Daniel Walton - Thrillhouse - Ghost Party

Daniel Walton - Through The Glass.

An endless need for self expression has helped songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Walton focus on his creative vision as an independent artist to write and produce his debut EP titled Island: a beautiful, heartfelt collection of songs about love, loss and change.

The 28-year-old from Hamilton, ON has been involved in a handful of collaborative original bands spanning many genres (Wooly Mantis, Downstream) but “Island” is the first of many projects that are from the mind of Walton as a solo act. Being able to have full creative freedom has allowed Walton to find his voice in the songwriter space.

Reminiscent of the Laurel Canyon era of folk and singer-songwriter with a genre-blending modernism, Walton’s latest single “Through The Glass” is a drift inspiring transportive listen.

About his songwriting intent: “My goal with songwriting is to take the listener on some kind of journey, whether it may be from lyrics, music or both. To take the listener out of the present moment and into a place that feels familiar, yet new and exciting. A place that is comfortable, where the listener does not feel alone and can drift away in peace.”

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Thrillhouse - Big Tree.

Brighton duo Thrillhouse, release the intimate yet expansive new album Something About This Place, with the lead track ‘Big Tree’.

Showcasing their electrifying Alternative-Indie-come-Alternative-Country tendencies, the album further delivers on the unique sonic approach which has seen the band garner widespread acclaim from musical luminaries such as KEXP, Radio X (John Kennedy), and BBC Introducing. The brainchild of duo Sam Strawberry and Jack Nielsen, Thrillhouse gained their name as a humorous and nostalgic nod to an old Simpsons episode, but digging a little deeper, the name also evokes the yearning of being stuck in an increasingly bleak present whilst being rooted in a fragmented and pretend past.

Now releasing their hotly anticipated debut album 'Something About This Place', the band describe the 11 track release as: “A hark back to childhood - to simpler times, before ambition, failure and regret wrapped us up with our dreams and tossed us crashing back down to Earth.”

Capturing a melancholic sincerity tinged with wry humour within the captivating lyricism, the band's stylistic sound shines across the album. Heartfelt and honest vocal delivery comparable to Matt Berninger glides above intricate musical backdrops of driving drums, warming, intertwining guitar tones, sparkling synths and melodic hooks to create spellbinding, genre-bending soundscapes. Comparable to The National, Nick Cave and The War On Drugs, Thrillhouse boldly challenges the boundaries of contemporary Indie music with a post-punk flare and alternative undertones.

The new lead track ‘Big Tree’ is a perfect representation of the band's approach, blending melancholic beauty with intricate musical ideas and an underlying sense of driving energy.

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Ghost Party - Yankee Reaper.

"Yankee Reaper'' borrows its name from a Van Dyke Parks album, conveys a sense of nostalgia and loss through the guise of the surreal, and is treated with a vintage sounding gospel stomp arrangement, where barrelhouse piano, soaring pedal steel, fuzzed out guitar, and hand claps all create a ruckus, supported by the pulse of a finger picked acoustic guitar. Evocative of a psychedelic tent revival, "Yankee Reaper" suggests some sort of cosmic mashup between T.Rex and the White Album sessions. Ghost Party is joined by pedal steel master Will Van Horn, notable for his contributions to Khruangbin and Leon Bridges' latest collaborative EPs.

Ghost Party is the nostalgic, retro psych revival project of McCullough Ferguson. Mixing the ingredients of classic acts from the golden era of 60s psych and Americana music with modern interpreters as well a adding a bit of the subliminal sublime, spooky nature of the great beyond, we arrive at the Ghost Party.

Part garage rock, part cosmic country, part psych, Ghost Party came into existence in Houston Texas in 2020. As half of psychedelic rock tricksters Flower Graves, Ferguson has shared the stage with Roky Erickson, Night Beats, Holy Wave, and many more.

Ferguson is joined by Austin Sepulvado, Victor Sanchez, and Kendrick Ballard on bass, drums, and organ/keys/mellotron, respectively. They have released two singles in 2023, tracked and produced by Steve Christensen, notable for his production work with Khruangbin. Ghost Party will be releasing their first full length album this fall and will be appearing at River Revival alongside The Black Angels.

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Zach Berkman - Fast Romantics - Georgia Mooney - Bedolina

Photo - Nicole Mago

Zach Berkman - Alone.

Zach wrote "Alone" at the beginning of the end of a relationship, just when he knew he could feel something slipping away. "The verses describe a crumbling house as a metaphor for a crumbling love. The crooked pictures and fading marks of a thing untended," he says. "I thought about my grandparent’s old farmhouse where we made these recordings, left dusty and in disrepair for so long then restored and renewed, and I wondered whether you could do that with people.

I know that when I wrote the song, the chorus was meant to be sung to someone else. It’s all in the second person, but I hear and sing those lyrics now as directed to self. The repeats of the title are at once mantra, warning, and a facing of fear. If we can’t reconcile our differences, we will end up Alone."

A renowned songwriter whose compositions have been featured on ABC, NBC, The CW, Nickelodeon, The Travel Channel, and more, Zach had found himself at a crossroads artistically. He enlisted his inner circle to help him flesh out what would be his ninth LP, The Heart Of. Recorded over four days in his family's rejuvenated farmhouse in rural Michigan, these songs, which began as a quest for answers, became a beautiful celebration of the journey itself. It's a fantastic listen.

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Photo - Jen Squires

Fast Romantics - Smoke + Lightning.

Toronto duo Fast Romantics offer up another provocative new single and video, “Smoke + Lightning,” taken from their new album, Happiness + Euphoria, scheduled to be released September 29 via Postwar Records.

Fast Romantics never shy away from exploring the complicated or the contemplative. Kirty takes the lead on “Smoke + Lightning” with her ethereal vocals, and offers this insight on the track: "‘Smoke + Lightning’ was written during a time that I felt like I was being swallowed up in the most vivid dreams every night. It started to blur my waking hours with a twisted, colourful dream-life in my sleeping hours. This song is filled with stream-of-consciousness words and images that made up those dreams.”

Fast Romantics have built a reputation as tenacious musical adventurers, working their way up the mountain of classic pop songwriting, eager to carve out a piece of it for themselves. Matthew Angus and Kirty - partners on and off stage, are bringing F.R. fans, ten sprawling new songs, masterfully crafted and equally and intentionally split into two distinct sides this fall.

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Photo - Cybele Malinowski

Georgia Mooney - Full of Moon (Album).

Sydney-based polymath Georgia Mooney has just unveiled her stunning debut solo album ‘Full of Moon’. The record is a meticulously crafted sonic universe, the birth of which marks the stepping forward of a major talent. Carried by Mooney’s soaring ethereal voice over lush, cinematic soundscapes, Full of Moon features the singles ‘War Romance’, ‘Break It Off’, ‘I Am Not In A Hurry’, ‘Soothe You’ and ‘Nothing Is Forever. “Go look at your eyes, they’re full of moon” - Joni Mitchell

This album is for daydreaming. Lyrically, it yearns for connection, examining intimate human relationships, and their variations in perception and fantasy. When stories have many sides, they also have many truths. Musically, it’s a glorious and cinematic sonic fresco, holding beauty, musicality and romance in highest regard. It was recorded remotely over 18 of the strangest months in living memory, linking an all-star band based across three continents. The album grew outward in response to the physical world closing in; even the more intimate songs luxuriate in their drama.

Full of Moon’s songs were penned between All Our Exes Live in Texas tours, on solo writing trips all over the world, half on piano and half on a handmade dulcimer Mooney won in a raffle and subsequently fell in love with. Influences from every member of the Wainwright family, Joni Mitchell, the sophistication of the Great American Songbook and even classical composers sift through the songs seamlessly, alongside fuzzed out guitars and production that evokes the unsettling genius of Kate Bush. It was made during a period of global tragedy, as a way to find solace and catharsis in art and love. This record seeks someone to spend the end of the world with.

Georgia Mooney · Full of Moon

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Bedolina - Bedolina (Album).

Bedolina are thrilled to share their self-released debut album, Bedolina.  Developed at Miner Street Recordings, the album dissects society’s greatest imperfections and their effects on human nature, all with a crooked smile.

Philadelphia’s own Ken Gould is the heart and brain behind sleek new indie rockers, Bedolina. Debuting after previous singles “Yellow Boat” and “C’mon Fun”,  Bedolina continues to test the limits of conventional pop music. With jackhammer beats and smooth guitar solos that flow effervescently throughout, the record’s eight tracks each tell a unique story.

Altogether, Bedolina is an abstract musical cornucopia that channels the listener to ponder the faultiness of the digital age. Centerpieces of the album are “Cicadas” and “The Zoo”, with the former charging into a snapping drum beat with atmospheric sweeps in the background. About halfway through the track, Gould laments “This year’s gone so wrong”, allowing the listener to question what begins as a triumphant, happy-go-lucky sounding tune. Then there’s “The Zoo”, who’s purposely out of tune third chord creates an eerie sense of dissonance, further pulling the audience towards an unsettling atmosphere. Here, the crude message of human beings acting animalistic is put on display, building up to a shocking climax of shrieking and a nasal guitar tone that sounds like a hornet’s nest.

Another album highlight is the final track, “Taking the Canyon”, a saturated bass-heavy dance track that invokes classic shoegaze guitar motifs of My Bloody Valentine. The repeated refrain “Boots marching in a line” showcases the narrator’s disdain for fascist dystopia as it cascades its way into a final minute of drone-like noise. Ending the album on a just as surprising note as it begins, Bedolina show that although this is their debut, their musical gusto and expertise couldn’t be clearer.

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Lilac Haze - Arielle Silver - Survival Guide - Cara Hammond

Lilac Haze - Daisy Girl.

'Daisy Girl', is the stunning new single from dream pop artist Lilac Haze, released today, taken from her upcoming debut EP due later this year.

Lilac Haze is the project name for songwriter Katrina Swift. Greatly influenced by bands of the ‘80s/’90s, Swift draws inspiration from The Cure, All About Eve, Eva Cassidy and Fleetwood Mac, combining atmospheric and ethereal textures with a sense of nostalgic romance.

Daisy Girl, was written about pursuing new relationships and how fear can hold you back from experiencing something beautiful.

Discussing the single, Lilac Haze explains: “We all have a little “daisy girl” within us, giving courage to take a chance on something new and different. I wrote this song with the idea of pursuing new relationships with an open heart without letting fear paralyse an opportunity for happiness.  We had a great time experimenting with different guitar sounds for this track, and had fun creating this sweet treat.”

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Photo - Anabel DFlux

Arielle Silver - Ghost Ships.

Much of Arielle's music finds inspiration in the stories she's writing and reading as a literary writer and professor of creative writing at Antioch University, and in the various philosophies she explores as a yoga and meditation instructor at her own Bhavana Flow Studio in Los Angeles.

"A lot of songwriters start by writing the chorus, because from an audience standpoint, that's the part that should stick in the ears," says Arielle when describing her writing and creative processes. "But I typically begin with writing verses in order to dig into the sensory-perceiving portion of a story. I typically enter songwriting (and my other creative writing) by describing setting, character, place in order to present a situation."

A literary mind who cites inspiration in writers like Cheryl Strayed, Jane Austen, Jeanette Winterson, and Mary Oliver (to name a few), Arielle's lyrics read like moving self-contained stories, and are further elevated by her stunning instrumental and vocal performances. “Ghost Ships” is a perfect example of this approach. Inspired by Strayed’s Tiny Beautiful Things as well as Silver’s own flash essay "The Sleeping Porch", the song ruminates on the paths not taken to stunning effect.

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Survival Guide - Lady Neptune.

“Over the last few years, I've had a handful of dreams that involved my own death in various ways, and they've all been profound for me,” says Emily "Agent M" Whitehurst (former vocalist for punk standouts Tsunami Bomb) about the themes surrounding her upcoming fourth full-length Survival Guide album deathdreams (release date: October 19, 2023 via Double Helix Records). “It seemed natural to call the album deathdreams after this theme, and I like the opposing imagery and feelings those words can conjure. I like the way dreams can be thought of as soft, sweet, or strange, and death as dark and ominous. These are all descriptors that fit various songs on the album as well, so it seemed like the right title for the collection.”

"Lady Neptune" is the second single (following "Blood Perfume") off deathdreams and Em says the lyrics for the track are based on a dream she had where she had died, "It involved a chaotic battlefield where people were fighting and killing each other, and somehow, I knew that if I drowned myself, I’d come back to life and emerge from the water with the power to make the fighting stop."

A former Northern California native now residing in San Antonio, Texas, Emily is an electronic indie-pop artist with a background in punk. Her music obsession began with Green Day, leading her to a dreams-come-true life of punk rock as she traversed continents fronting the band Tsunami Bomb as “Agent M.” Over the years, her music gradually shifted toward synth pop in The Action Design, then further into the electronic indie-pop realm as Survival Guide. Her danceable tunes evoke a sonic birthday cake: alternating layers of Depeche Mode, Metric, Peter Gabriel, and Grimes, with vibrant melodies and vocals as the icing on top. “Music is crucial to my survival,” she says wholeheartedly, adding, “Survival Guide is one woman trying to shape her own place in this world as a musician."

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Cara Hammond - America.

Welsh Based Artist Cara Hammond has unveiled a new video for acclaimed new single 'America' and announced her Debut UK Tour which will be in November. Support on the tour comes from Rebecca Hurn.

'America' is Cara Hammond's second self produced single of 2023, following a string of successful festival appearences including Usk's Green Man Festival, 'America' has so far been supported by John Kennedy, Xposure on Radio X, Huw Stephens announced 'America' as his Track Of The Week on BBC Radio Wales, and Adam Walton on BBC Introducing in Wales.

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.

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Gold Dime - Vera Bloom - Ora Cogan

Gold Dime - Denise.

Gold Dime has just released "Denise," the propulsive second single from their upcoming LP, No More Blue Skies. Headed by Andrya Ambro (Talk Normal), the art-rock project's full album will be out October 20th via Liars' Angus Andrew's new imprint No Gold.

Featuring Ian Douglas-Moore on bass and Jeff Tobias on alto-sax, the instrumentation on "Denise" is deeply intricate, sharp, and rigorous. Along with the single comes a video co-directed by Joe Wakeman and Ambro herself. As unflinching as the music itself, the video shows Ambro sprinting fearlessly towards the beach and into cold water.

Regarding the music, Andrya Ambro says – “Denise” the song is about perseverance. Approaching most of my music from a cinematic perspective, Denise, the character, is on the bottom of things. With a weakened gaze, she just keeps going. No More Blue Skies? You gotta believe. The ZZ Top inspired repetitive rhythm section keeps Denise buoyant through her journey while the wailing sax by Jeff Tobias acts as her spiritual guide. As for the motivating drum beat– this was definitely under the influence of a charged live performance by Irreversible Entanglements drummer Tcheser Holmes."

Regarding the video, directors Andrya Ambro and Joe Wakeman say – "From the onset, “Denise” feels like an endurance test with its always forward momentum. So I thought I’d run. Performing this song live can be demanding on me physically."

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Vera Bloom - Eyes On You.

Emerging rock artist Vera Bloom, who holds nothing back in her addictive hybrid of alternative, grunge, and punk, has released her new single “Eyes On You” and announced her sophomore EP, It’s Me, will be out Friday, September 29th. The new track storms out of the gate on a galloping drumbeat and as the momentum increases, Vera sinks her teeth into a hypnotic hook punctuated by a promise, “my eyes are always on you.”

“‘Eyes On You’ is my dance song!” shares Vera. “It started out as a love song, which is something I don’t really write often, but it leans into the possessiveness of love. It visits the loss of excitement in a relationship where things get a bit settled in and mundane. I’ve noticed that I am afraid of this stage in a relationship, so I used this song to process that. Over time, the lyrics have revealed new meanings as they always do and I can find the loss of childhood innocence where even the touch of skin is fascinating, and acknowledging the demons and darker feelings we find in adulthood.

And, lastly, as I grow as an artist, I can see my desire to be seen and heard. My admission of wanting eyes on me and owning up to that. I wanted the video to be interesting, colorful, and also shine some light on the real rock and roll happening in the music. It’s about energy and making vibes through sound with other humans. This song, as with all my songs, really comes to life in a live band setting. I hope you like it!”

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Ora Cogan - Feel Life.

Experimental singer-songwriter Ora Cogan will release her new album Formless this Friday, August 25, an LP that finds beauty, absurdity, humor, and unlikely joy in the bleakest of times. Ahead of the album release, Cogen shares one final gift in the urgent “Feel Life,” a track that dances through the derangement of everyday turmoil and epic, life-changing loss.

Cormac Mac Diarmada from LANKUM plays strings on “Feel Life”, which speaks to diverse kinds of grief – losing loved ones to overdose and suicide; losing love where a connection can’t be sustained; seeking out ways to better understand love –, slashing, shimmering guitar both a foil for and echo of Cogan’s imploring, trance-like timbre. The track dances through the derangement of everyday turmoil and epic, life-changing loss. “I want you to feel life - I want love.”

“Feel Life” is the final part of a trilogy of videos by K. Bray Jorstad created for Formless. It follows “Dyed”, which revolves around a singular character who carries water as a symbol for the human heart, and “Cowgirl”,  a haunted acid trip of intense sorrow, deep solitude, and dark nights of the soul.

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