Thallo - Womb - Signe Marie Rustad - Lesley Pike

Photo - Abi Sinclair

Thallo - Pluo.

Upcoming Welsh artist Thallo shares new Welsh language single Pluo (transl. Feathering) and announces details of her forthcoming bilingual Crescent EP, inspired by a unique subject matter and one deeply personal to Thallo – immobility.

On new single Pluo, Thallo showcases her unique sound, one that is enveloping, otherworldly, and multi-instrumented, spanning bedroom and dream-pop with subtle, textured jazz infusions and contemporary classic touches, both ethereal and utterly enthralling.

Pluo translates as ‘feathering’ in English, meaning ‘lightly snowing’ which relates to the song’s poignant opening line “I gather dust which is feathering stillness.” Inspired by the effects of a sudden condition that Thallo suffered in 2020 which caused chronic knee pain and debilitating mobility issues, Pluo touches on the peculiar pain of watching the world return to normal following lockdown, whilst Thallo was trapped in what she describes as “My own personal lockdown.” As she expands “I felt so stuck, unable to return to my normal life. But most of all, the song is a cry of fear for the loneliness and hopelessness of being left behind whilst everyone else moves forward.”

Pluo’s accompanying video, a collaboration with Welsh channel Lŵp (S4C) produced and co-directed by Aled Wyn Jones and Andy Pritchard, takes inspiration from psychological horror and is filmed at the popular ghost-hunting spot Bron y Garth Hospital - a former 1800s workhouse/hospital now abandoned and frozen in-time. As Thallo explains “The setting perfectly mirrors Pluo’s lyrics of feeling stuck and deteriorating.”

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Photo - Ted Black

Womb - Oceans.

Flying Nun Records and Pōneke’s Womb are thrilled to announce the trio’s upcoming album, Dreaming of the Future Again — out digitally and on 180g black vinyl on November 11th, 2022.

Womb is made up of siblings Cello Forrester (vocals, guitar, strings), Haz Forrester (synth, guitar), and Georgette Brown (drums). Their music is a composite of the three and builds on the shoegaze and dream pop sounds they are inspired by.

Dreaming of the Future Again is Womb’s sophomore album, recorded between 2020 and 2022, between living rooms and bedrooms, and at their dear friend and collaborator Bevan Smith’s backyard studio, Circle Blue Studios. “Dreaming of the future again” is a phrase that sprang to mind for Cello as they woke up one morning, and these are the words that tether each song on the album together.

The album builds musically from where their previous album, Like Splitting the Head from the Body, left off. The arrangements have moments that are layered, warm, and ethereal, where Georgette's driving drums are met with percussive samples, Haz’s synths bend and rise, and Cello’s textured strings stretch across the tracks. There are also sparse moments that draw you to Cello’s direct vocal delivery, for example on the opening track, Sylvan’s Song, and later in The Dove.

Lyrically, the songs trace moments across the two years recording the album, drawing on a repeated lexicon for Cello: of light and refraction; butterflies; birds; and dreaming. Each song is both personal and allegorical, and looks at connection and the things we are tethered to.

The album art is a drawing of a star-flower by band member and artist Georgette — titled, “I want you to see above your head a beautiful, beautiful star”. The drawing is on the wall of Cello and Georgette’s kitchen. The title of this artwork comes from a book that Georgette’s dad, Justin, used to read to her, guiding a visualisation of a star that is your very own, one which you can carry with you everywhere you go.

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Signe Marie Rustad - Hello It's Me.

"Hello It’s Me" sings Signe Marie Rustad in her crystal clear, inimitable voice. And with that, she’s back, three years after the release of her successful third album, When Words Flew Freely. The above lyric is taken from a song bearing the same name, the first single off Rustad’s fourth album, Particles of Faith.

Of her new single, Rustad says: "'Hello It’s Me' is about peeling off the layers and finding strength within yourself to take control over your own narrative. The lyrics reflect upon reaching an empowering point of trusting your own judgement while navigating through complicated times: “I decide how I will feel about it all, I’m gonna keep it real.I prefer forgiveness, and finding a way that works, to maintaining stable fronts. I don't do well with feeling angry over a long period of time, it just shuts down all other emotions. So the last line of the song, “I’ll be the judge of the culprit of the crime, let go I’m leaving it behind,” is kind of a mantra: Set yourself free by letting go of anger and disappointment and get on with your life.”

Known for her poetic lyrics and clever songwriting, and backed by a tight knit band that’s been with her for years, Rustad’s new album offers a natural transition from the already classic When Words Flew Freely (WWFF). However, Particles of Faith also brings something completely new and fresh.

WWFF presented a broader, organic and piano-driven Laurel Canyon-sound, and less of the Americana sound present on Rustad’s first two releases. Particles of Faith is harder to place in any genre, other than in the broader singer-songwriter tradition, helmed by pioneers such as Joni Mitchell and Carole King. But Rustad also points to a host of other inspirations.

Jansen Records · Signe Marie Rustad - Hello It's Me (DWYBO Records)

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Lesley Pike - Paper Thin.

Lesley Pike's upcoming album, Wild, focuses on the resilience that comes after pain. Ahead of its October 28th release, she shares "Paper Thin," written with folk duo The Dunwells, a fragile yet hopeful reflection on a couple's fight that Pike overheard while staying at a hotel one night in Leeds, England.

"Oh god, have I ever sounded like this?" Pike asked herself as she tried to catch some sleep. The next morning, she and The Dunwells set out to write a song which feels tender but also quite optimistic and hopeful. Delicate lap steel guitar and Pike's vocal at the forefront tell a story of comparison and the shifting perceptions of conflict that come from overhearing such a personal row between strangers.

The evolution of singer-songwriter Lesley Pike’s musical journey takes centre stage with the release of Wild. The recording artist’s fourth disc is an accumulation of confidence and drive as well as an all-important focus: producing and creating music on her terms. The result of her ambitions? Twelve stunning recordings which represent new heights in Pike’s song craft—ranging from the personal into the universal. Take, for instance, the recently released, “Bar Américain” (September 9th). 

The song chronicles Pike’s powerful storytelling abilities by way of her lyrics, which share memories of a real-life romantic encounter she had in a bar in London, England. Lines such as “We run with wild abandon / with whiskey on our breath and in our veins / we talk like we have got forever / but we kiss like we’ve got no time to waste” provide a stool-side point of view into Pike’s elations and emotional epiphanies.

“I felt confident to produce myself because I could take more risks and open up in ways I never thought possible. In the past, I always thought people knew better than me, so I would give way…. This time, I’ve realized I don’t have to outsource—I can tap into who I am for the answers.”

 This same type of intimacy can be heard in songs such as “Home” and “Tall Tales,” which convey conversational anecdotes via lyrics and vocal delivery reminiscent of folk-country-pop greats, ranging from Dolly Parton and Father John Misty, as well as Jenny Lewis and Aimee Mann. Both “Home” and “Tall Tales” dig into Pike’s internal dialogue, making listeners feel as though they are being held close in Pike’s confidence, much in the same way an old friend would be.

Lesley Pike · Paper Thin

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DOWNGIRL - Mazey Haze - Angela Strehli - Smoke and Mirrors Sound System

DOWNGIRL - Manic.

Explosive and energetic femme nu punk / grunge-rockers DOWNGIRL have doused stages around their hometown in Gadigal land in their highly flammable sonic kerosene and are kicking things up a notch with the release of their track, 'Manic', out now.

Born out of the ashes of punk outfit BoysClub, DOWNGIRL formed online during the 2021 lockdown and are gaining plenty of momentum. Within the space of a year, they've supported FANGZ and Battlesnake, cutting their teeth on lineups for Doomed Friday, Bonez Queer Party, Winter Magic Revival Festival headlined by Hermitude, Haiku Hands and Urthboy, and are set to tear it up at Chopped Festival with Amyl And The Sniffers later this year. The four-piece also just played with one half of The Veronicas for Jessie333’s new music video for 'Seeing Stars'.

Bursting onto the scene with the dynamite 'Beauty Queen', this epic second track, 'Manic', off the group's upcoming EP is 4 and a half minutes of powerful punk goodness.

The gradual build of gritty riffs and fury-driven drums match the energy of the lyrical confessions that escalate with a fight or flight intensity. By the time it gets there, it fervently begs for relief with a euphoric, wall-to-wall noise-filled chorus and its refrain, ‘Manic’. The song hits like shots of cinnamon whisky - hard, fast and to dizzying effect, with a sweet but spicy aftertaste. Each member gives it their all, and collectively let go like an unrelenting force of nature.

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Mazey Haze - The Weight of the Weekend.

Indie-rock rising talent Mazey Haze today returns with new single "The Weight of the Weekend" - the first new music to be heard since her breakthrough debut EP 'Always Dancing'. Also she announces a date supporting Feng Suave at Lafayette in London on 2nd November.

”Gotta find my way back / Gotta find my way back,” sang Nadine Appeldoorn aka Mazey Haze on the closing track of her ‘Always Dancing’ EP, released in 2021. Now, she has at last arrived. The Amsterdam based artist’s forthcoming second EP is reflective of this desire for simplicity: a collage of self-reflection, where thought, feeling and a powerful sense of place merge to make singular worlds that are entirely her own.

Toning down the more ethereal, synthetic textures present on her debut, Mazey Haze's new material finds her rooting herself to the earth, together with a little less perfectionism. Organic, acoustic sounds, her love of French New Wave cinema, Italian film scores and 60s psych-rock informs the vein of nostalgia that runs through it, finding its way back to a distant world.

Wreathed in light, cinematic with its gong-like percussion, new single "The Weight of the Weekend" traces the difficult terrain of her childhood. “It’s sensitive for me, so it was a scary song to release,” she shares. The track is released today alongside a new video shot in the streets of Bar-le-Duc in France, directed by Tara Wilts.

Speaking more on the lyrical inspiration of "The Weight of the Weekend", Mazey Haze said: "This song is about me trying to figure out for myself how to connect with people and wanting to get rid of the part of me that holds me back from being free. Thinking about my childhood, myself and people in general. I find it hard to connect with myself and others, want to know why and how to get better. In this song you could say I’m talking to myself, to certain people around me and to the particular voice in my head that refuses to give me real peace and pride in anything I do."

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Photo - Paul Moore

Angela Strehli - Ace Of Spades.

Angela Strehli returns with Ace of Blues on November 18th via Antone’s/New West Records. The 12-song set is her first album in over 17 years and was co-produced by Strehli & her husband Bob Brown. For over five decades, the 76-year-old’s voice has coursed through the genre akin to blood through a heart. Her influence can be felt in the legacy of Antone’s — the iconic Austin blues club she helped found with the late Clifford Antone and where she performed & became friends with the likes of Muddy Waters, Albert King, Otis Rush, Jimmy Reed, and countless others. 

Ace of Blues pays tribute to the artists who inspired her throughout her career and features renditions of songs made famous by Elmore James, Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Otis Clay and more. It concludes with “SRV,” a beautiful and personal tribute to the late Stevie Ray Vaughan. As the only original on Ace of Blues, the song celebrates their friendship, creative connection, and musical bond with one of the most heartfelt, hypnotic, and hard-hitting performances on the record.

Buddy Guy calls Ace of Blues, “Tough, soulful, and sexy. My kind of blues” while Bonnie Raitt says, “Always a fan, I’m so glad Angela’s back with a new album, putting her soulful take on this collection that pays tribute to her old blues friends.” Charlie Musselwhite says, “Angela has just kept getting better. She truly loves and ‘gets’ real deal blues and what it means. It’s great to see her share her blues with us all” while Maria Muldaur offers, “Her lifelong devotion to the blues is fully realized here! This is an absolute, must-have album for any blues lover.”

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Smoke and Mirrors Sound System - Undercover (album).

Smoke and Mirrors Sound System is a project involving dozens of artists from many countries, having been locked down, we picked up our laptops, phones, tablets, mics, mixers and created the magic, playing together in a dream of musical unity that frees us to imagine the concerts that may yet be. Travel with us! less

Undercover is much more than a passion project. It’s a lifelong obsession with music, from Rhythm & Blues, Soul Reggae, Ska, Rocksteady, and 2Tone, to New Wave. A picture may tell a thousand words, but a song can transport you through time and space, or bring up long forgotten memories.

For some, listening to this album will be a soundtrack to their own formative years. For others, it will be a discovery of decades of music to dig deeper into. I encourage everyone to go back and listen to the original recordings with news ears and then, listen to Undercover to hear the spirit of those recordings along with the subtle nuances and flourishes by all the great musicians and their combined experience. This is more than a tribute. It’s a love letter in songs, a great mixtape given to those you love.

Smoke and Mirrors Soundsystem · Mad World (Tears For Fears cover)

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Melby - Popup - The Labrit Project - Pat Razket - Klô Pelgag - Melissa Carper

Melby - Hammers.

On a first, careless, listen, Stockholm four-piece Melby might seem like a charming, fun little jangle-pop band. Pay a little more attention however, and you’ll find their waters run a lot deeper than that. The band (Matilda Wiezell, Are Engen Steinsholm, David Jehrlander and Teo Jernkvist) have all the flash and sparkle of your favourite indie band, but add an ability to touch moods and feelings with a meaning beyond most of their peers. Their guitars, drums and synths rattle, roll and flicker around each other, all held together by the soul-shiver in Wiezell’s vocals, to make immaculate little guitar-pop gems, equally dusted with sadness and sugar.

Melby’s debut album None Of This Makes Me Worry was released in 2019, and took them on tour in Scandinavia, Germany and the UK, as well as earning them slots at prestigious showcase festivals like Norway’s by:Larm and Hamburg’s Reeperbahn. Now after a couple of years of beavering away, they’re back with the follow-up Looks like a map which will be released on October 21st with the last single 'Hammers' available now alongside an animated music video by Isabelle Friberg.

From the temperamental opening bars of “Hammers”, all moody and dark, you might imagine that Swedish four-piece Melby have lowered you into the centre of a storm. Instead, “Hammers” is a piece of swirling indie-pop that paints in light and dark, complex emotions and ambiguity recast as a glittering four-minute earworm.

Clicking play on “Hammers'' can feel like cracking open a ship inside a bottle, a pop song that contains a dramatic, detailed and fully-formed world inside its borders. After the splash of thunder that opens the track, and recurs here and there within, “Hammers'' transforms into light-footed, sparkling and merry indie rock. Matilda Wiezell’s vocals paint a picture of a village idyll, but with a little disquiet humming beneath the surface. That unease however, doesn’t stop “Hammers” beautifully soaring into its chorus, a real feeling of release and freedom, blended with a little chaos fraying its edges. 

Guitarist Are Engen Steinsholm says: “’Hammers’ is an associative, free-flowing journey into the memory of my home-town: A small place in northern Norway, with spectacular sceneries and a community that's warm if you belong, and harsh if you don't”.

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Popup - Soltice

Popup have returned with the new single Solstice. The Glasgow guitar-pop group got their start back in 2004 and quickly became one of the UK's most talked about young bands. The next few years saw them touring extensively, grabbing high profile support slots and garnering media praise for their candid lyricism and infectious buzz. 

They were heralded "the most exciting band in Glasgow" (Is This Music?) and toured across the USA, including playing SXSW, before even releasing their debut album. Popup released A Time And A Place in 2008, but the band split in 2010. They quietly reunited in 2020 and self-released album Whimpers.

Last Night From Glasgow are thrilled to bring you new single Solstice; a track that honours the sound of their breakout success but also illustrates how time has given the band space to mature and mellow since their start as teenagers. Solstice includes b-side track Hitting Nine that premiered on The Roddy Hart Show. Upcoming album Promise will be released in March 2023

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The Labrit Project - Way Down.

London-based guitarist and music producer Muca, (Los Bitchos, L.A. Salami, Alice SK) teams up with UK singer and vocals performer Randolph Matthews to release a new duo track and remix under his new world music project, The LABRIT Project. A striking world, tribal Brazilian roots track embellished with an outstanding performance from on Randolph Matthews vocals, ‘Way Down’ also comes with a modern and fresh remix.

Both tracks complete each other. The original sounds like classical tribal world music with the uniqueness of Brazilian berimbau, yet with Randolph Matthews bringing his infectious vocals and performance style to create something fresh. The original track has Serra Petale on drums (Los Bitchos) Rafael Kalil on Cello, and Bahia on pandeiro. The remix is a unique mix of vocal performance and beat-making with guitars, drum programming and electronic conjuring into something intoxicating.

Both artists have known each other since Muca moved from Brazil to the UK. Muca produced some of Randolph's songs in the past, but now as he's releasing his project, he wanted Randolph to be one of the first artists he worked with. After the recording and the mixing of the original track, Randolph came up with the idea of getting some of the stems and playing around with them. He then sent it back to Muca with unique new ideas. They then decided to create a remixed version, combining Randolph's ability to create amazing vocals and percussive loops with Muca's guitars and programming.

On the process, Muca explains: "As a producer, you must always keep updated on new forms of making music. When I started to learn finger drumming and the MPC, I found I felt it would be a great place to start adding this new knowledge to my music.”

The video for the remix, filmed and directed by Giovanni Mattei and performed by dancer Thiely Volga, is set around a powerful and moving performance in São Paulo's downtown Roosevelt Square in a semi dusk vibe. On the video Mattei said, “The mix of jazz and pop with an intense beat of Muca's and Randolph's sound gave us a chance to create a film that extracts colours from a grey metropolis like São Paulo. But the result was incredible, and the dance conveyed the intensity of the track.”

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Pat Razket - Night of O'Malley.

When wild folk-meets-pirate collective Pat Razket release their third studio album - "Hymns from the Abyss" - on October 25, we find a band that has both refined its craft and developed new dimensions.

"Hymns from the Abyss" is an album where death, booze, sorrow and happiness are alternating. Where Irish melodies meet Nordic sadness and melancholy meets frenzy. Where dancing always belongs and where fragile hope is the most beautiful thing there is.

Does that sound like a lot in one package? When nine musicians from very different backgrounds are all allowed to influence the ensemble, a creative melting pot is created where Irish folk music, Metal, Scandinavian melancholy and Americana ultimately become something of its own. "Hymn of the Abyss" is thus a broad album where the stories and the energy keeps it all together.

"Hymns from the Abyss" grew out of the isolation of the pandemic. When Pat Razket's intense touring came to a halt, the members decided to put all their energy into a new album. The process was different from previous album recordings. The songs were written over a long period of time, allowed to develop bit by bit. The arrangements and musical ideas were determined during a pre-production phase, something completely new for the band. Under the supervision of producer Andreas Morén in Studio Fluff, Västerås, Sweden.

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Klô Pelgag - À l'ombre des cyprès.

Klô Pelgag has unveiled a new video for her track "À L'ombre des cyprès", ahead of her debut UK headline show this October. Singer-songwriter Klô Pelgag has gotten us accustomed to strikingly colourful and innovative music videos. The one for her song “À l’ombre des cyprès” is no exception. It was directed by her frequent collaborator Soleil Denault, who earned a Félix at last year’s Gala de l’ADISQ for her video for the song “Mélanine.”

“The À l’ombre des cyprès video shows Klô Pelgag being pursued by her monstrous alter ego” reveals Soleil. This contemporary fable represents the need to take back your power in the face of adversity. We all have a monstrous alter ego and, when it awakes, we feel breathlessly chased by its negative thoughts. In this video, we illustrate Klô’s quest for emancipation and rebirth; we witness her ultimate empowerment”.

Last week Klô Pelgag received four nominations ahead of the next Gala de l’ADISQ, after earning 13 of them last year, matching the record established by Céline Dion. The categories in which she is nominated are: Female Singer of the Year, Concert of the Year, Direction and Scenography of the Year, and Artist of the Year – International Reach. The winners will be revealed on November 2 and 6.

Klô Pelgag recently returned from the Sukiyaki Meets the World Festival, where she was reunited with her Japanese fans after several years of absence. She is now set to wrap up her “Notre-Dame-Des-Sept-Douleurs” tour this fall with a few shows in France that had been postponed during the pandemic, as well as her first ever concert in London, England, on October 11 at the Lexington.

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photo - Lyza Renee

Melissa Carper - Ramblin' Soul.

Melissa is THE ramblin' soul - of the song she says: "I wrote 'Ramblin' Soul' driving down the road on a familiar trip from Arkansas back down to Texas. I had just spent time with some musician friends and was feeling re-energized. On this trip, I realized just how much that free, ramblin’ life I’ve lived over the years has stimulated my creative process.  Arkansas, Texas, and Tennessee have been states I just keep making the rounds to, as well as New Mexico and Minnesota, so these places made their way into the song.  I say 'you can't keep me in a hole, 'cause Lord I'm a ramblin' soul.' 

By that I mean, if something isn't working for me and making me happy or it seems I've gotten in a rut somewhere, then I move on to whatever the next thing is that feels right, or I get out of town for a bit to find some new inspiration and fresh perspective.  That is really the gist of it, trying to go with the flow of life wherever it seems the Universe is guiding me."

Ramblin' Soul is the follow-up to her 2021 LP Daddy's Country Gold, which was praised by Rolling Stone, NPR, No Depression, Slate, Saving Country Music, and many, many more.

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McDermott & North - Rachael Dadd - Lost In Japan

McDermott & North - Elope.

Beloved indie folk songwriters McDermott & North are back with their heartfelt sounds, this time with a sweet and sophisticated plea to marry a lover in their new single 'Elope'.

The talented songwriting duo have been winning hearts around the East Coast with their busking performances and beautiful songs since 2016, from which time their dedicated fanbase has amassed and only continues to grow. Their charismatic music making has likewise caught the attention of artists Ben Lee and Alex Lloyd, and consequently invited them to support on their separate tours. Stages at Bluesfest, TEDX Talks Brisbane and Bigsound have also showcased the pair in 2019, and they've two sold-out headline shows in their hometown - just to name a few.

The innocently earnest 'Elope' is sure to once again melt hearts, as Patrick McDermott and Rhys North do so well, with this release being their second for the year after the swaying 60s-inspired tune, 'All Things Come And Go'.

This considered and carefully-crafted song is set to evoke nostalgic memories of that sweet, innocent feeling of being so hopelessly in love that you're ready to abandon everything and tie the knot. Weaving through romantic invitations to escape into the sunset, declarations of love and heading down the aisle, 'Elope' charms all the way through with beautiful harmonies that glide effortlessly to a climactic final chorus, pirouettes through waves of strings before landing gracefully on an impressive baritone outro.

"Elope" was written during Patrick McDermott's first real relationship. It's about vulnerability and innocence of the heart when you're caught in the throes of love.

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Rachael Dadd - Children of the Galaxy.

The wildly creative free-form songwriter Rachael Dadd is sharing her new single, "Children of The Galaxy." ’Taken from her forthcoming 14 October album Kaleidoscope, the single was written on electric guitar with the hot spring sunshine beaming down from a deep blue sky.

Says Rachael: "We were locked down, I was living with my two children, solo parenting. Life needed a certain amount of escapism, and music and songwriting were providing this. A combination of listening to Sun Ra at the time, the hot sleepy sunshine, and finding this particular pattern of notes meant I could feel as if I were on the other side of the earth's atmosphere, and imagine other civilizations and a different way of life compared to our own. "We are stardust, we are golden" from Joni Mitchell's Woodstock, was probably a subconscious influence. From up in space, we might look down and understand how precious life is, all of it born of and connected to the universe."

Co-produced by Rachael and Rob Pemberton (The Staves, Emily Barker, Maja Lena), Kaleidoscope includes musical collaborators such as Maja Lena (Low Chimes), long-time collaborator Emma Gatrill (Willy Mason) and Flux producer Marcus Hamblett (Villagers, James Holden, The Staves), and is Rachael’s second album for Memphis Industries following 2019’s Flux which Rachael was touring when the pandemic struck. "If I had to pick a favourite album it would be this one because of the magical rekindling of human connection when me and my band got back in a room together again”, she adds, "All that magic went into these songs."

Over the years Rachael has toured across Europe and Asia including appearances at Greenman, Cambridge Folk and Glastonbury Festivals. Having performed alongside Rozi Plain, This is The Kit, Alabaster DePlume, Francois and the Atlas Mountains and Michael Kiwanuka, she will be playing some intimate instore shows in October to celebrate the album’s release before heading out on a UK Tour in November and December.

"Many of my musical heroes are my best pals. I feel so lucky to have so many inspiring people close by and even luckier to be able to share music and stages together, particularly with all my band members and with Kate and Rozi of This Is The Kit, and Maja Lena who I am excited to be touring with this year”.

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Lost In Japan - On My Way.

After a year of preparing and releasing “Before The Blink”, “Red Line” & “ Congrats” London, Ontario’s Lost In Japan releases the first part of their sophomore LP “Night Talks Pt. 1”.

Lost In Japan saw great success with the releases of “Red Line” (#18 on Billboard) and “Lonely” (2021 Winner of Corus Entertainment’s Summer Song Contest). They’re now following up that success with new tracks “Before The Blink” & “Congrats”, developing the next chapter in the blossoming career of one of London, Ontario’s premiere up-and-coming bands.

“Congrats” tells a story of acceptance regardless of how difficult the situation may be. The single was produced by Grammy Award winner Matt Snell at Noble Street Studios in Toronto.

Lost In Japan Music · On My Way

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Shelf Lives - Chris Pellnat - Eliza Edens

Photo - Derek Bremner

Shelf Lives - Skirts & Salads.

South London duo Shelf Lives return this week with new single and video "Skirts & Salads", marking a year since the release of their self-titled debut single "Shelf Life". The new single is released today alongside a typically idiosyncratic video created by Ben Pollard. "Skirts & Salads" is the first new music to be heard following their widely praised debut mini-album 'Yes, offence' - released on the band's own Not Sorry Mom Records imprint in April earlier this year.

Originating from Toronto, Canada and Northampton in the UK respectively, Shelf Lives consists of vocalist Sabrina Di Giulio and guitarist/producer Jonny Hillyard – who now both reside in South London. New single "Skirts & Salads" was co-produced by the band's frequent collaborator SPACE (IDLES, Do Nothing) and was written shortly after the recording of 'Yes, offence' was wrapped, at a time when the pair had the likes of Vegyn, Deftones, Aphex Twin and Turnstile on heavy rotation.

That diverse sounding board helps to assimilate Shelf Lives' own unique sound. An unholy melting pot of explosive electronic percussion, searing guitar work and irrepressible vocal turns, "Skirts & Salads" lyrically finds Sabrina taking aim at societal female stereotypes.

Speaking on the lyrical inspiration behind the new song, Sabrina said: "Skirts & Salads is inspired by general female stereotypes, we've kept it pretty obvious with the lyrics. It's written and delivered in a tongue in cheek manner and we thought it would be interesting incorporating chauvinistic language but using it to our advantage in a way; referring specifically to the line "I like/want my girls like that".  Without really realising it we are highlighting how annoying it is, as well as how deeply rooted these ideas and language are in our society and....sub-consciousness."

A high-octane trashy pop banger based on a porn sample that spawned a shopping list of female stereotypes; rather than mount a soapbox, however, Sabrina absorbs those stereotypes and spits them back out in the chauvinistic hook “I want my girls like that” – delivered in an ironic drawl. The title itself mocks the reductive way society still thinks of women, with Sabrina contemplating the first things that generally come to mind. “I was like… I love a salad? That’s one,” she laughs. “And that’s the whole point. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s about the annoyance of that being the whole definition. What are women? Skirts and salads.”

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Chris Pellnat - Go (Album).

Recorded as the pandemic was ebbing and recently released (Sept. 16), "Go" is a rather positive statement overall, but is colored by darkness as well. 

It brings together unusual instrumental juxtapositions (vibraphone, dulcimer, guitar, clarinet, guitars...) and direct lyrics that build a distinctive message and vision.

Chris Pellnat is a songwriter from Hudson, NY, USA. In addition to solo work, he also plays electric guitar in the band, The Warp/The Weft and is 1/2 of the duo, Teeniest.

Having been featured as a solo artist and with his other musical ventures here on Beehive Candy on a number of occasions, Chris continues to impress both creatively and with some beautifully crafted songs.

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Photo - Anthony Mulcahy

Eliza Edens - Tom and Jerry.

Eliza Edens final single off her beautiful new LP We'll Become the Flowers. Tom and Jerry is a beautiful country-pop tune, buoyant and classic, a nod to childhood cartoons and that deeply relatable running on a treadmill feeling.

Here's Eliza on the song: I watched hours and hours of Tom and Jerry on Saturday mornings when I was a kid. The story is the same every time and yet it’s always so satisfying. Somehow it resurfaced in my mind as a way of explaining how hard we try to accomplish things that are forever out of reach—such as fighting for a dying relationship—even though Tom will just never catch Jerry! It’s an apt metaphor for the tension of always wanting or yearning for something and for two characters always going after each other. I wrote this song to try and find some levity during a difficult breakup.

"On Eliza Edens’ sophomore album We’ll Become the Flowers, she seeks to understand what happens after the end. Whether grappling with heartache or a loved one's mortality, the Brooklyn-based songwriter reimagines endings not as finite events but as devotional experiences that give way to new beginnings. Edens takes inspiration from folk luminaries such as Nick Drake, Karen Dalton and Elizabeth Cotten, sowing her compositions with introspection born from her own grief. What emerges is a glowing collection of songs that serve as a map through tumult, toward hope.

Edens sings and writes with an equally tender reverie as in her 2020 debut album Time Away From Time. But where We’ll Become the Flowers diverges, is in its narrative vulnerability. Each song is bursting: with sorrow, with anger, with the miracle of existence. “I wrote this album out of emotional necessity,” Edens says. ""I had just gone through a breakup. And around the same time, my mother was diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease. I was spending a lot of my time trying to understand what it means to watch the hopeful person who raised me seem to slowly fade away before my eyes.” As the pandemic loomed, Edens turned to music: ""This project was a rope I used to pull myself out of misery, to view the despair I was feeling from a different angle. It was also my escape.”

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