alice does computer music - Sandy Bailey - Grandaddy - Royal Castles - Denise La Grassa

alice does computer music - Coiled.

This week alice does computer music shared her new single "Coiled." The song is the second single from the cellist, songwriter, and producer's upcoming debut album, Shoegaze 5G, due out August 4th, 2023, via Jolt Music. The record was mixed by Mari Maurice (More Eaze) and mastered by Andrew Weathers.

In “Coiled,” alice does computer music entwines the fragments of her musical influences and memories in beautifully unmoored ways. Acoustic cello riffs are juxtaposed with bit-crushed drums that swirl into distorted, cavernous sound collage.

About the single, Gerlach says: "I keep accidentally pocket-dialing the SOS button on my iPhone’s lock screen. the pattern feels significant, like my subconscious is alerting me to an internal emergency. There’s a theory that there is no such thing as memory, only experience and its decay. With each occurrence I remember and forget the previous instances, lost in the uneasy stillness of being unmoored in time. coiled is a summoning of ghosts, a moment of panic as experience fragments into unawareness."

alice does computer music is an electronic project by cellist, songwriter, and producer Alice Gerlach. Conjuring a hazy space between pop and experimentalism, Gerlach’s work takes inspiration from an eclectic range of music such as ambient, avant-garde pop, breakcore, and noise. Her debut full-length, Shoegaze 5G, collects and exhibits the fragments of her wide-ranging influences, resulting in vivid, poetic electronic music.

 

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Sandy Bailey - Daughter Of Abraham.

Today Massachusetts-based artist Sandy Bailey releases the gorgeous title track to her scorcher of an album, Daughter Of Abraham (out on August 18th via Red Parlor Records).

The house Sandy lives in in Massachusetts was built in 1765 and she was told the house was a sheltering stop on the Underground Railroad. Inspired, Sandy wanted to connect with and honor her ancestors, and imagined a story where they may have traveled that route to freedom, and sought refuge in her house. She imagined her ancestors seeing their descendants living in the house that once hid them. It's a tribute to the resilience of the human spirit, that it can prevail under the cruelest, most impossible conditions. Wrap your ears around it here:

The haunting track tells the story of Abraham, who set off on foot in 1859 from "Carolina to Massachusetts" with holes in his shoes and hunger in his belly, to find his way to freedom. "I am a daughter of Abraham...whenever I'm lost / Don't know where I'm goin' / I walk and I start singin'...Light of the day, my inner flame / I am weary, guide my way," she sings.

Sandy is a biracial single mom who left her Pentecostal upbringing to play rock n' roll. With elements of soul, blues, gospel, and classic Americana, Daughter Of Abraham tells Sandy's story - one of a working-class American woman, and explores themes of loneliness, survival, getting lost, and finding your way again.

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Grandaddy - The Town where I'm Livin Now.

Modesto, CA’s influential indie-rock group Grandaddy have announced a special digital release of the Sumday: Excess Baggage, a thirteen-track collection of rarities and b-sides from the Sumday-era that unfolds like a lost Grandaddy album and is set for release on August 25 on Dangerbird Records. The band has also unveiled lead single “The Town where I’m Livin Now” alongside an official video, a spacy, wistful ode to the dissonant American landscape of California’s hardscrabble Central Valley.

Grandaddy leader Jason Lytle said, “I like making songs like this. Lots of bleak but sweet visuals. Everyday stuff available for everyone to see...but some of us just end up with the twisted work of documenting it.”

In May, Grandaddy announced Sumday Twunny, a limited edition 4-LP boxed set to be released on September 1 via Dangerbird Records. The collection includes the remastered original album as well as a complete 4-track demo version titled Sumday: The Cassette Demos, and Sumday: Excess Baggage. “After many years of hammering away at writing and recording as Grandaddy, Sumday seems to be the center of it and where it all peaked. To the journalists we were, ‘On the verge of greatness, underrated, overlooked, unsung.’ It was a tumultuous and exciting time for us for sure. Also very exhausting,” Lytle said.

“Revisiting this material and reflecting on those times has been a double edged sword. Bittersweet is an apt word, I suppose. Twenty years after the fact, I'm just grateful to be alive and kicking… celebrating that moment in time by re-releasing the original album, B sides and extras of that era, and even some raw cassette demos of the album itself a sort of sketchbook/rough draft of the LP in cassette form. So be it then. ‘On the verge of greatness, underrated, overlooked, unsung.’ This is what all of that sounds like.  I'll take it.”

Grandaddy formed in 1992 and have released five official LPs, most recently 2017’s Last Place. Grandaddy members include Jason Lytle, Aaron Burtch, Jim Fairchild, Tim Dryden, and the late Kevin Garcia, who passed away in 2017.

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Royal Castles - Bad Business Barbie.

Royal Castles describe themselves as a contemporary garage-rock band from Guelph, Ontario. Going by "Bad Business Barbie" they are all of that and pack some style and attitude for good measure on this highly addictive track.

The band tell us "As a band, we've really hit our stride (we've got three albums now!) which is why we wanted to mix it up and keep things fresh. In a first for Royal Castles, our drummer Katrin Sawatzky took the lead on the songwriting direction and vocals.

"Bad Business Barbie" is a bold love letter to the women who are tamed by patriarchy – a rally cry, a confession about vulnerability, power, freedom and the secrets we keep. We celebrate women everyday in our lives, and this is one of the ways we want to show it."

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Denise La Grassa - Dawn of the New Day.

Chicago-based singer-songwriter Denise La Grassa continues her inspiring musical journey with the impending release of The Flame. This powerful collection of 10 songs is a testament to the strength and resilience of the human spirit - attributes that also embody her own 'North of 40' journey, itself ignited by the closing of Lincoln College in Central Illinois. “I was heading into my sixth year of transforming the former jazz studies program into one with more practical music production and business degrees," La Grassa says. "The closing was a shock to everyone as the college had been around for 157 years. It was then I decided to follow my own dream by focusing full-time on songwriting and performance.”

The Flame blends raw roots-rock and soulful blues with Americana as the musical bedrock for two profound ideas: the significance of inclusivity in a united nation and the transformative power of immigration, inspired by La Grassa's own family history.

The album encapsulates La Grassa’s advocacy for social change. The album's title pays homage to the inherent strength that lies within a nation when it looks out for all people, particularly those who have been marginalized. La Grassa's poignant lyrics and soulful melodies serve as a rallying cry for compassion, urging listeners to embrace unity and stand up against injustice.  “I feel compelled to write music that reminds us as human beings why we’re here," La Grassa explains. "Jesus really had a simple message: ‘love one another and uplift the poor and marginalized.'"

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Equipment Pointed Ankh - Fake Fever - Erin K - The Goods

Equipment Pointed Ankh - Trucks to Gettysburg.

In terms of the headiest of heady jammers the Louisville, KY weirdo supergroup Equipment Pointed Ankh comes has made a name for themselves in creating uncompromising and unpretentious experimental music that appeals to the freaks and casual listeners alike. The group's magnetic pulse on their newest album Downtown! puts them in league with the Kraut conspirators while bouncing with a nervous, wiry rhythm of bands like This Heat. We think you'd dig it, or we wouldn't be sending this to you. The first single "Trucks to Gettysburg" is out now.

Welcome to the eternal now of Equipment Pointed Ankh, whose instrumental, electronics-squishing avant rock/future jazz will baffle and delight your earholes for years to come. Set your cruise controls in the direction of a fun, beer chugging midwestern American version of the tightly buttoned Euro adventurousness found on that sparkly Recommended Records 2xlp comp.

Equipment Pointed Ankh are from a Louisville, KY lineage that spawned the Endtables and Your Food, grew with Squirrel Bait, extended into Gastr Del Sol, King Kong, and the Web, then casually emerged into the present with Valley of Ashes, Sapat, Road House and Flanger Magazine (the last three consisting of actual EPA members!!) They initially appeared as the brainchild of former Tropical Trashian Jim Marlowe, and while his first release of smoldering Kraut throb (Live on Sophomore Lounge and recognized by cover art featuring a doomed cowboy's naked dong) was a signpost to the future, the true EPA really began on Without Human Permission (Astral Editions/ Sophomore Lounge) with the addition of the now constant lineup of Chris Bush, Dan Davis, Ryan Davis (no relation!), and Shutaro Noguchi. They created spontaneous constructions of drums, synths, guitar, and sundry other instruments that were then edited into structural cohesion within the glorious freedom and sonic possibilities of a legitimate recording studio with an utterly simpatico recording engineer (this being RI's Seth Manchester at Machines with Magnets). This approach continued with the Changing Legs cd (Newton's Kidney) of all possible permutations of duo improvisations between members and then followed by the giddily melodic grooves of From Inside the House lp (Bruit Direct Disques).

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Fake Fever - Graveyard Shift.

Nostalgia is a powerful drug. It can provide a quick escape or a warm blanket of comfort in times of need, but what happens when that temporary sugar rush of the past begins to corrode and fade? The longer that NYC-based singer/songwriter/producer Andrew Barnes spent in the nostalgic space that previously defined his chillwave/bedroom pop project Fake Fever, the more he felt these reflective comforts dissipate over time and found the harsh realities of the present staring back more ferociously than ever. After three years of false starts, new surroundings, bandaid ripping, chaotic experimentation, and refinement, what resulted is Fake Fever's highly-anticipated sophomore full length release - Inside The Well - a bittersweet breakup album with nostalgia.

"When I initially tried to piece together ideas for my 2nd album, I was hitting a wall and slowly realized that I had spent so much time over the last few years trying to recreate this essence of my childhood and my past and existing in this escapist place where I was constantly looking backwards, that I was doing a horrible job of living in the present and trying to progress, both creatively and personally." Barnes says. "This album encompasses that sometimes-painful process of loosening the grip on the past so that you can free yourself to move forward."

While the previous Fake Fever full length "Surrogate" made a splash in various online "-wave" circles during the 2020 height of isolation with its hazy, subdued trip through a lazy river of vaporwave-tinged dreams and memories, "Inside The Well" is a much more awake, emotional, and polished slate of pop-centric material. This 11-song, 42-minute yearning, aquatic pop journey fluidly weaves together new genre flourishes to the Fake Fever sound, ranging from shoegaze ("Autotoxemia", "Pressure Tank") to house ("Palace Intrigue") to footwork ("Sozu") to 2000s indietronica revival ("Graveyard Shift") to drum & bass ("Canvasing"), with the chillwave ethereality ("Coral Ring", "Sunrose") and tape-warped melodies ("Unknowable") that resonated with listeners on "Surrogate."

"After spending most of my musical life playing guitar and drums in heavy bands, this whole avenue of creating electronic and pop music is still so new to me, even after a handful of years of doing it now. Part of the reason this album took so long to make is because I spent an equal amount of time trying to refine what I had figured out and done well kind of by accident as a total novice on the last album, and an equal amount of time trying to get away from my musical crutches that I had developed over the past few years and expand my sound with brand new techniques as a songwriter and producer that took a ton of trial and error to finally bring within reach."

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Erin K - Breathe (Live) The Crypt Studio.

Acclaimed American-born London-resident musician Erin K just released her new playful and beautiful “antifolk” style singer-songwriter album ‘Sink To Swim’ (out 30th June).

Erin has recorded a gorgeous live session version of ‘Breathe’ from the album at The Crypt studio in London. Wondered if you might like to feature / share it?

On the song & session, Erin said- “In this song I am speaking to my former childhood self, questioning the decisions she will make to lead up to this present moment. Under seeming pressures to perform and act up to other’s standards, the option to choose a different path is presented alongside the ever present reminder to simply “breathe” in every moment. We had a wonderful time recording this live in The Crypt Studio in London, with my bandmates flying in from 3 different countries. This live arrangement of the song differs a little from recording studio production which is now released on my album Sink To Swim. We arrived at this production after a month long tour in Italy and I wanted to capture it during this session. I’m very excited to share this!”

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The Goods - The Goods (E.P).

Oakland California’s The Goods have just announced the release of their debut self-titled EP on Dandy Boy Records with an accompanying video for the song “David Jones Is Dead.” The Goods combine big guitars, huge hooks, and sweet British Invasion-style harmonies into a distinctive power pop tapestry on their debut. Self-produced in the band’s own studio in Oakland, CA, The Goods’ debut EP draws on decades of hooky punk and power pop from the 1960s through the 1990s. 

The three song 7" (with an exclusive fourth digital track) combines classic influences and timeless sounds with a fresh and playful energy. The lead single and video “David Jones Is Dead” calls to mind the band’s songwriting influences both new and old; Redd Kross, Young Guv, Tom Petty, Matthew Sweet, The Jam, Green Day and Cheap Trick. Reflecting on the process of writing “David Jones Is Dead” singer and guitarist Rob Good had to say, “I set out to write the shortest song I possibly could, all killer no filler, every bit of fat around the edges trimmed off. Lyrically, I was thinking about all these rock and roll icons that are now dying, and how their death brings up so many emotions - not only remorse for the loss of the person, but also nostalgia about the good times you had with their music and the friends you enjoyed it with. Ultimately it’s a celebration of that music and those good times.”

Avoiding retro-revivalism, The Goods' music is earnest and unironic, with just enough grit and muscle to balance its sugary sweetness. Dandy Boy label owner Bobby Martinez describes the connection between himself and singer/guitarist Rob Good, “I’m a big power pop fan and he was writing huge power pop songs. Not in a bleached hair/ leather jacket/ Buzzcocks way or a straight college radio/ 90’s alt way- but somewhere in between. There’s an element of Redd Kross camp over Cheap Trick timelessness that adds this level of fun and cheekiness. It never feels too serious or posturing yet avoids going full on cornball cartoon band. It’s completely self aware and doesn’t fall into some retro revival affectation. Rather than trying to duplicate classic power pop from the late 70’s or 90’s “left-of-the-dial” underground, they manage to sound organic. It’s power pop by guys who grew up learning their instruments by listening to Green Day and the Descendents and playing in punk bands. Guys who spent their formative years with Lemonheads and Jam CDs in their cars.”

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Rae Fitzgerald - Drab Majesty - Silent Forum

Rae Fitzgerald - Say I Look Happy.

Rae Fitzgerald shares "Say I Look Happy" today, the title track from her new album out September 1 via Keeled Scales.

About "Say I Look Happy," Rae Fitzgerald writes: "I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve struggled with major depression for as long as I can remember, starting in early childhood. As anyone with persistent mental health issues or illness knows, the stigma and pressure to 'fix' yourself can be more isolating than the condition. 'Say I Look Happy' is sort of an ode to that surreal plane of existence and a song of gratitude to the people who traipse through those valleys alongside me."

Say I Look Happy follows 2020's Lonely Listener EP, which The Wild Honey Pie described as “hypnotically relaxing,” and “dense with poetry, philosophy and celestial metaphor." Post-Trash called it a “a folk record at heart, built on dreamy atmospheres and intimate recordings, capturing Fitzgerald’s thoughts in raw portraits that channel honest performances and soft melodies.”

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Drab Majesty - The Skin and the Glove.

Drab Majesty have shared a second track from their forthcoming mini-album, An Object in Motion, which is set for release on August 25th via Dais Records. Alongside the new track, they have also announced European tour dates for this fall as well as an appearance at Darker Waves Festival in Southern California alongside New Order, Tears for Fears, and more.

Following last month's majestic ballad “Vanity” which features a rare guest vocal appearance from Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell, today Drab Majesty share a second look at the forthcoming record with new track "The Skin and the Glove." The song deploys jangle to sparkling effect  baggy, soaring, grey-skied kaleidoscopic pop in the spirit of Stone Roses, Primal Scream, and The Glove.

Inspired by the insuperable march of time reflected in the song’s lyrics, for the accompanying video Deb Demure and Mona D. decided upon the one medium that reflects most accurately the way that memories seem sewn together by fragments of imagery. The ‘flashing frames of time’ captured by the Super 8mm camera seem naturally edited in some part by simply moving through moments, holding down the trigger and choosing to remember certain aspects of a day, a trip or an extended period of travel. These glimpses into the personal and emotional aspects of touring were captured in far away lands like Europe, Canada, Mexico and even Tasmania. They attempt to compress the long passage of time and the effort that goes into playing in a band — to present it as the mind does; a tapestry of reflection that seems stitched together randomly and with that ephemeral granularity that rests in the potential to misremember.

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Silent Forum - Treat Yourself.

Silent Forum release their most unashamedly poppy single to date, Treat Yourself, coming out today 11 July via Libertino Records. Treat Yourself is mixture of revealing, uncomfortable lyrics paired with animated, uplifting pop instrumentation. 

You can hear the band having a great time playing around in much poppier territory than they are used to - this is as bubblegum as they're ever going to get.

Silent Forum split their time between Cardiff, London, Bristol and Barcelona. Their sound is equally unconventional - multifaceted music with confident but subtle streaks of dark energy. It’s textured pop-post-punk that equally rejects three chord song structure and monochrome doom.

Libertino · Silent Forum - Treat Yourself

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Surprise Baby - Enjoyable Listens - Simesky+Fritch - The Grahams

Surprise Baby - Poison the Well.

Surprise Baby is the Los Angeles based project of musician and songwriter Sarsten Noice and producer Claire Morison. Described as rock and roll cowboy meets indie pop, the two, who are originally from Northwest Montana, use their long-standing relationship as friends and creative partners to craft a sound which is both authentic and captivating.

The upcoming EP is a result of Surprise Baby refusing to be pigeon-holed and see’s the two exploring a realm of different genres and sounds. The first single to be released from the EP is “Poison the Well.” The track narrates facing the consequences of your own actions and the desire to change the reality of a situation but ultimately having the resignation that you can’t. Noice confides, “At the time, I was involved with someone who was in another relationship and we were both a part of a tight knit community (“the well”). At a certain point, it appeared to me that the toxicity of the relationship had permeated our ability to operate in our social scene without causing disruption to our lives and those around us.  I was faced with confronting the morality of my own actions as well as some heartbreak because I knew I was never going to be able to fully be with this person.”

Sonically, “Poison the Well” enters with a throbbing beat, echoing harmonies and a minimalist, eerie atmosphere. Steadily building in intensity, we hear the addition of layered textures and instruments, as Noice sings about the misguided actions that led her down the wrong path. She questions, “If I had never said goodnight, if I had been older when this had started,” as she ponders about what could have been.

Not afraid to speak her truth, Noice shares how she uses songwriting as a way to process her internal world and give intense emotions a way out of her body. She shares, “I try to create imagery that accurately captures a specific feeling and then allow myself to build lyrics in an abstract way, opposed to straightforward storytelling. This I hope leaves the songs open to the listeners’ interpretation.”

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Enjoyable Listens - Summer Hit.

Enjoyable Listens is a man, a machine and an enigma wrapped in a ball of mysterious dark wool. Having built an indie-rock-solid foundation using only melody, mayhem and an admirable ability to croon a series of pop smashes whilst teetering on a bar stool, new single “Summer Hit” sees the infallible actor continuing to warm to the task.

Funnelling inebriated ‘80s theatricality through luxurious layers of molten melodies and sun-dappled dreamhouse-ery, Enjoyable Listens aka Luke Duffett explains: “The original “Summer Hit” demo was the first thing I ever self-recorded. I wrote it during lockdown, and its name comes from a to-do list I had in April 2020.

While his attempts at gymnastics, baking and gaming may not have been quite so fruitful, “Summer Hit” certainly ticks the box. Re-recorded with Joseph Futák and Elanor Moss on backing vocals, the new track features a heady amalgam of mellotron, seagull noises and an aromatic indie-swooning that feels just as mellow as it does melodramatic.

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Simesky+Fritch - Back and Down Again.

Following on from ‘Colour Running Away’, the last release from Simesky+Fritch that graced indie charts, national and international airwaves across UK and Belgium, Australia, US, across the EU and South Africa, this is the new single ‘Back and Down Again’.

‘Colour Running Away’ changed everything for the duo. Its high shine pop and neon gloss took on a life of its own and blasted the track to success. But right here and right now they get darker.

With their cool 80’s retro wrapped in original new wave, they produce something gut-felt and lush. The Cure, Roxy Music, M83, they all leave their imprints like always. And as New Order and Berlin era Bowie atmospherics infect, each decade’s nuance of synthpop collides.

Back this up with the extended family of Thomas Wagner (creator of the perfect Back and Down Again video, Andy Wright (mastering; The Fall, Rag’n’Bone Man) and support from CJC Promotions… Simesky+Fritch become something unstoppable.

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The Grahams - The Wild One.

The Grahams have announced their new album The Grahams, due out September 8 via 3Sirens Music Group. The upcoming self-titled album finds the singer-songwriter duo – made up of Alyssa and Doug Graham – reimagining 10 hand-picked songs from their extensive catalog to reflect their sonic and artistic growth over the last decade. Along with the announcement, The Grahams have shared a revamped rendition of their 2015 staple “The Wild One,” a serotonin-boosting reworking that now features shimmering backing vocals from acclaimed indie pop group Lucius.

“‘The Wild One’ is part biographical, part fiction and part mantra,” shares Alyssa Graham. “The original version served its purpose and was often our opening song at concerts to remind ourselves of what we’ve lived and what’s important. When reimagining this song, we wanted to focus on the lessons in a more light-hearted and fun sonic arrangement and steer clear of the overdramatized story. After all, it’s just music and if we’ve learned anything over the past three decades together it’s to never let our hearts grow old and never let our love grow cold.”

On The Grahams, the duo pays homage to a fulfilled commitment they made a decade ago: three concept albums over 10 years, which found them exploring America and its rich tapestry of music. This trilogy began with their swampy 2013 debut Riverman’s Daughter, followed by 2015’s railroad-inspired Glory Bound and concluding in 2020 with the genre-defying Kids Like Us. The new self-titled album takes ten songs from The Grahams’ catalog and pours them through a new filter – what they’ve learned, how they’ve changed, and perhaps most centrally, how they sound today. While these songs bear some resemblance to their Americana roots, they lean harder in a new direction, weaving threads of the duo’s other influences: the bands they grew up with, the input of collaborators, and the ever-evolving love affair that now includes their child. Track by track, the changes are transformative, stripping the songs down in some cases and dressing them up in others.

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Amy Hollinrake - Vines - South For Winter - Pigeon Wigs

Photo - Sophie le Roux

Amy Hollinrake - It Draws the Same.

It Draws The Same is the new single taken from South-East London’s rising alt-folk star Amy Hollinrake’s forthcoming EP Sad Lady Songs Vol. 1 which follows late 2023. Hollinrake’s work draws on women’s stories within folklore and mythology and fuses them with a contemporary sound placing her at the forefront of the new era of feminist neo-folk, with musical touchstones in Joanna Newsom Joni Mitchell and Adrienne Lenker, with touches of the emotional directness of Paris Paloma.

Amy Hollinrake has performed at Cambridge Folk Festival, and at notable shows at Cambridge Junction and Kings Place, as well as lending her soaring vocals to major label signed Don Broco’s Royal Albert Hall, London show, with her music garnering attention from the likes of BBC 6 Music Introducing and BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour. The latter invited Hollinrake in to discuss the new single It Draws The Same and her aesthetic which delves deeply into the old stories of women, re-analysing and re-telling them through the lens of modern feminism.

Amy Hollinrake describes It Draws The Same as “An ode to Ophelia as well as a critique of the way women are depicted in folksong and ballads.”  She expands,” The song came out of the realisation that so many stories I was reading in folk songs and ballads were about women drowning, I was looking at that famous painting of Ophelia by Millais and researching murder ballads when I came across an interesting analysis of female death in folk songs. It talked about a kind of liberation in women’s suicide, in escaping her murder, and looking at that picture of Ophelia, so serene, I felt almost a seduction for that sense of freedom, which is what ultimately inspired me to write the song.”

“When the waters too light it wears you out”
“I wish I could smudge my edges.”
 – It Draws The Same

Sonically It Draws The Same features Hammond organs, soaring violins, and electric guitars amp’d through an old telephone. It’s a taster of what to expect from Hollinrake’s Sad Lady Songs Vol 1 EP which beautifully showcases the multi-instrumentalist’s high-level musical training, in its seamless blend of traditional instruments with contemporary sounds.

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Photo - Anna Longworth

Vines - january.

Brooklyn composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Cassie Wieland just released the second single "january" from her upcoming debut LP as Vines, titled Birthday Party, out August 18th. The single follows last month's "I don't mind," which Stereogum likened to "Imogen Heap’s “Hide And Seek,” with traces of Sigur Rós, Bon Iver, and various electronic singer-composer types a la Lydia Ainsworth and Laurel Halo."

Wieland wrote the music of Birthday Party while feeling lonely on her January birthday, and “january” gets right at the heart of that desolation. The song builds from the searing lyric “I’m having trouble making it through the year, and it’s only January,” letting delicate piano melodies grow into crashing instrumentals that swallow Wieland’s voice. It’s the most gut-punching track on the EP, but it’s also the most cathartic. When the music reaches its enveloping pinnacle, every emotion feels entwined at once, bursting at the seams and gradually returning anew.

Wieland founded Vines as a way to break out of the performer-composer hierarchy, opting for more collaboration and a closer connection to her fans. Vines has already made waves on Tiktok covering indie pop favorites using a vocoder and uniquely processed vocals. She continues this trend on Birthday Party, including a heart-wrenching, some how even more melancholic version of "The World at Large" by Modest Mouse.

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South For Winter -  Underneath the Blood Moon.

New Zealand-formed and Nashville-based Americana/Folk band, South For Winter, is excited to announce the release of single “Underneath the Blood Moon”; the second single released from their upcoming concept album, Of Sea and Sky, which is a follow-up to their critically-acclaimed debut album, Luxumbra. This album was produced by multi GRAMMY award-winner, Matt Leigh (Willie Nelson, Sister Sade).

Murder ballad "Underneath the Blood Moon" is about the use of psychiatry to silence women throughout history, especially during the 1800s-1900s. The song was written by lead singer Dani Stone, who works as a registered nurse by day and was inspired to write the ballad after learning about this dark time in history. “I stumbled across stories about this and became really upset that it wasn't more talked about," Stone states.

"Women were labeled as insane and put in asylums for so many things back then: like asking for a divorce, turning someone in for hurting them, or even just reading too many books. However, most of these women weren't actually crazy. And the problem is, when you treat people like they are crazy for long enough, you can make them go clinically insane." Using this new single, Stone brings this phenomenon to light with a chilling story about a woman who is locked up for speaking out against a man who assaulted her as a teenager; until, one night, she breaks out of the asylum and seeks her revenge.

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Pigeon Wigs - Iron Dynamite.

Cardiff’s Pigeon Wigs release their eagerly awaited mini-album ‘Rock By Numbers’. An amorphous box of tricks that shape-shifts between psych, blues and indie rock with seamless time-warping chic, the quintet are also pleased to present one of its standout moments: “Iron Dynamite”. The final track to be spotlighted from the record, “Iron Dynamite” is a whimsical, merry-go-round of 60s-indebted psychelia to rival the Electric Prunes, Strawberry Alarm Clock, or frankly anything to be heard on the seminal ‘Nuggets’ compilation.

Revolving around a guitar lick as slick as a new pair of winkle-pickers on Carnaby Street in 1967, the riff was conjured by the band’s Louis Jugessur as he tried to emulate the vintage grooves of the hit ‘Mama Told Me Not To Come’ by fellow Pontypridd legend Tom Jones. Instantly plugging-in to its psychedelic vibe, frontman Harry Franklin-Williams assembled a kaleidoscopic spiral of words at once in-tune with the track and just a little removed from reality... As Harry explains: “Iron Dynamite is probably my favourite song of the record lyrically, Louis wrote such a psychedelic riff and I wanted to build on that as much as I could. I made a Jenga tower out of 60s-inspired metaphors and muso-nerd references that still never fails to put a smile on my face. The verses are swirling psych with a portion of madness while the chorus is much more your classic 60s pop lyrics, simple and direct but with my trademark cynicism at the end, “it’s just another line”.”

“Iron Dynamite” arrives hot on the heels of recent singles including the Rolling Stones saluting “Radiation Blues” and the wormhole whirlwind that is “Hold Up!”; drawing attention from the likes of Louder Than War, The Independent, The Rodeo, and The Line of Best Fit, with the latter praising “[Pigeon Wigs are] now in full force in bringing their vision to life: a hybrid, retro/futuristic, psychedelic-shaded sound.”


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