Crystal Eyes - Niloo - Tamar Berk - Ali Sperry - Wildlife Freeway - Hannah Schneider

Photo - Rebecca Reid

Crystal Eyes - Don't Turn Around.

The Calgary, Alberta-based psych-rock/dream-pop band, Crystal Eyes have just shared their new single, "Don't Turn Around" which comes off the back of support for last month's release, "Wishes" which went on to find support at FLOOD, Brooklyn Vegan, Exclaim and more. The new single is the latest to be lifted from the forthcoming second record, The Sweetness Restored which is set for release via the beloved Madrid label, Bobo Integral (Motorists, Ducks Ltd, Quivers) on April 22.

Crystal Eyes, who are made up of Erin Jenkins (singer/guitarist) and a revolving cast of musicians, currently Jordan Tettensor (guitar), Joleen Toner (synth), Will Johnson (bass) and Paul de Andrade (drums) describe the new record as a "feel-good self-help record for the age of existential dread." The Sweetness Restored displays a kind of wistful self-awareness right from the start, it's a collection of ten tracks that flirt with musical influences ranging from new wave, psych-rock and shoegaze, with songs driven by melody and steeped in texture.

Recorded at Montreal's Breakglass Studios with producer/engineer, Andrew Woods (The Operators, Legal Vertigo, Basia Bulat) before being mixed by Mark Lawson (Arcade Fire, The Unicorns, Peter Gabriel) the record contains thoughtful attention to musical detail thanks to the talented team of artists behind the project. And with the beautiful, warm tones of the Neve console, it's at once a unique sound, but one that feels comfortingly familiar. The prolific Scott' Monty' Munroe (Preoccupations, Chad VanGaalen) contributed bass and the talented Eve Parker Finley composed and performed string arrangements.

On the new single, "Don't Turn Around" the band turns the dial on some of the forthcoming album's post-punk aesthetics and 00's indie-rock sounds, nodding towards the Show Your Bones era of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Metric and The Raveonettes. Speaking about the new track, Jenkins says: "We wrote this track starting with the synth line and formed all the other parts around that. The drums are actually built off a loop of the live drumming (played by Kenny Murdoch), that our producer, Andrew Woods, built. The guitar part (that guitarist Jordan Tettensor) wrote felt incredibly Joy Division - this is one of the darker tracks on the record. We were definitely going for something moody and also sanguine."

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Niloo - To Feel It Deep.

Niloo tells us "To Feel It Deep is the first single off of my self-titled EP. To Feel it Deep is a catchy, nostalgic and heartfelt dream-pop tune about the grief experienced from a heartbreak you can see coming from a mile away. 

The song begins with a simple yet conspicuous guitar and bass line, blended with warm vocals that carry the intimate lyrics through a build that grows into a lush and energetic arrangement. This song was crafted in the middle of the 2021 heatwave, at Risqué Disque Studios in the beautiful Cedar, BC, with the help of Jen Yakamovich of Troll Dolly on the drums and vibraphone, Shilo Preshyon as co-producer//audio engineer//mixer//bassist, and finally, Jonathan Scherk, who mastered the EP.

For the music video, I worked with the talented director and filmmaker Ali Calladine, who previously shot the music video for my debut single, Funny Face. We aimed to create a simple, yet beautiful music video that highlighted the introspective and emotive elements of the song. 

The visuals interweave three scenes that represent three different facets of post-heartbreak reflection: a vocal performance scene highlighting the lyrics, a movement scene with evocative choreography, and lastly, a water scene representing renewal. The music video features choreography and performance by Ella Huber of The Space Collective, as well as performances by myself and Youssef Ben Ammar."

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Tamar Berk - Your Permission.

Indie pop singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Tamar Berk has released the lead single from her upcoming sophomore album Start At The End, titled “your permission”. This new single is the first new music from Tamar since her full length album from 2021, The Restless Dreams Of Youth, which was just nominated for album of the year and best pop album at the San Diego Music Awards.

The song, which also opens the new album Start At The End, starts out small and intimate – with just Tamar’s voice and some wurlitzer keys – before steadily building up additional layers of vocals and instrumentation until the song arrives at a huge sing-along chorus, showing off the full dynamic range of her songwriting abilities in a relatively small package.

Speaking to the inspiration and lyrical meaning behind “your permission”, Tamar writes “There are days, or even periods of my life when I just want to stop having to be me, and step outside of myself and be someone else…not have to deal with my usual anxieties, issues, and the obsessive thoughts in my head. Just the thought of not being in my head, even for just a day, seems so incredibly liberating!  My thoughts can be quite intrusive and annoying and I suppose, it would be nice to experience not having to deal with being myself for a day or making any decisions. The title of the song “your permission” came to me as I thought about moments when I find myself apologizing for stating my opinion, needing something, or simply standing up for myself. My first instinct is always to apologize which I find myself doing sometimes…ultimately the title is ironic.”

The single is also accompanied by a music video in which many different ghostly versions of Tamar are overlaid on top of each other, each wearing different outfits as they all sit down to play at the same piano, a clever mirroring of the track’s opening lyric “can I ask your permission to be someone else today?”.

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Photo - Fairlight Hubbard

Ali Sperry - Excuses.

Venerated Nashville singer/songwriter Ali Sperry has just released "Excuses," the latest from her forthcoming LP, In Front Of Us, out on March 11th.

"Excuses" calls out those who can't take responsibility for their actions - "In keeping with the archetypal characters in this record, 'Excuses' centers around the person who you want to give the benefit of the doubt to but repeatedly lets you down, a person that makes a mess and holds no accountability," says Ali of the track. "As I continued to tease out the lyrics to the second verse, I found myself picturing our then president and wondering whether in his quietest moments he was ever able to experience the weight of the harm he was doing."

With Owen Biddle on bass, Jen Gunderman on keys, Kai Welch on synth, and Sadler Vaden’s rip-roaring guitar, Ali was able to explore a broader palette of colors, and channel into the music some of the innate anger that comes with being human.

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Wildlife Freeway - Flea.

Wildlife Freeway, the artist moniker of songwriter Sunny Atema, released her debut album Sunny on Alex Ebert's Community Music label, available to stream worldwide. The album features a collection of exquisitely crafted, moody, whimsical indie-folk songs that courageously plunge into the depths of human emotion.

“A wildlife freeway is a bridge for animals to safely cross over busy roads, so when we humans are rushing off in cars to our parties, the animals can get to their forest fairy parties too,” says Atema on the project and album. “The name also speaks of wildness and life on the road. The actual road, putting in the miles, brings us eye to eye, connecting without a screen between.”

A few years back after her beloved dog passed away, Sunny Atema packed her real upright piano in the back of her station wagon and toured the entire US. “I was so sad, I died too. I felt like a kite whose string was cut loose, longing for Earth,” she explains. The music shows were raw, both painful and joyful, surrounded by the perfect presence of people beckoning her back to their shared world when she felt disconnected from it. It was in New Orleans on that very tour that she was introduced to Alex Ebert, and soon after they entered the studio together.

“I don’t normally produce other artists, so when Sunny showed up at the studio unannounced, I had no notion of producing anything,” Ebert recalls. “But as soon as she sat down at the baby grand, I was inspired. This was a uniquely personal kind of music. I approached the production itself delicately, as if the songs themselves would shatter to pieces if a callous move was made.  I wanted to make sure the whole album felt the way I felt when I first heard her at my studio - like we are each being let in on a secret.”

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Hannah Schneider - Mirror Sphere.

With a minimalist and sensitive tone, Hannah Schneider's new single Mirror Sphere tells a monumental story about the beginning of life. Mirror Sphere returns to the amoeba's path from sea to land in an organic, ambient pop song. The single is the second single from Hannah Schneider's upcoming album Ocean Letters. Mirror Sphere was released on February 25 via Copenhagen label Midnight Confessions

The singer is one half of the celebrated duo AyOwA who have received significant international support from the likes of Huffington Post, The Independent, VICE, The Line of Best Fit, CLASH Magazine and Wonderland Magazine as well as airplay from both BBC Radio 1’s Huw Stephens as well as BBC Radio 6’s 6mix with Nemone. Independently, Hannah Schneider has been nominated for several music prizes in Denmark, and has performed all over Europe, the UK and the USA. Her spherical voice has appeared on several big Scandinavian TV series, recently in the international nordic TV series Ride Upon the Storm.

Hannah Schneider released the first single from her upcoming album in November ’21. “We Will Be The Only Sound In The World” is told from the perspective of a conch shell, about the grains of sand and waves that have left their mark over time:

“We Will Be The Only Sound In The World opens on an austere,
elegant piano topped by Hannah’s deliciously haunting voice,
crystalline yet ethereal at the same time. It’s one of those mystical
voices with the power of summoning up the past, present,
and future” pop off.us

The mysteries of nature and the oceans have inspired all the new songs, and the story of Mirror Sphere is told from the perspective of the amoebas - life at the beginning of the earth.

“I wrote Mirror Sphere in the middle of the darkest times of the pandemic. It felt like it was a crucial moment in history - almost as if it was the end of it all. I came to think of the earth's long history, and that everything happens over billions of years - all the way back from the time the amoebas decided to go ashore, to become animals and later humans. We're just part of the long haul, and that’s kind of a consolation!”

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Lena Minder - Christine Tarquinio - Sound&Shape - Chris Tavener - Kindsight - Christine Sweeney - Twain

Photo - Victoria Byt

Lena Minder - One More Time.

Together Alone is the name of the debut album by Lena Minder, which is about loneliness in relationships. In March 2020, her plans to move back to Switzerland were thwarted by the pandemic. Instead of finding her way back to her roots, she embarked on an inner search and confrontation with herself in isolation. 

In her memories, Lena revived past relationships and critically questioned them. She began to put these thoughts into songs and tells with melancholy, nostalgia, but also a pinch of irony about the complexity of interpersonal existence.

The album contains eight songs, some of which are stylistically very different from each other. The beginning is made by the reduced, folky waltz song «Stay Around», which stands out for its sophisticated vocal arrangement. «Stolen Love» or «One More Time» can hardly be assigned to the indie folk genre. They contain elements of soul and gospel and backing vocals reminiscent of the 30s. With the title track Together Alone Lena Minder bids a brilliant, almost anthemic farewell to the journey - time to let go and time to move on. Sometimes you're less lonely alone than as a couple.

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Christine Tarquinio - Falling Free.

Australia’s Christine Tarquinio release’s inspiring new pop single, ‘Falling Free’, available on all streaming platforms on Friday 25th February 2022.

‘Falling Free’ highlights the wonderment of life, love and everything in between, via an instrumental soundscape filled with resonating guitar lines, lush strings and a beat that is sure to have you grooving, combined with the hauntingly ethereal and captivating vocals of Christine Tarquinio. It’s a song that will motivate you to take chances, despite the fear of failure.

“I wrote this song just with an acoustic guitar and it was very introspective as we were in one of our many lockdowns. I wanted to express how I was feeling at the time.  The song was very easy to write and came together over a number of weeks.” Christine Tarquinio

Working with Producer, Joshua Hennessy of Pivotal Music Melbourne, during Covid-19 lockdowns, the pair were required to adapt their process, working through the process remotely. Melbourne, Australia based singer/songwriter, Christine Tarquinio has a passion for turning the experiences of life, into a creative, storytelling musical journey, inviting listeners join her for the ride.

Having released her first single, ‘Didn’t Even Try’ in 2014, and now with seven singles and an EP under her belt, Christine has spent the years exploring the unlimited possibilities of her creativity and the freedom potential of her music, both as a solo act and in collaboration with other artists.

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Sound&Shape - How The Light Gets In.

At a time when subgenres threaten to overwhelm, Sound&Shape make pure, unfettered Rock N’ Roll. Exploring every corner of stylistic possibility within that context, S&S’s songs range from the heavy and fierce to the soothing and gentle. Frontman/songwriter Ryan Caudle’s voice can easily lull you into a false sense of security, only to have his guitars come crashing in alongside drummer Ben Proctor’s herd-of-stampeding-rhinos drumming and bassist Pat Lowry’s soul rumbling low end.

Over the course of several self-released records and relentless national touring, Sound&Shape have honed a sound both familiar and forward thinking. With enough hallmarks of the rock n’ roll history book in which they are descendants of, they honor their heroes alongside a healthy dose of eyes-to-the-future originality. Currently, Sound&Shape has amassed a mountain of new material which they look forward to bringing to the masses for many years to come.

Always striving to expand as much as possible in all directions, the band’s new album, Disaster Medicine, melds the infectious melodies of their previous work with simultaneously the heaviest and most layered, atmospheric work of their discography. Nestled in the heavy riffing and huge choruses lie some of the most personal and heartfelt lyrics of Sound&Shape’s career, supported this time not only by the core instrumentation of guitar, bass and drums, but for the first time by synths and more carefully orchestrated backing vocals.

Sound&Shape has performed at Midpoint Music Fest in Cincinnati, OH (attendance approx. 30,000) as well as shared stages in support of notable bands such as Sparta, King’s X, Fishbone, Crobot, John 5, The Spill Canvas, Tremonti, Jeremy Enigk as well as many tours on their own.

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Chris Tavener- How To Truly Win At Life.

“Answer me this, are you happy?” So sings the online life coach in Chris Tavener's pop-rock satire song for the Youtube generation.

In a modern world often focused on fostering dissatisfaction, 'How To Truly Win At Life' is a song brimming with ironic humour, and soothing melodies hiding a darker truth.

It was written during the difficult era of UK Covid lockdown, when Tavener observed a new influx of online adverts from laughably brazen, so-called life coaches hoping to take advantage of the depressing times for financial gain. The almost surf-rock sounds with a powerful infectious chorus take you away to a tropical paradise, as the exaggerated lyrics speak of a dream lifestyle.

The incredibly uplifting, guitar-fuelled energy in 'How To Truly Win At Life' is matched with subtle minor undertones of deception afoot. There's an epic instrumental arrangement that creates a musical playfulness akin to Randy Newman or Elvis Costello, with a rousing choir and buoyant guitar riffs.

The single is the first from Tavener's upcoming EP 'Easy Ways To Be Happy' that focuses on millennial frustrations and modern measures of success. The new classic-rock-influenced, five-song EP will be released later this year.

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Kindsight - Hi Life.

Danish four-piece Kindsight make music that draws from 80’s and 90’s alternative rock and combines it with the shimmering Scandinavian pop that the region has become so renowned for, resulting in a sound that is both fuzzy and melodic in equal measure. Releasing their first material in 2020, the up and coming Danish four-piece have been quick on the rise, picking up steam with a series of new singles over the last 18 months. Now, they are announcing their debut album, Swedish Punk, will be released on March 25th, 2022.  New single Sun Is Always in My Eyes is out now alongside a DIY video made by the band.

Kindsight formed when front-woman Nina Hyldgaard Rasmussen and guitarist Søren Svensson bonded over a shared love of The Sugarcubes. They went on to recruit bass player Anders Prip and drummer Johannes Jacobsen and over the past few years have earned a reputation within Copenhagen’s thriving indie scene for their exciting live shows.

On the album’s title, Rasmussen says “Swedish Punk’ was an off the cuff term our producer, Adam, came up with when we needed a working title for a new song we wrote during the recording sessions. Our bass player, Anders, then wrote some lyrics based on the working title and we ended up liking the whole ‘Swedish Punk’-thing so much it became the name of the album”.

There’s a real coming of age charm to Swedish Punk. ‘Don’t You Grow Up’ was the first song the band ever wrote together. Written in “a time when we thought to be a sunny teenage rock band, you had to write songs about teenagers in the sun,” they say. Atop jangling guitars, Rasmussen’s distinctive voice dances somewhere between that of Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval and Alvvays’ Molly Rankin, leaving the listener drenched in the nostalgic optimism of summers gone by. Lead single ‘Sun Is Always In My Eyes’, an unrelenting indie-pop earworm, continues in that same vein. Recalling a time when life was carefree, the band say the track is about ‘stealing money from your mother and feigning to run away from home. Being blessed and unable to see because you've got too much sun in your eyes’.

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Photo - Shannyn KT

Christine Sweeney - Do You Have To Go?

Christine Sweeney has one of those rare voices that makes you stop whatever you're doing and pay attention--and she's got the songwriting, guitar, and bandleading chops to back it up, everywhere from a packed, sweaty rock club to a hushed listening room. I've seen it before: literally everyone in a place will turn their heads to see who's at the mic.

To her, the R&B vocal influence isn’t unnatural in settings ranging from hushed folk stages to full band rock shows. Her music reminds her fans of Susan Tedeschi, Brandi Carlile, Sheryl Crow, KT Tunstall, or Grace Potter with music that grooves and rocks but also reveals her story.

Her new album Heart In a Hurry, out April 22, generously dashes blues, pop, Americana, folk, and yes, R&B, in sharp, open-hearted songs, some drawn from hard-earned life lessons. The message has connected with her fans; she’s had people approach her after concerts to tell her hearing her song helped with something they were experiencing. Even when telling a deeply personal story, Christine has the ability to tap into universal feelings. Heart In a Hurry tells a tale of perseverance.

Musically, the album ranges from the rolling soul music of “Feeling So Low,” the message of self-love hidden in the howling blues of “Coyote,” the catchy character studies of “Denial,” full-on New York rocker “Do You Have To Go?,” and the swinging, grin-inducing “Better Parts” (out as a single March 22). In the cathartic, crashing “Down to The River” (single out April 5), she imagines a car driven off the road and into the water and the lightning-strike thoughts that would go through one’s mind. In the heart-rending “Anywhere, Anyway,” she powerfully likens the relationship to taking turns treading water.

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Photo - Wyndham Garnett

Twain - King Of Fools.

Twain releases a new song “King of Fools” with songwriter Mat Davidson sharing that “The premise of this song is that evil is a numbness; it wonders if numbness is worse than pain.”

Under The Radar premiered “King of Fools” yesterday, calling Twain “a songwriter of uncommon emotional weight” and elaborating, “Davidson fully inhabits the role of the prophetic folk troubadour, exploring the evils of past and present with warm pastoral melodies and raw emotive vocals. He ends the song with a poignant indictment of humankind’s everlasting greed一Now I watch the fighting over the womb of the earth / Spilling blood for proverbs that they neither side have learned / And I see a bunch of children fighting over toys / How long must they die and die and die / To satisfy the king of fools?”

Mat Davidson is a prolific contributor to beloved projects including Big Thief, whose latest album Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You features Davidson on six songs. He's also a current member of Buck Meek’s band. Davidson is a former member of The Low Anthem, Spirit Family Reunion, and The Deslondes and has toured as part of Langhorne Slim and Courtney Marie Andrews' live bands. He made his label debut as Twain with Rare Feeling in 2017.

The album was aptly hailed by NPR as "at once human and otherworldly,” by Consequence of Sound as “devastating, delicate, meditative” and by UPROXX as “cosmic folk, bright and sparkling, but with all the caterwauling and rough bits that the most stoic traditionalist might desire.” Twain's music resonates a transcendental weight, his performances reliably noted as raw and intensely emotional. More to come from Twain in 2022.

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Still Corners - Elf Power - Clea Anaïs’ - Diandian

Photo - Bernard Bur

Still Corners - Far Rider.

Ahead of a massive tour throughout Europe and the US this Spring, Still Corners have released their seven-minute desert-noir odyssey, ‘Far Rider’.

With the sun at its peak a weary desert traveller picks their way across the soft sandy floor trying to forget a lost love or maybe a past best forgotten. Crystal clear guitar lines drift in and out as the bass weaves and snakes over a tight drum beat. Tessa Murray croons steady as a pulse, as the song winds like a caravan toward the orange horizon.

Tessa explains, “This song is about leaving, lost love and finding yourself somewhere on the journey, really it’s about redemption. I recently drove 6000 miles across the southwest to feel the sun on my face and think.  We used the dreamlike nature of the song to capture the landscape and a hypnotic feel to conjure up the long and lonely travel days.”

‘Far Rider’ follows on from the release of their recent single ‘Heavy Days’, and highly-praised 2021 studio album ‘The Last Exit’, which received standout reviews in NME, DIY, Uncut, The Quietus, Mojo and many more Still Corners will be heading off on tour in 2022 throughout the US and Europe to support their recent releases.

stillcorners · Far Rider

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Photo - Jason Thrasher

Elf Power - The Gas Inside The Tank.

Yesterday, the Athens, GA-based psychedelic folk band Elf Power announced they have signed with Yep Roc Records. To celebrate the partnership, the band released “The Gas Inside The Tank,” their first single release since 2017’s full length album Twitching in Time.

“‘The Gas Inside the Tank’ lyrically touches on seemingly separate but interrelated themes such as reincarnation, evolution, digital information overload, and an imagined post-apocalyptic future world of deserted cities in which inhabitants resort to siphoning gas from abandoned vehicles,” explains Andrew Rieger. “This was the first song written for an album we’ll be releasing later this year. It mixes organic and artificial elements together, with drums and drum machine mixed together, and slide guitar and organ alongside gurgling moog keyboards and synth bass.”

"We are very excited to be working with Yep Roc! So many of our friends and collaborators like Robyn Hitchcock, The Apples in Stereo, The Minus 5, and the No Ones have worked with the label, so we're looking forward to joining the Yep Roc roster,” said Elf Power.

“We are thrilled to welcome Elf Power to the Yep Roc Records roster,” said Yep Roc’s Co-General Manager Mariah Czap. “For the past 28 years, they've been such an important influence in the indie music community. Our team has known Andrew and the band since around 2004, as they've collaborated with a number of Yep Roc artists past and present over the years. We're excited to officially add them to our label family!”

Elf Power formed in Athens, GA in 1994 and have released 13 albums, two EPs, and a handful of singles, while touring North America, Europe, and Japan many times playing alongside acts like R.E.M., Flaming Lips, Dinosaur Jr., Neutral Milk Hotel, Guided by Voices, Arcade fire and many more. Albums such as 1998's Dave Fridmann-produced A Dream In Sound and 2008's collaboration with the late folk rock icon Vic Chesnutt, Dark Developments, have cemented the band’s reputation as the finest purveyors of modern melodic psychedelic folk rock around. The band became known as a member of the much heralded Elephant 6 Collective.

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Clea Anaïs’ - Stars Still Dying.

Clea Anaïs’ compositions centre on two things: their multifaceted artistic sensibility, and an emotional intelligence as sharp as a shard of bright-coloured crystal. Clea is a multiethnic artist, raised in Canada by a Mauritian dancer and a British painter.

Clea works with all kinds of interesting contemporaries in interesting places, undertaking a cross border commission in 2021 by the Canadian Consulate as part of the “Connecting Perspectives” initiative. Clea has toured in Canada, Japan, Europe, the UK, the USA, and New Zealand. Their session work spans many genres, having worked with Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire) on his project Music for Heart and Breath, attending residencies at the Banff Centre, and recording with bands like Woodpigeon, 100 Mile House, Reuben and the Dark, and Astral Swans. Clea has shared the stage with groups including members of Broken Social Scene, Dan Mangan, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Cold Specks, City and Colour, and Of Montreal, to name a few. Much of this has happened with Clea’s collaborative band RALEIGH, who Alternative Album of the Year in the 2018 YYC Music Awards.

Now undertaking new music on her own, her debut solo album, Circle Zero, recalls the genre defying production and inimitable vocals of Lana del Rey, grounded in the nostalgic groove and lush pop stylings of Beach House and Japanese Breakfast. Clea’s first two self-released singles garnered 7k views each on YouTube, with “Hazy Days” spending multiple weeks on CBC Radio 3’s Top 10 playlist. Clea creates art that moves in interesting ways; throughout there are moments that are vulnerable and these moments move you because they are some special combo of being listenable, evoking memory, and feeling new.

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Diandian - I'm Still Mi.

We are pleased to include Diandian today with the beautiful new song 'I'm Still Mi', we will let her tell us all about herself - Diandian is an Asian American cellist, singer, and engineer. As a Stanford University graduate of engineering and music programs, she uses her unique skills in the sciences and arts to create innovative pieces with the cello.

Formerly a classical cellist; she has previously won international competitions and performed at venues such as at the Bing Concert Hall at Stanford, The Grammy Museum, Tsuen Wen Town Hall in Hong Kong, Shanghai Concert Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for SoCal Sunday Night on Classical KUSC. Her upcoming tour venues for 2022 include the Grammy Museum, LAX, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and Stanford Concert Hall.

Along with producer Taylor Franklyn, diandian creates her first independent release, "Planet Pink" featuring her singing debut, cello, and original songwriting. Diandian's first independent release. Bittersweet melancholy with soft vocals, cello, and dreamy beats.

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Buffalo Rose - Lost Tuesday Society - Primer

Photo - Zian Meng

Buffalo Rose - I Give You The Morning.

"I Give You The Morning," is a gorgeous selection from Pittsburgh Americana sextet Buffalo Rose, who partnered with GRAMMY-winning folk legend Tom Paxton for a gorgeous EP called Rabbit released today via Misra Records.

"I Give You The Morning" is a classic love song written by Tom Paxton, who also lends his vocals to the track. With goosebump-inducing harmonies and delicate instrumentation, "I Give You The Morning" radiates sunshine and warmth from every note.

If you think you know what acoustic music is all about - just wait. Buffalo Rose takes the folk styles of the past and gleefully blends them with modern, contemporary flair. If a smile was a band, it would be Buffalo Rose.

Rabbit is a perfect release for the last gasp of winter; as we pin our hopes on spring, eagerly awaiting the days of more and more sunshine, this new EP will warm up any who listen. Combining Paxton’s honed writing skills with the instrumental prowess of Buffalo Rose, the album’s themes are derived from the hope of doing all we can do to find what we’re looking for. In this EP, these seven musicians explore answers to many questions, and they have a blast doing it.

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Lost Tuesday Society - Spinning Wheels.

'Spinning Wheels' is the latest offering by Swansea based 6-piece Alternative Folk band 'Lost Tuesday Society'. Taken from their successful latest album 'Bee Skin Rug' the band explore a darker sound and show a diverse dynamic following the bright and airy 'Lights' which was playlisted on the BBC Radio Wales 'Welsh A-List'.

Swansea Alt-Folk band ‘Lost Tuesday Society’ have announced a brand new single entitled ‘Spinning Wheels’ which has just been released independently.

Lost Tuesday Society are Jay Browning (bass) Alfie Scheinman (guitar, flute, vocals) Sarah Birch (guitar, vocals) Darran Browning (guitar, vocals) Simon Jones (drums) Kate Ronconi (violin, vocals) Lost Tuesday Society are a 6 piece band who have collectively come from a variety of differing musical backgrounds and therefore bring with them a range of personal influences; from traditional and alternative folk, grunge and shoe-gaze, funk, psychedelia and rock.

The result is a unique blend of music with intricate compositions, strong hooks and melody lines combining in a huge dynamic sound that has people up on their feet.

With four vocalists (Sarah, Kate, Darran and Alfie) in the band the harmonies are interesting, beautiful and an important element to the Lost Tuesday Society sound. With a heavier back line and driving rhythm section ( Jay and Simon) and two accomplished guitarists (in Alfie and Darran) the new material presented today has a maturity and edge which is beautifully enhanced by weaving strings (Kate),flute(Alfie) and melodica (Sarah).

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Photo - Carrie Pitzer

Primer - Warning.

We have the new single + video from Alyssa Midcalf's Primer project - directed in the Mojave desert by Jax Anderson. It's called "Warning." Here's what Alyssa has to say about it:

Warning is a celebration of the end of a toxic relationship. It’s a grand finale to the record and to a years long cycle of pain and anguish. I wrote the song during a hard turn in my life. I spent so much of my life with someone who siphoned my energy and depleted my whole world of color and light. I had to come to terms with knowing I will never be able to change the past or get that time back but I could meditate on the fact that I am no longer in that place.

And about the video location: I chose to shoot the video in the Mojave desert because it’s where I grew up. I spent all my teen years trying to reject the desert; feeling stifled and isolated there and wanting so badly to move as far away as possible. And now that I have moved away to many different places, I’ve been able to accept that it will always be my home regardless of where I go.

“There were experiences that hit me hard emotionally, moments in my life that hit me in a weird way,” Alyssa Midcalf shares when asked about the inspiration behind her latest album, Incubator. “I felt like the only way to process them was to write about them.” In 2019, under the performance moniker Primer, Midcalf released her first solo album Novelty. The vocalist and electronic producer has put the full wealth of her experience into her sophomore album, Incubator, sharing honest, and sometimes harrowing, stories from her own life through a pop-tinted lens.

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Basement Revolver - Hate Moss - Hailey Whitters - Carleton Stone

Basement Revolver - Dissolve.

Basement Revolver has always centered around the friendship of bassist/keyboardist Nim Agalawatte and guitarist/vocalist Chrisy Hurn. Lead guitarist Jonathan Malström and drummer Levi Kertesz round out the band’s larger-than-life sound.

The band’s catalogue spans back to their breakout single, 2016’s “Johnny.” That single, and their self-titled EP from the same year, led to their signing with Fear of Missing Out in the UK, and later, Canada’s Sonic Unyon Records.

Heavy Eyes, their debut LP, built on their aesthetic which merges hardcore-inspired indie and ambient dream pop. In support of that they toured throughout the US, Canada, the UK, and Germany. With tour plans on hold through 2020, Basement Revolver found time to wrestle with questions about identity, faith, mental illness, and sexuality.

Their sophomore LP, Embody, is explicit about these new ideas and new thoughts, addressing them with a deeper sound and crisper production to adroitly express the complexity of the world. It is an album of friendship, of working out identity together, and making deeply personal art.

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Photo Ruggero Lupo Mengoni

Hate Moss - Eremita.

Bringing to mind the broodingly intense works of Dead Can Dance or Liars, crossed with the philosophical songwriting of De André and Tom Zé, it’s a twitchingly paranoid and quietly exhilarating hint of what to expect on new album ‘NaN’.

Directed by Ian Carvalho, the single is accompanied by a misleadingly lo-fi video, which reveals hidden depths with repeated views. Shot by the band in a single-take using the Datamosh technique, it follows the band as they traverse through the scenic town of Monopoli in Puglia, Italy. The Mediaeval setting of warm-colored palaces on a summer evening soon begin to glitch chaotically with pixelated footage; and hint that all may not be as it seems… Speaking about the video Tina adds:

“The idea of contrasting the beauty of that historic city centre with the digital “dirt”, created by Data Mosh, fascinated us because it represents the message that the music expresses very well: The conflict. This is solved by the protagonist "abandoning the field" and crossing a counter-current path that leads from Aesthetic Beauty, represented in the video by the Madia Cathedral square, to Ethical Beauty, represented by the church of Purgatory, important for its representations of the various "Memento Mori.”

Produced and Mixed by In A Sleeping Mood with Hate Moss, the “Eremita” also features guest appearances from Donato Panaccio (Bass and Arp Guitars) and Mauro Polito (percussion). It was mastered at Loud Mastering studios by Jason Mitchell.

Hate Moss is an Italo-Brazilian duo formed by Tina and Ian in 2018. Formed in London and currently living a nomadic existence, the duo have performed on numerous stages across South America, Europe and the Middle East, while drawing crowds at international festivals like the Venice Biennale (IT), Locomotiva Festival (BR) and Goiania Noise (BR), earning a cult following in the process.

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Photo - Harper Smith

Hailey Whitters - The Neon.

The Iowa-born, Nashville-based rising Country star Hailey Whitters has released her new single “The Neon” from her highly anticipated third album RAISED that will be released on March 18 via Pigasus Records/Songs & Daughters/Big Loud Records. The single arrives with a Harper Smith-directed lyric video shot at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge in Nashville, TN. RAISED is now available for preorder.

“I wrote ‘The Neon’ with Lori McKenna and Rodney Clawson about a broken-hearted bender on the town,” Whitters explains. “It was our first time writing together and Lori brought in the title. I think the next line that came out of the room that day was ‘here comes the sad part’ and we instantly knew it was this ‘tear in my beer’ type lyric. I love getting to tap into this song emotionally every time I sing it. Whenever I'm feelin' blue, there's no broken heart a barstool and a cold beer (or shot of tequila) can't fix.”

Last month, Whitters released the album’s debut single “Everything She Ain’t,” which was praised by American Songwriter, BrooklynVegan, Rolling Stone and Billboard who said, "Whitters has proven herself a stellar songwriter and artist in equal measure… handclaps and sweet fiddle lines boost Whitters’ charming vocal and razor-sharp wordplay.”

The 17-song album was co-produced by Whitters alongside producer Jake Gear, who produced Whitters’ 2020 release THE DREAM and the subsequent deluxe album LIVING THE DREAM, and was engineered by Logan Matheny. The album also finds Whitters reconnecting with co-writers Brandy Clark, Nicolle Galyon, Hillary Lindsey, and Lori McKenna.

RAISED finds Whitters reconnecting with her Midwestern roots and hometown of Shueyville, IA, reflecting on family, first kisses, and life amid sprawling cornfields. “This record is where I'm from, this is me. It feels like the prequel to THE DREAM,” explains Whitters. “These are the people and this is the place that made that 17 year old girl leave everything she'd ever known to pursue a career in country music and not give up over the last 14 years.”

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Carleton Stone - Ice Age.

Carleton Stone, an award-winning artist, a songwriter with a growing list of credits, and a founding member of Port Cities, has recently added producer to his list of accomplishments.

Carleton has three solo records to his credit, multiple awards, and has toured internationally. An outstanding writer, Carleton has written songs for and with such diverse artists as Donovan Woods, Classified, Bobby Bazini, and Neon Dreams. 

Carleton’s producer debut was Willie Stratton’s “The Way She Holds Me,” and his fall will be jam packed with producing Willie’s new record, songs by Chudi Harris, and his own new solo release in June 2022.

 

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