Cola - Josh Rouse

Cola - Fulton Park.

On Friday, the debut LP from Cola, Deep In View, will be released on Fire Talk Records. The new project from former Ought members Tim Darcy and Ben Stidworthy and US Girls/The Weather Station drummer Evan Cartwright, the band's debut has been one of the most anticipated releases of the year, earning praise from outlets like NPR, FADER and Rolling Stone who named the band an Artist You Need To Know and called their debut "one of the year’s most thrilling rock statements." Today, Cola are sharing a final single from the LP, a track called "Fulton Park."

"Ben and I had a flow writing this record where we would send each other demos every Friday," Darcy has stated. "It was a really motivating way to write, as I would spend the week working on something but then get the bonus of hearing what Ben had written when I sent him my track.  I heard Fulton Park and was immediately excited to work on vocals for it.  

It’s such an interesting instrumental.  These lush almost psychedelic guitars in the intro and chorus are paired with this really stripped down almost honky tonk verse.  It conjured in my mind this kind of old west imagery.  I suppose looking back on the lyrics now, that same kind of juxtaposition is present. Similar to Landers, it takes a look at the natural world and then the odd, magical, sometimes empty things that humans do on that landscape."

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Picture - Jim Harrington

Josh Rouse - Stick Around.

Today, acclaimed singer/songwriter Josh Rouse shares the new single “Stick Around” off his forthcoming album Going Places, which releases July 29 via Yep Roc Records. Inspired by the groovy American and English music of the 1970’s, the song is punctuated with an unexpected Memphis-style horn line.

"I wrote this one summer while doing an outdoor show in Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain,” explains Rouse. “We recorded the song in a couple takes, it sounded somewhere between J.J. Cale and Fairport Convention, until I had Jim Hoke put some saxes on it and it became something else entirely. A barbecue strummer!"

Going Places came together over the last two years when Josh Rouse found himself hunkered down with his family in Spain. Inspired by a desire to perform live during a time when that was virtually impossible to do, he got together with his Spanish band to workshop the songs in a small local venue owned by a friend. The resulting collection of songs trades the polished sheen of his prior work for a looser, more relaxed vibe. Where 2018’s Love in the Modern Age saw Rouse take a left turn to keyboard-based retro-new wave territory, Going Places is steeped in waves of his classic guitar melodies, with touches of organ and horns, layers of backing vocals and a distinctive southern twang. Listen to the debut single “Hollow Moon.”

Over the last two decades, Josh Rouse has solidified his status among this generation’s most acclaimed songwriters with insightful lyrics and a warm, effortless style. His work has been celebrated by press including Associated Press, Billboard, NPR Music, Los Angeles Times, BrooklynVegan, Salon and more. Forbes called him “a masterful songwriter,” and Paste declared, "His knack for setting a simple feeling to a breezy melody shines through again and again.” Now passing 50 years old, Going Places marks the next phase of his career. Looking toward the future, the new album once again proves Rouse’s undeniable ability to evolve and push his sound forward, delivering something that is both familiar and wholly new.

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Elle Celeste - BERRIES - The Local Honeys

Elle Celeste - So Few.

Calgary-based singer/songwriter Elle Celeste releases the second single, “So Few,” from her debut solo album Call On Me, due out in Autumn 2022. Much like the title track, shared back in March, “So Few” offers another powerful glimpse of Elle Celeste’s stunning artistic vision that combines familiar folk-rock elements with cinematic atmospherics, all propelled by her haunting voice, reminiscent of Cat Power’s Chan Marshall and Sharon Van Etten.

“This song was inspired by the original Blade Runner from 1982,” Elle Celeste says. “I enjoy the gloom and dread in the film and the feeling that everyone is just existing. Vangelis did an incredible job on the score. I tried to emulate his synth tone in the intro. Overall, this track is my ode to the rise of machines.”
Elle Celeste’s new material builds on the “21st Century folk music” approach of her former band Copperhead that blended punk, ambient and electronic sounds with traditional elements. She wrote eight of Call On Me’s nine tracks, later crafting them with longtime musical collaborator Kirill Telichev and producer Casey McMechan, better known as the electronica artist Tyrek. 

Beginning in December 2019, the trio assembled Call On Me over the next 18 months, building sonic landscapes to complement Elle Celeste’s unflinching lyrics, many based on her personal experiences. “I feel I’ve matured in almost every way making this record,” Elle Celeste adds. “It’s motivated me to keep looking for ways to connect my experiences and song concepts with audiences.” 

In all, Call On Me provides a dramatic first impression of a dynamic new voice on the Canadian independent music scene. With an ear trained to the past, but with her eyes firmly set on the future, Elle Celeste is an artist with unlimited potential.

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BERRIES - We Are Machines.

BERRIES have unveiled their latest  single ‘We Are Machines’ taken from their forthcoming debut LP ‘How We Function’ (out 8 July 2022).

Once more tackling a hard-hitting theme head on with a razor-sharp blend of fuzzy guitars, driving riffs and gritty rock melodies, ‘We Are Machines’ arrives as BERRIES announce the release of their first cohesive full-length record ‘How We Function’, out 8 July 2022 via Xtra Mile Recordings.

Tracing the thread of guttural garage-rock that ran through earlier single ‘Wall of Noise’ — but lacing it with a more infectious sort of optimism — ‘We Are Machines’ blends jagged noise-driven instrumentals with a rhythmic guitar riff and catchy, convulsing melodies that wriggle in the head long after the track has come to a close. The track itself grapples with the struggles we as humans face in a society hell-bent on dehumanising individuals.

As BERRIES explain: “It is a song about struggling in a demanding society and being exploited by people who have little empathy or concern for your well-being. The song touches on how we are forced to become machines, trying to maintain an impossible level of perfection and how we need to fight against this. Admitting we are only human and finding the strength to stand up and push for balance and rights. In turn, becoming a different type of machine.”

With its expert alloy of barbed guitar lines, polished yet anarchic and densely layered rhythms and melodious vocals, ‘We Are Machines’ is a skillful second glimpse into BERRIES’ forthcoming debut ‘How We Function’ — an album ostensibly about mental health struggles and the resounding empowerment of overcoming and learning to live thoroughly with them.

Of the new record songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Holly explains: “The album is about strength and growth, and recognising the dark times and how you get over them. We’ve got over a lot of mental health struggles, but we wanted the album to have an empowering vibe to it as well. This is our journey to growth. Mental health is not a shadow over what you’re doing — this is really healthy and we can talk about this stuff.”

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The Local Honeys - Dead Horses.

When a master songsmith like Tom T. Hall calls someone “a great credit to a wonderful Kentucky tradition,” it’s time to pull up a chair and pay attention. As it pertains to the nearly-decade-running duo The Local Honeys, he was right on the money. The duo—Linda Jean Stokley and Montana Hobbs—have long been an integral part of Kentucky’s musicscape, and on July 15th, they’ll be adding a new entry into the Bluegrass State’s rich musical canon. Their first release on La Honda Records (Colter Wall, Riddy Arman, Vincent Neil Emerson), The Local Honeys features ten winsome vignettes of rural Kentucky, conjuring 90’s alternatives sounds with hillbilly Radiohead lilts, soaring above layers of deep grooves and rich tones masterfully curated by longtime mentor Jesse Wells, a GRAMMY-nominated producer, musician (currently a member of Tyler Childers’ band The Food Stamps), and Assistant Director at the Kentucky Center for Traditional Music at Morehead State.

Today, The Local Honeys shared their first taste of the new album with “Dead Horses,” an emotional look at the tragedy of animal husbandry. With lines like “Suppose we’re all just animals with slightly different hides,” Stokely displays a cut and dried existence on the farm and the world at large while drums and banjo meld together propelling the tune from verse to verse. The accompanying music video finds Stokley and Hobbs surrounded by nostalgic photos of their equine counterparts, contributed by the band’s fanbase, adding weight to the meaning of the song itself. The“Dead Horses” video can be viewed right here and pre-order or pre-save The Local Honeys ahead of its July 15th release at this link.

Over the years, The Local Honeys have paid their dues, garnering countless accolades and accomplishments (tours with Tyler Childers, Colter Wall, praise from the New York Times), and have become the defining sound of real deal, honest-to-god Kentucky music. With The Local Honeys, Stokley and Hobbs ended up with the most nuanced, moody, deep-holler sound they have captured to date. “This is the first time we’ve actively gotten to express who we are and where we’re from” says Linda Jean, “The songs on the album speak for us,” adds Montana “they’re about what we know, reflections of us as people. We realized we have the power to add our own narrative into Kentucky music.”

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Colyn Cameron - Em Spel - Roxi Copland

Colyn Cameron - Stream.

After almost four years since Sad & Easy, Colyn is excited to be sharing a new album ‘Freehand’. While living in Vancouver, BC, the new material emerged within the paradoxical spaces of experimenting with dispersed and concentrated rhythms. He used the material to explore themes of technology, adventure, self-worth & love with mild nods to worldly trepidation.

The Album was again recorded mostly at home, with additional instrumentation from close collaborators Aiden Ayers and Josh Contant.

It has now been ten years since the release of Wake Owl’s first album. In the years since, Colyn has also composed original music for 2 feature films and numerous different independent projects, and formed new musical and broader artistic collaborations.

His enchanting new single “Stream” was inspired by algorithmic realities, such as near annual iPhone purchases and the screen time data Apple shares. The metaphor in the line “Well I've tried prototypes, but the fruit wasn’t ripe, I’ll pretend differently it’s a bad appetite” suggests that all tech progress is fruitful, but maybe isn’t always ready.

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Em Spel - Golem.

As we round the home stretch towards the release of Em Spel's debut album The Carillon Towers we celebrate the release of the third single "Golem" - a beautifully orchestrated track that meditates on the monkey's paw curse / wish of the Golem from Jewish Folklore.

Of the track Emma Hospelhorn states, "Have you ever loved the idea of someone rather than the real person? In this intimate, slow build of a song, the lush instrumentation is layered in gradually: An improvised noise layer swirls like the static of a person's thoughts over a gentle guitar line played by V.V. Lightbody. A singing violin line, played by Caitlin Edwards, starts out simply and then soars into shimmering counterpoint at the apex of the song, on the lyric "what if you said you'd become someone new?""

The Carillon Towers features luminaries from Chicago's thriving experimental and classical music scene including V.V. Lightbody, Katinka Kleijn, Eric Ridder and Matt Oliphant who work to bring these lushly orchestrated songs to life

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Roxi Copland - I Come From Crazy.

A classically trained musician with a love for great songwriting, Roxi Copland’s innovative sound is forged at the crossroads of Americana, roots, and jazz. From her confessions that “the things I speak aloud might hurt the ones I love” to professing seductively “I prefer my arms with yours entwined,” the five songs that make up her I Come From Crazy EP reveal an artist unafraid to divulge her shortcomings, frustrations, and desires.

"It took a while for me to be self-confident enough to write a song without complex chords in it," she recalls, referencing her previous life as a singing pianist in jazz clubs. "I noticed that what I really loved as a kid were songs that told stories, and a lot of those were country and Americana … my songwriting started to have more of a tilt towards that direction." Throughout the EP, Copland’s sultry vocals are framed by country-tinged instrumentation from a stellar lineup of some of Austin’s finest—including Warren Hood on fiddle (Alejandro Escovedo, Joe Ely, The Waybacks), Adam Nurre on drums (David Ramirez, Jeremy Pinnell) James Bookert on banjo (Whiskey Shivers, Wild Child), Devin North on bass (Arielle), and Justin Douglas, who also engineered and co-produced the album with Copland, on pedal steel and guitar. The resulting sound is akin to a rowdier, rootsier Madeleine Peyroux or Melody Gardot.

Lead single "Daddy Don't Do Politics," which earned an accolade from the International Songwriting Competition (2020 Semi-Finalist, Folk/Singer-Songwriter category), might be the most timely of all the tracks on the EP. In just over two minutes, it offers up a succinct summation of that moment when a father gets a lesson in privilege from his more progressive daughter. “He didn’t appreciate me pointing out that he had a huge head start in life, and I didn’t appreciate him willfully ignoring a massive amount of privilege. So I got a little passive-aggressive and wrote this song and admittedly had a lot of fun while doing it,” Copland recalls.

Looking for an escape of sorts during the pandemic, Copland says she steered her efforts towards simply having fun with music, centering the storytelling, and looking internally to family dynamics for inspiration. “I was focusing on telling a story, whether it was funny, sarcastic, or getting a political dig in, and trying to write to that story rather than coming up with a song and then writing a story to fit.”

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Wy - King Lazy Eye - Vietnam

Wy - Teeth.

Wy are a band strongest at their most vulnerable. The Malmö indie duo, Ebba and Michel Gustafsson Ågren, have showcased their musical skills across three albums, 2017’s Okay, 2019’s Softie and 2021’s Marriage which gained them recognition from KEXP, Line of Best Fit, NBHAP, Tonspion, CLASH and more as well as tours in Germany, Scandinavia and the UK. But what makes them stand out as a band is the raw, brutal emotion they capture in their music. A Wy song at their best sounds like opening it all up, and letting the feelings flow where they will, letting the pain, anger, fear, hope and love steer the song. Those emotions are spun into the band’s skyscaping, cinematic sound, and turned into music that has a force behind it, a power that hits you, even when it's at its softest. Teeth is the first song from new EP Something Amazing which is out on all platforms and a limited CD including a six page booklet (which also includes Marriage) on June 17th.

First single Teeth is about “standing helpless on the sideline when someone close to you is struggling. About feeling desperate to help when there’s nothing you can do but to be by their side and wait for it all to pass. It feels extra relevant now that we have become parents. Suddenly there’s an abundance of things we cannot control, and there’s going to be a lot more of that in the future. It’s a hard thing to accept, but you can’t protect the ones you love from everything, even if you want to.”

Something Amazing picks up where Marriage left off, exploring dramatic life changes, including the experience of knowing that there soon will be a third person in the family. It is the second release since signing to Rama Lama Records (Melby, Steve Buscemi's Dreamy Eyes, Chez Ali etc.) and continues the path from last years Marriage, leaving the more produced style of second album Softie behind, it turns to the simpler sound of their earlier work for music that’s rawer and sharper.

The duo describes it as being about “the light at the end of the tunnel. About narrowing your circle and focusing your gaze on what is important - the people close to you. About a door, opening wide into a completely new life, with entirely new challenges and overwhelming beauty. ”

 
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King Lazy Eye - Slow Burn.

After building a following of over 220,000 people on TikTok who are itching for new music, Southern punk-rocker King Lazy Eye (Dylan Wilson) releases his single, “Slow Burn,” via brand-new Nashville independent record label Sky Daddy. “Slow Burn” is the first single to be released from his debut EP due out in August 2022.

Wilson delivers his crafty songwriting with southern Tennessee twang over upbeat acoustic guitar licks. Now that he’s set with a full band and label backing him, he’s ready to blaze his trail. Inspired by artists like Pinegrove, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, and The Pixies, Wilson has honed in on his talents and delivers them via a well-tuned, heartfelt vehicle for himself and like-minded fans.

With repeating lyrics of “I feel like I’m just a slow burn” in a catchy rhythm that makes it easy to sing along, the song is nothing short of an anthem. The single is about getting clean from methamphetamine and alcohol and subsequently going to jail, as well as how the road to sobriety for everyone is different--the usual motivators like religion or corporal punishment can fail us just like any other system we're indoctrinated into. "Slow Burn" is also weighted with the physical exhaustion that comes from recovering from a five-year narcotics binge.

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Vietnam - In Another Desert. 

‘In Another Desert’ by New Zealand post-punk / indie-guitar band Vietnam is the third video and promo single to be lifted from their latest album, This Quiet Room. Vietnam’s first new record since 1985’s self-titled debut, This Quiet Room was released in New Zealand and Australia in January 2022. Met with an immediate and overwhelmingly warm reception from radio, reviewers, and record collectors alike, vinyl and CD copies of This Quiet Room have now gained wider release across Europe and the UK, through Netherlands distribution label Clear Spot.

Primarily written by co-founding member Peter Dransfield, ‘In Another Desert’ ranges from tumultuous, tension-building rhythms through to breezier moments of melodic release: showcasing Vietnam’s moody early eighties post-punk influences (often compared at the time to Joy Division, The Cure, The Church, or The Sound), blended with New Zealand influences in the tradition of The Pin Group, The Verlaines, or The Chills. The song’s dynamic contrast between light and shade is offset by the new video, capturing an energetic performance from the band, in stark monochrome.

‘In Another Desert’ is both the new album’s opening track, and one of the earliest unreleased songs from the band’s original 1980s repertoire. The song kicks off This Quiet Room with a stick count from original drummer Leon Reedijk (R.I.P.), sampled from the band’s 2017 live reunion show in Wellington, New Zealand. Sadly, Leon died of a sudden heart attack just a few months after that show.

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Ellen Arthur Blyth - Josephine Philip - Ben Talmi

Ellen Arthur Blyth - God Knows.

Dublin-based singer songwriter Ellen Arthur Blyth unveiled her long-awaited debut album ‘Nine’ in April. The collection of Ellen’s unique jazz-pop sound follows the release of the single ‘Young Ones’ and title track ‘Nine’ which earned Ellen support from acclaimed publications such as Notion, Hotpress and Nialler9.

The album is now followed by the release of a stunning new music video for ‘God Knows’, which expresses the themes of pain in the song with visuals of a captivating ballerina. “It's about the time in my life when I had to finally stop drinking. It felt like a relationship was ending, one I'd had from the age of 14. I thought I couldn't live without it and felt heartbroken.” - Ellen shares the meaning behind ‘God Knows’

Born in Dublin, the youngest of nine, in a house where the one who shouted loudest ate most, Ellen learned early how to sing for her supper. Dragged out of bed, dusted down, slung into a polyester frock, her early forays into musical performance consisted of pitch perfect renditions of Any Dream Will Do to family friends. But as success followed the clan, friends turned to ambassadors, heads of state, Hollywood actors and other visiting dignitaries passing through. 

Aged 9, she woke her father and told him she was going to be a famous singer and would buy him a racehorse. He told her to go back to bed. At 16 she made the live finals of Ireland’s ‘You’re a Star’ but lost her voice. Her early adult life was spent serenading drunk punters in a city buried in snow, before finally, she fell through a drunken crevasse. After reaching bottom, she started to climb back out and rediscover her voice.

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Josephine Philip - She Said.

She Said is a song about being a woman. The song unfolds from two perspectives – one being young, carefree and full of hope, but also feeling insecure and scared to make the wrong decisions. The other perspective is delivered from an older narrator, that has lived life – singing to her younger self, wanting to give advice, but not wanting to interfere, because she knows that life has to be lived and experienced, good or bad, wild and mundane. The track is a celebration of all women and a reminder to believe in oneself. Philip’s catchy vocals are supported by gritty drums, dynamic beats and sparse guitar.

Josephine Philip lives and works in Copenhagen. She is inspired by a wealth of artistic expression; choral works, contemporary art and performance, jazz standards, experimental music, film, literature and classical music, and uses this inspiration to tell her engaging tales and stories.

Philip released her debut single as a solo artist, Call My Name in May 2021 and her second The Clue in October 2021. Both songs have been in heavy rotation on Danish radio station P6 Beat and have been very warmly received on both Danish and foreign music media. In February 2022 she released her 3rd single No. 7 and in March 2022 her 4th single Little Boy.

“It’s a fragile, nocturnal piece of cinematic beauty, a track about love and longing, surrounded in an impressive musical setting. The anchor of this delicate tune remains Philip‘s stunning vocal performance which is equally strong and fragile”

The new album - We Get Lost And Found - is written and produced in collaboration with Copenhagen based producer and musician Lasse Martinussen and will be released on 20th May 2022. Josephine Philip was one half of the now defunct dynamic duo JaConfetti, was a founder of and served time in the all-female Ska outfit Favelachic and the dance floor popular sound system Dullen & Dyken.

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Ben Talmi - Berkshires.

As the opening and title track of Ben Talmi's upcoming record, this song really sets the tone for the tunes that follow. An ode to growing up in Western Mass, Ben takes us on a nostalgic journey through some of the most formative moments in his life. With a humorous and often self depracating tone, he describes "the night some friends and I paid tribute to The Ramones by hanging a giant “Rock 'n' Roll High School” banner above our beloved Pittsfield High School. No one saw it and the banner was taken down first thing the following morning." Other memories include going to a Smiths singalong party and feeling shame at not knowing any of the lyrics.

Musically, "Berkshires" introduces us to Ben's talent as an arranger, with a string quartet floating on top of his fingerpicked acoustic. It's as if you crossed Nick Drake with the twee pop of Belle and Sebastian or one of their 90s contemporaries. I love how simple the arrangement is, and the quartet never threatens to overwhelm the delicate stories being told.

As with the previous two singles "Ralph & Mary" and "Canoe Meadows," "Berkshires" epitomizes the kind of homespun nostalgia that jumped out at me upon first listen. Ben is singing about beloved memories from his past, and while we weren't there with him, we can feel the love and affection in his voice.

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