Lakes - Jennifer Nichole Porter - Teeniest - Janita

Lakes - Matches.

Watford (London) based six-piece ensemble Lakes share second single ‘Matches’ from their forthcoming new record ‘Start Again’. The band recently announced their signing to Big Scary Monsters for the new album, out 30th July.

‘Matches’ is an exploration of political division, set to a backdrop of glistening guitars, a driving melody and the band’s signature harmonised dual lead vocals. “Watching the way political discourse has played out over the past few years and the tension that comes with polarising views - it’s exhausting. No one wants to be proven wrong.” says co-lead singer Roberto Cappellina. “There’s a need for space to have real conversations with each other and to listen. This song is about reaching out to have those conversations.”

After a handful of self-releases and a stint of heavy touring with the likes of Nervus and Orchards, the pandemic forced Lakes to slow down, having been catapulted a long way in a short space of time through consistent hard work and sheer tenacity. The six individuals that make up Lakes took the opportunity to formulate new ideas ready for their newest offering, and fired by a strong ‘do it yourself’ ethic, they collaborated remotely on bringing each other’s stories to life. The resulting album, mixed by Neil Strauch (Owen, Owls, Joan Of Arc, Anathallo, Slow Mass etc), captures themes of healing, hope and relief.

“This batch of songs has been a vehicle for healing for all six of us in some way, so there are a lot of different but raw themes throughout the record. Even though we’re currently all isolated from each other, the one person you can’t escape is yourself,” says Cappellina. “We talk about anything from mental health to addiction; from break ups to cutting out toxic friends, to postpartum psychosis. We’ve been to some dark places between us, but ultimately, ‘Start Again’ is about coming out the other side. This record is about facing that darkness, owning it and letting go of the past. It’s about being at peace with it and moving forward and saying that it’s actually OK to start again.”

Inspired by midwestern emo giants American Football’s LP2, ‘80s pop rock icons Fleetwood Mac, Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel and stimulated by the sonic legacies of their scene peers (The Appleseed Cast, TTNG, Broken Social Scene and Bon Iver),  the band was born out of drummer/guitarist Matt Shaw’s newfound desire to write music. Within the space of a month, he had the basis for an EP (2018’s The Tahoe EP and 2019’s The Geneva EP) and an album laid out. With former bandmate Roberto Cappellina on vocals, those early works were recorded on a single mic and PC. Soon the pair were joined by Blue Jenkins (vocals, glockenspiel, keys), Rob Vacher (guitar), Gareth Arthur (guitar) and Charlie Smith (bass).

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Jennifer Nichole Porter - Sun Come And Shine.

Award-winning musician Jennifer Porter has just released her eighth album, Sun Come And Shine.  During preparation for her newest project, Porter’s transcendent songs and inimitable velvety voice attracted the attention of legendary drummer and music director Bernard “Pretty” Purdie, whose prodigious, decades-spanning body of work Jennifer had long admired.  Mr. Purdie insisted that Jennifer record live with his band at his favorite studio in New Jersey.  Within days, dates were set at Jankland Recordings, for the summer of 2020.  A Covid-safety protocol was set up at the studio, with strict masking and social-distancing guidelines. What followed was a series of memorable adventures, with trips from Maine (where Jennifer lives) to New Jersey, squeezed in between Covid surges and self-imposed quarantines.

The stellar band assembled by Mr. Purdie included George Naha on guitar (Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave), and Wilbur Bascombe on bass (James Brown, B.B King, Bo Diddley) and Miho Nobuzane (Martha Reeves and the Vandellas) who shared keyboard duties with Jennifer. Esteemed guest artists on the project include Grammy-winners Christian McBride and Cindy Cashdollar and Grammy nominees, Ron Paparozzi and Jennifer’s friend, C.J. Chenier.  On several songs, the band was joined by horn players Steve Jankowski (Blood Sweat And Tears, Chicago) and Tom Timko (Blood Sweat And Tears, Tower Of Power).

Sun Come And Shine includes ten songs, nine of them originals by Jennifer.  The album was mixed by the talented Jonathan Wyman, and mastered by multiple Grammy-winner Adam Ayan.  Sun Come And Shine is released under Porter’s own label, Cougar Moon Music.

Jennifer is the winner of the 2019 Independent Music Network Award for Best Female Crossover Artist, the 2020 We Are The Music Makers Award for Best Roots / Blues / Americana album, and a 2015 Independent Music Awards nominee for best Jazz With Vocals album.  Her song, Road to Redemption, from her 2018 album, THESE YEARS, hit #1 on National Indie Radio, and the Independent Music Network’s, New Music Weekly’s, and National Radio Hits’ Country charts.

JenniferNicholePorter · Sun Come And Shine

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Teeniest - Better Smile.

Background from Teeniest: It's been a couple of years since we've recorded a new song, but now we're happy to write to introduce you to “Better Smile” - the new song by the New York duo, Teeniest.  

It’s a song we wrote about being sunny despite all the darkness. “Better Smile” has a rootsy vibe, with slide guitar and accordion. 

On upright acoustic bass is Pete Toigo, who has played and recorded with artists ranging from Natalie Merchant to Terry Adams of NRBQ.

Teeniest · Better Smile

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Janita - I Forgive You.

Janita’s new album, Here Be Dragons (ECR Music Group), arrives on the heels of multiple, triumphant single releases. Billboard Magazine writes, “Janita is creating a timeless, sensuous, musical mosaic that deserves to be heard. This woman’s got the goods.”

Following two single premieres on Spotify’s coveted New Music Friday playlist and racking up over half a million views for her music videos for singles “Digging In The Dirt” and “Not What You’re Used To,” Janita has won a new-found global audience.

Already an iconic music figure in her native Finland, the long-time New York City resident has enjoyed critical acclaim fused with commercial success—an uncommon achievement which propelled her across 60,000 miles of touring for over 100 performances on both sides of the Atlantic in 2018 and 2019.

Recent singles “Bliss I Once Had This,” “I Do,” and “Our Love Is All We Have,” have garnered her national TV, press, and media in the United States and Europe following their releases.

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Megan Wyler - Tachys - Deanna Drudge - Someone

Megan Wyler - Starlight.

Singer/songwriter Megan Wyler has released “Starlight,” a new single co-written with seven-time Grammy Award-nominee Anoushka Shankar from her upcoming album Upside Now (out July 9). Wyler’s first new album in eight years, Upside Now sees the singer collaborating with Through The Noise producer Adem Ilhan (Fridge, Silver Columns) as well as Grammy Award-winning mixer Mark Rankin (Adele, Florence + The Machine, Harry Styles), and multi-award-winning composer/producer Peter Raeburn (Under the Skin, Sexy Beast) as executive producer (and co-producer on three tracks).

“When we set out writing ‘Starlight’ Anoushka and I knew exactly what we wanted to make, and it just gently flowed,” says Wyler. “I think it is a song about a woman’s ability to overcome, refusing to get sucked down the toxic drain, and finding her power in doing so.”

Written and recorded between London and Los Angeles, Upside Now features co-writes with the likes of Anoushka Shankar and the late guitarist Johnny McNabb, amongst others. Frequent collaborators lending their talents and exceptional musicianship to the songs include Emma Smith on strings (Jarvis Cocker, Hot Chip, Depeche Mode), Alex Thomas on drums (Air, Anna Calvi, John Cale), and Matt Sweeney on guitars (Johnny Cash, Bonnie Prince Billy, Catpower). Along with producer Adem Ilhan, executive producer Peter Raeburn, and mixer Mark Rankin, they’ve created a dramatic new acoustic soundscape to envelop Megan’s latest works.

A California native, Wyler released her 2013 debut Through The Noise while living in London. The album was praised by the likes of Nowness, Songwriting Magazine, Indie Shuffle who described her sound as “incredibly moving and luscious,” and Clash Magazine who called her music “subtle, delicate and very beautiful.” Closely following that album’s release, Wyler had a young son with a number of demanding medical needs. “It was my honour and privilege to make him my priority,” says Wyler. “Being a mother is and always will be my first job ahead of anything else.” During this time, Wyler found herself in a bit of a creative “freeze-over” as she calls it. “It was like I could see songs, ready to be born, but I couldn’t access them somehow.”  As things calmed down at home, however, her creative freeze began to thaw.

Now Wyler is returning in full force. Upside Now’s first single “The Calling” was used as the opening title music of the Amazon Original Series Tell Me Your Secrets and both “The Calling” and “Upside Now” have been featured on a number of top Apple Music playlists including New Music Daily, Acoustic Chill, New In Alternative, Breaking Singer-Songwriter and Wax Eclectic.

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Tachys - When The World Wakes Up.

Tachys is a new Danish duo consisting of Jonas Bjerre (Mew, Apparatjik) and Tobias Wilner (Blue Foundation, New York United, Ghost Society, Bichi) and is equal parts pop and experimentation. Their sound incorporates a unique blend of genres. With their catchy songwriting, Tachys uses their melodies as a guideline through a mix of modular synthesis exploration, quasi-psychedelic pop, synth/chillwave, and nostalgic swirling shoe-gazey guitars. It all progresses into a blossoming dream-pop, filled with layers of textural electronics, catchy melodies and driving beats.

Having known each other since early childhood, Jonas and Tobias have often collaborated, crossing over into each other’s respective projects, but this is their first joint effort as a unit.

Debut single ‘When The World Wakes Up’ from Tachys is an upbeat pop song with underlying dark tones. The lyrics deal with unexpected twists of fate, both on personal and global scales. With the song Tachys blends the genres of nostalgic shoegaze, synth/chillwave into uplifting dream-pop atmospheres. One can imagine the morning summer light streaming through gossamer curtains, the natural awakening of the world around us gleaming with dew droplets and just – life in general – around us, chirping birds and the feeling of being not-quite-awake but not-quite-asleep either.

The song is written, recorded and produced by Tachys.  Mixed by Tobias Wilner. Mastered by Joe Lambert.

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Deanna Drudge - June.

Settling soundly within this month of “June” comes Canadian folk-rock recording artist Deanna Drudge’s new single, video and album, Killing Time. At eleven tracks strong, the release is woven together with a lifetime of earnest experience left bare between the bars of song. The indie singer/songstress hails originally from Ontario farmlands, but has found herself among the wooded scenery of Squamish, British Columbia — a juxtaposition she says she leans on in her lyrics.

Enlisting the production talent of Kevin Ker, Drudge allowed the heaviness in her heart, brought on by anxiety and depression, to spin itself into the fabric of the record. And between her and Ker, Killing Time is an unmistakably honest offering and insight into a woman’s resolve to give herself license to heal, and ultimately create.

“Sometime during 2018, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue with music,” Drudge confides, but says it was the lockdown of 2020 that changed her perspective on writing. “I knew I needed to create something... Create something mostly for myself with no expectations of how it would turn out and what I would do with it after.”

Penning and arranging the tracks with simply a guitar is a testament to the freedom Drudge permitted herself walking into her first professional project. Her tenure as a recording artist has earned its merit by not pressuring the process; instead, allowing the songs to flow from an honest place, utilizing the time it required to be done right. “The songs evolved from a time when a decision was made to face and beat an almost decade long struggle with anxiety, depression and self-doubt,” Drudge reveals. “Most of the songs stem from a place of introspection; acknowledging the place I had found myself in and the moments throughout the next 2 years of battling toward self-acceptance.”

Leading off with her single “June” — a folk prog-rock charming ode to unrequited interest, and mustering the courage to say how she feels — electric chords and haunting harmonies lay claim to nods of the fantastical pique of 90s female alt-rock. While almost a seemingly Mazzy Starr/Chantal Kreviazuk testimony preached to a choir of Lilith Fair mainstays, Drudge manages to carve herself a new path of indie songwriting.

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Someone - Paris At Midnight.

Someone (aka Dutch/British musician, producer and visual artist Tessa Rose Jackson) shares her romantically electric new single ‘Paris At Midnight,’ accompanied by a charming, animated video created by Someone. Someone describes ‘Paris At Midnight’ as having “an innocent and magical quality to it” as it reminisces that twilight zone of a young couple in love and follows them as they explore Paris in a romantic, starry-eyes state. To embody the glow of the lovers, the song is sound tracked by an old-school coquettish double-bass and mood-setting trumpet, used to evoke images of what Someone describes as “a trumpet playing wandering the streets of Paris after a show, noodling on his instrument and letting the sound echo don the empty streets…”

It’s the second single to be taken from Someone’s forthcoming debut album Shapeshifter, following the dreamy pop-psych of first single ‘Strange World’ (May 2021), the cinematic video for which, co-directed by Someone and streaming on YouTube, won Best Music Video at LA Film Awards.

The dreamy first two singles give a wonderful taste of what can be expected from Shapeshifter, an album of intimate, acoustic, suavely cinematic and velvet lined songs. It’s a sound that combines Someone’s psychedelic pop music, with a soul and voice as  light as Air, as fragile as Feist, as deep as Nick Drake and as future-psych as Tame Impala - with her most personal song writing to date (inspired a little by Joni Mitchel with a nod to her on Shapeshifter’s album artwork design).

Written in the throes of lockdown, Shapeshifter encompasses the sometimes surreal and dreamlike feel of  lockdown’s isolation, but more prominently it celebrates the wonder of the human mind and spirit to rise above such challenges. Songs such as aforementioned first single ‘Strange World’ and ‘Paris At Midnight’ offer a dreamy escapism, with a clear message from Someone of “Staying positive and staying playful.”

On other album tracks such as on warm acoustic opener ‘Save Me’, which nods to the Joni Mitchell influence; the piquing 60s psych and Feist-esque ‘Health’; the stirring ‘I’m Not Leaving’; and on the wide-open Sufjan Steven’s soundscapes and warm mellow grooves of John Mayer’s Continuum found on ‘Nothing Really Matters’, Shapeshifter offers a kind of sonic therapy. The listener is asked to have hope for the future, whilst friends are guided gently away from giving in to their negative inner voices, or self-destructive tenancies.

Like ‘Paris At Midnight’, Shapeshifter is a record as intimate and immersive as it is richly layered and evocative, and whilst it may not have been written about the pandemic specifically, after our collective experience of the last year, Shapeshifter  will undoubtedly resonate with, and elevate all, who listen to it.

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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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