a surefire head turner.

Working alongside many noteworthy Japanese producers such as Takeshi Kobayashi, Hydain and Shingo Yasumoto and bilingual in Japanese and English, she also turned her hand to song and lyric writing for other Japanese and Korean artists. In Tokyo, seen as a cultural figure who links the UK and Tokyo Music scenes, she was the TV host of the Japanese Rock music TV Show NHK’s “Nippon Rocks” series.

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Sunday, 26 May 2019

Empathy Test - Danny Starr

We have to go back to late 2017 for our last feature on Empathy Test, however the electronic pop band have returned with 'Empty Handed' a song that indicates the bands capability to produce synthwave music with a deeper edge, and as anticipated, to a very high standard.

Danny Starr has shared 'Plastic Magic' a song that manifests personal earnestness, with a gorgeous musical arrangement and his outstanding vocals.

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Empathy Test - Empty-handed.

UK Electronic-Pop band Empathy Test is pleased to announce the release of their limited edition EP, Empty-Handed available on limited edition digipack CD, 7" vinyl and digital formats June 20!

Following the success of double A-side single, "Holy Rivers / Incubation Song", which has racked up over 150,000 streams on Spotify since its October release and was praised by Clash Music for its “shimmering synths, glacial electronics, and heartrending vocals”, London Synthpop group Empathy Test returns with a second, tantalising taste of their upcoming third album, in the form of new single "Empty-Handed."

Empty-Handed presents another sonic leap forward for a band that has never been one to tread water when it comes to their sound, presenting a harder, darker style whilst simultaneously tipping their proverbial hat to the Synthwave scene that helped launch their career back in 2014. An arpeggiated synthesiser provides a relentless momentum from the get-go, while the deceptively simple composition gradually builds to its epic conclusion.

Opening line, “My heart is an empty vessel / Drifting out to sea” sets the tone both lyrically and emotionally. It’s about being unable to give a partner the emotional support or commitment they need and the feeling of emptiness that comes with that. As always, Empathy Test delivers a perfect marriage of music and emotion, the sudden flourishes of strings and synthesisers rushing past like spirits in the night.

There’s a sense of urgency here that has not been present previously, as well as an innate confidence that suggests the third album, which comes after the simultaneous release of two debut albums Losing Touch (Remastered) and Safe From Harm in November 2017 and is slated for release in early September, might just be the band’s most accomplished to date.

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Danny Starr - Plastic Magic.

Danny Starr is a 20-year-old singer-songwriter from London. His two EPs have been featured on BBC Radio 1 Introducing, Amazing Radio and major blogs and radio worldwide, where Danny’s exceptional lyric writing and heartfelt vocal delivery have found scores of high profile fans.

Danny’s well-crafted pop songs cover a lot of ground the roots of which are in eras well before his time, take for example new single ‘Plastic Magic’. James Taylor and Jeff Buckley’s footsteps effortlessly lead to London where Danny mixes melody and rhyme into a soundtrack of poignant millennial longing. Never afraid to tackle big, demanding issues, Danny has the incredible knack of turning everyday observations into earworms with deep meaning.

Danny Starr is a regular on London’s singer-songwriter circuit and has played The Great Escape as well as Frank Turner’s Lost Evenings Festival at The Roundhouse and Reverbnation’s Discover nights, who also recruited Danny to their Connect programme. He has appeared on Sofar Sounds and his own headline show at Notting Hill Arts Club was sold out.

Danny’s new intoxicating single ‘Plastic Magic’ (out 21st June) sounds a bit like The Divine Comedy’s best pop moments but for a new generation, oozing style and desperation in equal measure. Ed Harcourt meets The 1975’s Matt Healy perhaps…

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Friday, 24 May 2019

Fushia - Quarry - Famous - Llovers

Fushia are twin sisters Mathilde and Nathalie, there new single 'Gold' matches their description of dreamy poetic pop, in addition I think it fair to say, you can add very catchy.

'Everything And Its Opposite' from Quarry is a feisty indie rocker, with intriguing lyrics and a clever video to match.

Our first taste of Famous was in April with the very impressive 'Jacks House'. Now we have 'Forever' with the striking vocals grabbing my attention immediately, the band adding melody and a steady rhythmic beat.

Llovers melodic indie rock is refreshing, the vocals and music are loaded with hooks, it's unsurprising that the band are getting plenty of attention both on line and on BBC radio.
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Fushia - Gold.

Fushia consists of twin sisters Mathilde & Nathalie. Mathilde lives in Stockholm and Nathalie in London. Together they create a dreamy and poetic pop that can be likened to Lorde, Aurora, Halsey and Sia.

Gold considers that little green-eyed monster inside every single one of us that’s never satisfied. We’ve all heard it, and it’s scary how that voice simply tends to control you more and more once you first start listening to it. We wanted to remind ourselves that life is so much more than what the media - and most of the world around us - tell us. We want to dissociate ourselves from the easy option of just playing along like blindfolded puppets.

Fushia delicately draws you into their dreamy and poetic universe where clear vocals meet quirky and powerful drums. Behind the name is the two Danish identical twin sisters, Nathalie, and Mathilde who, despite having grown up in Denmark, now respectively live in Stockholm and London.In the last two years the sisters have created their new music by sending ideas back and forth over the North Sea via Skype, drawing inspiration from the two cities’ environments and cultures.

The 22-year-old sisters speak up about their relationship with feminism, greed, and hopelessness and reflect on how it is to live in a world where people suffocate in possibilities and where time is the most valuable currency. Having often had this recurrent daydream of wanting to escape society’s pressures and go hide under a rock, along the way the sisters learned that vulnerability can be just as powerful as strength and that they can use their defiance to create art.

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Quarry - Everything And Its Opposite.

Indie-Rock Singer-Songwriter Quarry releases a New Animated Music Video for the second single “Everything And Its Opposite”, taken from the album "Super Arcade", out everywhere via Lowfieye. Quarry portrays the paradoxes of this age through important figures in history, as if they were alive today. They act weird  to adapt themselves to the modern society, doing the opposite of what is expected of them. The directors Vincenzo Campisi and Francesco Quadri created a surreal video with beautiful visuals and illustrations to emphasize the sarcastic mood of “Everything And Its Opposite”.

A warehouse filled with old pinball machines and arcade games where a musician installed a recording studio and threw himself into writing songs and running sound experiments. That’s how "Super Arcade" was conceived. A very special environment to make a very special record. This place inspired the title and set the mood for the new album of the London-based indie-rock singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Vittorio Tolomeo, also known as Quarry now.

“For a musician, a place to make music is a continuous journey in unexplored galaxies, it's freedom, it’s shelter,” explains Quarry. “Making the record in such a strange place was necessary to stop time and detach myself from the unnecessary things of this age. I realized that I wanted to express the value of awkwardness. When I think about the invasion of bloggers of nothingness, talent shows, false myths and ephemeral notoriety, I get comfortable with being out of place and out of time.”

On this album, tracks like "Everything And Its Opposite" and the titular cut create a surreal picture of digital monopolies and their algorithms which influence every aspect of our existence, while "Haters Online" and "Firefighter" target social media and the border between virtual and real. Elsewhere, "Man With The Scars" pays tribute to David Bowie, and the visionary ballad "Sweet Alien On Creamy Skis" celebrates those who still believe in a (real) turning point on the road to peace on the planet. But no matter how heavy or sarcastic a subject is, the music is infectious throughout, combining slashing guitars, distorted bass lines and steady beat with melodic hooks, because Quarry is a firm believer that a right 3-minute song can change someone's life, and you can’t go wrong with an alternative pop-rock confection, if it’s deliciously dirty and punchy. On most of the "Super Arcade" numbers, Quarry played all the instruments, but he’s going to return to the stage to perform with his band in various European venues in the Spring and in America in the Summer.


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Famous - Forever.

London’s Famous reveal new single Forever ahead of debut mini-album England. Their softest-edged cut to date, it’s a literary tinged art-rock tune eschewing the panicked chaos of previous releases in favour of an almost maudlin sentimentality. Forever tugs at your emotions, owing to vocalist Jack Merrett’s by turns resigned, matter-of-fact and desperate vocals, reminiscent of a Heroes-era David Bowie or Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus. He explains the reasoning:

“I wrote Forever about a year ago, whilst reading Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther; a very beautiful but very ridiculous story about unrequited love.  The more I read, the more the story started to resemble a situation in my own life.  So I took the character’s names and, with that anonymity, was able to speak more cuttingly about my experiences.  This is definitely where Famous is going directionally; gushing, slower songs with a big emphasis on lyricism. It’s ultimately quite a conventional love song, if very grandiose. It’s something I’m very proud of”.

Forever develops on a distinctively hyperbolic, mythic re-imagination of urban life which lies at the heart of Famous’ upcoming mini-album ‘England’. Merrett finds it therapeutic; using theatricality and the emotional authority of art to navigate the chaos of anxiety.

Famous don’t chase subtlety per say. Their renowned live performances are huge, brash affairs; recalling the sad grandeur of a Vegas-era Elvis.  This music is, nonetheless, thoughtful and surprising - the band are strongly associated with the London arts-scene behind the Guardian 4* rated experimental theatre piece Ubu, also garnering acclaim from i-D.  Indeed, Ubu director Peter Price directed Forever’s poignant, rural video.


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Llovers - Coming Loose.

Fast establishing themselves as one of the North East’s finest emerging acts, Teesside quintet Llovers kick off what promises to be an exhilarating summer with the announcement of their debut EP Things That I Don’t Understand, preceded by sparkling lead single Coming Loose, out via Think Tank? Records on 24th May.

Swaggering and infectious in equal measure, the group’s latest release amplifies recent comparisons to the likes of MGMT, Tame Impala and The 1975, mixing infectious indie licks with a dose of psychedelia and arrives ahead of their slot at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend alongside Dylan Cartlidge, Slowthai and The Orielles later this month.

Drawing widespread acclaim throughout the online community (NME, DIY, The Line Of Best Fit, Clash, Dork, Wonderland) and across the airwaves (BBC Radio, 1, BBC 6 Music) over the last 18 months with a series of early releases, the band have already demonstrated their buoyant live potential supporting acts including Sundara Karma, Dream Wife and VANT and look set to lay down a real marker as they edge towards the arrival of their debut EP.

Speaking ahead of the release, co-frontman Jack Brooks stated: “Coming Loose deals with the anxieties that can come from being in a relationship, specifically one in which there’s little affection given from a paramour on the surface. It describes these feelings while also establishing which is used as a form of comfort within the narrative of the track”. Produced by Chad Male (Cape Cub), Llovers’ Coming Loose is out 24th May via Think Tank? Records and will be available on all digital platforms.

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Thursday, 23 May 2019

Kluster - Jamie Lynn Vessels - Stop.drop.rewind

We featured Kluster a couple of times in 2018 and now they return with 'Wild' an imaginative song that is hard to categorise in any one genre, it's creative and engaging nonetheless.

Jamie Lynn Vessels has just shared 'Cloak and Dagger' a brooding rocker that builds with intensity and emotion, her simmering vocals are just right for natural rock songs.

Another band who have been on Beehive Candy twice before are Stop.drop.rewind and their latest song 'Floating Stone' makes a third appearance inevitable as this expansive rocker comes fuelled with plenty of hooks.
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Kluster - Wild.

Kluster was founded by four friends and a virtual drummer in Malmö 2014, a real life drummer joined in shortly afterwards and the gang was complete. Since, the quintet has been active on as well the Malmö indie scene as playing shows in Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm, supporting acts such as Frankie Cosmos and Nicole Sabouné. Debut album civic was released last summer and Kluster received praise from BBC Radio 6, major swedish music magazines and more.  Since releasing their debut LP the band have become deeply involved within their local scene through running 'Fubbik' - a live music club night for Malmö bands only. Today, the debut is followed by new single Wild, including the bands first music video, out on all platforms via Rama Lama Records.

Wild is yet another glimpse of Kluster's playful sound - a melting pot of broad influences such as pop, punk, noise, lo-fi, indie and jazz. According to the band, "Wild is about the harvest of wild berries, giving you stains that never go away. But also about the longing for the fox that lives alone in the wild. In Chinese culture, the fox can also symbolize a being with magical powers, a messenger from the spirit world or the dead. The song can generally be said to be an ongoing inner trial, with memory images having impact as they appear in the dazzling summer light seen from above.".

The members have a history as academic jazz players, forming Kluster after longing to find a collective process free from strict genre playbooks and narrow-minded academic rules. A process that resulted in Kluster's captivating characteristic dynamic and turning points, alternating from melodious to dissonance, complex to simple.

The video is made by designer duo Angelina Petrovic and Jonna Jansson who explores whats ugly, weird, disgusting and nice. Kluster consist of Linnea Hall (vocals), Pontus Örnstrand (keyboard), Sebastian Hegedüs (guitar), Adam Jonsson (guitar) and Andreas Pollak (drums) and are available for interviews and other requests.


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Jamie Lynn Vessels - Cloak and Dagger.

Originally from Raleigh, North Carolina, Jamie graduated with an undergraduate and Master's Degree in Criminal Justice during a stint in the Northeast. Piano, guitar, songwriting - and even a brief foray with the trombone - were never far from her throughout her formative and academic years. Torn between two paths, Jamie's passion for, and calling to, a life of music drove her to find her artistic home in New Orleans.

Several years after making the move to the Crescent City, 2018 and 2019 have seen the formation of an entirely new band and sound, with fresh energy and material.

This shift caught the attention of peers and fans alike, giving the six-foot rock Amazon well-deserved attention in the indie world as a songstress, performer, and vocalist, both abroad and at home.

Likened to Lzzy Hale (Halestorm), Jamie has the rare ability to captivate and enrapture with a combination of her stage presence, lyrical prowess, electrifying rhythms, and a voice both raw and soulfully soothing. It's not just a concert - it's an experience.


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Stop.drop.rewind - Floating Stone.

Stop.drop.rewind tell us - "Our latest single, "Floating Stone," is out and already gaining praise for its mature take on our signature sound. It's a slow-burner; the music and lyrics reflect the ups-and-downs and perseverance required for a life in bands. This is personal territory for us- DJ, the guitar player/lyricist, and I taught ourselves to play together and have been making music for almost 20 years".

Stop.drop.rewind is the primary musical outlet for four like-minded individuals currently residing in northwest Indiana who believe that music should be innovative, inclusive, and above all else, shared. After nearly twenty years of education, practice, and cooperative songwriting, stop.drop.rewind has come together to confound those who try to define them, bringing their unique brand of jazz-tinged progressive pop rock to audiences across the Midwest and beyond.

Kris Lohn and DJ Crenson met in 2000 in Baltimore, Maryland when they were both 11 years old. It didn’t take them long after that to get instruments in their hands, as they started their first band together that same year. They spent their formative years taking in everything the blossoming Baltimore scene had to offer, coming up with the likes of All Time Low and You, Me, and Everyone We Know before relocating to northwest Indiana for college. It was there that stop.drop.rewind formally began.

After writing songs and performing around the region throughout college, the group solidified their rhythm section by adding region native Andy Sutton on drums and releasing Polarity, their 2016 EP. The success of this release afforded them the opportunity to begin regular South by Southwest appearances and perform with the likes of Secondhand Serenade, The Spill Canvas, Hawthorne Heights, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Soul Asylum, Halifax, and Amber Pacific, and in 2018 they released their first full length album, entitled Element & Aftermath. Shortly thereafter, their lineup was finally completed with the addition of fellow region transplant Matt Alley, who moved to Indiana from South Carolina to pursue his own musical education. This quartet of musicians is determined to share their music with anyone eager to listen, with plenty to love for fans of pop and prog rock alike.

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Anna Smyrk - ZOCO - Howling Bells - TCBYML

Photo - Michelle Grace Hunder Anna Smyrk - This is a Drill . Naarm/Melbourne based singer-songwriter Anna Smyrk shares a poignant moment o...