Lily Monaghan - Ariel Bui

Lily Monaghan - Sleeping Alone.

With delicately plucked acoustic guitar and a vocal performance as pure and soulful as a Prairie sunrise, Lily Monaghan’s debut single “Sleeping Alone” heralds the arrival of a compelling new voice on the Canadian roots music scene. Based in Edmonton, Alberta, Lily has been building up to the release of her first EP, Introspection, in early 2023 by crafting songs such as “Sleeping Alone” in a manner that blurs the lines between folk, country, soul and pop. Working closely with producer Mark Maclure, with whom she was enrolled in MacEwan University’s music program, Lily experimented with several different musical approaches before finding the natural balance that brought out the most in her songwriting.

“I grew up listening to, practicing, and studying all types of music and I was really confused for the longest time about what genre I should commit to because I loved too many,” Lily says. “Even some of the first drafts of the tunes on this EP began as completely Pop-based because I believed audiences would like that the best. It took a lot of introspection, and it wasn’t until recently that I realized that Roots and Folk-inspired music is what feeds my soul and speaks to me the loudest, and the songs on this project are a reflection of that. I understand now that my versatility for other genres isn’t a weakness but a strength, and I intend to allow my knowledge for all styles of music to support me by bleeding into my writing and performing rather than setting me back by believing I must only choose one.”

Such self-awareness is certainly uncommon in such a young artist, and that’s reflected in Lily’s lyrics as well. On “Sleeping Alone,” a Taylor Swift-level breakup song, Lily sings, “I’m not a drinker but pour me a stiff one / I’m stuck in the ringer and no money’s enough / To look a dead man in the eyes before shooting him down.”

Other songs that will be on Introspection equally demonstrate Lily’s wise-beyond-her-years songwriting ability, the result of the influence that many of her favourite artists have had on her. “The songwriters that inspire me the most are those who make it evident that the craft is precious to them,” she says. “People like Gord Downie, Stevie Nicks and Florence Welch made a point to be eloquent and expressive through the use of literary devices and storytelling. Additionally, as a female vocalist I am also hugely inspired by strong and powerful female artists. Women such as Adele, Brittany Howard, Maggie Rogers and Miley Cyrus each have such different strengths and styles but they also set good examples on allowing yourself to musically evolve, grow, and experiment without limitations.”

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

Ariel Bui - Sixteen.

Nashville based singer / songwriter Ariel Bui has released “Sixteen”, the lead single from her forthcoming new album Real & Fantasy. The music of Ariel Bui, who Ann Powers of NPR Music once described as "a psychedelic cowgirl cool rockabilly queen”, pulls from her wide ranging musical background as a performer and music educator, blending elements of indie rock, country, soul, and psych rock into a distinct sound that should instantly appeal to fans of artists like Angel Olsen and Courtney Barnett. This album reunites Ariel with Grammy-nominated producer Andrija Tokic (Alabama Shakes, Hurray for the Riff Raff), with the entire new LP recorded at his Nashville studio, The Bomb Shelter.

“Sixteen” starts as a more straightforward coming of age indie rock song about “being sixteen years old, riding in the backs of cars and going to the beach, having crushes and first loves'', but that easy-going atmosphere acts as the trojan horse for the song’s undercurrent of deeper message. The opening line of the song, “I was just sixteen, you know what I mean,” is a play on the classic Beatles line, “She was just seventeen, you know what I mean”, a subtle but powerful tweak in perspective that subverts the innuendo of that Beatles lyric by placing it in a woman’s perspective, during the #metoo era no less.

The song’s chorus, centered around the line "I may be just a little girl / I have something to say", speaks both to the specific experience this song draws on of being a teenager first trying to earn respect in a male-dominated industry, and also a response to the way girls of all ages are oppressed or abused by men and society. “I was channeling my experiences of growing up a girl in a male-dominated scene and then going on to empower girls through music education at my music school Melodia Studio and Southern Girls Rock’n’Roll Camp,” Ariel says. You can really hear the way that today's teens and young women who “have something to say'' really inspired and re-invigorated Ariel. “Sixteen”, the opening track of Real & Fantasy, was the first song Ariel wrote for the album, and the track is uplifted by that female empowerment at its center, in a time when women's and humans' rights are as important as ever.

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

Carleton Stone - Iceblynk - Rosanne Baker Thornley

Carleton Stone - Hard Day's Work.

There’s a fantasy about show business that we’ve been fed since performers started offering up their hearts on stage for public consumption. The glamour, the jet-setting, and the parties all get played up over the reality of the whole thing: a career that seeps into your real life and can dismantle your relationships, the exhaustion of the road, and more than a few hangovers. On his third solo album, the self-produced Papercut—armed with a couple lifetimes of songwriting and touring in his rear view mirror—Carleton Stone gets honest about the toll of devotion to craft while illustrating his mastery of it. Through sax-blasted Americana, power-pop laced with ‘80s synth, and dreamy, sophisticated pop melodies, the Nova Scotia songwriter blurs genres to explore a tumultuous few years and some of the scariest questions someone can ask: what the hell have I done? What if I’d gone down some other path?

“And what are some of the things that you lose when you decide to live your life like this?” Stone says. “There are parts of it where you experience the highest highs, things that feel so rare, you know—performing songs you wrote in front of sold-out audiences all the time or shit like that. I don’t take any of it for granted. But there are sacrifices, too: your relationships with your family and your friends and significant others can suffer, and you’re always on the road. There’s collateral damage, and I was thinking a lot about that, and about things that might’ve been.”

The result is Stone’s strongest and most candid songwriting to date, and finds him plumbing the depths of those feelings without succumbing to despair, gracefully switching between genuine moments of melancholy, anger, hope, self-deprecating humour, regret, anxiety, and bliss.

You don’t make music for this long without making some talented friends, and along with the aforementioned players, Papercut also features Liam Jaeger (bass), Howie Beck (percussion), Kevin Fox (cello), Tom Moffett (trumpet), Julian Nalli (saxophone), Mel Stone (vocals), and Erin Costelo (vocals). It was engineered by Stone himself, Darren McGill, and Aaron Goldstein at Union Sound (Toronto, ON), Gold Standard Recorders (Toronto), and The Loft (Cape Breton, NS), and mixed by Howie Beck. The album also spotlights some of Nova Scotia’s most compelling talent in its co-writing credits, which include Breagh Isabel, Leanne Hoffman, Dave Sampson, Dylan Guthro, and Kayleigh O’Connor.

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

Iceblynk - Tragic.

Queens, NY-based trio, Iceblynk, have announced their debut, self-titled EP will be released on October 21, 2022 via A Secret Brand. To celebrate the announcement, the band has shared their lead single “Tragic.” “Tragic” is a nostalgic indie-pop tune that expertly showcases singer Andrea Lynn’s cheery vocals as well as the instrumental prowess of Martin and James Newman.

“The EP is titled ‘Iceblynk,’” shares co-founder Martin Newman. “It’s our introduction to the world and represents who we are in the present and hints to where we’re headed in the future and what to expect from our full-length next year. It’s also an introduction to the name change.”

“We chose to release ‘Tragic’ as the introduction to our EP as its driving force and evolving richness of tightly interwoven guitars lock in the listener from the start,” adds vocalist Andrea Lynn. “While the vocal melody has a light and bright feel, the lyrics hint at a growing sense of despair/dissolution, creating a playful dissonance.”

“Production-wise, ‘Tragic’ began as a clean, jangly-pop song with a slightly quirky chord progression,” Newman continues. “But as the recording process went on and our pandemic spending increased, we added Gamechanger’s Bigsby pedal and Mastro Valvola’s Lysergic Energy Module to the mix, and the guitars warped into something more along the lines of My Bloody Valentine crossed with Emma from Lush, which gave the song more of its edge and dreamy textures. By chance theremin extraordinaire Pamelia Stickney happened to be in town while we were recording, so to break up the onslaught of guitars, we had her lay down a solo during the bridge.”

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

Rosanne Baker Thornley - Sorry I'm Late.

“The narrative that runs through this album is – life and the pieces of that journey. The insights. The moments of awe. The losses. The lessons. The determination to continue on” says Rosanne Baker Thornley. ”My inspiration comes from everywhere. From experiences and of people both good and bad. From the simplicities that live between the complexities, I have an inherent want to capture those moments and describe them.” So began a new creative journey for Thornley, and in this journey, a quiet and extraordinary shift occurred; fuelled by the magnetic musical pull that she has fed for years.

Based in Toronto, Thornley has been evolving and expanding her relationship with music (and writing) for quite some time. With her new album, Sorry I’m Late, she further delves into her craft, cultivating songs from an intensely personal space. “As my songwriting years have evolved, my writing is more grounded in writing what I know. In searching my heart and writing that. To be honest. To be vulnerable. To be brave.“ She has worked to distill those emotions that are experienced across generations, and she sheds light on the experiences and stories that have the ability to be profoundly moving. “There’s prescience in what I do. I’ve written many songs on the premise of what I thought I was writing about only to find days, months, sometimes years later that I wrote the song from the future. And though I don’t yet fully grasp the how of that, I simply let myself go with where it takes me and write it all down.” It is precisely those joys, discomforts, and authenticities that accompany vulnerability – and she has channeled those feelings into an expansive and intimate collection of songs.

Emerging on the Canadian music scene years ago, Thornley established herself as the lead vocalist and principal songwriter for ‘Daystar’, ‘Niteskool’ and ‘Bakersmith’, a critically acclaimed album “Courage” via Sony Music – as well as through repeat tours of North America and Europe – garnering both national and international media attention. From her base in Toronto, she established her reputation one show at a time, and had audiences connecting to her stories. Over the past few years, Thornley has continued to hone in on her exceptionally gifted writing talents by working with (and co-writing on) a myriad of artists albums, EPs and standalone singles. With brand new music on the horizon, Thornley has her sights on reconnecting with fans and igniting a renewed interest in her music.

 

Rosanne Baker Thornley (RBT) · Sorry I'm Late

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

Gracie Jean - Kim Ware and the Good Graces - Marek Kubala - Well Wisher

Gracie Jean - I Don't Wanna Sing The Blues Anymore.

Delving deep into a world of intricate storytelling and a heart beautifully aware of the feelings and emotions experienced by the human race, Australia’s up and coming alt-country/folk artist, Gracie Jean debuts her powerful album, ‘Romance Is Bad’, released this week.

Compared to artists such as Taylor Swift, Kacey Musgraves, Isobel Knight and Holli Col, Gracie Jean shares raw, honest and melancholic lyrics, fused with uplifting and inspiring melodies and harmonies, to paint a holistic picture of human emotion through her 9 track, ‘sad girl starter kit’ album, ‘Romance Is Bad’.

“I really wanted to convey the idea that it’s okay to feel sad, and to voice that sadness. I think often people tend to try and avoid all sad feelings. We put on masks and we ‘switch off’ the sadness when we interact with one another. I just wanted to make an album on songs where I said exactly what was on my mind. I want these songs to inspire vulnerability in others.” Gracie Jean.

Produced and mixed by Matt Wykniet in Nauti Studios (Standmore) and Mastered by Harvey O’Sullivan at Studio 303, the collection of 9 songs were written by Gracie Jean as a way of processing the feelings of sadness that she had been experiencing through her own experience of clinical depression and the emotions associated with the challenges of her mother’s 6 year journey of chronic heart failure and her parent’s marriage breakdown and her own relationship breakdowns.

“Sometimes life is just hard, and you must make a choice, sink or swim. So far, I’ve chosen to swim every single time. My songs are inspired by all the people I know who must carry so much on their shoulders every day, and who aren’t afraid to be vulnerable, and to share their struggles with people who love them. I would love to see a world where in our communities or families we carry one another’s burdens and aren’t afraid to be vulnerable and ask for help.” Gracie Jean.

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

Kim Ware and the Good Graces - Ready.

Since forming in 2006, Kim Ware and the Good Graces have toured the country, performed at countless festivals (including LEAF, where Ware was a finalist in the 2019 NewSong Singer-Songwriter Competition), and shared stages with a long list of renowned artists including Indigo Girls, Sierra Ferrell, Granville Automatic, and The Old Ceremony. She has been compared to artists like Neko Case, Drive-By Truckers, Phoebe Bridgers, and the Weepies, and has cultivated a dedicated fan base over the course of the last 15 years.

Of course, during the pandemic, her tour dates began to dry up just like every other musician on the planet. Instead of taking a break from playing, Ware simply changed the format by creating the Kimono My House Virtual Concert series with her friend Andy Gish. It began as a weekly virtual concert played from her living room, but it morphed into something that she never expected.

Launched on March 13, 2020, the intention was to provide a space where they could connect with their fellow musicians and play shows for each other using Facebook Live amid the peak of Covid quarantines and lockdowns. Two years later, it’s grown to encompass much more, with nearly 8,000 active members from all over the world. Thanks to its organic and welcoming DIY feel, KMH has become a “virtual venue” of sorts for musicians and music fans to continue to experience a real connection with each other, regardless of their physical locations. Since its inception, the group has hosted over 1200 performances. The project culminated in March 2022 with the Kimono My House Music Festival being held in Atlanta-area venues 529, Star Bar, and Waller’s Coffee Shop. It featured over 60  musicians performing in total over the course of four nights.

Playing almost weekly for two years with a built-in test audience, Ware was essentially able to live-workshop her upcoming album — her strongest collection of songs to date. Mixing the kind of old-school ‘90s indie rock that college radio was built on with the sturdy songwriting of modern Americana, Ware and her ever-shifting collective the Good Graces return with their sixth album, Ready, produced by Jerry Kee (Superchunk, Polvo, Archers of Loaf).

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

Marek Kubala - Godspeed.

Marek has produced his best work yet, creating a unique emotive dream-pop soundscape, with ethereal vocals, hypnotic synths, and spacey guitars, which builds to a heartstring-tugging climax.

Co-produced by Andrea Gorgerino (JBAG, Kitsune Records), Marek was inspired to write Godspeed after reading acclaimed novel 'The Luminaries' by Eleanor Catton about the early entrepreneurs who travelled thousands of miles to New Zealand over the ocean to seek their fortune in the gold rush - Godspeed evokes the feelings of exhilaration, risk and danger of setting out on a long uncertain journey.

Hailing from Huddersfield, Marek has received critical acclaim with previous releases, including on Outpost and EMI Publishing (KPM), and featured on BBC Introducing, Mystic Sons, CLOUT, Americana UK, Amazing Radio, and elsewhere.

432Hz Social Club · PREMIERE | Marek Kubala - Godspeed [FBP Records] 2022

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

Well Wisher - Miserable.

That Weight, the latest album from New Jersey group Well Wisher, is a cathartic burst of catchy, feverish punk rock that addresses the heaviness of personal trauma without being suffocated by its gravity. 

After the release of 2018’s This Is Fine, front leader and Asbury Park DIY mainstay Natalie Newbold found herself writing solemn acoustic songs that strayed far from the band’s debut venture into pop-punk finery. “It was a really weird period of time where I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my songwriting,” Newbold says about the beginning stages of the sophomore record. “I was in this darker headspace of writing sad, slow songs.” After convening with her bandmates Lynsey Vandenberg, Matt Viani, and Lucas Dalakian, she realized this new direction wasn’t working. Lots of reflection and rewriting resulted in a renewed sense of the band’s identity and sound.

“It was 2020. There was so much time to reflect, nothing's going on and I'm angry,” she laughs at the obvious emotion brought about by the devastating two years. “A lot of social climate stuff, the fact that I quit my day job to pursue music fully,” she adds about becoming a touring bassist for alt-rock vets The Front Bottoms, “and then the pandemic happened. All these events contributed to a more raw and emotional record. It resonated with all of us.”

The twelve tracks on That Weight are a confluence of the group’s uncentered rock influences including The Breeders and Pixies, in addition to Newbold’s somber acoustic favorites such as Elliott Smith and Phoebe Brigders. “We were going for more of an In Utero/Pinkerton kind of thing. It's a little messy and maybe not always the proper decision in terms of production.” Close friend and producer, Erik Kase Romero’s warehouse studio proved to be the perfect environment for experimentation. Not only did the studio serve as a safe and creative space for the band, the natural reverb of the room was uniquely showcased on nearly every track. Opener “Need You Around” features distracting backing vocals that mimic intrusive thoughts as the song swings between romance and desperation. Elsewhere, punchy pop-punk signatures convey the urgency of these songs—the untethered drums bashing on “Panic,” blistering guitar work on “That Weight,” and the serrated guitar riffs of “Do Better.”

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

Skinny Lister - Triggers & Slips - Mary Anne's Solar Rig - Ocean Valley

BEEHIVE CANDY ARE TAKING A SHORT BREAK NOW - WE SHOULD BE BACK THIS COMING WEEKEND. In the meantime enjoy today's new round up! 

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

Skinny Lister - Embers.

Before they hit the road this Autumn, Skinny Lister, are releasing a new video for “Embers.” The band who are touring the UK and Europe in support of their acclaimed fifth album ‘A Matter of Life & Love’, invite you to bask in one of its most heart-warming moments.

A strident example of the Skinnies’ feel-good, shanty-folk at its very finest, “Embers” also embodies many of the core themes that course through their latest album. As Dan Heptinstall explains:

“”Embers” is a song about friendship. The simple joy we feel in the warmth of good company. It also raises a glass, and enjoys a moment of reflection, to those friends we may have lost along the way. A celebration of the here and now but with a healthy dose of nostalgia.”

Echoing the sentiments of the song, the video is accompanied by an official video filmed by The Film Smith. Capturing a family affair with fires and music, it sees Skinny Lister revelling in good times with friend and folk legend Roger Wilson (who plays fiddle on the recording), plus the Dunton Bassett Folk Club, a group of musicians who happen to feature a certain special guest…

“The video was a joy to shoot. We were blessed with the fine company of Dunton Bassett Folk Club musicians, of which Party George (Max and Lorna’s dad) is one. He’s been attending the weekly Leicestershire folk night for over 30 years, and long may he continue to do so. It was great to hang out with these excellent folk around the fire, have a few drinks and play a bunch of tunes. Heart warming stuff!”

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

Triggers & Slips - What Do You Feed Your Darkness (Album).

Existing somewhere between country, folk, and roots rock, Triggers & Slips have been making music blurring the lines of genre for over a decade. Breaking these rules and proverbial boundaries has resulted in a fiercely-loyal following akin to other genre-benders like Lucero and Frank Turner in their hometown of Salt Lake City.  With their 2012 debut EP and two albums under their belt, the band is now set to share their most fully-formed and emotionally-mature work to date, What Do You Feed Your Darkness?

While the music is unabashedly honky-tonk in its origins – rife with pedal steel, twangy electric/acoustic guitar work, and lead singer/songwriter Morgan Snow’s country drawl that belies his roots as a sixth-generation Utah native – the songs themselves subvert classic country storylines of love, loss, and substance abuse by viewing them through a gritty, real-world lens. Snow has lived every line and every phrase within.

The emotional weight of the album is right there in the title — What Do You Feed Your Darkness? — a moniker borne from Snow's turning inward after a lifetime of battling his own demons, going through a divorce, and his experiences as a social worker in the mental health field.

"I've done my best to dance around it in my music," he says of his profession. "But I think I'm at that point where it's so much a part of my story and it comes through in my songwriting...it's hard to avoid. It's that moment of 'something's speaking to you in this realm; you should follow it.’

“I don't want to come across like I've got it all figured out," he adds, noting that his profession doesn't mean he's a perfect being. "I'm also a part of this journey we call life, and this record is a pretty good, honest snapshot of my struggles over the last five or six years."

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

Photo by Ebba G Ågren

Mary Anne's Solar Rig - Summer Girl.

Rama Lama Records proudly welcomes long time favourites Mary Anne’s Polar Rig to the family! “MAPR” are a band we have followed since the debut single ‘Surfaced’ was released in 2018, a song we still regularly play on our gig nights. The debut album ‘Makes You Happy’ was released in 2021 and continued to build their signature style somewhere in between slacker rock and fuzz pop. Mary Anne’s Polar Rig are now back with the new single and video ‘Summer Girl’.

Mary Anne’s Polar Rig are a duo who’s a part of a new generation of bands from Malmö where noisy feedback loops and distorted solos are as important as cute melodies and dancy chord progressions. Paired with a careless attitude á la Pavement but with a more explosive sound and an extremely energetic live performance they create a unique combination of slacker rock and fuzz pop which is both catchy and cocky at the same time. Live they are joined by 3 more band members who adds extra depth to their sound.

In this melodic guitar inferno Mary Anne’s Polar Rig go on a cruise that will remind you of some classic 90’s bands like Weezer and The Breeders. In a leather racing suit Fast Malin Hofvander embodies the anti summer girl, sweating on the beach, while Filthy Harald Ingvarsson plays a dune-top-tapping-guitar-solo in uncomfortably tight clothing. This is a groovy rock banger served sunny side up and YOU are here to lean back and enjoy the ride.

‘Summer Girl’ is available to stream and download now via Swedish indie label Rama Lama Records (Melby, Steve Buscemi's Dreamy Eyes, Wy, Kindsight etc.) Mary Anne’s Polar Rig are “Fast” Malin Hofvander and “Filthy” Harald Ingvarsson.

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

Ocean Valley - Home.

Australia’s beloved psychedelic surf rock outfit Ocean Alley have announced their upcoming fourth album Low Altitude Living, to be released independently on October 14. The band is also about to embark on their West Coast U.S. tour — earlier this year, Ocean Alley sold out nearly every venue along their eight-show tour of the Midwest and East Coast, including Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, Chicago’s Lincoln Hall, Terminal West in Atlanta, and The Sinclair in Boston. The album announcement comes paired with their latest single “Home”, a profession of love for both people and place.

Opening the record with a feeling of warmth and familiarity, “Home” is soaked with bright tones and subtly adorned with twinkling keys. The song is a product of the band’s opportunity to slow down in 2020, with space to reconnect with themselves and the environment around them. Guitarist Mitch Galbraith explains, “We’ve felt more connected than ever to the people and places that are around us at home. Normally, we’d be spending most of our year away on tour, but we felt very lucky to spend the last two years with the people we love.”

While the six-piece could have rinsed & repeated the styles and sounds of their previous full-lengths – the ARIA Award-nominated Lonely Diamond (2020), their ARIA Gold-certified breakthrough Chiaroscuro (2018) and self-assured debut Lost Tropics (2016) – Low Altitude Living, produced by longtime collaborator Callum Howell, sees the band construct their broadest ranging sonic framework yet. As suggested by the diverse feels of previous singles “Touch Back Down” and “Deepest Darkness”, Ocean Alley cohesively honors the traditional features of their distinct sound while equally giving it a refreshing and exciting new edge. Mitch shares, “It’s no secret that we don’t want to repeat ourselves…there’s a constant sense of betterment, growth and exploration.”

Where in the past, Ocean Alley have cited the influence of ‘70s stalwarts such as Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, this new album sees the band explore their musicality through pure instinct. They experiment with sludgey ‘90s alt-rock on the reverb-laden “Changes”, they bring a side of bluesy slide guitar akin to the Commodores on cruisey ballad “Snake Eyes”, while the haunted and sensual “Parking Fines” would slot right into an Interpol record. Lach Galbraith (keys/vocals) shares, “Pushing each other to try new things, inside and outside of music, is really important for us to keep things fresh. Musically our songwriting has become more intricate as we explore new styles and techniques in recording.”

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