Lucy Grubb - Bandicoot - Claire Whitehead

Lucy Grubb - You Don't Do Anything.

Norfolk-born songwriter Lucy Grubb is excited to announce the release of her long awaited third EP ‘Waste My Time’ due for release this summer - 4th June 2021, including first single ‘You Don’t Do Anything’ out now.

Known for blending of modern Americana with Country undertones, Lucy has built a prestigious reputation with the release of two previous EPs. 2017’s debut ‘18 Miles’ was named Best UK EP of the Year by country website Belles & Gals, followed by second EP ‘Dear Walter’ receiving a 5* review from Maverick Magazine.

After years of honing her skills at UK festivals such as Glastonbury, Red Rooster and Latitude, Lucy most recently headlined The Den Stage at Cambridge Folk Festival to a ‘rapturous reception’ - Nic Rigby, BBC News. Lucy has also showcased at 2020’s AmericanaFest UK and was set to perform at the renowned Country2Country Festival at the O2 London in March, which has now been postponed until 2022.

Recording began in late 2019 in a countryside recording studio in North Norfolk; a home from home for the band, also doubling as their rehearsal studio. Subsequent recording sessions resumed in pockets of lockdown freedom throughout 2020, with the process becoming flexible and adaptive, and comprised of many ‘band zoom calls’ using the treacherous countryside broadband.

“When we started this process I wasn’t sure what to expect at the end of it. Now I can quite confidently say that these songs sound like me, and they sound like my band, and it is my sound. At 23 I know I have plenty more to learn, and my music will change as I grow, but these songs are a product of the last year of my life.” Lucy Grubb

The tracks on Waste My Time explore elements of relationships with ourselves and others, opening with the title track representing the strength and resilience shown by friends facing difficult times and being OK with not being in control of everything. You Don’t Do Anything takes the EP to another level musically with almost tongue in cheek ode to Lucy’s beloved Country music. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, closing track When It Rains is a raw and openly emotional song; and despite its undeniable focus on sadness, it also shows it is perfectly normal to feel that way and one day you will get out of it.

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Bandicoot - Worried Blues.

For Bandicoot "Worried Blues inhabits a world of paranoia, born from a fear of lost love. It carries you down labyrinthine streets like a nightmarish memory, with a contagious strutting rhythm which never lets you stop moving along with it.”

Never missing a beat or taking time to catch their breath Bandicoot are back with a new and impressive single.

‘Worried Blues’ starts with forceful piano chords and an anguished emotional vocal from Rhys Underdown, channeling John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band primal scream as a voice from the dark. When ‘Worried Blues’ intro releases into a riff full of Talking Heads strutting art rock/ dance punk directness it leaves no doubt, Bandicoot are ‘The Sound of Young Wales!’.

Libertino · Bandicoot - Worried Blues

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Claire Whitehead - No Right Way, Louise.

Canadian folk-country songstress Claire Whitehead whisks listeners on a journey with her latest project, Thelma: A Country Opera — available now! And if the name sounds familiar, it should… Built through interpretation of the character Thelma of Thelma & Louise, Whitehead has churned a fable into a nine-track release about the fearlessness of the human spirit — including album closer, “No Right Way, Louise.”

“Thelma: A Country Opera is a ‘coming-of-agency’ story,” Whitehead explains. “It’s about the transformation of self and relationships when someone becomes disillusioned with the rules of our world.” As a storyteller, Whitehead commiserates with the protagonist through a series of emotion-driven songs that speak to Thelma’s internal journey, and the album’s live performance features video clips from the film to cue songs.

For its part, “No Right Way, Louise” chronicles Thelma’s ongoing dedication to her best friend. Whitehead’s delicate but piercing vocals churn out a near-plea to Louise as our heroine succumbs to the inevitability of failure to live a life of restraints, and rules. “And they’ll chase us down,” Whitehead coos, “And they’ll spit from a truck. So hand me that gun, cuz i’m I'm all out of luck.”

To tie the song together, Whitehead has self-produced a subsequent music video — a first in her lengthy career. “To make this video, I tried to celebrate the song’s theme of prioritizing female relationships, while working under the constraints of the pandemic,” Whitehead reveals. “This was the first official music video I’ve made, or released, and I did it completely DIY on camera phones and editing on my laptop.

“I was lucky enough to have my sister, Anne, to film the footage and a friend and vocalist from London Ontario, Imogen Wasse, who sings live with me and fosters a lot of positive energy in our performances. “The result has me feeling comfortable being silly on camera, while capturing the power of women working creatively together to make great things.”

For this track and album, Whitehead’s transfixing vocals, well-established melodic harmonies, authentic country twang with the truth bleeding in between the lines transports the listener into an entirely different place and time. “No Right Way, Louise” has Thelma declaring the final lessons of her journey, celebrating friendship, love, and resistance to the wrongs of our world. A multi-instrumentalist and veteran songwriter, where the album shines is Whitehead’s power to transcend you into the character’s story. Whitehead urges you to let go of reality for just a moment, while you walk Thelma’s path with her.

And as her journey unravels track by track, Whitehead grants the listener permission to read the finest print of detail on the most sacred part of a woman’s heart — her spirit. Whitehead’s ability to fully immerse herself into the arms of Thelma’s character and expose her layers far beyond what the silver screen wanted us to watch, is a testimony to this songstress’ uncanny ability to transform into whomever she needs to be to get the song right.

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BOI - Abigail Lapell - Wild Earp & The Free for Alls

BOI - Ribidires.

New Welsh outfit 'BOI' have announced their highly anticipated debut album entitled 'Coron O Chwinc' which will be released on the 25th June via new Welsh label Recordiau Crwn.

'BOI' create a big, melodic, unapologetically drum and guitar driven sound, with lyrics and melodies that explore the big issues of our times and the human state. These 10 songs off “Coron O Chwinc” were recorded in various spaces around Wales, and were then mixed in the capable hands of Dafydd Ieuan (Super Furry Animals).

Band Members/Aelodau'r Band
Keyboards/Allweddellau - Osian Gwynedd
Lead Vocals/Canwr - Rhodri Siôn
Guitar/Gitâr - Ifan Emlyn
Bass/Gitâr Fas - Heledd Mair Watkins
Drums/Drymiau - Dafydd Owen

Osian Gwynedd and Rhodri Siôn were members of Beganifs/Big Leaves for 15 years and more, and recorded several albums and EPs under various labels, with their hits including Seithenyn, Meillionen, Cwcwll and many more. The group gained huge success in Wales during the 1990 and 2000s and performed throughout the UK and further afield with bands such as Catatonia and Super Furry Animals. Their English-language single Racing Birds was Single of the Week on Mark and Lard’s Radio 1 show.

Recordiau Crwn · BOI - Ribidires

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Abigail Lapell - Fortunate Son.

Call it prairie noir or Canadiana desert rock: Toronto’s Abigail Lapell sings haunting, gorgeous modern folk songs. Her solo albums have won two Canadian Folk Music Awards—Contemporary Album of the Year (2017) and English Songwriter of the Year (2020)—reaching #1 on Canadian folk radio and over 11 million Spotify streams.

“Fortunate Son” is Abigail Lapell’s intimate rendition of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s protest song about the Vietnam war with the lyrics touching on the wider power structures and class dimensions behind that conflict. 

In today’s context, Lapell relates the message to the movement for climate justice; how the pain caused by the climate crisis or the coronavirus pandemic are distributed so unevenly throughout society between the haves and the have-nots.

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Wild Earp & The Free for Alls - Ain't It a Shame (When Your Horse Goes Lame).

With a respectful nod to the old masters of classic country and a defiant scoff at the purists, Wild Earp & The Free for Alls mix pensive trail songs with jumping rockabilly, spirited bluegrass, rowdy rock, and, occasionally, the dark corners of folk. Tales of heartache, sinful living, and celebration abound in the new album, Dyin’ for Easy Livin’, an infectious 12-song collection served up with a load of wit, wisdom, and a wild streak that keeps you guessing.

With his long, curly, locks, thick handlebar ‘stache, and of course, wide-brimmed cowboy hat, Earp exudes a look that’s far more quintessential Austin than Chicago, where he and the band are based.

“It turned out to feel really organic,” Earp says of the process of making the album, adding that he continues to enjoy the challenge of playing with traditions and classics and pushing them in a direction that uniquely reflects the essence of Wild Earp. “There's a little country, a little rock, a little swing … a whole lot of whatever,” as Earp describes it, shying away from the oft-used term “Americana.” “Everything we do is at least adjacent to country and western.”

From the first note — or rather, horse’s whinny — of … Easy Livin’'s lead-off track, “Ain’t It a Shame (When Your Horse Goes Lame),” Earp and his band of masterful musicians take the listener on a smile-inducing, toe-tapping romp through barrooms, casinos, fairgrounds, and bedrooms. Throughout, tasty Telecaster licks (courtesy of Jed Taylor, with George Hurden on jaguar), velvety pedal steel (Brian Wilkie, and on the rocking, catchy “Playin’ With House Money,” Robert Daniels), and perfectly-placed piano runs (Sean Hughes) provide an awesome accompaniment to Earp’s vocals, delivered with a knowing wink and a smile that pulls you right into the punch lines. 

But before you go thinking this is another cheeky, novelty throwback act, know this album is far from one-note. There’s a good balance here, between barroom, three-minute rousers and introspective thinkers. The endearing backing and sometimes-lead vocals of Kiley “Sweet Sassy Molassey” Moore add a nice sweetness to the surly, particularly on the stunner “Two ‘Til Midnight,” written by bassist Charlie Malave.

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Lavender Diamond - Riley Downing - Runnner - Lou Heneise - Ida Maria

Lavender Diamond - Turn Around.

Los Angeles-based chamber-pop band Lavender Diamond just released a new song “Turn Around,” a bonus track from the digital re-release of Now Is The Time, their first studio album in more than 8 years out now via Petaluma Records.

“This song is about reversal - the experience of finding the end - of being in the free fall of loss and despair - and that end point being a beginning through the turning,” explains Becky Stark.  “When we were making the record I didn’t think this song should be part of it, but sometime after we were finished I realized it was my favorite one. It had seemed so raw that I couldn’t bear it.  But isn’t that the way? It can feel impossible to see the beauty in what is full of pain - but new joy can be created and found in the turn around.”

Now Is The Time was written and produced entirely by Lavender Diamond, the trio of Becky Stark, Steve Gregoropoulos and Ron Regé, Jr., and mixed by Tucker Martine at Flora Recording & Playback in Portland, OR. The album features contributions from Nathaniel Walcott (Bright Eyes), Sasami and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist Josh Klinghoffer.

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Riley Downing - Start It Over.

Riley Downing of The Deslondes will release his debut solo album Start It Over tomorrow via New West Records. The 12-song set was co-produced by Andrijia Tokic (Alabama Shakes, Hurray for the Riff Raff) & John James Tourville of the Deslondes. On Start It Over, Downing, Tokic, and Tourville are joined by an incredible backing band including Jack Lawrence of the Raconteurs as well as session players for the likes of Dolly Parton, Elvis Costello, Jason Isbell, Blaze Foley, Yola, and more. Start It Over has been met with critical acclaim with Uncut Magazine in the U.K. describing his voice as “...like Johnny Cash with a hangover,” and exclaiming “His brain...is abuzz with sounds and ideas, which makes his solo debut a thrill.” 

No Depression said “No matter how well Start It Over fits into the current realities of the world — and it does — Downing’s voice and lyrics will continue speaking for generations to come, and in one way or another will keep conjuring memories of bygone eras” and in their 8 out of 10 Star Review, Holler stated “Once you’re on board with Downing’s elusive, often entrancing vibe, you’ll wonder why it took a pandemic for him to hit center stage.”

The Boot recently premiered the video for the album’s title track, saying “Start It Over” harnesses the beauty and power of music.” The “Start It Over” video, was directed by Joshua Shoemaker and filmed in part at Grimey’s New & Preloved Music in Nashville.

Downing has also added additional tour dates in support of Start It Over, beginning this Saturday in Athens, GA. Five special performances in Louisiana and Texas will feature his Deslondes bandmate Sam Doores as well as the Athens, GA based cosmic country band The Pink Stones.

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Runnner - Awash.

Runnner—the project of the now LA-based songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Noah Weinman—has signed to Run For Cover Records, which will release his new album Always Repeating on July 16th,  2021. A 10-track collection composed of five re-recorded versions of songs that appeared on his 2017 debut, Awash, and last year’s One of One EP, Always Repeating serves as a fresh introduction to the artist and his enchanting musical world, where he balances intimate and melancholy songwriting through the lens of hi-fi/lo-fi dynamics.

“Awash,” the album’s sweeping first single out now, embodies the feeling of being lost and adrift through its aching melody, and builds on the track’s early demo with lush choral harmonies, banjo, trumpet, slide guitar, and more. “I wrote this song in about 15 minutes, though I had been kicking the title around for a bit,” Runnner explains. “It felt like the word I was looking for, but I couldn’t get past it. I was feeling so lost & distant from everything, but I would choke on the language anytime I tried to elaborate. I eventually was able to let the song come simply and not stress the specificity too much.” 

Self-produced and recorded wherever Runnner called home at the time, Always Repeating documents a cycle of looking back and moving forward, of alienation changing to reconciliation. After leaving college, his friends, and his beloved life in Ohio, Weinman made the reluctant decision to move back to his hometown of Los Angeles; not because he wanted to, but because he wasn’t sure where else to go. It was an extremely isolating time and that existential dread pervades throughout his debut for Run For Cover Records. “I began to feel like all of the people I knew and had met maybe never really existed,” Weinman says. “I fell out of touch with everyone. It was really lonely. I wrote these songs as a way of reaching out and trying to reconnect.”

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Lou Heneise - Trial & Error (E.P).

Lou Heneise is an American singer, songwriter with roots in the city of Chicago, the rolling farmland of the midwest, and the Bible Belt of the South. All of which can be heard influencing her Electro-Acoustic-Folk-Americana EP Trial & Error

Her debut EP, Trial & Error is delicate, charming, vulnerable, and honest, merging the haunting delivery of Lou's live show with the driving force of full instrumentation.

Trial & Error is as introspective and earnest as it is catchy. Lou has captured the American heartbeat in this collection of songs.

Lou currently spends her days with her tender and wild toddler, making music, reading books and contemplating the meaning of life with her fellow artists, activists, philosophers, and poets.

Lou Heneise · Trial & Error

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Ida Maria - Dirty Money.

The opening to "Dirty Money" will immediately grab listeners and confirm that this indisputable viking punk Queen Ida Maria has retained the same rebellious attitude that got her in the game, while referencing the lifestyle of an industry's enabling that took her out of the game for a brief time.

Featuring a punk blast of garage guitar, 'Dirty Money' carries the high-energy punk-pop Ida's been widely acclaimed for with cheeky lyrics that are sugar-coated with a highly addictive chorus, addressing much more serious topics that are frustrating to her. Ida's personal experiences with greed and corruption are detailed with a racket of petulant screams, among them "Pay me all your Dirty oney/I'm your favorite monkey/watch me go!!!"

A pointed critique of capitalism, "Dirty Money" looks at the ways that money and greed corupt us all on some level, despite our best efforts to the contrary. “Everybody wants to be/Full make up and on TV/Talking ‘bout your jealousy/Mom I know I look insane/But they all promised me champagne/Swear they want me for my brain,’ Ida Maria belts out, infusing her innocent fury with snarky giggles that are reminiscent of a taunting childhood chant, as if to say, “Look at me now.”

When she’s not writing or recording music, Ida is head of her local Green Party, devoting herself to spreading a politically urgent message of ecological sustainability, which references her underlying themes to “Dirty Money” –-  making this song not only truly relevant, but also timely.

"Dirty Money” "is about stolen land and Bitcoin. It’s about the oil wars in Nigeria. It´s the mining in Congo, slavery for iPhones. Anything that the greedy human mind  turns to to try and fulfill that hole of nothingness, it’s about the Matrix. Get off the grid! Let's do something that doesn't cost money. The best things in life are for free!” Ida Maria exclaims.

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Stephanie Erin Wittmer - dawn-Song - Alyssa Joseph - Mia Baron - Steve Paul Simms - Julia Bardo - Spud Cannon

Stephanie Erin Wittmer - Pilot.

While the name Stephanie Erin Wittmer might be a new one amongst fans of modern country music, one listen to her debut EP Pilot reveals songwriting and vocal chops on par with seasoned professionals. Recorded at Modern Electric Sound Recorders in Dallas, TX with Jeff Saenz and Beau Bedford at the helm (known for their impressive output with the likes of Texas Gentlemen, Paul Cauthen, Ruby Boots, David Ramirez and more), Pilot merges 90s country influences with modern folk-pop flourishes that make for an inspired journey along open roads and past tumbleweeds, “only stopping for good views” — or news, depending on the chorus.

Equipped with metaphors aplenty, Wittmer takes her musing about relationships full circle in “The Great Ones,” comparing the rarity of an epic love to that of an epic song. “All of the great ones don’t come that easily / It takes a little patience and some fine tuning,” she affirms. She tackles self-discovery and finding solace in the aptly-named title track, dives headfirst into a fast-moving crush on “Always Been a Sucker,” and explores heartache and pain in EP standout “The Difference.” Repeated listens to the short yet spirited collection might recall such iconic voices as Trisha Yearwood, Alison Krauss, and Shania Twain, but fans of modern Americana faves such as Margo Price and Dori Freeman will find something amongst Pilot’s four tunes to love as well.

Growing up in small-town, rural Illinois, Wittmer was exposed to country music and performing at a very young age; she recalls putting on performances for her parents when she was three or four years old. Like many children, she took piano lessons, wrote poetry in her journal, and then finally thought to merge the two when she was a teen. Her post-college life took her to LA, and the road from there to her present sound has been a winding one. Before going back to her roots or “finding the flame” that she once knew, as she sings in the EP’s title track, she teamed up with some friends for a bedroom electronica project and also spent some time writing singer-songwriter tunes on the piano. “I had all these ideas for songs, that I just had to get out … too many,” she says. “I started writing all these country songs and realized I really love this genre."

A fan of Bedford’s work, particularly with Paul Cauthen, Wittmer recalls meeting him while visiting family in Texas and reaching out to him with demos. He responded favorably, which led to the two discussing working together, and ultimately Bedford assembled a rock solid band that knocked out the four songs in just a couple of days, recording live with minimal overdubs. The EP features the talents of McKenzie Smith (Midlake) on drums and percussion; Texas Gentlemen Charley Wiles and Scott Lee on guitar and bass, respectively; and Parker Twomey (Paul Cauthen) on piano and organ. Esteemed pedal steel player Will Van Horn’s embellishments put a flawlessly-placed bow on the glowing, fresh, rootsy package, with instrumental touches that add just the right flair to Wittmer’s sweet-yet-sassy vocal stylings.

Stephanie Erin Wittmer · Pilot

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dawn-Song - Heartbeats of my Son.

"Third tune from my album "for Morgan" released on Ffynnone Recordings at the end of May 2021. A song attempting to convey the depth of feeling looking into your newborn sons eyes for the first time, the overwhelming joy and the impulse to introduce him to your own father who is no longer alive. The video fillmed and edited by Jose Carballal inhabits the songs sentiment perfectly. A meditation on, nature, time, and the dialogue between generations."

Released physically via Ffynnone Records on the 28th of May, 'For Morgan', the beautiful debut album by Dawn-Song will be available on Limited Edition Vinyl and Compact Disc.

Come with us on an epic journey from Dark to Light, an extraordinary tale of total excess to finding ones inner calm, a musical time-capsule 'For Morgan' is an audio letter from Father to Son. Welshman Nick Evans originally from Penarth, South Wales found himself in the centre of London's consuming Music Business in the 90's. His Elemental Records a pioneering Label was home to Alabama 3, Rocket From The Crypt amounst others.

"I made an album of my songs with some wonderful collaborators over the last couple of years. When I’m gone I wanted to continue to be able to sing for my son Morgan if he needed me. My father published a small book of poetry before he died and if I’m missing him a lot I read a bit of it and I feel reconnected. I also wanted to make something my mother could enjoy. So the record is for Morgan" - Nick Evans AKA Dawn-Song

"When we were young We dreamed of creating a better future We Screamed, We Shouted We Loved, We Lost But We Lived Sometimes Together, Sometime Apart And Now I hear my friend talking from a future to his son I hear my friend imploring the world to do and to be better I hear the same song with a different sound I hear the Byrds, I hear Crass The shoutings gone, replaced with fragility and love I hear dawn Song" - Ffynnone Recordings

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Alyssa Joseph - easier.

Indie-rocker and self-identified “grungy sadgirl” Alyssa Joseph released a deliciously creative lyric video for her song “easier”. .

From bagels to baked beans, the lyrics in the video are made entirely from diner breakfast food! The lyric video, created by videographer Max Sternlict, reflects the meaning and lyrics of the song in a distinctly unique way. The song is about a relationship that neither member is truly willing to exit, as it opens with the lines “We say that it’s breakfast, nothing more. Even though I know you want an open door so we meet at different diners.” Holding nothing back on this garage-tinged rocker, Alyssa Joseph presses her powerful voice and growling guitars to describing someone struggling to swallow the lies they tell themselves to get through the day.

Alyssa Joseph opened up about the meaning behind this gut-punch of a song, saying  "easier is a nod to my New Jersey roots and just an honest song where I call out an ex and myself. We’d meet up once a month at diners after we dated to keep the door open since that was easier than finding someone new. Writing this song forced me to take a hard look at how I cope with heartbreak and isolation." The lyric video, which only came together last-minute, started with writing the lyrics in ketchup and moved on to other breakfast foods in an ode to Jersey diners. Describing the process of creating the video, Joseph says, “not everything happens for a reason, but nothing is a mistake.”

A New Jersey native and recent East Nashville transplant, Alyssa draws influence from contemporary songwriters like Julia Jacklin, Sharon Van Etten, and Big Thief. Prior to the pandemic, Alyssa had spent the last few years cutting her teeth touring up and down the east coast, where she became a familiar favorite at Sofar Sounds in NYC, Philly, Boston, and DC. Pairing carefully candid guitar playing with intensely confessional lyrics, Alyssa finds power in her own vulnerability. Her writing is tender and honest, even blunt at times, but always deeply personal - proof that she’s still figuring it out, just like the rest of us.

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Mia Baron - Hide And Seek.

Focused, fearless, and fierce. Mia Baron is a 13 year old force to be reckoned with. Not only is she an outstanding young songwriter but she has already one several singing competitions in her short life, most notably one of which was recorded by the “Reel T.V.” network and judged by Shawn Desman. Yet another first prize award was presented to her by the Toronto City Mayor John Tory and other noticeable city council members.

In November 2019, Mia was honored to perform at the Israel Cancer Research Foundation at the prestigious Koerner Hall in Toronto alongside other incredibly talented singers such as Tony Vincent, Yvan Pedneault, Stacy Kay, Justin Guarini, with whom she sang a beautiful duet.

Another project Mia was humbled to take part of was producing and recording an original Hebrew song written in honour of a Fallen IDF Soldier. This video, following Mia’s interview, made its debut live on Israeli Prime Time News programming in July 2020.

Mia will be releasing her original song Hide and seek in May 2021, and will be releasing several other originals she has written these past few months, with Matt Kahane and Quin Kiu, in the near future. Mia is excited to keep the momentum flowing into 2022 and beyond.

Mia Baron · Hide And Seek- Mastered JCarv MB06APR21

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Steve Paul Simms - No Money Comin' In.

Raw, real, and authentically blues, “No Money Comin’ In” is the latest confessional from Canada’s own Steve Paul Simms.

With “No Money Comin’ In,” the blues riff conquers your groove, willing your body to move. Available now, the grungy rock and blues anthem is a toast to a commonality we’re all facing in the height of this global pandemic — a lack of the benjamins. And Simms bets it all on this track, getting right to the heart of the matter with the truth —  the good, bad and ugly of it all.

“Written at a challenging time, when love ultimately won out over financial hardship, the song allows the listener to imagine their own ending to the story,” Simms explains, adding that the track is “dedicated to the triumph over life's hardships.

“There's a lot of light and laughter here too.” A travelin’ troubadour with a melody on his sleeve and a song on his heart, Simms is a natural-born performer with a knack for telling stories that humanize life experiences in ways we all understand. Born in Wales, Steve Paul Simms’ repertoire refutes the boundaries of genre; the singer/songwriter fluidly intertwines his tracks between pop, ragtime, jazz, blues, soul, country, Broadway, and old-fashioned rock and roll.

For more than 20 years, Simms has spent his life spinning yarns, performing on stages as both an actor and a musician. He boasts a collection of more than 200+ written tunes across his tenure of performing arts, and has honed his craft through years of busking, contributing to the Tranzac Club in his now-hometown of Toronto, private and public concerts on Zoom, having performed in more than 60 theatrical productions across Canada, and more. “No Money Comin’ In” is the latest to land from Steve Paul’s fourth album, Ingrid and the Messenger Boy — a 12-track collection of fables, homages, and testaments to the human experience, pop culture, love, and everything in between.

Recording in Toronto, Simms brought together a host of talent to flesh out the track; the song boasts Bob Cohen on guitars and bass, organ and piano from Ed Michael Roth, drums by George Morellato, moaning vocals compliments of Chantale Groulx and Linda Elaine Lucas, in addition to SPS on lead vox and rhythm guitar. “Nothin' will ease your mind like money — poets are paid to tell lies,” croons Simms, and that’s how to tell fact from fiction. A musician ready to bare it all, and lay our crosses out to dry. Steve Paul Simms isn’t here for poor excuses. He came to gamble on the richness of a song that paints the picture of our times.

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Julia Bardo - Do This To Me.

Manchester-via-Italy singer, songwriter and guitarist Julia Bardo has shared her new single and video Do This To Me, which follows recent single release It’s Okay (To Not Be Okay). She has also announced her eagerly awaited debut album Bauhaus, L’Appartamento will be released on 10th September via Wichita Recordings and shared details of a new Autumn headline tour, which is on sale now.

Do This To Me is like losing yourself in a daydream. An introspective song with personal lyrics about growing up, its charming and laid-back melody builds to a lush and emotive alt pop chorus with a catchy refrain. The video, directed by Georgie Brown, sees Julia glamorising a mundane routine and losing herself in another life.

Julia says; “Do This To Me is a very personal song about feeling abandoned, growing up and family.”

Julia’s debut album follows the release of two EPs, Phase and The Raw EP, both released last year, which saw her experiment further with her wistful and mysterious sound to become the alternative pop artist she is today. Whilst Bauhaus, L’Appartamento will mark her first full length release and the finale of this part of her musical journey, it is also just the beginning for the authentic and curious talent that is Julia Bardo.

With her candidly open lyrics illustrating her world through journal-like observations and poetic visions, her debut album is an intimate and expressive body of work. Named after the apartment complex she lived in when demoing the album’s recordings, but with an Italian twist, it features previous single It’s Okay (To Not Be Okay) and new single Do This To Me and can be pre-ordered here.

“The album is a collection of emotions and feelings; loneliness, solitude, separation, but also unconditional love. Family, emotional dependency, mental health issues, feelings of emptiness and numbness, feelings of not being enough, inability to be in control of my own emotions, self-doubt, self-reflection, past traumas and dealing with them.”

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Spud Cannon - You Got It All (NOT).

NY-based group Spud Cannon are debuting "You Got It All (NOT)," the lead single off of their forthcoming new album, Good Kids Make Bad Apples.

Meg Matthews (lead vocals), “This song DROVE ME CRAZY!!! I spent hours singing along to the voice memo in my car to work out the melody, and even longer trying to figure out lyrics back in Summer ‘19… After trying night after night by myself, I had pages of loose lines, rhymes, and ideas, but it took a group effort with Lucy and Ari to actually solidify anything.”

Ari Bowe (keys, vocals), “Since we collaborated on this song, I followed Meg’s lead when it came to the concept behind the lyrics. To me, it’s about these back-and-forth feelings for someone who is lovable yet stubborn and difficult to deal with. Kind of like an internal conflict between caring for this person while also grappling with their inability to be emotionally mature.

Jackson Walker Lewis (guitar), “Instrumentally, this was by far the one we spent the most time on…The song in total is just a hybridization of many influences—for the intro, I wanted to draw inspiration from “This Charming Man”/”Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” whereas the verse mimics the sequence from The Jam’s “A Town Called Malice”…While it felt like a wrestling match the whole way through it, I refused to give up on it because I fervently believed it to be the indie magnum opus of the album, almost a crystallization of all we had done previously.”

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Giulia. - Ida Mae - Sister John

Giulia. - Tired.

As we enter the season of summer romance, Giulia.’s upcoming single, “Tired,” presents a chill soundtrack chronicling relationships’ ups and downs and twists and turns. A Janelle Monae infused funk and R&B style playfully blends with lyrical rhythms and sounds reminiscent of Amy Winehouse. “Tired” is released today May 12. It’s off her genre-bending EP, Night Before, due out June 25th.

The song opens with a fast-paced beat devolving into a slow groove, reflecting the quickening pulse of a new relationship and the soon-to-follow comfort of falling into familiar habits. There’s an upbeat, carefree nature that umbrellas the song, cleverly disguising the heavier pensive moments. Giulia. takes the listener on a full-bodied journey of a long-term relationship characterized by the verses highs, the pre-chorus questioning, and the lows within the chorus epitomizing the “I’m tired” stage of the relationship.

Giulia. incorporates elements of a multi-versed artistic background in film and dance into her sound. A national champion garnering Canada multiple gold medals, she dedicated 18 years of her life to dance, training competitively and professionally in many dance styles, including modern, jazz, hip-hop, and ballet. She says, “There is an innate rhythm and movement I feel when I write my songs. This especially comes alive in my phrasing and the way I choose to say and sing my lyrics.” Giulia. pivoted when it came time to attend college, deciding to pursue a BFA in Dramatic Arts at The New School in New York City.  Her acting background allows her to explore different scenarios and characters within her songs that come alive when she performs. As a filmmaker and writer, crafting stories and choosing how to depict them informs the core of her songwriting – just condensed and in an audio format.

Giulia. and her dad recorded half the songs on her upcoming EP at their home studio while recording the other half with a full band at Canterbury Sound in Toronto. She says, “There’s an unspoken energy and excitement when we make music together that I wouldn’t trade for the world.”

GIULIA. · Tired

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Ida Mae - Little Liars.

Nashville-via-London duo Ida Mae (Chris Turpin and Stephanie Jean) shared their new song “Little Liars” from their upcoming sophomore album Click Click Domino. "‘Little Liars’ is a runaway song, the first person whisperings of a seductress that you’ll follow whatever the consequences," writes Turpin. "This song was written on a late 1800s Mandolinetto that we picked up at the end of a tour in Nashville and what you hear on the record is actually the demo. Stephanie Jean's live vocal performance on the demo was a first take and it had such a dark and playful intensity we didn't want to change it."

Ida Mae previously released the singles "Road to Avalon" as well as the title track “Click Click Domino” which was featured in Rolling Stone who writes, “With guitar assistance from shred wizard Marcus King, the tune is a heaving mass of scuzzy blues-rock riffs and thunderous drums that indicts social media for its isolating, alienating effects… Somewhere, Jack White is busy looking for new amp settings.” The track was met with similar acclaim from American Songwriter, Wonderland, Clash Magazine, Live for Live Music, and more.

For nearly two straight years following the release of their critically acclaimed debut, Chasing Lights, Ida Mae lived on the road, crisscrossing the US from coast to coast as they performed hundreds of dates with everyone from Willie Nelson and Alison Krauss to Marcus King and Greta Van Fleet. While those shows were electrifying for the duo, it was what happened in between - the countless hours spent driving through small towns and big cities, past sprawling suburbs and forgotten ghost towns, across deserts and mountains and forests and prairies - that truly laid the creative groundwork for Click Click Domino.

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Sister John - In My Place.

The new Sister John album I Am by Day is a total beast in that way where you just keep hitting repeat and discovering more with each listen. I'm loving every moment of this Pretenders meets Tom Petty vibes all over this album, but not like the regular albums, but almost like the Greatest Hits to where you know every track already. This is one of those records you get to know that becomes like home. Take for example the new video "In My Place."

The group, which includes members of labelmate group The Gracious Losers, was hard at work throughout their respective quarantines, capitalizing on the increasingly unnoticeable changes in day-to-day life. The new record, 'I Am By Day,' out May 21st on Last Night From Glasgow, doesn't provide a strategy to get through those 'Spot The Difference' days/weeks, instead seeking to explore every nook and cranny. This exploration is accomplished gently, through equal parts Petty-inspired overdriven riffs, vibrating synth pads, and summery drum programming, continuing Sister John's trend away from traditional Folk/Americana instrumentation. Not since Fiona Apple's "Fetch the Bolt Cutters" have I been so taken aback and unable to categorize the breadth of sound on a record.

'I Am By Day' doesn't pick a side, laying bare the emotions customary on a Folk record, while speaking with a brand new voice, somewhere between curiosity and silent-authority. The lead single, 'How Can I Keep It Alive' is in no rush to share with us its desperate message, leading with a grooved bass line. Like the rest of the record, McKeown and Co. are intentionally sparse with their instrumentation. In turn, each word, synthesized moan, and shimmering snare create vastly greater meaning to this collection of unadorned experimentation and meditation. We love it, and think you will too!

Sister John is a group of four multi-instrumentalists from Glasgow, centered around the songwriting of Amanda McKeown. Amanda and Last Night From Glasgow joined forces after a fateful Facebook DM accompanied by a link to an album’s worth of warm acoustic guitar, spine tingling violin, and McKeown’s emotional affect piqued the label’s interest. Sister John’s debut record, ‘Returned from Sea’ highlighted the group’s sparse yet melodic sensibility. Met with high acclaim and airplay on BBC Radio 6, Sister John followed up with an eponymous second effort in 2019, providing a bountiful feast of the group’s uniquely lush lo-fi.

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