Los Angeles-based psychedelic synth-pop duo Sneakpeek have shared a video for their single “Green Light.” The track is featured on their long-awaited sophomore album, Scene Within A Dream, which dropped earlier this summer.
Discussing the inspiration for “Green Light”, Sneakpeek’s Dora Hiller noted, "I was reflecting on an alien experience I had where I was camping in the middle of nowhere with some friends years ago, where we all saw a bright green shining orb. It circled all around us and then flew away insanely fast through the darkness."
Sneakpeek released their self-titled debut album in 2013 on Burger Records, with the LA Times hailing it as a, “noisy nine-track album offering up heavy, druggy guitar riffs that’d make Kurt Vile (or Lou Reed) proud.” While that record combined elements of dream pop with grungy, garage-rock sludge, Scene Within A Dream finds Hiller and Aric Bohn heading in new directions.
Surrounded by walls of synthesizers and vintage drum machines in their Glassell Park studio, Dora and Aric leaned into their psychedelic abandonments, pushing their mostly analogue gear to its limits. “We love obscure electronic music from the 70s, 80s + 90s,” notes Hiller, “and wanted to experiment with a new sound that embodied those elements but with our own spin on it.”
Throughout Scene Within A Dream, Sneakpeek explores the world of dreams, the mysteries of nature, mortality, magic and manifestation; old Hollywood studios, non linear timelines, synchronicity, and paranormal experiences, leading the listener out onto a surreal, dreamy dancefloor.
The album Clusterluck by The Kind Hills features 10 warm and relaxed indie-tunes that are the perfect soundtrack for a chilled picnic in the countryside, an exhausted or hung-over moment in bed or a long, beautiful road trip.
The band call it 'music to fall asleep to' and they mean that in a positive way. Some influences are obvious (Beach House on ‘Summer’ or Ducktails on ‘Volunteer’) but on all tracks the band essentially plays their own, laid-back, dreamy indie pop. Standout tracks are 'waiting for the good times' and 'let youth take over'.
About The Kind Hills: Hailing from all corners of the globe, The Kind Hills stand as a testament to the transcendent power of music. The band, a cohort of long-standing friends who met while studying in Australia, now create captivating soundscapes from their respective homes worldwide. Their innovative approach to songwriting and recording has given rise to a deeply personal yet universally relatable body of work. The Kind Hills’ new album, Clusterluck, released on July 28, is a magnificent embodiment of this ethos.
When Amon Tobin released debut Figueroa album The World As We Know It on his Nomark label in 2020 Trebuchet magazine described it as a “landmark record” and the legendary writer Kris Needs wrote “Tobin has taken folk’s ongoing evolution and pushed it another giant step forwards.”
Now as that album celebrates its third birthday, there is a new Figueroa video being released this week as a taster of the second, as-yet-untitled album which is planned for next year.
After making one of the biggest breakthroughs on the international Americana scene with their debut album Go By Feel, Canadian country/roots collective The Hello Darlins is gearing up to return with an even more ambitious collection of material for its official sophomore release, The Alders & The Ashes, due early in 2024.
The group, led by Romani-Canadian musician Candace Lacina and world-renowned Hammond B3 player Mike Little, The Hello Darlins consist of some of Canada’s most in-demand session musicians who came together to forge a distinct hybrid of country, gospel and blues. After three European Tours that included an Americanafest-UK showcase and a support slot with Lucinda Williams at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, as well as a 36-date cross-Canadian tour with blues-roots icon Matt Andersen with sold-out stops at Massey Hall and National Arts Centre along the way, The Hello Darlins are just getting started.
The latest taste of their new music is the single “Don’t You Fall,” an upbeat, radio-friendly track that showcases Candace’s unmistakable vocals. The song delivers a message to persevere through hard times by enjoying the wonder of life, and the love and support of those closest to us. “I wrote it after a dream,” Candace says. “I was watching someone have a conversation with an old tree and they were both saying the same thing to each another: ‘Hold on, friend. You’ve seen so much, but don’t resign, because there is still so much more.’”
The video for “Don’t You Fall” is a playful variation on the same theme. “As a society, we’re so obsessed with preserving our youth, but age is just a relative concept,” says Candace, who conceptualized and created the video based on animation techniques often used in children’s television programs from the 1960s and ‘70s. “Who didn’t love Romper Room, Mr. Dressup, Mr. Rogers, or Sesame Street,” she says. “Kindergarten is the age of innocence and imagination—you never think about getting old when you’re five.”
Clementine Valentine, the Coromandel-based art-pop duo formerly known as Purple Pilgrims, share a new single ‘The Rope’ off their upcoming album, The Coin that Broke the Fountain Floor, out August 25th via Flying Nun Records. To celebrate the album's release, the duo will perform four intimate shows around the country this September as well as a show in August alongside Roy Montgomery for the Christchurch WORD festival.
Following their previous album singles ‘Endless Night’ and ‘Time and Tide’, the new single ‘The Rope’ is a captivating siren song, that entices the listener, inviting them into a world of both safety and potential darkness. Produced by Randall Dunn — known for his work with acclaimed artists like Björk, Oneohtrix Point Never and Jim Jarmusch —the track features expressive percussion by Matt Chamberlain, who’s worked with the likes of Lana Del Rey, David Bowie, Fiona Apple to name a few
The accompanying visuals, directed by the Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland-based duo PICTVRE (Veronica Crockford-Pound and Joseph Griffen) and made with the support of NZ on Air, draw inspiration from 1960s films such as Jean-Luc Godard's sci-fi/noir classic 'Alphaville' and Ingmar Bergman's psychological drama 'Persona'. Styled by Tom So, the duo wears all local designers including Emma Jing, Wynn Hamlyn, and Shannen Young. Makeup and hair styling by Kiekie Stanners and Vanessa Mitchell.
‘Nothing Is Forever’ takes off like a train in both sound and spirit; an anthemic slice of triumphant alt-folk that will resonate with fans of First Aid Kit and Courtney Marie Andrews with its tumbling drums, potent trumpets, and lush, swelling open chords in a widescreen arrangement featuring dulcimer, mandolin, harmonium, trombone, guitars and bass.
Penned at a high point of the #MeToo movement, the track remains startlingly relevant with its shots at the kind of misogynist that poses as enlightened; “arguably the most damaging type of sexist… the wolf in sheep’s clothing” affirms Mooney, and is ultimately an aspirational call-to-arms that she says promises “Nothing is forever, not even the patriarchy.”
This evocative tone is shared by the track’s cinematic visuals, directed by Nick Mckk (Kate Miller-Heidke, Jen Cloher, Alice Skye) on the land of the Dharug and Gundungurra people in the so-called Blue Mountains. Characterized by sweeping cinematography and long, slow zooms, the video finds Mooney and her dulcimer in an ethereal, serene state against a backdrop of majestic ancient trees, rocks, and waterfalls - a perfect visual complement to the inherent drama of the single.
Of the video, Mooney says “With dulcimer in tow, Nick and I scrambled through bush and fell (literally) into creeks, finding captivating and evocative places for me to perch, strum and sing into the trees. We started at noon and by nightfall had explored waterfalls, valleys, and watched the sunset over the treetops. I enjoyed the contrast of singing ‘Nothing Is Forever’ in an environment so ancient. One wonders how many people and birds have sung to those trees. The video became a love letter to that part of the world, which of course I hope is forever.”
The Grahams have shared their uplifting anthem “Glory Bound,” the next offering from the duo’s upcoming self-titled album, out September 8 via 3Sirens Music Group. Arriving with a golden-hued music video showcasing the importance of family and love, this meditative song finds The Grahams reflecting on life’s journey, regrets and all, with bright eyes toward a hopeful future. “Glory Bound” was recently featured by Magnet Magazine and is one of ten reimaginings slated to appear on The Grahams, which sees the duo revisiting fan favorites to reflect their artistic growth over the last decade. The Grahams is now available for pre-order.
“On ‘Glory Bound,’ what was once a bold, from-the-chest manifesto becomes a shimmering reflection on hope and regret, building around a subtle, hypnotizing riff,” shares Alyssa Graham, who is one half of The Grahams with Doug Graham. “Listening back to my approach, originally and now, I'm a different person. You can hear it in my voice.”
“Glory Bound” follows the serotonin-boosting “The Wild One,” which was praised by the The Alternate Root, Americana UK, Americana Music Association and more upon its release. On The Grahams, the duo pays homage to a fulfilled commitment they made a decade ago: three concept albums over 10 years, which found them exploring America and its rich tapestry of music. The new self-titled album takes 10 songs from The Grahams’ catalog and pours them through a new filter – what they’ve learned, how they’ve changed, and perhaps most centrally, how they sound today. While these songs bear some resemblance to their Americana roots, they lean harder in a new direction, weaving threads of the duo’s other influences: the bands they grew up with, the input of collaborators, and the ever-evolving love affair that now includes their child. Track by track, the changes are transformative, stripping the songs down in some cases and dressing them up in others.
Shadwick Wilde has released "Without You," the second single from his upcoming solo record Forever Home, produced by renowned Nashville drummer Ken Coomer (Billy Bragg, Will Hoge, Margo Price, Vance Joy, Al Green, Wilco and Uncle Tupelo), available everywhere September 22nd.
“Without You” is an existentialist love ballad… examining the frailty of memory, the truth of impermanence, and our clinging to one another. Wilde, who lives with major depressive disorder, is a self-described Buddhist-Nihilist, but credits meditation, therapy and a focus on compassion and presence to saving his life. The recording of this album was a practice in surrender for Shadwick… Coomer pushed for live recording and minimal takes to preserve the spontaneity of the creative process, and to let the songs unfold on their own.
“Without You” was the first song recorded live as a group with Shadwick on guitar, Coomer on Drums, and Ted Pecchio on Bass. Sam Wilson was brought in to add some beautifully tasteful guitar work, and Shadwick overdubbed piano and synthesizer parts, resulting in a beautiful rich orchestration to juxtapose the song’s darker subject matter.
On the surface, they’re charming in their sweet simplicity – effortlessly compelling thanks to graceful melodies, heartfelt lyricism, and syncopated synergy. But the deeper you dig, the more Toronto duo TANDM’s songs seem to transcend time, place, and even stylistic categorization. The core duo of vocalist/guitarist Maxine Beck-Sinderby and drummer Thomas Franklin first met in their mid-teens and quickly united over a unique creative chemistry.
Their new collection, Sirens, finds the duo teeing up their most engaging and enveloping output to date – a potent distillation of the magical individual components that comprise TANDM’s masterful take on alternative pop but with a newfound polish and elevated production style. The rhythms are entrancing and engaging, drawing the listener into a warm, dreamlike world of stirring melodic dynamism and delicate-but-dauntless vocals.
The title track, “Sirens,” blasts the hopefulness and excitement of youth, with lyrics referencing the Greek myths of Odysseus and Icarus. TANDM describe the painful truths of growing up, independence and severing the connection from family.
“I have always tried to tell a lesson or a story in our music,” says Maxine. “With our first two EPs, the majority of our songs were about teenagehood, with many of the themes touching on negative experiences of growing up. With this upcoming EP Sirens, the music is much more about the transition, post teenage angst. The upcoming songs are about the progress and the ‘moving on’ of past troubles, and how we overcame them. Consider it a sequel to our previous chapter.”
New Zealand based dream pop artist, T. G. Shand, known for her ethereal soundscapes, is announcing the release of her highly anticipated sophomore EP, ‘Cinnamon’. The EP is set to captivate listeners with its meticulously crafted tracks and mesmerizing sonic landscapes.
Released on Friday 28th July, ‘Cinnamon’ showcases T. G. Shand's evolution as an artist. Written and produced by Annemarie Duff (Miniatures), the EP features five tracks that have been developed over the past three years. Building on the success of her previous releases, T. G. Shand's ‘Cinnamon’ EP elevates her signature dreamy sound to new heights. Mastered by Bevan Smith, the EP takes listeners on a journey filled with unforgettable melodies and evocative lyrics.
Lead track, ‘Cinnamon’, stands out as a quirky and driving tune that showcases T. G. Shand's sugary vocals, leaving a lasting impression on listeners. With the rest of the EP featuring a range of musical experiences, from the intro track that evokes a floating sensation to some heavier shoegaze numbers and a captivating electronic closing track.
West Australian alt-indie acoustic singer-songwriter, Jay Wood unleashed her eagerly awaited single, 'Initial Pulse' on Friday, July 28th, 2023. This release marks the second single from her upcoming EP, 'Respire,' scheduled for release on 1st September. Jay Wood's latest single promises to captivate audiences with its heartfelt lyrics, soothing melodies, and profound messaging.
Produced, mixed, and mastered by the talented team at Norman Solander Studios, 'Initial Pulse' holds a special place in Jay Wood's heart as it represents her personal journey of rediscovering life and falling in love. “This song was the first song I painstakingly managed to write after a long-time re-learning how to play my instruments post-accident” – Jay Wood
After a long period of re-learning to play her instruments following a life-altering accident and a Catastrophic Traumatic Brain Injury, Jay Wood poured her emotions into this song, depicting the joy and excitement of new love, with ‘love’ representing a deeper meaning of life itself. The title 'Initial Pulse' symbolises those first beats of the heart when encountering someone who sparks a newfound love and rejuvenates life—a fresh start filled with hope and anticipation.
Jay Wood's music is an embodiment of her life experiences and her unique ability to connect with listeners on an intimate level. Her skilful lyricism, passionate vocals, and humble demeanour allow her to effortlessly tug on heartstrings - offering insight into her own soul as well as encouraging reflection upon one's own life experiences. Jay's unique thoughts about love, life and everything in-between come alive through honest yet unconventional and at times "in your face" lyrics which touch audiences deeply.
With 'Initial Pulse' and her 1st September forthcoming EP, ‘Respire’, Jay Wood invites listeners on a journey of self-discovery, love, and the pursuit of happiness. Her music serves as a reminder that we each possess the power to shape our own destinies and find fulfilment no matter the obstacles life presents us with.
'America' is Cara Hammond's second self produced single of 2023. Influenced by Lana Del Reyand Fleetwood Mac, America is a summer anthem about what happens after theAmerican dream. Country guitar slides, gospel organ and 60s girl group harmoniesblend together in creating a classic Americana sound that slowly disintegrates viaharmonic shifts.
I wrote America after returning from showcasing at SXSW 2022. At the beginning of 2022 I’d been dropped by my label & left my management, so when I was invited to play this huge festival in Austin, Texas, I couldn’t have been happier.
I spent all my time practicing, planning and emailing industry in the lead up that I didn’t give anything else much thought. SXSW was a dream so when it ended, I landed home with a bump. The weeks after that I felt very lost and unsure what my next step was. Luckily songwriting held the answer and America was born on a rainy day in Dolgellau, North Wales.
Hey, come along. We are Moving Into Tucson. There is no stopping us, so join us on our trip. All we wanna do is bring joy, happiness and good music to this world. Now, who can argue with that? No-one can! Not even your most bitter critic.
And here it is. Single number 3. It doesn’t matter if you’re young or old. Anyone will dig the message. This tune is just to cool to ignore. The beat is wild, the harmonies are high. Mr. Tambourine Man is going to get ya. Just think of the Byrd that wouldn’t fly and it all makes sense to you. So, if you ever thought about Moving Into Tucson, this is your chance!
Moving Into Tucson is for fans of: REM, Lemonheads, Sugar, The Posies, Buffalo Tom, Teenage Fanclub and the Counting Crows but also reminiscent to bands as U2 or The Police. Contemporary indie pop rock with an early 90s sound, sometimes dark, sometimes mysterious, or vague, but with depth in the music and certainly in the lyrics.
Brooklyn composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Cassie Wieland has released the third single, a cover of Modest Mouse's "The World At Large," from her upcoming debut LP as Vines.
In 2022, Wieland began covering popular indie songs using her vocoder as a side project, unearthing the emotions lying inside of these tracks. “The World at Large” is just one example of her contemplative reimaginings. Throughout her cover of Modest Mouse’s 2004 hit, Wieland softens each beat, slowing down each peppy “ah” into a pensive hum. The song takes on themes of drifting and running away, and in Wieland’s gossamer threads, heart-wrenching simplicity amplifies its melancholy to unveil the existentialism that colors the music.
The single follows "january" and "I don't mind," the latter of which Stereogum likened to "Imogen Heap’s “Hide And Seek,” with traces of Sigur Rós, Bon Iver, and various electronic singer-composer types a la Lydia Ainsworth and Laurel Halo." Vines' full album, titled Birthday Party, will be out August 18th.
On Birthday Party, Brooklyn-based composer Cassie Wieland (aka Vines) braids poignant, rich instrumentals with sparing lyrics. It’s a new, deeply personal direction for the composer, whose previous music was primarily written for others to play. Here, her own voice, diffused by the feathery touch of a vocoder, is front and center; her economical words stem from the loneliness you might feel on your birthday, where long gone memories and nostalgia feel their most acute. From these thoughts, Wieland weaves lush, contemplative tapestries, finding catharsis in fuzzed-out melodies.
With their latest single, “Horse Girl,” the Nora Kelly Band tell the tale of an urban cowgirl. Featured on their upcoming debut album Rodeo Clown, due out August 25 via Mint Records, the Montreal quintet premiered a video for the track via Under the Radar, who said, "Kelly’s lyrics namedrop Hank Williams and Townes Van Zandt and the band echos those vintage country touchstones, soaking the track in keening pedal steel, sweet vocal harmonies, and a heady dust-tinged haze." Rodeo Clown was written by Nora Kelly, produced by Kelly with Ethan Soil, and mixed by Pietro Amato (The Luyas/Belle Orchestre). Having completed a run of Pacific Northwest dates earlier this month, the Nora Kelly Band head out along the East Coast in August, including a hometown release night celebration at La Sala Rossa.
Discussing “Horse Girl", Nora noted, "When I started writing country music a few years ago, I arrived with a deep appreciation for the genre and history. Still, I live in Montreal, where I earned a Fine Arts degree. I’m not trying to fool anyone. I’m no ‘Okie from Muskogee’ or ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter'. But I’m not the first city slicker to love playing ‘cowboy’ either. In writing ‘Horse Girl’ it felt good to just come out with it… ‘I always tip my waiter but I’ve never tipped a cow’ and ‘I could ride the range but I don’t know how.’
Maybe this is the Nora Kelly Band’s theme song. It definitely was a group effort. I delivered the lyrics and vocal melody to the band, and more than any other track we really workshopped the music together. The result feels fresh and playfully new.”
Regarding the video, Kelly added, “We shot the video for ‘Horse Girl’ at a county fair in Ormstown, Quebec. Our day began at 9am at a horse competition. With each member of the band making bets on which horse would be voted best in show - Vader inexplicably chose correctly every time. After, we witnessed a demolition derby where young men in broken down cars slammed into each other, with firefighters and ambulances waiting on the sidelines. We also rode fair rides and played carnival games. Because the director and cinematographer were carrying a big camera, we looked like we were up to something important and this served its purpose. When it came time to shoot my close up on the ferris wheel, the ride attendant let us on for free and didn’t make us get off for a good 20 minutes.”
Brewflies released “Anything is Possible” a few days ago. The song written by Michael Veitch derives from his participation in the PBS Songs of Survivor project which paired songwriters with Holocaust survivors.
The song tells the story of a young boy’s escape after witnessing the rounding up of Jewish people into concentration camps. It starts from the harrowing revelation of the depths of the “possibility” of Nazi depravity and inhuman brutality of unimaginable proportions (that “anything IS possible and nothing is impossible) and immediately proposes the limitless hope of overcoming this dire possibility by taking “one step” toward freedom (“He told me just one step could start a road…”).
Brittain says, “We included the song because of its relevance now, too; it points to the possibility in our time that a microbe could bring a ‘sophisticated’ techno-scientific society and economy to its knees (a stark reminder that NOTHING is impossible)…and yet-actually overcoming that threat IS also, it turns out, a real possibility.”
The song features Kirsti Gholson on lead vocals and background harmonies, Billy Clockel on bass, Larry Brittain on acoustic & electric guitars, Gary Oleyar on violin, and Dan Hickey on drums.
The album documents Brewflies Covid-19 experience through interpretations of noteworthy songs representing the period. Artists represented on the album include Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and Mary Gauthier, and three original songs by their musical soulmate and collaborator, Michael Veitch.
The Vanrays have just released their latest long-player “Put It Out” with an accompanying video for the album’s focus track “Hard Times.” The band carries on with their tradition of belting out undeniably catchy Motown and Soul tunes with big hooks, big melodies and an even bigger brass section. Taking notes from classics and contemporaries like Spencer Davis group, Detroit Cobras, Curtis Harding and the Daptone Records roster, The Vanrays have delivered an album of soulful classic R&B and garage music.
Their bio reads like a manifesto for their brand of music: It’s a Motown beat down in a sharkskin suit. It's wailing like it’s gospel while they're laying in the boots. It's a curb stomping rhythm on the corner of control. It's a nod in the direction, when all shoes had leather souls. And to when those shoes were twisting, to Otis and to James. And so now do, The Vanrays too, we are here to do the same.
The video for “Hard Times” was directed by Carleen Kyle and shot at the Wise Hall during the pandemic and in the middle of the heat dome. Piano and organ player Gordon Rempel describes the scenario, “We were happy for the space and air conditioning! The objective was to bring a more intimate “performance” video than a regular live video. Thus, setting the performance on the floor rather than the stage.”
Overall the album touches on themes of love and heartache which seems to tie the songs together. Bassist Phil Adington laments, “We never intended for this to be a concept album, but for me all of the songs involve love and relationships and the order they appear on the record does seem to map out a passionate, tempestuous affair that ultimately ends in heartbreak." The recording sessions for Put it Out began just before the onset of the pandemic, when the world went into lockdown. Rempel reflected on the time by saying, “It's been a journey. We were forced to adapt. With only bed tracks recorded before the lockdown, we were forced to improvise. We remotely finished a couple songs as demos compete with Zoom-like videos that we released as "The Social Distanced Demos" on Bandcamp.
Slowly, we completed recording the album, instrument by instrument together and apart. I recorded many of my organ and piano parts in my garage studio. Others ventured into Brian’s studio to record their parts with masks and social distancing. Scott Fletcher, producer of the Put It Out shared his take on the experience, “My shared vision as producer of this record was to tip our collective hat to the classic 60s and 70s Soul and R&B from stax records, without being a museum piece. Music is an organic, living, growing thing and I truly believe we took this genre to a new place. Recording a 9 piece band is no easy task at the best of times, but we tried to preserve the “live off the floor” feel while staying socially distanced in the studio. The Vanrays, needless to say, became my bubble. If I were to put it in a nutshell, I would say recording Put It Out got us through the tense times of the pandemic.”
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