Drew Haley - Blake Morgan - Andrew Bees

Drew Haley - A Good Woman.

Drew Haley's emotional and heartwarming music video for her latest single "A Good Woman" has officially debuted just in time for the holidays.

Drew Haley's heart is permanently on her sleeve, but her latest single allows listeners into her childhood and her relationship with her mother. With a singer-songwriter flair and her signature lush vocals, Haley paints a vivid picture of her loving mother's sacrifices and lessons that the singer has carried with her throughout her life.

Through home videos, our hearts burst as we get glimpses of Haley’s ordinary yet beautiful childhood. These nostalgic moments are interspersed with shots of Haley today, reflecting on the impact her mother, Laura, has had on her. From the perspective of a daughter who was given a life full of love, "A Good Woman" fuses nostalgia with gratefulness. Despite all the sacrifices Laura made as a single mother, Haley’s lyrics reflect on the unconditional love she felt throughout her life.  As the chorus states, "nothing compares to the heart of a mother," and the raw footage used in the music video is palpably heartfelt.
In addition to such meaningful lyrics, Haley’s voice helps tell the story with her soothing tone and effortless runs. The simplistic instrumentation and light angelic background vocals add another layer of tenderness to the story. "A Good Woman" acts as a quiet voice that silences surrounding chaos and demands to be listened to. It will have everyone picking up the phone to call or driving across town to hug the special people in their lives.

"I truly enjoyed making the video “A Good Woman” with James McGettrick. I loved how we were able to incorporate old video footage of myself and my mother, Laura.  She was the inspiration behind this song and project," says Haley. 

As 2021 comes to a close, Drew Haley reminds us to be grateful for the people who have shaped us into the people we are today. After the challenges and trials Haley has faced as a woman and mother, she has come full circle with "A Good Woman" and its touching message.

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Blake Morgan - Down Below Or Up Above.

Directed by boundary-breaking NYC filmmaker and photographer Alice Teeple, Blake Morgan’s “Down Below Or Up Above” gives homage to classic Hollywood-era noir films. “The music video is like if Gene Kelly had starred in ‘The Third Man,’” says Morgan with a smile. “We shot in Central Park at night so I’m lit only by moonlight, street lamps, and a couple of flashlights when needed. Within ten minutes of shooting we were wonderfully unsure of what century we were in.”

Teeple and Morgan’s shared love of 1930’s and 40’s film noir––and specifically the work of directors Orson Welles, Fritz Lang, and John Huston––gave birth to the idea of the music video for Morgan’s new single. “Alice is a remarkable artist, she combines film techniques from ages ago and today, seamlessly. We looked at some of the videos Anton Corbijn’s made with Tom Waits which also have that feeling. We wanted something striking, something beautiful, but also something provocative and playful.”

The video released on all platforms yesterday. “Down Below Or Up Above” is the first single from Blake Morgan’s forthcoming new album Violent Delights, out May 20th, 2022 on ECR Music Group.

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Andrew Bees - Real Life.

Whether as a formidable solo artist or in the role of charismatic frontman for legendary, Grammy Award-winning reggae band Black Uhuru for the past 25 years, Andrew Bees has played a significant role in the breaking down of cultural and socio-political barriers that have often kept Jamaican reggae stars out of the American mainstream consciousness.

Teaming up with SoCal independent label LAW Records for the release of his latest  solo release “Real Life” (Out Dec.10 2021), Bees now continues that legacy of bringing his personal brand of conscious roots reggae to a new generation of audiences and emerging reggae artists, while subsequently delivering a potent reminder of reggae’s capacity for social critique.

Characterized by wailing guitars pitched over a surging, trance-inducing groove and Bees’ wide-ranged and almost ecstatic vocal delivery of  lyrics that conjure the freedom of rolling down mythic American highways —the track’s upbeat sound  belies unspoken layers of meaning and the events that inspired the song.

Bees was travelling in Kenya with his wife and baby when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in Feb. of 2020, and as such, he and his small family were among the first panicked waves of American citizens scrambling to board last-minute flights and hastily return home at the behest of the U.S. government.

LAW Records · Andrew Bees "Real Life"

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Mark Welles - ElectroBluesSociety feat Boo Boo Davis - Tom Freund

Mark Welles - It Started Last Fall (Album).

Flashback to early 2020: Maybe it was becoming a new father, the onset of a global pandemic, middle-aged malaise, or all three. A period of introspection led me to reevaluate what I value most in life, what brings me joy. 

What I found was something was missing — music. Although a lifelong musician and longtime songwriter, I had let my passion for music take a backseat to my corporate career and other endeavors. I realized I needed to bring music back into the forefront, and that I had something to contribute creatively.

After buying some new equipment, transforming a spare bedroom into my home studio, dusting off some old songs and writing a few new ones, I set out on recording a body of work to represent my unique musical voice. The result is “It Started Last Fall”, my debut album of 11 original songs about love, setbacks and looking forward. I hope you enjoy the music, and greatly appreciate your interest and support!

Whilst Beehive Candy doesn't undertake in depth album reviews we have to say this is one beautiful collection of songs. Mark's distinct and engaging vocals are backed with a fresh and uncluttered musical backdrop. The resulting range of folk & Americana material is a joy to listen to.    

Mark Welles · It Started Last Fall

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ElectroBluesSociety feat Boo Boo Davis - Transatlantic Quarantaine Sessions (Album).

Between 1998 and 2019 Boo Boo Davis used to come and tour in Europe several times each year and most of music was written and recorded during these tours.

The current pandemic put that "tradition' on hold. But with the help of the internet and mutual friend Chris Brown in St Louis, the guys from ElectroBluesSociety (Netherlands) started to exchange idea's and demo's with Boo Boo in East St Louis (USA). 

So despite the fact that they had the Atlantic Ocean between them, they were still able to write and record new music. Covid may be able stop live shows (for a while) but it can not stop the creation of new music. 

Several of these tracks have been released as single releases earlier this year but here is the complete album. Twelve original tracks plus one remix by Rosé Sunset from France.

Black and Tan Records · Transatlantic Quarantaine Sessions - Boo Boo Davis + ElectroBluesSociety

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Tom Freund - Disney's America.

Singer/songwriter Tom Freund is set to release his cover of a 1995 song by one of his heroes, legendary U.K. pub-rocker Graham Parker. “Disney’s America” is out now on Spotify and other digital platforms. (The song is part of Freund’s forthcoming album, The Year I Spent in Space, which will be out early next year.)

Says Freund, “To me the song asks, “Where did America go wrong? … It’s a song for a lost Virginia and nation, one consumed with money, brands and division”: ‘Where we drifted apart like runoff into the Chesapeake Bay.’ Singing about it might bring hope and awareness for a better, more connected and conscious America.”

Freund and Parker share quite a history (apart from Tom growing up in New York listening to Squeezing Out Sparks on repeat as a pre-teen). The two first met on a Silos tour opening for Parker; Freund is an alumnus of the Texas-based roots band.

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Talmont - Team Me - Ultraviolet Communication

Talmont - Moving Further Than Before.

Mixed by Marta Salogni – who co-produced Romy’s “Lifetime” alongside Fred Again.., Joy Anonymous and Jamie XX – and built by the band around a brass sample from Italian composer Piero Umiliani’s “Blood River”, South London-based three-piece Talmont released new single “Moving Further Than Before” on 10th December 2021, the second single lifted from forthcoming full-length.

Originally from Lincoln and Leeds then later meeting at Goldsmiths in London, Talmont is Martha (songwriter and lyricist) with Joe and Jules (across production and instrumentation). Martha admits that her lyricism is based upon an embellished, filmic view of the past. Gleaming with lucid stories, she references Joni Mitchell as an inspiration, though at times a song is merely there to portray an emotion she was feeling at the time, whether it’s anxiety, excitement, or apprehension.

Previous single and debut “IDATMT” saw support from BBC Introducing in Lincolnshire’s Hannah Fletcher, who interviewed Martha on her show shortly after release. The single was also championed by key press tastemakers including Loud And Quiet and The Revue.

The writing process for the new single began with Jules thumbing through crates of records. After discovering Umiliani’s 1979 classical album “10 Bianchi Uccisi Da Un Piccolo Indiano”, the very last section of “Blood River” piqued the band’s interest and formed the backbone of “Moving Further Than Before”.

Martha ruminates on the new single, “Moving Further [Than Before] is about nostalgia. It’s about craving to relive a moment or a time in the past, but also feeling completely content with where you are at present. So many break-up songs are just about heartbreak, but we wanted to make something that’s a celebration of a period of time that’s reached its end. We wanted to write the song that evoked the emotion of euphoria, yet also felt reflective. This is definitely one of our most collaborative songs, with us all working together on every element - and you can hopefully hear little pieces of each of us throughout as a result.”

 

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Team Me - Just Another Sleepless Night in the Dark.

Norwegian art-pop band Team Me triumphantly return today to announce their long-awaited third studio album 'Something in the Making', out 11th March 2022 via Propeller Recordings (Sløtface, Highasakite, Lokoy). Mixed by Grammy-award winning producer/mixer Darrell Thorp (Foo Fighters, Radiohead, Beck) and mastered by Emily Lazar (David Bowie, Björk, Coldplay, Haim) the new album is their first for 7 years, following their critically acclaimed and Norwegian Grammy-winning debut album To the Treetops! (2011) and its follow up Blind as Night (2014).

Lead single and art-pop epic "Just Another Sleepless Night In The Dark" is released today - a kaleidoscopic, exploration into synth-infused indie pop, providing an enchanting taste of what to expect from 'Something in the Making'. Led by Norwegian singer/songwriter Marius Drogsås Hagen, Team Me have received widespread international success and attention to date, creating an engrossing alternative pop universe in the process.

New album 'Something in the Making' continues in that vein, a journey which began with the band's surprise reunion in 2019: “When we first announced our reunion, the love and appreciation was just overwhelming to be honest. I was very surprised,” says Hagen. “Still, it was a good move to not rush into anything. It left everyone with hope and motivation for the future.” It paid off. That compulsion drove Hagen to complete the most accomplished and world-beating collection of songs of his career so far. What makes it even more of a triumph is that this music finds a whole lot of light out of the darkness.

Built in collaboration with production company OnzOnz and director/photographer Ingeborg Løvlie, together they've created an all-encompassing audiovisual story told from the perspective of a 10 year old boy. Inviting listeners (and viewers) to re-discover the small wonders of life and the environment around us through a child's eyes, the project focuses on the curiosity and discoveries connected to childhood – specifically addressing how exploring your inner child can be a way to maintain and nourish good mental health; chasing the carefreeness of childhood and also accepting the often painful unfairness of life.

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Ultraviolet Communication - Paper Tiger (Album).

Phoenix-based indie-rock outfit, Ultraviolet Communication have released their much anticipated sophomore album Paper Tiger today, flexing creative storytelling combined with sublime craftsmanship. With the help of recording and mixing engineer Josh Medina (Playboy Manbaby,) they’ve built a collective of introspective soundscapes that you truly can get lost in.

Written and recorded throughout winter of 2019 and June 2021 (the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic,) the making of Paper Tiger was a welcome distraction from the world. The overwhelming boredom and lack of inspiration that resulted actually became the inspiration behind some of the songs. Lead single, “Moon Man” served as an outlet for the band to express their collective frustrations. Paying tribute to 60’s pop rock hits, UVC experimented with different recording techniques to create a unique call-and-response within the verses.

“The vocal production is notable because we switched back and forth between two microphones for different sounds on different lines. When Matt was singing softer, we used one mic and when he was singing full voiced we used another." Exploring the inspiration behind the song, UVC says, "We felt by combining these sounds, we could compliment the duality in the lyrics that outline the frustration of interacting with ignorant people and how it can feel like a rollercoaster at times.”

Standout single “Palinopsia” showcases UVC’s psychedelic acid rock sensibilities with a dreamy Pink Floyd-esque sound bordering on prog-rock. This was another example of the trio wanting to spice things up in production and play with new sounds. Discussing further, the band stated, "Once we finished the song we felt that we wanted to experiment more with layering instruments not typically present in our live performance to create a very interesting sonic atmosphere. In comparison to the other two singles, it showcases a more moody and vibrant sound."

November saw the most recent release, "The Diener," which takes on a bluesy indie rock vibe with fuzzy guitars and slick riffs adding to a lush and seductive soundscape. Guitarist Josiah Rodriguez took great satisfaction in creating the ideal guitar tone for this one. Cranking the volume up all the way to create the perfect velcro ripping fuzz sound, he produced a harmonious contrast between the noisy guitar hook and the cleaner feel of the verses. Inspired by a fictional story about a man who was cursed to work as a Diener in Satan’s morgue, the band had fun riffing on a classic “deal with the devil” tale gone wrong.

Ultraviolet Communication · Paper Tiger

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Josienne Clarke - Anna Sun - The Delines - The Wild West - Amy Jay

Josienne Clarke - Driving at Night.

When award-winning singer, songwriter and producer Josienne Clarke was performing at a show prior to lockdown, a moment meeting a fan afterwards remained fixed in her memory. “There was this one woman who came up to me at the merch table in tears. She was a fan pleading with me to write something in the style of how I write, but more positive,” Clarke recalls, saying that while the fan had been visibly touched by her emotive, melancholic songs, she was craving something more joyous. The fan told Clarke she was going through her own difficult time. “She wanted something with hope, something with a bit of light in it,” Clarke recalls.

This is where Clarke’s new EP, I Promised You Light was born. After the release of her critically acclaimed album A Small Unknowable Thing earlier this year (which earned four-star reviews from the likes of The Financial Times and MOJO), Clarke set about her next project with the words of her fan front-and-centre. “It stayed with me,” Clarke says of her message. “It made me really think: do I need to try and frame things more positively? Maybe I haven’t been able to in the past because I’m still working through things – my work is very autobiographical and cathartic – but I’m only now just finding more positive threads through new experiences and what I’ve learned over this last year.”

Clarke has certainly worked through a lot. Rejecting the male-dominated system, in 2020 Clarke ripped everything up and started again. She went solo and for the first time she was in complete control of everything from her songwriting to arranging and production – and she even released on her own label, Corduroy Punk. The result, after years of being told women couldn’t do all those things in a patriarchal industry, was an album variously described as “the sound of an artist in full bloom”, “a remarkable, impeccable collection” and “her finest work to date.” The experience gave her confidence to try a new direction on her latest EP.

Lead single, ‘Driving At Night’, saw Clarke going directly back to a time she lost her own way. “It’s essentially a song about escaping,” Clarke says, explaining it was about driving away from the last ever gig she performed as part of a duo at the interval. “I literally drove for hours across Europe. I wanted as much physical space between me and my previous career as possible at that point. The feeling of release of having finished that final gig was huge, as was the exciting air of possibility that came about having left behind a thing that was so difficult for me for a long time. It was like a literal lift: I felt everything would suddenly be easier now.” The song’s message, she says, is simple: “it’s – just leave,” she laughs. “It’s alright to leave because all this other great stuff awaits you if you just walk away.”

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Anna Sun - What A Shame.

(New York, NY) On the new single, “What A Shame,” Anna Sun delves into a deeply personal story, capturing the trauma of loss through a filter of enthralling vocals and explosive energy. The song is the latest single from the indie-pop-rock trio’s upcoming self-titled debut EP, due out January 14, 2022. 

“What A Shame” was written as a catharsis for lead singer Samantha Aneson as she was losing her mother to dementia. “I’ve grown to love the dichotomy of pain and lightness in art. How one can make the other so much more pronounced,” Aneson reflects. “I was in a place (am forever in a place) of begrudgingly agreeing to this reality that’s been forced upon me. Having to move forward without railing against existence for doing something that once seemed so unimaginable. Having to find light in my nightmare.”

As evidenced in this single, the core of Anna Sun’s appeal lies in Aneson’s diary-like songwriting. Drawing on her background in theatre, her songs dig much deeper into relationship dynamics than the average pop song, all while remaining exceptionally catchy.

Across its six tracks, the Anna Sun EP manages to capture the triumphs and anxieties of being alive in such a strange time. Sometimes thought-provoking, sometimes heartbreaking, these songs always seem to find an underlying sense of optimism, a reflection of their writer’s personality.

Originally Aneson’s bedroom project, Anna Sun has since grown into a collaborative trio including drummer Nikola Balac and bassist Andrew “Shwogs” Shewaga, who previously played alongside Aneson in the folk-rock band, Satin Nickel. When that group disbanded in 2020, Aneson began adding original indie-pop-rock songs to her repertoire and recruited her former bandmates to bring them to life, marrying classic pop aesthetics with adventurous modern production. Making music that is meaningful and accessible is a rare thing these days, but Anna Sun seems to have achieved a perfect formula for their unique brand of expression.

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Photo - Summer Luu

The Delines - Past The Shadows.

Portland, Oregon based country-soul group The Delines share the second single and video from their upcoming album, The Sea Drift, which will be released on February 11, 2022 via their new American label home Jealous Butcher Records. 

The new single, titled “Past The Shadows”, is a sultry and smoky ballad that wraps the heartbreak of its lyrical themes in a warm blanket of horn arrangements and tenderly played keys. The song is accompanied by a music video of the full band performing “Past The Shadows” in the studio, highlighting the rich backing instrumentation that serves as the bedrock for The Sea Drift as well as Amy Boone’s spellbinding vocal performance at the center of it all.

Speaking on his inspirations for “Past The Shadows”, songwriter Willy Vlautin said “I was thinking about that self-destructive dream of never having to live like anyone else, of not having to be a part of regular society. That pull of living like a vampire, the romance of it, the freedom of it, but also the darkness of it. We wanted the song to be a seduction itself, easy and catchy, warm and velvety but underneath is a world of scars and failure.”


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The Wild West - Comes A Time.

Calling themselves The Wild West, six of the most treasured female singer-songwriters in Los Angeles forged a strong bond of friendship that led them to write and record their first single “Better Way.” The empowering message of the ensemble’s first single is shared equally by its members, all of whom have enjoyed significant success as solo artists: (pictured above L-R) Manda Mosher, Deb Morrison, Amilia K Spicer, Tawny Ellis,  Pi Jacobs, and Heather Anne Lomax.

Touted by Relix as a “Female supergroup,” The Wild West is currently working on their upcoming EP and were listed in Holler Country's The 10 Best Emerging Acts of Americanafest “They offered an impressive performance boasting no shortage of verve and variety - it would be hard to find a combo with a greater degree of talent or tenacity. Clearly, this bunch is ready to rumble.”  --Holler Country

They were also touted in No Depression’s Guide to Americanafest. with Amos Perrine is quoted as saying, “…the definite highlight promises to be The Wild West, six of the most highly respected female singer-songwriters in Los Angeles: Tawny Ellis, Pi Jacobs, Heather Anne Lomax, Amilia K Spicer, Deb Morrison, and Manda Mosher. Expect fireworks.”

All six members of The Wild West write, produce, and oversee the recording process for songs they bring to the band. They take turns singing lead while supporting each other instrumentally and topping each song off with The Wild West's signature harmonies.

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Photo - Katrina Sorrentino

Amy Jay - Commute.

Amy Jay has released the single, "Commute," taken from her upcoming album, Awake Sleeper, to be released on 2/4/2022.

Exploring the boundaries between acoustic and synthetic, minimalist and ornate, Awake Sleeper echoes a breathtaking cross-pollination of introspective songcraft, surprising textures, and hypnotic soundscapes. The album was produced by Amy's longtime collaborator, Jonathan Seale of Mason Jar Music, known for his work with Feist, Fleet Foxes, Aoife O'Donovan, and more, as well as his solo efforts released under the moniker Son of Cloud.

Jay's day-to-day life in New York City profoundly influenced Awake Sleeper, which you can probably pick up from "Commute." "Another mundane morning commute with train thoughts. I am a stranger in this city even though I've known it for over a decade, even though I see the same faces in the same train cars day after day. The window of the train car was left open that morning, and the tracks were screeching and air blowing so loud I couldn't think about anything else," she says of the birth of the song. "Ironically, I rarely listen to music or podcasts on the train, so I looked around to see if anyone else noticed or was bothered by the sounds. Everyone looked like zombies... heads down on their phones, completely consumed. I realized this sound is not the loudest' sound' in the room. Their phones are. And even if I screamed at the top of my lungs, I'm not sure I would break through the noise to get anyone's attention."

Amy Jay · Commute

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