Katrina Parker - Michael Blakeman - SoccerPractise - Brynn Andre

Katrina Parker was featured a couple of times here in July and returns with 'Don't Give It Up' her latest single which is a fabulous mixture of folk & Americana plus, a further taster for the album 'Stars' due out early next month.

From Michael Blakeman we have his brand new E.P 'Future'. This is beautifully textured synth pop that is imaginative, sometimes a little experimental, but never dull.

Just four weeks since we were first introduced to SoccerPractise they are back with 'Younger Looking Skin'. It's a genre defying electronic piece that is atmospheric and understated, it's also very, play me again material.

Minneapolis singer/songwriter Brynn Andre has shared 'Bright Side'. It's a refined modern alt pop song that slowly lets it's hooks dig in.
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Katrina Parker - Don't Give It Up.

Katrina Parker knew from a very young age that music was her calling. Swinging in her backyard in rural North Carolina, belting Patsy Cline at the top of her lungs, she felt connected to the pure joy of expression and knew it was something she was meant to do. “Music was total catharsis. It provided me both a means of escape from the world around me and a way to connect to the people around me - something lifesaving for a painfully shy, awkward kid,” Parker remembers. This love of music carried over into her teenage years and young adulthood.

After a move to LA where she worked on honing her songwriting and playing live whenever and wherever she could, Katrina found herself on Season 2 of NBC’s The Voice where she progressed into the top 8 contestants, gaining thousands of new fans and glowing nods from LA Weekly and Rolling Stone. It was a whirlwind experience that ended abruptly, leaving Parker to check off all the post-reality competition boxes. Red carpets and TV appearances became the norm, but the busier she became ‘maximizing’ her opportunity, the further away she felt from what made her love music in the first place. Her full-length album, In & Out of the Dark, was created in the turbulence of this period. “I was overthinking the entire thing, working from my head instead of my heart and missing the mark,” Parker reflects.

Feeling buried beneath the trappings of post-reality TV, Parker abruptly cut ties and stopped her promotional appearances. Her focus shifted to developing a sense of normalcy and reconnecting to that original spark, taking time to remember why she started singing and writing in the first place. The image she called back was from her childhood - swinging in the backyard, singing her heart out all by her lonesome, bathed in the natural reverb of her rural surroundings, doing exactly what she was born to do. She continued to cultivate that feeling and began writing again, this time with a clear touchstone for why she was making music.

Parker’s new album, Stars, reflects the duality of a childhood spent in rural North Carolina and an adulthood in LA, shifting between sinuous Southern roots and starry Laurel Canyon magic. Parker describes it as “Sparkling Desert Pop/Folk with a lot of warmth, a little bit of magic, and a touch of banjo.” Producer Josh Doyle of 3 Theory Music knew it was important to not overwhelm the songs with ornamentation, leaving Parker’s rich and tender voice front and center. The resulting recordings are clearly made from a place of confidence, channeling the clear-eyed nuance of Gillian Welch, the emotionality of Hozier, and the deep-rooted Americana of Over the Rhine.


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Michael Blakeman - Future (E.P).

Future is the experimental debut EP from Michael Blakeman. The Perth musician has re-directed his progressive energy into the circuits of the analog, the lead single Brazier To The Lake a synthwave revitaliser.

After spending years on various rock and metal projects, the EP is Michael’s first foray into the sounds of the 80s. Self-produced and recorded in his home studio, Future matches revivalist gore with an emphatic melancholic energy. The lead single Brazier to the Lake a dark and brooding march of operaHc drama and retro-futuristic voguing.

Fueled by the complexity and experimentation of metal music, composition and songwriting quickly became a large part of his musical focus. Michael's second love is technology, and it wasn't long before he learned how to combine them by pursuing audio production and sound engineering.

Fast forward to 2019 and Michael has released his first solo EP effort, Future. “This release was a huge step outside of my comfort zone,” says Michael. “I’ve been involved with music for a while, but nearly all of that time was spent playing guitar in various bands. I wanted to push myself by creating something of my own from the ground up. Earlier this year I became enamored with the classic Minimoog synth sound, so I decided to take a deep dive into the sound and aesthetic of the era it inspired.”

Spanning six songs, Future listens through like The Human League have been hacked by Pertubator, Michael Blakeman expands upon the tireless tropes, re-invigorating the textural and rhythmic possibilities with an influx of technical and metal-rooted inspiration. The tweaked instrumentals and warbled odes only deepening Blakeman’s commitment to exploration and electric vibes.

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SoccerPractise - Younger Looking Skin.

New Zealand electronic voyagers SoccerPractise return with the icy and melancholic 'Younger Looking Skin', the latest release from their forthcoming album, Te Pō, due for release October 18, 2019.

Bringing to mind the frozen isolation of New Zealand’s Deep South, new track 'Younger Looking Skin' evokes the feeling of walking home alone on a winter’s night, a tightly wrapped coat the only protection from the biting air.

The song opens with a breathless choir sample and programmed hand-claps which echo with cold indifference before spilling into a deep bass line, garage guitars and a deeply personal lyric exploring the conflicted memories of childhood and loss, enveloped in a frozen choral chamber.

“Hanging pictures on the wall / I was witness to it all / the silence is dull photos are all we have left now”

Although the song brings to mind elements of bands such as The Chills, Joy Division and The Stone Roses, 'Younger Looking Skin' remains suspended within SoccerPractise’s peculiar vision of genre-defying electronic music delivered with an off-kilter, human pulse.

The visual accompaniment, created by Wellington-based visual artist Erica Sklenars, features real footage of faceless students returning from a university toga party on a cold night in Dunedin, a southern New Zealand city with a large student population.  Their faces buried in their phones, the subjects are seemingly oblivious to the cold, to the camera and to their fleeting presence on the landscape itself.


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Brynn Andre - Bright Side.

Brynn Andre is a Minneapolis singer/songwriter. With echoes of Ingrid Michaelson and Sia, her voice conveys heartbreak and hope in equal measure.

Brynn is a vocalist, composer, and pop producer. She believes in combining delicate, sensitive sounds with driving, electronic textures.

Fever is a track about wild love. The kind that will melt you down but feels so good in the process.

It’s anthemic and escapist with a beat that will stay with you. A singer/songwriter feel paired with huge instrumentation. Cinematic and intense.

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R.W. Roldan - Misty Blues - Acoustic Black

From R.W. Roldan we have the new album 'Can You Feel This' and what a gorgeous album it is. His mixture of folk and Americana is melodic and produced to a very high standard, however it is the story telling lyrics that make a fabulous difference. They are totally engaging and can't but help draw the listener in, this collection of songs is thoroughly recommended for a listen!

Misty Blues recently released their 8th studio album 'Pickled & Aged. They are a natural blues band who take their music into other musical areas without losing that blues centred feel, they can add in some funk, jazz or whatever, the music remains consistently honest and quite addictive, this is a class act.

We have a music video from Acoustic Black for one of their singles 'Destiny Ride' which is also included on their forthcoming album. The bands mixture of feisty vocals, acoustic and electric rock combination is well demonstrated by the featured song, and overall there is an upbeat vibe at the centre of their music.
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R.W. Roldan - Can You Feel This (Album).

Born to an outlaw biker father and 16 year old mother, R.W. Roldan came of age in the Los Angeles of the 60’s and 70’s. His family spent a few years homeless, prompting him to join the navy at 17. His young life was full of hard circumstances and difficult environments but Roldan always seemed to soften things with his easy knack for storytelling.

Upon returning to California from his time abroad, R.W. worked all around the San Fernando Valley, immersing himself in the blues and Americana scene. He gravitated towards music and poetry, appreciating contemporary wordsmiths like Dylan and Dr. Seuss as much as American treasures such as Yates and began crafting his own indelible blend of country blues folk rock - a sound that lands somewhere between Hank Williams and Cowboy Junkies.

R.W. now splits his time between his house in the Topanga hills and a newly-purchased dwelling that once belonged to Fatty Arbuckle in Silverlake, where he’s building a studio in the basement. It was professed to be haunted for the past 12 years, but R.W. found it a suitably creative environment to craft the songs on his official solo outing, Can You Feel This, due out August 17th.

The new LP puts Roldan's adept storytelling front and center, backed by his easy going guitar, mandolin and dobro chops. Tracks like “Big Skies” and “Falling Star” paint an authentically haunting, nostalgic panorama of Los Angeles, while laidback ballads such as “Lauryn’s Song” reveal a sweeter side to the man. It’s all melted in the sweet butter sauce of producer Max Allyn who recently signed R.W. to his AllsWell Records imprint out of Nashville.

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Misty Blues - Pickled & Aged (Album).

From Gina Coleman - I’m the lead singer of Misty Blues ... 2019 International Blues Challenge Finalists. Misty Blues is a female led band from Berkshire County Massachusetts playing traditional and original blues with a hint of funk, soul, jazz and tent revival gospel since 1999.

The band has recorded and shared the stage with Charles Neville of the Neville Brothers, and opened for contemporary blues artists like Tab Benoit, John Primer, Albert Cummings and Michael Powers.

Misty Blues has toured New England extensively and performed in New York City, Harrisburg, Mishawaka, Knoxville, Birmingham, Memphis and New Orleans.

The band has aired on B.B. King's Bluesville, Ole Harv's Blues Revue and Oogie Richards' Mighty Mouth Blues. The band’s original recordings have hit the airwaves throughout the U.S. and the UK.

We just released our 8th studio album on July 1, 2019 entitled "Pickled & Aged".

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Acoustic Black - Destiny Ride.

What would have happened if Sublime and The Clash had been set up as one band? Maybe it would have sounded something like ACOUSTIC BLACK from Freislassing (Bavaria / Germany). The Band sets up new standards to alternative acoustic-rock and is really freshing up its genre.

Bass and drums deliver an authentic rock sound whilst the special character of the costume guitar, in combination with distinctive lead vocals, form the bands unique sound. Diversifying modern arrangements round up the music and present the genre in a completely new light.

Of course, the album is about sex drugs and rock ’n’ roll but also everyday occurrences such as travelling, wanderlust and enjoying life. Also one and the other taboo subject is thematized in a cheeky and humoristic way. The 11 songs of the album will put you in a good mood straight away and will leave you wanting more.


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Aweful - Bjørn Tomren - The Warp/The Weft - Sunscreen - Laid Blak

Aweful released 'Me Me Me' a five song E.P earlier this month. A maelstrom of uncompromising rock and roll the trio deliver hook filled rock that mixes garage basics with more sonically imaginative moments and it's a blast.

A month after featuring Bjørn Tomren for the first time he returns with 'Bad Science Fiction' the title track from his album due next month. His Americana folk style is slowly paced and a little sombre on this atmospheric and beautiful song.

The Warp/The Weft were featured here with 'A Sun Filled Room' at the beginning of June, and they return with the full album (Dead Reckoning) from which that track came. I have to say this is a really good collection of material where the bands progressive folk and psychedelia is notable throughout. If you can, then listen to the whole piece, bands like this deserve to be heard, their imagination and creativity, positively demands it!

Sunscreen return for a second time this year with 'Think About You'. last time we commented that "the bands alt rock style is uncluttered, each instrument has it's space, with the vocals adding further melodic vibes". That's something they clearly have the knack for, this is fabulous song.

From Bristol (England) we have Laid Blak and their second full album 'About Time'. Fans of reggae from any era should absolutely love this band and their oh, so, fabulous music. File under "sublime".
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Aweful - Me Me Me (E.P).

Chicago’s Aweful, which features Traci Trouble (HotLips Messiah), Lucy Dekay (Mystery Actions) and Izzy Price (Velcro Lewis Group), released their debut vinyl EP 'ME ME ME' via BeerCan Records on Friday, August 2. The band celebrated the release with a show at The Empty Bottle in Chicago and played gigs in Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin the weekend of the release.

"Traci Trouble is back with a brand new three-piece combo called AWEFUL, and it’s a sweeping new sound you might not expect. Joining up with Lucy Dekay (Mystery Actions) and Izzy Price (Velcro Lewis Group), this new project juts forth with a streamlined, layered vocal and a wiry guitar tone; it’s a new direction; a subdued sonic approach with slithering dynamics and cavernous depth.

Echoing solid 80’s Gun Club and Fur Bible’s chorus pedal-soaked vibes with a wall of dripping female vocals cascading over what sounds like a primitive and ominous lost Love and Rockets outtake, AWEFUL are a welcome new breath of fresh air to Chicago’s underground sounds.

Stepping aside from pandering to the pedantic tropes of endless post-punk operatives, AWEFUL draw out a more luscious and moaning fuzzed-out experience, drilling their sticky repetition into your cortex with songs that pull you in immediately. Fans of Grass Widow, Wax Idols, and The Breeders take note; this band is turning those same corners and will soon turn those same heads.” -Todd Killings 2018.


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Bjørn Tomren - Bad Science Fiction.

Bjørn Tomren releases the title track from his upcoming album ‘Bad Science Fiction’, which is due for release on 20th September via Norwegian powerhouse Propeller Recordings.

The modest yet mesmerising Americana-Folk track 'Bad Science Fiction' captures a delicate Johnny Cash-esque, while maintaining Tomren's poetry-like, enigmatic storytelling.

Inspired by an article he came across, Bjørn says of the track “I wrote the song after having read an article on truth-out.org about depressed climate-scientists grieving the human caused climate changes and the impact it has on the planet and its species. Through a blog they find some comfort in sharing their mourning's. Even though it’s quite a concrete inspiration it´s not as obvious in the lyrics."

Tomren hadn't intended it to take this long before releasing his debut but life got in the way.  ‘Life’ included navigating his native Norway from South to North numerous times – on skis, in a rowboat, walking – resulting in the world record for such crossings and a career path that includes studying Psychology, Greek and Philosophy, working in a mental hospital and working as a clown in a small family circus.

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The Warp/The Weft - Dead Reckoning (Album).

The Warp/The Weft, active since 2012 in and beyond New York's Hudson River Valley, has earned praise for its uniqueness and song-crafting from casual and devoted listeners alike.

Blending traditional and avant-garde styles, the warmth of a good wool sweater and the sometimes-bleak cold of an upstate winter, the progressive folk and psychedelia that the band brings to bear is propelled by poetic lyrics and a "spirit-conjuring" lilting tenor that prompted psych-folk legend Tom Rapp (of Pearls Before Swine) to ask, "Can I have your voice when you're through with it?"

The band will release its third LP, DEAD  RECKONING, in August 2019. Trevor Larcheveque: Bass/Vocals, Christian Lark: Drums, Shane Murphy: Vocals/Guitar
Chris Pellnat: Lead Guitar.


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Sunscreen - Think About You.

Ahead of the release of their highly anticipated Falling In An Elevator EP this Friday via Spunk! Records, Sunscreen announce they will be hitting the road on an East Coast tour next month. Recently joining the New World Artists family, Sunscreen will embark of on a string of live dates, visiting Wollongong, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, kicking off Thursday 29 September.

Produced by Simon ‘Berkfinger’ Berkelman (Philadelphia Grand Jury, Art Vs. Science), Falling In An Elevator exudes a beautiful toughness across its five tracks. Reflecting the psyche of a romantically confused young person trying to survive in the big city, the EP was written over the course of years, and explores concepts like romantic idealisation, heartache and self-possession with frank, powerful vulnerability.

Following the release of 'High Over Love', a slice of dynamic, hook-driven rock, and latest propulsive and romantically charged single, 'Think About You', Falling In An Elevator sees the band find their lush, indie-rock sound informed by a new-found confidence and lucidity. The previous singles received strong online and radio support with adds to Fbi Radio rotation, triple j play, adds to Spotify's Broad Chords and Chords + Cardigans, and the accompanying music video for 'High Over Love' added to rage.

Having recently supported the likes of DMAs, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Jen Cloher and Ali Barter on tour and taking stage at Farmer & the Owl and Grampians Music Festival, Sunscreen hit the road last month in support of 'High Over Love', performing to packed out venues in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. Sunscreen prepare to do it all again, with their captivating performance and unheard new material in tow.

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Laid Blak - About Time (Album).

Bristol’s Laid Blak have trailed a unique path through the music jungle and picked up influential friends on the way. They don’t come much bigger these days than this key ally – Ed Sheeran. The red-haired one is a big fan, so much so that he used a section of the band’s earlier signature tune, ‘My Eyes Are Red’( 3.6 million views on You Tube) in one of his own album chart busting songs and to close his shows.

It’s a useful thing to have in the creative locker, but Laid Blak’s new second full album, ‘About Time’, more than stands on its’ own merits. Core members, DJ Bunjy and MC Joe Peng, easily use every strand of elements that turn their ears and make a musical cocktail that is heady and delicious. There’s something for everyone, regardless of age or musical taste on ‘About Time’. It comfortably straddles styles that cover a range of bases in contemporary reggae music. And most of the time it’s anything but laid back!

Sure, the breezy album opener ‘Cool Dude’ is more low-key, the band taking the brave step of introducing themselves here with a track that is programmed riddims, rattling percussion, piano, keyboards and restrained, jazzy, minimal bass! It’s – well – cool, but filled with humour, whistling, street observed lyrics, scatter-fire vocals and am easy confidence that radiates. But after that the fare on offer heats up, seeing a glorious classic dancehall style tussle on ‘Mic Man’ with the fabulously UPFUL and agile vocals from Tita Lau adding a winning dimension. The guest female singers – Tita and the equally dextrous Tanya Lacey – add a soulful and playful dimension to other up-tempo blasters like ‘It’s A Pity’( the first single), ‘Hold On’, and ‘Serious’ which head out into anything from lovers rock to a sleng teng, old school step it, rub a dub, wrap it up, mash it groove with fat horns, melodica, wailing guitar, sound system busting bass and kicking rhythms.

There is some serious business attended to in ‘Changing’, which illustrates how priorities change in life, and how in ‘No Way Out’ and the darker, more militant Aswad era take in ‘I Feel It’, that life isn’t easy. But that period of reflection is a temporary break as it’s always the contrast of celebrating life in the cheeky, chatty Smiley Culture vibe of ‘Little Bit of This’, and the Mediterranean holiday romance possibilities in ‘Fatal Attraction’. Fresh, fun and fabulous while flowing with great tunes, this is an irresistible album of the band’s distinctive brand of street soul. It’s so powerful that the band felt the need to do a rush release of it! This is music that just can’t be contained or limited. Laid Blak don’t fail in their objective to bring ‘a fun filled sunshine dance music that keeps your feet moving and your face smiling.’ So, bang on cue, spring and summer is a’ coming, and about time too! Fire up the barbeque, slap on the jerk chicken to the flames, grab an ice cold Red Stripe and put on ‘About Time’! Let the party begin!

“About Time” is released by Sugar Shack Records on Strictly Limited (500 copies) Clear Vinyl on 16th August 2019 distributed by Shellshock and available from good retailers worldwide.

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Hayley Marsten - Reina del Cid - Miriam Clancy - Sarah Jane Scouten

Hayley Marsten new single 'Red Wine, White Dress' is a refined country rocker that exudes quality and feeling and is a very good indicator for her forthcoming debut album.

Reina del Cid has released 'Bernadette' the first song from her 'Morse Code' due out in October. This is my first listen to Reina and clearly I am a little late to the party, nonetheless what a pleasure it's going to be playing catch up.

Miriam Clancy has shared 'The Bells' the lead off single from 'Astronomy', her first album in nine years and it's a gorgeous rocker where the solid soundtrack and her gliding melodic vocals although seemingly opposites work fabulously together.

Sarah Jane Scouten striking new song 'Ballad of a Southern Midwife' mixes folk, country and rock together which is rather good in it's own right, however it's the determined passionate vocals that really stand out.
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Hayley Marsten - Red Wine, White Dress.

Hayley Marsten has just released her new single ‘Red Wine, White Dress’ and its accompanying video.  The release comes off the back of ‘Wendy’, Marsten’s most successful single to date, which received widespread airplay across Australia and peaked at #25 on the CMC charts. It was added to both ABC Local and  ABC Country playlists and has received over 185,000 plays on Spotify.  That’s the past and the future is ‘Red Wine, White Dress’ as well as Marsten’s upcoming debut album Spectacular Heartbreak, set for release on 30th August – pre order here.

Marsten co-wrote ‘Red Wine, White Dress’ with Brad Butcher, a Golden Guitar and QMA winner.  She’d fostered the idea for a long time to describe how someone can stain your life or make you feel a little ruined – the red wine on a white dress. ‘It wasn’t until I was going through a break-up that it felt like the relationship had stained Brisbane for me in a way that meant I could write it,’ said Marsten. ‘I felt like there was nowhere we didn’t go, nowhere I could escape the grief and confusion, and it brought up all my most suppressed fears.’

‘It was incredibly confronting to record,’ said Marsten, ‘but I feel like it embodies what the album is about, the strength to show your vulnerabilities. Luckily time is the best kind of emotional wine stain removal.’ The track was recorded in LoveHZ Studios in Sydney with Matt Fell, an ARIA and Golden Guitar winning producer, while the video was shot in Brisbane with Duncan Toombs from The Filmery.

Speaking about the video, Marsten said ‘I really wanted to shoot it in Brisbane because the city is so tied up in the song. Duncan and I wanted to keep the video dreamlike to represent the haze of a confused relationship, while we focused on the two sides represented in the song: the vulnerability of the white dress and the anger of the red wine.’ It was filmed at Can You Keep a Secret, a bar in South Brisbane. ‘It was the perfect backdrop because it literally looks like it’s stuck in time,’ said Marsten, ‘and instead of heading for the obvious visual of red wine on a white dress we wanted the video to be tinged red like a stain on my mind.’

The release comes just two weeks before Marsten releases her debut album, after which she’ll embark on her first headline tour while also supporting artists including Troy Cassar-Daley and Fanny Lumsden.  The tour will take her through Queensland, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania and with the new album under her belt, it’s sure to be a tour that fans will long remember.


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Reina del Cid - Bernadette.

Celebrated Minneapolis singer/songwriter Reina Del Cid has released "Bernadette," the first song from her new album MORSE CODE out October 4. Reina Del Cid's storytelling prowess shines on the song, which appears to feature a visitor from the artist's past. "It feels like I lost a friend, I find myself wondering, will she haunt my home again, oh my Bernadette."

Reina Del Cid notes that she was finishing up the album and the melody for "Bernadette" came to her and wouldn't leave her alone. "It was almost like a ghost named Bernadette was tapping me on the shoulder and demanding that her story be told.  So I booked an extra day in the studio, brough the band back in, and we recorded this one on the fly with no rehearsals."

MORSE CODE was recorded at The Library recording studio in Minneaplis with frequent collaborator Toni Lindgren (guitar), Andy Mark (bass), Nate Babbs (drums) and Matt Patrick (organ), who also serves as producer. Reina Del Cid has amassed a devoted and engaged fan base with her Youtube channel, Sunday Mornings with Reina Del Cid, which began in 2017. She has amassed over 30 million views and over 127,000 subscribers. Fans eagerly await her posts on Sunday mornings, which range from folk standards to obscure tracks to originals. Those fans turn out to catch her live as well as she performs in the US and abroad. A full list of tour dates is below, and additional shows will be announced soon.

Long before she adopted the moniker Reina del Cid and developed a music career online, Rachelle Cordova was a quiet bookish kid from Fargo, ND. In the summers she tended sugar beet crops with her dad, writing down lyrics and poems in a notebook on the long drives out to beet fields scattereed across North Dakota and Minnesota. As an honors student at University of Minnesota, she met Toni Lindgren, a skilled guitarist from Fond du lac, WI, and the two formed a musical bond that has spanned eight years, four studio albums, countless tours, and over a hundred Sunday Mornings videos.


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Miriam Clancy - The Bells.

New York and Pennsylvania-based, New Zealand-bred singer/songwriter Miriam Clancy returned earlier today with "The Bells," the leadoff single from Astronomy, her first album in nine years.

"With an evocative title like 'The Bells,' Miriam Clancy announces her return with noise and urgency," High Clouds editor Arnaud Marty wrote on "The Bells". "Sounding as a reintroduction and a reinvention... there’s both an evanescent beauty and a dose of strength and self-confidence to the track, a combo that makes it assuredly magic and elusive."

Although Astronomy is Clancy's first official full-length album stateside, the album will assuredly land as a reintroduction and a reinvention to her predominantly New Zealander fanbase. Its ten songs represent a cathartic fork in the road borne out of existential crisis, including moving her and her four children to the US earlier this decade.

Crafted over several years of sessions in New York City with producer Chris Coady (Beach House, Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Astronomy brings massive changes to Clancy's sound, specifically swooning electric guitars, wurlitzers, early 90’s drum machines and analogue synths.


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Sarah Jane Scouten - Ballad of a Southern Midwife.

Steeped in North American and British Folk music, Sarah Jane's music delivers a signature mix of vintage folk and country, with modern sounds and subjects.

Originally written for Sarah Jane's first album 10 years ago, Ballad of a Southern Midwife comes from the imagination of a young and naïve songwriter, cured with age, and once again released with more hell-fire than ever.

Raised in a musical family on Bowen Island BC, where harmony singing was more common than watching television, Sarah Jane commits to her roots, using her warbling voice and knack for storytelling to captivate and transport her audiences. Her songs run the emotional gamut, creating a world of characters who come alive in her often haunting and equally whimsical ballads.

Her upcoming fourth album "Confessions", recorded in Toronto with veteran producer Andre Wahl (Light Organ Records), is a further exploration of Americana sounds and song forms. It is a collection of revelatory songs -- a series of confessions -- which valorize, condemn and eulogize the most important relationships of her life to new harrowing heights.

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Annabel Allum - Shadowlark

We are unashamedly fans of the music that Annabel Allum consistently creates and 'Alter To Alter' just reinforces that. This time we have a powerful alt rocker that is packed with genuine emotion and supported by a fabulous musical arrangement.

Leeds (England) three piece Shadowlark have shared their new single 'Bleed My Heart' where synths glide within an indie pop / rock style and the  atmospheric vocals develop into a dreamy chorus. 
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Annabel Allum - Alter To Alter.

Slacker-pop sensation Annabel Allum’s startling development continues to gather pace with the arrival of rousing new single Altar to Alter, taken from new EP Gravel Not The Grave, set for release 13th September via cult London label Killing Moon.

Swapping shows at local pubs in her hometown six nights a week for acclaimed performances around the world, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the rise of the emerging songwriter. Her glaring potential continues to show few boundaries, with the Guildford native’s fierce indie licks scrawled across an expanding punk repertoire of vital, snarling songs that resonate deeply throughout her growing fan base.

"Altar to Alter is my protest song, and I’m super proud of how it turned out”, Annabel revealed. “It’s all about saying what you mean to say and standing up for what you believe in. In my head there’s an altar in everyone’s mind where they go and choose what they wanna change, and how they’re gonna change it. Lyrically the song has a lot of religious themes running through, because we are our own religion and our own God. We forget to respect ourselves and our own powerful abilities to change things”.

Long marked out as one to watch, the swell of praise for Annabel Allum from all corners is resounding. Long-time championed by BBC Radio 1 (Huw Stephens, Jack Saunders), she’s hit the daytime playlist, performed a live session at the iconic Maida Vale studios and featured on their SXSW stage, a festival she’s now taken by storm twice. Other notable shows include a dream-come-true emotional performance at Reading festival, as well as The Great Escape & Live At Leeds; tours with Nadine Shah, Alex Lahey and Beth Ditto have been the perfect way to cut her teeth in the presence of esteemed artists with several more opportunities lined up this autumn.

Beyond music Annabel keeps a well maintained, genuine aesthetic – this has lead to deals with indie clothing companies Bastien Classics and Cheap Monday. She has also had acoustic tracks included in feature film Spaceship (BFI, BBC).

Altar to Alter is the third single taken from the punkster’s new six-track EP (pre-order here), set for release 13th September. Recorded with Adrian Hall (Goldfrapp, Anna Calvi, Du Blonde), it promises to be the most comprehensive example of her sound and style to date. In support of the release Annabel will be taking in various festivals as well as her own headline tour this autumn.

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Shadowlark - Bleed My Heart.

Leeds threepiece Shadowlark have announced new single Bleed My Heart which will be released on 15th August.

Forming in the halls of their local college in their hometown of Leeds, Shadowlark first introduced themselves in 2017 with debut single Do Your Worst. After gaining support from BBC 6 Music and Radio X, they secured a publishing deal with Warner Chappell, and over the last two years, have performed shows at the likes of Glastonbury and Live At Leeds, alongside support shows with George Ezra and Dylan Le Blanc.

Influenced by artists such as Portishead, War on Drugs and Bat For Lashes, Shadowlark are proud of their Northern roots and wear their hearts on their sleeves through their introspective and emotive alt-pop sound, which is a portrayal of real-life experiences and genuine everyday reality. As the band say; “we write real songs about real things that happen, and we play them to real people who care and will connect with them because these things happen to them too.”

Following on from last year’s single Hunger, new single Bleed My Heart, produced and mixed by long-term collaborator Dan Austin (Massive Attack, Biffy Clyro, Doves), continues the band’s ethereal and poignant sound. Opening delicately with atmospheric synths and rich yet haunting vocals, the song builds to a dramatic chorus, showcasing the significant meaning about the power of talking to one another in an upbeat and mesmerizing way. Lead singer Ellen says;

“Although this song was obviously originally written about a break-up, the message really is - talk.It's not always easy, but it always helps. Anything good takes time and work, don't be afraid to talk. ‘When trouble's never spoken, no questions ever asked, nothing comes of hoping, you've got to work to make things last.’ A lot of people can relate to that in different ways, I'm sure.”

Alongside Bleed My Heart, the band also have two standalone tracks featured on Take Us Home: Leeds United, an exclusive Amazon Prime documentary about Leeds United, which has been narrated by Russell Crowe and is released on Friday. They include The Way It Falls and a cover of Marching On Together. Ellen has also re-recorded the team’s official song, which is the first time it has featured a female vocal.


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