Welcome Back With... CocoRosie - Tommy Keyes - better joy

When Beehive Candy decided to take a break, a few weeks became a few months and nearly became forever. The break was needed and so much has happened for us in the past year plus, however this time around it's for the love of good music and nothing more. Some new ideas are floating around, but one thing at a time, anyway welcome back, the constant visits since we stopped have been incredible, so thank you for your interest and support, we are really grateful.

CocoRosie - Little Death Wishes.

CocoRosie, the sister duo of Bianca and Sierra Casady announce the release of their eighth studio album Little Death Wishes, out March 28th on Joyful Noise. Along with the album and the upcoming European tour announcements, they share the album’s second single and music video, 'Cut Stitch Scar.'

For just over twenty years, Bianca and Sierra Casady have transmuted the love, hardship, and ecstasy of sisterhood into some of the most daring, dangerous, and wildly original music our increasingly sanitized culture has known. CocoRosie has been a project consistently at the musical vanguard, influencing countless musicians while inspiring and creating refuge for the “criminal queers” of the world. Above all, CocoRosie has been a conduit for irrepressible artistic self-realization.

Little Death Wishes is as open and tenderhearted as anything they’ve ever created. The songs tell a kaleidoscopic story of the generational hardship of women and the shattered realities of their lives, the precarious and precious nature of being human, of being done wrong by love, and a final wish to be unbroken. It boils everything CocoRosie down to its most brutal essence: turning pain into knowledge, sisterhood into polemic, trash into treasure, and recalcifying kitsch and cliché into fresh truths.

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Tommy Keyes - The Key Of Blue.

The sixth single from the acclaimed album the Key of Blue is the title track and is a throwback to the classic jazz-pop era.

It's accompanied with a sublime co-vocal from Dara MacGabhann along with some brilliant solos from Dick Farrelly on guitar and Richie Buckley on sax.

Tommy Keyes is an Irish singer-songwriter who returned to music in 2016 after almost 40 years away.  The current album is his 8th and he’s had 6 Number Ones in the Irish iTunes singles charts.

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better joy - waiting on time.

Kicking off 2025 with intent, Manchester-based Bria Keely, better known as better joy, has shared new single ‘waiting on time’ and announced debut EP ‘heading into blue’ will be released on 28th March.
 
New single ‘waiting on time’ continues to showcase Bria’s personal experiences through her candid and autobiographical lyrics about life. Written about her own mental challenges and the importance of having time to heal, the tender lyrics are coupled with jangly guitars and a cheery melody, building in measured intensity to a euphoric chorus of release.
 
Bria says, “waiting on time at its core is about going through mental challenges and losing yourself in the process, and the healing process that comes after. For me, it takes time to feel like myself again after I’ve gone through something difficult, and this one is just about the wait and the inevitability that I will find myself again. When I’ve been at my lowest, it’s hard to see through the fog of it all so I wanted this song to be a reminder to myself - and in general - that if you do all the right things to get yourself out of the rut, the fog can clear, it’ll just take some time.”
 
Alongside new single ‘waiting on time’, Bria has announced the debut better joy EP ‘heading into blue’ produced by Mike Hedges (The Cure, U2, Manic Street Preachers). The 6-track EP features previous singles ‘carnival’ and ‘what a day’ alongside new single ‘waiting on time’, as well as three brand-new tracks, ‘couldn’t run forever’, ‘quiet thing’ and ‘can I land the plane?’. It is the first full-length project from better joy and is both a perfect introduction to better joy’s alt-pop sound and an exciting taster of more to come this year.

 

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Surprise Baby - Pen Pin - Von Wildenhaus

photo - India Coombs

Surprise Baby - Motorcycle.

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.

Their 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. Following the release of their debut single “Poison the Well,” “Motorcycle” is the second track from the EP and details a commentary on the feeling of escapism. It is a mostly fictional narrative on the desire to escape a relationship, specifically on a motorcycle heading to New York. Noice shares, “Call it a quarter life crisis, call it fear of commitment, the feeling is that of running away. There is also a sentiment of not wanting your partner to worry over you, and making the unrealistic promise that you won't die on the road. The fact that the narrator believes so deeply they won't die while simultaneously desiring to be as close to danger as possible is the irony of the song itself.”

“Motorcycle” shimmers with muted, jangly guitars, mellow melodies and celestial harmonies, creating an iridescent soundscape that you can truly lose yourself within. 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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Pen Pin - Fringe.

Pen Pin is the new sun-soaked indie pop project from songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeni Magana and Emily Moore. Both established musicians in their own right, they met while touring with Mitski and started writing and recording their debut album whenever they weren't on the road. The result of their "pen pinspiration" has become a chill, vintage pop album that sounds and feels like lounging by a Palm Desert pool when the afternoon becomes the dusk.

The whole process of self-producing these songs has captured a moment of inspiration and a joyous collaboration between friends. The LP entitled Pony Up is about these feelings: the spark of inspiration, holding onto happiness, and friendship.

Pen Pin's single "Fringe" details capturing a moment in a relationship that is pure joy and recalling that feeling when times get tough. The breezy track features golden-hued vocals, dreamy melodies and nostalgic piano, creating a warm and cathartic musical moment. Designed to bring you company on your evening walks through the park, Pony Up is set to be released Spring, 2024.

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Von Wildenhaus - Ketamine.

Apocalyptic avant-pop artist Von Wildenhaus has shared new single “Ketamine”, ahead of a UK tour across September. In lieu of a traditional album release the artist is issuing an extended series of singles across the coming months, culminating in a new compilation ‘Von Universe’, which will be available exclusively at the UK shows.

A spacious, sublime offering that sees Von Wildenhaus fuse alchemistic rhythms and airy instrumentals with celestial vocal delivery and a cavernously clean approach to production, “Ketamine” is the sixth track to be taken from the artist’s forthcoming compilation.

Evoking a feeling that is as fragile as it faraway, Ben von Wildenhaus explains of the new track: ”Ketamine” embodies the feeling of dissociation that overwhelms when you separate from someone you love. We often play this as spacey folk, but here we really wanted to take it into the realm of ethereal ‘80s pop — that crisp digital world full of inorganic heartbreak.”

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The Artist Formally Known as Vince Band - Ashton Nyte - Shadwick Wilde

The Artist Formally Known as Vince Band - A Problematic Opera (E.P).

This one came out back in May but escaped our radar at the time, anyway it's never to late for some robust 'recent' new music when it's this good! The Artist Formally Known as Vince Band (or TAFKAVince Band for short) formed in 1996 and began playing out regularly upon the release of 2002's At Last CD. Other notable releases include 2007's Welcome To The Show, the 2011 vinyl release On Display, and the singles "NYC" and "Luck," which were released in 2014 and 2016, respectively.

TAFKAVince features Vince SanFilippo on vocals and guitar, Lauren Kurtz on vocals, Brian Chinino on drums, percussion and backing vocals, Chris Geisler on bass, percussion and backing vocals and Vee Sonnets on guitar, backing vocals and keys.

The band plays a heady mix of glam, power pop, punk, and rock n' roll and has built a reputation as a fierce live act who have graced stages at the Empty Bottle, Beat Kitchen, Liar's Club, Subterranean, Reggie's, The Hideout, and Double Door in their hometown of Chicago and have performed at the esteemed venues Berlin (NYC), Plain Dealer Pavilion (Cleveland) and Slash Run (Washington DC) while on tour.

TAFKAVince Band has opened for (and held their own against) Michael Monroe of Hanoi Rocks, The Fleshtones, The Undead featuring Bobby Steele of The Misfits, Hunx & His Punx, The Dollyrots, The Melismatics, Scott Lucas and The Married Men, Prima Donna and many other celebrated bands from the indie underground.

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Ashton Nyte - The Garden.

Singer-songwriter Ashton Nyte has just released Autumn's Children: his eighth album and second book of poetry, short stories and musings, as well as the fourth video single, "The Garden". Based in the U.S., Ashton Nyte is a South African-born composer, singer, multi-instrumentalist, writer, and producer. He has released seven solo albums as Ashton Nyte and eleven albums as The Awakening, one of South Africa's most prominent alternative rock bands.

Nyte has contributed vocals and lyrics to a number of other projects, featuring members of The Cure, Cheap Trick, Peter Murphy, The Mission, and Beauty In Chaos, among many others.

Ashton has written and performed in theatrical productions and hosted philanthropic events, including his “Rock Against Rape” concert series and presenting a lecture series at U.S. universities focusing on tolerance and acceptance. He’s worked on film scores, most recently with Ethan Gold on the movie Don't Let Go, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2019. His songs have also been featured in major television shows, including Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin (HBO Max), The Purge (USA Network), and more.

Described by music journalists as "Johannesburg's Bowie" for his widely varying musical styles and theatrical performance approach, Nyte has a released catalog of over 300 original songs and has received airplay and chart success on major independent radio stations worldwide.

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Shadwick Wilde - Floating Away.

Shadwick Wilde has released "Floating Away," the third single from his upcoming solo record Forever Home, produced by renowned Nashville drummer Ken Coomer (Billy Bragg, Will Hoge, Margo Price, Vance Joy, Al Green, Wilco and Uncle Tupelo), available everywhere September 22nd!

"My partner Sarah and I came up with the concept of this video while out on a walk in the woods together. She can do just about anything that requires a great deal of fine motor skills. We had both been imagining the paper boat playing a lead role, but the rest was all her. The theme of water comes back a lot on this record. While writing and demoing “Forever Home”, before it had a proper title, I had jokingly titled it “Waterworld” after the behemoth film that almost ruined Kevin Costner.

The parallels are difficult to ignore: both he and I nearly bankrupted ourselves to bring our apocalyptic visions into reality. I have been thinking and writing a lot about water these past few years; how Heraclitus said we can never step into the same river twice… both the human and the river being in a constant state of flux. Our bodies have roughly the same salinity as the ocean, the source of all life on Earth.

I learned a lot of letting go, in the process of making this record. We all are in this river of time, everchanging. All we can do is row, row our little boat, gently down the stream– making small adjustments to our course, but ultimately heading toward the same destination: the ocean that is eternity, the infinite vastness of the cosmos. When the waves of this life come and knock us down, we have a tendency to forget that, we too are the ocean, and that in fact everything does come in waves." - Shadwick Wilde, on "Floating Away" and its video.

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Daniel Walton - Thrillhouse - Ghost Party

Daniel Walton - Through The Glass.

An endless need for self expression has helped songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Walton focus on his creative vision as an independent artist to write and produce his debut EP titled Island: a beautiful, heartfelt collection of songs about love, loss and change.

The 28-year-old from Hamilton, ON has been involved in a handful of collaborative original bands spanning many genres (Wooly Mantis, Downstream) but “Island” is the first of many projects that are from the mind of Walton as a solo act. Being able to have full creative freedom has allowed Walton to find his voice in the songwriter space.

Reminiscent of the Laurel Canyon era of folk and singer-songwriter with a genre-blending modernism, Walton’s latest single “Through The Glass” is a drift inspiring transportive listen.

About his songwriting intent: “My goal with songwriting is to take the listener on some kind of journey, whether it may be from lyrics, music or both. To take the listener out of the present moment and into a place that feels familiar, yet new and exciting. A place that is comfortable, where the listener does not feel alone and can drift away in peace.”

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Thrillhouse - Big Tree.

Brighton duo Thrillhouse, release the intimate yet expansive new album Something About This Place, with the lead track ‘Big Tree’.

Showcasing their electrifying Alternative-Indie-come-Alternative-Country tendencies, the album further delivers on the unique sonic approach which has seen the band garner widespread acclaim from musical luminaries such as KEXP, Radio X (John Kennedy), and BBC Introducing. The brainchild of duo Sam Strawberry and Jack Nielsen, Thrillhouse gained their name as a humorous and nostalgic nod to an old Simpsons episode, but digging a little deeper, the name also evokes the yearning of being stuck in an increasingly bleak present whilst being rooted in a fragmented and pretend past.

Now releasing their hotly anticipated debut album 'Something About This Place', the band describe the 11 track release as: “A hark back to childhood - to simpler times, before ambition, failure and regret wrapped us up with our dreams and tossed us crashing back down to Earth.”

Capturing a melancholic sincerity tinged with wry humour within the captivating lyricism, the band's stylistic sound shines across the album. Heartfelt and honest vocal delivery comparable to Matt Berninger glides above intricate musical backdrops of driving drums, warming, intertwining guitar tones, sparkling synths and melodic hooks to create spellbinding, genre-bending soundscapes. Comparable to The National, Nick Cave and The War On Drugs, Thrillhouse boldly challenges the boundaries of contemporary Indie music with a post-punk flare and alternative undertones.

The new lead track ‘Big Tree’ is a perfect representation of the band's approach, blending melancholic beauty with intricate musical ideas and an underlying sense of driving energy.

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Ghost Party - Yankee Reaper.

"Yankee Reaper'' borrows its name from a Van Dyke Parks album, conveys a sense of nostalgia and loss through the guise of the surreal, and is treated with a vintage sounding gospel stomp arrangement, where barrelhouse piano, soaring pedal steel, fuzzed out guitar, and hand claps all create a ruckus, supported by the pulse of a finger picked acoustic guitar. Evocative of a psychedelic tent revival, "Yankee Reaper" suggests some sort of cosmic mashup between T.Rex and the White Album sessions. Ghost Party is joined by pedal steel master Will Van Horn, notable for his contributions to Khruangbin and Leon Bridges' latest collaborative EPs.

Ghost Party is the nostalgic, retro psych revival project of McCullough Ferguson. Mixing the ingredients of classic acts from the golden era of 60s psych and Americana music with modern interpreters as well a adding a bit of the subliminal sublime, spooky nature of the great beyond, we arrive at the Ghost Party.

Part garage rock, part cosmic country, part psych, Ghost Party came into existence in Houston Texas in 2020. As half of psychedelic rock tricksters Flower Graves, Ferguson has shared the stage with Roky Erickson, Night Beats, Holy Wave, and many more.

Ferguson is joined by Austin Sepulvado, Victor Sanchez, and Kendrick Ballard on bass, drums, and organ/keys/mellotron, respectively. They have released two singles in 2023, tracked and produced by Steve Christensen, notable for his production work with Khruangbin. Ghost Party will be releasing their first full length album this fall and will be appearing at River Revival alongside The Black Angels.

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Zach Berkman - Fast Romantics - Georgia Mooney - Bedolina

Photo - Nicole Mago

Zach Berkman - Alone.

Zach wrote "Alone" at the beginning of the end of a relationship, just when he knew he could feel something slipping away. "The verses describe a crumbling house as a metaphor for a crumbling love. The crooked pictures and fading marks of a thing untended," he says. "I thought about my grandparent’s old farmhouse where we made these recordings, left dusty and in disrepair for so long then restored and renewed, and I wondered whether you could do that with people.

I know that when I wrote the song, the chorus was meant to be sung to someone else. It’s all in the second person, but I hear and sing those lyrics now as directed to self. The repeats of the title are at once mantra, warning, and a facing of fear. If we can’t reconcile our differences, we will end up Alone."

A renowned songwriter whose compositions have been featured on ABC, NBC, The CW, Nickelodeon, The Travel Channel, and more, Zach had found himself at a crossroads artistically. He enlisted his inner circle to help him flesh out what would be his ninth LP, The Heart Of. Recorded over four days in his family's rejuvenated farmhouse in rural Michigan, these songs, which began as a quest for answers, became a beautiful celebration of the journey itself. It's a fantastic listen.

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Photo - Jen Squires

Fast Romantics - Smoke + Lightning.

Toronto duo Fast Romantics offer up another provocative new single and video, “Smoke + Lightning,” taken from their new album, Happiness + Euphoria, scheduled to be released September 29 via Postwar Records.

Fast Romantics never shy away from exploring the complicated or the contemplative. Kirty takes the lead on “Smoke + Lightning” with her ethereal vocals, and offers this insight on the track: "‘Smoke + Lightning’ was written during a time that I felt like I was being swallowed up in the most vivid dreams every night. It started to blur my waking hours with a twisted, colourful dream-life in my sleeping hours. This song is filled with stream-of-consciousness words and images that made up those dreams.”

Fast Romantics have built a reputation as tenacious musical adventurers, working their way up the mountain of classic pop songwriting, eager to carve out a piece of it for themselves. Matthew Angus and Kirty - partners on and off stage, are bringing F.R. fans, ten sprawling new songs, masterfully crafted and equally and intentionally split into two distinct sides this fall.

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Photo - Cybele Malinowski

Georgia Mooney - Full of Moon (Album).

Sydney-based polymath Georgia Mooney has just unveiled her stunning debut solo album ‘Full of Moon’. The record is a meticulously crafted sonic universe, the birth of which marks the stepping forward of a major talent. Carried by Mooney’s soaring ethereal voice over lush, cinematic soundscapes, Full of Moon features the singles ‘War Romance’, ‘Break It Off’, ‘I Am Not In A Hurry’, ‘Soothe You’ and ‘Nothing Is Forever. “Go look at your eyes, they’re full of moon” - Joni Mitchell

This album is for daydreaming. Lyrically, it yearns for connection, examining intimate human relationships, and their variations in perception and fantasy. When stories have many sides, they also have many truths. Musically, it’s a glorious and cinematic sonic fresco, holding beauty, musicality and romance in highest regard. It was recorded remotely over 18 of the strangest months in living memory, linking an all-star band based across three continents. The album grew outward in response to the physical world closing in; even the more intimate songs luxuriate in their drama.

Full of Moon’s songs were penned between All Our Exes Live in Texas tours, on solo writing trips all over the world, half on piano and half on a handmade dulcimer Mooney won in a raffle and subsequently fell in love with. Influences from every member of the Wainwright family, Joni Mitchell, the sophistication of the Great American Songbook and even classical composers sift through the songs seamlessly, alongside fuzzed out guitars and production that evokes the unsettling genius of Kate Bush. It was made during a period of global tragedy, as a way to find solace and catharsis in art and love. This record seeks someone to spend the end of the world with.

Georgia Mooney · Full of Moon

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Bedolina - Bedolina (Album).

Bedolina are thrilled to share their self-released debut album, Bedolina.  Developed at Miner Street Recordings, the album dissects society’s greatest imperfections and their effects on human nature, all with a crooked smile.

Philadelphia’s own Ken Gould is the heart and brain behind sleek new indie rockers, Bedolina. Debuting after previous singles “Yellow Boat” and “C’mon Fun”,  Bedolina continues to test the limits of conventional pop music. With jackhammer beats and smooth guitar solos that flow effervescently throughout, the record’s eight tracks each tell a unique story.

Altogether, Bedolina is an abstract musical cornucopia that channels the listener to ponder the faultiness of the digital age. Centerpieces of the album are “Cicadas” and “The Zoo”, with the former charging into a snapping drum beat with atmospheric sweeps in the background. About halfway through the track, Gould laments “This year’s gone so wrong”, allowing the listener to question what begins as a triumphant, happy-go-lucky sounding tune. Then there’s “The Zoo”, who’s purposely out of tune third chord creates an eerie sense of dissonance, further pulling the audience towards an unsettling atmosphere. Here, the crude message of human beings acting animalistic is put on display, building up to a shocking climax of shrieking and a nasal guitar tone that sounds like a hornet’s nest.

Another album highlight is the final track, “Taking the Canyon”, a saturated bass-heavy dance track that invokes classic shoegaze guitar motifs of My Bloody Valentine. The repeated refrain “Boots marching in a line” showcases the narrator’s disdain for fascist dystopia as it cascades its way into a final minute of drone-like noise. Ending the album on a just as surprising note as it begins, Bedolina show that although this is their debut, their musical gusto and expertise couldn’t be clearer.

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