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On Suzy & the Lifeguard’s new single, “Take it Slow”, Paradise’s sultry vocals tease the dark corners with a flirty embrace, while horns elicit visions of a forbidden romance. It’s off the EP, ANIMA, produced by Grammy award-winning recording and mix engineer, Phil Joly (Patti Smith, Lana Del Rey, Daft Punk).
“Take it Slow” tantalizes the senses, prickling and puncturing in waves of seduction, while allure and regret perform a slow tango. It’s the dichotomy between desiring love and succumbing to lust. Paradise enchantingly beckons, “ We both say we’ll take it slow / As I am taking you back home.” Passion falls prey to remorse as she sings, “Nobody wins when we play games. “
The ANIMA EP due out May 1, embarks on a shadowed journey of neon nightlife and moody ambiance. Recorded in Kauai at a friend’s chocolate farm/music studio, Paradise says, “It’s vibier than the last record. It’s a bit darker overall, but it’s also still silly and fun. I feel like it’s an honest reflection of not only what I have experienced in the last five years but also the fun and magical space we were in.
Suzy Paradise created Suzy & the Lifeguard as an alter-ego multi-media music project. Award-winning songwriter, producer, and recording artist Bleu McAuley (Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Michelle Branch) co-wrote and produced the self-titled debut EP released in 2015. In 2016, she was nominated in the 14th Annual International Music Awards for “Best Jazz Song with Vocals.” Suzy & the Lifeguard will release ANIMA on May 1, 2020. Paradise funded the release by assisting creatives including Andrew Garfield, Sarah Silverman, and Andrea Arnold (Big Little Lies 2). She also worked behind the screen on “Battle of the Sexes”(Fox Searchlight), “JOY”(Fox 2000), “Black Mirror”(Netflix), and “Masterminds” (Relativity).
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Hurtling into 2020 with their boldest and brashest release to date, London baroque pop experts Weird Milk share reflective new cut ‘Is That Love?’, out February 26th.
Capitalising on a whirlwind twelve months that’s seen the band firmly establish their status amongst the emerging indie elite, ‘Is That Love?’ follows acclaimed recent singles ‘Anything You Want’, ‘Honey, I’m Around’ and ‘Time Machine’, having already attracted widespread praise across the BBC Radio 1/6 Music airwaves (Annie Mac, Jack Saunders, Steve Lamacq), as well as gaining the approval of numerous key industry gatekeepers.
With several impressive support slots ticked off alongside the likes of Alfie Templeman, Frank Carter and Pip Blom in recent times, Weird Milk’s assured live show continues to show striking developments, and will be displayed in full force on their UK support tour alongside fellow risers APRE later this month, before the quartet’s much-touted debut trip stateside for SXSW.
Discussing their newest offering, songwriter and drummer Charlie Glover-Wright explained: “The song itself is about a relationship turning sour as a lemon and the main character realising that they don’t need it anymore and they’ll be better off on their own”.
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After a 5-year long distance relationship with the bands guitarist Laur Joamets (who moved to the States in 2013 to play in the Grammy-winning Sturgill Simpson’s band, now in Drivin N Cryin), the other three members of an Estonian rock quartet Dramamama - Mikk Tammepõld, Viljar Norman and Ott Adamson - packed their gear and headed towards Nashville for a visit in October 2018. Wasting no time they spent most of the time in Loud Recording Studio with the producer Jake Burns and came out with eight proper rock tracks to be released as an album on April 21, 2020. “End of the Line” is the first hint of what is yet to come.
“It's that classic story of a wandering gypsy musician searching for a place to call home,” says the frontman Mikk Tammepõld. “Musically a little bit inspired by the Beatles I suppose.”
Distinctive quitar sound of Joamets, together with heavy drums and melodic bass lines from Ott Adamson and Viljar Norman respectively, topped with strong vocals of the frontman Mikk Tammepõld form an enjoyable combination of classic rock and modern production.
The animated visual of the track was drawn by the vocalist Mikk Tammepõld himself and reflects the theme of the song in a not-so-serious way.
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The Christy Lynn Band will be releasing their debut album Sweetheart of the Radio on April 3rd, (which they announced today) along with the release of their first single "Checkin In".
"Checkin In" is a song that perfectly encapsulates front woman Christy Lynn’s heart-wrenching lyrics and deft storytelling ability, combining a hearty dose of catchy refrains and campy, throwback country charm. Combine that with lead guitarist Ryan Schilling’s skillful playing and production that crisply brings out each howl and crackle in Christy Lynn’s voice, spotlighting her impressive range and cinematic verses within the lyrics, and you might have just found your new favorite country singer.
The Christy Lynn Band draws inspiration from all across the spectrum, from classic languid country and folk to classic rock. They’ve taken those influences and distilled them into their own unique sound that seamlessly fuse soulful alt-country music with a healthy dash of rock & roll. Their compelling frontwoman Christy Lynn possesses a singular, powerhouse voice and a knack for capturing the clever, kitschy lyrics of old country music. Ryan’s meticulous talents lie in his groovy guitar playing and his adept technical skill at capturing the rich texture of their music, all using analog recording equipment. In fact, the recording studio they used to record their first full-length album is actually built into the back of a 1987 Ford Econoline truck called the American Sound Truck that they built out and customized themselves, utilizing a melange of vintage recording gear that they’ve sought and acquired over the years.
Sweetheart of the Radio features Christy Lynn’s unparalleled vocals at the forefront, with Ryan Schilling on guitar, Kenan Hopkins on fiddle, Nate Pusateri on drums, Zack Page on bass and Jackson Dulaney on pedal steel. The rootsy 12-song record tells the fictional story of a radio darling who is beloved far and wide, a skyrocketing success masking a deep sadness. It’s an unsatisfying one-way relationship: the whole world loves her, and yet not one person truly does because they do not truly know her. The crux is that perhaps she doesn’t truly know herself. It’s a soulful country album that harkens back to the sound of its glory days and is sure to appeal to fans of true country and Americana, while simultaneously infusing it with a modern sound that’s distinctly their own.
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Critically acclaimed duo Victoria+Jean will return with their second album ‘UNDERDOG’ in the spring of 2020. The romantically and artistically linked Swedish/Belgian duo kick off this new decade with new single ‘Imbecile'. Darkly brooding, the sinister baseline, incessant beat, and stabbing guitar lines of ‘Imbecile', combined with Victoria’s shrill, striking vocals, deliver a 4 minutes hit of menacing electro-pop. Produced by Henrik Alsér (The Hives, Coldplay).
Explaining the origins of the song, Victoria explains “After the release of the 1st album, we found ourselves covered in debts and lost our home. We were left on our own, and were much disappointed by humans and by some of our close friends reactions. And it’s at those moments you know whom are the friends you can trust on, and those you can’t. ‘Imbecile' came to us as a result of what are the real faces of some people, just to be truthful and to say "you know I’m not an imbecile I know what you are thinking”. Or just to say - you’re a bloody f***ing imbecile!"
The song features vocals from Romain Humeau (french singer who featured the song). Having met Romain in ICP studios brussels almost 10 years ago, Victoria+Jean supported Eiffel (Romain’s band) at the mythical Olympia Theatre venue in Paris, and finally managed to arrange for Romain to appear on a track for their new album after years of trying.
To accompany the track there is a Sebastien Alouf directed video. Having worked with the band on the video for ‘Holly’ which appeared on their debut album, the video saw Sebastien following the band in their everyday life, resukting in a documentary-style music video. Sebastien explains “It has been several years since I met Victoria and Jean, and ever since I have episodically followed their adventures, life projects and music. A choice of life authentically rock & roll. I have long been looking for a pretext to return to immerse myself in the intimacy of this couple, tell the reverse side of the scenery, the little strings that bind these 2 hypersensitive, hypercreative and fusional beings. I wanted to make a sensitive fragment of their existence. It is an intimate clip that borders on the romance of this beautiful couple”.
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Orpine are Eleanor Rudge and Oliver Catt. Migratory birds nesting in disparate climates; singing in harmony 300 miles removed. Being outside and keeping off the internet. Mostly apart but never alone. Following brief stints in bands and singing on one another’s records, the pair lost touch. Ceasing to make music, days punctuated by silence, Eleanor made contact. Having not seen one another for years, they ventured to a cottage in the Scottish Borders at the foot of Black Hill. With only a stove for heat and a car full of groceries for sustenance, four days of writing passed.
The result is debut album ‘Grown, Ungrown’, produced by Jonathan Coddington (The Magic Gang, Joanna Gruesome). Delicately branching and bereft of irony and cynicism, the songs have room to inflate and deflate, to meander, and shake loose like an antidote to sagging spirits. Harmonies wash against gentle strums and climb from the ambient to the anthemic as Orpine turn their backs on modern absurdity with nerve and solemnity. Like a tiny figure on the horizon casting a huge shadow on the mountain, there is a humbleness about ‘Grown Ungrown’ that projects awe without hubris.
While the bulk of the record was recorded in The Crow’s Nest in Hackney, all of the strings and brass were added at Greenman Swaler – a secret place Oliver helped some friends build when he was a teenager. Decamping from the studio to a den-like locale befits an album with a narrative that is generously autobiographical. “I’ve worked with Jonny since before we knew what we were doing so we have a good understanding of how the other works. The desk has more channels now but the relationship remains the same.” states Oliver.
First single, ‘Sondern’ is a song about grief and defeat. Written around the time of the first Brexit deadline, the title is a German conjunction that derives from an old Germanic word which meant ‘to separate’. “I liked the idea that this use of the word is outdated and it had morphed into something it was never originally intended to be – which was a lot of the criticism being levelled at the European Union on the Leave side.” Its movements lurch, and contract and expand with an inevitable seasonality, from giddy summer to lunar winter, before melting into the payload of a tender spring: “I love you. I always did.”
‘Two Rivers’ speaks of the purifying feeling of laying on the bed of the River Ouse near Mount Caburn, near Elanor’s home town. Submerged and held quietly in water, the industry of transport links dissolves to be replaced by the sunken stillness of the natural world. “Easier to be, than to be gone.” muses Eleanor. The second river, and namesake, the River Ouseburn runs down the road from Oliver in Newcastle. Two little river versions of each other, hundreds of miles apart, striving for the same creative open waters.
Not subscribers to the cult of modernity, Orpine choose instead to make visors with their hands and squint back to landscapes left untouched. A return to nature is favored over the fatigue of likes and followers, the hum of commerce logistics and temporal edge of diversified eating experiences. The countryside liberates Eleanor and Oliver, enabling them to view the modern world, select all and delete.
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In this song, the singer delivers a rejection to an unappealing suitor in the only language he can understand: an official letter declining his services, typed on company letterhead. Thank you for that most generous offer, but you have been declined, and you need not apply again. Enclosed, please find: Declined. Delivered, sealed, signed…Declined! Thanks so much for taking the time, but: Declined! The music video was filmed at Shirk Studios in Chicago and features delightful vintage scenes of male-applicant rejection as well as comically unimpressive experiments in hypnosis.
DECLINED:
Dear Sir: Thank you so much for that most generous offer
But sir: I regret to inform you, there's a lot of competition to fill this position
So many are hoping to fill this opening
And as for you? DECLINED.
And as for you? DECLINED.
You have been DECLINED.
100% DECLINED.
Dear sir: I appreciate your interest in working with me
Dear sir: There is no committee, it's only me
Dear sir: I wish you the best in all your future endeavors
But sir: There is no interest whatsoever
DECLINED.
Please do not apply again, you're DECLINED.
There will be no change of mind. DECLINED.
Dear sir, as I've outlined: You're DECLINED.
Enclosed please find: You're DECLINED.
Delivered, sealed, signed: DECLINED.
On behalf of womankind: DECLINED.
Thanks so much for taking the time, but DECLINED.
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