Molly Hanmer & The Midnight Tokers - Piper Butcher - Robert Ellis Orrall

Photo - Dave Clancy

Molly Hanmer & The Midnight Tokers - Sick of Me.

"Sick of Me" is Molly Hanmer's first single in three years and the first offering off the band's sophomore album Get Loose, due out on September 2021. The song comes after the release of Molly's debut album Stuck in a Daydream, released in 2018 with warm recognition from the National press and radio.

Get Loose parts ways from the Americana-themed compositions of its predecessor and dives deeper into Molly's passion for rock, blues, and psychedelic melodies. Lyric-wise, this new record feels more personal and brings awareness to political and social subjects that had an impact in the band when writing and composing the songs. As the title implies, this album is less restrained or unrestrained, hence "Get loose".

The 10 songs included in Molly Hanmer's upcoming album are longing for freedom to shake off the confines of the pandemic as well as our own critic or fears/inhibitions, urging us to break free, physically and emotionally.

"Sick of Me" was chosen as the song to kick off this new album. Musically fun, dynamic and radio-friendly, it could be the soundtrack of any Route 66 road trip; lyric-wise, the song is an acknowledgment of the fact that ultimately we need other people, with the pandemic keeping us isolated from one another. The importance of connecting with another, and aims to be a reminder that “me, myself, and I” can’t be our sole focus.

"Sick of Me" was written in the height of lockdown, at a time when it was impossible not to be real. And what was real for us was this loneliness, this longing to connect with others, which felt both vulnerable and even a bit perverse. There was anger, too, which you can hear as the song kicks off with this relentless immediacy. And "Sick of Me" was also cathartic, a way we could express our feelings, without breaking the furniture. And if you hear a nod to Iggy and the Stooges or the Buzzcocks, well, you wouldn’t be wrong. In sum, "Sick of Me" is an expression of the angst and longing we felt during a profound and painful time in our shared history.

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Piper Butcher - Before The Thunder.

Off the back of her debut single that debuted at #3 on the iTunes Alternative Chart, Newcastle singer-songwriter, Piper Butcher, is back for more with her brand new track, “Before The Thunder”.

Piper is one of the hottest new names to hit the Australian Americana scene and “Before The Thunder” is sure to capitalise on the success of its predecessor.

Piper says, “the song emanates a story of when someone wants something they can’t have and tries to cross the line to make it happen”.

The song brings about different side of Piper showcasing strong melodies and bluesy guitar licks that would make even John Mayer proud. Her versatility shines through and cements a class act that can straddle genres with the best of them.

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Robert Ellis Orrall - Sunshine.

Today, Robert Ellis Orrall shares the summertime-ready single “Sunshine” from his forthcoming album 467 Surf and Gun Club, out August 27 via Infinity Cat imprint Fixation Records. Accompanied by a music video starring power-pop Infinity Cat band Nectar and released on the same day as the label’s 19th birthday, “Sunshine” is every bit as nostalgic as it is catchy-as-hell.

“This song's about making the sunshine, spreading the sunshine, and letting the sun shine on the people you love,” says Orrall. “I'm hoping good times are back in style and our days can get a little bit brighter, no matter what the weather is outside.” He continues, “I asked Nectar - a band I like a lot - to make a video because they share my hopelessly optimistic in-spite-of-reality wish that we will all find a little more sunshine in our lives."

Nectar adds, "We filmed the video on one of the hottest days of the summer, so we were truly fueled by sunshine. The upbeat, good vibes of the song really set the mood and we had a blast!"

Owner of Infinity Cat Records and father to JEFF the Brotherhood’s Jake and Jamin Orrall, Robert Ellis Orrall is a Nashville legend. At the helm of the beloved indie label for almost two decades, he guided Nashville's punk-rock underground and launched the careers of bands like JEFF, Diarrhea Planet, Be Your Own Pet and Daddy Issues out of the now-demolished house at 467 Humphrey Street. But Infinity Cat is not his first success story. By the time he launched the label in 2002, the Massachusetts-native had already enjoyed a milestone-filled career as a major-label artist and behind-the-scenes songwriter, racking up Top 40 hits from the ‘80s through the 2000s and co-producing Taylor Swift's multi-platinum debut album.

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The Accidentals - Katherine Aly - Anya Hinkle - Hush

The Accidentals - Go Getter.

The Accidentals, an indie folk-pop, rock trio, announce the October 1 release of their new album Vessel, co-produced by John Congleton (St. Vincent, Lana Del Rey) and Tucker Martine (Decemberists, First Aid Kit). Following their critically acclaimed release Time Out Session 1, the new album blasts through the isolation of the last eighteen months with a shot of alt-rock muscle. “Go Getter,” the first single off the album, has a catchy-as-hell melody with a much-needed message – “Shake off the pressure, sometimes you’ve gotta burn it down to build it better.”

While the accompanying music video for “Go Getter” features Goonies-era cinematography and a relentless search for the elusive “goat," the song’s lyrics compel the listener to keep moving forward even as life gets heavy.

“‘Go Getter’ is all about not getting bogged down in the details,” the band explains. “Each single art on the Vessel album is a piece of the final album art. When the album comes out the whole picture is revealed.” They continue, “The Vessel album is about letting go of the small stuff and keeping an eye on the wider perspective. ‘Go Getter’ just feels like it embodies the spirit of the album; it says, “we’ve got this.’”

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Katherine Aly - Glow & Ignite.

New single Glow & Ignite by Katherine Aly has just been been officially released. Despite being a relative newcomer, Edinburgh-based Katherine Aly is generating a significant buzz. 

The new single Glow & Ignite received it's first spin via BBC Introducing. Phoebe I-H & Shereen Cutkelvin enthused, "..that hook is So catchy, we’ll be singing it for sure. Katherine is definitely reeling us in with those ear worms.."

Featured in Vogue Italia, Artist of the Week in The Scotsman, she’s been championed by The Skinny, Tenement TV and airplay courtesy of BBC RAPAL, Amazing Radio, as well as stations across the USA, Canada, France, and as far afield as Australia. Katherine Aly has performed at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Hidden Door, Tenement Trail, Kelburn Garden Party and legendary venues such as The Dublin Castle (London) and King Tuts Wah Wah Hut (Glasgow).

Katherine Aly · Glow & Ignite

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Anya Hinkle - Eden and Her Borderlands (Album).

Anya Hinkle is making her debut as a solo artist with Eden And Her Borderlands, an album that's roots music in its most modern form now available from Organic Records. The album — which includes six critically acclaimed singles— further cements Hinkle's reputation as an artist with vivid storytelling, vibrant musicianship and arresting honesty, which in the past have led her to win the MerleFest Chris Austin Songwriting Competition and be a finalist in the Hazel Dickens Song Contest for her song “Ballad of Zona Abston,” featured on her former band Tellico’s 2018 release Woven Waters which had a #1 single, #1 band and #2 album ranking on the Folk DJ charts in November 2018.

Of Eden and Her Borderlands, Hinkle says, “Eden represents the essence of life, the wholeness, innocence and perfection that is our birthright, those things that seem to get stripped away from us along our journey. The past year isolated us and, despite the hardships of the pandemic, I had an opportunity to view myself and my circumstances differently. Living in uncertainty, I cancelled all my plans and lived more in the moment. I became more grateful for what surrounds me: my home, my pets, my family, my neighbors, my community. I gained a deeper appreciation for those that support us: mail carriers, medical workers, grocery store clerks, the guys on the garbage trucks. I began to feel unexpectedly open and curious, like I was moving ever closer toward Eden by breaking open my heart and mind.”

“This album is an expedition through the great pandemic experiment, with songs that touch on the many facets of a life in isolation. ‘Lady Luck’ asks, ‘Will you hold the line for me?’ asking the existential questions that surfaced: Am I doing what I am meant to do with my life? Is it time to make a change? ‘Road of the Winds’ searches for Eden, for the Motherland, beseeching the winds to ‘lift me up, take my hand, fill my sails and guide me on again.’ There were storms, like the one described in ‘Hills of Swannanoa’ — ‘then it rained, Lord it rained, oh the tears came pouring down like rain.’ There were benevolent spirits like ‘My Faithful Sparrow’ who ‘at the dawn from the sky, you spread your wings and fly on down to me.’ And there were times when there were no words, like the far-ranging instrumental ‘Meditation: Beyond the Shores of Darkness.’”

Anya Hinkle · Eden and Her Borderlands

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Hush - Land Waves.

The indie art-pop band, Hush, forges dynamic and ethereal songs that bring together a multitude of different instruments and talents. 

Their songs touch your heart with beautifully expressive lyrics while entrancing your ears with genre-bending sounds. 

The duo was formed by singer/songwriter Jessica Deutsch of the Toronto chamber-folk group Ozere, and multi-instrumentalist music producer Tyler Emond, who performed under the moniker Tennis Partner. 

Together they’re bringing a fresh new wave of music to listeners around the globe.

 

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French for Rabbits - Jennah Barry - Baba Ali

French for Rabbits - The Overflow.

Surfacing nearly a decade ago from long oceanic shores, dream-pop luminaries French for Rabbits create music that feels like it has been crafted from the fabric of the New Zealand landscape and psyche – with its salty waves, isolated coastlines, expansive skies and friendly, approachable people. That is to say, their music is at once intimate and expansive, welcoming and wary, poetic but piercing. Emerging from a vibrant local folk scene alongside other idiosyncratic talents Marlon Williams, Aldous Harding, and Tiny Ruins, together the band have released three records - NZ Music Award nominated EP Claimed by the Sea; Spirits and 2019’s The Weight of Melted Snow. 

They’ve toured in the US and Europe, opening for acts such as Lorde, Agnes Obel and performed at SXSW, Iceland Airwaves and WOMAD. Despite racking up millions of streams and seeing their music appear in shows from Vampire Diaries to Being Human, the band have remained close to their DIY roots co-running local label Home Alone, and performing in various other bands in their Wellington home-town.

New single ‘The Overflow’, the title-track from their upcoming LP, is their most immediate and compelling to date - the song is an optimistic take on anxiety and panic attacks - hopeful and soothing on the surface, with deep-seated fears close beneath. Frontwoman Brooke Singer is locked in a battle between head and heart as she seeks to rationalise the mechanics of a panic attack - yet, the song is weightless and optimistically bright in delivery.

“Nobody needs to hear about the admin of an indie musician, but I can tell you – it could be a mountain higher than Everest if you let it,” explains Singer. “At times, I’ve found myself on the edge of burn-out and having panic attacks…I dream of living in a cabin by a river, with a dog and fireplace and a simple life with friends around for dinner. But I’m also filled to the brim with ideas for projects, new songs and new challenges,” she continues, a tug of war familiar to many creatives. “It’s just a river, a current / it’s just a heartbeat out of time” she sings, lulling herself back to reality when her heart is racing.

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Jennah Barry - Venus in Heat.

Jennah Barry is back with a new single, Venus In Heat, which like that LP, is produced by Colin Nealis (longtime Andy Shauf collaborator and bassist).

It's right in line with the groovy 70s-inspired acoustic pop of Holiday, with her vocals front and center as they should be.

Here's a quick quote from Jennah about the track: This song is about the first few days of falling in love, when you feel great and terrible all at the same time.

 

 

 

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Photo - William Spooner

Baba Ali - Thought Leader.

New Jersey native, London-dwelling artist, Baba Ali has today released his new single, "Thought Leader which trails previous tracks playlisted by BBC 6 Music and KCRW and tipped by Clash, NME, The Line of Best Fit and Paste. Premiered via Lauren Laverne on 6 Music, this latest single, which welds fuzzy guitars with a propulsive electronic beat, arrives as another installment of the forthcoming debut album, Memory Device that comes produced by Al Doyle (Hot Chip, LCD Soundsystem) and is out via Memphis Industries on August 27, 2021.

Baba says of "Thought Leader": “The demo started out really bare with this sampled Warsaw drum beat and an overdriven bass line I’d recorded while still in America. I sent it over to Nik in London at about 3 AM UK time and he sent loads of guitar takes back for me to work with like an hour later. It was quite clear the song had potential. When we finished off with Al, the song managed to not lose its more punk energy and influence, as Al was intent on not cleaning out any grit. An added bonus was having Al play live drums and bass on the recording, which let him get away from the desk and to get his hands dirty.."

"The self-directed music video for Thought Leader was made in collaboration with visual artist Dan Tombs (www.2ms.studio) , and took inspiration from the 1976 video work This Is a Television Receiver by British artist David Hall."

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The Felice Brothers - Jane Honor - Bethany Ferrie - Louie Short - The Wild Feathers - The Greeting Committee

The Felice Brothers - Silverfish.

The Felice Brothers have released “Silverfish,” the third song to be released from their forthcoming album From Dreams To Dust, out on September 17, 2021 via Yep Roc Records. They’ve also shared the official music video for the song, compiling found footage and micro insect video shot by James Felice himself.

“I found all the bugs in this video just walking around where I live or work,” James explains. “I have a lens that I attach to my phone, and I keep a keen eye out. Little in life brings me more joy than seeing a speck of something on a leaf or a sidewalk, getting in close and observing a little life unfolding before my eyes."

Rolling Stone described the album’s first single "Inferno" as “a swirl of blurry adolescent recollection and Nineties pop culture ephemera” and “...a promising taste of what’s to come.” The second single, “Jazz On The Autobahn,” received praise from Consequence of Sound, Cool Hunting, and was featured on NPR Music’s New Music Friday Playlist.

The Felice Brothers have also announced a US tour to celebrate the release of the new album. The tour will kick off on September 16 at New York’s Bowery Ballroom and will make stops in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and many more. Tickets are on sale now. Find a full list of tour dates below and at TheFeliceBrothers.com.

From Dreams To Dust sees the continuation of the new lineup of The Felice Brothers that debuted with Undress, consisting of Ian Felice, who shares songwriting and vocal duties in the band with his brother James Felice, bassist Jesske Hume (Conor Oberst, Jade Bird) and drummer Will Lawrence. The album was written and produced by The Felice Brothers, and features Bright Eyes’ Nathaniel Walcott on trumpet and Mike Mogis, who mixed the album, on pedal steel.

The 12 songs that make up From Dreams To Dust follow the band’s tradition of opting to record in unconventional spaces, similar to their debut album which was recorded in an old theater in New York and their self-titled, which was recorded in a chicken coop. The Felice Brothers found their new recording home in an 1873 church in upstate New York that Ian renovated himself. Though the church had fallen into disrepair, it was Ian’s dream to acquire the property and renovate the 30x40 one-room church.

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Jane Honor - There Won't Be Any Music.

Jane Honor is a 20-year-old singer/songwriter born and raised in New York City. When she was 18 years old, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a music career and study music industry and songwriting at USC Thornton School of Music.

She has been singing and writing since 8 years old, and has performed at various venues including The Berklee Performance Center, Ashford and Simpson’sSugarbar, Prohibition, and the world-famous Apollo Theater.

Honor writes most of her songs herself, and her music is produced by Jed Elliott of the Struts. She combines modern indie-pop with timeless influences such as Fleetwood Mac and Regina Spektor.

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Bethany Ferrie - This Is Where I Leave You.

23 year old singer/songwriter from Glasgow, Bethany is back with a brand new single following the release of 'Bones.'

'This Is Where I Leave You' is a song full of raw emotions and honesty. The songwriting and production lend to Ferrie's new sound that holds a maturity first displayed in Bones. 

The track is the next single from the artist's upcoming EP yet to be announced.

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Louie Short - What Can I Do.

The Toronto/LA-based artist, Louie Short has shared his new single, "What Can I Do" which arrives as a precursor to a full album titled OMW 4ev that is set for release later this year via 444%. Louie has always maintained the quote "the genre is songs" as a mantra for his music and "What Can I Do" and the forthcoming album follow this sentiment, arriving as the second installment of Short's sound trailing his 2019 debut, Cherry, Cherry.

“What Can I Do” has an interesting journey of its own. The song was written by Louie’s father Michael Short and an artist named BJ Cook in late 70s Toronto. It was recorded with the intent of selling it – possibly through BJ’s ex-husband David Foster (Ringo Starr, Mary J Blige) – but nothing came and the tape disappeared. 40 years later, in the process of clearing out the old studio, an engineer who had always liked the recording digitized and emailed it to the writers. His dad played it for him and Louie cut the record shortly thereafter. In Louie's words, he says "a good song never dies!"

Expanding further, Short says: "People are drawn to beginnings and endings, whether it be falling in love and breaking up, or emerging artists and artists passing away. Things in the middle of their life tend to be neglected. I think that this forgotten middle space is exciting and uncharted. It holds a certain poignancy because it doesn’t have the manipulative magnetism of creation and destruction, birth and death, to grab your attention. It just has itself existing."

Short's music arrives as a display of someone obsessed with the craft of songwriting. With a bio that previously stated, "he's not not trying to be Carole King", Louie is someone entirely focused on piecing together the best songs that he's capable of doing. Louie serves as the sole architect of the project, polishing his DIY instincts from songwriting through to mixing and drawing comparisons to Pavement, Alex G and Cass McCombs along the way.

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The Wild Feathers - Ain't Lookin'.

The Wild Feathers have signed to New West Records and will release Alvarado on October 8th, 2021. The 12-track set was produced by the band and follows their 2020 career-spanning odds-and-ends collection Medium Rarities. Formed in 2010, The Wild Feathers have released three critically acclaimed studio albums, one live record captured at the historic Ryman Auditorium, and toured with Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Bob Seger, and more.

After a major tour with Blackberry Smoke was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic last year, the group hunkered down in a small cabin northwest of Nashville in VanLeer, TN. Using the confidence gained from self-producing three new songs found on the Medium Rarities compilation, The Wild Feathers decided to keep things in-house, producing themselves, which was a part of the hard-scrabble work ethic that got them their success in the first place. 

For the first time without a fancy studio, the band were confident and calm during the process, which cohesively allowed the sound to be exactly what they felt like instead of having to answer to anyone. Knocking out 14 songs in just four days, they bonded over barbecues and beers and there was a warmness that hadn’t been present since their early days. This relaxed approach is reflected in the laid-back nature of the songs featured on the stellar Alvarado.

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The Greeting Committee - Float Away.

Kansas City-based band The Greeting Committee announce the release of new album Dandelion, out September 24th via Harvest Records (BANKS, Donna Missal, Best Coast). Alongside the album announcement, the band release their emotionally revealing new single "Float Away" and its accompanying animated video – offering an up-close and unguarded look at the way depression warps our self-image.

Upcoming album Dandelion was produced by Jennifer Decilveo (MARINA, FLETCHER, Bat for Lashes) and mixed by Dave Fridmann (The Flaming Lips, Tame Impala). Anchored by a gorgeously airy vocal performance from frontwoman Addie Sartino, “Float Away” opens on a candid piece of confession: “Glad it’s raining so I don’t have to go outside and pretend I’m happy just to be alive.” The track unfolds in fuzzed-out riffs, frenetic rhythms, and incandescent textures as Sartino documents her inner turmoil with an intense level of detail.

“There’s a line in the chorus that says, ‘Stale rye, once an apple’s eye,’ which is a way of saying, ‘I used to have so much potential, and now I’m sitting here frozen, and I don’t know what to do with myself,’” she notes.

After slipping into a moment of anti-nostalgia (“Haven’t felt this since/Listening to the 1975 while getting high/In somebody’s basement party”), “Float Away” closes out with another bit of personal revelation: “Treading water’s getting harder/Don’t let me fall another martyr.” But despite its undeniable melancholy, “Float Away” embodies a strangely exhilarating energy thanks to the stormy urgency of The Greeting Committee’s sound and the pure catharsis of its uncompromising honesty.

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