Metronomy Ft Sebastien Tellier - Marthe Halvorsen - The Adam Ft Lasse Storm

Metronomy Ft Sebastien Tellier - J'en Ai Assez Vu.

Metronomy share Small World (Special Edition), a new version of their acclaimed seventh studio album Small World that features reimagined versions of the record’s songs by some of the band’s favourite artists, and is available digitally from today via Because Music.

Today, fans can hear Porij’s characteristically sonically expansive version of "Life and Death", and watch the festive video directed by Diane Sagnier, for "J’en ai assez vu", Sébastien Tellier’s version of Small World’s closer "I have seen enough".

Of the collaboration, Metronomy band leader Joe Mount adds: “I once did a remix of the Sébastien Tellier song, La Ritournelle. It was impossible to improve it or to turn it into anything I liked better than his wonderful original. Still, the arrogance of adulthood made me push on. I met Sébastien for the first time about fifteen years later—only last year in fact in Paris. I don’t know which comparison he’d hate most, but I’d imagine it’s that he might be this generation’s Serge Gainsbourg. In this version of the song, I’m aiming to be this generation’s Claude François."

While Small World was an album that saw Metronomy return to simple pleasures and nature by embracing more pared-down, songwriterly sonics, the special edition of the record finds Metronomy and friends embarking on a sprawling journey through genres - from avant-garde electronica and cosmic disco to laidback folk and more.

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Marthe Halvorsen - For the Dreamers & the Bold.

Marthe Halvorsen is a Montreal based Norwegian artist and composer who weaves together dreamy evocative indie folk music. With a unique sincerity in her voice, Halvorsen has a special ability to touch something deep inside the listener.

"For the Dreamers & the Bold," the title track from her upcoming sophomore LP, (out spring 2023), came to Halvorsen at a time when she was feeling a bit frustrated with humanity. She felt that the social political climate was getting harsher and more polarized, creating distance between people. She was longing for another reality with more nuances and compassion, and for a world where humbleness is seen as a virtue.

The song was recorded at the legendary MixArt Studios in Montreal, engineered by Philip Shaw Bova (Feist, Father John Misty) and the final mixing was done by Jonathan Anderson (Ocie Elliott, Rosier) at Protection Island Studio in BC.

On this new album, I have been diving deeper into the producer role, spending time crafting and perfecting my sound. As a woman in the music industry, it is important for me to be in charge of my own sound, and I feel very honored to work with some very talented collaborators who are all helping me bring my vision to life.

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The Adam - I Don't Believe (feat. Lasse Storm).

The Adam returns with a new single taken from his forthcoming debut album The Adam Featuring The Adam. Taking his cues from the golden era of rock n roll’s "British Invasion" of the mid-1960s, this single comes out with vocalist Lasse Storm, on fine form as he rips into the track giving us a fine ol’ list of what he doesn’t believe in. It’s glorious in every way as it pokes holes and fun at modern day society and all its largess and hypocrisy.

‘I Don’t Believe’ rocks and rolls to the urgent cries of Lasse Storm’s vocals, but equally by the soul stirring guitar playing from The Adam, who cranks his sound all the way to rock heaven with a combination of deadly riffs that remind you exactly what great rock n roll can do, while the rhythm section bring the thunder and lightning to complete a perfect storm.

The Adam, real name, Adam Olsson, hails from Copenhagen but has been living near Oslo for the past nine years, combining his guitar and music composition work with filmmaking and visual production. Having started his career in the Danish underground scene playing with instrumental surf rockers The Good The Bad, supporting the likes of BRMC (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club) and playing on stage with Wayne Kramer (MC5), followed by a stint in pop icon MØ’s band, The Adam decided to put down a record which he felt showed his patronage to British rock and pop music of which he’s always adored.

The Adam explains, “I've always hated musicians who come from a band and have to go solo. I’ve always loved the idea of the band, so I don’t expect anything from this, but I had some good people work on the record with me and tried to create that band energy.”

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Erik & the Worldly Savages - Verra Cruz

Erik & the Worldly Savages - Burn My Life.

Erik Mut is a man on a mission, having broken the shackles of Western society and trailblazed his own path of rebellion, adventure, leadership and musical passion. His powerful Folk Punk project Erik & the Worldly Savages musically and lyrically reflects his manifest philosophy of seeking personal freedom, cutting ties with the past, reprogramming your mind and embracing life wholeheartedly.

An expat since 2008, Erik left his home in Toronto, Canada at the age of 25 to let the cultures of the world wash over him, inspiring his life, work and music. Erik & the Worldly Savages formed in 2008 while Erik was in Belgrade, Serbia. While based in London and Belgrade, the band played over 250 shows across Europe with lineups of musicians from many countries. In 2016 he started Support Adventure, a company which gives remote jobs to expats and digital nomads, now with more than 160 staff members living in over 20 different countries, creating a business manifestation of the band’s message of trans culturalism.

"Burn My Life" comes with an accompanying music video. Using archival video and photos from his childhood and youth, Erik explores his peaceful upbring in Canada and how he sacrificed the idyllic “1st world” life behind to embrace a life of excitement abroad.

"I wrote this song recalling a time in 2008 when I was leaving my life in Canada and moving to Serbia to launch Worldly Savages, become a singer songwriter and take music seriously. I knew that I had to leave my life in Canada behind to find inspiration and possibility in a new country. At the time, somebody said that the hardest part was to get to the airport, where you could see all of your past as a finished chapter. This brings possibility to the future.

 

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Photograph - Jerry Kirkman

Verra Cruz - The World Is Crashing In.

British alt-rock infused trio Verra Cruz are back with their new single “The World Is Crashing In.” Verra Cruz form the British alt-rock infused musical project of trio Marc James (guitar/lap steel/vocals), Henry Cross (bass) & Jimmy Cooke (drums). Known for their hard-hitting anthems and signature lap steel guitar, of which they stumbled upon in a small boutique guitar shop in Memphis, TN, the three-piece band have been creating mighty, raucous tracks, laced with spiritual and personal themes. The band admits, "We’re not afraid to sing out about injustice in the world."

Following an incredible repertoire to date, the trio are back with their next single “The World Is Crashing In”, a gripping ode to love, loss and simply raw emotion.

Marc explains, “The World Is Crashing In” was written during the painful season of Henry's divorce. It was tough going for all of us to watch 2 people we loved dearly, separate. For me it brought up painful memories from my own childhood. The second verse was written from a time in my own childhood. Our family home had been flooded due to a burst pipe, it wrecked so much stuff including my mum's wedding dress that she had kept. It seemed like a dark and apt metaphor for the impending carnage of what was to come.”

Recorded in Germany with producer and engineer Udo Rinklin, their compelling chronicles pair sublimely with sonic abilities to produce a tune that mirrors their subject matter sublimely. They continue, “We re-recorded the drums at The Old Chapel Studios down the road from Jimmy. Bob & Jen at CatBeach hired Bryan Cook to mix and we loved his mix instantly!”

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Dayna Kurtz - Fe Salomon - Mazey Haze

Dayna Kurtz - Lulu and the Broadsides (album).

New Orleans music is for dancing. From King Oliver’s hot jazz to Big Freedia’s frantic bounce, whether the sounds are made for quick-stepping in a parade or swaying slow in your sweetheart’s arms, the common thread running through nearly all of it is that it’s made to move to: wiggle, shimmy, shake your hip and let your backbone slip.

With a wide-mouthed, window-rattling sound that stacks up solidly alongside the great blues shouters – Big Maybelle, Big Mama Thornton – Lulu and the Broadsides double-dog dare you not to get out there and move what the good Lord gave you. There’s the whomping “Pretty Good Love,” their scorching, primal take on Iggy Pop’s “I Need Somebody,“  the noirish strut of “You’re Trouble” and Dayna’s tender, aching sounds-like-a-classic soul-ballad “How Do I Stop.”

This is heart-thumping, pulse-pounding blues for both body and spirit, for joy and desire – scorching ballads for slow grinds side-by-side with red-hot movers to jump and jive to, with a nasty beat and a wild guitar. You’ll sweat through your dress, kick off your heels and get back on the dance floor barefoot - Alison Fensterstock.

 
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Fe Salomon - Interstate 10.

Worlds away from the twisted Middle England countryside Fe Salomon tapped into on earlier release “Quintessential England”, “Interstate 10” transports listeners to the endless metropolis of the United States.

Synced to majestic and widescreen arrangements cut straight from a Hollywood flick, “Interstate 10” finds Fe ruminating on her earliest experiences of touring America at the tender age of 19. A backing singer at the time, with no money and only a futile fake ID to make-do with, she remembers:

“”Interstate 10” connects far-flung events that occurred during my travels around the US, including having to escape from a violent manager who gambled all the money away in Vegas. The song was written with my old friend, producer Ru Cook, and it was originally envisioned as a country song.”

With a filmic narrative that deftly conjures the ceaseless stretches of the country’s great highways to the perils of pursuing the American dream, Fe’s dreamily despondent vocals add drama and intrigue, to a cinematic score that builds towards a grandiose, atmospheric climax.

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Mazey Haze - I Feel Like A Child.

Indie-rock rising talent Mazey Haze has announced her new EP 'Back to the Start' will be released on 7th April 2023 via LUSTRE. The EP announcement coincides with the release of its second single "I Feel Like a Child", quickly following a string of European tour dates supporting Paolo Nutini and Feng Suave.

On new single “I Feel Like a Child”, with its whimsical, bossa nova flavour and euphoric choruses, Mazey Haze finds release in accepting that it’s okay not to be on the same page as someone else. The song was written as she looked out her bedroom window... “The trees are really pretty in the summer, and you can see the sunshine and all the leaves moving”, she recalls. The opening verse follows her trying to articulate the scene through her own lens, finding delight in mundanity, just like a child would. “The song is about the fact that everyone has their own perception, and that’s fine. There’s no right or wrong. There’s no truth. But what’s important is keeping in touch with your imagination.”

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 EP, 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.

Speaking more on the lyrical inspiration of "I Feel Like a Child", Mazey Haze said: "I Feel Like a Child is a song about beautiful mundanity in comparison to superficial humanity. I think these two have an amazing contrast next to each other and they’re two things that have always fascinated me. I want to try and understand why I feel so wonderful and calm when I’m alone looking at some birds in the sky, leafy trees or listening to classical music. And why I feel overwhelmed and confused by so many people (including myself) so much. But mostly, I've figured out that there’s no sense in thinking about these things, but more so to act upon it and feel it."

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Bad Hammer - Emily Breeze - SOMOH

Bad Hammer - Away.

Berlin-based shadow-pop newcomers Bad Hammer have shared sombre love song, 'Away'. The track and accompanying video are the final pieces to be shared ahead of the release of their debut album, End Of An Age, which is due out this Friday. On their new album, the duo blend melancholic melodies with poignant guitar riffs, meandering along warm synth pads and subtly driving drum beats to dazzling effect. Thematically the songs that make up their forthcoming debut, End of an Age, are connected by referring to a state of being on hold, undetermined, between looking forwards and back, holding on to something and anticipating change.

Bad Hammer are Lisa Klinkhammer (synthesisers, vocals) and Johannes Badzura (guitar, drums, vocals). In 2019, they released their debut EP, Extended Play, and have been touring extensively throughout Europe ever since, opening for like-minded artists including Molly Nilson, Sean Nicholas Savage, Jaakko Eino Kalevi and more.

The album’s title was inspired by a photobook of the same name by British photographer Paul Graham. The images were taken at the turn of the millennium, not long before 9/11. “Somehow we felt that these pictures captured a feeling that we were also observing in our surroundings, some kind of coming of age on our own personal level as well as sensing a change to come on a much larger scale,” explains Badzura.

Bad Hammer's timeless pop songs take inspiration from the past. “We use analogue synths from the 80s and a drum machine from the early 90s so the sounds are kind of nostalgic but we like to subtly mix genres, like putting some dubby rim shots onto a pop beat,” says Klinkhammer. “On some of the songs we like to try and subvert traditional songwriting techniques by occasionally denying the ultimate climax. Or in some simply destroying it! Like the way our rather candy 60s song ‘Away’ is destroyed at the end with some guitar shreds,” she continues.

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Emily Breeze - The Bell.

The Bell is the third single from Emily's upcoming solo album Rapture due for release February 2023 which Emily describes as "A collection of coming-of (middle) age stories which celebrate flamboyant failure, excess and acceptance", recorded at Rockfield Studios with Stew Jackson (Massive Attack).

A story teller through and through, Emily describes the single as "a love song to nights spent in the local pub where you swing by for a quick pint after work. You are probably meeting a friend who is having a crisis, just one quick pint and then straight home. Your first glass is empty just as the conversation is getting to the important part but it's fine, two pints on a work night is totally fine.

Crisis friend leaves to put the kids to bed and just as you are putting your jacket on, in walks an old mate who you haven't seen for ages. Go on then, just a half, oh alright yeah a pint, you have a lot to catch up on. You crack jokes and reminisce in the sepia glow of the golden hour and it is fun. Real actual fun. You talk of good times and desperate times, you're getting sentimental now, this is some grade A lager fuelled nostalgia.

You stop counting drinks as it’s just started raining and somehow everyone you have ever known and loved is here. A Little Richard song comes on the stereo and you declare that soul and rock n roll are the highest forms of art. You seem to be making a speech and enter a heated debate with that weird guy who always sits at the bar as the quiet voice inside telling you to go home surrenders completely to the pub, the conversation, the good tunes, the cold beer and the old friends.  F it tomorrows gonna be alright.”

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SOMOH - I Know You Care.

London’s SOMOH impresses once more on her sophomore single ‘I Know You Care’ further cementing herself as an artist worth keeping an eye on throughout 2023 with her brilliant debut EP ‘A Plan To Get Home’ being a stunning piece of work out in the first quarter.

Speaking about this mellow, cathartic new single, SOMOH said “This song is about how people’s intentions don’t always reflect well in how they act towards you. I tend to just walk away from situations that hurt me, without holding the person accountable because I’m not the best at confrontation. At least I can get my anger out in writing songs!”

Last month SOMOH released her debut single ‘Anything’ which amassed lots of tastemaker support from the likes of BBC Radio 1, Clash & The Line Of Best to name but a  few.  Along with today’s new song, Anything will also make its way onto the tracklist of her debut EP ‘A Plan To Get Home.’ The song’s lyrics spoke of the meaning behind loving somebody deeply. 

She said “This song is about coming to terms with your love for someone & knowing that you’d do just about anything for them. It’s a scary but beautiful feeling to fall that deeply for a person.” The song was produced and mixed by Joel Johnston & Mack Jamieson, who has also produced and mixed the entire EP that will be released on Tiny Library Records.

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Nigel Wearne ft Lauren Housley - Welcome to the 21st! - That Old Quiet Lighthouse - Astro Yeti

Nigel Wearne ft Lauren Housley - To The Edge.

Ominous, poignant and mysterious; To The Edge is a potent lament of fate gone wrong. Two lovers by the riverside grappling with truth; that irrevocable moment when the past cannot be undone and everything changes. Why was the timing so wrong? “We needed truth / But now there ain’t time to heal”.

Wearne’s lush Gretsch guitar swathed with spooky Hammond organ, drums and double bass set the scene. Morricone-esque horns tug at the heartstrings, as Wearne and Housley croon and cast shadows across the tale in all its mystery. A soulful, minor-key slow-burn that skirts the fringes of jazz and 60s rock ‘n’ roll.

It was early 2019 in the bustling Arts Café in Montreal, Canada. Nigel and Lauren were both in town to showcase at Folk Alliance International and found themselves on camera as part of a documentary on theconference. Instantly hitting it off, they spoke about the future of folk music and their mutual admiration of John Prine, all the while sharing their dry wit. After reconnecting in New Orleans in early 2020, they got to work during the pandemic and the rest is in the tape-reel.

 

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Welcome to the 21st! - Dyatlov Pass (Album). 

As concept albums go this one is something very special. The subject matter is well chosen and intriguing to say the least, however it's the musical compositions and fabulous arrangements that really grabbed our attention. We will let the band fill you in on the rest.

Dyatlov Pass is an 8-song historical concept album by Welcome to the 21st! about the mysterious fate of eight college-age students and their guide who died while on a winter trek in the USSR's Ural Mountains in February 1959. The students were found over time after they disappeared, with varying injuries, and no one knows exactly what happened. It remains an open inquiry to this day. The theories as to what happened include an avalanche, a military test gone awry, and some even believe a malevolent supernatural intervention.

The album follows the 20-something nature travelers from meeting up before they left (Hang on to Yourself - Song 1), to the early part of their voyage through a peaceful winter environment (Sing to the Moon - Song 4), with hints of warnings along the way (Warning Signs - Song 3).

The middle of the album tracks the group’s eventual demise near a frozen mountain pass (Dyaltov Pass - Song 5 and Lost but Found - Song 6), to the search and recovery teams that looked for them (Boots in the Rain - Song 7) and who have sought for years to determine what actually happened (Misleading Clues - Song 8).

The album was written and conceived of by Bob Blumenfeld (Guitars, from Texas, US) and Touanda (Vocals, from Manchester, UK), who met online through AirGigs. The rest of the instrumentation was mainly performed by, and mixed and produced by, John Dufilho a multi-instrumentalist, drummer, and long-time established indie music producer from Dallas, Texas. Bob’s other bands include The Disappearing Act and Lowdog. John is best known for his work with his band Deathray Davies.

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That Old Quiet Lighthouse - Decade.

That Old Quiet Lighthouse are as much a familiar sound as they are distinctly unique - a statement only decipherable by listening to their debut EP “Dubious Beginnings”. Genre-wise, the most concise they could be after hours of intense deliberating was ‘Indie-singer-songwriter-math-folk’.

Big Thief, American Football, Fleet Foxes, all inspirations you’ll no doubt hear as they hit you right in the feels, lovers of the bittersweet so they are. Lead singer/bassist Ashley Garrod channels the keen insight of Pinegrove’s lyricism, balancing from-the-heart melodies with passionately intricate bass lines. Gabe, as the rhythmically tight, emotive backbone of their alternative sound, sits comfortably beneath the expressive and varied textures crafted by guitarist James Cooke.

Never ones to be satisfied, TOQL have a plethora of talented and unique musicians they constantly feature on tracks. Virtuosic jazz tenor horn player Nat Martin, to synth/violin mastermind Pip Rousiamanis, as well as cellists, flautists & singers who all front their own projects. ‘Decade’ is a somewhat-chaotic take on a ‘last goodbye’ kind of love song, penned in the first couple of months of lockdown. “Like many of us, I had had all of my work disappear over-night, and in the midst of the despair and the uncertainty I had turned to the bittersweet comfort blanket of reminiscing over my last relationship.”, says TOQL frontman Ashley Garrod.

“To me it represents both a coping mechanism for that time period, and a big leap forward in terms of our sound and identity. It’s as of yet the most experimental tune I’ve written”, he reveals. With ‘Decade’s’ spoken word delivery and hypnotic textures, That Old Quiet Lighthouse seek to strike a balance between outrageous and satisfyingly audible. A boundary-pushing cathartic track, ‘Decade’ aims to help soundtrack people’s lives and put memories into a new perspective.

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Astro Yeti - Box Wine.

Blending elements of funk, ska, and psychedelic-rock, new Conch Town Record signing AstroYeti return with their new single ‘Box Wine’, the third release to be taken from their upcoming debut album ‘Gnarly Gumlie’s Voodoo Van’.

The Key West trio’s latest offering is another punchy example of the bands lyrical wit and impeccable musical talents, this time flexing their versatility with a slow, dub and reggae infused heavy groove, self-diagnosed as "Tropical Space Funk". Vocalist and guitarist in the band, Mike King shares: “Box wine is a song about chasing your dreams no matter how hard the path might seem and feeling the weight and power of responsibility to  actualize those dreams."

Blending tight offbeat rhythms with layers of choppy, bright guitar lines, funky bass, splashes of organ and splashes of dub delay, the band once again create a track full of all the fun, energy and flair the band have become known for, both on their local live scene as well as across press and radio internationally. Topped with strikingly charismatic, husky, stylistic lead vocal, the track gradually builds its way to a fuzz drenched, gut busting guitar solo and explosive, euphoric climax.

Describing themselves as “a secret society of Space-Caper solving time crime fighters”, AstroYeti’s unique blend of trippy island rock tinged spacefunk is perfectly matched with their out of this world image - a band of colorful miscreant universal explorers making joyous music with bags of energy and musical depth.

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