Pinegrove - Liam Davis - Alice SK - Carmody

Pinegrove - Habitat.

As they prepare for the release of their new album 11:11 this Friday, New Jersey-based group Pinegrove have shared today a new video for the mini-epic lead track "Habitat." A robust, textural masterpiece, "Habitat' was inspired by long drives around upstate New York with dilapidated houses covered in plantlife spotting the landscape along the way."

Of the song, singer/guitarist Evan Stephens Hall stated, "'Habitat' collages imagery from across the 2020's - monuments to the past torn down, vandalized, and thrown to the waves, making much needed room for new symbols to ornament our world with."

Pinegrove have also announced a full band live performance will take place this Friday, January 28th to celebrate the release of 11:11. The livestream will begin at 8pm EST and will be available for 24 hours. Tickets can be purchased on their website at www.pinegroveband.com.

Hall is big on multiple meanings. The leader of Pinegrove titled their sixth album 11:11 because of its layered significance: the numerals gesturing to a row of trees, or striped corduroy; the cornfields of upstate New York, or people shoulder-to-shoulder. But it’s also a special time, a “wink from the universe,” as Hall says, for those who witness it on the clock to wish for something brighter. “Calling the record 11:11 should be a heartening statement, though there's certainly a range of emotion across the album. There's much to be angry about right now, and a lot of grief to metabolize. But hopefully, the loudest notes are of unity, collectivity, and community. I want to open a space for people to feel all these things.”

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Photo - Adrian Lewis

Liam Davis - Make Me Cry.

As a native New Yorker, Liam Davis grew up influenced by an array of music. While his father’s love of classic rock engraved the iconic soundprints of The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd into him as a child, his studies of classical percussion (such as Bach’s ‘Violin Concerto in A minor’ for marimba) and jazz (Max Roach’s ‘Max’s Mode’) would shape him into a well-rounded musician as he aged. 

Picking up piano at the age of eight and guitar at fifteen only deepened Davis’s musical character and gave him the ability to put whatever he hears in his head into a real space. Influenced by many of the greats (Elton John, Billy Joel, Paul McCartney) as well as more modern acts (John Mayer, Nothing But Thieves, Billie Eilish), Liam has developed a broad writing style that blends numerous genres. 

Liam’s career began with the release of his single ‘In My Dreams’ (2020), a contemporary folk ballad about a past relationship that took a downfall due to personal issues. While the release of this song was a huge accomplishment for him, he’s deeply motivated to expand his sound and has been working on a plethora of new songs that will be released in the coming years.

Here's what he had to say about it: "I started writing 'Make Me Cry' when I was still in college. My girlfriend at the time had hurt me really badly, and I channelled that hurt into my songwriting". He continues, "While it's only my second release, it feels like so much more; I focused in on honing my sound, and was able to take influence from the traditional styles I was raised on while still creating something entirely new, unique, and true to my voice as an artist".

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Alice SK - Run Away.

London artist Alice SK's new single “Run Away” is a striking vintage-noir track about being trapped in our minds and how this can lead to us being our own worst enemy. Alice’s 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 single comes from Alice SK’s forthcoming debut EP “Electric”, produced by Muca (Los Bitchos, L.A. Salami). “Run Away” is the fourth track to be unveiled from the EP, following the release of Muca’s single “Until We Meet Again” and Alice’s tracks “Another Girl's Man” and “Hidden Paradise”. Alongside Brazilian bossa nova legend Roberto Menescal, Alice featured on “Until We Meet Again” which caused a stir during the summer and the track will also be released as part of the EP package.

Written in lockdown, when we all had a lot of time to reflect on life, relationships, and our own thoughts, “Run Away” captures the moment at when we start to overthink and analyse and start on a self-destruction landslide without realising that it’s happening. The track’s production has an organic feel and an unsettling intrigue with a vinyl crackling backdrop and dark enveloping moods that build to great effect. Portishead vibes are blended with the uniqueness of Alice’s deep and low vocal tones as the track grows out of control.

The video for the single, directed by Henry Harte conjures late 90s nostalgia. On the video’s concept and style, he reveals, “I wanted to capture not only the vibe of the song but the story, and with that I incorporated the backdrop of a harsh city scape paralleled with imagery of escaping or 'running away' by car as a visual metaphor for being more hopeful for the future. I used super 8 sim to portray the nostalgic aesthetic and texture.”

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Carmody - Morning.

Carmody releases her new single "Morning" lifted from her much anticipated debut album Imperfect Constellations, out 6th July via Young Poet. Co-written and produced by Tom Misch, "Morning" also features percussion and synth contributions from rising London producer and artist Conor Albert. Addressing grief and ultimately hope in the aftermath of loss, the song's instrumentation oozes positivity, with Misch's uplifting guitar work and Conor's soulful beat-driven percussion juxtaposing the track's affecting, personal lyrics: ["I see your face now, in everything / cause my heart it won’t believe / In the unspoken and unnamed, for a life I can’t reclaim"]

"'Morning’ is about grief and the way the world continues even after someone you love has died," Carmody notes. "It’s also about hope, the idea that although they’re not physically present you can carry them with you in your mind. I wrote the track with Tom Misch, who also produced it and recorded some eerie, but beautiful, high-pitched ooo’s, as well as playing a solo guitar line. Conor Albert made the drum beat and also recorded some wondrous synth lines."

Carmody's long-awaited debut album Imperfect Constellations is due for release on 6th July via Young Poet and will be split into four separate "constellations" – with each constellation housing tracks that are all thematically linked. "Morning" stands as the first to be heard from 'Constellation B' - 3 songs that focus on "loss and learning to accept a new world without the person you love in it", following 'Constellation A' which offered "a group of songs that explore how we remember".

Carmody went on to say: "'Morning' in particular focuses on this as I write about carrying them with me in my mind, although they are not physically present. 'Strange' is about a walk I took through a cemetery, I was really inspired by observational lyric writing and how artists like Phoebe Bridgers and Alex Turner make the everyday sound beautiful and I wanted to emulate this in the song. 'Yosef' is also about grief, but I am mourning someone who is yet to be found, almost a loss in reverse."

 

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Old Crow Medicine Show - Fe Salomon - Lisa Heller - Nurdjana

Old Crow Medicine Show - Bombs Away.

Old Crow Medicine Show have just released “Bombs Away,” the latest single from the GRAMMY award-winning band’s seventh studio album Paint This Town (out April 22 via ATO Records). Featuring Molly Tuttle on banjo, the band’s devil-may-care twist on a classic divorce song is accompanied by a live performance video.

"I realized something about my song ‘Bombs Away’ when my new girlfriend played the Kacey Musgraves’ album Star-Crossed on a recent road trip; I realized that ‘Bombs Away’ is a song about divorce,” explains Ketch Secor. “Bobby Braddock wrote what I believe to be the genre’s epitome when he spelled it D-I-V-O-R-C-E, but my song about life's detour through Splitsville is far more breakneck, full of fiery fiddling, lyrics more spat than intoned, focusing upon that final phase of the Big D.”

He continues, “‘Bombs Away’ is a song about acceptance. And not of the keel over and die variety, instead it’s a whole-hearted without-a-net leap, a jump-from-the-airplane kind of acceptance, one in which the singer obliges his fate and decides that ‘If I can’t learn to fly let me fall.’ We all crash. We all burn. And if you can accept that, then you might just get through it, hobble home from the impact site, and start living again. Because the only trail down the mountain spelled D-I-V-O-R-C-E  is the one spelled S-U-R-V-I-V-E, and since that’s the path to take, you might as well start now, pierce the air, take the plunge, commence falling. What are you waiting for? Bombs away.”

Paint This Town showcases Old Crow Medicine Show’s ability to merge profound introspection with a rapturous string band revival sound, shining a light on the darker aspects of the American experience with character-driven songs underpinned by visions for a more harmonious future. The album unlocks a new level of creative freedom for the band, who took a far more insular approach than on previous releases as they recorded in their own Hartland Studio and co-produced it with Matt Ross-Spang (John Prine, Jason Isbell). The process revived the band’s spirit of pure abandon and marks a return to the deliberate unpredictability of their earliest busking days.

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Fe Salomon - Super Human.

Gifted with the kind of superpowers that have blessed Alison Goldfrapp with her unwavering glam-pop allure and Stevie Nicks with that invincible soul, Fe Salomon’s strident first offering proves she’s cut from the same cloth and ready to be your newest musical hero.

With pop prowess firmly in check, “Super Human” sees Salomon backed by simmering ‘Big Band’-esque arrangements courtesy of her faithful co-writing sidekick: Johnny Parry. An esteemed classical arranger in his own right, Parry conjures all of the drama and intrigue of a Vaughan-Williams composition, accompanying Salomon’s earthy vocal with shadowy orchestral overtones.

Speaking about the inspiration behind “Super Human” and its origins, Salomon says: ““Super Human” is a song exploring the alter ego. It originated with dancing around with some upper body shimmy moves. Then a chunky brass section, dirty synth and disjunctive rhythms, all inspired by a number 70’s and 80’s movie soundtracks.”

Chiming with the single’s cinematic qualities, “Super Human” is accompanied with an expertly choreographed, kaleidoscopic video by Director/Videographer Fraser Taylor and starring Salomon. Fe Salomon is a singer-songwriter, performer and producer, currently based in the East Midlands. Born in Northampton, Salomon moved to London where she cut her teeth on the bustling stages of the Camden music scene. Developing her act in the capital for over 13 years, it was there that Salomon honed her idiosyncratic sonic stylings from its melting pot of influences and began to percolate ideas for a solo career.

 

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Photo Credit Adrian Andres

Lisa Heller - cheetos n coke.

Today, the young bedroom pop superstar Lisa Heller is thrilled to share her new single, “cheetos n coke.” The first music to be released since last year’s massively successful is anyone listening? EP is a beautifully vulnerable performance, replete with sweet-as-sugar melodies and Heller’s endearing and inviting vocals.

Speaking on the origins of the song, Heller writes: “I wrote “cheetos n coke” with my frequent collaborator Meghan Williams. We wrote the song when I mentioned I wanted to write a song about my previous struggles with an eating disorder and the common struggle amongst a lot of people, especially young women, with body image and body neutrality.”

Heller continues, “I recorded the song in my bedroom in LA, which felt symbolic because I have actually looked in the mirror in that very room and dealt with some negative body image. I worked with my producer, Will McCoy, to make sure the production remained just as vulnerable as how I felt when writing the song. I think that “cheetos n coke” touches on important aspects of mental health. Although not everyone will have a mental illness in their life, everyone has their mental health to tend to. Body image is something that I have had my struggles with and at times really took over my happiness and my life. I wanted to open the conversation by openly sharing those struggles for the first time through a song, because maybe it will help someone feel a little bit less alone.”

Raw, authentic, and honest describe the alternative pop music of Lisa Heller. Lisa found her voice at the age of 13 when music became the creative outlet for her anxiety. As her local following grew, Lisa saw that her music not only helped her, but that its message could help others. Through the release of her music, including her latest EP, “is anyone listening?” Lisa has gathered millions of views and streams, been placed on official Spotify and Apple playlists, and performed with artists such as Bryce Vine, American Authors, Party Nails, Weathers, Jesse McCartney, Kenzo Cregan and Bea Miller. 2022 will bring more touring, more music, and more fans. Lisa Heller and her music and just getting started.

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Nurdjana - What If I Love You.

Nurdjana is a Canadian vocalist who was born and raised in the Netherlands. She’s been immersed in music ever since as a little girl she tagged along with her dad Rob de Rijcke.

He was a singer/songwriter and guitarist and when Nurdjana started singing it was only natural to start making music together.

Rob was a composer of dreamy songs full of love and sadness. Nurdjana and her dad won songwriter competitions, recorded music and played lots of gigs together. He was a modest man and modesty doesn’t bring fortune and fame. But that was not what he was after. He was only after poetry and that was what he found.

Nurdjana is a true advocate of her father’s music and after taking a break from singing when he passed away, she is back full force; determined to put her dad’s music back in the spotlight. Her sound has been described as delicate, yet soulful and jazzy.

Her first EP ‘Coming Home’ will be released May 10th. All songs are written either by Rob or by the duo of father and daughter, some completed by Nurdjana after he passed away.

Nurdjana · What if I love you

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Papercuts - Primer - Brooks Young Band (feat: Ruth Clapton) - Basement Revolver

Papercuts - I Want My Jacket Back.

""I Want My Jacket Back" started out as a bit of absurdist fun, as I was feeling at my wits' end during the end of the US election cycle." -Jason Quever

Jason Quever has been releasing timeless guitar-based dream pop as Papercuts since 2004, impervious to trends or micro genres that have come and gone around him. In that regard, his contemporaries are artists like Hiss Golden Messenger, Fruit Bats, Andy Shauf or Kings of Convenience – artists who are more concerned with song craft and perfecting their sound, and less concerned with gimmicks or fitting into a specific scene. Past Life Regression is his new album and it's a journey into the dreamier reaches of psychedelic folk-pop that digs deep into influences as wide-ranging as The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, Spiritualized, Echo & The Bunnymen, Leonard Cohen and late 60s pop of various flavors.

Crafted shortly after Jason's relocation back to the San Francisco Bay Area after several years in LA, the new album revels in the tensions between the pleasures of homecoming and the collective miseries of the pandemic and our current political upheaval. The return home and the enforced isolation of lockdown lend the album a mood of contemplation and immersion in memory. The results are beguiling, from the lush sunshine pop harmonies of first single "I Want My Jacket Back" to the trippy farfisa-driven space-pop of "Lodger" to the gorgeous, Bunnymen-tinged "Palm Sunday."

As always, Jason's songcraft, arranging and production are immaculate, (Quever has been tapped to work with dream pop luminaries Dean Wareham and Beach House as of late) as evidenced by the elegant chamber-pop of "My Sympathies" and the epic flow of "The Strange Boys," “Hypnotist" and "Remarry" in the album's warbly second half. The mood of longing and recollection is a perfect match for the album's dreamy textures and for the unusual times we're living through. It's a true testament to the resilience of the Papercuts project that after several acclaimed albums, Jason still has much that's new to say, and is continually finding new ways to say it.

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Photo - Blake Doyle

Primer - Just A Clown.

Primer (AKA Alyssa Midcalf) makes stadium sized electro pop bangers with bubbly synths, thumping bass and lofty choruses. Quote from Alyssa: Just A Clown is a self effacing pop song about feeling like you’re constantly failing. It’s a song to scream-sing along to by yourself in the car after getting rejected or feeling humiliated. It’s about coming to terms with the knowledge that the game is rigged but continuing to play along because it’s never occurred to you to quit.

“There were experiences that hit me hard emotionally, moments in my life that hit me in a weird way,” Alyssa Midcalf shares when asked about the inspiration behind her latest album, Incubator. “I felt like the only way to process them was to write about them.”

In 2019, under the performance moniker Primer, Midcalf released her first solo album Novelty. And now, the vocalist and electronic producer, has put the full wealth of her experience, from life to music into her sophomore album, Incubator, sharing honest, and sometimes harrowing, stories from her own life through a pop-tinted lens.

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Brooks Young Band -  Promises (featuring Ruth Clapton).

Brooks Young Band's new song, Promises. The song originally made famous by Eric Clapton, has now been covered by Brooks Young Band featuring Ruth Clapton, the daughter of the guitar legend. Brooks Young and Ruth Clapton became friends during the pandemic and started working on new music. Ruth always loved her Dad's Promises recording, so Brooks and Ruth decided to record a new version of the classic track.

You can hear how well the two of their voices harmonize. In this classic rock/country song, Brooks Young adds smooth bluesy guitar licks underneath his and Ruth Clapton's vocals. Ruth's warm, heartfelt vocals remind you of the classic harmony sung initially by Marcy Levy on the 1978 Backless album released by Eric Clapton.

Brooks Young has toured extensively throughout the USA, sharing the stage with icons such as B.B. King, George Thorogood, John Waite, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, The Wallflowers, Boyd Tinsley of Dave Matthews Band, Byran Adams, Robert Cray, and many others.

Brooks Young · Promises (featuring Ruth Clapton)

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Basement Revolver - Circles.

Basement Revolver has always centered around the friendship of bassist/keyboardist Nim Agalawatte and guitarist/vocalist Chrisy Hurn. Lead guitarist Jonathan Malström and drummer Levi Kertesz round out the band’s larger-than-life sound.

The band’s catalogue spans back to their breakout single, 2016’s “Johnny.” That single, and their self-titled EP from the same year, led to their signing with Fear of Missing Out in the UK, and later, Canada’s Sonic Unyon Records.

Heavy Eyes, their debut LP, built on their aesthetic which merges hardcore-inspired indie and ambient dream pop. In support of that they toured throughout the US, Canada, the UK, and Germany. With tour plans on hold through 2020, Basement Revolver found time to wrestle with questions about identity, faith, mental illness, and sexuality.

Their sophomore LP, Embody, is explicit about these new ideas and new thoughts, addressing them with a deeper sound and crisper production to adroitly express the complexity of the world. It is an album of friendship, of working out identity together, and making deeply personal art.

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The Gina Furtado Project - Blue Violet - Team Me - Cassidy Mann

The Gina Furtado Project - It Wont Be Me.

Drawing on the distinctive sound that earned her a third consecutive International Bluegrass Music Association Banjo Player of the Year nomination in 2021, Mountain Home Music Company’s Gina Furtado starts off her 2022 with a new single, “It Won’t Be Me.” Backed by her eponymous Gina Furtado Project, which includes two of her sisters, the singer-songwriter serves up a characteristic blend of engaging music with a powerful lyric theme.

“It Won’t Be Me” mines the rich vein of Latin- and gypsy jazz-flavored sounds that has served Furtado well since her 2017 breakout hit, “Puppet Show” — and as it did there, the deft ensemble playing of sisters Malia (fiddle) and Lu (bass) Furtado, plus guitarist Drew Matulich, is deployed to support a woman’s declaration of independence from mistreatment.

Delivered in Furtado’s immediately recognizable voice, the lyric works its way over minor chords from an opening uncertainty — “I could see the writing on the walls/Sometimes it would fade/And sometimes it was all I saw” — to a dawning recognition (“You broke my heart, my home/And in my broken mirror/A woman said, ‘He’ll never break your spirit’”) before turning to a more optimistic sound that underpins the defiant lines of the chorus:

“I will be the one who’s standing firm and strong
And I will be the one who writes
Whatever kinda song I want
And when you treat somebody just exactly as you please

“This was a touchy song for me,” notes Furtado. “Domestic abuse is so prevalent that we're all bound to know someone who has, and/or is experiencing it. I know I do. It is often so confusing for victims, and so hard to leave a bad situation. I hope that this song might help somebody who just needs to hear an ending that is alternate to what they may currently be feeling they are destined for.”

 

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Blue Violet - Poster Girl.

“When I was a Poster Girl in 1984, you tore me from your magazine and pinned me to your wall” lulls Sarah Gotley, seemingly adrift in the bittersweet reflections of another lifetime.

A twisting ballad that touches on the fickle promises of fame, the fight for feminist rights and finding your own way through life, “Poster Girl” is the story of a shining star who’s unafraid to stand her ground. As Blue Violet guitarist Sam Gotley elaborates of the track:

“”Poster Girl” is a song about fighting back. The character it centers around resists objectification, defends herself from evil and keeps whatever company she sees fit – in the chorus she finds herself the leader of a group of drunken sailors that accompany her on her voyage… As the writing process went on we felt that a dystopian, Orwellian setting was perfect for the female protagonist: weary traveller, fighter, lover & saviour all rolled into one.” 

With shades of Slowdive or Sigur Ros’ subtly-epic sonic masteries to Mazzy Star’s brittle heartbreakers, “Poster Girl” finds the Anglo-Scottish duo of Sam & Sarah Gotley in perfect synchronicity as they pair lush arrangements to a narrative straight out of Hollywood biopic. “Walk on the Wild Side by Lou Reed definitely worked its way into the fabric of this one” adds Sam, “but we also wanted to give it an anthemic feel. We layered a lot of guitars & synths and have two drum kits playing at the end, giving a feel that the world is kind of collapsing around you.” 

Written in 2019 as Blue Violet found themselves well-into the throes of recording sessions for a full album with legendary producer Rob Ellis (PJ Harvey, Bat For Lashes), the track emerged as a standout from a clutch of new demos the band recorded during a particularly prolific creative spell. With pre-production perfected at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios, “Poster Girl”’s swelling riff and lyrical narrative soon began to fall into place. With the final version recorded with Ellis, “Poster Girl” was mastered by Mount Olympia Mastering, engineered by Peter Miles and mixed by TJ Allen.

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Team Me - High Street.

Norwegian art-pop band Team Me release new single "High Street" - the third track to be heard from the 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).

Psychedelic art-pop anchored by superlative songwriting, "High Street" is another charming taste of what to expect from Team Me's long overdue return to the fore. 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.

 

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Cassidy Mann - Fine.

By entwining her acoustic roots with gentle electronic textures, singer-songwriter Cassidy Mann finds her true voice on the upcoming debut EP, If It’s Not Forever. As a lyricist, she often reshapes a small moment into a powerful and poetic song that feels both personal and relatable. What makes these recordings stand out, though, is the way the sonic approach enhances the storyline, allowing her to share her most intimate memories in a singular way.

Co-producing with her friend Roman Clarke, Mann wanted to find a cinematic yet wistful sound to complement these emotionally driven pop songs. They achieved that effect through reverb and delay on the guitars, along with crafting lyrics about specific moments in past relationships.

“My favourite thing is to write about tiny things that make the bigger picture more important somehow,” she says. “I was wondering a lot about how two people can be in the same situation and have different memories attached to those times. It’s interesting to me how memories are interpretable that way.”

Mann notes that these songs also serve as a catalogue of how her early relationships ended and why – and she hopes that other people will feel seen and comforted by her stories. While processing one particular breakup, she remembers sitting on her bed and eating the same sour candy she once shared with the person she missed. When she discovered the metaphor – “this thing that seems sweet, but also physically hurts you if you have too much,” as she describes it — the song “Tropical Sour Candy” emerged.

She wrote “Election Night,” tweaking the melodies with Clarke, to capture the intense awakening and transformation that many people experienced over the four years of the prior presidency. The lyrics focus on a couple that moved beyond just friends that night but ultimately ended as strangers. Her skill as a writer is especially clear on “Fine,” as that simple word takes on multiple meanings in the context of a heartbreak.

Certain moments in a relationship are almost always at the core of her songs, whether it’s the potential start of something special (“Since I Met You”) or the inevitable end (“Stop a Heart”). There’s also an acknowledgement that listeners can carry those important parts of the past through the rest of their lives (“If It’s Not Forever”). “A lot of the time, whenever I’m remembering something, I find myself connected to these subtle moments that made me feel alive in some way. Those are the things that I replay in my mind a lot.”

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