HMS Morris return with 'Poetry' a couple of months after their very fine song 'Babanod'. The new piece builds in intensity, the vocals increasingly immersed in lush electro music are nonetheless wonderful. === oh!no?ok. return for a third time in a matter of months with 'Wheel Of Fortune' where the Salt Lake City band are in cracking form with this high octane rocker.
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HMS Morris - Poetry.
Hot on the heels of the well-received Babanod, released in early February, HMS Morris are now pleased to present Poetry. It’s the second in a series of singles due for release in 2020, and will be available from April 1st on Bubblewrap Records.
The song reflects the sliding scale of madness that results from unreciprocated obsessive love. Beginning with some light-hearted hypothetical quasi-stalking, singer Heledd Watkins then moves through self-criticism, recrimination, and finally a full-on banshee-wail of desperation.
Structurally the music is indebted to Ravel’s Bolero, a repeating ostinato rising steadily from very quiet to very loud – although in Poetry, HMS cover twice the volume in half the time, in acknowledgement of the limited attention span of the snapchat generation. Poetry will be available digitally from all the usual platforms.
Salt Lake City, Utah might be best known as the world headquarters for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That may change as a fertile counter-cultural underground music scene is slowly seeping into nationwide consciousness with artists such Neon Trees, Imagine Dragons, The Moth & the Flame, Sego, and Desert Noises. Up next, something weird and tuneful is poised to be Salt Lake City’s nice prime musical export. Self-described slacker rockers oh!no?ok. stake their claim to the mantle with the fearlessly catchy debut, randy warhole (or somethin).
oh!no?ok. is comprised of high school friends Ryan Osborn, Cole Miller, Jackson Ludlow, and local guitarist Nick Storey. The band is a year old, and has been working closely with locally-renowned producer Nate Pyfer (The Moth & the Flame, Kaskade, Sego). Lead vocalist Ryan and Nate laid the groundwork for the band’s music, though each member brings his unique flair, making the process a cohesive collaboration.
They play the kind of music you’d hear blasting forth from a suburban garage in the height of the alt-rock boom of the 1990s but they update this scruffy aesthetic with sleek but-not-too-polished production and a dose of raw skate punk. Their songs feature cleverly abstract lyrics, bold musical dynamics, experimental textures, adventurous arrangements, and sharp pop-rock hooks. This melding of tuneful and arty conjures an array of classic and current alt-rock innovators such as Weezer, Pavement, The Presidents of the United States, Butthole Surfers, and Spoon, FIDLAR, Car Seat Headrest, and PUP.
The Goldhearts have released their new E.P 'Be Strong, Be Brave, Be Bold' comprising of five tracks from which we have a video for 'Road To Roam' a song that gives a good feel for the collection of their timeless melodic indie rock. === Hannah Scott shares 'Shape' the London based songwriter is vocally powerful and passionate in what is a notable and stirring song. === From Pittsburgh we have Same with 'Bluish' a laid back indie rock song that subtly embeds some engaging musical hooks along the way. === Gentle and melodic folk accompanied by a well matched video ensures Carmanah and 'As I See You' quickly becomes a gorgeous, play me again sort of song.
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The Goldhearts - Road To Roam.
Waking from a three-year hibernation, The Goldhearts picked up where their debut album left off with the electrifying Be Brave and hook-laden Stars. Now proud to announce the release of their new EP, Be Strong, Be Brave, Be Bold is another stellar addition to the band members' collective discography, which dates back over 20 years, a handful of quintessential albums and literally countless touring miles across the globe.
Produced by Govinda Doyle (Angus and Julia Stone), Be Strong, Be Brave, Be Bold represents everything contemporary indie rock can be when built on the unshakable foundation of blistering '90s hooks. More importantly the EP is a celebration of overcoming the challenges that life presents the band as individuals and as women who write and play music.
If you know your Australian music history, it will be instantly apparent why The Goldhearts have such a knack for the '90s thing. Founded by members of beloved Brisbane band Dream Poppies (with a dash of Razel) The Goldhearts throwback to an era when the sincerity and power of punk rock had been tempered by pop sensibilities and artful songwriting... an era they were a big part of. Fast forward several years and a new EP transposes the best aspects of this heritage into a modern sound that balances the perfect amount of grungy indie with blissful coastal pop.
London-Based independent artist Hannah Scott is fast cementing her place as one of the country’s most exciting new songwriters, with her emotive songs and striking voice. Shape, the first single from her forthcoming album, showcases her powerful and personal storytelling. The song recounts how her maternal Grandmother refused to accept her Mother’s choice of husband, Hannah’s Father, threatening never to speak to her again should she marry him and staying true to her word for twenty years.
Co-written and produced with long-standing creative partner Stefano Della Casa (Ultra Music Publishing), Shape expertly combines organic, live elements with electronic sounds. The two artists have struck a perfect balance between Hannah’s traditional songwriting craft and Stefano’s unique cinematic production.
Recent highlights for the pair include being awarded funding by Help Musicians UK to go towards the production of the album, opening for Madeleine Peyroux to an audience of 2000 at Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre and travelling across Ireland with Paddy Casey to open shows for him in Dublin and in a tiny Irish speaking village near Galway! Their music has also been featured on BBC Radio 2 including a live session with Dermot O’Leary, BBC 6 Music, BBC Introducing, The Guardian, MOJO and Clash Magazine.
"Pittsburgh’s Same cast a sepia tone across a ‘90s DIY-indebted style of indie rock. Their debut LP Plastic Western is at times range-y and raucous, but it also spends a lot of time being thoughtfully languid, dreamy in a night-under-the-stars kind of way." says the Alternative of the upcoming LP
From the first crackling notes of “It’s Lonely in Doggie Hell,” the opening track of SAME’s debut LP Plastic Western, the band locks into a groove that never really lets up. A quiet riff fades in from a distance then, like a radio tuning to find the right frequency, it’s quickly interrupted by a brief drum fill before a fuzz-filled bass line sets the tempo, intertwining over a languid beat. Just like that SAME sets off on a 12-song journey. But Plastic Western isn’t a sprint toward a finish line, it’s an album that takes its time to hang out, get cozy, and soak in all the weird sights.
It’s easy to play the influence game for SAME. At times, Plastic Western might sound like Weezer dripping in acid and fuzz. At other times, it feels like listening to the Pixies or Pavement in a meditative trance. But SAME—bassist/vocalist Jesse Caggiano, drummer Jamie Gruzinski, and guitarists Tom Higgins and Jake Stern—never wanted to sound like any other band.
“Originality and experimentation are things we talked about a lot early on—and still do,” says Higgins. He concedes that the “core influences do shine through,” but from the band’s earliest practices, there was a shared drive to push themselves to make music outside of any sort of box. “We didn’t want to pigeonhole ourselves into making a certain kind of music,” he adds. “A lot of people make a band and say ‘We want our band to sound like this other band that we like.’ We had all done that before. We wanted to actively stay away from that mindset.”
Like the rainforests from which their name derives, Carmanah is just as comfortable in muddy, bluesy funk as they are among light, soaring harmonies. With one album behind them and one ahead, the band is crafting a niche of its own somewhere between roots, rock and blues — a vintage blend of the intuitive and technical tied seamlessly together by Laura Mina Mitic’s dazzlingly versatile voice.
In recognition of the band’s passion for their home and the ways it bleeds into their music, producer Gus Van Go (The Arkells, Sam Roberts, Wintersleep) coined the term “West Coast Soul” to describe Carmanah’s unique sound.
The forthcoming album, Iris, was recorded between B.C. and Brooklyn as a moody counterpoint to and natural evolution from the band’s debut, Speak in Rhythms. That album’s two #1 CBC Music tracks, Roots and Nightmare, have set the tone for a new west coast sound. Now, with Iris, the band has built upon the first album’s strongest elements: its driving melodies, its contorting, energetic rhythms, its bountiful instrumentation, its lyrics that take you by the hand and lead you far, far from where you began.
The band — including guitarist and vocalist Pat Ferguson, keyboardist Mike Baker, bassist Jamil Demers, drummer Graham Keehn and backup vocalist Lo Waight — tours in a gutted and retrofitted vegetable-oil driven tour bus, an ambitious project that Ferguson has taken on himself in his backyard. The low-carbon approach is part of a broader ethos the band shares.
“I get really excited when I think about music as a way to spark action,” Mitic explains.
With stops at major festivals like Edmonton Folk Festival, Hillside Festival and Winnipeg Folk Festival, Carmanah has caught the attention of the B.C. music press. Jon Williams of The Zone 91.3 Victoria called Mitic “the Stevie Nicks of our generation,” while Vancouver’s Daily Hive recently ranked the band among B.C.’s top acts to look out for. Their music landed syncs including Heartland and Hudson & Rex.
“The thrill of making a connection with an audience — any audience — is what keeps me going,” says Ferguson. It’s already brought him and the band a long way, and today, Carmanah’s irresistible chemistry crackles each time the band takes the stage, electrifying one another as much as the audience itself
Kalbells share 'Mothertime' just a month after we featured 'Cool and Bendable'. The new song is fabulous, the vocals are warm and captivating whilst the intricate musical backdrop adds so much more. === We have the new single from Unruly Girls entitled 'She Grew Up In A Shotgun Row' and it's a fuzzy hook filled atmospheric rocker. === This nearly passed us by (it came out a couple of weeks back) nonetheless Grace Joyner latest single 'Fake Girlfriend' has to be shared, simple as that. === Electric Feat have just released an album from which we have 'Bring Something from the Night' the Athens, Greece band capturing rocks past and adding a few modern twists to many of rocks genres across the album.
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Kalbells - Mothertime.
Today, Kalbells—the project led by multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Kalmia Traver—is sharing “Mothertime,” the title track (and accompanying lyric video made in quarantine with a microscope) from her forthcoming EP co-produced with Jeremy Malvin (aka Chrome Sparks), releasing April 10th via NNA Tapes.
Following the lead single and video for "Cool and Bendable", “Mothertime” is about Traver’s mother and their relationship together. As Traver explains in her own words: “it’s about the bewildering beauty and uncanniness of the fact that we can keep growing & changing so much, cueing off each other across our two mobius-entwined lifetimes.”
In April 2015, Kalmia Traver (Kalbells, Rubblebucket) had just come out of an intensive 2-month writing retreat with 27 songlets in hand, 10 of which would become Kalbells’ debut album Ten Flowers. Jeremy Malvin (Chrome Sparks) loved what she shared with him then, and the two began regular co-production sessions in his studio in Brooklyn, where classical percussion ensemble So Percussion also worked. Drawing inspiration from the abundance of acoustic sound-makers all around, Jeremy performed marimbas, cactus shakers, and massive bass drums, while Kal layered flute arpeggios, penny whistles, and saxophones through tape echo to make smooth harmonic waves of rainbow velvet layer cake. They pretended to be an orchestra.
Lyrically, the Mothertime EP sees Kal processing themes she has been continually chewing on in the 6-year wake of surviving ovarian cancer and transforming a codependent relationship wither her long-time music partner Alex Toth (Tōth, Rubblebucket): resilience, yielding, beckoning creativity, self-exploration, and joy.
"She Grew Up in a Shotgun Row" is the new single from Unruly Girls, taken from their new album "Epidemic", to be released on April 21st, 2020 via Dirty Beach.
"She Grew up in a Shotgun Row" is dedicated to Kim Gordon, or better inspired by her, to tell the surreal story of a girl grown up in nasty and dirty suburbs, full of love and violence. The track is 100% adrenaline, with vocals from Ronit Bergman (Undone, Plastic Venus), layers of garage fuzzy guitars, massive synths, menacing feedbacks and a groovy, distorted, danceable drumming.
A lo-fi, dirty, noisy sound, that conveys a sense of delirium and decaying obsession.
The retro visuals contain original footage shot by Plastic Venus and friends, during the unforgettable underground music scene of the 1990s through the fascinating lens of the Israeli punk hardcore band, that “with their straining-nerve music made for generations to die by, built their faith, their story, their lives over the years.”
Where Grace Joyner’s EP Young Fools served as an introduction to songwriting and a chance to explore her musical muse while treading her own artistic path, her debut LP, Maybe Sometimes in C revealed what she has found along the way. Joyner weaves a beautiful and delicate balance between reflecting on the trials of young love and showing a remarkable commitment to self-development.
Teaming up for the third time with producer and engineer, Wolfgang Zimmerman (Band of Horses, SUSTO), Grace Joyner looks to further her musical journey with her sophomore album Settle In.
Reflecting on the development of the album, Joyner says: “I took my time with Settle In. This record covers a lot of ground for me. I took bigger risks in my songwriting process and pushed personal boundaries by exploring content around my romantic struggles, my family, and my relationship with the pursuit of music itself. In a lot of ways my love for music feels like a relationship—at times it feels like unrequited love and at times I have found it breaking my heart. But, ultimately, you can't choose what or who you love, and if you don't give it a fair shot you might never know what could have been.”
Since the project’s inception, Grace Joyner has toured across the country with appearances at SXSW and Savannah Stopover, sessions at Daytrotter and Breakthru Radio, and the sync of her single Dreams on The CW’s hit show Riverdale.
If you enjoy some quality psych-rock with 70s swing and proto-doom vibes without actually tipping over the line of retroism then this is your thing. Electric Feat will make you revisit the beautiful story of 70’s Rock in 10 lessons, from Alice Cooper’s craziness to Black Sabbath's darkish power & by passing by The Doors, Jimi Hendrix Experience's psychedelia. Brutal, mysterious, sweet, excited, smashing, their music will catch you from the beginning to the end of this wild ride. A big punch in the face.
Electric Feat, the fairly new heavy-rock quartet from Athens, Greece have recently released their self-titled debut record (pressed only on 180-gram limited vinyl) via Inner Ear.
Rock is dead, so let's go dancing in it's ashes. No more, no less, this is Electric Feat's first set of songs, recorded (almost live) at the cozy Diskex studio, with Sergios Voudris' (The Voyage Limpid Sound) invaluable assistance.
Rex are an Amsterdam based trio and they have just released 'Palaces' a beautiful track with hints of Nick Cave however the trio add so much more. ===Amaroun already has a reputation for creating music that is hard to categorise, not that it matters 'Talk' is just one very individual song and it's wonderful. === They describe themselves as a mountain rock band and somehow Whitacre give that description credence as new song 'Prodigal' amply demonstrates. ===Mats Wawa have a new album out called 'Rock Omelette' which comprises of ten tracks, described by their promo as a mixture of "AOR, slacker soul or just classic rock" it's all of that pulled together by the bands consistent catchy and highly melodic sound. === The Mowgli's are back with 'Weight On Me' and again the band are on top form with a colourful video accompanying this hook filled song. === Reliant Tom share 'Nevermind The Garbage' a song that opens gently and gradually adds musical layers and power and packs plenty of atmosphere and emotion. === We get to share the third song and video fromThe Claudettes just ahead of their new album 'High Times in the Dark', this time we have '24/5' which is a fiesty little rocker to say the least.
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Rex - Palaces.
Amsterdam-based trio Rex explore the darker side of life with style, sexuality and a touch of melancholy – combining post punk, new wave and even elements of Spanish rhythms. This month, they are set to release upcoming track ‘Palaces’.
Despite sharing the same influential interests from the likes of The Bad Seeds, Lou Reed and Leonard Cohen, the bands idiosyncratic sound stems from their own musical backgrounds. Frontman, and guitarist Jonathan Rex was born with flamenco in his blood, while Drummer Nout Kooij was raised as a die-hard punk, and Bass player Sara Elzinga was introduced to blues music before she could walk.
With Jonathan’s powerful vocals wrapped elegantly over heavy electric strings and a throbbing drumbeat, ‘Palaces’ dwells upon love and death and the overwhelming emotions that comes along with it. Discussing the song, Rex says: “The song embraces the sorrow of loss, and powerless felt when you lose someone close to you. It raises the questions of how to continue on with life and survive without them.”
Having gained cult status in their native city, the three-piece have also seen action in European cities such as London, Berlin, Spain, whilst touring and at festivals. This year will see Rex on the rising scale, as they welcome the release of their debut EP this spring.
Amaroun has a reputation for creating strong melodies with simple beats accompanied by scrupulous lyrical honesty. As a self- proclaimed emo kid of the noughties and a lover of many genres from Gospel to Grime & Hip Hop to Reggae, Amaroun is not easily categorised.
With a driving hunger to release music, and prolific writing prowess, Amaroun (aka Jay Brown) is releasing music each month throughout 2020. January saw the self-produced and genre bending track ‘Perish’ with the honey-like ‘Rosey’ following four weeks later. Now, March 27th will see the release of 'Talk', Amaroun's third record this year and first full studio recording. 'Talk', co-written with Charles Watson (Slowclub) and produced by Charlie Andrew (Alt J/ Matt Corby/ Maricka Hackman) is a song about the moment communication breaks down between two people –– “Whenever I sing this song it takes me back to those moments and makes me realise how important talking is to keep your connection alive” she says. “I have no regrets, I learnt
so much about what I wanted from these experiences and use them to inform my own self growth and how I approach the beautiful connections with people I have today”
Whitacre, the self-described “mountain rock” band hailing from Denver, CO., has premiered the new single, “Prodigal,” with Billboard. The single will appear on their new album, Seasons, to be released April 17th, 2020. Recorded at Third & James in Denver, produced by Joe Richmond (Tennis, Churchill) and mixed by Yuuki Matthews (The Shins), Seasons marks the first time the band recorded in a big space and they found creative freedom to experiment with new ideas, marking an evolution from their last EP, 2018’s Within The Mountains’ Shadows.
Fusing elements of Americana, folk, and rock with punk tinges, Whitacre has become one of Denver’s fastest rising bands, selling out shows with Mt. Joy, Wild Child and Birdtalker, playing legendary venues such as Red Rocks and The Bluebird Theater, and amassing half a million streams on Spotify. With the release of their debut full-length album, Seasons, on the horizon, the four-piece, made up of Paul Whitacre on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Chase Perry on banjo, Mark Cunningham on drums and Joe Fishel on bass, are poised to break out nation-wide.
“At the risk of sounding a bit cliche, ‘Prodigal’ was a monumental song for the band. It was the first time we really collaborated on the writing process - every member contributed to the lyrics, the story, the melody, etc. It was a special moment to let others into the creative process for the first time, and it really set the tone for how we've written songs ever since,” frontman Paul Whitacre explains. “Every member of this band has a story of running away from 'home.' We've all lived through a time that we were doing the exact opposite of what we knew we were supposed to be doing. ‘Prodigal’ touches on the presence of hope and redemption, regardless of how low you are in life.”
A metaphor for the different phases of life, Seasons helped the band process the concept of there being something to use and learn from in each season and experience. The message of the album goes along with the band’s mission: “We have a burning desire to tell a story that isn’t often told in the music industry today. One of redemption and restoration. We want to reassure the broken-hearted that there is hope, we want to show the invisible that we see them and that they matter. We believe that doesn’t only happen in lyrics but in a melody as well. We believe in the power of music and that it is used to soften and heal hearts.”
Mats Mentzen Wang’s aka Mats Wawa is releasing new album Rock Omelette, the follow-up to 2018’s EP Scuzz. The young songwriter was unwittingly booked to a handful of showcase festivals in 2015, based on a few bedroom demos. And that’s how Mats Wawa was born – he needed a band. Now, four years later, Wang has matured, and so have his musical tastes.
Call it AOR, slacker soul or just classic rock – let the listener decide. Whatever you call it, the album is chock full of tunes. From a short rock opera about French & Moland (two Norwegian mercenaries imprisoned in DR Congo), via the song “Canned Heat” which sounds like…and to the first single “Sparkly Eyes”, some of the most beautiful blue eyed soul you’ll hear this year, with strings imported from 70’s Philadelphia.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that this record has become an eclectic collection of songs, as the following influences are named: Elton John’s Tumbleweed Connection, Laura Nyro, Lee Hazlewood, The Byrds and Jessica Pratt. Maybe that’s what Rock Omelette means. Still, the innocent naiveté that’s been Mats Wawa’s calling card, permeates the entire album, fronted by Wang’s characteristic voice which keeps it all cohesive.
All of life is a journey and the best journeys are those taken with friends. For the 5 members of The Mowgli’s that road has seen their friendship tested and rebuilt numerous times. From their earliest Venice, California days as a 10+ revolving cast of characters to their current line-up, the core members have evolved from playing midnight warehouse parties to the stages of the largest festivals.
While there have been many highlights - appearances on late night TV shows, incredibly rewarding collaborations with charities and electrifying performances in legendary venues among them - there have also been tests: Losing band members, battling with the stress of constant touring and maintaining their friendship, trying to remain both grounded and optimistic when things go amazingly well and when they don’t. But there have been benefits of creating deep bonds and close relationships, not least the marriage of singers Katie Jayne Earl and Josh Hogan in 2017. “Being in a touring band is hard work,” says Katie, “but inspiring. It only works because people care about the band and we have a core who support us, people who have both been there since the beginning and joined along the way. Those supporters keep us motivated.”
Their latest single "Weight On Me" is a mid-tempo mashup featuring hints of psychedelia, Jazz & rock n roll. The song talks about the pressures of keeping up with everyday life and taking on the weight of the world around you while keeping your head on your shoulders. It is the latest addition to their catalog of releases that are undeniably infectious and wholeheartedly relatable.
For The Mowgli’s, as for any band, this whole experience is a journey - and not always an easy one. It tests your self-belief, your stamina, your relationships and your mental and emotional health. “Since this band started we’ve been through a lot of changes: gained members, lost members, been shuffled around labels and learned a lot about the music industry,” says Andy. “Now it feels like we’re really independent again, refocused on curating our live show, more in touch with the business of being this band.” He adds “Our sound has evolved but we always circle back to the basic themes: love, feeling good, excited for life no matter what the day delivers.”
Brooklyn-based experimental art-rock duo, Reliant Tom shares new single "Nevermind the Garbage" and announces a new forthcoming album 'Play & Rewind' out May 8th, 2020 via Diversion Records. We've partnered with Black Book Magazine to bring you the vulnerable and visceral new song. Singer Claire Cuny took inspiration from the tragic passing of her father who died suddenly in 2018 on the day of the band's last album release no less. Claire explains, "The song is about learning to return to a semi-normal routine by learning to manage the grief..."
Tracing their origins to a chance meeting at a DIY show in Brooklyn in 2015, the Brooklyn-based post-rock electronic band and experimental performance art Reliant Tom is centered around its core creative duo, Western Massachusetts-born, Brooklyn-based composer Monte Weber and Dallas, TX-born, Brooklyn-based choreographer and vocalist Claire Cuny. The duo’s collaboration is a seamless synthesis of their individual talents and interests – sound design, wearable technology, modern dance, and hook-driven, yet genre-defying songwriting.
“Reliant Tom gives me the outlet to explore both pulse driven works while maintaining the other musical elements which I find fascinating - timbre, aleatoric processes, and interactive technologies,” Weber explains. Adds Cuny, “Our ultimate goal with Reliant Tom is to be a multi-media performance experience that straddles the line between pop and experimental music - and philosophizing about what that even means, and is that even possible as ‘experimental pop’?”
Thematically, the duo’s two previous releases, 2016’s self-released, self-titled EP and 2018’s critically applauded, full-length debut effort Bad Orange, touch upon the pitfalls of digital communication and the generally blasé nature of modern social interaction – through the guise of avant-pop and avant-punk-influenced musical devices and arrangements featuring electric guitar, vocals, a hybrid electro-acoustic drum kit, synthesizers, and Weber’s Kontrol Instrument, which he developed while studying at the Paris-based Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music as a way to make electronic music more tactile and immersive in its performance.
Slated for a May 8th, 2020 release through Chicago-based Diversion Records, Reliant Tom’s sophomore effort Play & Rewind is a decidedly bold and self-assured step forward: Cuny’s sultry and expressive vocals while being prominently placed front and center, effortlessly glide over lush yet spacious arrangements of shimmering acoustic guitars, atmospheric electronics and twinkling keys with the material possessing a cinematic air that recalls Dummy-era Portishead, Tales of Us-era Goldfrapp, Radiohead circa OK Computer and others. And while continuing to be tech-heavy in their means of sonic production, their thematic exploration of communication and interaction in the digital age takes a back seat. This time taking a more human approach, the material may arguably be the most mature yet accessible, most emotionally honest and vulnerable of their growing catalog.
The Claudettes new album is due out out on April 3 and is entitled "High Times in the Dark".
The band have already shared two songs from the new album, namely 'Bad Babe, Losin' Touch' and 'Declined'.
The latest song ahead of the album is 24/5 and as was the case with the last two songs, it's accompanied by a new music video.
As we have previously mentioned Johnny Iguana the bands piano player and songwriter commented "I believe it's definitely our best yet". It's produced by Ted Hutt (Violent Femmes, The Devil Makes Three, Old Crow Medicine Show, Lucero) and will be released on Forty Below Records.
Braids have just shared a video for 'Snow Angel'. Last November we said of Braids "the indie art rock band manage to achieve everything that genre bundle suggest, doing so fabulously" this new song proves that was no one off event. === Juniper Bush have released a video for 'Turn' where the Winnipeg band deliver a mixture of restrained shoegaze and psych rock with melodic grooves. === Lavinia Blackwall shares 'John's Gone' ahead of her debut album due in May, the song is a vibrant, catchy modern folk song. === Duo Forces have been around for twenty years and 'Say It Now' demonstrates how well their musicianship and song writing has developed, with this energised pop/rock track. === Mardi Lumsden has a brand new album out entitled 'Hiatus' and it's a gorgeous collection of songs from this very talented Brisbane, Australia folk artist. === This is the third song we have had the pleasure of featuring this year from Kluster B and with 'Graveyard' the bands ability to mix genres and styles in just one song is both fabulous and notable.
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Braids - Snow Angel.
Montreal-based indie trio Braids have announced their decision to push the release of their new album Shadow Offering to June 19th due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the meantime, however, they will continue to release new songs in the coming weeks. Today, they shared their new video for single "Snow Angel," a powerful opus that features singer Raphaelle Standell-Preston's most visceral performance to date as she leans passionately into her anger, diving deeper into frustrations and anxieties about her internal and external worlds.
Of the track, Braids said: "'Snow Angel' was written in the immediate wake of the 2016 US election, as our collective conscience took a sharp inhale. It's a diary entry of sorts - a snapshot of the mind grappling with our era's endless barrage of content and destruction, continents away and close to home. *This* moment, with our world in the midst of a pandemic, is admittedly a new context. But I can't help but sense the song speaks to feelings many of us are experiencing - uncertainty, angst, and a desperate desire to make sense of it all.
"For me, it was deeply therapeutic to write and sing this song; saying things out loud can help us to not feel so alone, can help validate our natural fears about the future of our world, and can bring to light some of the hard questions that many of us are asking ourselves. I believe that art can change our relationship to fear. We hope this song can offer you a moment of catharsis and relief, in the same way writing and performing it has for us."
"Snow Angel" first debuted on The FADER who stated "Producer Chris Walla (Death Cab For Cutie) lets the band breathe throughout the epic track, letting the energy ebb and flow as Raphaelle Standell-Preston switches her vocals between singing and spoken-word. The whole thing builds to a frantic final third in which the chaos and confusion is palpable."
Releasing through Secret City Records, Shadow Offering finds the band at their most personal, unabashedly flexing a new sense of confidence through songs that reach a higher level of artistry and collaboration. A luscious and expansive release, it leads us through a sonic tapestry of narrative. With heartbreaking honesty and precision, listeners traverse a nuanced and complicated world: one full of beautiful contradiction. Although the album directs itself at the failures of people to love and be loved, it also seeks to restore justice and attain blissful union. It's arc crests through the dark towards the light and learns how to dance with the dizzying rhythms of the heart. The songs bubble, sustain, dissolve, expand, and retract.
In their latest video for “Turn,” Winnipeg psych-rock/shoegaze four-piece Juniper Bush explore the fantasy of unrequited love through a dance. The tune appears on the band’s debut full-length record, Healing Through A Sonic Figure, which arrives next week on April 3 via Transistor 66. Reverb-smeared chords and Lizzy Burt’s angelic vocals evoke the emptiness of floating adrift through space, and the impending sorrow of a lust disguised as love.
As Burt explains, “The song’s lyrics express the fantasy of a better life with the object of one’s affection, the inner turmoil and intensity of a one-sided romance, and how patterns repeat despite life’s lessons.” In the video, a wedding dress is used to represent outgrown notions of love and tradition. As the video progresses, a figure dances with a plastic bag, while a chair remains distanced from the figure. The chair is used to represent inner wisdom and truth, and the space between fantasy and reality.
“It’s sort of a dance of self-deception and struggle to maintain a sense of self,” says Burt, who appears in and directs the video. “I appear curled up naked in the chair for a mere moment near the end of the video to signify growth and a new sense of truth and awareness from the experience.”
Comprised of Lizzy Burt (Basic Nature), Adrian Schroeder (Black Cloud), and Danny Hacking and Kyle Loewen (Holy Void and Surprise Party), Juniper Bush has been called a Winnipeg supergroup, merging the snarling psychedelia of The Black Angels, penetrative shoegaze of My Bloody Valentine (circa 1988), and the otherworldly alt-rock of The Cranberries into a concoction that’s both abrasive and sweet. Juniper Bush's upcoming Western Canadian tour is now cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns. The band will announce rescheduled dates in the coming months.
Lavinia Blackwall is already a well-known name in many circles. Her work with prolific Glaswegian psych-folk outfit Trembling Bells having earnt her a reputation as one of the best voices in the scene, many critics having likened her singing prowess to that of Sandy Denny. Along with Trembling Bells she has released seven full-length albums and performed as the backing band to folk legends Bonnie Prince Billy and The Incredible String Band’s Mike Herron. Now she is striking out on her own with the release of her debut solo album Muggington Lane End which is out on May 1st.
Recorded live, the album is a mixture of wistful longing, joyful exuberance, wheeling psychedelia and classic songwriting. Listening to it, you wouldn’t believe that many of the vocals on the record were recorded in one take, though that’s the kind of faultless performance the classically trained soprano has become known for. Muggington Lane End began its journey back in 2018, with two tracks (Waiting For Tomorrow and All Seems Better) being recorded with former bandmates Mike Hastings and Simon Shaw. “They were in a previous incarnation of what I thought my solo project would be, called 'Orion's Belt'” explains Blackwall, however when she got together with partner and collaborator Marco Rea the project started to shift. “I realised I could get a fresh band together, seeing as Mike and Simon were very busy with their own projects”. Working with a new group of people breathed life into the project and the ‘Orion’s Belt’ moniker was ditched in favour of Lavinia Blackwall, perhaps an indicator that this would become the singer and multi-instrumentalist’s most personal work yet. “I don't think I've ever worked with a group so committed to working on arrangements, timings and feel. I just love it,” she says. “Marco is a fantastic producer, who pushes me to see things through, consider ideas I'd never have thought about and also just gets what I'm trying to do. We work so easily together”. A sentiment that translates audibly on record.
Lead single ‘John’s Gone’ harks back to 60’s style songwriting, telling the tale of an oddball named John in a style reminiscent of Beatle’s classic ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’. Lavinia’s storytelling skills are artfully showcased throughout the record, Muggington Lane End’s most common thread being the notion of dreaming and escapism.
Muggington Lane End may still incorporate elements of Lavinia’s work with Trembling Bells however it also feels like a step towards a more authentic voice from the singer, singing songs from her own perspective. “I love every song, performance and recording and am so proud of the work everyone has put into making it,” she says, and that love really shines through.
Hi, we’re Forces. I’m Jess and this [motions to the right] is Dave. Dave and Jess, Jess and Dave. It’s been that way for over 20 years. A time long enough that the lines between life, music and love have become beautifully blurred. We wouldn’t have it any other way. The name ‘Forces’ implies a literal “joining of forces” between Dave and I, each contributing our power into doing the thing we love to do most: making music, together. But, it’s also rooted in our love of joining forces with our musical community, and our passion for creating experiences for our friends to play and perform together.
Forces became a thing in 2017 after we closed the book on a whirlwind decade of recording and touring with our former band, The Golden Dogs. That trip took us all over the world and we had the privilege to support great artists; biggies like Sloan, Feist, Bloc Party, Libertines, Kaiser Chiefs, Thurston Moore and even the late great Roky Erickson (twice!). One thing that still astounds us is the number of amazingly talented people who grew through our band who continue to do great things and are still our dearest friends: members of Zeus, Taylor Knox, Wax Atlantic, and Brave Shores, to name a few. All of these musicians, including Dave and I, cut their rock teeth in the Golden Dogs.
When the band ended, we started exploring in the studio making what we thought would be the next GD record, but deep down we knew that it wasn’t. What we were making was dancier. It was groovier. We were growing new skin, wearing new hats, trying on ideas of all different sizes. It seems fitting the song that inspired us into a new artistic direction is a song about inspiration itself. ‘Step in a Sway’—our second single, but the first we recorded—felt to us like a true departure both in style and attitude. It was our foray into layering tracks with metronomic, percussive loops, as opposed to the traditional power-pop approach of recording we were used to, a bed-track with drums, bass & guitar.
In the studio, we were inspired by different production styles—the big beat and hypnotic grooves of Liquid Liquid and ESG, the thin guitar and funky bass of Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, the alt pop of Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz, New Order’s approach to dance pop, and the layered hooks of the Cure. Forces is us embracing pure pop, and it feels right. Our rule is, if a song makes us want to get up and dance, then we’re on the right track.
Longstanding Brisbane folk artist Mardi Lumsden has today released her debut album Hiatus, a collection of dreamy folk songs filled with heart, soul and commentary on human nature.
The next step in an already long and illustrious career, Hiatus is an eleven-track delight showcasing Mardi's signature ability to weave heartfelt stories together using banjos, keyboards and electronic drums to create a unique genre of dream folk - a fusion of the ethereal atmospheres and textures creating a mixture of dream pop with acoustic-based folk. Recorded and produced by her husband Andrew Pennay in their converted church-turned home studio, tracks such as 'Juniper Trees', 'Someday' and 'Treasure Like This' are delicate, warm and truly uplifting.
The album's release is punctuated by the focus track 'Fiore', written under the inspiration of an Italian summer and the beauty of letting go of relationships. "It's about releasing your expectations and accepting that endings also mean new beginnings," Mardi explains. Her most recent single, 'Heading Home,' also featured on Double J's Tower of Song with Henry Wagons.
Previous success for Mardi Lumsden has included songs from her EP Wherever you go, there you are being featured on Australian TV shows such as Channel 7's Winners and Losers, ABC's Dance Academy and ABC's Time of Our Lives. Also recorded in a church-turned-recording studio (ARIA-winning producer Magoo's Applewood Studios), 'Classified' from the EP received the Q Song Award in the Folk/Ballad category and was nominated for Song of The Year as well as an Australian Songwriting Association award.
Kluster B (fka Kluster) are putting out their second album, b, on April 17th. A lot has happened in all the five members lives since the first album, civic (2018). The band was very shattered during the period that the music was written, being far apart from each other both geographically and emotionally, which resulted in turns within the music none of the members could have foreseen. A band crisis emerged, a crisis that was processed in the studio during the recording week, something that has left its clear marks on the record. In the end, the recording of b was an enriching experience for the band, coming out stronger than ever on the other side, with a new name and a new record. There was now nothing left to lose.
The band was founded by four friends and a virtual drummer in Malmö 2014, a real life drummer joined in shortly afterwards and the gang was complete. Since then, the quintet has been active on as well the Malmö indie scene as playing shows in Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm, supporting acts such as Frankie Cosmos, Omni and Nicole Sabouné. Debut album 'civic' was released in 2018 and Kluster received praise from Line of Best Fit, BBC Radio 6, major Swedish music magazines and more.
The band returned earlier this year with new singles 'Counterpart' and 'Love Must Conquer', two tracks taken from their upcoming sophomore album that will be released on April 17th via Rama Lama Records. Today, another piece of the puzzle that is Kluster B's second album is released in the form of new single 'Graveyard''.
Graveyard is yet another glimpse of Kluster's playful sound - a melting pot of broad influences such as pop, punk, noise, lo-fi, indie and jazz. Just like its precursors, Graveyard is a development of the sound we got to know on their first album. The interplay and paradox between the complex and simple is still there but the quintet have this time allowed themselves more time and space to experiment with almost jamming parts that creates a larger soundscape hypnotizing the listener.
oh!no?ok. - Wheel Of Fortune.
