Tuesday, 14 March 2023

Rogue Jones - Terry Emm

Rogue Jones - Dos Bebés (Album).

Recorded during a 5 year period which started whilst Bethan and Ynyr (Rogue Jones) were expecting their first child and ended just before the birth of their second child. Dau Fabi. Two Babies. Dos Bebés, is an album exploring life in all its messy glory – light and dark, profound and ridiculous….Raw, bombastic, vulnerable, gentle, big, playful. LIFE and LIVING….BEING ALIVE, embracing the imperfections and seeing the beauty in every moment.

“The initial sessions back in 2017 were experimental and meandering; we turned up in Tŷ Drwg (the studio home of our longtime producer Frank Naughton) with only very loose sketches of songs and often built the song up in the studio in an extremely liberating way of composing and recording.

By the end of the recording process, in winter 2021, we were up against it to finish the album before the baby arrived so a more raw and impulsive approach was taken.

The fact that we have two main song-writers who have quite different styles and influences means that the band’s songs tend to be quite varied in genre. Our first album was quite varied in its musical style and instead of intentionally trying to hone down to a ‘Rogue Jones’ sound for the second album we just wrote and recorded however we felt and embraced the eclectic nature of our sound. And it turns out that even when we try to make 70s disco, thumping dance music or soulful ballads; it still somehow comes out sounding like us and us alone.

Some songs deal directly with parenthood, but all songs are viewed through the prism of becoming parents in a way, whether they’re concerned with spirituality, religion, politics or anything else.

The album takes us through a 5 year period of our life - from hearing a baby’s heartbeat for the first time, through childbirth, toddlers scribbling on things, to pondering why so many new fathers take up Iron Man triathlons, alongside the varied themes and thoughts that floated through our heads - a song that came fully formed in a dream, one based on an alien conspiracy theory, mathematical conundrums, and politics of love. It’s a representation of our subconscious in this time.


======================================================================

Terry Emm- Island Soul.

‘Island Soul’ is the third single to come from critically acclaimed Hertfordshire singer-songwriter Terry Emm’s forthcoming fourth album ‘Wish You Were Here’, due out May 19th. ‘Island Soul’ is a departure from the previous two singles ‘Wish You Were Here’ and ‘November Evenings’, which are both richly woven melancholic Americana tracks.

‘Island Soul’, however, is a joyous calypso built on nylon strung guitar and an infectious shuffling rhythmic groove, with Emm’s storytelling bringing emotions through amongst the lazy surf-folk vibes. Maz O’Connor’s sweet guest vocals elevate the repeating hummed sections throughout this story of an Island romance.

On the song, Emm said, “I love the atmosphere of staying in a hotel and it’s somewhere where I often find inspiration to write. There’s a certain mystery in the air as to who might also be staying there and who I might meet. When I wrote ‘Island Soul’, I was thinking slightly of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Chelsea Hotel’, but it’s also loosely based on an old demo song I wrote as a teenager about wanting to escape to live on an Island.”

Produced by and featuring the instrumental talents of Lukas Drinkwater, ‘Island Soul’ is sure to turn heads with its colourful beach-ready sound and catchy hooks. The vibrant animated video for the track, created by Holly Mcintosh & Sam Wisternoff, is a hazy daydream of dancing crabs and mermaids as Emm imagines disappearing to live on his very own desert Island. It’s another exciting single of what’s shaping up to be a gorgeous and unpredictable fourth album from Emm.

======================================================================

Monday, 13 March 2023

The Nude Party - D’Ambrosia - Smaller Hearts - The Rishis - The National Honor Society

The Nude Party - Ride On.

The Nude Party returns with Rides On via New West Records. The 13-song set was produced by The Nude Party and mixed by Sam Cohen (Kevin Morby). Rides On is the anticipated follow up to their 2020 LP Midnight Manor which debuted at #1 on the Alternative New Artists Album chart. Met with critical acclaim, American Songwriter said in their 4/5 Star review, “The sextet’s combination, some may say collision, of blues, swamp, and twang are once again dragged into the garage, dusted with Todd Rundgren’s pop dust and energized with a ragged but right bluster.” No Depression said “Rides On is The Nude Party’s steadiest collection yet, thoughtful and wide-ranging, cohesive and tight” while Glide Magazine exclaimed “The Nude Party deliver their strongest work to date with the free-flowing Rides On.”

Rides On, the band confidently says, is their best record. It’s also the most homegrown and the most organic record they have created to date. Unlike their first two albums, they decided to produce Rides On themselves. Tired of paying for studio time and being rushed, they used the funds they’d saved and spent a year building a studio space out of a barn in upstate NY. When the band met the Tampa-based engineer Matthew Horner, they discovered they had the opposite problems: Matthew had a collection of incredible gear with no studio and The Nude Party had a great new studio with no gear. 

So they invited him to move his equipment up to the Catskills to record an album together. They methodically worked at their own pace. Out were the sessions lasting a strict handful of days. In were impromptu writing moments and picking every sound as they went along. The relaxed atmosphere of the sessions, and arriving with only loosely structured material, allowed the band to thrive in the studio. It also unleashed a diverse sonic texture compared to their previous releases. The lack of pressure allowed them to record over 20 songs, including some that dabbled in electro-pop and stripped-down country before settling on the final 13 tracks.

The band recently released the video for the album’s title track, the singular “Ride On.” Shot entirely on Kodak 16mm film, the “Ride On” video was filmed at their barn in upstate NY. Sonically, the song is reminiscent of Sticky Fingers-era Stones, but its lyrics are mini-vignettes where Magee sings about persevering through adversity. Five of their songs are also featured in the new season of the Netflix hit series Outer Banks, including the brand new song “Sold Out of Love.”

 
======================================================================

D’Ambrosia - Sweet Maybe

D’Ambrosia returns with “Sweet Maybe,” an upbeat new song of love in limbo. “‘Sweet Maybe’ is meant to convey the experience of a reluctance to commit, in our current culture of dating apps, casual hook-ups and on-again off-again relationships,” said vocalist Kim D’Ambrogi (she/her). “This song is from the perspective of the recipient of that ‘sweet maybe,’ with the tenuous balance between the hope and frustration of what that word represents. It can be enough to keep us holding on but not enough to feel fulfilled.”

“Makin’ it easy / Then watchin’ me yearn,” sings D’Ambrogi, in smoke-sculpted vocals located where country conventions meet classic rock; reflecting on the moment when ‘maybe’ begins tipping the scales: ‘together or apart?’.

Coupling a rocky edge with a tongue-and-cheek, yet vulnerable narrative, the single alludes to the experience of floating between a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ by that fateful little hook of a word, ‘Maybe.’

 

======================================================================

Smaller Hearts - Belts and Braces.

Halifax duo Smaller Hearts began as a game. Kristina Parlee and Ron Bates tore up pieces of paper, and on each they wrote a word that could describe a song: slow, fast, quiet, loud, odd time signature, with or without certain instruments, et cetera. Through three albums, these “instructions” distilled into a catchy synth-pop laced with just enough experimentation and discord to keep things interesting.

“Belts and Braces” is about coming to the realization that too much careful planning can actually be counterproductive. There’s an intentional urgency in the bass line; the keyboard part sounds like an alarm, to mirror the anxiety of overthinking. Then, the song comes to a decisive and confident conclusion.

This is the second single in advance of their fourth LP, Rock and Roll Was Here To Stay, which will be released on April 21 via Noyes Records. Embracing nostalgia even as it refutes it, the harmonies soar while synthesizers collide with guitar feedback. Smaller Hearts continue to evolve with a set of songs that are better than ever.

======================================================================

The Rishis - Holiday.

The Rishis splits time between Athens and Atlanta, Georgia and features Max Schneider (son of Robert Schneider and Hilarie Brastet of the Apples in stereo / High Water Marks) as well John Fernandes (Circulatory System / Olivia Tremor Control).The main songwriters in the Rishis are Sofie Lute and Ranjan Avasthi. August Moon is a healing album. If feeling stressed put this album on and put on the headphones and seriously let it wash over you. RIYL: Vashti Bunyan, Devandra Banhart, and Sybille Baier.

The Rishis duo of Ranjan Avasthi and Sofie Lute hail from Athens/Atlanta, and Tacoma. They are set to release their new album, August Moon, on April 20th, 2023, via Cloud Recordings. Though the duo has been together for nearly a decade, August Moon is their long-awaited debut. The rishis are also the newest band to proudly bear the Elephant 6 logo, with many active members of the E6 collective rotating through the band's roster.

Musically speaking, August Moon is an album of gentle, lush, psychedelic songs with a hint of hazy, folk-rock. It isn't hard to imagine the rishis wandering around the subcontinent playing their songs with their friends, and everyone having a grand old time high on some lovely tea. It's hard to avoid singing along to songs like "Holiday" and "Jetstream", thanks to their catchy melodies. But August Moon isn't all folk-rock; "Holi" and "Just Between You and Me" are moody rockers that give Avasthi's songwriting muscle and make for delightful listening. Also worth noting is the Lute-sung "Make Me Love You", a country-rock ballad that will make your eyes shine. And let's not forget the closing song, "Uttar Pradesh", a tribute to Avasthi's Indian ancestral roots.

======================================================================

The National Honor Society - As She Slips Away.

Like the rest of the world, Seattle indiepop band The National Honor Society found themselves facing the problem of isolation. Pre-pandemic, they recorded their debut album, 2020s To All The Glory We Never Had, which was well-received. So what to do for the follow-up, when the world is forced into isolation?

"This was a new process for everyone in the band as it was the first time any of us had recorded an album remotely," says frontman Coulter Leslie. "Having always historically gone to studios, there was the fear that maybe that unique studio magic or energy wouldn't be there, but what we found was that the unlimited time we had to record our parts really allowed us to explore ideas and to go in different directions that we might have, had the clock had been ticking. So I think that's why you'll hear a little more adventure in this record as compared to our first."

Thus was born To All The Distance Between Us, released April 10th via Shelflife/Discos de Kirlian/Subjangle Records, an album that carries on the band’s formula of dreamy pop and rock. Fans who fell in love with their gentle, Ocean Blue-style melodies will be happy to hear songs such as "As She Slips Away" and "Remember The Good Times," both gentle numbers that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on their debut album.

But the real reward comes from the results of the aforementioned experimenting. "Control" is a frenetic rocker with an XTC-minded urgency that wouldn’t sound out of place on current modern rock radio. "It’s Killing Me" gives Franz Ferdinand a run for their money, while "The Trigger" is a driving shoegaze inspired rocker that is relentless in its beat. Then there’s lead single "In Your Eyes," which is supple and lush in its harmonies and its gentle melody, a fine love song perfectly fit for the spring crush mixtape you know you want to make.

======================================================================

Saturday, 11 March 2023

Erin K - Mary Anne's Polar Rig - Bethan Lloyd - IST IST - La Faute

Erin K - Keep Her.

With a growing audience of over 3 million streams on Spotify, following the fruitful collaboration on 2019s I Need Sound, the American-born London-resident musician has continued her work with co-producer Kristofer Harris (Belle & Sebastian, Ghostpoet) and recorded new album Sink to Swim at his Squarehead Studios in Kent.

Erin’s narrative-driven songs are as forthright and personal as they are engaging and the candid nature of her often fearlessly self-deprecating lyrics make repeated listens of the timeless songs rewarding. None more so than Keep Her.  “This song illustrates the circumstances of a girl who is bound to her relationship with a controlling partner”, Erin says. “It is written almost in the form of an encouraging letter to the dominant party, offering advice on how to “keep her by [his] side so she can’t let go”. As the verses unfold, the extent to which this girl is broken and bound are poetically revealed.”

This subject matter is intensely personal to Erin who “found myself in similar relationship dynamics in the past. It’s disturbing how reality can be so drastically altered in this way.”

The song evolved considerably from its original form to the final studio recording. “Musically, it was interesting to witness the evolution of this song, originating as something very sombre and heavy. The arrangement is lighter now, serving as a nice contrast to the subject matter”. The video for Keep Her was made in an unconventional way using cutting edge gaming technology.  Director Dylan Copeland explains, “Using camera trackers designed for gaming, and a hardware compositor designed for broadcast, we projected Erin and her guitar from our studio in London to a bench in a virtual clearing in a virtual forest in an Unreal Engine”.

 

======================================================================

Mary Anne's Polar Rig - Som En Dröm.

Rama Lama Records proudly presents 'Makes You Wonder', the new album from Malmö's art-rock-fuzz-pop duo Mary Anne's Polar Rig. Their sophomore effort is shape-shifting art rock that’s alternatively brooding and euphoric, the record is packed with irresistible melodies, needle-sharp guitars, scuffed-knees scrappiness and Hofvander’s snarling, growling and yelping vocals, but compared to their debut it vastly expands the scope of what they can do with it. The album will be out March 24th on all platforms, CD and a limited gatefold double vinyl.

A lot of the story of Mary Anne’s Polar Rig’s new album Makes You Wonder is about ambition. It’s a record the band made to explore new territory, to really see what they could do. New single, and the record’s final one, “Som En Dröm”, is that ambition made real - it’s five minutes of soaring, grandiose music, skyscraping art-rock that feels bigger than anything they’ve made before.

“Som En Dröm” (Like A Dream) announces itself with a stomping guitar riff, and grows into a swirl of jangling guitar lines and thumping drums. It feels like a song written in different chapters, with its choppy intro, rock-and-roll sing-along chorus and helter-skelter, guitar-shredding outro. But fueling it all the way is a sense of restlessness, of longing to run towards the horizon and never look back.

Singer Malin Hofvander says: “We used to call this the ‘bob hund’ song as we were working on it. They’re probably one of our all-time favorite Swedish bands, so it’s no secret that they’ve been an inspiration for us, and especially on this song. It was the last song we wrote before going into the studio, and I think that made us want to experiment with it more. Production-wise, I was really looking for that dreamy feeling of walking through different atmospheres, never knowing where you’ll end up next. Zakarias Lindhammar, who did the mix on this one, really did an awesome job. It’s probably the track I’m most proud of on the album”

About the video, MAPR says: This song was a wild ride in the studio. Much like its title (translated to "Like a Dream") we wanted it to have many parts drifting in and out of each other in a way that somehow makes sense although it's slightly unnatural. It will be released together with a music video featuring the dreamworld of a twisted detective desperately seeking signs of alien activity in Malmö. It was shot and edited by our friend Oskar Rydlinger who filmed us on tour in Germany 2018 and for several different loose music video projects over the years that never reached the surface. So he used all of that archive material he had for this video to make it really feel like a warped timeline of nostalgic memories blasting at you. We also threw in some really old videos of ourselves as kids just to go full circle with it. Guess the story is not really supposed to make too much sense... it's like a dream.... finns ingen tid"

======================================================================

Bethan Lloyd - Aria.

Bethan Lloyd is a Welsh artist whose trance inducing vocals expand over an ocean of rave inspired production, harmonic layering and otherworldly ecstasy. Her sonic exploration has taken her from training as a classical singer, immersing herself in Berlin’s experimental music scene, to learning with shamans, masters and the ancient teachings of the natural world. 

In her latest single, Aria, Bethan, producing alongside Pre-Human bandmate Isaac Ray, takes her intense explorations of the spirit and emotional realms and blends them into something playful and danceable, a gritty experimental pop.

The landscape itself often becomes the inspiration for Bethan's creativity. She is frequently journeying with her sonic tools to ancient Neolithic sites and places of awe and wonder and allowing her surroundings to inspire a unique vocal soundscape. Aria is one such example. Written in Bryn Celli Ddu, a Neolithic burial chamber on the Isle of Anglesey, Aria is an ode to the ancient Welsh, to the Sun gods and sleeping ancestors. Stirring up a sense of the forgotten past, the chorus is an emotional cry for a sense of belonging and the desire to truly find one's home.

======================================================================

IST IST - Nothing More Nothing Less.

With their upcoming third album fast approaching, IST IST are pleased to unveil the latest track to be cut from the record: “Nothing More Nothing Less”. Chiming with the overarching concept of ‘Protagonists’ (out 31 March, via Kind Violence), the Manchester band’s new single finds them stepping into the shoes of a character trapped in a complex relationship and at odds with her true feelings. As frontman Adam Houghton explains:

““Nothing More Nothing Less” is a simple love song really written from a woman’s perspective who isn’t exactly sure what she wants.” Infusing atmospheric synthesisers and inspiriting backing vocals into their signature post-punk sound, “Nothing More Nothing Less” sees IST IST delivering one of their most cathartic and climactic singles to date.

“Nothing More Nothing Less” arrives as the next-in-line in a string of fascinating singles to have been released in recent months, with “Something Has To Give”, “Stamp You Out” and “Mary in The Black and White Room”, all leading the way to their upcoming ‘Protagonists’ LP later this month (31 March). A record all about new beginnings, the album will touch on the trials and tribulations of love, tricky family relationships, and the feeling of being trapped by the past. The title is inspired by songwriter Adam Houghton’s magpie-like method of writing, with its songs placing prominent characters, fictional and non-fictional, into dystopian worlds with new and uncertain outcomes. Recorded and mixed by Michael Whalley and IST IST at Milkshed Studios, the album was mastered by the legendary Greg Calbi and Steve Fallone at Sterling Sound (The National, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol) and as its precursory singles suggest it will see Ist Ist traversing a broader spectrum of genres and sounds than ever before.

Alongside the album, IST IST also delighted to confirm news of another exciting venture - a brand new community studio. Acting in response to the shock closure of the Brunswick Mill rehearsal spaces earlier this month, a facility used by IST IST since 2018 but also countless artists from across Manchester, the band quit their day-jobs and have decided to establish their own rehearsal rooms. Built with their own bare hands and located on the third floor at Nile Mill A in Oldham with just shy of 4,000 sq ft of space, KVR Studios aims to offer a safe space to all of the creatives in the city who have been evicted from Brunswick Mill and similar spaces blighted by gentrification. The studio will boast nine rehearsal rooms in total, a blackout photo studio big enough for photoshoots and videos, and lockable storage areas to store equipment. With 24 hour access to the facilities to accommodate all schedules and needs, rooms will be available to rent in four hour blocks or monthly, with multi-band sharing opportunities also available.

======================================================================

La Faute - Watercolours.

A hidden gem from the frozen heart of Toronto, Canada, art school dropout and Sony Music Publishing artist La Faute (aka Peggy Messing) has released her lead single and music video, Blue Girl Nice Day, from the debut album of the same name.

La Faute is Messing’s dark, dreamy solo project. A visual artist, multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter originally from Winnipeg, Canada, she explores themes of surface vs. depth, longing, betrayal, mourning and desire. Using tenor electric guitar and obsolete hardware samplers, she created her captivating live show and released her debut EP just before the pandemic. She chose to pause performing live due to her health, and returned to focusing on creation, finding workarounds to the problem of isolation. She connected with fellow artists and producers in France, the UK, Canada and the US to create music during this time, most recently with LA-based Topher Mohr who produced her upcoming album.

She received unanimous praise for the first single from the album, ‘Blue Girl Nice Day’, in February 2023, an unsettling, haunting song inspired by the Milgram experiments of the 1960s. The song was accompanied by an eerie video that showed the artist making a bed in a windswept field with looming power lines in the background. Messing has become increasingly interested in filmmaking, art-directing and shooting music videos for each song herself, inspired by French new wave and film noir aesthetics.

Messing is a former Girls Rock Camp Toronto volunteer, and found inspiration through helping girls get into music, offering them something that she wished had existed when she was growing up.

======================================================================

Friday, 10 March 2023

Matilda Mann - Blueburst - Alice Phoebe Lou - Panic Pocket - Davey Woodward & The Winter Orphans - Plastic Barricades

Matilda Mann - The Day That I Met You (Performance Video).

Rising British voice, Matilda Mann, today uploads an immaculate live performance to her new single ‘The Day That I Met You, which seamlessly combines a timeless sound wrapped around an also timeless message. Matilda will be playing London's Jazz Cafe on May 18th which is now sold out. Speaking about her new song, Matilda said “The world can suck. And some days it feels more like a constant than temporary. But then you meet someone, and the hand life dealt you, suddenly doesn’t feel so bad…”

Matilda Mann is a born-and-raised Londoner who has enjoyed an incredibly bright start to her still-young career in music. On the airwaves, Matilda has enjoyed tastemaker support from the likes of BBC Radio 1 where her last was premiered as Hottest Record In The World, KCRW & NPR. At press, she’s had similar impressive support from titles such as Evening Standard, Clash, The Line of Best Fit, DIY, COLORS, and NME to name a small handful. Offline on stage, she’s supported The Staves and other rising UK talents Holly Humberstone, Arlo Parks and Beabadoobee.  Matilda’s own headline shows are growing impressively having sold two London shows in 2022 (Lafayette & Earth) with a performance on the Park Stage at Glastonbury in between.

2023 will be an important year for Matilda Mann who has plenty of music on the way that’ll further highlight her enchanting, poetic songwriting. Although she is an important new British artist to look out for in 2023, her talent feels more timeless.

======================================================================

Blueburst - Vanish.

New Alt-Rock artist Blueburst releases it’s debut single Vanish today March 10, resurrecting the music career of guitarist/vocalist Criag Douglas Miller, with help from one of his musical idols, legendary guitarist Marty Willson-Piper.

As a 17-year-old budding musican soaking in the vibes of The Church’s Gold Afternoon Fix Tour at Atlanta’s Center Stage Theater in early 1990, the idea of working on an album with The Church’s legendary guitarist Marty Willson-Piper never crossed Craig Douglas Miller’s mind. “I loved The Church and thought Marty was just about the coolest guy on the planet back then. I never dreamed I’d be collaborating with him someday,” said Miller. But that’s just what happened.

The collaboration started after Miller sought out his hero Willson-Piper for help in getting musically unstuck after a 20-plus-year period untreated clinical depression, and writer’s block had led to zero finished songs. Starting out as a sounding board and coach, Willson-Piper’s role evolved from a teacher/student dynamic into a true musical partnership. And thus, Miller finally found himself with the thing he’d been sorely missing: a trusted mentor and collaborator. With Willson-Piper behind him, Miller dug in, started writing again and created an album’s worth of original songs, under the moniker Blueburst, the name of the finish on his favorite guitar.

With Blueburst, Miller and Willson-Piper have created a lush, guitar-based alt-rock sound, firmly rooted in 80s alternative and post-punk, but with a timeless feel and foot pounding pace. In a world of often overproduced, slick alternative rock, Blueburst is unapologetically retro in style, proudly wearing it’s oldwave influences on its sleeve. “Most of my friends, and a lot of younger people as well, still listening to the albums we grew up with. Because there’s a rawness and honesty in that music. That’s what we wanted to capture.

======================================================================

Alice Phoebe Lou - Shelter.

Berlin-based Alice Phoebe Lou has built an incredible reputation and fan base with her swooning vocals and other-worldly musicianship.

'Shelter' is her new single released today and It will be the first single to be revealed from her new album which will be coming later in the year. It's a gorgeous, upbeat offering that's full of light.

Originally from South Africa, Alice is currently on a huge world tour and has just announced more dates including Kentish Town Forum in December, which is exciting!

Releasing as an independent artist, Alice has had exceptional self-generated success, with around 100 million streams to her name and loyal fans all over the globe that continue to multiply.

Things have really ramped up for Alice since her last release in 2021 and 'Shelter' feels like a dreamy slice of perfection to kick off the album campaign.

======================================================================

Panic Pocket - Mad Half Hour.

A new wave of indiepop is emerging in the UK and Panic Pocket are at the forefront of it.  Playful, tuneful, sardonic and sassy, Sophie and Natalie have been friends since childhood, know each other’s secrets - and probably know a few of yours too.

Formed in 2017, Panic Pocket soon became a DIY sensation, releasing debut EP Never Gonna Happen, with Reckless Yes in 2019. For their first album, Mad Half Hour, the duo have found a new home.
For Amelia and Rob at Skep Wax, Panic Pocket reminded them of loads of bands they love  – Bratmobile, Lovely Eggs, Sleater-Kinney, Le Tigre – while also seeming completely unique: “Panic Pocket know how to turn anger and humour into brilliant pop songs.”

Many of Mad Half Hour’s 10 indie-pop anthems are concerned with being at odds with life's accepted milestones, feeling alienated from the people you thought wanted the same things as you, while trying to forge your own path. So the top-down janglepop of ‘Boyfriend’ reflects on what happens when your best friend finds love…and insists on bringing it everywhere, and ‘Get Me’ answers claustrophobic questions about settling down with a not-so-silent scream over some deliciously dirty riffs.

But Panic Pocket’s superpower is their sense of fun. On Mad Half Hour, you’re never more than a few seconds away from a monster hook, killer harmony or an acerbically witty turn of phrase worthy of the band’s heroes Aimee Mann or Liz Phair. From receiving a cryptic “frog emoji” from a long-forgotten one-night stand, to ‘Don’t Get Me Started’’s streetlit walk of shame “via Morrisons car park”, no memory is off-limits, no matter how painful.

If you want punkpop exuberance, lyrics that are so truthful they hurt, plus some very infectious tunes - then Mad Half Hour is exactly the soundtrack you need, right down to the minute.

======================================================================

Davey Woodward & The Winter Orphans - Everyone Recommends.

Davey Woodward & The Winter Orphans release new single Everyone Recommends  today 10th March. The track is from their upcoming album Mystic Science, released 21st April.

Bristol-based songwriter Davey Woodward is known for his extensive career in music, including his time in The Brilliant Corners, The Experimental Pop Band and Karen. In 2017, Davey gathered a group of friends, seeking to create a new project from his solo work. The Winter Orphans are Julian Hunt, Steve Dew and Jonathan Bewley. Mystic Science is the band's third album together following their 2018 self-titled debut and 2020 Love And Optimism.

Davey describes the new album as "warm, seductive, melodic, human, mostly intimate, sometimes raucous, folk n roll", the LP is available on vinyl and digital by Last Night From Glasgow.

======================================================================

Plastic Barricades - Counting Fireworks.

London indie rock band Plastic Barricades returns with a new single “Counting Fireworks”. This is the second introduction to the upcoming third album “We Stayed Indoors”, due later this year.

Hopeful and uplifting "Counting Fireworks" is a celebration of new beginnings, the transformative power of change and the limitless potential for growth and exploration, felt so intensely by so many of us at the very start of each new year. Beauty and wonder are found in life's uncertainties, but at times this beauty becomes obscured by anxiety and pessimism.

“Counting Fireworks” is a reminder that we don’t have to face the unknown alone; together we can always sing louder.

The single is released alongside a quirky music video, that continues the tradition of weird and truly DIY video art so close to the band’s heart. Inspired by the works of Michel Gondry, David Lynch and Ok Go, the whole video was shot in one take, with no edits or cuts. Produced by the band’s art director Elina Pasok, the 4-minute and 30-second clip takes you on a bizarre trip around a flat, filled with memories, dreams and visions of the future.

======================================================================

Anna Smyrk - ZOCO - Howling Bells - TCBYML

Photo - Michelle Grace Hunder Anna Smyrk - This is a Drill . Naarm/Melbourne based singer-songwriter Anna Smyrk shares a poignant moment o...