Today, American-born, London-based songwriter Joni shares "Still Young," a new single from her forthcoming debut album, Things I Left Behind, out April 11th via her twin homes of Keeled Scales (North America) and Hand In Hive (in the UK and the rest of the world).
"Still Young", Things I Left Behind's penultimate track, was also the song that kickstarted the process of writing the album and, as such, holds an important place on the record. A brooding four minutes, 'Still Young' is indicative of the charm that Joni exudes: the confessional lyrics, a weary heart, but elevated by an endearing and compelling sense of pop nous that shimmers throughout.
"I originally wrote this song for my little sister who was going through a rough patch," Joni explains, "but then somewhere down the line she got her life together and things were kind of unraveling for me... I remember being on tour and thinking that the perspective had shifted and I was really just singing the song to myself. I think it’s good to be in touch with younger versions of yourself and to carry them with you as you move through life."
When Joni says that “pain is the price you pay for loving someone” it’s coming from a place of deep experience. Having relocated to London from LA with her long-term partner, and closest musical collaborator, the singer-songwriter suddenly found herself thrust into a deeply unsettling break-up, one that left her isolated in a brand new country, and also one that pulled back the curtain on a host of unhealthy patterns she had become accustomed to within the relationship. ============================================================================
Photo - Gabrielle Mary
Vera Ellen - sangria (demo).
2024 was a big year for rising Aotearoa songstress, Vera Ellen. The year found her awarded the coveted Taite Music Prize for her 2023 album ‘Ideal Home Noise’, touring 14 dates across mainland China, and flying through 10 sold-out arena shows around Australia with Crowded House… all while hard at work in the studio with longtime producer and collaborator Ben Lemi, working on what’s to come.
Today Vera shares delicate forbidden-love-anthem ‘sangria (demo)’, A fan-favourite from recent sunny festival sets at Laneway Festival and Twisted Frequency. This track is performed, recorded and mixed by Vera herself, and in keeping with its DIY essence, it’s paired with a self-edited music video.
The video is composed of lo-fi footage captured in earlier days of summer; commemorating time spent on a national tour with fellow Flying Nun alumni Voom and Reb Fountain, as well as being on the road with Aotearoa icons Crowded House, playing to their masses of Australian fans at iconic venues such as the Sydney Opera House.
About the song Vera shares “‘Sangria’ is an ode to all the romantic halfwits who know about wanting something they shouldn't have. The intoxicating mix of alcohol and the familiar scent of an old lover. Saying 'to hell with it!' and doing the thing you mustn't in the name of a particularly inviting moon.”
Hannah Rose Platt is back with the brand new track “The Edinburgh Seven”. Showcasing the darker, grittier underbelly of her upcoming album ‘Fragile Creatures’ (coming 25 April), the visceral new single can be streamed on all services now. As she prepares for a major breakthrough with her medical-themed new album, this fascinating latest excerpt finds Hannah examining the story of the “The Edinburgh Seven”.
The first group of matriculated undergraduate female students at any British university, The Edinburgh Seven studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh back in 1869. Though pioneering for their time, they were prevented from graduating and qualifying as doctors because of their gender - with an angry mob even gathering at the Surgeons’ Hall the following year to prevent them from sitting their anatomy exam. Delving into this turbulent chapter of history with a song of rage and resistance, Hannah echoes the period with a raw, pulsating piece of music. Of “The Edinburgh Seven”, Hannah says:
"Writing “The Edinburgh Seven” was my way of channeling the untold, fierce story of these incredible women into something that feels raw, alive, and rebellious. I wanted to capture their defiance in a sound that’s gritty and visceral—imagine Tarantino making a film about their journey, marching through a hostile crowd of men throwing dirt and hurling insults as they made their way down Nicholson Street to sit their anatomy exam. The song is swampy rock with a bite, reflecting their fight for a place in medicine when society tried to shut them out. In writing this, I wanted to give them a voice, honor their courage, and bring their story into the modern world with all the grit, determination, and swagger it deserves."
Produced by Ed Harcourt, “The Edinburgh Seven” is a gritty, swampy rock anthem that brings the rebellious spirit of the first female medical graduates to life and channels the bold, trailblazing energy of these pioneering women who broke down barriers in 19th-century Scotland. Infusing a Tarantino-esque cinematic flair colliding via the defiance of these doctors, the resultant track is a powerful celebration of breaking through glass ceilings, delivered with swagger, grit, and unapologetic strength. ============================================================================
Photo - Argiris Liosis
Kerala Dust - Bell.
Kerala Dust have just shared a brand new track, "Bell", a hypnotic blend of blues, psychedelic rock, and techno – it marks their first new music since their last album, Violet Drive.
Talking about "Bell" which lingers like a hazy memory - cinematic, pulsing, and impossible to shake - Kerala Dust said: "This song came to us in fragments over a couple of recording sessions. Echoes of the blues from a week of tape recording in Austin, Tx, it’s about the way we bury parts of ourselves – memories, emotions – only to find them resurfacing when we least expect."
"Bell" is a clear statement of Kerala Dust’s evolution and musically signposts where they’re heading blending art rock, electronica, Americana, desert blues while harnessing dance floor energy.
Musician / producer, Kedr Livanskiy (Yana Kedrina) releases her fourth studio album this weekend via 2MR. On Myrtus Myth, she draws on mythologies both public and personal to craft an expansive experimental pop album and Dante-esque journey through the self.
"Working on an album is an exploration of yourself. Making a decision to write an album is like an invitation to wake up; an invitation to get to know yourself, to find out who you are and what truly excites you - through sound. This is a discipline of the spirit, cleansing the channels through which inspiration enters the blood.
The last couple of years have been incredibly difficult for many people on earth, and for me in particular, a lot has changed. This album is a reflection on painful topics through the prism of the mythical, dreamlike and otherworldly. But this work itself, for me as a person, is an escape from reality into the world of the nooks and crannies of the subconscious, dreams, the transcendental and fantastic.
The music in this album is inspired not only by life itself and musical references, but in many ways by literature and literary images, myths, and poetic symbols. All together it forms an Odyssey - the hero's journey. The album is imbued with the idea of a deep kinship of the soul with the universe, the awareness of all-unity, the search for a place for a person in the cosmic and personal. Love as salvation." - Kedr Livanskiy
This is the new studio album from Zion Train which includes their hit single ‘Move To Love’ and is released on vinyl LP and digital formats. This album is produced by Neil Perch in the Alte Ziegelei studio and features the world reknowned Zion Train brass section along with vocals from Zion Train singer ‘Cara’ and the award winning poet Roger Robinson.
Featured on several tracks is Paolo Baldini playing guitars and bass guitar alongside veteran musicians – Trinny Fingers, Blacka Wilson, Dreada One and Professor Skank who hails from Crete.
For this album Zion Train return to their roots with copious amounts of analogue Dub mixing performed by Perch on his TAC Scorpion vintage mixing desk. With mastering at the Pressure Mastering, and artwork by the highly acclaimed anarchist artist Marko Gin from Croatia, this album presents Zion Train at their creative, anarchic best.
Colin Buchanan’s August 2024 Matt Fell-produced album “Memory Town” has achieved and exceeded the acclaimed singer-songwriter’s expectations for what has been his first country album in a decade.
“I’ve never stopped writing songs for my own projects, I just hadn’t got around to recording them. When Memory Town finally happened, I thought of it as a sort of re-introduction of Colin Buchanan the country artist to fans and to the industry”. The album was number 1 on the Australian Country ARIA album chart. What I Love About Country and The Bush Comes Back were #1 singles. Airplay was widespread, reviews were glowing. News of 5 Golden Guitar nominations capped off a remarkable 2024.
Enter Memory Town - Bonus 2025 Golden Guitar Edition. The digital version of the album receives three additional tracks; River Town, King With Coal Dust On His Hands and In Real Life.
River Song is the only co-write on Memory Town,” explains Colin. “It’s a song about the power of music to set us free - something we all cherished in those years of shutdown. I wrote it with James Gillard, my long-time musical collaborator. He has a CV as long as your arm - he’s a top producer, bass player, backing vocalist and guitarist.” The song reveals something of how the vivid lyrics of Colin’s songs hold a power to transport even their own writer in times of isolation and confinement.
Caroline Strickland is an alternative rock musician out of Brooklyn, New York. She is carrying on the tradition of rock champions PJ Harvey and Liz Phair, compared often to modern indie darlings like Lucy Dacus, Blondshell, Sharon Van Etten, and Devon Ross.
Her first EP “Watch” came out in 2023, released to critical acclaim. She has played live shows up and down the East Coast, with a signature duo set up that enthralls even the most timid live audience. Strickland’s music revolves around themes of self actualization and realization, analyzing the tension between our arrogance and tenderness, how we fall in love and how we let go.
Driving guitar and smoked out vocals are highlighted with the occasional one-string lick or tap on the piano, a sparse style that somehow fills the void. “Loving You Right” dropped August 30th, 2024 and was the lead single off the brand new five track swan song “Martha’s Calling.” This fabulous EP is released on Beacon, New York based independent label Good Eye Records.
AJ is about to release his sixth album entitled Phasedrift. With a slightly more organic approach to production, these songs showcase the diverse palette that he is known for, while venturing into sonic territory that signifies drifting towards a new musical identity. The first single Thunderclouds was released on Feb 14th, 2025 (Engineering and mixing by Doug McBride (Gravity Studios) and Mastered by Greg Calbi and Steve Fallone at Sterling Sound). His previous releases are Manifestations, Ultramarine, Resistor, the Earth and Shoal EP, and Daughter Product (Fatigue), which have all garnered critical acclaim.
AJ's style is not easy to classify, but his progressively acoustic tendencies tend to dominate his compositions. His rhythmic, expressive and emotive delivery gets peppered with experimental colors, and an infusion of soulfulness. He draws comparisons to Pete Townshend, Cat Stevens, Nick Drake, and Bob Mould, however he delivers his own unique hybrid sound, blending multiple genres into a cohesive and modern sensibility that sounds like "AJ".
The Franco-British band, Dustaphonics, proudly announces the release of their fifth album, Gasolina today, through KingAling Production London. With 12 tracks that dance through the realms of Rock , Pop Rock, Surf, and Garage Soul, Gasolina promises to be a captivating addition to the band's eclectic discography.
About the Album: Gasolina is not just an album; it's an experience where the raw energy of rock 'n' roll meets contemporary flair. Led by the charismatic Yvan Serrano, Dustaphonics have crafted a sound that pays homage to the roots of rock while exploring new musical territories. The album features collaborations with renowned artists like Lisa Kekaula and Bob Vennum of The Bellrays, and psychobilly legend Mark Robertson of The Meteors, adding diverse and dynamic layers to the tracks.
The Band: Founded in London in 2008 by guitarist, producer, and composer Yvan Serrano (also known as DJ Healer Selecta), Dustaphonics has always been about the fusion of various musical influences. Their sound, a cocktail of rock 'n' roll, rhythm and blues, surf rock, garage rock, and soul, has captivated audiences worldwide. Noted for their dynamic live performances, the band continues to blend the old with the new, making Gasolina a testament to their evolving musical journey. ============================================================================
Photo - Darko Todorovic
Slow Burn Drifters - Golden (Album).
Singer-guitarist Ray Vale of Slow Burn Drifters selected their tantalizing band name “for what someone’s about to hear,” exemplifying his dark, dreamy, elegiacally timeless vocals and guitars. He’s joined by the resplendent piano playing of Violet Booth on their album Golden, out today March 7th, 2025. Vale’s dramatic and passionate wide-screen vocals and songs and playing will please devoted fans of artists like Nick Drake and Scott Walker, and of the kind of music that haunts the frames of David Lynch films.
Vale grew up in Northern NJ looking at the Manhattan skyline, and now he’s living in Austria looking at a very different boundary between earth and sky. Vale has written all the songs for Golden, the debut full-length for Slow Burn Drifters, but this is Vale’s 12th album. “In comparison to the other records I’ve put out, this one is more personal; it’s also more melodic,” Vale reveals. “Additionally, Violet’s piano plays a key role in most songs, whereas it was more textural and decorative in the past.”
The jouissance behind the band name is how it resonates with the beauty and terror of literature, cinema, and other, esoteric forms of expression. “On top of that, when I look around, it seems like the average attention span is shrinking by the hour,” Vale says. “A film, book, or song that's a ‘slow burn’ is on the verge of extinction, but it's exactly what we cherish: things that need to be absorbed and lived in to be understood: Romance, tragedy, and transformation …”
As for what the ten-song cycle Golden is about, Vale explains “I heard an interview once where someone was asked about eternity,” Vale says. “I think it might've been Joseph Campbell, and he said something like, ‘Eternity isn't a long time; it's what stands outside of time.’ That always stuck with me—the album title refers to that state of being, or a part of us that remains unchanged by time and moves past the appearance of separateness, like sunrise and sunset, it's a song about pain and loss, hope, or anything in between, that's the golden prism through which the album's songs are being viewed.”
Kensie Coppin’s new single “Texas in Me” is smokin' hot! Kensie’s talent and love for her native state is deep seated in this song. She’s a CMA of Texas Artist of the Year and she penned Kin Faux’s #1 single “My Kind of Weathered”. With “Texas in Me” Kensie cuts loose with her own vocal in her own song and reminds us why we love our Texas Country music!
Kensie Coppin is a powerhouse singer and songwriter born and raised in Texas. Her first Grand Ole Opry performances were at ages 11 & 12. While living in Nashville, Kensie spent her time writing with award winning songwriters and building a catalog of songs of her own that are being recorded by other up and coming artists. Now back in Texas, Kensie just received the #1 song in Texas for 3 weeks in a row across 3 different charts performed by Kin Faux.
Kensie also won CMA of Texas Artist Of The Year for 2022. Kensie has her own music out and continues to release new music alongside her career of performing, touring, recording and writing songs for herself and other artists. Kensie has many aspirations, and has accomplished much in her career thus far. She has been her own boss for over a decade, and fights for the independent artist and songwriter. She continues to expand her horizons, including touring internationally. Co-writers include: D. Vincent Williams, James LeBlanc, Phillip White, Curly Putnam, Dale Dodson, Jeff Silvey, Bernie Nelson, Lance Carpenter, Big Vinny, Barrett Baber, Helene Cronin, Scott Sean White, Emma Zinck, Blue Foley, Trick Savage & more.
Susto Stringband will release their debut album, Susto Stringband: Volume 1, on March 28, 2025 via New West Records. The 9-track set was produced by Ryan Stigmon and recorded at Mitch Easter’s Fidelitorium Recordings in Kernersville, NC. The debut album is a collaborative work between Justin Osborne, frontman of the acclaimed rock outfit Susto, and the Asheville-based Americana band Holler Choir. It features nine of Osborne’s ballads, refrains, and heart wrenching confessions, now drenched in the singular Appalachian sound of Holler Choir’s verdant harmonies and stringed arrangements.
Seven Susto staples have been reworked with bluegrass arrangements in Holler Choir’s company alongside 2 new compositions. Osborne’s introspective musings on love, devastating loss, mortality, and transcendence are steeped in the emotive punch of traditional string band sound. Susto Stringband presents an Arcadia like vision of pastoralism and harmony with nature, but with Osborne’s lyrics, there are landmines to dodge and mountains to climb.
Susto’s Justin Osborne says, “This is the first song that I’ve ever written with the specific intent of recording it as a stringband. In the last several years I’ve navigated a lot of major changes in my life, and the most profound of those has been becoming a parent. As a touring musician, I am always coming and going, and it can be tough to balance work and family life. I wrote this song for my daughter (who was 3 at the time) as a message she could reflect on later in life. Now, as a father of 2, I really think of both of my kids when I sing this song, and it serves as a way for me to feel close to them every time I sing it. It’s a promise from me to them, that although I may be gone often, I’m always there for them and they will never lose my deep love for them.”
.jpg)
