Julian Taylor - Mamalarky - Queasy Pieces

Julian Taylor - Wide Awake.

How do you follow-up a career high point? If you're Julian Taylor — the Toronto-based singer/songwriter who garnered widespread acclaim for his intimate June 2020 solo album The Ridge you double down on upping your game by striving to exceed the creative fruits that have already bloomed from the artistic spark that got you there in the first place.

A lot was going on in Taylor's mind at the time of writing his new song, "Wide Awake." We were all stuck in another lockdown and he was dealing with writer's block, feeling a bit self conscious about himself, his music and about his own life and existence.

There was some turmoil going on in my family and that was troubling me too. Mostly because I felt like it could have easily been avoided and at the same time a few people close to me and some that I used to be close with were going through some huge losses in their lives. I could feel their pain but wasn't able to be there in person. So that was weighing heavily on my mind. I was going through a lot of changes and losses too and they couldn't be there for me either.

There is a universal message of hope and redemption that flows through this song. The line leading up to the chorus says it all really: "There is an abundance of hope that lies within the oceans of time / There's nothing singular about it yet it can clearly be defined."

The universe speaks to us all and it is unfolding exactly how it should be. It's rather insidious of us to believe that we can control it. Rather than try to control, we are all so fortunate to be given the opportunity to follow the path that has been chosen for us by us.

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Mamalarky - It Hurts.

Last month, Mamalarky announced their sophomore full-length, Pocket Fantasy, which is due out September 30 via Fire Talk. The album is the follow up to the band's critically-acclaimed 2020 self-titled debut LP, which earned praise from many music sites.

To mark the announce the band shared a single called "Mythical Bonds" that created an immediate stir, earning praise from the New York Times, landing on multiple best of the week lists, and even appearing on a new music playlist from Talking Heads frontman David Byrne. Now, Mamalarky are back with a second single from their forthcoming LP, a track called "It Hurts".

Where "Mythical Bonds" saw Mamalarky in an anarchic and exploratory mode, "It Hurts" shows that the band are equally adept at creating quieter moments, building a mesmerizing whirl of keyboards around a Livvy Bennett's plaintive vocal performance.

"Writing about this song in this context feels extremely meta because the song itself picks at what it's like as a musician to essentially be careerizing your own experiences and emotions," Mamalarky's Bennett explains. "It's pretty bizarre to put out shit that is so personal–like, when someone loves a sad song you wrote it's like...I'm sorry we've been down in the same way? Or, I'm glad you enjoy listening to something that was essentially an intervention that I needed to have, haha.

"'It Hurts' is also a bit about the one-sided narrative of songwriters writing about their lives and relationships, for that to exist out there forever and to be consumed by people who only know the song. I'm always left wondering about the other side of the story when I hear those epic heartbreak songs, we'll just never know.

"There's one line about being 'a poorly drawn caricature,' which is what it can feel like having any of your music deciphered by anyone. The goal is to draw a really moving, poignant portrait though and I feel closer to doing that with every song we put out."

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Queasy Pieces - Been So Good To Me.

Queasy Pieces is a new project from one-man-music-making-machine Andrew Anderson; dance music done wrong / perplexing punk / and art rock for the absurd. Imagine if you mixed all your favourite foods together, from ice cream to baked beans, and somehow it still tasted good. Today, Anderson is announcing his debut self-titled album via the sharing of new single 'Been So Good To Me' and as well as new short film, Instruction Manual For The End Of The World. Queasy Pieces is due out on November 18th via FatCat.

A veteran of punk groups like Freak Genes, Hipshakes and Proto Idiot, Queasy Pieces sees Anderson use his DIY aesthetic on music that makes you move. Instead of power chords and fist pumping, this new project leans more on 808 bass hits and dance synths. “When I was 12 I wanted to be Fatboy Slim,” recalls Anderson. “Now, some 25 years later, the dream has finally come true – except I can’t afford to live in Brighton.”

Queasy Pieces self-titled first release came together over the last year, with the songs slowly assembled from fragments of ideas.“ For each song I’d try to write it around a single idea and keep things as simple as possible,” notes Anderson. “I’d come up with a song that only has one lyric, or that uses just one chord. Then I’d do whatever I could to make it sound like dance music. I didn’t know what I was doing, but luckily that didn’t matter.”

It’s been a long road to this point for Anderson, who has played in punk bands since he was 15. His first group Hipshakes were signed to legendary US label Goner Records, and after a US tour he ended up staying in the US and working as a news reader for a local radio station. After returning to the UK he worked as a wedding photographer, aircraft engineer and classical music journalist while still playing DIY music on the side.

FatCat Records · Queasy Pieces - Been So Good To Me

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Louien - Brooke Annibale - Basset

Louien - Second Best.

Norwegian indie-folk act Louien has shared new single 'Second Best', the second cut to be shared from her forthcoming EP Figure Me Out. Emerging from Nesodden, a peninsula in the Oslo fjord, Live Miranda Solberg (Louien) fuses the fiercer elements of Feist and Sharon Van Etten’s songwriting with the timelessness qualities present in the work of Carole King and Gillian Welch.

We last heard from Louien in the summer of 2021 when she shared her highly-acclaimed, liberating EP No Tomorrow. An attempt to write from a less serious perspective, it was the antidote to her 2019 debut album None of My Words which dealt with the trauma left behind by her father’s death. Out September 16th via Jansen Records, Figure Me Out is in many ways a sequel to last year’s No Tomorrow.

Thematically, the EP is about how characteristics we think of as cool, such as aloofness, are often the reverse and that it’s much cooler and, indeed, stronger to be yourself and choose vulnerability when you know it might bring pain.

“I’ve found that so many people try to stay mysterious in order to seem interesting, when in reality it’s being open and candid that’s the most attractive, at least in the long run,” explains Louien. "So many of my relationships have had this deep insecurity in their core, creating a very intense and very toxic dynamic,” she continues.

Her new single, 'Second Best', showcases Louien’s truly arresting vocal abilities. It speaks of the journey Louien has taken towards accepting her own emotions.

Of the song, Louien says “I grew up learning that some emotions are good and some bad. Later in life I’ve learned that emotions are emotions, and that they only become dangerous when we label them as such and let them scare us. This song came from my process of understanding this, and from meeting people who’d been taught that it’s safe to be emotional from a young age.”

Jansen Records · Louien - Second Best

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Photo - Shervin Lainez

Brooke Annibale - Be Around.

Indie singer/songwriter Brooke Annibale has just released her new single "Be Around." The latest peek at her forthcoming album Better By Now (out Sept. 30th through Nettwerk Music Group), "Be Around" finds Annibale leaning more into her pop sensibilities with a simpler thematic approach and a straightforward love ballad about just wanting to be in someone's company as much as possible. Under The Radar called it "an irresistible pop groove."

"On the surface, this is a simple song about falling for someone and just wanting to be around them," said Annibale. "But it's also about having the confidence to say so. I've been feeling a lot more confident in my own skin, and the way this song turned out is a reflection of that."

She continued, "I learned an Oasis song ('Champagne Supernova') and loved how the verse was all open chords and then when the chorus hits it has this big lift because of the full major chord. That's why it feels so great. I went for that feeling on this song."

"Be Around" follows the relase of the title track "Better By Now," a stark reflection that merges personal emotions with the roller coaster of current events, praised by Melodic Magazine as "intoxicating" and The Revue who called it "A terrific tune from an underrated singer-songwriter." Earlier this summer, Brooke teased the “immediately catchy” (FLOOD) lead single “What If You” and the “soaring, ethereal pop song” (Brooklyn Vegan) “5 AM” accompanied by the Genéa Gaudet-directed video. In celebration of Pride Month, Brooke also shared an inspiring op-ed via Atwood Magazine on representation, equality, authentic connection, and her journey to self-acceptance.

A fearless new collection of songs, Brooke has both emboldened her sound on Better By Now as well as entered a new phase of life after making significant strides in her mental-health journey and saying “I do” to her wife. Produced by Christian “Leggy” Langdon (Joseph, Amos Lee) and Matthew E White (Natalie Prass, Dan Croll), Better By Now features 10 blossoming indie-pop tracks that Brooke describes as a “spectrum of emotions.” In her trademark layered approach, the Pittsburgh-born, Rhode Island-based artist reflects on love, anxiety, depression, and how two seemingly opposing forces can exist at once. “The album is basically half about falling in love and half about mental health.”

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Basset - Change Of Time.

This is Sam Clark and Yasmine Shelton of the folk-duo Basset. We call Toronto home, and this gritty, massive, in-your-face, messy place is woven deep into the music we create.

After graduating from university we took a big trip to Italy. I (Sam) was coming out of the worst burnout of my life, and had made the decision not to continue with school, and pursue music instead. Yas was in a similar boat, and had decided to take some time off as well.

I couldn’t believe how much Italy looked like a movie; it was so beautiful it was almost ridiculous. While we were in Florence we got caught in the rain, and not a little shower, it was a total downpour. We were soaked in seconds, but we didn’t mind at all. We had nowhere to be, and the rain wasn’t cold, so we just stood there while the water made rivers in the streets. Later that night we took a walk, with the street lights reflecting off the canals and the wet cobblestones. It was total catharsis, and the perfect thing to mark that transition in our lives.

The water’s so warm
In this change of time

We find the closer we stand next to each other, the better we sound. Because of this, we had always wanted to record a song around a single microphone. So we set up in a barn in rural Ontario with our friend and fellow songwriter, Benjamin Dakota Rogers. It was the high heat of summer, and there was no air conditioning in the barn, no windows. We cooked and sweated our way through that session, and you can see the heat in that video. But we really captured the heart of the song in this recording.

Produced by Joshua Van Tassel (Sarah Slean, David Myles), the ten songs on our debut album, In The Clay (Sept 30), explore various themes of life in change, our travels around Northern Ontario, the Canadian and American prairies, our lives in Toronto, and the characters – from all walks of life – who have crossed our paths.

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Rhett Miller - Recitals - The Hooten Hallers - Joselyn and Don

Rhett Miller - Go Through You.

This week, Rhett Miller released a new single “Go Through You” from his forthcoming album The Misfit out September 16 via ATO Records. The 11-song collection was co-written and produced by Miller’s Hudson Valley, NY neighbor Sam Cohen (Kevin Morby, Sharon Van Etten, Danger Mouse) and continues their musical partnership that began on 2018’s The Messenger.

“Every songwriter has a favorite skin they inhabit, a story they tell over and over again. For decades I’ve been writing from the perspective of a sad sack loser, a ‘broken guy.’ He isn’t who I am in real life, but for whatever reason when I sit down to write a song I often become him, picking at old wounds, bemoaning my perceived victimization. The funny thing is that he’s, well, funny. I wouldn’t want to be the sad clown in real life, but thanks to songs like ‘Go Through You,’  I don’t have to,” explains Miller. “For the production on ‘Go Through You,’ Sam Cohen created a sonic world adjacent to Jeff Lynne’s work with Traveling Wilburys. I’m in love with the sounds he came up with. It’s all the things – hooky, bouncy, bubbly, catchy… Try listening to this song without smiling. Good luck.”

“Go Through You” follows the album’s first single “Follow You Home” that features vocals from Cassandra Jenkins and Annie Nero. The song was praised by American Songwriter, BrooklynVegan and Rolling Stone, who said, “With shades of Fleetwood Mac and dream-pop, the buoyant “Follow You Home” is anchored by its upbeat rhythm and sunny splashes of electric guitar.”

The 11 songs that comprise The Misfit are an elegant blurring of psychedelia, dream pop, and electronic-leaning indie rock, grounded by the vulnerable songwriting and unaffected vocal presence Miller has perfected as the frontman for legendary alt-country band Old 97's for the last three decades.

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Recitals - Gradient.

Recitals have unveiled the third and final single from their upcoming debut album, Orbit I. ‘Gradient’ is a dynamic sentiment that divulges the state of the world’s climate, reflected sonic-ally through the musical tensity and release - from the sparsity in the introduction, with its bare vocals and spidery synth, to the explosive breakdowns capturing the band’s potent energy.

“I remember going out to stand on the roof of my building in January 2020 to see the moon a violent red, painted that way by the Australian bushfires of the season. I remember thinking that it felt like an undeniably bad omen, the idea that we could/and were, changing the colours of our planet. It seems obvious now, as everything in the world seemed to combust, and spin completely out of control, to a point of uncontrollable dimension after that moon. I didn’t own any guitars at the time so I had to keep stealing one out of my flatmate’s room while he was away for the summer. I wrote the verses for the song and then worked with Christian and Josh to write those cacophonous 7/8 sections and that breakdown section at the end. The song kind of feels premonitory now, or like a prelude to all of this.” - Xanthe Rook.

The band have teamed up once again with director Matilda Boese-Wong, as well as editors Erin Murphy and East Abernethy to bring ‘Gradient’ to life visually. The music video, made with the generous support from NZ On Air and shot masterfully through the brilliant lens of Bill Bycroft (Aldous Harding, Womb, Marlon Williams), follows two lovers’ adventure across the land, where a chest is discovered and an otherworldly power is unlocked within.

“Xanthe Rook and I conjured up this peculiar video late one night in my bedroom. We wanted to take the viewer to a luscious alternate dreamscape, so we spent many evenings painting, cutting and gluing in order to craft this realm. With the contributions of some phenomenal artists we were able to see our vision through.  ‘Gradient’ is packed to the brim with rich instrumentation, so it was important the visuals matched that. It was blissful to collaborate with editor Erin Murphy, in order to play with all of the opulent footage shot by Bill Bycroft and bring it into an otherworldly territory.” - Matilda Boese-Wong.


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The Hooten Hallers - Cat Scrap.

Missouri's The Hooten Hallers have been around a long time and are inveterate road warriors, bringing a hard driving blend of blues, Americana, and old school rock n roll. The video is an animated tale of a scrappy old tomcat that used to live behind them in the alley and had a lot of adventures.

Back In Business Again- September 9, 2022 For the past fifteen years, The Hooten Hallers have been crisscrossing the country as inveterate road warriors, bringing their peculiar vision of Americana–a fiery rock and roll fever dream birthed in Missouri’s fertile musical heartland. 

They’ve put so many miles into the road that they’ve burned through multiple tour vans and left twisted metal and frayed rubber strewn across the road behind them. With their aptly named new album, Back In Business Again, the trio roar back on to the international stage with ten incendiary new original songs drawn from their many travels and inspired by the hardships that all touring musicians have faced throughout a seemingly never-ending pandemic. 

There’s hope in these new songs, but tinges of madness too, driven by the raw drumming of Andy Rehm, the infernal growl and swirling guitars of John Randall, and the low rolling baritone and bass saxophones of Kellie Everett. The Hooten Hallers have always been musical colliders, smashing together everything from pre-war jazz to Chicago blues with jaunts around New Orleans and garage rock explorations with hints of anti-racist punk and Oi!. It’s Morphine meets ZZ Top along St. Louis’ Mississippi waterfront. Produced by bassist Dominic Davis (Jack White, Greensky Bluegrass), Back In Business Again takes a match to The Hooten Hallers’ fuse and explodes the renegade power trio to the edge and back again, one vigorous, swinging, perfectly peculiar song at a time.

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Joselyn and Don - Deep Down.

Montana natives turned Angelenos, Joselyn & Don’s intoxicating music feels like a walk through mountain wildflowers and Southern California Joshua trees. Enter their wild garden – where blues, folk, and jazz form a dark under story illuminated with lyrical truth. 

Joselyn Wilkinson and Don Barrozo forage musical ideas from many sources and plant those seeds in rich Americana soil. These are deeply rooted songs reaching for new light.

Their 2020 debut album Soar was warmly received by critics and independent radio across North America, earning several charting positions and recognition in song contests such as Music City Song Star. The duo’s highly anticipated 2022 EP Seeds & Bones digs deep into modern roots with an urgency born of truth-seeking.

Joselyn & Don · Deep Down

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Moonpools - The Little Kicks - Fastheaven - Los Blancos

Photo - Dominik Asche

Moonpools - Damaged Goods (E.P).

Moonpools, the charming quintet from Basel fronted by singer Marcie Nyffeler, will release their new EP 'Damaged Goods' on August 19th via Young and Aspiring. On their sophomore release, the band combines emotional dreampop with driving indie rock reminiscent of international artists such as Cocteau Twins, Snail Mail or Soccer Mommy.

Moonpools were formed in 2016 by Marcie Nyffeler (vocals/ guitar), Jasper Nyffeler (drums), and Francesco Vona (keyboard) and completed by Matthias Gusset (guitar) and David Blum (bass). The latter are known from various Basel-based projects such as Sheila She Loves You, Don't Kill The Beast, Brainchild and Mastergrief.

The band released their first EP 'Turbulent Times' in 2019, which was immediately met with positive reactions: For example, the single ‘Brainbug’ was chosen as SRF Virus CH-Song of the week. After a few concerts, including support shows for Oso Oso and Prince Daddy & The Hyena or a show at the Lauter Festival (ZH), the band started working on new music.

In contrast to ‘Turbulent Times’, which was a collection of songs with differing influences, the songs on their second EP ‘Damaged Goods’ are all cut from the same cloth. The sound is inspired by artists like Hatchie, Snail Mail, Ride and Soccer Mommy and moves between Indie Rock and Dream Pop with rousing guitars and anthemic synth parts.

The concise arrangements, however, only form the backdrop for the catchy and touching vocals that form the heart of the band. Marcie Nyffeler, whose lyrics are often a balancing act between melodrama and kitsch, sings about unrequited and unexpected love, loss of control and apathy. This honest and at times self-deprecating view, together with the tumultuous music, unfurls a charm that makes Moonpools' music so irresistible and brings a smile to your lips while you are still wiping a small tear from your eye.

Moonpools · Damaged Goods

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The Little Kicks - Right To Be Here.

Right to Be Here is the new single by The Little Kicks and is released today Friday 19 August 2022. Speaking about the single, front man Steven Milne said: “Lyrically the song is about taking pride in yourself and being less afraid to put yourself out there and it was inspired by a particular incident. 

In 2017 the band were nominated as finalists for an award (“Best Musical Group”) with the chosen winners to be announced and presented to as part of a ceremony in the centre of Scotland. We deduced we likely wouldn’t win but having been invited to attend -and with a new album to promote -we decided to go along. After some awkward entrance photographs, drinks for courage and a sit-down meal it was time for the awards to start and we were first up. As our nominated name was read, I remember thinking maybe we COULD win, wouldn’t it be nice to WIN something and if we did what on earth should we say. 

Then we lost to a funk band who had won the year before. No speech required. I was surprised at how disappointed I felt, not bitterly, more suddenly very self-aware and wondering “Are we imposters in the room, sitting dressed up for no reason?” and I wanted to disappear. Nevertheless, we made a hell of a night of it, brushed itoff and got through it. However, for weeks after the event I had a weird unfamiliar feeling of rejection and an anger kept coming back to me. This incident, coupled with another set-back or two around that time, had me thinking “Why should we be overlooked?” while also wondering “Why do I care?”. 

I decided I wouldn’t let that feeling take hold and jotted down how I felt in words. While lyrically the song hasn’t really changed much since its early inception, the demos of the song were initially much more electronic. Over time the song morphed into what it is now –it’s intended to have an almost modern soul/ warm retro sound. Citing things like Pastor T.L Burnett, Marvin Gaye, Durand Jones, Richard Swift and Michael Kiwanuka as production influences when we got to the studio, Paul really helped us achieve the feel we wanted. He knew exactly what we were trying to achieve and was great at listening to our suggestions while bringing his own expertise to the session and we are so proud to bring you the final results.

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Fastheaven - Big Satellite.

Fastheaven - the newly formed band from Fribourg - creates uniquely intimate atmospheres, warm and emotional harmonies and understands the craft of songwriting. 

Many of the band's songs feature the talented New Zealand-born singer Megan Carpenter.

The wonderful melodies of the track "Big Satellite", in which synth elements of the 80s flow, catapult us into other spheres and make us dream. 

The song is about change and at the same time about the difficulty of really finding one's way in a new environment.

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Los Blancos - Chwaraewr Gorau (Yr Ail Dim) / Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

You know it’s going to be an unforgettable, endless summer when the unmistakable sound of Los Blancos fills the hot mid-evening air, kicking it’s way out of the speakers with equal amount of attitude and boundless charm. The band are back with a Double A side Single ‘Chwaraewr Gorau (Yr Ail Dîm) / Kareem Abdul Jabbar’.

These songs are tantalising glimpse of where the next album will find Los Blancos. “I wrote a rough version of Kareem Abdul Jabbar during the first lockdown, after a phase of watching loads of basketball. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the all time leading points scorer in the NBA but is also a successful actor, author and social justice advocate. The song is a tribute to him. I'm always blown away with how humble he is, especially when you consider his accomplishments. There’s references to his unstoppable “skyhook” and his cameo in the film Airplane.

"I had been listening a lot to Jefferson Airplane, Hendrix and Neil Young, and had just re-watched 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' and was trying to create a kind of 1970’s California vibe (I’m not sure if that comes through, but i liked the result nonetheless)” Dewi Jones, Vocals, Bass

“Chwaraewr Gorau (Yr Ail Dim) was written before lockdown and takes influence from artists such as Stephen Malkmus and Twin Peaks. Both have been a favourite for the band since we began. It started out as a rough Demo and it was built on during recording sessions over lockdown. The song is a portrayal of someone who's a slacker/nearly man, who can't quite catch a break. I also wanted to include some football references in the song, It includes a reference to Nick Cusack, a former Swansea City player, who was a bit of a bruiser when the Swans were in the lower divisions.” - Gwyn Rosser, Vocals, Guitar

Libertino · Los Blancos - Chwaraewr Gorau (Yr Ail Dim)

Libertino · Los Blancos - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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