Inkfields - Teeniest - Rob I. Miller

Inkfields - The Third Side of the Coin (Album).

The Third Side of the Coin is the second album from Edinburgh based artist Inkfields, following on from the single of the same name, it sees the songwriter dicing with fate on the toss of the coin.

Eclipsing his previous releases with a carefree, bluesy soul tinged record that builds from his classic bedroom indie sound, The Third Side of the Coin feels like the complete package in the context of Inkfields work to date, weaving between psychedelic glimpses and classic indie guitar sounds. There’s a feeling of optimism and confidence emitting from the record, highlighting Inkfields as a songwriter at the top of their game.

Moving from surf tinged indie to funky disco enthused pop The Third Side of the Coin swaggers along with delighting harmonies, unnerving chills and locked in grooves that assault the senses in the best way possible. Inkfields, the guise of Samuel James-Griffiths, began in Dresden, Germany as a spontaneous after work street music experiment, moving through Sweden, Southern Germany and finally to Edinburgh. The music has been forged through thousands of hours of street music across dozens of cities in Europe, from -12 to +40 degrees, through rain, snow, wind and sun.

Over the years the music has journeyed through genres and matured with time, releasing debut album Beneath the Waves in 2018, followed by a single a month experiment through a lot of lockdown, and has found his true sound on The Third Side of the Coin. Each of the tracks on the Creative Scotland funded The Third Side of the Coin will have a specific piece of artwork made for them, to outline certain species of animal and plant that are endangered in Scotland, raising awareness of some unusual species that people may not be aware of.

Inkfields · The Third Side of the Coin

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Teeniest - Billie Eilish won't follow me.

Teeniest is a duo from Brooklyn, New York (USA). Their music is alive with beauty and color, whether it's a gentle acoustic folkie tune or an all-out electric guitar rock assault.

This quirky song takes a wry look at pop stardom and music streaming algorithms, with a good dose of kind-hearted humor. 

We brought a unique sound to this project, with clarinet, Rickenbacker electric guitar and bizarre chanting voices. It's weird but fun and accessible.

 

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Rob I. Miller - The One.

When Rob I. Miller (Blues Lawyer) found that the records he’d once leaned on to help him through heartbreak weren’t working for him anymore, he wrote his own. The result is Companion Piece, a collection of heart-on-sleeve songs building on the classic guitar pop tradition of pairing melancholy with melody, out May 12 on Miller’s own Vacant Stare Records.

Primarily known for playing in bands, Miller has released solo music before, but Companion Piece is his first album under his own name; a choice that reflects the vulnerability underpinning these 11 self-recorded songs, each one representing a different stage of post-break-up grief from the shellshock of rejection and rumination over the past, to fantasies of a future that never came to pass and the cautious blooming of feelings for someone new. It is, he says, “my attempt to contribute to the canon of break-up albums.”

First single “Wedge” is a damaged pop song featuring sampled drums and heavily distorted guitar about the feeling of being an unwitting pawn in an emotional game played by the other person. “Borrow” and “Wrong for Us” use sunny alt-rock and downcast late ‘90s indie touchstones to excavate the heartbreaking awkwardness of situations like having to explain to your friends why someone doesn’t come around anymore.

On “The One” Miller wonders over an anthemic chorus if a new fall (as in falling in love) “will be the one from which I die”—a mix of morbidity and sanguinity unabashedly lifted from the Teenage Fanclub playbook. “I was really inspired by that song ‘Norman 3,’ how ballsy it is to just say ‘I’m in love with you’ for three-and-a-half minutes,” he says. “It’s seemingly so unafraid—I’m just going to be as sensitive and vulnerable as I want to be right now.”

Rob I. Miller · 11 - The One - 1644

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SUSTO - Burning Jacobs Ladder - Melody Moko - Lawn Chair - Holly Henderson

SUSTO - My Entire Life.

SUSTO will return with My Entire Life July 28 via New West Records. The 12-song set was produced by Wolfgang Zimmerman (Band of Horses) and SUSTO’s Justin Osborne and Johnny Delaware. My Entire Life follows their critically acclaimed 2021 album Time in the Sun which Holler said “provides proof that Osborne and his bandmates are an important voice in today’s conflicted world,” while No Depression called it a “fluid and engaging listen.” Ink 19 said “It’s a great example of SUSTO’s ability to create true lyrical and musical masterpieces so fresh you simply cannot turn it off” while the Bitter Southerner named it one of “The Best Southern Albums of 2021.”

A season of drastic change is what brought SUSTO frontman Justin Osborne to the band’s new album. There was a divorce, difficulties re-building his band after the pandemic, and the pain and helplessness of witnessing family members struggle with addiction and mental illness. Despite these challenges, Justin ultimately found himself in a new landscape, with new love and a deeper perspective, all of which is masterfully projected into My Entire Life. As a whole, the album documents Justin’s personal journey through highs and lows in his life, with many of the details on full display. He narrates the demise and aftermath of an almost decade long relationship, while celebrating the joy of falling in love, and the hopefulness of starting over.

The video for the album’s title track and lead single, “My Entire Life,” is a song with an urgency “to keep living.” Director Luke Pilgrim says, “We at Sozo Bear Films ventured into the relatively unknown world of AI art. We took inspiration from the lyrics, SUSTO’s entire catalog, as well as Justin’s previous musical endeavors to create visuals that represent themes from his entire life. We used stable diffusion to create a mind-bending psychedelic experience. Stable Diffusion is a type of deep learning generative neural network with the ability to prompt, render and process AI imagery.”

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Burning Jacobs Ladder - Fickle Bones.

Following the release of his debut EP EP/1 in 2021, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Jake T Johnson’s project Burning Jacobs Ladder has just released the long-anticipated single ‘Fickle Bones.’ Hailing from the Gold Coast, swinging dark Spaghetti Western melodies infused with hauntingly passionate vocals of Jake, ‘Fickle Bones’ is an eerily familiar track. The unwavering rumble of drums, soaring guitar licks and a looming chorus of vocals hang in the air.

Stripped to raw reality and bare bones, Jake’s authentically emotional storytelling surpasses his lyricism as ‘Fickle Bones’ sounds unearthly. Winding through the single, each component brews, creating an all-encompassing tale between a young man and child.

Throughout his catalogue, Burning Jacobs Ladder delves into very personal discussions about mental health, escapism, and anxiety and 'Fickle Bones' is no exception. Regarding the single, Jake states: “It’s the emotional burden people carry on their shoulders from past experiences. It’s becoming numb to extremes, emotional detachment and living a life for someone else when they can’t.”

Widely received by the likes of The Music, Scenestr, AAA Backstage and The Live Wire to name a few, the experimental powerhouse has put in the work. Written, performed, mixed, and mastered entirely by himself, Jake’s project Burning Jacobs Ladder shows his immense talent and wide skillset as a recording engineer and singer-songwriter.

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Melody Moko - Ain't What You Used to Be.

“Ain’t What You Used to Be” sees Melody reacquaint herself with her inner rock attitude and channel it into a biting, Americana anthem. “First of all - the guitars on this track slay! They are probably the best guitar parts on any Melody Moko song ever”,says Melody. “I’d been listening to an intense amount of Sheryl Crow here, you can hear it”.

Recorded in Nashville and completed in Brisbane, “Ain’t What You Used to Be”, features the incomparable Jen Mize on the sweetest harmony vocal which not only turns the song on its head but blends oh so beautifully with those Sheryl-esque guitars.

In the song, Melody calls out a woman who disregards the feelings and concerns of others in order to get what she wants. And the big question – is it about anyone in particular? “It’s not! It’s actually about a fictionalised version of a future self who lets ego get the best of her”, says Melody.

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Lawn Chair - I Can Change.

German-American art punk band Lawn Chair have released their new EP, Eat The Beans and Wear The Jeans. To celebrate the release, they have also shared a brand new music video for EP focus track 'I Can Change'.

Ever since their stage debut in late 2021, Lawn Chair have relentlessly rehearsed, recorded and played shows, including appearances at showcase festivals such as Reeperbahn and Waves Vienna. The band, fronted by Seattle-born Claudia Schlutius, has quickly gained recognition in the German indie scene with a guitar-driven energetic sound, Schlutius’ powerful stage presence and meticulous songwriting. A string of punchy singles have so far garnered the group early support from the likes of BBC Radio 6 Music and DIY as well as comparisons to bands like Gustaf & Bodega.

After releasing a self-produced debut EP in the spring of 2022, Lawn Chair returned to the studio in the autumn to record their follow-up. Eat The Beans And Wear The Jeans! was recorded with the help of esteemed producer Olaf Opal  (The Notwist) and L.A.-based mixer Chris Coady (Beach House, Future Islands, TV On The Radio), who helped take the songs to the next level. The new songs present a new and interesting twist to timeless topics like unrequited love, the despondent boredom growing up in the countryside and the hardships of show business. With this new EP Lawn Chair are underscoring their rightful ambitions to a much larger audience.

Atmospheric ballad and new single ‘I Can Change’ offers a tempo switch from the bands previous offerings. Drenched in gorgeous reverb, words of self-doubt echo through a monotonous beat interwoven with tasteful melodies only to later culminate in an otherworldly epic Radiohead meets Sonic Youth guitar drop.

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Holly Henderson - Head Full of Soil.

London based Holly Henderson returns again with the fourth single from her critically acclaimed sophomore album “The Walls”. “Headfull Of Soil” is an infectious vintage sounding gem that wraps the listener in a hazy dream. With quirky harpsichord break downs and soaring harmonies, the track blends ethereal folk with psychedelic explorations to great effect. It’s a breezy ear-tingling affair that will make you want to return straight away for more.

“I wrote Head Full Of Soil about the way we convince ourselves that everything is fine, when it is in fact, fantasy”, says Henderson. “The more we pack in the soil, the deeper we bury the delusions. As the song progresses a flower never blooms - but it may, at the right time.” she explains.

The song is reminiscent of a wild garden, layers of vocals, harpsichord, guitars, bass, percussion - tamed only by the way they weave tightly together, in a vibrant burst of whimsical Sunshine Pop sensibilities. Synths wash over as the rain comes, and the song reveals paths we couldn’t have predicted as it descends into a river of colour.

While her debut album, “Monday Green” featured Henderson’s impressive rock guitar work and alternative pop anthem prowess, “The Walls” shows a more introspective, and slightly more delicate side to her songcraft. Recorded in a farmhouse in the English countryside, Henderson’s new album brings her full circle from her previous Los Angeles recorded album. Finely crafted arrangements, sonic musings, and playful themes take us on a journey with Henderson as she deconstructs her Brit Pop and classic influences and reassembles them into progressive-folk wonderment.

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The Prairie Joggers - Moving Into Tucson - Olive Louise - Vectralux

The Prairie Joggers - In The Wake.

Describing themselves as a gritty folk-rock band The Prairie Joggers (Cody Goertzen (guitar/vocals) and Adam Hill (drums) will release their new EP, ‘Going Nowhere’, Friday June 9th. We have to say this is a very impressive showcase for the duo, who produce some notably original and addictive music. The second single is out today, we will let the band tell you the rest.

All three tracks were written throughout various lockdowns while the two were stuck inside straightening out their sound. The EP was mixed by Riley Hill at No Fun Club Recording Studio and mastered by Philip Shaw Bova.

Blending warm electric guitar, raw vocals and dampened drums, The Prairie Joggers form a thick vintage sound that cushions their bleak but not entirely hopeless lyrical themes. What the band lacks in bells and whistles they make up for with a sincere sense of nostalgia that agrees with their minimalistic approach to instrumentals.

The songs, which derived sluggishly throughout isolation, all stem from personal past experiences surrounding sketchy jobs, hometown funerals and unhealthy habits. “Writing the songs came pretty easy,” explains Goertzen, “making the music feel good was what took awhile.”

Frank and dry with a punchy groove, the first single, ‘Move Along’, reflects on the life and times of a shady work environment. “It’s about being a fly on a wall somewhere for far too long,” says Hill. Laid back cynicism litters each verse while the chorus delivers a more obvious mantra, “find a space that isn’t this place, whatever you do move along.”

The second track off the EP, ‘In the Wake’, is a somber but not entirely sober account of what going home for a funeral might stir up. “Had a few late nights throughout lockdown digging into tired grief,” Hill recalls, “ended up with a song about a funeral that never happened.” “Although the songs suggest a bleaker meaning for the title, sometimes going nowhere is a pretty good place to be,” says Goertzen, “locked down with your best pal making music in your living room.”

 

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Moving Into Tucson - Never Gonna Be Easy.

Moving Into Tucson is basically the side effect of the COVID epidemic. Why, you will ask. Well for the simple reason that the band was formed during the pandemic. Can you call Moving Into Tucson a band? Well, yes as in, it's a band, with a singer, guitarist, bassist, drummer etc. But also no because it's not a band as usual. Band members do not come from the same city or even country, but from different parts of the world.

When the world was in lock-down and many were forced to stay at home, there wasn't much left for musicians to do other than work from home. But, how? And better, with whom? Like for many, Zoom video brought a solution. Fortunately, we live in an advanced digital world and a lot is possible without necessarily having to be somewhere. Only someone who arranges it. This is where the label TCBYML, the label of the various artists in the band Moving Into Tucson, stepped in.

Result, twenty songs composed over a period of 18 months. These have now been brought together, mixed, mastered and provided with artwork. In 2023, five of them will be released as singles and together with eight more songs will form the album "Distraction" that will see the light on November 24 of this year. A great initiative that may be followed up in 2024. Who's to say.

Moving Into Tucson's music is comparable to that of the early 90's. The sound that all who participated could very much agree on. Moving Into Tucson is therefore for fans of: REM, Lemonheads, Sugar, The Posies, Buffalo Tom, Teenage Fanclub and the Counting Crows but also reminiscent to bands as U2 or The Police. Recognizable indie pop rock, sometimes dark, sometimes mysterious, or vague, but with depth in the music and certainly in the lyrics.

TCBYML · Moving Into Tucson - Never Gonna Be Easy

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Olive Louise - Moroccan Oranges.

The new single "Moroccan Oranges" from NY confessional singer/storyteller Olive Louise is released today. The song was inspired by her mother's passing and the vibrant folk/pop single juxtaposes poignant lyrics about inner strength and trying to hold life and family together even when you are in grief.

Olive confides, "the song is about the summer I traveled to Morocco and Paris with my dad and sister after my mom passed away. It’s about the dissonance I felt looking at my dad trying to hold it together and make us feel okay, knowing that even though we were seeing stunning views, and trying new foods, and were there together, we felt completely shattered."

The single is off of her debut cathartic and enthralling EP 275 Kings Point Road, titled for the place where she grew up the actual Main House of The Great Gatsby estate. Olive’s newest music offers an earnest perspective of the stages of grief, something she knows all too well, losing both parents at a young age. She has received praise for the likes of Refinery 29, Wonderland, American Songwriter, LADYGUNN and more. Elle Magazine is set to cover her unique and storied past.

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Vectralux - The Subtle Extravaganza.

Atlanta Indie Pop Band Vectralux read between the lines, reveling in the subtleties of human life on "The Subtle Extravaganza", out April 28th on streaming platforms. This release thematically addresses the ever-changing flux of thought and emotion as a common, shared experience. Musically, "The Subtle Extravaganza" dances slyly through the shadows and back alleys of the subconscious, resilient and poised with layer upon layer of melodic hooks. Fans of indie rock and indie pop innovators like Guided by Voices, Pavement, Dinosaur Jr., The Pixies and Blur should enjoy this new collection.

Vectralux follows up on 2021's impressive debut "Each Morning and the Morning Thereafter" with a new EP, "The Subtle Extravaganza". This new short set represents as much a maturation of the writing style as a departure from the first record. Still displaying the same decades-spanning influences, but incorporating darker themes and new sounds, this EP still shines with effervescent optimism served with a wry grin.

About the new record, producer/bassist/singer Andy Tegethoff said "We all have contrasts and contradictions that pile up in our lives. Plusses and minuses, details and generalities. There's a sine wave of highs and lows but when you look back, eventually we perceive those ups and downs more as a line than a wave. A blur of good days and bad days -- many days both at once. We may remember peaks and troughs, but on the whole it's a plainsong pageant. Just your typical tornado. A stationary journey. It's a Subtle Extravaganza."

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STRABE - Shelf Lives - The Pearl Harts - Kieli

STRABE - All My Heart.

STRABE have today dropped brand new single "All My Heart", which is available now on [PIAS] Recordings alongside a stunning video directed by Tom Furse (The Horrors). It introduces the musical and visual world behind the band’s upcoming debut album, having gone viral with first track "Best Worst Year" (which has surpassed over 10 million streams) and won widespread praise for debut mixtape JUVENOIA.

"All My Heart" summons the wistful alternative-pop of bands like The Cardigans or The Cranberries, alongside a keen ear for emotive, electronic and dance influences like Romy or Fred again.. Both uplifting and melancholic, on "All My Heart" STRABE aim to capture - they say - “when love feels so simple. Something wonderful that I (Angelica) realised when in my first queer relationship was how natural, easy and joyous loving as your authentic self can be.”

The video to "All My Heart" sees STRABE further explore new territory, as well as a water-theme that recurs throughout their upcoming work. Directed by Furse, the band’s seaside performance in Margate is replicated by a unique AI model, with the results blurring the line between fact, feeling and reminiscent of a live Matisse painting.

STRABE are alt-pop duo Angelica and Emmet, soundtracking those chaotic coming-of-age experiences with innate musical maturity. Angelica (originally from Scotland) met Emmet - who was born and raised in Ireland - in the smoking section of a Cork music festival: the pair quickly realized they represented the missing part of each other’s projects, but failed to swap numbers at the end of a long night. Both, in their own way, used STRABE (and the blossoming, unconventional friendship at the heart of it) to work through their own emotional journeys, which were vividly explored across debut mixtape JUVENOIA. 

From the soon-to-be-prophetic "Best Worst Year" - which climbed to 10 million streams over the pandemic - to "Life On Pause" (channeling Gen Z’s suspended experiences of growing up over lockdown), here were songs variously affecting, euphoric and hugely accomplished. Having since moved to London, played their first ever live shows, and picked up support across BBC Introducing, 6Music and more, STRABE threw themselves into a brand new project which begins beguilingly with ‘All My Heart’. Watch out for more coming soon.

 

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Shelf Lives - All The Problems.

Swiftly rising electro-punk two-piece Shelf Lives release new single "All The Problems" - which will feature on a new EP due for release this autumn. The new single follows NME describing the duo as "the extroverted electro-punk duo we need right now", and their recent stint across the UK in support of Cardiff band Panic Shack. "All The Problems" arrives ahead of a busy spring and summer of festival appearances at Liverpool Sound City, The Great Escape, Glastonbury, London Calling, FOCUS Wales, Sŵn Festival and more.

Co-produced by SPACE (Do Nothing, IDLES), "All The Problems” confronts the crisis of masculinity with one of Shelf Lives' most gentle, melodic choruses. “Tell me something you like about yourself,” the duo sing softly in unison, evoking a question therapists often ask and most people can’t answer. Seeking the reasons behind male rage, the track balances extreme acts of violence with the jarringly passive way the wider world processes them.

Speaking more on the release of the new single, the duo said: "To be vague about it, “All the Problems” is a casual chat about the suppression of emotions, specifically among those who identify as males and what it could lead to as a result. The track goes through the motions of seeking a reason behind the resulting rage and offsets extreme, sometimes violent, acts with the World's passive and unsettling way of dealing with them. There's nothing casual about the topic and events itself, yet, socially we've reached a ridiculous, dangerous place where we feel like in order to survive we need to be.  Essentially, so we can... "get on with our day"."

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The Pearl Harts - Baby Chaos.

The opener of the band’s new album ‘Love, Chaos’, “Baby Chaos” is a powerful statement of intent from The Pearl Harts, igniting the starting fuse that winds its way into their explosive latest collection.

Produced by the band themselves, “Baby Chaos” sees retro-rock flourishes and a riotous no-holds-barred attitude prickling amongst raw rock’n’roll guitars and melodic punk sensibilities. The end result makes for a record that sounds like the warped lovechild of Bikini Kill, The Stooges and Tony Visconti, funnelled via the N.E.R.D school of production. Of the new track The Pearl Harts explain:

“Ever had that kind of love that feels so right but so wrong… it jitters in the gut but aches in the heart? A twin flame kind of mentality — this is what “Baby Chaos” is about. The kind of love that brings madness, codependency: feeling alive and out of control yet so comfortable at the same time. Relationships aren’t black and white… love can cause us to confront our shadow itself.”

With references to the David Lynch road-movie classic ‘Wild At Heart’, complete with the black leather jackets, ‘60s rockabilly chic, long drives, escapist desires, and romanticism; “Baby Chaos” arrives with an official video.

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Kieli - O.

Kieli is the moniker of multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and composer Elin Pöllänen. Kieli’s artistic expression is inspired by her Swedish-Finnish-Karelian roots. On her multilingual debut album From Summer to Spring, due out on May 26th via Cognitive Shift (PJ Harvey & Harry Escott, Roger Goula), Kieli invites the listener to a cinematic soundscape that is simultaneously beautiful, ingenuous, uplifting, and melancholic.

For years, Pöllänen has worked as a researcher exploring human relations to other animals and nature. New single ‘O’ is a marching anthem for the power of grief with particular reference to mass extinction, a tragedy she says is “upheld by indifference and separation”. “I wanted ‘O’ to portray a sense of wonder for our planet and the impactful everyday encounters with nature that are often taken for granted,” she says. “The song processes complex emotions, such as a kind of modern nostalgia: a deep longing for an interconnected and living world - a world that already exists, but that we are at risk of losing due to our inability to act and join the movement that already exists,” she continues.

From Summer to Spring explores the emotions that arise in life-changing transitions; grief, exhaustion and worry, but also feelings of hope, gratitude and unconditional love. “From Summer to Spring is a very personal album that I wrote during a life-changing time,” explains Elin. It is a personal portrait of a daughter and her father during their last years together, as well as the experience of being a caregiver to someone who is disappearing, yet as close to you as they will ever be. “Amidst the fear, music really became the most attentive and merciful language that I could use to communicate with myself and explore my emotions so that I stayed resilient and open to life,” she explains.

Throughout the album’s nine songs, Kieli expertly blends cinematic indie-folk with neo-classical composition and swirling electronica, creating mystical and surreal soundscapes. Non-verbal and verbal vocals sung in Swedish, Finnish, English and the endangered Karelian language Livvi all help to evoke the many parallel feelings she experienced during this time.

Cognitive Shift · Kieli - O

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Neev - Twin Rains - Photo Ops - Breandán Fitzpatrick

Neev - Will I Change You.

Ahead of the release of her debut album Katherine this Friday, Glaswegian artist Neev has released new single ‘Will I Change You’ via Trapped Animal. The single, a rousing indie-folk anthem, is an ode to the contemporary Scottish artists that inspire Neev. Of her new single, she says:

"I hope 'Will I Change You' functions as a little injection of energy and a jolt for the listener when hearing the record in its entirety. I had so much fun putting this together with the band, it happened really quickly but it  was a really memorable experience. I loved arranging it and letting it burst from the seams at points. It brings together the loud and quiet moments of contemporary Scottish artists I really adore like Frightened Rabbit, Fatherson, Paolo Nutini & Rachel Sermanni.'

Since the release of her debut single in 2019, Neev has built a reputation for discovering beauty in the small details. Katherine, a collection of intricate indie-folk songs that pack a lyrical punch. The album carries all of the trademark sounds of Neev’s previous releases; acoustic guitars, soaring string arrangements and layered backing vocals can be found throughout, but this time they’re bigger.

Buoyed by the experience of engineering, mixing and producing her 2021 EP Currants almost entirely alone whilst the country was in lockdown, much of Katherine was recorded at Neev’s home studio and the homes of a host of talented musician friends. “It was really important to me that the album wasn’t only a group of songs but that it would also be a learning curve for me, and it was! I learnt so much about arrangement, frequency, the range of my voice and the way I like to construct songs and write,” she says.

Every song on Katherine is tied to the idea of identity. “Each song explores the different facets of an individual,” explains Neev. “Them as someone’s child, someone’s sibling, someone’s partner. Someone as the gender (in my case, female) they identify as, someone as the job they do,” she continues.

The album’s title encapsulates the record’s essence. “Katherine is a common name in my family and it’s also my middle name,”  says Neev. “So whilst it has a personal meaning, it also exists in a few different ways. I named the album ‘Katherine’ because it  touches on the themes of family, identity and the different identities one person can hold within themselves.”

 

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Twin Rains - You're The Only One.

Love is apocalyptic, according to Twin Rains. Love demands courage, the sort that has us looking into the darkest shadows of our hearts. Our pain is a weapon, our unchecked darkness the ammunition. Blame is easy, but it solves nothing. When we live without the courage to examine our own motivations, we are bound to hurt ourselves and others. We are bound to do it either way.

Toronto act Twin Rains is set to release their new single, an apocalyptic love song called ‘You’re the Only One’, today April 25. The song, a sonic offspring of the band’s 2020 offering, ‘Strawberry Moon,’ in its heavy, dreamlike qualities, is the first new material from the band since the release of their second full-length, ‘Unreal City,’ in 2021.

Twin Rains is Jay Merrow and Christine Stoesser. The two write, record and mix most of their music that blends dream pop and psych rock and electro. Twin Rains perform regularly in Toronto's music scene with live drummer Greg Smith. Signed to Rough Trade Publishing, they have had their music streamed around the world and licensed on TV shows and movies.

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Photo Ops - Stand In the Shadows.

“The song tries to walk the line and showcase the contrast of cathartic, trance-like meditation with honest, dark and uncomfortable feelings. Showcasing the gulf between the idyllic and the real, and the beauty and irony and how they rarely meet. I feel the necessity of standing both in the shadows and in the light.” -Terry Price / Photo Ops

The autumn blaze maple tree, famous as music in Nashville, is a fast grower. Imagine its teeming majesty of red leaves from above one house in the city’s Inglewood neighborhood. You see it ensconced like a controlled flame by rolling hills and winding roads. A familiar pattern lulls you from days into nights in this dreamy park town. You never realized from the ground, under the shade of that tree, how all these beautiful designs in any city keep you sane.

The sweeping vantage points of Photo Ops’ Burns Bright belong first to the quiet of Nashville’s first modern suburb after World War II. Terry Price lived there while perfecting the melodic soft-rock modes that pleased audiences on tour with Camera Obscura and Fences.

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Breandán Fitzpatrick -Sweet Return.

Breandán Fitzpatrick is an artist from Ireland. He is one half the acclaimed band Omonoko who are mostly know for electronic dance music, however over the last 10 years Breandán has also been working steadily in the background of the band on his own acoustic singer-songwriter tracks, which are about to take the forefront of his musical ambitions with debut solo single ‘Sweet Return’, out now.

The years in which Breandán has spent perfecting his solo material in the background of Omonoko has truly paid off. ‘Sweet Return’ is a perfectly produced and instantly striking gorgeous indie-acoustic affair, that would sound at home on national radio as well as major Spotify playlists alike.

Lyrically, the song centres around an individual who no longer is in the world of the protagonist, as Breandán reflects on a difficult relationship, wishing for a ‘Sweet Return’. Combining true feelings and a relatable modesty, the song’s simplicity allows it to scale high mountains of depth.

“You’re here in my heart, you’re here in my head”, he sings as subtle piano picks out emotions and creates poignant atmospheres behind the song’s Ben Howard and Jose Gonzalez-esque acoustic rhythms.

Omonoko have been highly revered across Ireland by the likes of RTE, Hot Press & Nialler 9 and more, but with ‘Sweet Return’ it is an exciting time for Breandán who is coming out of the shadows to showcase a long secret side to his creativity. ‘Sweet Return’ looks set to put Breandán firmly on the map this year as a singer-songwriter of very high calibre.

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