The Saxophones are Alexi Erenkov and Alison Alderdice and together they have delivered a beautiful song entitled 'Lamplighter' an exquisite, gentle and touching track. === We have to go back to 2016 for our last feature withRachael Sage however I recognised the name immediately so she clearly left an impression. The new recording of 'Both Hands' (Live At Carriage House Studios) is beautifully performed and the musical arrangement and vocals work together wonderfully.
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The Saxophones - Lamplighter.
The Saxophones--the Bay Area based duo of Alexi Erenkov (vocals, guitar, synthesizer, woodwinds) and Alison Alderdice (drums, vocals)--have shared the second single from their forthcoming sophomore album Eternity Bay, out March 6 on Full Time Hobby. Following "New Taboo," which caught the attention of Austin Town Hall ("delicate and fragile"), BBC Music, and more, "Lamplighter" is warm surf-pop that draws from '50s exotica, west coast jazz, and '70s Italian lyricism. Stream it here, along with the animated lyric video. Various Small Flames is hosting the first listen while describing the track as "rich with the band’s distinctively Lynchian blend of romantically unhurried instrumentation and syrupy vocals."
Erenkov wrote "Lamplighter" after playing a show at the Sou’wester trailer resort in Washington state, and at the Lamplighter, where he spent the rest of the evening drinking Fireballs. He says "Lamplighter" is about his attempts to escape anxiety through alcohol and other vices; "While indulging, I often convince myself that I'm on some kind of path to enlightenment, that I'll find an escape from impermanence and be able to touch the eternal, but all of my hedonistic impulses lead me back to the same reality. And I'm left to face the fact that even the truest love is impermanent. The song takes its name from a bar on the misty Washington coast where I spent an evening drinking with close friends after a show. The night and the following day's walk on the beach were both enjoyable, but I was particularly struck by how much my conversations, thoughts, and actions were avoidant of the present. Whether through alcohol or simply distracting myself with thoughts of the future, I find ways to fight reality.
Eternity Bay follows the band's debut album, 2018’s Songs of The Saxophones, as well as a string of sold-out 7” singles (If You’re On the Water, Aloha, and Singing Desperately Suite). It was recorded by Cameron Spies (Radiator Hospital) in Portland and mixed by Noah Georgeson (Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart) in LA. Eternity Bay will be released on March 6, and is now available for preorder via Full Time Hobby.
The Saxophones’ band name started out as a half-joke for the songwriting project of Alexi Erenkov, who, at that time, was a disillusioned jazz student. Erenkov had recently ditched the instrument, as jazz hadn't offered the room for self-expression that he sought. His solo project became a band when his wife Alison Alderdice joined on percussion, and their debut album, Songs of the Saxophones, was released just before the birth of their first son in 2018. Written aboard the boat they lived on together (amid the incessant rain of a northern Californian winter), the record established The Saxophones’ style, drawing from fifties exotica, west coast jazz, and seventies Italian lyricism. Drama seeps into The Saxophones' deceptively simple sound, transforming dreamy surf pop into thoughtfully textured pieces, with a spaciousness at the core.
The band's forthcoming second album, Eternity Bay, began to take shape just after the arrival of their first son, who shook up Erenkov’s writing routine far more than choppy boat waters ever did. "My music has always grappled with mortality and the meaning of existence," he says, "but the birth of our first son and the imminent arrival of our second has greatly heightened my sensitivity to these themes." The forced fragmentation of his hours, writing under inky late-night skies and through the liminal glimmer of dawn, brought new qualities to the surface of his songs. "While this record was influenced by a broad range of music," he explains, "the through line seems to be conveying a strong mood or sense of place. I love music that transports listeners to another space, whether it's Jonathan Richman making you feel like you’re walking the streets of Boston in 'I Love Hot Nights' or Arthur Lyman transporting you to a Hawaiian hotel lobby in the 50s."
Rachael Sage - Both Hands (Live At Carriage House Studios).
Rachael Sage has released the first single from her forthcoming album Character: a string quartet version of the classic Ani DiFranco song "Both Hands". The accompanying music video premiered on PopMatters. Sage has also just been confirmed as support on the Howard Jones Acoustic Trio's Winter 2020 US tour, beginning on January 28 in Seattle.
Sage's fresh, string-quartet take on "Both Hands" is both musically unexpected and a full-circle moment. Sage's first-ever tour was as an opener for DiFranco, and she has long been inspired by her fellow indie label owner – but in this case, it was more vital. While undergoing treatment for cancer in 2018, Sage listened to "Both Hands" as part of a playlist that kept her "determined and strong". A year later, it was a natural fit for her new album Character, due out on MPress Records on March 6.
Produced by Sage and Grammy® winner Andy Zulla, the track features a string quartet performing an arrangement by cellist Dave Eggar (Evanescence, Coldplay), Sage, and Chuck Palmer. Zulla set up cameras around Carriage House Studios in Stamford, CT to capture the recording process, and edited the footage into the official music video, which has premiered exclusively on PopMatters. The single is now available on all digital platforms, including Apple Music, Amazon, and Spotify.
January will also see Sage heading back out onto the road supporting 80s music icon Howard Jones, after accepting his personal invitation to join his US Acoustic Trio tour. Beginning on January 28 at Seattle's Benaroya Recital Hall, she will support dates in cities including Los Angeles, Austin, St. Paul, New York City, and Miami.
Team Me were featured a couple of times last year and the new song 'Into The Wild' is a refreshing indie track where the eight member band are found in a more sensitive mode. === Christopher Paul Stelling shares a beautiful video for 'Lucky Stars' a sumptuous and melodic singer-songwriter piece. === FromSelkama we have 'Exit Signs' where feisty drums and more dreamy vocals make for an engaging track glued together with some fine guitar moments. === Bluegrass has been growing on me over the last two or three years and the new album from Sideline entitled 'Breaks to the Edge' has upped my appreciation even further, needless to say fans of this genre should love this. === The Lone Bellow have a distinct and very engaging sound as is born out by the anthem orientated 'Good Times' and the production is notably refined. === I have been a fan of Jenny Lewis's music since the day's of Rilo Kiley so the new track from Jenny Lewis, Habib Koite, Artists for Peace and Justice entitled 'Under The Super Moon' was a must hear, and it's a grand piece and a good reflection of the multi artist album due soon. === Lunaires have just released 'Healing Hurricanes' a melodic genre straddling song with plenty of atmosphere and melodic vibes.
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Team Me - Into The Wild.
After a festival filled Summer with slots at Træna and Pstereo, Team Me return with the sensitive and mesmerising ‘Into The Wild’, out via Propeller Recordings (Highasakite, Dagny).
Taking a stripped back approach incorporating more natural instrumentation, the track is a refreshing reminder of the 8-piece’s capacity and versatility to write indie bangers in all degrees. Frontman Marius Drogsås Hagen tells of the subject of the track “sometimes you get the urge to disappear and leave behind the ones you love in order to find peace with yourself”, and for Marius it’s about following the need to escape into the wild in order to return to society recharged, and able to appreciate and embrace his relationships.
When speaking of the band’s new chapter, Marius tells “as for the music, I really want to be more focussed on documenting this time, rather than releasing an album and touring for three years on a campaign. I want the project to just be a way to let things out of my system.”
Christopher Paul Stelling’s new album Best Of Luck is a supremely accessible and finely crafted record that deftly merges genres. Producer Ben Harper, who has previously produced records by Mavis Staples, Rickie Lee Jones, The Blind Boys of Alabama and more, recruited an all-star rhythm section with Jimmy Paxson (Stevie Nicks, Dixie Chicks) on drums and upright bass player Mike Valerio (Randy Newman, LA Philharmonic) to lend a versatility and finesse. “I really believe this record is the intersection where folk and soul meet,” Harper says.
This weekend Stelling has released the tender new song “Lucky Stars”. The sonic simplicity of “Lucky Stars” reveals a richness of melody and emotionality in Stelling’s music. “It’s part love song, part lullaby,” Stelling says of the track, “with a gentle touch from the band and Ben’s haunting lap steel matching my guitar in the instrumental section, additional vocals by my partner. It’s about gratitude and the mysteries of the universe. Even to just be here and marvel at it all is enough for me most times. Even if it’s meaningless, it’s beautiful.”
Throughout Best of Luck, feelings discontent and self-doubt are transformed into messages of resilience and hope. Lead single “Trouble Don’t Follow Me” captures this perfectly, with an upbeat almost anthemic rhythm and soulful, gospel-tinged vocals. “It comes as no surprise to me that one of my most optimistic songs could be written in the most difficult hour,” Stelling says. “When all I needed was a little hope and a song I could play night after night and not get tired of. Something that captured the basic recipe for endurance. A song about marching on, a warning to anything that might stand in your way, and needing to feel strong for the people around you, so you can inspire them to do the same.”
Exit Signs is a song about how easy it is to build walls around yourself after a long time of loneliness. You learn how to detach yourself from your emotions.
You learn how to come up with excuses to not let anyone in. It’s like the brain creates its own defense mechanism to make sure the safety of your heart won’t be endangered once again.
The song originally sounded like a shoegaze-ballad but the first thing our drummer did when we showed it to him was to play an energetic and steady beat. It felt funny in contrast to the gloomy lyrics and we loved it.
The second single from Selkama's upcoming debut album is called Exit Signs. It was out January 10. The album drops in early 2020.
Bluegrass powerhouse Sideline is keeping the momentum from a successful 2018 release and a major IBMA award going with its new album, Breaks To The Edge, now available from Mountain Home Music Company. Following the band's great success with its acclaimed release Front and Center and its single, “Thunder Dan” — which topped the year-end chart as the #1 Bluegrass song in radio, and followed that accolade by winning the IBMA’s Song of the Year in 2019 — Breaks To The Edge, is a collection of songs that range from high-energy traditional Bluegrass to progressive destinations and all points in between.
Reflecting the North Carolina group’s roots and experiences, the set includes stories of traveling troubadours like that told in their radio single, “Return To Windy Mountain,” a nostalgic reminiscence of country living in “Southern Wind,” a classic bluegrass ballad of tragedy, “Down In The Willow Garden,” the reproachful Stanley Brothers favorite, “Your Selfish Heart” and more.
On the more progressive side, Breaks To The Edge offers a cover of Steve Wariner’s “Crash Course In The Blues,” with Skip Cherryholmes taking the vocal lead on a wry tale that justifies the album title with Southern-rock style jams. At the other end of the spectrum, the classic southern gospel song "I’ll Live Again" highlights Sideline’s refined vocal abilities with supremely blended 4-part harmony.
The high lead vocal of guitarist Bailey Coe flies above Sideline’s blended harmonies in a pair of furiously up-tempo barnburners (“Digging My Own Grave” and “Roll On Blues”), providing a flavorful contrast to Troy Boone’s aggressive lead vocals and mandolin playing on the tragic love song “Amy.” Supple, energetic fiddling from Daniel Greeson spurs songs like “Square Dance Town” but also lends a haunting, mournful opening to “Return To Windy Mountain.”
Throughout, the band’s tight mix of power and dynamics is driven by the pocket and pulse of original member Steve Dilling’s award winning banjo and co-founder Jason Moore’s bass, while Cherryholmes, the third colleague at the group’s heart, dishes up impressive flatpicking from start to finish. With a loaded national performance schedule and now their 5th studio album,Sideline continues to be a tour de force in bluegrass. Breaks To The Edge captures this power, making a statement that Sideline will continue to do what’s propelled them to this point.
The Lone Bellow – Zach Williams, Kanene Donehey Pipkin, Brian Elmquist – have released the soaring and elevating "Good Times." a new powerful song from their soon-to-be-released album HALF MOON LIGHT (Dualtone Records, an Entertainment One Company). Out 7th February and produced by The National's Aaron Dessner, HALF MOON LIGHT is the band’s fourth studio LP and first one since 2017. Billboard premiered the "rhythmic, joyous" song with a Zach Williams Q&A earlier today. A short video about the writing and recording of the song is available now as well.
"Over the years I’ve had the great joy of staying up late and hearing epic stories told by adventurous souls," Williams said. "Some stories were told on old boats way out in the middle of the ocean, some in Irish Pubs in Manhattan, some in backyards down south, and some on hospital beds. 'Good Times' is a salute to the good ones who grab life by the horns and let no good time slip away." In November, the band released "Wonder," a song that underpins the entire album with a loving call to reclaim the childlike awe and appreciation age takes away. It is the record’s core message and transcendent truth.
"When the day is done, I often find myself wondering if I am losing my sense of wonder," says Williams. "My mind goes back to very specific memories. One is of my cousin and I driving in his old S10 pick up truck with a tape of Moondance in the deck that we found in his brother’s room. I remember watching the pine trees go by in the truck’s windows as we sang 'and it stoned me to my soul.' I remember the hope of the future and the absolute awe of life just pouring into our 16-year-old minds. I never want to lose that sense of wonder. I think that probably goes for all of us."
“We talked a lot about the concept of wonder and seeing people lose it as we get older,” Kanene says. “I hope this record is a journey back into wonder –– not through any falsified sense of ‘Everything’s going to be fine,’ but through the beauty and the pain of what it is to be human.” - “We made this record in a place of joy and collaboration with our friends. We were trying to do something bigger than ourselves,” Brian says.
Jenny Lewis, Habib Koite, Artists for Peace and Justice - Under The Super Moon.
Arts Music released the track "Under The Supermoon" from the upcoming benefit album Let the Rhythm Lead: Haiti Song Summit Vol. 1, a collaborative project of songwriters Jonathan Wilson, Jenny Lewis, Jackson Browne, Paul Beaubrun, Habib Koité, Raúl Rodríguez and Jonathan Russell, along with members of the Haitian roots band Lakou Mizik. "Under The Supermoon" was written by Jenny Lewis, and features Habib Koite. Let The Rhythm Lead: Haiti Song Summit Vol. 1 will be released on January 31, 2020.
Hailing from four different countries, interweaving North American Indie Rock with beats and percussion of Haitian Vodou, Spanish and Malian guitar, Tres Flamenco, with songs in English, Creole, Khassonké, Manding and Spanish, Let The Rhythm Lead celebrates the work of Artists for Peace and Justice in Haiti, and was recorded at their Artists Institute on the island's southern coast, in the town of Jacmel.
As Lewis explains, "Under The Supermoon" is "a love song written in Jacmel floating in the Caribbean sea under the supermoon of November 2016 just days after the US presidential election... a travelogue of sorts processed in real time…"
Let The Rhythm Lead: Haiti Song Summit Vol. 1 Track listing:
1. Lapé, Lanmou (Peace and Love), written by Jonathan Wilson and Jenny Lewis
2. Love is Love, written by Jackson Browne and David Belle
3. Surrender, written by Paul Beaubrun and Jackson Browne
4. Under the Supermoon, written by Jenny Lewis
5. Let the Rhythm Lead, written by Raúl Rodríguez
6. Goddess at the Wheel, written by Jonathan Wilson
7. Koulandian, adapted by Habib Koité
8. Saving Grace, written by Jonathan Russell and Kathryn Everett
9. El Viajero, written by Raúl Rodríguez
10. Simbi Dlo, adapted by Paul Beaubrun
11. I Found Out, written by Jonathan Russell
Artists for Peace and Justice (APJ) is a non-profit organization that encourages peace and social justice and addresses issues of poverty around the world. Our immediate goal is to serve the poorest communities in Haiti with programs in education, healthcare and dignity. We are committed to long-term, sustainable development in direct partnership with the Haitian people. Our model is simple: we believe in empowering local communities, fostering economic growth, and the power of education to change a nation.
Lunaires is the new project by Danilo Carnevale and Patrizia Tranchina, ex-members of Jeunesse d’Ivoire, an underground legendary Italian wave band active in the early and mid-Eighties. It’s a project stretched in time, from the post-punk of the early eighties to the post-everything of today.
The historic group Jeunesse d’Ivoire were featured in Body Section in 1983, an historical compilation of the seminal magazine Rockerilla – along with Litfiba, Kirlian Camera and Diaframma, among others.
They also took part in various other compilations: “Milano New Wave 1980-83” (Spittle Records, IT); “Cold Waves and Minimal Electronics vol.1” – 2010 (Angular Records – UK); “New Wave Italiana 1980 – 1986” – 2012 (Spittle Records); “Danza Meccanica vol. 2” – 2012 (Mannequin); “Italia Synthetica 1981-1985” 2013 (Spittle Records).
The band toured extensively throughout Italy, including Milan, Turin, Florence, Rome, Bologna, Modena, Pisa, Brescia, Naples etc., supporting acts such as Kirlian Camera and the German band No More, and growing a strong reputation for their powerful and dynamic live sets.
Lunaires is the landing point of a long musical journey which embodies and testifies two very distant and still related musical eras, that of the crudest and most innocent post-punk of thirty years ago and today electronica, bordering on psychedelia, shoegaze and krautrock. The album “If All the Ice Melted” has been released in April 2019 by Wave Records (Brazil), that’s also going to release the brand new single “Healing Hurricane” early 2020.
The Ah returns with 'The Factory Girl' just a few weeks after sharing 'Watermelon Tears' also taken from his forthcoming 'Mere Husk' album, the two songs suggesting this could well be a very creative collection of songs. ===Jody and the Jerms have released their new E.P entitled 'Today' we shared one song from it last November and we have all four fabulous songs to devour today (if you excuse the pun). === Another band making a second appearance here are World/Inferno Friendship Society and the wonderfully titled track 'Having A Double Life Is So Hard (But Obviously Something You Enjoy) V1', where the music is again dynamic, addictive and original. === Lilly Hiatt has just released 'Brightest Star' a refined country rocker with plenty of heart and soul. === Another band back on Beehive Candy for a second time areRevolution, I Love You this time around we have the new track 'Vicious Vicious' the last single ahead of their next album and a powerful, yet detailed rhythmic rocker. === Accompanied by a cassette version of their new E.P Plastic Bubble have just released 'The Sitting In A Tree E.P' which is an ear catching indie psych pop collection of songs. === We have four really strong songs from the new Modern Pomp Dark Disco album 'Torn Apart', where originality exudes, and addictive instrumental music is ever present.
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The Ah - The Factory Girl.
The Ah—solo project of composer and musician Jeremy Gustin (Rubblebucket, Okkervil River, Delicate Steve, Marc Ribot, Albert Hammond Jr, etc)—shared the second single from his forthcoming sophomore full-length Mere Husk. Following the lead single "Watermelon Tears," which caught the attention of PASTE ("displaying the happy energy of life"), The New York Times ("a burst of comic relief") and others,"The Factory Girl" features Gustin's friend, Yuan Liu, on vocals, who also stars in the track’s accompanying music video.
On the song, Gustin explains, "'The Factory Girl' is based on a traditional Irish song I first heard Margaret Barry sing. When struck by the beauty of the melody and the phrasing, I challenged myself to see what I could do with it to completely change the vibe, but keep the integrity of the melody. As I decided to not have vocals here, the narrative of the original, of course, is lost. But my friend Yuan just happened to be over my place at the moment I was recording this and I asked her to improvise some dialogue, which she did brilliantly. This of course alters the original narrative but keeps the underlying theme of love intact." The release of Mere Husk will be celebrated in conjunction with Gustin's forthcoming photography book Foundscapes (releasing with 11A Records) at Brooklyn NY's Step Bone Cut on February 1st. Mere Husk is available for preorder on Bandcamp (with a limited quantity of the album and book available as a bundle) and will be out January 31st via NNA Tapes.
Jeremy Gustin is a one-of-a-kind drummer who has toured and recorded with Rubblebucket, Okkervil River, David Byrne, Marc Ribot, Delicate Steve, and Albert Hammond Jr.. He has long been in demand for his ability to bring a touch of the unorthodox to highly structured and improvised musical settings alike, so it should come as no surprise that on his own solo project, The Ah, Gustin explores the outer boundaries of his imagination to the fullest. The Ah's new album Mere Husk, the follow-up to 2017’s Common Bliss, sees Gustin once again crafting animal noises, water sounds, miscellaneous found audio, and his own playing into a harmonic language that straddles the line between his love of pop songcraft and his equally strong attraction to the abstract. Rather than employ gurgling fish tank bubbles and dolphin calls for their ambient properties alone, for example, Gustin bends them beyond recognition so that they mimic synths or serve the role of instrumental parts in an arrangement that falls together like a classic "song" --- whether Gustin includes vocals or not. "I love songs and melody," says Gustin. "As much as I like unusual stuff, I'm a song guy at heart."
Gustin's longtime passion for photography gives us a window into The Ah's animated sonic universe. Whether he is out touring or just walking home from the grocery store, his eye is constantly drawn to the interplay of color, texture, and shape calling out to him from surfaces the rest of us might pass by without so much as a glance. A typical Gustin photograph captures what he refers to as “Foundscapes”: for example, multiple layers of posters on a Tribeca wall stripped and frayed to form an unintended collage; chipping paint rendered in such three-dimensional detail that it seems to invite your fingers to run across its contours; delicate veins of copper rust slowly eroding on a dented expanse of bright blue.
In several respects, The Ah is Gustin's musical answer to his visual Foundscapes. "When I'm writing music," he explains, "I look at it as something akin to archeology. It's not like 'This specific thing happened to me so I want the music to sound a specific way.' It's more like I'm chiseling away until a shape emerges and it starts to seem like music. In a way, I let the music create itself. I don't even see it as I'm creating so much as I'm just finding things. These materials are all around us all the time." As intuitive as Gustin's process may be, Mere Husk expands dramatically on the vision introduced with Common Bliss. Though twirling from playful to solemn and back again, Gustin's music is as easy to take in as watching the myriad shades of colorful marine life swimming through an aquarium.
Following success and attention for singles released in late 2019 such as ‘He Doesn’t Know Me Much At All’ and ‘Never Going Home’, the indie-pop trio from Oxford have released their debut EP titled ‘Today’. Not only have the group been making an impact in their hometown of Oxford, but have sparked attention internationally with rotation plays from one of Spain’s biggest radio stations RTVE.
The EP has 4 tracks, starting with punchy title track ‘Today’, which showcases the melodic sounds of lead singer Jody Jeger’s voice, impactful drumming from Alex Bridge and an uplifting and bright guitar solo from Niall Jeger.
Tracks such as ‘Breathe’ show characteristics of twee pop with male/female harmonies and a catchy melody. While ‘He Doesn’t Know Me Much At All’ is certainly the most upbeat track, the EP has levels and dynamics with ‘Back In The World’ being a more chilled out number.
World/Inferno Friendship Society - Having A Double Life Is So Hard (But Obviously Something You Enjoy) V1.
World/Inferno Friendship Society are back with a new single from their upcoming All Borders are Porous to Cats LP. The album is set to be released on January 17th 2020 via Alternative Tentacles. Catch the band on tour throughout January and February.
World/Inferno Friendship Society's long awaited new album dares you to try and decipher it’s multi-layered, encrypted message, while dragging you kicking and screaming through a succession of flashbacks, alternate realities and drug and alcohol induced delusions. While World / Inferno is known for its utter disregard for boundaries of genre, All Borders are Porous to Cats deliberately pushes the limits of what could possibly be perceived as punk rock. It scores tales of fugitives, arson, larceny, perjury, drug addiction and freedom with elements of soul, funk, latin, polka, and classical music, as well as World /Inferno’s signature punk cabaret sound. 3 years in the making, 4 missed release dates, 5 lost band members, many a bridge burned, and a defamation lawsuit waiting to happen, The World /Inferno Friendship Society invites you to enjoy the fruits of their perpetual torment.
Take it as a promise, and a patent fact: All Borders Are Porous to Cats. The World/Inferno Friendship Society’s 7th full-length LP finds the collective reset and reinvigorated, behind the lyrics of Jack Terricloth, apparent possessor of the punk rock fountain of everlasting style and rage. The album follows Cat in the Hat (no relation), an undocumented refugee who is framed for a crime and requires the assistance of a ragtag gang of miscreants, academics, orchestra-caliber musicians, and radical insurgents—sometimes art does in fact imitate life!
The album sees the band at its most expansive musically—covering everything from Bowie-esque ballads to Balkan punk stomps—to 2 Tone ska, and inflammatory lyrically, with tales of romance, righteous indignation, and resistance.
Following a whirlwind year of touring in support of Trinity Lane, and stripped of the daily rituals and direction of life on the road, Lilly found herself alone with her thoughts for the first time in what felt like ages. “When you’re out there on the road, you’re just kind of living, and you don’t have the chance to stop and think about how everything you’re experiencing is affecting you,” Lilly says. “When I got home, I realized there was a lot I needed to catch up on.” She did what’s always come most natural to her in times of questioning and uncertainty: she picked up a guitar.
As rewarding as Trinity Lane’s success was, the collection came from a emotionally challenging place, and Lilly found herself frequently visiting the hurt and struggle that inspired it as she spoke candidly to the press about her painful breakup, her struggles with sobriety, and the overwhelming sadness of her mother’s suicide. Rather than succumbing to the weight of it all, Lilly managed to emerge stronger and more serene from the experience, treating it as a foundation from which she could begin the essential work of re-examining her relationships and the world around her. “When I got that little gap in my schedule, it gave me the chance to appreciate some mental stillness,” Lilly says. “I can be a pretty anxious person, but I found a sense of peace by deconstructing all of these interactions and emotions I’d experienced and reconfiguring them into songs. It helped me make sense of everything and learn to relax.”
The resulting eleven songs found on Walking Proof walk the line between Lilly’s rough, rock and roll exterior and her tender, country roots, exuding a bold vulnerability as she takes a deep and unflinching look in the mirror. What emerges is a maturity in her writing, an abiding sense of calm in the face of chaos as she learns that sometimes, you have to let go in order to get what you want most.
Lilly Hiatt has also announced her initial tour dates in support of Walking Proof, launching April 2nd in Atlanta, GA. Prior to the tour, Lilly will embark on a run of solo acoustic dates supporting Hiss Golden Messenger beginning tonight in Wilmington, NC. Please see all dates below.
Walking Proof will be available on compact disc, across digital platforms, and standard black vinyl. A Limited Edition Translucent Turquoise Vinyl Pressing featuring a Black & White 12x12 insert of the cover artwork will be available at Independent Retailers. A limited to 500 copies edition autographed by Lilly Hiatt will feature One-Of-A-Kind Random Colored Vinyl, a Black & White 12x12 cover artwork insert, and a box of colored pencils is available for pre-order now via New West Records.
Revolution, I Love You releases "Vicious Vicious” via Redeye USA. This is the last single the band will release before the arrival of their next album, Black Feathers.
The song takes a refrain heard often in the wake of too-frequent episodes of police violence against Black Americans and warps it, twisting it to reveal the words' sinister and callous undertones. The band manipulates textures throughout, running drums too hot through an old 4-track, chopping a vibraphone solo into something alien, and bending deep bass synths in ways that demand a subwoofer, creating an atmosphere charged with anxiety.
Coming in 2020, Black Feathers will be Revolution, I Love You’s first full-length record since their 2011 debut LP, We Choose to Go to the Moon. Black Feathers drops on February 7, 2020 and is available for pre-order here.
Revolution, I Love You is Rob Lindgren (lead vocals), Jason Reynolds (guitar), and Jeff Ormsby (drums). Noisetrade described the band’s first record as “exactly what’s been missing in your life”, praising its “perfect mix of real-world instruments and digital flourishes”. The Philadelphia-based band has been a finalist in the International Songwriting Competition, performed at Toronto’s NXNE, and has a song included in the British National Library Sound Archive.
Indie psych pop group Plastic Bubble's have a new release, The Sitting in a Tree EP. This 5-song platter is available physically in a limited cassette release from Louisville's Humanhood Recordings and is available for streaming and download on the label's site and our bandcamp page.
Matt Taylor formed Plastic Bubble in 2012 as a vehicle for the indie psych pop material he was recording at home with a rotating cast of friends in Louisville, KY.
Plastic Bubble evolved into a proper band for a few years before morphing back into a loose recording project/ fun little indie pop hobby club that could still become your favorite band.
Rev Rev Rev return to Beehive Candy for a third time with a video for 'Adrift In The Chaosmos' a song that blasts into power as the predominately shoegaze piece takes no prisoners. === Palm Ghosts have released 'Wide Awake And Waiting' a beautifully flowing song that leans towards post punk, with plenty of melodic hooks. === We have the full album from Human Ottoman entitled 'Rampage'. This is an imaginative and highly original collection of music that as the band state "brings polyrhythmic rock to the masses," and if your not sure what that musical genre is all about, prepare to be amazed. === Bedroom has released a video for 'Gulf' today. A gentle dreamy piece, it's accompanied by a pleasing and clever video, but it's the music that does it for me. === The new single from Agnes Obel is 'Broken Sleep' a gorgeous contemporary musical piece, it's a fine taster for her new album 'Myopia' due next month. === We featured Anna Rose three times last year and now she returns with 'Broken Is Beautiful' another energised rocker mixed with some singer-songwriter musical sensibilities. === Finally today Nada Surf share 'So Much Love' a refined indie rocker with plenty of heart and addictive vibes.
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Rev Rev Rev - Adrift In The Chaosmos.
Rev Rev Rev have been invited to play renowned showcase festival Eurosonic in Groningen, where they're going to perform on Wednesday, 15th January, at All Round Poolcentrum. On the verge of a new adventure in the Netherlands it seemed just right to release a DIY video they shot during the band's trip to Left of the Dial, Rotterdam in 2018.
'Adrift in the chaosmos', excerpt from new album 'Kykeon' (out now on Fuzz Club), is one of the most shoegazey, blurry tracks; but it also features cosmic wanderings and an odd spaghetti-western riff.
Since the release of their self-titled debut album back in 2013, Rev Rev Rev – based in Modena, Italy – have repeatedly been hailed as one of the finest new shoegaze bands, clocking up airtime and praise from BBC 6 Music, NPR, Drowned In Sound, Clash Magazine and Bandcamp Daily.
Palm Ghosts is a dream pop / post punk band based in Nashville TN led by songwriter and producer Joseph Lekkas. Taking cues from such bands as Cocteau Twins, Peter Gabriel, Echo and The Bunnymen, New Order, early U2 and The Cure, Palm Ghosts takes the sounds of early 80s alternative music and brings it into the new millennium.
Palm Ghosts self-released three records before signing with Australian label, Golden Robot Records, in May of 2019. Their self-titled debut is a tapestry of lo-fi folk and indie pop 88.5 WXPN in Philadelphia called “Elegant and Sweeping Pop”.
Greenland, Palm Ghosts’ second record, consists of songs that walk the line of electronic, indie and Americana music Atwood magazine called “A stirring mix of folk writing with electronica-tinged production…Electronically magnetic and emotionally heartfelt.” In May of 2017 Palm Ghosts found their sound with the release of Architecture, a critically lauded collection of cinematic dream pop songs.
Music News UK put it best when they wrote “The commodified and codified 80’s are here to stay, from the fake consciousness pop culture nostalgia that dominates the virtual shopping aisles to recreated and reimagined movie memories that manipulate and skew the present. Saddled with the past, culture’s inertia offers up facsimile pap and xerox rock. However, hope exists, listen as true light continues to glisten, appearing through the cracks and haunting the NOW are Nashville’s Palm Ghosts.”
Palm Ghosts is Joseph Lekkas, Ben Douglas, Jason Springman and Rene Lambert.
Human Ottoman is powered by electric cello, vibraphone, drum-set and bass. Headed by Susan Lucia (drums) and Grayson Fiske (vibraphone).
Human Ottoman has created a repertoire of raucous, rhythmically dynamic music.
From brain-crashing cello solos and atomic vibraphone drops to drum solos that scholars are still struggling to understand, Human Ottoman is bringing polyrhythmic rock to the masses!
Bedroom is the work of singer-songwriter & producer Noah Kittinger. Beginning as a recording project when Kittinger was just 16, his releases under the moniker are characterized by honest songwriting coupled with catchy hooks, beautiful melodic sensibility, and a memorable homemade sound.
Kittinger began a steady stream of releases in 2012 with the Toys EP. Vivid, a mixtape featuring rough ideas and works in progress, followed later that year. These early works garnered praise from several media outlets and began the growth of a dedicated fanbase.
Bedroom’s first full-length LP, Grow, was made during a time of transition in Kittinger’s life. Written and recorded at the age of 17, and released in 2014 when Kittinger turned 18. The album cataloged Kittinger’s experiences with his own growth into adulthood. After the release of Grow, Kittinger took the project on the road, embarking on his first DIY tour.
After returning from the tour, and a year after the release of Grow, Bedroom went on hiatus as Kittinger took a step back from the project. He remained busy, working on new songs under his own name and released an EP, Bloom. Bloom showed growth from Kittinger’s earlier work with Bedroom, exploring electronic influences with samples and new production techniques.
In 2018 Kittinger continued to tour, playing songs from Bedroom and Bloom, packing out venues with new and old fans on his first West Coast tour. In early 2019, Kittinger officially announced the return of Bedroom and promised new music from the project in 2019. In May of 2019, Kittinger released “Count to Five” – the first we’ve heard of the project since the summer of 2015. A step into a different direction with newfound collaborator Paul Kintzing.
“This song was, surprisingly enough, written in a period where I was struggling with falling asleep. In the effort to find a cure I began to read about the science of sleep as well as the cultural history of sleep which led me to the ancient idea that sleep and death are familiar states and problems with sleep are linked to a fear of death. Relics of this idea are still to be found in our language today, in the way we describe both death and sleep.” –Agnes Obel
For almost a decade, Agnes Obel has been one of the most independent and original artists in contemporary music. Now she has returned with new music, releasing another enchanting single “Broken Sleep” ahead of her highly-anticipated new album Myopia, which will be released February 21 through Blue Note Records in North America, and Deutsche Grammophon in the rest of the world.
“For me Myopia is an album about trust and doubt. Can you trust yourself or not? Can you trust your own judgments? Can you trust that you will do the right thing? Can you trust your instincts and what you are feeling? Or are your feelings skewed?”
Following the same principles as with her previous albums (Philharmonics, Aventine and Citizen Of Glass), which she completed as a one-woman project in her own Berlin home studio, Obel has been under self-imposed creative isolation with the removal of all outside influences and distraction in the writing, recording and mixing process. “The albums I’ve worked on have all required that I build a bubble of some kind in which everything becomes about the album.”
“For me the production is intertwined with the lyrics and story behind the songs,” says Obel. This is precisely what makes her music so compelling and the same is true with Myopia. “Paradoxically, for me I need to create my own myopia to make music.” Obel was experimenting with techniques of recording processing, warping and pitching down vocals, strings, piano, celesta and luthéal piano, finding ways to melt these elements together to become one and twisting them in a way that you feel at home within the sound she conjures throughout the record.
The official music video to accompany “Broken Sleep” is also released today. Created by long-term collaborator and partner Alex Brüel Flagstad, the video accompanies the themes within the album perfectly and continuously follows on from the “Island Of Doom” video, which was released in October 2019.
New York-based singer, songwriter, and musician, Anna Rose, releases the official music video for “Broken Is Beautiful," a highlight track from her critically acclaimed new album The Light Between (produced by GRAMMY-nominated Paul Moak).
“Broken Is Beautiful” encapsulates what makes Rose such a heartfelt performer: intimate lyrics, fierce vocal delivery, and authentic, soulful melodies.
“Broken Is Beautiful" was directed by Rose’s longtime friend and long time collaborator Shruti Ganguly. This is the third video the two have collaborated on together and it is certainly the most personal. “The lyrics of 'Broken Is Beautiful' dig into the notion of how our accumulated pain/challenges ultimately make us who we are - and there is some reconciliation because of it," says Ganguly. "For the concept, I wanted to work with Anna and the women in her family. It was a joy to work with her sister Nora, and mostly, her incredible mother who had been a professional dancer but hadn’t performed in decades."
"The video for 'Broken Is Beautiful' is very special to me because it features two of the most important women in my life - my mom and sister," states Rose. "To have them be a part of telling this story and to film it in a place that holds so many memories feels incredibly cathartic. As women, I think we often fight these silent battles within ourselves: the magic we inherently possess that drives us towards our passions versus the societal markers that we are held up against. At any age, that internal struggle can become a deep well of insecurity and I’m so grateful to have my family help tell this story. Beyond that, having my dear friend and collaborator Shruti direct and produce only adds to the magic, as she and I have so much trust between us after years of working together."
Nada Surf has Australia deep in their thoughts as they release their new single this week. 'So Much Love' is the uplifting latest taste of the venerable NYC indie icons' long-awaited ninth album Never Not Together (arriving via Barsuk / City Slang on February 7).
It's music the world needs right now - the concept threaded throughout the album is about how we're connected, no matter where we're from or who we are. By extension and like the record as a whole, the opener and consummate Nada Surf single "So Much Love" swiftly seeps in as an uplifting anthem of sorts, overflowing with all the the things that make the band great - it's positive, and full of kindness and hopefulness.
Frontman Matthew Caws explains: "It's a song that celebrates good will between people. Sometimes it can be hard to remember that it's there. but it's all around us. Small things add up. a little tolerance and acceptance can be built on. we're good at love and being kind. it comes naturally to us, but so do other things. You just have to keep looking for the right way to lean, it's worth everything."
Never Not Together is the band's first album in four years and was heralded last November by the crashing new single, “Something I Should Do”. Brooklyn Vegan enthused: "As you’d probably expect from this consistently reliable band - catchy and instantly likable."
Entirely different and something of an access point into their music for the uninitated, the stunning and anthemic slow-burn “Looking For You” followed in December, joined by a unique animated video filmed by the members of the band themselves.
