Gal Musette - Spencer Callum - Opeongo

Gal Musette - Ghost.

Gal Musette is the nom de plum of Grace Freeman, a musical prodigy who began writing piano based lyrical compositions and performing at open mics in her home city of San Clemente, CA at the age of 10. Her graceful approach to melody-driven indie-folk and French chansons has captured audiences all over Southern California. At age 14, inspired by The Magnetic Fields’ triple album 69 Love Songs, Gal recorded her own collection titled 70 Love Songs, which caught the attention of the band, and won her an opening slot on a few of their Midwestern U.S. tour dates. In more recent years, Gal has opened for several renowned artists such as Macy Gray, Suzanne Vega, Todd Snyder, and Donavon Frankenreiter. While her artist name is taken from bal-musette, the accordion-based, waltz-style French instrumental music, Gal’s primary inspiration is drawn from songwriters including Joni Mitchell, Regina Spektor, Bjork, Cocteau Twins, Burt Bacharach, Irving Berlin and The Cure.

In October 2021, Gal will be releasing her debut album, Backwards Lullaby, featuring a vocal duet with one of her biggest musical inspirations, Rufus Wainwright. The upcoming album explores the pangs of hopeless romances and unrequited love, what it’s like to move beyond idealized love into the acceptance of what is real and constant, as well as the cyclical nature of life and love in relationships.

 “Summertime,” the first single from the EP, was released in June and tells an overwhelmingly nostalgic and bittersweet narrative about short-lived friendships, like romances, that fade with the season’s change. The romantic and warm nature of the song overflows with a joyous indie-folk melody laced with snippets of loss and heartache.

Gal’s newest single, “Ghost,” is rooted in tragedy and carries her listeners through the struggle of being in love with two people at the same time. Heart-wrenching vocals and gentle piano fill this song with raw emotion, painting a vivid portrait of pain, passion, and longing - but also leaving much of the song’s meaning open to unique interpretation. Gal confides “there’s no one meaning to be understood from the lyrics- I would hope that each listener could take something a bit different from them. The “ghost” could be seen as a metaphor for an imaginary friend that stuck around a little overdue- even when you’ve grown up and shouldn’t be clinging to those fantasies anymore.”  Indie-rock band Coma Culture is featured on the song and adds to a harmony full of ecstasy and emotion.

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Photo - Angelina Castillo

Spencer Callum - Seaside.

With an arm’s length list of credits stretching from the likes of Kesha, Dolly Parton and Deer Tick, to Miranda Lambert and Little Big Town, pedal steel savant Spencer Cullum is one of Nashville’s most in-demand session cats. 

That’s in addition to making up half of acclaimed, primarily instrumental space-country duo “Steelism.” Clearly he’s had little trouble fitting in since moving from his native London to Music City by way of Detroit eight years ago, even if it’s mostly meant blending into the background. “I guess I’ve always hidden behind [the instrument],” he deadpans. “I’m always the guy who looks like he’s studying for a test in the background.”

Now, with a debut solo album, Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection, paying homage to the ’60s and ‘70s psych-pop, folk and proto prog heroes of his homeland, this Nashville sideman’s stepping out from the shadows into the spotlight. 

The album is being released September 24th via Full Time Hobby. Along with a supporting cast of fellow Music City stage and studio aces like guitarist Sean Thompson and multi-instrumentalist Luke Reynolds, as well as singing and writing partners like Caitlin Rose, Andrew Combs, Erin Rae, Annie Williams and James “Skyway Man” Wallace — he’s bringing a bit of Britain to Tennessee.

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Opeongo - dreadful sorry clemency.

Opeongo is the moniker of 28-year-old singer-songwriter Keegan Trumpour of Midland, Ontario. After releasing debut LP Miasma in 2019, Opeongo is preparing his sophomore album, we’ll all go with (the-will-o’-the-wisp).

Opeongo returns with a bigger and bolder single “dreadful sorry clemency,” reimagining the protagonist Clementine from the traditional folk tune and Elliott Smith song. “dreadful sorry clemency” encapsulates loss - of mercy, lenience, and forgiveness. 

We can survive a lack of empathy and understanding with a little bit of warmth, compassion and care for one another.

Opeongo · dreadful sorry clemency

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Jessica Pearson and the East Wind - Megan McCormick feat. Amanda Fields - HuDost

Jessica Pearson and the East Wind - Laundry Song.

We are taught to carry and hold onto shame and guilt in our lives; to keep everything bad that happens, all the mistakes we’ve made, to ourselves. To hide ourselves from the world and only show the shiny exterior we’ve created to mask the pain and shame. Jessica Pearson and the East Wind’s new single “Laundry Song” is out today, bringing celtic influences to the surface of the duo’s sound and celebrates traditional sounds of their ancestors and heritage from Ireland and Scotland.

Jessica Pearson is a Canadian born storyteller with a voice like melting honey on a summers eve. Accompanied by Maddy O’Regan on the fiddle, they bring to life tales of the past and express the beauty and heartbreak of the world today.

In 2017 they released their debut EP Grave and Garden Songs to a sold out crowd at LIVE! On Elgin. Playing over 80 shows a year in Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom, they have been writing songs and collecting stories from all over the world.

Their music blends folk, roots and East Coast bluegrass to create a unique sound of their own. From a cappella tunes sung in the middle of the audience to recollections of growing up in Canada, Jessica Pearson and the East Wind will take you on a journey with their dynamic live shows and entertaining story telling.

Jessica Pearson and the East Wind · Laundry Song

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Megan McCormick - Upside and Backwards feat. Amanda Fields.

Today, the Nashville-based producer, songwriter, and acclaimed guitarist Megan McCormick returns with her first new single of 2021 “Upside Down and Backwards” featuring Amanda Fields. The song was written by the duo and was produced by McCormick, who has continued to expand into production over the last few years. This week, McCormick will perform with Allison Russell at the Newport Folk Festival.

“‘Upside Down and Backwards’ was born from a serendipitous moment when an old-timed Christmas record started skipping,” explains McCormick. “The song began stirring and the next thing I knew my partner and I were on a tangent, recording every part, writing lyrics, and building this song around the record skipping sample I’d recorded on my phone. The whole thing was finished in a day, just from us being totally consumed by what seemed to come from outside ourselves. We acted more like conduits. But, the crux of the song is about awakening to love and how we’re willing to reach so deeply and so far for something.”

Megan McCormick is a Nashville, TN-based guitarist, songwriter, producer, and engineer. She’s performed and toured with Jenny Lewis, Connor Oberst, and Haerts, and has produced music by Ryan Culwell, Aubrie Sellers and Cruz Contreras. McCormick is an in-demand and inventive musician, lending support to a variety of performers and songwriters.

“Upside Down and Backwards” follows her 2020 single “Human Condition.” NPR Music said, “Megan McCormick has been known around town for years for her delicate depth and incisiveness on acoustic and electric guitar alike, which keeps her plenty busy backing other performers. In late March, she ended a half-dozen-year gap in output under her own name with the track ‘Human Condition,’ an electronic pop-R&B dreamscape that surrounds her reedy ruminations in fanciful instrumental counterpoint and insinuated groove.” McCormick has a new album in the final stages of production, with plans to release a flow of new music.

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HuDost - Beat the Drum Harder.

Award-winning music duo HuDost are calling on planet conservation with the release of their pressing new single and mesmerizing new music video, “Beat the Drum Harder.” Led by Montreal, QC artist Moksha Sommer, and Bowling Green, KY artist Jemal Wade Hines, the song is from HuDost’s forthcoming November 2021 album, Anthems of Home.

“The single addresses our disconnection from — and harm of — the planet, and our awakening to the needed return,” the band says. “It is a joyous and celebratory call for us to open our ears and consciousness to the heartbeat of the earth that brings us back to the source.”

For the music video, HuDost was able to partner with esteemed choreographer Rebecca Steinberg and accomplished videographer Sam Boyette. They worked with the WKU Dance Program & WKU Dance Company and involved almost 20 additional dancers. “The creation process was challenging as all preparations were done within the restraints of Covid,” HuDost recalls. “Rehearsals were conducted via zoom, and all preparation was done separately.

“It was only on the day of filming that everyone came together in-person, freshly vaccinated, and delighted to work. That in-person union was a symbolic mirroring of the greater message of the song and video… “Even if we are estranged or isolated from our greater source, the return can and will happen.”

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Ruth Lyon - The Sun Harmonic - Erez Zobary

Ruth Lyon - Fast Food

Ruth Lyon is a singer-songwriter of intense honesty and an impulse to say it how it is. Making a unique brand of ‘baroque-pop’ she bares her soul with courage and conviction - full of stark self-reflection but also a knowing nod to the absurdity of life. She returns to drop her latest single “Fast Food”.

Upbeat and effervescent, “Fast Food” is an irresistible pop gem that draws you in from the get-go with Ruth’s captivating and confident vocal delivery over an incredibly danceable rhythm section. It’s impossible to stay still while listening to Ruth’s lighthearted take on an almost nihilistic sense of timelessness many of us felt over the past year. Supported in the chorus by more captivating melodies and euphoric brass, “Fast Food” will grab a hold of your attention and not let go.

In 2019 Ruth released her first single “I’d Give It All” (under the name Ruth Patterson) which received support from 6 Music, Radio X and Spotify editorial. In 2020 Ruth cemented herself as one of the North East’s most important voices, when Sage Gateshead named her Artist-in-Residence. Over the course of the year, despite being thrown into turmoil by the pandemic, Ruth released two more singles, the evocative “Sink or Swim” and “Somebody Else”, for which she received the PRS Women Make Music award and was named as BBC Introducing in the North East’s Hot Tip 2021.

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The Sun Harmonic - All to Myself.

The Sun Harmonic is a Canadian folk-rock band led by small town songwriter Kaleb Hikele, a prolific recording artist based in Toronto’s east end. Kaleb is releasing a new folk album, Coast to Coast, recorded in five studios across Canada; 

The first folk-pop single “To the Blue” was tracked in Ottawa and Montreal. The second single, folk-punk song “Flying Over Saskatchewan,” was released with a fan favourite pandemic-style Zoom music video. Contrasting love songs, “All to Myself” and “A Song for Her,” will be released throughout the summer before the album drops on streaming services in October 2021.

Kaleb Hikele has created original independent music all from his home studio since 2009, Coast to Coast will be the fifth studio album and 15th studio release as an artist. Before the pandemic, The Sun Harmonic shared a stage with Charlotte Cardin at Winnipeg’s Festival Du Voyageur 2020, showcased by Canada’s Walk of Fame, just before live shows went dark. 

Their latest EP It’s All Okay, Thanks To You brought the infectious single “Sign On The Road” into heavy rotation on satellite radio, now spinning on turntables across Canada.

The Sun Harmonic · All to Myself

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Erez Zobary - To Bloom.

Toronto-based R&B/pop artist Erez Zobary has a timeless voice, in more ways than one. Raised on Stevie Wonder and Amy Winehouse, Erez’s soulful vocals echo the sounds and styles of her youth. Lyrically she is raw and uninhibited, writing openly about universal, yet highly personal, feelings of self-worth, uncertainty, and vulnerability. Combined with her down-to-earth sense of humour and natural charisma, which she displays online and onstage, Erez engages with a growing fanbase who resonate deeply with her message of empowerment, and find joy and connectivity in the community she has fostered.

Over the last five years, Erez has played to audiences around the country, from sold-out shows at venues like Lee’s Palace and the Taste of Danforth festival in Toronto, to packed theatres at TEDxQueensU in Kingston, and the National Music Centre in Calgary, as a participant in the RBC Master in Residence Program with Steven Page. In 2019, Erez was selected by HoneyJam as one of Canada’s up-and-coming female artists.

Erez has released 3 EPs in collaboration with various artists, including Enoch Ncube of Moneyphone (Erez & Enoch Love You, Twenty), and Brahny (Love and Lots of Sleep), to create music that combines her distinctive sense of storytelling with experimental sounds, and diverse genres. In 2019, Erez partnered with frequent musical collaborators Adam Eisen and David Lipson to create her first full-length project, July Clouds, which received national attention for songs like Love Me (CBC Song of the Week) and Before I Knew You (Spotify Fresh Finds).

Now Erez turns inward, at a time of great self-discovery and uncertainty, to create a collection of deeply personal songs. On her upcoming project, Erez draws from the anxieties, challenges, and changes facing her, and many like her, who are searching to understand themselves.

Erez Zobary · To Bloom

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Parliamo - Midnight Vesta - Alice SK - Sylvie

Parliamo - Life On The TV.

Perth, Scotland based 6-piece Parliamo (pronounced Par-Lee-Ammo) have just released a new single "Life On The TV", the second track to be lifted from upcoming EP 'The Parliamo Manifesto', due for release later this year via Modern Sky (The Coral, The Lathums, Abbie Ozard).

Intertwining playful references to Dennis The Menace and The Simpsons' Ralph Wiggum, "Life On The TV" details the youthful anxieties that arise after a heavy night out. Utilising an inspired blend of soaring vocal harmonies, obscure electronic samples and rousing indie-rock instrumentation, Parliamo's new single makes for a truly unique and compelling experience.

Speaking on the release of "Life On The TV", the band said: "It's a song about the crippling fear, something which most people can relate to, that feeling of hopelessness and embarrassment after a night out, as you sit in front of the TV and wither away - with overthinking, Lucozade and Kevin McLoud your only companions."

With a heady live-reputation preceding them, Parliamo have already been hailed as one of Scotland’s most exciting young prospects. Drawing from a plethora of influences from Groove Armada, The Avalanches and Massive Attack to Super Furry Animals, The Beta Band and Primal Scream – their witty social commentary–styled lyricism partnered with a distinctive songwriting approach suggest a band working beyond their years.

Backed by radio in the UK (BBC 6Music, Radio Scotland, Radio X) and in the US (via KEXP), their self-proclaimed brand of ‘underground pop’ is already turning a lot of heads. Citing influence from the likes of John Cooper-Clarke and Mike Skinner through to The Beautiful South and Fatboy Slim,  Parliamo are a true breath of fresh air, and without doubt ones to watch in 2021.

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Midnight Vesta - Long Way Around.

Midnight Vesta presents a sonic buffet of homegrown tunes, smothered in harmony. 

Their blend of Canadiana and Folk Rock offers a soundbite for every generation of the family to enjoy.

Sometimes in life, you may feel like things are taking longer than expected. The Toronto band's new single, “Long Way Around" assures us that it’s okay to take the scenic route - it’s all part of the journey.

MIDNIGHT VESTA · 08 Long Way Around

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Alice SK - Another Girl's Man.

Alice SK's debut single, “Another Girl's Man”, is a track that blends Folk with Indie to tell an age-old tale of love turning sour. Her haunting, soulful voice sounds classic yet modern through the influence of cultural icons, such as Ella Fitzgerald & Joni Mitchell, and present-day acts, like The Strokes, to create something fresh.

The song, produced by Muca (Los Bitchos, L.A. Salami) is taken from Alice SK’s forthcoming EP, “Electric”, which will be out in late 2021. On the collaboration, Alice SK said:

“I’ve been writing for years and it never really crossed my mind to get involved with others on the writing side of things; but when I heard a few of Muca’s other projects and his ideas for the demos that I showed him, I thought it could be a great combination of our two sounds and I’m hoping that that comes across in the tracks too.”

“Another Girl’s Man” is the stream of thoughts of a woman who has been scorned. Meant to reflect how one can turn ‘crazy in love’ and that love then quickly turns to an infatuation, as the song goes on and the woman subject gets more wound up and obsessive in her thoughts to the point where she becomes self-destructive. The track is essentially about romance that can go from sweet to sour in a flash.

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Sylvie - Sylvie.

Sylvie are sharing news of their self-titled debut EP, along with the title track. The latest project from Ben Schwab (Golden Daze, Drugdealer), the EP is inspired by Schwab's father's old cassette tapes, lost jewels from a recent past, and the tracing of a musical lineage. it is out via Terrible Records on October 1st. 

Schwab explains, “This is the cover song from the EP and one of the main sources of inspiration for the project. When I heard “Sylvie” (originally written by Iain Matthews), I was so taken back by the emotionality and softness; there was also something mystical and ethereal about it. It had the perfect open sound to me- the type of song I would hear and get just enough information from while still being able to project my own emotions and interpretation onto it. I think the fact that it was also so unknown made it that much more appealing."

"Me and Mike Collins (Drugdealer) started to call these types of songs that slipped through the cracks from that era "Sylvieʼs”, and that sort of started this whole idea for me. There is a musical lineage that I wanted to tap into and carry on so I named the project “Sylvie” after this song. I played most of the instrumentation on this one, with the help of a few friends and it was sung by my really good friend/collaborator Sam Burton, who is one of the singers in Sylvie.”

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