We featured Merival a couple of times earlier this year and now we have her new music video for 'Sinner'. The atmospheric and gently melodic song is partnered by an equally inspired film, Merival's singer-songwriter abilities are really something special.
Whats in a voice? Well with Arsun I would suggest a considerable amount, as is witnessed with 'Dead Sixty-Six', where the maturity is a little like oak aged bourbon whisky, Cat Power had better be on top form with this artist as the support act!
Catherine MacLellan returns here for a second time this year, with two natural folk gems entitled 'Come Back In' and 'The Tempest'. They are both from her forthcoming 'Coyote' album due in October, and from what we have heard so far, it's going to be rather special to say the least.
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Merival - Sinner.
Toronto-based singer-songwriter, Merival - the moniker for Anna Horvath - is now sharing the video for her bewitching single, ‘Sinner’, the latest to be taken from the critically acclaimed debut album, Lesson which is out now. The new video arrives in-line with news of Merival’s debut UK dates which are set to take in a stop at Lion + Coffee Records, London on September 15, 2019 - see below for the full run of dates.
Sonically rubbing shoulders with the likes of Adrianne Lenker, Julia Jacklin and Haley Heynderickx, ‘Sinner’, perhaps the album’s most tender track which comes produced by Sam Gleason (Charlotte Cornfield, Omhouse), finds Merival fusing her penchant for tranquil vocals with a soaring orchestral backing. Shot with director, Adrienne McLaren, the video finds Anna drifting through a dreamlike scenario whilst thematically the track touches on a time when Anna felt the all-consuming guilt of falling in love with someone else whilst in a relationship.
“I sobbed and sobbed immediately after writing this song,” says Anna of ‘Sinner’, perhaps the most heartfelt example on the album of Anna’s profound sense of emotion. “I was dating someone, fell in love with someone else, enter all-consuming guilt. As someone who feels things very deeply, I was distraught at having these destructively exciting thoughts of someone else.”
Merival, who has previously collaborated with names including Swim Good Now (Ryan Hemsworth, Teen Daze), Luke Lalonde (Born Ruffians) and Toronto’s DCF, earned a string of domestic support from the likes of CBC Radio and Exclaim! for earlier releases. Lesson will now be supported with a run of UK dates, the first stop in the country for the Canadian artist.
UK Dates:
September 12 – The Eagle Inn, Manchester
September 13 – Heaton Perk, Newcastle
September 14 – Rhôs-on-Sea, Pie Records
September 15 – Lion + Coffee Records, London (w/ Christof van der Ven of Bear’s Den)
September 18 – Sofar Sounds, Cardiff
September 19 – Nosda, Cardiff
September 20 – The Exchange, Bristol.
NYC-based artist Arsun released a video for his new single “Dead Sixty-Six” on Missing Piece Records. With a sound beyond his 20 years, he has been compared him to “a young, less baritoned Iggy Pop.” Next week Arsun will embark on an east coast tour with Cat Power, including a September 22nd show at Webster Hall.
“I’m excited to put this song out right around the time of my East Coast tour with Cat Power,” Arusn says. “My last tour supporting her on the West Coast was an absolute honor. Chan, her band and her crew are the sweetest people and all exceptional at what they do. ‘Dead Sixty-Six’ was a favorite amongst Cat Power’s drummer Alianna and guitarist Adeline. It’s an amazing opportunity to tour with such a legendary band and to learn and grow from playing alongside them.”
Tour Dates With Cat Power:
9/12 - Fort Lauderdale, FL - Revolution Live
9/13 - Tampa, FL - The RITZ Ybor
9/14 - Orlando, FL - The Beacham
9/16 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle
9/17 - Charlotte, NC - The Underground at the Fillmore Charlotte
9/18 - Charlottesville, VA - The Jefferson Theater
9/20 - Northampton, MA - Academy of Music Theatre
9/22 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
9/24 - Boston, MA - ROYALE
9/25 - Washington, DC - The Lincoln Theatre
9/27 - Niagara Falls, NY - The Rapids Theatre
9/28 - Ithaca, NY - State Theatre of Ithac
Catherine MacLellan, one of Canadian folk music’s true gems, returns today with another double release from her forthcoming COYOTE LP (set for release on October 11). The self-produced release is a travelogue through heartbreak, loss and the joy of life.
Some thoughts from Catherine on the new singles: Sometimes it can take a while to notice your relationship is falling apart. It can take a lot of effort to bring it back, but that can only work if both of you are actively trying to come back to centre. I "Come On In" long before the relationship was over, and when I still had hope for it. The winter PEI landscape is the perfect, haunted setting for longing and the sense of loss. For the video, I love the idea of using archived footage to evoke a sense of nostalgia, at the same time, a feeling of time moving on. Ultimately, it is a breakup song and breakups often trigger cherished memories.
"The Tempest" was based off an old Irish traditional tune. I had been learning it on the guitar for years and one day the words and melody came out with it. In the literal sense, it is a song about being out at sea, adrift and far from shore hoping the storm will pass and you’ll get home. For me, it’s a tribute to the countless fishermen who have been lost to the ocean while trying to make their living.
The Rightly So have just released 'Vandura' an album comprising of eleven songs where the duo explore a variety of folk and Americana styles. It's a refreshing collection of material, your never quite sure where the next track will take you, be assured this really is a refined and captivating collection of songs, a must for modern folk and all things Americana fans.
From Tuvaband we have a new music video for 'I Entered The Void'. The song is highly creative and I would suggest quite mesmerising. The cinematic video complements the piece and Tuva Hellum Marschhäuseris is most definitely on our one to watch out for radar.
Ora The Molecule have shared 'When Earth Took A Breath' accompanied by a fascinating video that works so well with this majestic alt pop song.
If you fancy going for a night drive then Marinho has a music video for 'Freckles' that's also just for you. Actually it's well matched to the songs lyrics and her folk rock style is highly notable.
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The Rightly So - Vandura (album).
Buffalo NY-based Americana/Folk duo The Rightly So have just released their brand new album "Vandura". Not a pair to stay on the couch, The Rightly So have been touring relentlessly, living on the road, and in fact, that lifestyle and new perspective has become inspiration for this new release.
"We've spent the last year and a half living out of our homemade RV built inside an old Verizon work truck, traveling over 40,000 miles and playing shows in over 20 states. "Vandura" is the culmination of 18 months of adventures, a collection of stories we've watched unfold and all of the places we've been. Living on the road has given us an entirely new perspective that has permeated this album to its core. It's a layered look into the many facets of what it's like to travel the back roads of America in an old van for a living, and our love for this new lifestyle that we've embraced is a constant theme."
Born in the heart of the Buffalo rust belt, The Rightly So brings a vibrant energy to Americana music. The young acoustic duo is comprised of esteemed guitarist and performer Gregory Zeis, and award-winning singer/songwriter Jess Chizuk. Likened to The Milk Carton Kids and The Secret Sisters, The Rightly So has developed a unique style of captivating acoustic music carried by perfectly blended harmonies by voices that have been described as “electric and deeply in tune.”
Combined, Jess and Greg have nearly 20 years of performing experience while still in their early 20's themselves. The duo has played 100+ shows each year for the last 4 years and orchestrated three nationwide tours. They have performed with Howie Day, Phoebe Hunt & The Gatherers, Sean Patrick McGraw, Dylan Jakobsen, and Davina and the Vagabonds, and have been featured in The Huffington Post, No Depression Magazine, and NPR affiliates in Amarillo (TX) and Grand Junction (CO). The Rightly So’s music combines the nostalgia of classic, down-home Americana with the sounds of contemporary folk. Their self-titled album provides an honest look into what a live performance from this duo is like; two guitars, two voices and a batch of well-crafted songs, full of vibrant energy and chemistry without losing any musical integrity. Their tasteful guitar riffs, singable melodies and storytelling lyrics have won them a number of accolades and awards alike.
Tuvaband is the work of Norwegian artist Tuva Hellum Marschhäuser. Tuva has a rare knack for capturing a strange magic in her songs, delicate compositions that range from delicate, piano-led folk to softly-soaring, post-rock that wraps the listener up in its own special atmosphere, held spellbound by the sounds swirling around her captivating, feather-light vocal.
‘I Entered The Void’ is a perfect introduction to both Tuvaband’s strange blend of magic, but also to the themes and tones found specifically within the forthcoming album of the same name. The single is gorgeously decorated with its instruments, its synth-line descending like rainfall and paired with choppy guitar waves, that musical beauty builds a world for Tuva’s vocal character to inhabit. In the verses, she’s a little restrained, singing under the weight of the feelings she’s carrying, rolling from barbed lyrics “her guts leaked, I was the retainer”, to aggressive then to wounded, before the chorus soars up through the song, and provides the release, the escape of falling into the Void. As Tuva expands:
“‘I Entered The Void’ is about realizing that you feel like an overflowing container of the emotions of others. And then what it feels like when the container suddenly becomes empty. It’s a song about getting lost in a void. This song was the first song I wrote for this album.” Tuvaband’s forthcoming long-player I Entered The Void follows their critically acclaimed debut album Soft Drop (2018, Brilliance Records) which garnered acclaim both in Tuva’s homeland of Norway and internationally, with Tuvaband being named ‘Ones to Watch’ twice by The Guardian, and the band’s SXSW Austin showcase of the same year garnering a flurry of attention from the likes of Brooklyn Vegan and IMPOSE.
I Entered The Void is a slight departure from Tuvaband’s previous style, inspired in part by Tuva’s personal life after a relocation to Berlin. Sonically the new record moves away from the deliberate minimalism of its predecessor Soft Drop with I Entered The Void offering a weightier and fuller sound. It was recorded with Tuvaband’s current live band to add more muscle, and it was a change in Tuvaband’s live sound that inspired the shift of style in the recorded work, as Tuva explains:
“I wanted a more distorted sound, and live, my band and I really tried to push the boundaries from my released music by moving from stripped down and vulnerable, to trying to sound like a punk/rock band. I felt like we were able to sound really rough and tough in parts of our sets. I really wanted people to hear this new side of the project, so there was no doubt I wanted this live version to be on my new album”. Elsewhere on the album, in its title and much of its lyrical themes, there is a much more introspective influence, with the record inspired by Tuva’s experience of newly moving to Berlin, as she expands:
“After a few months in Berlin, I was in this space I called ‘The Void’, a place between old and new. Like a waiting room. The album is about the reflections, thoughts and feelings that can appear in an empty space - a void - a break - with a distance from my earlier life, relations and society.”
‘When Earth Took A Breath (Are You There?)’ is the mesmerising alt-pop cut from Ora the Molecule, following global dance anthem ‘Salé’. Mixed by Erin Tonkon (David Bowie, PIXX) and underlined by bubbling synthesizers, ‘When Earth Took A Breath’ builds to a moving crescendo of guitar and crashing drums, somewhere between Cocteau Twins and Beach House.
Written as a stream of consciousness, the track is rooted in vocalist Nora’s recurring childhood dream of a ghost chasing her: “One night I realised that it was a dream, so I turned around and spoke to the ghost. He then disappeared, I woke up and I never had the dream again, as if confronting him broke the illusion, and that he could only exist as long as I feared him.”
Ora the Molecule translated this dream into civilisation’s relationship with nature. When misunderstood, it’s seen as fearfully omnipresent and powerful, disturbing our “need to learn to live in harmony with it.” The video parallels the sonic vastness of the track. Directed by Lambert Grand it’s a cinematic film following the journey of twins escaping imprisonment from something unknown, drenched with lush visuals.
Grand describes the methods that create this vibrancy: "I shot this video using what’s called a Full Spectrum Camera, and I used a specific filter that is able to see a certain type of infrared. The result is what you saw: everything that highly reflects infrared like plants appear red. What makes this project great is that so far no film or music video have been done using this technology and filter.”
Ora the Molecule are united by a mutual love of dance music, all three of them DJing italo, electronica and techno. These electronic sounds are blended with the 80s influences of Kraftwerk and Suzanne Vega, the result is their own unique strain of alt-pop.
With roots in Norway, Germany and Slovakia, they formed by chance in LA, consisting of vocalist Nora (who was searching for her estranged father at the time), drummer Sju and synth player Jan. They now record their distinctive dance-pop between the English countryside and the Andalusian mountains.
Portuguese alternative folk-rock artist, Marinho, has released her latest single, “Freckles,” in anticipation of her debut LP, ~ (read tilde), to be released October 18th on Street Mission Records. “‘Freckles’ was the most difficult track [on the album] to put together in the studio and it was also the most rewarding one to record,” Marinho says. “It was born out of the bass riff that had been stuck in my head for years. It’s also a very personal song about growing up at the hands of people not mature enough to raise kids, working out childhood traumas and lack of acceptance, feeling emotionally faulted or bankrupt. I'm particularly vulnerable and exposed at the end of the song when I say, ‘Dad pushes everyone away, Mom pulled away from everyone, And life is like a tilde sign with ups and downs, not a straight line.’”
Born in Lisbon and raised in front of the TV, Filipa Marinho had plenty of early exposure to American cartoons and mid-90's movies, as well as a growing intimacy with Hollywood’s views on love, relationships, and overall human nature. Now, as a young adult using her last name as her moniker, she tries to come to terms with what lies between overly romanticized expectations and real non-sitcom life. Resolutions come in the form of the songs which she has written and assembled over the years which make up ~.
Recorded at Black Sheep Studios and mastered by Philip Shaw Bova (Father John Misty, Marlon Williams, Feist, Andy Shauf), ~ is constructed from the simplicity of the roots of American folk music, with lush, cinematic tinges. The first single, “Ghost Notes,” made a splash on major Portuguese radio stations as well as Spotify and Apple Music playlists such as “Fresh Finds: Six Strings” and “New Music Friday,” and “Breaking Alternative,” respectively. The momentum continued to build with the release of “Window Pain,” which premiered on VICE Portugal, and Marinho spent the spring and summer touring in anticipation of the album.
Marinho will be dropping more singles and videos throughout the fall of 2019, surrounding the release of ~ on October 18th.
Just four weeks on from sharing 'Clouds' Toronto based Maddee returns with 'Dry' another song taken from her forthcoming debut E.P 'Red Mind'. Her soulful vocals are smooth, intimate yet powerful when required and the musical arrangement really is splendid.
Leon Rosen shares his debut single entitled 'Summers Edge' described as an end of summer piece the vocals exude heartfelt emotion and are gorgeously distinct as they hold centre stage on this song.
Dorking (England) quartet Vinyl Staircase have a new video for 'Sidewalk!' a feisty and potent song where the bands influences inspire rather than dominate. I had some friends from Dorking many (OK many many) years ago, so a little added reminiscing for me, but the song is a fine one.
We are back to Toronto again, this time for Tallies and a 360 degree video for 'Midnight'. It's a rich indie pop song and I'm pleased that they referenced The Sundays and Cocteau Twins in their promo, this really does have the strength of both bands combined, a feat and a half in my opinion.
We have a storytelling video by The ROAMies and the melodic and beautiful song 'We Can Work It Out' where the duos duel vocals and harmonies are just fabulous.
Moon Panda have shared a colourful and creative video for 'On The Attack', which works so well with their mixture of psychedelic nuances and high quality dream pop sensibilities.
Over the past year or so we have featured a number of Welsh acts performing in their native language and it's with pleasure to share a couple of new songs from Breichiau Hir namely 'Yn Dawel Bach' and 'Saethu Tri'. It just goes to show, you can enjoy the rock and passion of any good band whatever they are saying and singing.
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Maddee - Dry.
The Toronto-based artist, Maddee is now sharing the downtempo R&B of ‘Dry'. Taken from her forthcoming debut six-track EP, ’Red Mind’, which is due for release this coming autumn, the new cut finds the artist exploring silk-smooth brass sections and pinpoint percussion, threading her lucid vocal in between.
‘Dry’ once again finds the 21-year-old artist working with Gray Rowan (Charlotte Day Wilson, The WAYO) on co-production, this time thematically turning her attention to self-worth and the importance of loving oneself. “It’s about trying to escape the feeling of loneliness but realising it’s perhaps better just to face it head-on,” says Maddee. “It’s also about realising my value in a relationship and what I'm ultimately worth and willing to give.”
The new single further examines the overarching subject of the forthcoming ‘Red Mind EP’, wrestling with the ramifications of a negative relationship and the emotions that Maddee felt throughout that period. From love to infatuation and naivety, the complex theme of love and emotion is further accentuated through the accompanying scarlet artwork.
Maddee cut her teeth initially with features on the ‘Colours EP’ from Toronto-based producer, Harrison - from here, she picked up slots opening for the likes of Lil’ Yachty, Willow Smith and Tennyson, alongside which she showcased across festivals including SXSW, NXNE and Field Trip. A pair of debut singles were released in 2017 (produced by Toronto’s Birthday Boy and Shagabond respectively), earning the buzz-building artist tips from tastemaker blogs, Majestic Casual and the attention of Red Bull Sound Select who handpicked her as one their spotlight artists.
Leon Rosen was born and raised in San Francisco, the son of an abstract painter and a belly dancer. His prodigious talent on the piano was recognized early on and by his teens, Leon was enlisted by Bay Area jazz legends such as Herbie Lewis and Sonny Simmons to back them on keys. He also fell in with the founding members of Burning Man who were pioneering the San Fran art scene in the early 2000’s. They invited Rosen to compose the opera which would be played for the 20,000 in attendance on opening day.
Rosen was always interested in pursuing singer-songwriter music in the pop vein, but made a more practical move to New York to study Jazz. Rosen thrived in the energetic and aggressive atmosphere of NYC, but eventually felt the call to move to Israel. Being both Jewish and Armenian, Rosen felt he was in a unique position to bridge the boundaries of race and religion. “I’ve always hoped to transform the world, so I often find myself taking a childish leap into the impossible,” Rosen notes. “Of course, you get punched in the gut by reality but I will always stay naive and get back up with a feeling of innocence and purity.” While studying Arabic, he became infatuated with Middle Eastern music which led him to Kochi, India, where he studied the musical traditions of the far East.
During this time, he had a prophetic dream that took place at a breakfast diner. Tom Waits sat him down and gave him a talking to about his initial dream of pursuing a career as a singer-songwriter. Waits told him, “Singing wasn’t about hitting the notes...You gotta just lay it in the bucket.” Rosen took this message to heart and returned to San Francisco. He struck up relationships with new collaborators and began exploring a more ‘baroque pop’ sound, combining his love of Jazz with the singer-songwriter pop of the late 70’s. The resulting recordings boasted a sweet, nostalgic vibe with modern beats and arrangements, falling somewhere between Harry Styles and and Tobias Jesso Jr.
Rosen’s debut single “Summers Edge” is now out. The heartfelt track is “...aimed to evoke the end of Summer. It’s a gentle sendoff of sorts, saying goodbye to Summer camp, Summer romance, Summer nostalgia or perhaps returning to a Summer lost - a place where an era ended, at a new time of change.”
Equally inspired by the fuzzy, garage rock vignettes of Ty Segall and the arch new wave of NYC legends Talking Heads, Dorking quartet Vinyl Staircase’s new single ‘Sidewalk!’ is a twisting, attitude-filled statement of intent. Channelled through a filter of resplendent Brit Grit, it’s a live favourite that has been tamed and committed to record.
There’s a taut feeling to the track, a disconcerting rigidity reflected in both the way the wiry guitars interact with locked-in bass and drum groove, and the panicked element to the vocals. Thematically this bears out, as the band elaborate:
"'Sidewalk!' explores the paranoia that can occur while walking around at night listening to music, also referring to larger worldly anxiety. Simultaneously it’s largely a non-sensical and erratic journey, reflecting the instrumental strangeness of the song."
Taking time out of touring to get to work on their latest batch of recordings has given the band a moment to reflect. Self-producing in their own homes in the small town of Dorking, they feel like outsiders with regards to any ‘scenes’. Using this relative solitude to their advantage, they have managed to avoid the tendency to take misdirected over-inspiration from their peers. Instead, the ability to grasp salient cues from other artists and taking them back into their own focused remit allows for the perfect mix between community driven evolution and individualist expression.
This ethos is exemplified in the video for ‘Sidewalk!’, as the band reached out of their bubble to bring the visual element of the track to life: “We wanted to put a big focus on the video for this track, and decided for the first time to collaborate with film makers”. Counter to the night-walk apprehension imbued in the track, the clip sees a figure striding through the streets in daylight, coolly accepting idolisation from an adoring mass, touching on the band’s tongue-in-cheek attitude.
Toronto-based indie-pop band Tallies have released the 360° video for “Midnight” ahead of their second European tour, which includes an appearance at Reeperbahn Festival in Germany. “Midnight” is the next single to be taken from the band’s breakthrough self-titled debut album – which is out now via Fear of Missing Out Records.
Hitting a melancholy sweet spot between The Sundays and Cocteau Twins, “Midnight” recaptures the thrill and excitement of those adolescent years when you’re sneaking out tof he house behind your parents' back and falling in love for the first time. Accompanying the track is a 360° performance video capturing the band in full motion, as director Christopher Mills explains.
“Midnight is an experiment in 360 degree double exposure performance based film-making that takes place in an enchanted rehearsal studio, and in a garden awash with moving light. Our perpetually moving camera embraces glitch, static poses during performance but always comes back to Sarah Cogan’s enchanting coaxing of an imaginary hand held viewers eye. Midnight balances glitch with wood, flowers plants and detritus with fluid and consistent camera movement throughout.”
Tallies navigate an unfamiliar world on their confident self-titled debut album, which blends elements of shoegaze, dream pop, and surf rock into a fresh sound that’s all their own. The band was founded by singer and rhythm guitarist Sarah Cogan and lead guitarist Dylan Frankland, a couple who met in a sound engineering class while attending Algonquin College (Ontario, Canada). Tallies’ sound was fully realised with the addition of Frankland’s friend from childhood rock camp, drummer Cian O’Neill, and bassist Stephen Pitman.
Growing up with a music-obsessed father, Dylan Frankland was introduced to greats like The Smiths, The Sundays, Aztec Camera, and Cocteau Twins. He subconsciously carried these influences into Tallies, which is evident in the Johnny Marr stylings of his guitar riffs and the Robin Guthrie-tinged shoegaze textures of his production. The album was co-produced by Frankland and Josh Korody at Toronto’s Candle Recordings, a hot spot where locals like Metz, Dilly Dally, Austra, and Weaves have made indie classics.
Sometimes life gives us lemons. And, unfortunately, sometimes it throws those lemons at us really hard, one after another, no rest in between, no warning the next one is coming.
Our instinct is to run...hide...protect ourselves. Forget about making lemonade! And what about those we love, those sharing life with us? They’re right there beside us dodging lemons too. That’s where Love steps up. Love’s instinct is to love them as we love ourselves.
Even to put them above ourselves. If we’re all living to love each other as we love ourselves, to put each other first, those difficulties life throws at us become opportunities to work together, to build our relationships, to make them stronger...together. When the harsh difficulties of life fall on us, and nasty disagreements spring up between us, together, with Love and commitment to each other, We Can Work It Out - The ROAMies.
Cross-continental psychedelic dream pop duo Moon Panda announced their debut EP and released a video for their latest single, "On The Attack", earlier today via High Clouds.
While "Attack" details the trials and tribulations of a long-term relationship, the Charlotte Spies-animated video is a technicolor contrast featuring shapeshifting animals. While that might seem visually disconnected from the song, singer/bassist Maddy Myers and Danish guitarist Gustav Moltke contend it couldn't be more relevant to the subject.
"[It's about] going back and forth between self-reliance and feeling like an unattached wild animal, chasing affection and adoration," Myers told High Clouds. "Waiting for a text back, a call, some proof that I’m missed. Hopefully, it outlines that chaos that can happen inside you when you just want that warmth and acceptance."
"Attack" is the latest song off of the duo's upcoming EP, Pastel Pools, which was announced alongside the single last week.
To move from the caustic, the abrasive, the aggressive to a pensive sadness that eventually brake’s into a cacophony of blistering chords with such ease is a testament to Breichiau Hir’s growing confidence. The last 12 month of releases has shown a band forever forging their own individual path. ‘Yn Dawel Bach / Saethu Tri’ is their new Double A side single, it’s also the band's most melodic songs to date. These songs combine Breichiau Hir’s love for loud noise and soft sad moments. Emphatic sounds and melancholic atmosphere. ‘Yn Dawel Bach / Saethu Tri’ belong together, they come from the same emotional and creative place. As Steffan Dafydd the bands lyricist and vocalist explains:
“In Saethu Tri, I outline the dread or regret that can overcome me and how I’m never totally sure how to deal with it. I don’t dramatise it in the song, I kept it matter of factly and tried to convey the numbness and dullness that comes with it. It’s wistful and sombre.”
“Yn Dawel Bach is nearly a response to this dread I talk about in Saethu Tri. It basically points out that these waves of panic can overwhelm you whenever it wishes. It can come crashing at you wherever you are. It doesn’t ask permission, it just arrives, unannounced and uninvited.”
These frail emotional landscapes the songs move through are beautifully conveyed. Calm verses that ease the listener into a false sense of security and control before a wall of sound blissfully brakes into the chorus.
The single will be available on limited edition cassette tape and Breichiau Hir will celebrate the release with a launch night at The Dojo, Kings Road Yard, Cardiff on September 28th.
Locks return to Beehive Candy for a seventh time with their latest release 'In The City'. The bands creativity is notable in pretty much anything they record, this time they have shared a simmering alt folk song with bags of atmosphere and a very addictive vibe.
From The Cordial Sinswe have their new single 'Cruel'. I was hoping to share the video for it, but it's still unlisted as I write, nonetheless this is a gorgeous and melodic alt pop song that is released today.
Ex Norwegian have shared'Life' along with a video that brings out the psychedelic feel of this fabulous and somewhat sixties orientated rocker. The band may have been around for a while, but they are still putting out some really fine new songs.
Our second feature for The Be Positives this time we have 'She's The Girl' and boy does it contrast with the last song. This time the melodic vocals lead with a toned down rock backdrop, last time they were belting it out in full garage rock mode, either way they are good.
Just four weeks after sharing the video for 'Hear Me' Dominic Sen returns with 'What It Is'. Her vocals are distinct and melodic on this beautifully arranged and somewhat gentler piece, and the hooks slowly dig in deep.
With a 360 degree video to immerse yourself in Bandits On The Run present The Ballad of Bonnie Jean (Live at the Safehouse). The trio serve up some feisty live roots music, putting us right in the centre.
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Locks - In The City.
LOCKS are a London based alt-folk band, made up of L.Geary-Griffin (lead vocal / guitar), Mike Byrne (double bass), Marian McClenaghan (fiddle) and Andrew Marvell (drums).
In The City is the third track taken from the folk-noir quartettes debut album Skeletal Blues. It contains their signature traits which the band have honed over time, shuffle-esq tribal drums, rumbling bass lines, fiddle hooks throughout and story-telling fables.
“This song, simply put, is all about revenge. You’ll get what you deserve no matter what.” L. Geary-Griffin. “The fiddle part was made to sound like a siren echoing a warning ‘don’t come into the city tonight’” Marian McClenaghan.
The B-side to In The City is a remix of Teeth from their debut EP Rattle Them Bones! By Stos Goneos of Zambian swamp-blues brother duo Bite The Buffalo In The City & Teeth remix available as digital download September 6th 2019.
Live Dates:
13th September – The American Bar, Belfast, Ireland
22nd September, Prince of Wales, Brixton
27th/28th September – BrightFest & Strummerville, London
18th October – The Finsbury, London
24th October – Lynch’s Irish Pub, Juich Germany
25th October – Haemmers Pub, Vettweiss, Germany
26th October – Old School, Roedingen, Germany
19th December – The Bank Tavern, Bristol w/ Lonely Tourist.
The Cordial Sins' new single is entitiled "Cruel". A personal reflection and a journey toward the resolve of inner conflict, "Cruel" is a rollercoaster representing how isolation manifests when one dwells on unresolved grief and the emotional labor of the past.
However, this isolation acts as a catalyst for personal growth, change, and eventual peace. Musically the track features the band in their finest pop form with Liz Fisher's beautifully rising and arresting vocals alongside Corey Dickerson's lush guitar textures.
Drawing fervent attention for their delectable meld of alternative, pop and shoegaze, The Cordial Sins have recently completed their first U.S. tour in support of Elvis Depressedly. The group’s electrifying performance has also been showcased on stages shared with the likes of The Breeders, Foals, The Flaming Lips, Twin Peaks, Wolf Alice and more.
Somehow, through cosmic forces and mystical hiccups, it’s entirely possible you’ve been missing out on one of music’s great treasures. Following a musical lineage of power pop greats from the 60’s and 70’s, as well as the unhinged genius of the likes of They Might Be Giants and Squeeze, they have spent the last ten years cultivating a rabid fanbase and critical acclaim from publications worldwide. Over 25 tracks (15 on the vinyl edition), Something Unreal is a monolithic slab of glorious hooks and Michelle Grand’s Debbie Harry-esque vocals trading blows with Roger Houdaille’s rabble-rousing tones - if this is the first time you’ve encountered them, a technicolour world awaits you.
Based in Miami Beach, Florida, Ex Norwegian (named, obviously, after the Monty Python sketch), Ex Norwegian have had an evolving cast of band members, with the odd exploding drummer and bassists lost at sea but throughout it all, prolific songwriter, Roger Houdaille has remained. Something Unreal features fan favourites, Life and Making Deals, by turns swirling psych tempests and grandiose anthemic glam hurricanes.
The band’s output of chiming, melodic pop and rock gems began in 2008 with their album, Standby, at the CMJ Festival in New York, immediately causing a stir and understandably having countless genres thrown at them in the hope that one would stick.
Released in late 2016, Glazer/Hazerr is described as a “love letter to classic rock ‘n’ roll based pop” by UK’s Shindig Magazine. A low-key release, Tekstet (Subtitled) along with a 40-track covers album, Original Copies, quickly followed in 2017 leading up to 2018’s No Sleep. The ninth album, No Sleep, arguably took the band back to the beginning, crafting straightforward pop/rock songs with effective arrangements and quirky lyrics with strong melodies, with the main trio of Roger, Michelle and Giuseppe working collectively on it.
THE BE POSITIVES is a northern conundrum. Consisting of Mike Seal (Guitar, Piano & Vocals), Rob Hatton (Bass & Vocals), Simon Mayne (Lead Guitar & Vocals) and Callum Darley (Drums & Vocals), they were splayed across Merseyside to Sheffield, all sharing an affinity for McCartney, Dylan, Kinks and Nick Lowe, and later, converging on Manchester, they hankered for gigging at grotty pubs across the city. Now united, the four-piece invoke mad-pop affirmation through berserk instrumentation laced with smart lyricism.
Of the same vein as Cut Worms, filled with Lemon Twigs-esque zest, second slice ‘Like Everyone’ flaps about with math-rock melodies and striking signatures – you never know quite where you stand – aligning it both musically and conceptually, feeding into Mike’s howls of “we’re like everyone…”
The band elaborates; “Like Everyone was originally intended for Proto Idiot but the weird timing of it threw us and it got shelved. I'm glad we revived it for The Be Positives as it’s understated and simple, yet the concept behind it is far from…. It was also one of those rare occasions where a song falls out of the guitar fully-formed, which doesn't happen often. We’re like everyone…”
Director Callum Scott-Dustin, who also created the visual for the band’s debut single, says; "For the 'Like Everyone' video we wanted to try and do something a little vintage and tongue in cheek, in the style of some Paul McCartney and Harry Nilsson videos we like. We played around with split screen, costume changes, some green screen and the idea of a fake concert within the video. We shot it all in a day at a Manchester venue then I had loads of fun throwing all the elements together in post, going for something playful that matched the energy and colour of the track."
The quartet’s self-titled album encapsulates their varied musical influences, from their garage fueled opening track ‘Like Everyone’ to the Nilsson tinged mad-pop of new single ‘Monkey. The Be Positives certainly don’t attach themselves to one genre. Expanding on ‘Like Everyone’, the band said “The song was written very quickly on acoustic guitar in Mike and Callum's kitchen. It was originally intended for Proto Idiot. You could sum the theme of the song up by simply saying, we all make mistakes; we're all the same.”
'What It Is' is Dominic Sen's second single from their terrestrial debut 'Visitor' out on October 18 on Roll Call Records. It follows previous single 'Hear Me', acting as yet another vignette from the love story, space opera, and thought experiment that is 'Visitor'. The album tells the tale of Tal Naata, a biologically human female coming from a distant and socially progressive civilisation to study Earth. Taking Tal Naata’s story as their prism, Sen casts our own primitive ideas of gender, duality and social cohesion back at us through shimmering, crystalline pop that pays homage to our recent past.
‘What It Is’ develops Tal Naata’s longing for connection on Earth. After spending her first months here struggling to adapt socially, she finds her interest piqued by a regular patron of the academic library in which she works. “I notice the books that you’re reading / you come ‘round the same time each day”. Tal Naata gives herself over to an insatiable curiosity to know more about this human that she feels inexplicably drawn to as her feelings morph into attraction. ‘What It Is’ is Sen’s own take on the female gaze in the throes of budding desire. Documenting one of the mainstays of the human experience, it is most simplistically a song about having a crush from afar and the follies and fluttering excitement that ensue.
Like Tal Naata, the album's creator Dominic Sen is themselves a visitor to Earth. The seventh and only surviving child of the supermassive black hole at the centre of “The Evil Eye Galaxy,” Sen drifted around space in limbo until intercepting the radio waves from Earth’s broadcasts during 1980’s and 1990’s. Our colourful pop culture precipitated Sen’s fixation on the meretricious myth of Earthbound stardom and eventually led them to create 'Visitor'.
‘Visitor’ will be released on Roll Call Records on October 18. It will be immediately available for pre-order, including as a limited edition LP in “Interstellar White” vinyl.
Bandits On The Run - The Ballad of Bonnie Jean (Live at the Safehouse).
Bandits on the Run have joined forces with The Power Station at BerkleeNYC to create “The Ballad of Bonnie Jean,” an immersive 360 experience where the audience finds themselves at the center of all elements, being surrounded by the music featuring spatial, ambisonic audio. When a viewer rotates the video by moving a mobile device, dragging the picture on a computer, or moving their head while wearing VR goggles, the sound field also rotates.
Stephen Webber, the Executive Director of BerkleeNYC, explains, "Power Station at BerkleeNYC is committed to pushing forward new modes of artistic technology and is becoming a leader in the development of 360 Cinematic VR music video content, featuring spatial audio. When it came time to present an educational session on ambisonic audio, I wanted to find a compelling acoustic group who knew how to engage an audience and was flexible enough to choreograph a performance to a 360 camera in the middle of the action. Bandits on the Run was the perfect choice! Their choreography blew away expectations, and the uber-talented trio provided a chilling, immersive performance that must be experienced to be believed. I truly believe the Bandits' 360 version of 'The Ballad of Bonnie Jean' is a pivotal moment in the development of 360 Cinematic music video!"
Comprised of cellist/badass Sydney Shepherd (who goes by the moniker “Bonanza Jellyfish,”) guitarist/fool Adrian Blake Enscoe (“Roy Dodger,”) and player-of-toys/clairvoyant Regina Strayhorn (“Clarissa,”), who are all actors in addition to troubadours, Bandits on the Run’s signature three-part harmonic voice stands at the center of their musical equation. Throw in some serious cello action, hooks played on various and sundry toy instruments, and a steely spine of rhythm guitar all accompanied by a suitcase drum packing a powerful punch and bang: you’ve got the basic magic of banditry, with a sound forged while busking in the acoustics of NYC subway stations.
