Since releasing her debut album in 2017, Edmonton, Alberta singer/songwriter Andrea Nixon has grown into a powerful voice within the Canadian country music scene, mainly by sticking to her roots while expanding her craft. Her new single “Outskirts'' -- available today on Apple Music and Spotify -- might just be her most accessible work yet without compromising her artistic identity. “Outskirts” follows Andrea’s 2020 single “Blind Spot” as the second preview of her forthcoming full-length album, the provocatively titled Barbed Wire Dreams.
On “Outskirts,” Andrea continues to make significant creative strides with a song that’s at once thoroughly modern, yet based in classic country themes accentuated by Andrea’s pure, soaring vocal performance. Produced by Russell Broom (Jann Arden), who also contributes on guitar, the band on “Outskirts” includes drummer Lyle Mozan (Kathleen Edwards, Dean Brodie), bassist Chris Byrne (The Road Hammers), keyboardist Brendan Waters (Brett Kissel, The Washboard Union) and pedal steel legend Smokey Fennel.
When asked to describe the message behind “Outskirts,” Andrea says, “This song explores the distance between two people, set against the backdrop of broken down love and the chill left behind.” Indeed, this is a timely topic in our socially distanced reality as our connections have been all challenged by our extended absence from those we love.
When it comes to songwriting, Andrea has never been one to fall back on clichés. Instead, she weaves stories with universal themes into the music, leaving the listener feeling both understood and represented. Andrea captures this brilliantly on “Outskirts,” aided by award-winning tunesmith Robyn Dell’Unto (The Good Lovelies’ “I See Gold”) as part of Canada’s Music Incubator (CMI)’s Artist Entrepreneurship program at the National Music Centre.
Stockholm native and indie folk singer/songwriter, August Green, had a clear vision of himself as a songwriter for other artists until he, in the middle of what he describes as ”a typical early 20s life crisis”, asked himself the question: ”What do I actually want to do?”.
The answer was to pursue a career as a solo artist and led to him rekindling a spark in his lifelong friendship with music and the joy of making it. He began crafting his sound taking inspiration from his musical background, but also from other artists he admires, such as Bon Iver, Simon & Garfunkel, and Joni Mitchell.
He released several singles in 2016 and his efforts began paying off when his song, “Pictures”, amassed over 200k streams on Spotify after being featured in popular YouTuber AlexRainbird's Indie/Pop/Folk compilation, which has over 1.7 million views on YouTube.
August Green is now living in the Netherlands and has spent two years writing, producing, and exploring the acoustics of his church studio, figuring out how to incorporate even more of himself and his background of singing and studying choir music into his own work. Vignettes is deeply influenced by his recording space and life experiences, featuring atmospheric instrumentals, light, airy vocals, and gentle acoustic guitar.
Presented in three movements inspired in part by Brian DePalma’s 1974 classic Phantom of the Paradise and Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil, The Gama Sennin offers an elaborate 10-song suite of exceptional psychedelic adventurism.
The brainchild of frontman Kevin McGuire, the California-based band fuses alternative energy, psychedelia, expansive desert grooves, and spaced-out prog into a pulse-pounding, mind-bending original sound.
The Gama Sennin is abetted by John Avila (Oingo Boingo/Mariachi el Bronx) on bass, Adam Maples (Earthlings?/Sea Hags) on drums, Dimitri Coats (OFF!/Burning Brides/Ten Commandos) on guitar, Chris Caswell (Daft Punk/The Muppets) on keyboard, Art Pacheco (Jamaica) as a percussionist and very special guest Dave Catching (Rancho de la Luna/Earthlings?/Queens of the Stone Age). The album was co-produced by Peter Franco (Daft Punk) and mixed by Dan Lerner (Daft Punk). Their self-titled debut album is out now.
Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters - New York / Open Up Your Door.
There’s no doubt that the coronavirus pandemic has challenged every artist to think differently about their work, but Amanda Anne Platt and her band, The Honeycutters, are probably one of the few inspired to work on an innovative project at once more sweeping and yet more intimate than anything they’d previously done — a concept suite built from songs recorded under the straitened circumstances of quarantine and envisioned as a “deconstructed album,” released, not as a package, but in a monthly series of paired singles.
For the first Organic Records release, Platt has chosen two numbers — "New York” and “Open Up The Door” — that exemplify the project’s essential concept of duality and its ultimate title: The Devil / The Deep Blue Sea. As she explains, “I’ve always liked that saying. For me, the two groupings of songs represent different sides of the creative process, with The Devil including the more manic, upbeat, outgoing — maybe even grotesque at times — and The Deep Blue Sea being more reclusive, contemplative, understated. As an artist I’ve spent a long time judging myself when I’m at either extreme, so it’s nice to have an opportunity to celebrate the balance they provide one another. As a good friend of mine put it, ‘Sometimes you’re drowning in The Deep Blue Sea and you need The Devil to pull you out.’”
With Evan Martin’s nervously insistent cymbal taps, rolling keyboard and steady drums underpinning a pared-down, two-chord progression, “New York” offers listeners their first glimpse of The Devil — and a bit more of a pop sensibility than is usual for Platt. It’s a note of departure, a message of admiration, and an image-laden, poetic love letter to her home state that carries plenty of punch in Matt Smith’s electric guitar and bassist Rick Cooper’s simmering bass lines.
“‘New York’ is a song I wrote when my parents were selling the house that I grew up in,” the singer recalls. “I hadn’t lived there for a long time at that point, but it came at a time when I was saying goodbye to a lot of people and places that had meant home and comfort to me, and it just felt like kind of a final break from something I had been. This makes sense to me as the first ‘A side’ for just that reason- goodbyes sometimes make the best beginnings. We’re not in Kansas anymore… or New York.”
The first “B side,” on the other hand, serves up a more melancholy meditation on creativity, artistic ambition and, perhaps, the enforced idleness of quarantine. In "Open Up Your Door" the mournful sobs of the steel guitar (Smith), and the warm, R&B flavor of Martin’s electric piano echo Platt’s wistful tones, as she looks back at “all the miles I tried to fly on broken wings” to recall “those hungry days we had, And dreams that kept us up ‘cause we wanted them so bad.” And while the narrator offers that “tonight I think I’d trade every memory I made to get that back,” she still offers a wistful toast to hope as the song subsides into an instrumental coda that is somehow sparse and lush at the same time.
Still, Platt’s wit emerges when she notes, “‘Open Up Your Door’ in title alone would have been a good kicker for the B sides. It’s a call to the muse — don’t forsake me, I’m still here and I have all this shit to make sense of.” And irreverent though it may be, that’s a sentiment that augurs well for the entire series to come, The Devil / The Deep Blue Sea.
Pop-country duo Render Sisters from Pine Bluff, Arkansas continues to grow as up-and-coming singer-songwriters with their harmonious new upbeat single “Black Roses,” available across all major digital music platforms (linktr.ee/rendersisters) on Friday, April 2. However, fans can listen to the new tune now on their SoundCloud. Stella and Mary-Keaton Render co-wrote the song with hit-making Nashville songwriter Britton Cameron (Don Williams, Jon Pardi, Dillon Carmichael), who's been writing with and developing the sister duo since their emergence in 2020.
“Black Roses was such a fun and unique song to write with Britton,” said Mary-Keaton. “We laughed and joked around about roses not always symbolizing true love, and how black roses demonstrate the reality of what relationships can become.”
The Renders Sisters also have a brand new video for “Black Roses” which they’ll premiere in the coming weeks. Shot in and around Nashville, the video was Directed by country music icon Pam Tillis, who has been mentoring and working with the girls on the artistic direction of their music videos since last year.
“We had such a blast working with Pam while she directed our fun-filled video,” Stella laughed. “She always has a great perspective on how to best visually portray the song’s message. The energy we felt with her while filming was simply amazing. My favorite part was getting to eat the yummy donuts during the video!”
Los Angeles-based Dark Synth-Riot artist Violent Vickie's "Circle Square" Video is out now. The music video for Violent Vickie's "Circle Square" is a layered, rhythmic collage directed by AJ Strout of Ex Corpse Art Collective.
The video was shot on Vickie's Photobooth computer app in her apartment during the pandemic when in-person creativity was not a possibility. Much like Violent Vickie's epic Serotonin project, the black and white video features the counterculture design and aesthetics that visual artist AJ Strout has presented at goth clubs throughout Los Angeles.
"Circle Square" is a gloomy, noisy electronic track with forlorn and haughty vocals that, conceptually, is an exploration of the illusion of not belonging. Released on Violent Vickie's Division LP in September 2020, "Circle Square" is a mix of techno/electro beats and noisy synth texture reminiscent of the dark techno tunes that Vickie once partied to in Oakland warehouses.
Get ready to kick up your heels, because today Montreal's The Slowinks release their debut album Stay With Me Awhile on (weewerk) and all digital platforms. With a sound that combines Classic Country, Jazz and Western Swing, Montreal’s The Slowinks have successfully charmed their hometown and are now poised to do the same to the wider world. Stay With Me Awhile was recorded in February 2020 by acclaimed Quebec singer/songwriter Fred Fortin at his home studio in the wilds near Lac Saint-Jean, with its eight tracks capturing The Slowinks in their purest form yet.
Fronted by powerhouse vocalist Felicity Hamer—formerly of United Steel Workers of Montreal—the drummer-less combo also features lead guitarist Martin Tremblay, rhythm guitarist Olivier Pépin and double bassist Mathieu Deschenaux who together infuse their original songs (plus covers of the Tin Pan Alley standard “Ain’t Got Nobody” and the soul classic "Let Them Talk") with an undeniably modern energy, while adhering to tradition.
Listeners got a taste of The Slowinks' at their rowdiest on the album's first single “One Shoe,” on which Felicity cuts loose in full Rose Maddox-meets-Neko Case fashion. However, Stay With Me Awhile also delivers its fair share of heartache on songs such as “Nobody But You,” while the band proves to be just as potent en français with “Solange.” In fact, Stay With Me Awhile’s haunting title track began life as one of Martin’s demos with French lyrics. Felicity chose to write new lyrics in English to reflect her own experience of trying to hold onto someone she lost, and in the process gave the song an entirely different power.
Felicity says, “Just weeks after our return from recording, the pandemic hit Montreal and the song has since taken on even more meaning. This is just one of those songs that feels like a memory—‘These streets are filled with ghosts, hard to crack a smile. I miss you the most, stay with me awhile.’”
Indeed, one of the great joys in listening to Stay With Me Awhile is in knowing it was recorded just before the pandemic, when there was still fun to be had. Those days will come again, hopefully sooner than later, and The Slowinks are ready to provide the soundtrack.
Brisbane songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Scenes made his debut last month with his dynamic new single 'Henhouse' featuring Ainslie Wills. Today he shares his moody video clip alongside the announcement of his debut EP releasing later this year.
Scenes is the solo project of Graham Ritchie, self-produced and recorded, Scenes’ debut single flourishes with drum loops and reverberant analogue synths that swell around the distinct vocals of Melbourne artist Ainslie Wills. The track also features Ryan Strathie on drums (Holy Holy, Andy Bull, Olympia) and was mixed by Jake Miller (Bjork, Aurora).
"In the verses, Ainslie’s lower register captures and draws you in, and then soars over the driving chorus instrumentation. Layers of saturated vocal delays colour the chant-like phrases which contain fragments of self-talk," explains Graham.
The video shot and produced in his hometown of Brisbane by director Matthew Howard sees two young adults walking home and in their bedrooms, both experiencing moments of introspection and catharsis. "'Don’t let the fox guard the Henhouse’… it’s about our minds. Our fragility and limitations. But there’s also a commitment to hope and progress," Graham continues.
Since the song released it has already received high praise from triple j as well as additions to popular Spotify playlists 'Indie Arrivals' and 'Broad Chords' as well as placement on international Apple Music playlists' 'New In Indie'. Over his career, Graham has collaborated and toured with artists including Big Scary, Japanese Wallpaper, Emma Louise, Airling, Thelma Plum and Gretta Ray.
Already preparing more singles and a debut EP, don't wait any longer as his music engulfs you and takes you on a musical journey.
Lady Dan has shared her new track "Misandrist to Most" – it's the final piece to be released ahead of her debut album, I Am the Prophet which is out via Earth Libraries on April 23.
It's a real highlight for me on the album, following in the wake of NPR, Stereogum, GoldFlakePaint, FLOOD and Line of Best Fit-tipped tracks, this time addressing the patriarchal systems that dictated Tyler Dozier's (real name behind the Lady Dan moniker) life previously. There are some glorious examples of slide guitar here as well as off-kilter percussion and Tyler's mesmerising voice which has found comparisons so far to Sharon Van Etten and Julia Jacklin.
As a full piece, I Am the Prophet dives into some deeply personal content for Dozier, in a sense tackling lots of the pressure and symbols of authority that she has come up against in her life. Initially hailing from Dothan, Alabama, Tyler grew up in a strictly religious environment, moving to Birmingham, Alabama in her teens to attend a ministry school which was when she began to question the role of the Church in her life.
It was an amalgamation of the Church and a controlling relationship that birthed the crux of I Am the Prophet – a celebration of sorts about ridding the patriarchal restraints that refused her growth, as well as being a frustrated kick at those who've always said she couldn't in life. Each track poses a new narrative, arriving as multilayered existential quandaries of empowerment and restriction, of life and death, or of faith and its absence.
Wyndow is the psychedelic-pop project of revered singer-songwriters Lavinia Blackwall and Laura J Martin. The duo recently announced their collaboration via the sharing of their debut single ‘Take My Picture’ which has already earned support from the likes of The Quietus, For The Rabbits, BBC Radio 6 Music, BBC Radio Scotland & BBC Radio Wales. The pair first met whilst playing on the same bill at Moseley Folk Festival in Birmingham and hit it off instantly over a shared love of the music of Robert Wyatt. Over the years that followed, their paths crossed several more times and eventually the pair began working on a new set of songs together during the first UK lockdown, beginning with a cover of Robert Wyatt’s ‘Free Will and Testament’.
New single, ‘Two Strong Legs’, reflects on those days when nothing quite sits right. When the outside world feels a step too far and thoughts strain to make sense. "If the dog looks like a rabbit and the front door's a step beyond, this is your song” explains Laura. “It's a tune for whacked out worriers lifting weights in the worry gym. Feeling uneasy never felt so easy". Mining the textures of chamber pop string arrangements, topped with arresting multi part vocal performances and with Neuköln synth atmospheres creeping at the edges, Wyndow bring a lysergic dimension to every day internal mind games.
The accompanying video was directed by Jess Swainson. The video plays with the natural elements of snow, wind and water and the malleable fibres of flesh filtered through influences from early eastern european cinema. Innervisions of the natural turned into the unreal abound, mirroring the muddled thoughts referenced in the lyrics and the shifting textures of the sonics.
Wyndow’s new sound is an exciting next step for the duo, both of whom have enjoyed abundant success in their careers to date. Laura J Martin has so far released three critically acclaimed albums. A mercurial and bewitching live performer who interweaves layers of vocals, flute, mandolin and electronics; Laura and her band have toured regularly across the UK and Europe and supported acts such as PJ Harvey, Teenage Fanclub, Cate Le Bon and performed and collaborated extensively with Euros Childs. Lavinia Blackwall’s work with prolific Glaswegian psych-folk outfit Trembling Bells has earnt her a reputation as one of the best voices in the scene, many critics having likened her singing prowess to that of Sandy Denny. Along with Trembling Bells she has released seven full-length albums and performed as the backing band to folk legends Bonnie Prince Billy and The Incredible String Band’s Mike Herron. Her 2020 debut solo album ‘Muggington Lane End’ was extremely well received by critics and fans alike.
‘House on The Hill’ is the first single from Seafoam Green’s forthcoming album ‘Martins Garden’. This hard-hitting, good-times rock’n’roll song is an arresting statement on where the band are going, ahead of their eagerly anticipated album, due for release later this year.
Seafoam Green’s upcoming long player - ‘Martin’s Garden’ - is the band's second studio record. Their debut was a collaboration with Rich Robinson, of the Black Crowes. Once again, Seafoam Green are collaborating with the artists residing in their own record collections - inspirations steeped in the culture of the Southern States. How do two Irish rock n’ rollers go from talking about the music they love, to playing with the musicians who made it? It all comes down to the songs they are writing.
Tyler Greenwell - founding member of Grammy Award winning Tedeschi Trucks Band - got wind of Seafoam Green preparing to make their next record, and made it known that he wanted to be involved. It wasn’t long before Seafoam Green were out recording with some of the gnarliest players in the world during a symbiotic week in Atlanta, USA. Dave O’ Grady and Muireann McDermott Long specialise in what we have come to know as Americana. If you want earthy, rootsy, blues, gospel, country, folk, they have it, but what it amalgamates to at this level which has been perfected across two albums and countless live shows is the sound of a glorious rock n’ soul revival.
‘House on the Hill’ is a howitzer of a song and offers early indication of what can be expected from a seminal record with the thumbprints of Tedeschi Trucks Band’s influence on the producer’s console and wider reaching fusion metastasized as two richly embedded cultures collide, namely Irish folk and Southern rock, with TTB’s Greenwell on drums, Seafoam’s O’Grady playing slide for the first time on a record, and topped by the inimitable trademark vocal intercourse between O’Grady and McDermott Long. This is future soul rebel music and bodes well for the full experience of ‘Martin’s Garden’, an album that’s not to be missed.
Seafoam Green’s inimitable collision of Irish Roots and Southern American rock and soul is a unique take on a classic sound. As our two heroes implore on this track, “You don’t need keys for the house on the hill”. Come on in, and make yourselves at home.
The video clip of Sterre Weldring's latest single ‘Not With Me’ has just been released. ‘Not With Me’ was already well received and made it to Spotify's New Music Friday. For the video clip Sterre set out on the Amsterdam canals.
Sterre Weldring explains: “The video clip of ‘Not With Me’ is the representation of a situation in which there is no real communication between Sterre and her counterpart, who is never in focus. They go past each other and the result is the realization that he was never really there, ‘not with me’. "
The search for answers, some of which will never be found, plays an important role in Sterre Weldring's lyrics. By describing love and relationships in her songs, she hopes to be able to offer comfort to others who embark on a similar quest. Her previous singles had the same goal and it was recognized by streaming platforms around the world. With major playlists in Mexico and Spain on Spotify, she reached a new fan base.
At the age of 16, Sterre Weldring was still a bit young for the conservatory, but she made a very mature decision: she started studying songwriting at BIMM (Brighton Institute of Modern Music). In between studies, she completely immersed herself in Brighton's rich music scene. While jamming, and playing live, she quickly developed her own sound, which she describes as folk-pop. In concrete terms, this means that her songs have a pop structure, on which she puts a folk stamp on with her characteristic voice. Amy Macdonald is a common comparison.
After a successful 2019, including a place in the final of the 'Grote Prijs van Nederland' and a tour through the country during 'Popronde', the Amsterdam-based singer-songwriter is now releasing her new single. This song is part of her new EP, which will be released later this year.
Through her music, rising pop songstress Hunter Moreau frequently steps outside of her comfort zone to express the most vulnerable parts of herself, captivating listeners along the way. Her latest single, "Hazy," is no exception.
Produced by Doug Schadt (Maggie Rogers, Ashe, SHAED), "Hazy" officially dropped on March 12. Now Moreau is releasing the official music video for “Hazy.”
“I wanted the video to feel like a warm, breezy, summer's day that causes all of your worries to subside for even just a moment,” shares Moreau.
“I wanted to capture the soft light of summer afternoons, and the hazy hue that comes along with it. We shot the video at Betty's Neck in Lakeville, Massachusetts, which is this enormous, beautiful park near where I live.”
Directed by Mac Lynch, a Rhode Island based photographer, videographer and mixed media artist, the video for “Hazy” is out now.
Shadow Monster is an angsty and loud two-piece from Bushwick, Brooklyn. Gillian Visco’s gritty, dissonant and desperate guitar riffs meet with John Swanson’s epic and explosive drumming style to form a raw and moody version of grunge rock.
Lyrically, Shadow Monster explores themes of loss, depression and isolation. If you're into Elliott Smith, Weakened Friends, Helium, and Kills Birds, your ears are going to love Shadow Monster. Their new video "Kill Me Sweetie," is the final release from their LP "Punching Bag," which is an artful masterpiece from start to finish.
Shadow Monsters sound is vibrant, captivating and bold as they bring a vision to the table that is truly their own. It's hypnotic and smooth, yet raw, vibrant and dark. They bring the best of all worlds. The video perfectly encapsulates the essence of the duo, and goes above and beyond to impress your ears.
To mark the five year anniversary of their lauded debut album, Say It All With A Kiss, Glasgow four-piece TeenCanteen have decided to unleash This Is How It Starts, the collection of recordings that should have been their debut album four years prior. ‘How We Met (Cherry Pie)’ is the lead single from the upcoming album, and it’s the shimmering ray of sunshine that heralded a warranted buzz around TeenCanteen when they formed in 2012; that sugar coated indie pop jangle, the addictive melody and those irrepressible three-part harmonies wrapped up in a sticky sweet tale of new love.
A reimagined version of the track would later go on to feature on their debut album, but this original bright sparky version of the track feels just as fresh as when people fell in love with it on the soundtrack of Karen Gillan led RomCom Not Another Happy Ending. TeenCanteen are Glasgow formed four-piece known for their sticky soda pop harmonies, stomping beats and classic pop sensibilities, they were championed by BBC 6Music’s Marc Riley and went on to release SAY Award long listed album Say It All With A Kiss (2016) and acclaimed EP Sirens (2017).
Lead singer and songwriter Carla Easton said: “‘Cherry Pie’ was that song that just fell out of thin air, I didn’t have to think about it too much, I was just at the beginning of a new romance and was all excited, it’s a total happy, fallen for someone song.
“I think of it as the first TeenCanteen song, it was the first one writing it where I was like “wait a minute I’m onto something here”, it was just exciting, it was the first track that we went “that’s us”.
“It’s a total slushy DIY innocent indie pop love song, it’s not trying to be anything more than that, but I think that’s why so many people connected with it; it’s fun, it’s fresh, it’s raw, it’s exciting, it’s DIY, it’s indie pop and it’s long overdue release.” This Is How It Starts is due August 2021, with a vinyl release from Last Night From Glasgow/HIVE.
The unique harmonies of Christina Bulbenko and Rex Broome combine with jangling guitars, sparkling keyboards, soaring viola, and a singular sense of songcraft to create the essence of THE ARMOIRES. It's sunshine pop with a kick, tapping the rich Southern California pop rock heritage from The Byrds to X and back to hits-era Fleetwood Mac, and melding it with a twist of English psychedelia and postpunk drive. The sweet and sour vocal sound gives life to Broome and Bulbenko's sophisticated lyrics – sometimes funny, sometimes heart-wrenching, always a bit mysterious. It's a dreamlike combination of the warm and the unsettling that's captured ears and hearts wherever The Armoires travel, and is as instantly recognizable as the pair's visual profile: matching paisley attire, spectacles and platinum blonde hair.
The band is widely known as the founders and leading lights of the Big Stir collective, a global concert series and record label dedicated to the musical community based around power pop and similarly styled melodic guitar rock. But The Armoires are an artistic force of their own, constantly reinventing themselves. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the approach taken to their new album INCONGNITO: The record's tracks were released throughout 2020 and 2021 as a series of singles attributed to fictitious band of their own invention. The result is a surprising record of joyful experimentalism and playfulness that loses none of the band's signature sound, but pushes in exciting new directions. It's the band playing dress-up in order to rediscover themselves.
INCOGNITO, like its breakthrough predecessor ZIBALDONE, is a sly exploration of what the pop-rock form can be, but its reach is wider and its vibe looser. The band, completed by violist LARYSA BULBENKO, bassist CLIFFORD ULRICH, and JOHN BORACK in his debut as the band's drummer, is again aided and abetted by an impressive array of co-conspirators from across the global pop-rock scene. It's a testament to the work Bulbenko and Broome have put into nurturing that community, but it's also the sound of a band stretching out and seeing what it can become when all bets are off, and it's only the next step in their strangely compelling journey. What comes next as the typically hard-gigging band looks forward to returning to the stage in the coming months, we can only wait see. For now, as THE ARMOIRES unmask themselves after their undercover experiment with identity, the music testifies to the fact that they're ready for anything.
“Everywhere, people were saying, ‘well, when all of this is over…’” says Wilde. “I heard it so many times, it began to feel like a joke, or perhaps a mantra, both hopeful and meaningless.”
“I’ve never been mistaken for an optimist,” Shadwick jokes, “but we have to hold onto some kind of hope if we’re going to make it through the dark days… even if the end of one nightmare is only the beginning of another.”
Wilde recorded the song live in one take, at his home studio on a farm outside Louisville, KY. Longtime friend Diederik van Wassenaer overdubbed the strings from his home studio in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. Rejecting the conventions of genre, Shadwick Wilde’s songs touch each other’s edges, but each brings its own distinct vision, strung together by the common thread of Wilde’s muscular poetry, emotive vocals, and unique style of upside-down, left-handed guitar playing.
Shadwick grew up in San Francisco, Havana, and Amsterdam, astride his mother, activist, poet, and filmmaker Sonja de Vries. At 18, Wilde left high school for an invitation to go on tour as a guitarist for D.C. hardcore band Iron Cross, of Dischord notoriety. At age 23, Wilde entered an addiction recovery program, where he would write Unforgivable Things (2010), his first effort as a solo artist. The self-released demo would go out of print and disappear, but by this time Wilde had gone on to form Quiet Hollers as an outlet for his songwriting. Since 2013, the shape-shifting indie rock collective have released three LPs, toured Europe twice, and criss-crossed North America ad nauseam, all while flying under the mainstream radar.
In 2020, Wilde wrote three albums of new material, recording one of them with Nashville producer and former Wilco drummer Ken Coomer, along with a cast of session players. Another LP he recorded alone, on the Kentucky farm where he lives with his partner, psychologist and visual artist Sarah French-Wilde, and their young daughter. The third is a collaboration with current and former Quiet Hollers members. All are intended for release in 2021.
Century Egg is a band of escape artists. On their debut EP for Forward Music Group, the Halifax four-piece blaze through basement pop jams carefully crafted with the desires of the listener at the front of their minds. The desire to move, to dance and be free of our walls and our traumas. Century Egg creates music to make us free.
Coming hot on the heels of their We Can Play EP, Little Piece of Hair is the band’s loudest, clearest mission statement to date. Boasting a new rhythm section of Matty Grace on Bass and Meg Yoshida on drums, Century Egg is a band reborn. Still present is the dance punk bliss of previous Egg outings, only bolder and brighter. Robert Drisdelle’s guitar swirls and soars like never before, at times channeling Thin Lizzy or the heyday of Rush before landing back at Stooges-esque punk roots.
Vocalist Shane Keyu Song lives front and center at every turn, delivering clear incendiary vocals in both chinese and english. Matty Grace, stalwart hero of Halifax bands, keeps a steady hand on bass duties, keeping the beat driving ever forward, no looking back. Meg Yoshida behind the kit is a powerhouse addition, loud but never too fast, always on time and ever present.
These are songs about finding yourself, understanding your value in the present and celebrating the changes life delivers. This is a collection of songs about dancing and being free and rediscovering the joy in music and our lives, despite the shells around us. Century Egg makes music to remind you to be free.
Born in London to American parents and raised in Berkshire, Deva St. John’s sound harbours a true sense of trans-Atlanticism. Bridging the gap between the sleaze and swagger of ‘70s British rock and its much more contemporary American counterpart. Deva succeeds in breathing new life into the blackened lungs of a genre that was struggling for breath.
Both a peerless vocalist and an honest lyricist, there’s a sense of authenticity at play that stems from the lo-fi alt rock production of her recordings. It’s something that in turn bolsters Deva’s lyricism, allowing her to channel her sensitivities into her own brand of contemporary and idiosyncratic alt rock while crafting song that peer under the veneer of modern life to express something fundamentally timeless, a yearning dissatisfaction; rock n’ roll in its purest form.
Her latest single ‘Preacher’ is just that. Three minutes of blistering rock ‘n’ roll that takes aim at those in power and described by Deva as “a fast paced, high energy commentary on the people who run the 'free world’ - and how their methods may mirror the politics of religion” it’s the perfect introduction to Deva St. John for those unfamiliar, and for those that are, it’s a welcome return.
“We don’t live in the land of the free,” she continues, “we live in the land of the rich.”
Manchester singer-songwriter Caoilfhionn Rose (pronounced Keelin) has today shared a new song from her luscious, soulful new album Truly. 'To Me' is about feeling a connection with nature and life.
"I love going on long walks and the healing power of nature is a recurring theme in a lot of my lyrics. I have a very optimistic outlook and I find solace in the small things like being outdoors. I worked on this song a lot when I was away in the Suffolk countryside. A lot of the lyrics came about through improvising over a guitar part by band member Rich Williams. I tried not to over think or complicate the words. It’s a peaceful tune about noticing everything that is happening around you."
Truly moves through a tapestry of curious musical inflections; nods towards folk, jazz, ambient, electronica and even a subtle influence of psychedelia, it never stands still to take a breath, despite its ethereal and delicate core. Out April 9th on Gondwana Records (Mammal Hands, Portico Quartet, Matthew Halsall, Hania Rani), in Truly, the young singer-songwriter has accomplished a body of work that is both sonically and lyrically wise beyond her years.
Co-produced by Keir Stewart of The Durutti Column following Rose’s collaborative endeavours with them on their album Chronicle LX:XL, the musician’s song writing draws from a diverse palette of influences, including Building Instrument, Rachel Sermanni, Alabaster dePlume and Broadcast. Rose also professes to a love for beautiful, stripped back, piano based music, such as Dustin O’Halloran and label mate Hania Rani.
Saccades, the solo project of The KVB’s Nicholas Wood, is today sharing ‘Older Than Tomorrow’, the latest single to be lifted from the forthcoming ‘Flowing Fades’ album due out April 9th on Fuzz Club. Where Wood’s work as half one of The KVB trades in minimalist post-punk/coldwave, his solo material as Saccades marks a journey into escapist psychedelic pop. Following the recent singles ‘Heat’ and ‘Islands Past’, the sublime, 80s-indebted dream pop of ‘Older Than Tomorrow’ features Wood’s KVB bandmate and wife Kat Day on vocals. You can stream the song and its accompanying video here: fuzzclub.lnk.to/tomorrow
On ‘Older Than Tomorrow’, Wood says: “I wrote this song shortly after moving back to the UK from Berlin and it’s about the bittersweet feeling of leaving something behind and starting something new in life and how change can sometimes be good. It’s also about learning to accept the beauty and the flaws in the world around you. Written initially as an acoustic ballad, it ended up in a more dream-pop style with Kat’s added backing vocals. The song title is also a nod to my favourite Byrds album, ‘Younger Than Yesterday’”.
Talking about ‘Flowing Fades’, Wood continues: “I began to properly work on this album after returning from The KVB’s North American Tour in late 2019, my head filled with new inspiration for this project and a clear idea on how this album should sound. I wanted to create something soothing and immersive. Music for escapism, which can be listened to at sunrise or sunset. Even though it’s lighter and mellower than my usual output, I feel like there are strong hints of melancholia in there too, reflecting the world in which it was created.” Whilst songs like ‘Older Than Tomorrow’ and ‘Islands Past’ deal with themes like memory, nostalgia and change, ‘Like Everyday’ and ‘Heat’ are songs about lockdown paranoia and missing live music and life on the road, respectively.
Melbourne art-rock artist Ryan Downey shares ‘Contact’ a languorous and atmospheric single with an accompanying cinematic video inspired by films such as Solaris, High Life and Blade Runner 2049, with a subtext exploring the isolation of lockdown.
It’s the second single to be taken from Ryan Downey’s Burke Reid (Courtney Barnett, Julia Jacklin) produced album ‘A TON OF COLOURS’ (14 May on Dot Dash Recordings) following the first single ‘Heart Is An Onion’ which was described as “the Cars fronted by Bryan Ferry” (Sunday Times Culture).
‘Contact’ balances the stylistic grandeur and deep humanness in Downey's raw sophisticated sound, with both these elements mirrored in the single’s accompanying video which was co-directed by Downey and filmmaker Alex Badham. The video sees a space crew - featuring Downey, his band and manager - hibernating in isolation pods, journeying towards an unknown mission but longing only for the touch of loved ones and the reality of the outside world. The poignant visual gives further weight to Downey’s emotional lyrics such as “Hold me like you want to be held when it's almost over" and "If I can't be touched right now, then I need your love."
Touching on our universal experiences of wanting to escape the cabin-fever fatigue of lockdown, the ‘Contact’ video sees the crew find respite from their tedium and heartache in the therapeutic form of futuristic vapour trips that transport their senses to another time and place. As Downey explains "Sci-fi allows us to see our world through a heightened lens, Alex (Badham) and I had a chance with the video to capture the sentiments that a lot of us went through, and are still going through, in lockdowns.” The result is a cinematic video that takes the viewers mind out of this world whilst carrying an emotional punch.
