Conchúr White - Massage - The Lost Meridian - Stice

Conchúr White - Dreamers (E.P).

Northern Irish artist Conchúr White has released his new EP 'Dreamers', arriving ahead of UK + Ireland tours with Villagers, and Margaret Glaspy. Conchúr White’s 'Dreamers' EP was written over a year and a half long period and recorded across various different studios in the UK and US. Working with producers including Kevin McMahon (Frightened Rabbit, Real Estate) and Simon Dine (Paul Weller), the EP was then mixed by Matt Wiggins (London Grammar, Glass Animals, The Horrors).

Thematically the EP touches upon a number of pressing cultural issues and quandaries, all somewhat inadvertently rooted in a similar area – with Conchúr elaborating further: "I didn’t write the EP with a theme in mind but I’ve found there to be one. It’s about the importance of pushing yourself out the door but also giving yourself a break and understanding that everyone’s circumstances are different.”

EP opener 'Vocation Vacation' bursts into life with a tumultuous  piano run before White raises the curtain with the words "the world's at its knees, but I've got a plan / I'm gonna post Orwell over Instagram". Musing on various modern day dilemmas amid a backdrop of hushed organs, twirling bass lines and rattling percussion, "Vocation Vacation" is part commentary on influencer culture, part acceptance of getting older.

"Go Easy" follows – a delicate folk track examining a strained relationship after a shared family loss. Speaking on the track, Conchúr said "I think that we often look for something or someone to blame for loss. Relationships with friends, family, partners can be difficult because they remind you of the person who is gone." Title track "Dreamers" explores notions of small town culture and moves effortlessly between soothing folk and indie-rock bedlam, with Conchúr professing, "I've been talkin' 'bout it since I don't know when / I had excuses for days and they were 10 out of 10s" / until I finally make it I won't scream or shout / cause we've all been dreamers 'til we get found out".

"It's about feeling silly for having dreams or aspirations beyond what you've known, so you make excuses or self sabotage," Conchúr explains. "I worked with a lot of young people from the local area who at such a young age felt like they wouldn't go beyond where they were, which was quite sad. The main message is we all have a right to dream and aspire for something more whether it seems silly or not." The EP closes with "Killing Us", which was written during the first few weeks of lockdown back in March 2020. Written about trying not to regret or worry about things, Conchúr was struggling to finish the track, before stumbling across a voice-recording of his late Grandfather.

Conchúr White · Dreamers EP

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Massage - At the End of the World.

Los Angeles' Massage has shared the latest, and final single, from their forthcoming album, Still Life. Listen to "At the End of the World" here.

"This Massage LP better not sell out before I get paid, though admittedly, it should definitely be on everyone’s radar. The latest single has this wistful vibe, something akin to a movie scene where the passenger stares longingly out a window hoping/praying for a better day than today…or at least that’s how I’m hearing it," says Nathan Langford of Austin Town Hall. "Plus, the jangles and the synths give the song this wash that sounds incredibly similar to Another Sunny Day’s 'You Should All Be Murdered,' and that is 100% reason alone to steam this song and tap your toes. I mean, how many great songs can this band write? We’re going to find out when Still Life drops."

On their sophomore effort, Massage manage to take a quantum leap forward in songwriting, production, and depth, all without seeming to try. These 12 deft songs are full of late-summer sunlight and deep shadows, pained grins and shared jokes, shy declarations of love and quietly nursed heartbreak. Still Life resurrects a brief, romantic moment in the late-'80s, right after post-punk and immediately before alt-rock, when it seemed like any scrappy indie band might stumble across a hit.

The kind of music Massage makes—sunny, bittersweet, tender—is less a proper genre than a minor zip code nested within guitar pop. Take a little "There She Goes" by the La's, some "If You Need Someone" by the Field Mice; the honey-drizzled guitars from The Cure's "Friday I'm In Love,"  a Jesus & Mary Chain backbeat, and you're almost all the way there. Indie pop, jangle pop, power pop—whatever you call it, pushing too hard scares the spirit right out of this sweet, diffident music, and Massage have a touch so light the songs seem to form spontaneously, like wry smiles

Still Life sees release via Mt.St.Mtn in partnership with Bobo Integral (Spain) and Tear Jerk Records (Australia) on August 7 (barring pressing plant delays). It is offered on coke bottle green vinyl and will be distributed worldwide by Revolver USA and Cargo UK.

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The Lost Meridian - Caterpillar.

About three years after the release of 'Incomplete Puzzle', French indie/trip-hop colective The Lost Merdian just unveiled the first single from their next release with a music video illustrating the song "Caterpillar" (with the contribution of a feminist collective Collages Féministes Bordeaux).

This new track - which talks about sexual harassment and violence in public against women - will be featured on the band's upcoming EP 'Regardless of what the omen said' to be released on September through all platforms.

Founded by four boys and a girl (from various local bands such as Beautiful Lunar Landscape, In Veins or Novlang...) in 2012 around the Bordeaux city area, The Lost Meridian drawns its musical path from the roots of the British 90's/2000's scene playing around Archive, Morcheeba or The XX.

After spending about 2 years to find its own artistical figure, the band recorded a first EP called 'Useless Anger' released in 2015.Some gigs later and a couple of months spent to write new music, The Lost Meridian released 'Incomplete Puzzle' (2018) very well receveid by both professional and public audience.

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Stice - I Need Cash!!!

The digital punk duo Stice celebrate their signing to Philly indie label Ramp Local with the release of a dizzying ADHD-ASMR-breakcore-punk single “I Need Cash!!!” The track channels the frenetic energy of noise-punk contemporaries Machine Girl and Deli Girls, while also incorporating modern house sensibilities a la Against All Logic. Better yet, it's paired with another addition to Stice's vault of unhinged greenscreen'd music videos, all directed, edited and starring Stice's vocalist, Crab.

Stice vocalist Caroline Bennett aka Crab (formerly of Kiddy Pool, which would later become Machine Girl), and producer Jake Lichter aka Jark (of Maine experimental rock trio Lunch Cult) like to imagine they met as teens on the website Chatroulette, and immediately bonded over their mutual interest in the far corners of the Internet. Since their formation, Stice has been making warped industrial dance for the internet age, capturing the chaos of the digital hellscape with a bombastic and frantic absurdism.

Around 2018, the two began to email lyric snippets and sound files back and forth, which Jark, using cracked copies of Cubase and FruityLoops, dutifully assembled into rudimentary beats on Jark's Lenovo ThinkPad. Early tracks like “Vore Night” and “My Life as a Dog in Heat” proved minor SoundCloud sensations on its Industrial chart, and the duo started to gain traction on Blogspots and Tumblrs for their aggressively crack brained vocal stylings and frenetic fever-dream production. 

Compiled on their first outing The Very Best of Stice (2019), selections from this era mined such far-flung territory as the soundtrack to the PS2 tie-in video game Shark Tale (2004) and snippets of bar mitzvah hip-hop, spinning unlikely samples into booming in-your-face hype anthems. Their music videos, always directed by and starring Crab, meanwhile, gained cult followings for their shoestring resourcefulness and hyperactive editing, akin to a bad trip while surfing an iPad. In the world of Stice, bodily functions and urges get all mixed up, turned in on one another, repressed one moment and uncontrollably erupting the next. It’s Bataille’s outrageous eroticism for the post Vine age.

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Ivan Moult - Big Little Lions - Ida Mae - Ashley Shadow

Ivan Moult - Steady Hands.

Following on from his last single, ‘What More Could I Say?’, released last August on Bubblewrap Records, Ivan Moult is back with another brand new track. ‘Steady Hands’ was written a few years ago, but with Ivan setting up and honing his home studio in Cardiff, it has now finally found the light of day.

Written and recorded by Moult, the track covers the romantic coupling with his now fiancé, now also the mother of his son. Thematically, the lyrics cover the gradual maturing towards genuine adulthood, and the realisation that family life would require the shedding of some bad habits, alongside learning how to communicate properly.

As ever with Moult’s music, there’s an emotional and experiential honesty worn palpably on the sleeve, with this delivered through his typically ethereal, layered vocals and modernised take on classic 70s folk. ‘Steady Hands’ will be released across all digital platforms on June 18th. The track is accompanied by a cover of The Bangles pop classic, ‘Eternal Flame’.

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Big Little Lions - Peaceful.

Peaceful - Big Little Lions Written by Helen Austin and Paul Otten All instruments, vocals and production by Big Little Lions.

Big Little Lions have been described as ‘a blissful marriage of new folk and sophisticated pop’. Prolific songwriting, infectious folk-pop style, and an offbeat, memorable live show. This award winning duo consists of Helen Austin and Paul Otten who, despite living thousands of miles apart, have found a way to connect and create music together. 

Despite being in two different countries, they have found common ground to share their message. Call it destiny, or call it fate, call it a necessary progression for these modern times. Helen lives in British Columbia, Canada and Paul lives in Cincinnati, OH. 

But the distance provides the necessity to create in a new way. Using technology as their ally and their differences as their strength.  Their monthy single releases are their way of getting through this pandemic while all the usual album cyle release plans don’t make sense anymore. Their music is jam-packed with emotion and tight harmonies, the sound of two people working side-by-side.

BigLittleLions · Peaceful

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Ida Mae - Learn To Love You Better.

Nashville-via-London duo Ida Mae have hared their new song “Learn To Love You Better” from their upcoming sophomore album Click Click Domino. Ida Mae writes, “'Learn To Love You Better' was written for a friend of ours who was wildly and selflessly in love with a partner struggling with mental health issues and wanting to do everything right. It was written on a late 1800s Mandolinetto which we later combined with 70s analogue drum machines- inspired by JJ Cale and John Martyn. We just wanted it to be a lighter breath of fresh air on the record." Click Click Domino will be released on July 16th, through Thirty Tigers.

Ida Mae will stream a full-band live performance of their new record via Mandolin on June 24th at 8PM Eastern time. Along with a pre-show cocktail hour and Q&A with Christopher Turpin and Stephanie Jean, the performance will be interspersed with documentary tour footage and track-by-track insight into each of the songs, making the event a truly immersive cinematic experience. Filmed in a secret studio in the wilds of the English countryside, this will be the first opportunity for fans to see Ida Mae perform these songs, accompanied by Ethan Johns on Drums and Nick Pini on double bass and electric bass. Tickets are currently available for purchase here.

Ida Mae will be performing at the Newport Folk Festival, which will take place July 23 - 26 in Newport, RI. “It’s our great honor to announce we will be performing at the world renowned Newport Folk Festival this year in Rhode Island,” said Ida Mae. “Having studied the performances of John Lee Hooker, Bob Dylan, Rev. Gary Davis and so many others at Newport it means a great deal to be included in this year’s lineup.”

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Ashley Shadow - For Love.

Vancouver's Ashley Shadow has returned with her new single, "For Love", out via Felte (Ganser, Au.Ra, AUTOBAHN).

Ashley released her debut in 2016 earning support at Pitchfork, Stereogum, KEXP, Brooklyn Vegan, AV Club, Under the Radar and more, in the past she has contributed backing vocals to Bonnie "Prince" Billy's Lie Down in the Light (Drag City), Pink Mountaintop's Outside Love (Jagjaguwar) and The Cave Singers' Welcome Joy (Matador). Interestingly, Shadow's twin sister, Amber Webber, plays in the group Lightning Dust and co-founded psych-rock band, Black Mountain.

This new single comes as Shadow's first since her 2016 release marking a bit of a comeback, it arrives produced by Joshua Wells (Destroyer, Lightning Dust, ex-Black Mountain) and evokes this rich, textured moodiness that to me feels kind of synonymous with Pacific Northwest – the sound definitely has a home on her debut too, but this time Shadow harnesses this palpable sense of hope. It features this lovely swaying percussion, lightly strummed guitar and oscillating vocals.

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The Go! Team - Meggie Lennon - Meg Williams

The Go! Team - A Bee Without Its Sting.

The Go! Team's new LP, Get Up Sequences Part One, is set to be released in a little under 3 weeks via Memphis Industries. The band have so far shared two singles from the record, "Cookie Scene," "World Remember Me Now" and "Pow," which have seen praise for their "ebullient, colorful energy" (Stereogum), and today the band are sharing a final single from the LP that may be the brightest of the bunch, a track called "A Bee Without Its Sting," that channels the bounce of the Jackson 5 while involving some interesting collaborators.

The lead vocals on the track are handled by Jessie Miller and Rian Woods, two teenagers from Detroit who The Go! Team's Ian Parton recruited through his relationship with the choir leader at The Detroit Academy for Arts and Sciences. Together with regular Go! Team Ninja and Niadzi Muzira, the pair (who also appear in the video) bring an infectious enthusiasm to a song that is as immediate an earworm as any in the Go! Team's catalog to date.

"When I was working on the last Go Team record 'Semicircle' I approached the choir leader of a Detroit school called the Detroit Academy for Arts and Sciences - Miss Kee and asked if any of her students were interested in singing on a Go! Team song," Parton explains. "So when it came to finding the singer for 'A Bee Without Its Sting' I thought again of Miss Kee and her students. One of the singers was a teenager called Jessie Miller whose voice was perfect for the song. She'd never been into a recording studio before, but her voice is so full of character."

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Meggie Lennon - Jardin.

Montreal-based singer-songwriter, Meggie Lennon has just shared her new single, "Jardin". The new music follows on the heels of the Exclaim, Beats Per Minute and Secret Meeting-tipped "Night Shift" whilst marking the latest track to be lifted from her forthcoming debut album, Sounds From Your Lips, out July 9 via Mothland.

The debut album arrives produced by Samuel Gemme (Corridor, Anemone, The Brooks) and features the guitar-playing of Gabriel Lambert (also of Elephant Stone, The Besnard Lakes) as well as additional contributions from her longtime friend and collaborator, Jules Henry (Super Plage). Seamlessly fusing the worlds of late 60s and early 70s psychedelia as she subtly harnesses the energy of artists like The Byrds and Tyrannosaurus Rex (later T-Rex), with early 2010-era acts such as Melody’s Echo Chamber, MGMT, and Beach House, the album, described by Lennon as "make-out dream-pop," oozes this glowing sense of optimism.

Tracks on Sounds From Your Lips flow with a breezy, laidback energy, marrying warm percussion with finessed bass lines to summon these tar-thick, sultry grooves. This latest cut, "Jardin", marks a true cornerstone to the album's radiant psych-pop aesthetic with Meggie exploring some of her deepest fantasies via the sound of crystalline acoustic guitar and swooning melodies.

Speaking about "Jardin", Meggie says: "I randomly fell upon an article about fantasy-prone personality which is a trait in which a person lives in some sort of dreamlike state and experiences a deep involvement in fantasy. It made me think of my own relationship with my inner fantasies, this secret garden (Jardin in French) I have within myself where I can do anything. I believe everyone has this "Jardin" in them where they can escape reality and let their mind go wild and this is what this song is about."

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Meg Williams - Live and Learn.

Nashville-based guitarist, songwriter, and singer, Meg Williams, performs at notable venues across the country with her full band, as a solo/duo act, and as a guitarist for other artists. She competed in the 2019 International Blues Challenge (Memphis, TN), representing the Kentucky Blues Society after winning the Kentucky Blues Challenge. 

Meg was additionally selected as the house band director for the International Women in Blues Showcase during the IBC's. Meg recorded her 2019 full length album, ‘Take Me As I Am: The Muscle Shoals Sessions,’ at the legendary FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals (Nola Blue Records). 

Meg’s album has since been played on Sirius XM’s Bluesville and radio stations world-wide. Meg is set to independently release her next full length album (roots-rock/Americana), recorded in Nashville, TN, titled 'Live and Learn' in 2021.

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Molosser - Lucy Grubb - Muca & Alice SK feat Roberto Menescal - Said The Whale

Molosser - Black Oak.

On Black Oak, Swedish Molosser go for a lighter touch and lean more towards singer/songwriter and Americana than on their earlier singles. The core of the music is still their trademark interplay between two downtuned, acoustic guitars and the strong, intimate vocals of singer Tess.

Tess and Jahn of Molosser found each other in Gothenburg, Sweden’s second largest city and home of a lively music scene. There, both were playing in various bands and constellations, mainly of the loud and noisy variety. After a while, though, they moved to a small farm in the province of Småland, where they found themselves in the company of a couple of horses, an American bulldog, a gang of cats, some chickens and three sheep. 

They started making music on their acoustic guitars, and lacking a bass player they tuned them down so they could share that duty between them. The music that emerged is colored by both their urban past and their current rural surroundings, a bit like when the blues moved from the delta to the city and got electrified, but the other way around. The nerve and drive remains, but have widened and grown to fill the windy woodlands and dusty, open fields as well as the deeper darkness beyond the edge of town.

Molosser’s music springs from a tight-knit, symbiotic relationship outside the music as well as inside it. It is built around the interplay between the two downtuned guitars, the intimate vocals, strong lyrics and meticulous, creative songwriting. Rather than using traditional acoustic guitar techniques of strumming or fingerpicking, Molosser weave deceptively simple and minimalistic lines and riffs into dancing, rolling patterns. Tess’s vocals add one more voice and deliver strong, poetical and highly personal lyrics, and on the studio recordings her drums make this little unit into a complete band. Any virtuosity involved is less about dexterity or speed and more about composition, arrangement and balance. One of the foundations for Molosser’s music is having access to two rather different musical temperaments, intent on creating a common territory – not necessarily a middle ground but rather a wide, including landscape.

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Lucy Grubb - Waste My Time.

This track is one of the few songs that I have written which seemed to just fall out of my mouth. It was a very quick process from beginning to end, and the pieces seemed to fall together effortlessly. That’s how I remember it anyway. 

When I wrote this song I believed I was writing it about a friend of mine who was going through a difficult relationship and I wanted to write it from her perspective. I imagined her listening to it years down the line, singing the lyrics in her bedroom, and that felt inspiring to me. She’s a strong person and I wanted her to know that. 

As I listen to the song now, in an almost post pandemic era, the song means something different. It represents strength and resilience and being OK with not being in control of everything. 

It’s learning to live with the cards you’ve been dealt with and knowing that you’re doing your best, and you’re not wasting your time. But maybe your best friend needs to know that the guy she’s been crying over is definitely a waste of time.

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Muca & Alice SK feat Roberto Menescal - Until We Meet Again.

“I am now officially a dad!” announced Muca to the world recently. And the timing couldn’t be better for him to celebrate the birth of his firstborn with a delightfully sunny original composition which nods respectfully to an era in Brazil where Bossa Nova ruled the airwaves and Rio and Pele were the hottest cultural touch points of a growing industrialised age.

Murillo Sguillaro better known as Muca is a Brazilian musician and producer living in London who has built a modest following which looks set to explode once his new musical adventures unfold in the coming months. With ‘Until We Meet Again’, this outstanding single from London-based composer and producer Muca, and singer-songwriter Alice SK offers up a refreshed Bossa style piece where Muca’s Brazilian roots meet the indie-folk vibes of the young singer from London. Muca just finished working with Alice SK on her debut EP, he thought her voice would suit perfectly the genre and invited her to write the lyrics and sing along.

The track features a more than exceptional guest: Roberto Menescal, one of the pioneers of Bossa Nova, who brings his acoustic guitar rhythm into the mix. Muca went to Rio de Janeiro specifically to meet Menescal and record the track with him. But the partnership started much before, when Menescal came to London on tour and the two exchanged ideas and their shared appreciation for Brazilian music and beyond.

Once the song was recorded in Rio, Muca and Alice SK worked on the final arrangements and vocals in London. The track is accompanied with a making-of, directed and filmed by Eduardo Binato, showing Muca and Menescal in Rio working together on the recording process and also Menescal talking about the history of bossa and how it all started. The combination of Alice SK’s atmospheric, soulful voice and Muca’s fine skill of fusing the old and new was the recipe for this fresh and unique piece of music.

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Said The Whale - Show Me Everything.

Said The Whale have earned their place in the Canadian music pantheon. They’ve won a JUNO Award, topped the alternative radio chart, and amassed a devoted base of fans who affectionately describe themselves as “SaidHeads” — all the while maintaining their resolute independent spirit. Now, more than a decade into their career, the Vancouver group are opening their most ambitious chapter yet.

Throughout 2020, lockdowns meant that the band members were at home, away from the relentless touring cycle that had defined most of their 14-year career. Singer-songwriters Tyler Bancroft and Ben Worcester, plus keyboardist Jaycelyn Brown and bassist Lincoln Hotchen, threw themselves fully into working on new material with producer Steve Bays (Hot Hot Heat) at his Tugboat Place Studio, resulting in the most towering, maximalist music of their careers.

“Steve is an incredibly detail-oriented producer,” says Tyler. “We would work until four or five in the morning. Then sleep at his house and work the next day until late into the night. It was exhausting, but each song came to life in such an amazing way with so many layers.”

Stately piano, roaring guitar distortion, giant-sized synths and orchestral flourishes — every moment blooms with bright, vivid sounds and subtle details. But in spite of the grandiose arrangements and go-for-broke production quality, the new songs are, at their core, classic Said The Whale. Lead single “Honey Lungs” is a bright and bubbly anthem, its crunchy rock swagger shot through with frenzied drum fills and sugar-spiked pop singalongs.

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The Hello Darlins - Course - Gawain and the Green Knight - Lemon's

The Hello Darlins' - Mountain Time.

With over 450,000 combined Spotify streams off their first singles, it’s safe to say there’s been a lot of anticipation for The Hello Darlins’ debut album, Go By Feel, officially released now on all platforms. It began building almost immediately after the Calgary, Alberta-based Americana collective debuted on the scene in early 2020, with American Songwriter calling the group “the product of a talented pool of session musicians craving more,” while Americana UK stated, “It’s great to see a band put together by the talented folks who would usually be ‘behind the scenes.’”

So, who exactly are The Hello Darlins? The seeds of the band took root in 2016 when vocalist/producer Candace Lacina crossed paths again with keyboardist/producer Mike Little after first meeting at a recording studio years earlier. Once reconnected, they soon found themselves making music together in between their work with other artists, an impressive list that ranges from Shania Twain to Charlie Major, The Road Hammers to George Canyon as well as the late B.B. King.

In short order, the couple began inviting others within their circle to participate, including Murray Pulver (Crash Test Dummies), Clayton Bellamy (The Road Hammers), Matt Andersen, Dave and Joey Landreth (aka The Bros. Landreth), Russell Broom (Jann Arden), and ace fiddler Shane Guse, creating what some have called "the Broken Social Scene of Americana."

On Go By Feel, this incredible collection of talent has forged a hybrid of country, gospel and blues like no other, from the heart-wrenching ballads “Aberdeen” and “Prayer For A Sparrow” to the classic country-rocker “Mountain Time” and the album’s soulful title track.

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Course - Darkest Tower.

Buzzing Chicago-based synth/indie/pop group Course released a new video for their latest single "Darkest Tower." The latest look at their critically acclaimed debut album A Late Hour (out now), the video was released alongside the accompanying short story written by singer/guitarist Jessica Robbins. 

"'Darkest Tower' set the tone for the album," stated Robbins. "When I wrote this song, I imagined our album going in this direction as it felt very different from the songs I'd written in the past. It feels like it’s the most fluid and open of all the songs with some dark undertones. For the music video I worked with Jess Price, who is a filmmaker and also a musician/songwriter in the band Campdogzz. I shared with her the short story that goes along with the song which is about a thirteen year old boy who keeps seeing a white van on his street and funnels his anxiety through the mysterious van. The story matches the rhythm of the song, in feel and emotion, but they are vastly different in lyrics and content. Jess took the themes and imagery from both the song and story and captured the idea of surveillance and that the darkest tower is like someone watching you - a voyeuristic take of the song."

Course announced their debut earlier this year with the release of their lead single "Give It All Away," which Under The Radar called "a lush dream pop tapestry." It was followed by the "optimistic" (Consequence) standout single "Sixteen" and "Nick of Time," which was featured as American Songwriter's Daily Discovery. Atwood Magazine chose the band as one of their 2021 Artists To Watch and stated, "Course have set themselves apart as an intimately expressive alternative band brimming with irresistibly catchy tunes, cathartic emotions, and utterly stunning energy." Chicago Tribune also raved, "Course managed to craft an inventive collection of songs that blend nostaglic instrumentation with clever lyrics...a body of work that stands strong."

Comprised of veteran musicians Robbins, Chris Dye (drums), Dan Ingenthron (synth/keys), Mikey Russell (guitar), and Brian Weekly (bass), Course blends diverse aspects of dream-pop, 90's new-wave, alternative, electronic, and indie rock. Drawing on Robbins' indie-folk roots, Course incorporates polished, modern production and lush electronic instrumentation to create songs with a characteristic ethereal-industrial sheen.

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Gawain and the Green Knight - A Sleeping Place.

Gawain and the Green Knight have released A Sleeping Place, and will next perform on New York's Governors Island on June 26th as part of the Porch Stomp festival. The EP exemplifies the duo’s “literary folk” stylings, filled with allegory and inspired by mythology, or, as they put it, “folk for people who like to listen to music while pacing mournfully yet poignantly through the streets, pretending they’re the protagonist in a very beautiful film.”

Inspired by the etymology of the Greek word for cemetery, which simply means “a sleeping place,” the record sits comfortably in the deep, sometimes dark, parts of the subconscious, arranged in such a way that you remember why life can be so joyful in the first place, its tempo anything but sad.

“The Dressmaker,” one of the album’s most energetic offerings — it’s their first “stomp-and holler” song — is the story of a woman in the 1800s, beginning at the moment she realizes her husband is leaving her, and later finds her building a life for herself and her daughters. “I wanted to elevate the narrator's frustration to proper, righteous anger in spots, which accounts for the occasional rowdiness,” multi-instrumentalist and producer Mike O’Malley mentions of the arrangement. “Toward the end is an arpeggio happening at three different speeds in four different registers, shared by the piano, clarinet, and flute. They lace together like so many threads, echoing the lyrics. I'd hoped to express the triumph of the narrator's self-salvation through the repetitive act of sewing.”

The dressmaker’s story might be too small to make it into a history book and too abstract to make it onto a headstone, but provides a reflection on the quiet triumphs that make up a life, a theme found weaving throughout A Sleeping Place.

Gawain and the Green Knight · A Sleeping Place

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Lemon's - Take It Back.

Lemon's is composed of three core members: Luke Braswell, Aidan Stanford, and Susie Hydrick. As well as a few close friends who typically join Lemon's in most live settings. 

Now that the United States is officially back open, you can either find Lemon's playing an occasional gig or two throughout the city of Memphis or going from the studio to track instruments to Luke's bedroom to add post-production musical elements. 

With the eventual goal being, of course, dominate the Memphis music scene and then. . .the world.

Take It Back is a pop rock, angst-filled story of betrayal that takes place sonically in the wild-west and pulls lyrical inspiration from tracks such as 'no body, no crime' by Taylor Swift.

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