Laurence-Anne - NIIKA - Casual Worker - Holly Henderson

Laurence-Anne - Polymorphe.

Montreal based artist Laurence-Anne returns with her new single 'Polymorphe' via Bonsound and announces a UK tour. Laurence-Anne is an architect of the intangible; she sculpts musical landscapes composed of haunting melodies, lush synthesizers, synthetic rhythms and hazy textures, all coated with her voice, singing in both English, French and Spanish, capable of instilling both comfort and anxiety. All of these elements come together to create a blend of dream pop, coldwave and synthpop inspired by her imagination, intimately connected to her experiences, and deeply infused with her unique perspective.

Shortly after entering the Montreal music scene, Laurence-Anne made a big splash in 2019 with her critically acclaimed debut album Première apparition, making the Polaris Prize long list, which was followed by an EP showcasing her expanded musical horizons. Thus, the groundwork was laid for the release of her second album Musivision, co-produced by Félix Petit (Les Louanges, Safia Nolin, Hubert Lenoir) on which her creative identity was crystallized. 

Following its release, Musivision received high acclaim across Canada, such as being rewarded with an Artist of the Year award at the GAMIQ, a nomination for Album of the Year - Alternative at the ADISQ gala and the album also reached number one on CISM's year-end Francophone charts and was named one of the 15 best Quebecois albums of the year by Le Devoir.

Laurence-Anne’s newest single 'Polymorphe' is a track that affirms her mastery of dream pop. Carried by lush synth arrangements and a heart-warming chorus, 'Polymorphe' is about the ever-changing nature of dreams and the desire to connect with them, as if they were entities in their own right.

 
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NIIKA - Sever Ties.

Chicago-based NIIKA (the project of musician Nika Nemirovsky) is soon to be back with an exciting new release, Still a Soft One. Ahead of that today we have the first single 'Sever Ties' a beautiful and touching song which exudes a dreamy characterful vibe. Her third release is a notable departure from her other works. It’s a solo record with focus on the singer's lucious voice and dynamic guitar arrangements. Easy to listen to, but never lacking in complexities and nuance, lyrically or musically.

Born in Uzbekistan (former USSR), her music draws on a multitude of styles from many disparate parts of the world, ranging from Russian folk and rock, to American indie, soul, jazz, and rock, to bossa nova, to classical, to folk music from India, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe (to name a few). The eclectic array of makes for a spell-binding experience that feels somehow simple and elusive at the same time.

Nika has been making music that dances at the intersections of art-pop, indie rock and neo-soul for nearly 10 years. Still a Soft One seems to mark a really lovely juncture in this artist’s career. She’s been primarily performing solo for the last several years, and her sound has adapted to this new dynamic. The album gives me the same feeling of self-reflection and audio-intimacy as Nai Palm’s 2017 solo release, Needle Paw. NIIKA peels away the bigger sound and more complex instrumentation of her past records to reveal five songs that are sweet and cathartic, but still so powerful. Her lyrics are utterly relatable, often somber, but never lacking in a good bit of fire and a healthy dose of cheekiness.

The recording process for Still a Soft One saw Nemirovsky collaborating with Chicago’s Vivian McConnell (who plays under V.V. Lightbody and acted as producer and “album doula” on this record), Dave Miller as recording engineer for the guitar and some vocals,  her partner and former producer Matty Witney (Dried Spider) as co-producer and arranger, and a few other artists and engineers in Chicago and Brooklyn.

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Casual Worker - Flooding.

Newly signed Glasgow duo Casual Worker release Model Number on 28th April. The three track EP explores our relationship with the digital world - examining themes of misogyny, data and virtual spaces.

Casual Worker are Eve King (vocals) and Hamish Wickham (instrumentation). Inspired by 80’s cold wave and gothic electro-pop, their sound has been described as “dark retro electronica” (The Roddy Hart Show). Lead single Flooding is released today 17th March - the track layers infectious electronics alongside hazy guitar and King's enchanting vocals.

Since releasing their debut EP Mousetrap in September 2022, they have received praise from The Skinny, BBC Introducing and more. The upcoming Model Number EP will be released by Last Night From Glasgow.

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Holly Henderson - Back After Sunrise.

London based Holly Henderson is back with a reflective new single “Back After Sunrise” from her critically acclaimed sophomore album “The Walls”. Glowing with gorgeous harmonies against a retro psych-pop backdrop, “Back After Sunrise” is a song about the end of a chapter and how we look idealistically at the time spent, when it’s all nearly over.

“It’s specifically about when I was ready to leave my home, to start a new life in America, before the lockdown”, says Henderson. “But it was so obviously the wrong choice. But not every decision to walk away from something is rooted in hating someone or something, sometimes it’s just not right, and that’s almost worse. But we soothe ourselves ‘I do my little dance, where we all pretend, we’ll be back after sunrise’, until we’re ready to move on.”, she explains.

The track, which escalates from soft glimmering melancholia into a fuzzy epic, comes from Henderson’s long-awaited sophomore album, “The Walls”, where the singer-songwriter shows a very different side to her musicality and depth. While her debut album, “Monday Green” featured Henderson’s impressive rock guitar work and alternative pop anthem prowess, her new work shows a more introspective, and slightly more delicate side to her songcraft.Recorded in a farmhouse in the English countryside, Henderson’s new album brings her full circle from her previous Los Angeles recorded album. Finely crafted arrangements, sonic musings, and playful themes take us on a journey with Henderson as she deconstructs her Brit Pop and classic influences and reassembles them into progressive-folk wonderment.

On “The Walls”, Holly said, “This album sits within a sense of place. As a songwriter, I can only speak of my own thoughts of home and belonging. I suppose this record is a wandering eye over the fleeting moments from the last few years, of when I felt at home, and when I didn’t. When I felt like the walls were tumbling, when they kept me safe, and when they became my prison. I learned the only way of breaking these patterns, was to let people step over the threshold. 

Due to the intimacy of the songs, I wanted to preserve the organic nature of the words and the arrangements. The heart of every song was recorded live, from the front room of a farmhouse in Sevenoaks - everyone facing each other, hearing each other, and working together. The sounds you hear are preserved in the moment that they happened. Tentative and selective moments were never changed in post. The other-worldly elements, synths, sounds, etc, were still captured live. 3 to 4 of us, tinkering with analogue synths, percussion, voices, iPads, etc, while the songs played. Rowan’s sensitivity as an engineer and producer, preserved every magical moment in his safe hands, while every person in the band shines throughout, regardless of trying to make this happen during the times of Covid, nothing was missing.”

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Esther Rose - Tara MacLean - Pieta Brown & JT Bates

Esther Rose - Safe To Run.

Esther Rose will release Safe to Run April 21, 2023 via New West Records. The 11-track set was produced by Ross Farbe in New Orleans, LA and Placitas, NM and is the follow up to 2021’s acclaimed How Many Times. Alongside longtime collaborators Farbe and Lyle Werner, Safe to Run also features the New Orleans based band Silver Synthetic on many songs, Cameron Snyder of The Deslondes, as well as Alynda Segarra of Hurray for the Riff Raff on the title track.

Yesterday, the video for “Safe to Run” featuring Alynda Segarra was released. The song is a gorgeous duet that directly merges the personal with the global, superimposing feelings of spiritual displacement onto the larger, looming dread of climate grief. Rose says, "Sonically, Ross and I threw every idea we had on this song and it absorbed everything as if it were just this mega-powerful container. We built so many layers into the outro. I love Ross’s counter-melody on the Mellotron and the high-pitched 1-note synth drone which he refers to as ‘the angels.’ Nick Cohon, of Bay Area death metal band Cormorant, brought the doom by arranging the ascending guitar outro. It was so meaningful to collaborate with Alynda Segarra and to hear the song start to fly. Alynda’s voice is this expertly tuned muscle; when they sing, you feel everything."

Safe to Run is the quiet culmination of years spent fully immersed in a developing artistry, and presents Rose’s always vividly detailed emotional scenes with new levels of clarity and control. Her songwriting transfigures the chaos and uncertainty of a life in progress, but here she introduces a newfound pop element that attaches unshakably catchy hooks to even the darkest stretches of the journey. The album’s production takes a giant step forward. Across all of the tracks, the open-air, live-in-the-room sound she tended towards in the past was exchanged for an exploration of multitracking and overdubs.

Rose previously shared the Joshua Shoemaker-directed video for the album’s first single, “Chet Baker.” Of the song, she says, “Someone sent me a DM, asking ‘do you remember me.’ I was transported into a decade-old memory; a weird weekend with a crew of dangerous college preps, a car crash. What came out is this short study of my townie life in Ann Arbor. As I was writing this song, it occurred to me how lucky I was to have survived that time of willful recklessness. I wanted to empathize with my younger self, like, ‘it’s alright, you were 23. You were out of control. I got you now. You’re okay.’”

 
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Tara MacLean - Let Her Feel The rain.

Renowned Canadian singer-songwriter, Tara MacLean, wrote “Let Her Feel The Rain” following a breakup at the age of 19 which was deeply affecting.

“I noticed that I felt numb, and I went and laid outside on the grass at night in the rain, and just let it fall on me. I just needed to feel it, to feel the pain, and then let the rain wash it away. And it did. I wrote this song when I came inside, still wet and muddy. This was the song that made me realize that music was going to save my life,” explains MacLean.

Decades later, MacLean has reimagined the song with layered background vocals and strings evocative of the lush environment which she calls home in the Pacific Northwest.

“In so many ways the song is about rebirth,” says MacLean. When it came time to shoot the video for “Let Her Feel The Rain,” MacLean returned to her ‘nest’ on Salt Spring Island to perform the song, complete with hair and makeup done by her children.

“Let Her Feel The Rain” is taken from Tara MacLean’s upcoming new album, Sparrow, released on March 31st. Reimagining 10 tracks from her catalogue, the album is the companion soundtrack to Song of the Sparrow, MacLean’s debut memoir with HarperCollins which is out now, exploring the transformative power of music in her life.

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Pieta Brown & JT Bates - In This World / Thing or 2.

Beloved singer/songwriter Pieta Brown and acclaimed drummer and producer JT Bates (Bonny Light Horseman, Big Red Machine, Taylor Swift) have teamed up for a new pair of singles titled “In This World” and “Thing or 2.” Out now through Righteous Babe Records, the tracks were mixed by Tucker Martine (Madison Cunningham, Calexico, My Morning Jacket) and mastered by Huntley Miller (The Cactus Blossoms, Sylvan Esso, Bon Iver).

After leaving the road suddenly last year due to an unexpected shoulder complication that prevented Brown from touring for a while, Bates reached out and offered a much welcomed distraction in the form of new song collaborations while healing up at home. “Making these pieces with JT was another musical and production experiment that I learned so much from,” stated Brown. “I'm still mesmerized by how these songs I had already written with my guitar could morph so fluidly into these other sonic realms. It was fun to play the Casio, and to really explore how to sing these songs without my guitar. As a singer I love experimenting with phrasing - the subtlest shifts can make such a difference. One slur and breath and suddenly it all works. JT and I have an on-going musical chemistry that I'm not sure either of us really understands, but is what allows for our spontaneous remote collaborations to happen, without ever feeling distant.”

While the two new singles sound very much like Brown, with no guitars in the mix her voice and melodies shine in a new way. On “In This World,” an ambient hook-driven Kate Bush-esque folk-pop song, she delivers a deceptively simple lyric with her quintessential blend of emotion and irony: “Days where roads are endless dark / Nights, I could just fall apart / In these cities, old and new / Far far away from the morning dew / Oh I'd do anything in this world for you / Anything in this world for you…”

“The essence of ‘In This World’ for me is this feeling of ‘push and pull,’” she continued. “So often I feel like I would do anything in this world for the people I love. But then some days I can't even find time or space to answer a simple text message from a friend. The push of the isolating hyperspeed at which we are all receiving information. The pull of this energy I get from feeling I would do anything in this world for the ones I love.”

On “Thing Or 2,” Bates’ mastery of rhythm and electronic layering provides a stunning backdrop for Brown’s deeply moving performance that spotlights her unique and powerful use of vocal phrasing. Drifting into almost jazz territory, influences like Weather Report, Joni Mitchell, and Bill Frisell can be felt throughout the track.

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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.

Libertino · Rogue Jones - Dos Bebés

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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.

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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.”

 
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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.’

 

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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.

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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.

Crashingthrough · The Rishis - Holiday (August Moon)

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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.

nhs · As She Slips Away

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