Rosie Carney version of Radiohead's classic 'The Bends' album is shaping up to be a very special collection as the new single 'Bullet Proof ... I Wish I Was' clearly demonstrates. Her beautiful interpretation of the songs shared so far, has been quite stunning and we only have a couple of weeks until the full album is released. ===== Our third feature for Anna Krantz this year comes in the form of her new single 'The Trouble With Suzie' and her knack for creating melodic, addictive and catchy songs is once again clearly evident. ===== Another artist who has been a regular here in 2020 is Grace Gillespie who has just released 'For Nick Drake'. This is a really fine lyrical homage to an artist who influenced so many others after his sadly short life, with Grace's creative skills notable again on this gentle folk piece.
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Rosie Carney shares two final singles ahead of releasing her ambitious quarantine project covering Radiohead's seminal mental health album The Bends in its entirety on the 11th of December.
“Bullet Proof … I Wish I Was” & “Sulk” follow previous singles "Black Star", "Bones" and “Just” which found strong support at Stereogum, SPIN, The Line of Best Fit, NME, Consequence of Sound, BPM and much more.
“The whole record is very relatable to me, but Bulletproof in particular really captured how lost I was feeling basically throughout the whole year. So many moments were spent wishing I was mentally stronger and wishing someone could just tell me what to do with my time every day.”
Like "Bones" and "Black Star", “Bullet Proof … I Wish I Was” also comes with a home-made video, the song and visual Carney claims as perhaps her most challenging on the album. “I’ve spent a good solid chunk of this year being afraid of literally myself” she says as she looks to capture the dynamic of her internal love/hate relationship.
“Nothing screams anxiety like really fast flashing lights, being half naked and staring down a camera lens at yourself for hours on end. I was completely alone (apart from my sisters hands in one of the shots) on my bedroom floor, which in itself comes with a vulnerability I usually wouldn’t share with the world. It was a weirdly safe but uncomfortable experience”
Tackling a ground-breaking stretch of pop history requires tact and dedication to make it your own. Rosie Carney’s personal connection to the music brings to bear her stunning take of The Bends. Co-produced by Rosie and JMAC (Luz, Haux), the project is a poetic example of things coming full circle - it’s not the first time Carney’s battles have dovetailed with her love of Radiohead. She recalls going to see them as a teenager and having an anxiety attack in the arena. She blacked out and woke up in the first aid room and covering the band has acted a a form of therapy, as, like so many others this year, her original career plans and mental health were derailed by the pandemic.
Rosie Carney’s version of The Bends is due for release on December 11th via Color Study and “Bullet Proof … I Wish I Was” and “Sulk” are out now.
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“The trouble with Suzie, she likes the trouble, picks it up like a bottle, pours a double on the rocks…” - Anna Krantz
Anna Krantz’s third single in her latest bewitching series ‘new moon, new tune’ ‘The Trouble With Suzie’ takes a look at the destructive behaviours we all experience in some shape or form. Suzie represents those ill-advised choices we can all make, which don’t support our ultimate happiness and well-being but feel so damn good in the moment! So we choose them over and over again, and that’s the trouble with Suzie...
Written on Zoom with friend and co producer Simon Johnson, the character Suzie was born after a long and amusing conversation between Krantz and Johnson about theirs and their friends vices.
“It was initially written as a country song to be pitched for a country artist. Once it was finished though, I couldn’t get it out of my head. So we found a way to produce the track in a style which felt fun for me to sing. I’m so pleased we did! I love singing this song!”
Names such as Suzanne Vega, Fleetwood Mac and Phill Collins where thrown around for production references. Johnson quickly put down an inspired electric guitar part at his home studio in the south of England and sent it to Krantz in Dublin.
“His guitar part took me back to the 90’s when I was listening to bands like The Sunday’s and Alecia’s Attic. Layering my vocal felt like the perfect complement to Simon’s atmospheric tone. I used to track my vocals a lot as a teenager experimenting with Logic audio for the first time. Recording these vocals felt very reminiscent of that time. It was a proper nostalgia fest!”
Johnson wanted the drums to sound dry and edgy. Adam Box (Brother’s Osborne) was the perfect choice for such a sound. Once Box recoded his drum in Nashville Krantz sent the song to friend, songwriter and producer, Jon Green, who recently had a #1 hit with Lady A.
“I sent the song to Jon asking him simply for a bass player recommendation, as my go to bass player had injured her arm and couldn’t play. Wonderfully and unexpectedly, Jon offered to give the bass part a go himself. In his usual humble manner, he said something along the lines of “this might be shit, but see what you think.”” What he sent back was genius and really tied the whole track together.”
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Grace Gillespie didn’t plan on writing the EP’s latest single, “For Nick Drake,” for the late songwriter himself – the words came out very quickly to craft an homage for a beautiful man who was too delicate, too quiet, too aware for this loud and uncaring world.
Grace is a London-based artist and producer originally from Devon, who spent much of 2017 touring as part of the live line-up for 4AD’s Pixx. In 2019 Grace received PRS’s WMM funding and consequently released her debut EP ‘Pretending,’ which garnered support from the likes of The Line of Best Fit, Clash and Earmilk. This year she has received support from the ‘Help Musicians’ ‘Do it Differently’ award, and is using this to release an EP in the autumn. Some of her notable live shows include supporting James Morrison at Dingwalls, Camden and headlining the folk stage at Tipping Point festival in Newcastle.
Her first two singles found their way onto Spotify’s ‘Fresh Folk’ playlist and received extensive support from Apple Music, appearing on their ‘A-List’ and ‘Best of the Week’ playlists, as well as backing from NME, Crack In The Road and The Wild Honey Pie. Her most recent singles have been playlisted on Spotify’s ‘Fresh Folk’,‘Garden Indie’ & ‘The Lovely Little Playlist’.
She has received radio plays from BBC 6 music as well as being a featured artist on BBC Introducing London. Her early demo of ‘Restoration’ saw her tipped to Q Magazine by Newton Faulkner and brought her to the attention of Kaleidoscope, who worked with her to produce her first solo releases in 2018. Her sound takes influences from the folk, alternative and dream-pop traditions, providing a backdrop to her intriguing vocal melodies, shifting harmonies and introspective lyricism.
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