Saturday, 10 February 2018

Rich Girls - The Nadas - Quicksilver Daydream - The fin.

Rich Girls - Hit.

Background - Garage/art rock trio Rich Girls share their new track, "Hit," the first single off their forthcoming debut full-length release, Black City. The album was recorded by Travis Harrison at Serious Business, Brooklyn and Sean Beresford at Blighty Sound, San Francisco. It was mastered by John Greenham at Infrasonic. Black City is due out April 6th on Tricycle Records.

Rich Girls return with a heady new pop sound and nine songs that pull their minimal garage into ambitious new territory. Songwriter Luisa Black unveils a new sonic toolkit, adding vintage synths, dark marimbas and ambitious melodies to the trademark Rich Girls verbed-out sound. The songs are awash in contrasts, veering between aggresssion and tenderness with lyrics about insurrection (“In the Street”), a power ballad about post-addiction love (“Wayne”) and the band’s biggest departure yet, a slurry synth-driven track set to a motorik beat (“Hit”). Black channels the zeitgeist of heartbreak in “Blood Brother,” a garage rock obit for America. Since their early releases, Rich Girls have pushed against genre, taking a raw garage sound and pulling it into art pop territory. Here Luisa Black’s complex sensibilities are on full display, with an album that swings hard between pop melody and punk rage. Black City is the first full-length from the NYC trio.

Rich Girls combine the polish of British art rock with the primitive energy of American garage. Dark, melodic, raw by design, the band began as the solo recording project of Luisa Black after the breakup of her San Francisco garage band The Blacks and evolved around a series of dark pop demos Black wrote while living in London. A steady stream of EPs cemented the Rich Girls high/low sound and found a small following in unexpected outposts across the UK and Europe. Often a trio, sometimes a duo, Rich Girls live create a big, urgent sound out of minimal elements. The band is based in NYC. Black City, their first full-length release, is out in April 2018 on Tricycle Records. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.


The vocals have a distant and dreamy atmospheric feel on 'Hit' whilst the music gradually adds some layers. Engaging, minimal and smooth flowing, this is a real tease for the album.

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The Nadas - Roses.

Background - 2018 will mark the 25th year of The Nadas, who just received the news that they will be inducted into the Iowa Music Hall of Fame this summer! ​They're back and better than ever.

T​he Nadas describe themselves perfectly:​ "Yes, they have been around long enough that if they were a car you would keep them covered in your garage except for sunny weekend cruising. But that isn't what is important about their story. What is important is that they make music that makes you feel things. Happy, sad, nostalgic, optimistic, energized, curious, inspired, and confused".

"The important part is that it makes you want to listen, and sometimes dance. 2018 will mark the 25th year of The Nadas. They just released their new album, the 11th studio record entitled "One Louder". At a stage where most bands would be resting on their laurels and letting others do the heavy lifting, The Nadas are out there swinging for the fences, driving the van and carrying their own instruments.​"​FACEBOOK.


The musical arrangement on 'Roses' has some gentle Americana vibes and the vocals add some passion and depth to the song. One of ten tracks on the new album this is certainly a fine indicator of the bands refined quality, they can and do, up the energy levels or take things further down tempo, collectively the music is fresh and full of hooks, pretty good for an eleventh studio album.

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Quicksilver Daydream - A Thousand Shadows, A Single Flame (EP).

Background - Quicksilver Daydream is an experimental psychedelic-folk band led by Adam Lytle. Their recordings combine brooding, surrealistic lyrics with a nebulous mix of mellotron strings, woozy synthesizers, soaring guitars, and reverberating vocals. The band draws from a deep pool of influences, owing as much to early psychedelic pioneers Pearls Before Swine and The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, as they do to the compositions of Ennio Morricone and Baudelaire.

Like the true innovators of Psychedelia, Quicksilver Daydream looks beyond tradition, creating a modern sound awash in electronic oscillations and rhythmic evocations. Employing both the mechanical and mythical, the band paints sweeping, symbolic landscapes, conjuring worlds that vibrate between the hallucinatory and nostalgic.

Formed in 2016 as a DIY recording project, the Brooklyn-based band released their debut LP Echoing Halls in June 2017. When it came to interpreting the songs live, Lytle enlisted long-time collaborators, Brett Banks (Bass), Cole Emoff (Drums), and Joey Deady (Lead Guitar). Having cut their teeth together in the band Wild Leaves, their sound crystallized immediately. Tough, tight and together.

In the fall of 2017, Quicksilver Daydream announced the follow-up EP, A Thousand Shadows, A Single Flame (released yesterday). Five-songs recorded live to tape using Lytle’s Tascam 388. Joining them along the way was synth wizard, Glenn Forsythe (Dark North). The record was mixed by Lytle and Mastered by TW Walsh (Foxygen, Damien Jurado).

Where their debut examined the inner workings of the psyche, A Thousand Shadows, A Single Flame is consumed with what lies beyond. From the expanded sonic palette, incorporating drum machines and analog synthesizers, to the energy conveyed via musicians performing live, it’s clear the band has directed its magnetic gaze outward, exploding the concept of their previous recordings on their journey towards a new horizon. It’s a step through the looking glass, a transcendental experience of the world viewed not as it is, but as it feels to be. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.


The new EP 'A Thousand Shadows, A Single Flame' comprises of five songs all of which are presented below. Psychedelic folk they claim, and in fairness that's a good a description, I might just make it folk rock as some of the music has that additional intensity.


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The fin. - Snow (again).

Background - “This one is about my weaknesses, solitude, pain and defencelessness which get revealed by winter.” In ‘Snow (again)’ Yuto Uchino proves himself to be a landscape painter whose medium is sound. The eerie cold synth lines evoke the feeling of snow on a heavy heart as Uchino’s tender melancholic voice coos through the mix like winter wind through the trees. When the beat drops it’s a moment of catharsis and self-realisation; a kaleidoscopic light shining through the desolate snow-covered earth; a moment of internal epiphany made external through Yuto’s expressionistic production nous. In two minutes Yuto conveys the dichotomous effect of external beauty on a weary and vulnerable soul, making for a poignant and clever piece of music that befits its creator’s ever expanding artistry.

The fin. are a group comprised of Yuto Uchino (vocals and synths), Ryosuke Odagaki (guitar), and Kaoru Nakazawa (drums / bass). To date, they’ve performed to thousands of rapturous fans worldwide at major festivals including Fuji Rock, SXSW and The Great Escape. In 2015, they released their debut UK EP Night Time through Lost In The Manor. Last year’s Through The Deep EP was a cleverly refined follow-up and it prefaced their decision to move to London that autumn. 


Their tenure here has seen them develop themselves artistically through collaborations writing, recording, and touring with a wealth of British artists and producers like Brad Spence, All We Are, Circa Waves, Last Shadow Puppets, Petite Noir and many more. Praise has built quickly around the group and they’ve achieved over two million Spotify plays for their stylish Europhile blend of synth-pop, chillwave and dream-pop, complete with English lyrics addressing universal themes of everyday uncertainties. The Pale Blue/Afterglow vinyl was released on September 2017. FACEBOOK.

The third appearance on Beehive Candy for The fin. albeit over a couple of years, anyhow we now have 'Snow (again)' and the band are certainly maintaining their standards. Somewhere between dream pop and very mellow shoegaze, this is a gorgeous and addictive song that ends to soon!

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Friday, 9 February 2018

Kidsmoke - Reichelt - And Then Came Fall - Darlingside - Fever High - Sharaya Summers

Kidsmoke - Sister Sadness.

Background - Dreamy Welsh indie outfit Kidsmoke present their latest melodic number Sister Sadness, blending hazy soundscapes with crisp, jangly guitar tones and hushed vocals to perfection in their first release of 2018. Taking a wistful journey through a somewhat dystopian scene, Sister Sadness draws feelings of melancholy and heartache, whilst holding on to a dreamy sense of optimism that resonates within the band’s trademark sound.

Notably incorporating the influences of Bill Ryder Jones’ Two To Birkenhead and Snail Mail’s Thinning, the quartet’s latest delicious slice of indie pop follows on from their 2017 EP Save Your Sorrow and further hints at their raw potential.

With backing on the airwaves from Steve Lamacq (BBC 6 Music Recommends Track Of The Week) alongside widespread approval from the online community (and a sync in Netflix’s Black Mirror), Kidsmoke are primed for the spotlight in the coming months with tour dates dotted across the UK. Produced by Russ Hayes (Orange Sound Recording Studio, Penmaenmawr), Kidsmoke’s Sister Sadness is released on 9th February and will be available on all digital platforms. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.

Live Dates:
16 March – William Aston Hall, Wrexham (supporting Sweet)
30 March – Telford’s Warehouse, Chester
06 April – The Finsbury, London (w/ Seazoo)
07 April – Night & Day, Manchester
25 April – Clwb lfor Bach, Cardiff (w/ Bryde)
11 May – Focus Wales, Wrexham.


There have been some fine artists and new material coming out of Wales this last year or so and Kidsmoke are no exception. 'Sister Sadness' is a charming indie song that mixes melody and feeling beautifully.

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Reichelt - Seduced By The Light Side.

Background - Reichelt is an Australian solo artist, producer & multi-instrumentalist. He’s been writing, recording and performing fiercely original songs for over 15 years. Described as ‘quirky, eclectic and emotive’ Reichelt’s music tugs at the heart, with hand-crafted arrangements and addictive melodies.

The new record Seduced by the Light Side was produced by Luke Reichelt and Guy Cooper at Serotonin Studios on the Gold Coast. Featuring the angelic vocals of Sammy Griffin, keyboards and other instruments by Ian Peres, drums from Jeff Paton and a host of Reichelt's other musical collaborators. Seduced by the Light Side is the first single off the album of the same name. The track tells of a tale of the reluctance to do the right thing. Featuring big choruses and chilled out verses, it’s sure to get stuck in your head.

“I put the album together over about a year. I’d record everything the best I could playing all the instruments and then call amazing friends in to replace bits and help me develop it.”
- Luke Reichelt. The album features a range of sounds and styles, the golden thread being a story told of self exploration.

Reichelt's work consistently articulates complex feelings effortlessly and with lyrical wit. Hopeful and in despair, each album is a mixed bag of lollies. His career has taken him around Australia and Japan and won international song writing awards. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.


Some powerful guitar licks introduce 'Seduced By The Light Side' before the song eases into a flowing beat and more refined music, the choruses occasionally ramping up the power and emotion.


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And Then Came Fall - Gambler.

Background - And Then Came Fall sounds like a crushing heat that is blown away by a deep sigh. Annelies Tanghe’s lyrics cut, carve, and scratch their way through your soul, but when wrapped up in Sam Pieter Janssens’ musical cloak, they are distilled into pure beauty. Nothing more, nothing less. About life, about love. A musical statement, eschewing all trends and hypes. 

A melancholy autumn journey that leaves you wanting more. Last, but certainly not least, there is hope here, which slowly nestles deep into your heart. This fresh start by Tanghe and Janssens has definitely given sparkle to their oeuvre. After Iza and ZeeSter, they are adding a mature chapter to their stories with And Then Came Fall.

And Then Came Fall is the musical creation of Annelies Tanghe (Iza, ZeeSter) and Sam Pieter Janssens (a.k.a. Klankman), born in Leuven (Belgium). The project was launched last summer, with four demo recordings blossoming from this. The feel was good and the numbers deserved the best framework possible. Which is why they recorded the full album in 2017 in that faithful, old tradition: live, spontaneous, and full of soul. 


Together with Koen Gisen (An Pierlé, Bony King, Sarah Ferri, and more), Steven Van Gelder on drums (Lady Linn, Tout va bien, and more), and Jasper Hautekiet on bass (The Rhythm Junks, Admiral Freebee, and more), they immortalised the songs on tape in the legendary La Patrie Studio in Ghent. Pieter Van Dessel (Marble Sounds) and An Pierlé also contributed their vocal virtuosity to the project. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.

I think it fair to say if the album is just half as good as 'Gambler' then it's gonna be a good one. The only track I have heard, this is a fresh, melodic and very pleasing indie pop of sorts.


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Darlingside - Futures.

Background - After a flying visit to the UK last week playing a sold out album launch show at The Courtyard Theatre in London, and appearing at the AMAUK (The Americana Music Associated UK) conference alongside Frank Turner, alt-folk quartet Darlingside have announced details of a new single ‘Futures’ plus a handful of UK dates for May 2018.  They’ll also release their music anticipated second album ‘Extralife' via More Doug Records/Thirty Tigers on February 23rd.

‘Extralife' finds Darlingside looking to the future, mourning the loss of our world with an almost post-apocalyptic view. While the subject matter may seem bleak, ‘Extralife' is not without an underlying sense of hope and optimism.  New single ‘Futures’ find the band look forward; While the future might be undefined, depending on what we do right now everything shifts. We have the ability to change the scenes that are ahead of us, for better or for worse, by acting now. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.

UK Dates:

May 11th - Manchester Night & Day Cafe
May 13th - The Hubs, Sheffield. 


Darlingside are one very polished band. The music is tight and refined on 'Futures' and the vocals and harmonies just add that extra special vibe or feeling, that makes a song standout.


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Fever High - Good Advice ft. Jeff Goldblum.

Background - Brooklyn's Fever High released their video for "Good Advice (ft. Jeff Goldblum)." The duo are multi-instrumentalists Reni Lane and Anna Nordeen.

Reni explains of the Jeff Goldblum connection, “I knew Jeff through our mutual friend Vincent D’Onofrio. We bonded over our mutual love of jazz piano and stayed in touch. When we sent him ‘Good Advice’ and asked him to improvise something, to my delight he sent us an 8 minute rant of hilarious anecdotes about bad advice he’d been given in his career.”

FHNY continues the band's collaboration with Adam Schlesinger (Fountains Of Wayne, Ivy) who also produced their debut EP All Work. Reni says, "After releasing All Work, we entered a new stage where we really honed our sound, lyrics, and mood... the new batch of songs takes everything to the next level." Adds Anna, "We want to sing about things we really feel and have fun at the same time."

After releasing the All Work EP, Fever High began to play live, with Adam and drummer Brad Wentworth joining Anna and Reni onstage for a run of club shows, as well as a string of dates supporting synthpop pioneers Book Of Love. They found radio support from influential stations like Los Angeles' KCRW and Austin's KUTX, and their songs showed up in numerous films and TV shows, including the CW comedy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Netflix’s To The Bone, and three songs in the 2017 film Fun Mom Dinner. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.


Fever High impressed us back in November with 'Casting My Spell' a song we commented on with the statement "The production quality gives away that this is a more recent song, the style however is timeless & gorgeous". With the new video for 'Good Advice' it's more of the same, which will do for me!


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Sharaya Summers - Wonder.

Background - Portland native, Sharaya Summers, tells a story of disillusionment, dysfunction and discovery. As her debut single ‘Light of the Moon’ rapidly gained over half a million streams on Spotify, she prepares to release her full EP in mid 2018.

She's kicked off the new year with a sold-out show opening for Jaws of Love (Local Natives), a feature interview in OC Weekly and a premiere of her lead single "Wonder" on BIRP.FM! FACEBOOK.


From the opening moments 'Wonder' has a gorgeously seductive feel to it, with a level of emotion and sentiment that exudes warmth and feels just so personal, this just begs for another listen...

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Wednesday, 7 February 2018

Varvara - Martha Ffion - Amaroun - Berries

Varvara - Anxiety.

Background - Varvara have released their new single 'Anxiety' and announce the new album 'Go'. Varvara from Hamina, South-East Finland have come a long way since the release of their debut album back in 2011. Varvara was originally formed by main songwriter and guitarist-vocalist Mikko Kiri in 2007 when moving back to his old childhood neighborhood after studies around Finland. Mikko wanted to start a band that would locate in Hamina and gather its’ influences from the late 90s and early 2000s; a period he had first gotten actively involved in music.

Soon Mikko found himself among friends and decided to name the band after a statue they used to gather round before nights of misbehaving. Varvara Schantin (1870-1941), the hometown hero who that statue represents, was born in Russia but became an important figure in the small town of Hamina. Schantin handed out food and refreshments to soldiers as they were preparing for war and their possible date with destiny. Varvara's beginnings were humble, but the band quickly became more than a friendly pastime as demo releases became picked up on by various sections of the Finnish music media. With the help of an old friend Tommi Muhli, Varvara helped establish Haminian Sounds, a collective of musicians which releases music from local acts including Varvara and organizes events to cheer up the small town’s nightlife.

Since then Varvara's output, three albums and an EP, has slowly been recognized as a distinctive collection that harnesses diverse influences into a unique sound. The 2016 album ”Death Defying Tricks” was the bands first release actively promoted outside Finland. The album represented a self-confident band with an exceptional sense of melody amongst a series of quirky details. Combining off kilter rock shapes to straight-up rock, Death Defying Tricks collected nothing but praise in domestic and international rock media. Following the release the band also made their first shows outside the Finnish borders.

Now Varvara is ready to unleash their upcoming fourth full-length album ”GO” to be released February 2018 under their own Haminian Sounds imprint. The new album ”GO” as a whole is about that moment when summer turns into autumn. This reality hits you right in the face reminding that the calm and relaxation of summer is over. From time to time there is a strong contrast between energetic rock tracks and gloomy lyrics. Produced and mostly recorded by the band themselves ”GO” offers an intriguing mix of aggressive garage and melodic rock sounds. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.


We have featured Varvara once before getting on for a year ago, and now we have a foretaste of the bands new 'Go' album with the single 'Anxiety'. This is one of those songs that is energised and addictive from the opening moments, alt rock in nature and with some edge, the album is looking good.

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Martha Ffion - Take Your Name.

Background - Irish-born, and now Glasgow based singer-songwriter Martha Ffion has announced her eagerly anticipated debut LP entitled 'Sunday Best’ which is released 9th March 2018 on Turnstile Music. 'Take Your Name' is the first single to be announced from 'Sunday Best'.

'Sunday Best' is by far her most adventurous and accomplished work to-date, the lush instrumentation bringing her detailed lyrical vision to life. Through a series of gleaming guitar-pop songs that drift between soft-centered balladry and something altogether more cutting and forceful. It’s perhaps true to say that our relationship with music is steered solely by connection. Sometimes that’s a very direct thing; the words we sing along to relatable to our own desires and experiences. Occasionally, however, it manifests itself in other ways, a captivation drawn from something we can’t conveniently place or pigeon-hole; songs and sentiments we watch from afar, trying to find a way inside.

Martha Ffion’s work has always flourished within the latter of these two paths. While her Irish roots and current home city of Glasgow have undoubtedly informed her work, so many of her songs resonate all the more for feeling wildly devoid of time and place, an alluring cast of characters drifting in and out of focus, each one examining Ffion’s own thoughts on what it means to be “good” in a society that has such determined expectations.

Her debut album, ‘Sunday Best’, spans the first songs she properly wrote to her most recent compositions, and is by far her most adventurous and accomplished work to-date, the lush instrumentation bringing her detailed lyrical vision to life through a series of gleaming guitar-pop songs that drift between soft-centred balladry and something altogether more cutting and forceful. Recalling the work of Sharon Van Etten and Jenny Lewis, while still sounding thrillingly distinct, ‘Sunday Best’ is a formidable coming-of-age record, and one that stands as a truly accomplished debut. FACEBOOK.

Live Dates - March 2018
Wednesday 7th - Cardiff - Clwb Ifor Bach
Thursday 8th - London - The Waiting Room
Friday 9th - Edinburgh - Sneaky Pete's
Saturday 10th - Glasgow - Mono
Sunday 11th - Newcastle - Think Tank.


It's a very welcome second feature for Martha Ffion and another fabulous taster for her forthcoming 'Sunday Best' album, this time with 'Take Your Name'. Melodic dream pop, with a timeless feel that could be decades old and yet it's fresh and beautiful, love it!


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Amaroun - Made A Fire.

Background - Peckham, London newcomer Amaroun's new single is a slice of soul infused indie-pop titled ‘Make A Fire’. Amaroun (singer-songwriter Jay Brown) joined the highly acclaimed Communion Presents stable of artists in December – a natural fit for her unique brand of electronic soul-tinged guitar pop.

Of ‘Made A Fire’, Jay says: “The song was written in a heightened state, in the aftermath of my coming out. It’s a narrative progression from my previous single ‘Bed Bugs’, where I was deep in confusion, distraction and escapism. In ‘Made A Fire’ I’ve found clarity in the thrill of meeting someone new. When you find that person and there’s this instant connection you can’t deny, it’s something that’s hard to describe. This song is simply gratitude in musical form for that person and that feeling.

Currently working with artists including Charles Watson (Slow Club), LA Salami, Adam French, Fyfe Dangerfield (Guillemots) and Francobollo on a forthcoming recording project, Amaroun headlines Archspace in London on March 6th and is confirmed for this year’s Liverpool Sound City festival. FACEBOOK.


'Made Of Fire' is immediately catchy indie pop infused with melodic hooks and plenty of soulful feeling. One of those songs that would make any music radio play-list all the better for it's inclusion.


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Berries - Faults.

Background - Berries’ new single “Faults” is the second single from their much-anticipated upcoming EP. ‘Faults’ showcases the fresh, surprising alt-rock sound that they have become well known for. Laced with Holly’s brooding vocals and tongue-in-cheek lyrics, Faults is both relatable and unexpected and sarcastically plays with those all-too-familiar battles of independence, responsibility and unrealistic expectations.

Berries are an alt/rock trio known for their energetic shows and original take on riff-driven rock. Their upbeat melodies and cool guitar riffs, powerful bass lines and distinct drum beats have earned them regular support from Tom Robinson at BBC 6 Music, John Kennedy at Radio X, Jim Gellatly and Shell Zenner at Amazing Radio and Gary Crowley at BBC London Intro where they were recently featured guests. They have also been selected by Fender as one of their top ten favourite new acts and have been picked up by Fred Perry Subculture, Record Collector Magazine and most recently Lock Magazine. Berries spent the past year travelling the UK playing various shows and festivals including a sold-out show in Manchester for Scruff of The Neck, Tramlines Fringe, Head For The Hills, Camden Rocks Festival and Kazoopa and ended the year with a sold out headline show in London.

Holly from the band explains, “Faults is the latest release from our second EP. We feel this track showcases a different side to us, we have taken our sound in a different direction. We always aim to write music that is exciting live, which means our set is full of very diverse songs that try to keep the audience on their toes! Faults still has all the energy and breakdowns that we love but with an added eerie, bluesy element in the verses”. FACEBOOK.

Upcoming Tour Dates
March 2nd – Liverpool, Popped Music Presents, Sound
March 3rd – Manchester, Scruff of The Neck Presents, Aatma
March 16th – London, Camden Assembly Scruff of The Neck Presents
March 23rd – Brighton, Scruff of The Neck Presents, Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar
April 11th – London, Mark Beaumont Presents at The Monarch
May 12th – Hanwell Hootie Festival.


Alt rock with a few other similar genres circling around, Berries are refreshing to hear and 'Faults' is a natural and unpretentious rocker, one that makes the upcoming EP a very attractive prospect.

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Tuesday, 6 February 2018

Michelle Mandico - Therese Lithner - Croatia

Michelle Mandico - Ptarmigan.

Background - Nashville singer-songwriter Michelle Mandico has a new single entitled “Ptarmigan” (named for a northern grouse of mountainous and Arctic regions, with feathered legs and feet and plumage that typically changes to white in winter) which was released recently.

Colorado native Michelle Mandico traded in snowy slopes as a ski instructor for the warm sounds of Nashville to deepen her career as a writer and musician. Encouraged by a musical family, Michelle grew up singing with her sisters before learning to play piano at age five and she began songwriting shortly after. Her music is comparable to contemporary artists like Ingrid Michaelson and true classics such as Joni Mitchell.

Mandico’s onstage charisma blossomed in Denver's live music scene and she has headlined notable venues, including Los Angeles' Hotel Cafe, Denver's Lost Lake and The Basement in Nashville. In 2015 Michelle released Half Captive , a piano-pop EP produced by Jacob Schrodt. The EP’s second track, “Give It Up,” was featured on Nashville Indie Spotlight 2017. In April 2017 her song “Name Game” (an soul pop duet with Drew Southwell of Trove) aired on Bravo's Imposters. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.


The song opens with a gentle acoustic arrangement and Michelle Mandico's sensitive and personal vocals just shine on 'Ptarmigan'. The soundtrack builds a little, however it's the fetching vocals that rightly retain centre stage.

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Therese Lithner - Drown.

Background - With a past in bands like Vaken and My Sound Of Silence, Therese Lithner was an active part of Umeå's flourishing music scene in the early 2010's. To begin writing songs for a solo project wasn't an obvious choice or any direct plan but fell more like a coincidence. 

It was during a session in the rehearsal room, when it suddenly was as the 90s shined through and old childhood idols got free play. With reverb on vocals and guitar, Therese began improvising material, wrote three songs on pure inspiration and recorded them on her mobile phone. Somehow they felt different and the idea of ​​a solo project began to take shape.

After Therese moved down to Stockholm, she started playing with Andreas Sandberg (Magic Potion) in a rehearsal space south of the city. Together with co-producer Linus Johansson (Folkvang, Earthquake, Nightcraft, Old Amica, etc.), the work started with the material that now has resulted in an EP, set for release this spring via Lazy Octopus Records. First single 'Drown' has now been released. The song is a journey through a relationship, it's about the feeling of first wanting to hug the breath out of everything thats beautiful and then let it fall apart. FACEBOOK.


There is a positive and engaging rhythmic musical vibe that underpins 'Drown', an indie rock track that provides plenty of room for Therese Lithner's vocals, to glide and add some melodic and soothing vibes.

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Croatia - Make Circles.

Background from Croatia - We’re Croatia, a synth-pop group from Victoria, British Columbia. Taking heavy influence from the revolutionary sounds of 80’s era pop and electronic groups, we aim to create our own meaningful - and at times darker - alternative to conventional pop music. We’re excited to share with you the video for our new single, “Make Circles”. The first track off of our forthcoming Half Dreams EP set to be released this spring, and the first to be released with our new vocalist.

“Make Circles” is a song celebrating the ridiculous and cliché moments of intimacy that we often end up in despite our best efforts, and the potentially beautiful outcomes that they might offer. We wanted to reflect those themes in the video as simply as possible, while keeping each scene and visual engaging. Rob Willey at Tall Grass Films understood our vision from the very beginning, and really encouraged us to run with the idea.

“The band first approached me with the idea of the opening shot: a cigarette burning in a kind of David Lynch style motel room. The original plan was to simply shoot various hands picking up the cigarette. We'd also shoot a few different images to overlay, including one of the band in the pink/blue light that I had set up. As soon as I saw the band in the light I became really excited about how vibrant it looked. We came up with a variety of ideas for shots on the fly as we were filming. During the editing process I wanted to cut and overlay the images together in a way that would really enhance the moodiness of the song.” - Rob Willey (Tall Grass Film)

The writing and recording process behind “Make Circles” was a quick and natural one for us, along with our decision to release the song alongside it’s visuals. The theme of last minute decision making, and trust in how things will actualize, truly runs throughout the entirety of the song. Whether it’s trusting that a new relationship is worth pursuing, or that 4 hours with a group of strangers, cheap cigarettes, and a small garage in the peak of summer will result in something worth sharing with people. FACEBOOK.


Some potent synths open 'Make Circles' before the beats quickly kick in. The vocals are charismatic and give the song some added edge, and then we have the video that gives a further dimension to the piece, ensuring collectively it's a winner.


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Monday, 5 February 2018

The Loons - Malena Zavala - Tenderfoot

The Loons - Blue Ether / Saturday's Son.

Background - In this click bait, flavor of the month, short attention span world, The Loons are an anomaly. Their records and live performances have commanded the attention of a devoted tribe of fans for twenty years and counting. In that time they’ve made four albums, a bunch of singles, and played gigs in more cities around the world than they can keep count of. They’ve collaborated with original ‘60s music icons like Glenn Ross Campbell of the Misunderstood, Dick Taylor of the Pretty Things, Randy Holden of the Sons of Adam and Blue Cheer, and Michael Stuart-Ware of Love. The Loons have grown and evolved but never compromised, remaining fiercely committed to the untamed spirit and creativity of ‘60s garage, freakbeat and psychedelia.

After fifteen years with the same lineup, they have a musical chemistry that is practically telepathic. Mike Stax, who also publishes Ugly Things magazine, is the lead singer.  Anja Stax plays bass and sings backing vocals. Marc Schroeder and Chris Marsteller play guitars. Mike Kamoo is the drummer and producer.

Mike Stax was already a veteran of several other San Diego bands, including the Crawdaddys and the Tell-Tale Hearts, when he first formed the Loons in 1997. Ebbot Lundberg of the Soundtrack of Our Lives produced the group’s debut album, Love’s Dead Leaves, released by Get Hip Records in 1998. Anja joined on bass after relocating to California from London, where she’d been playing with the Diaboliks, and the rest of the lineup clicked into place soon afterwards.

The Paraphernalia album was released in 2004, followed by Red Dissolving Rays of Light in 2010, which included two tracks with Glenn Campbell of the Misunderstood on steel guitar, and Inside Out Your Mind in 2015. All were recorded at Kamoo’s Earthling Studios in El Cajon, which is outfitted with some of the finest vintage analogue recording gear known to man, including the original eight-track machine from Sunset Sound used to record landmark records by Love, the Buffalo Springfield, the Doors, Clear Light, and Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band.

The Loons catalog is anthologized on an exclusive cassette compilation, Diamonds, Garbage & Gold: The Best of the Loons, released on Burger Records in November 2017. Their song As the Raven Flies can be heard in the recent movie Dances With Werewolves, directed by Donald Glut and Dan Golden. They will be touring in Spain and Italy in March and April of 2018.

The Loons new single, Blue Ether b/w Saturday’s Son, is due for release on Dirty Water Records in March 2018.The A-side is a driving, psychedelic-infused number designed, like all Loons songs, to move your mind as well as your feet. The title and lyrics refer to the elusive, mystical realm where all creative inspiration resides, somewhere between the conscious and unconscious mind. “Saturday’s Son,” originally recorded by the Sons of Adam, has been in the Loons’ live set for years, and having reshaped it, they felt it was time to commit it to vinyl. FACEBOOK.


We have both sides of the forthcoming vinyl single to enjoy, 'Blue Ether' and 'Saturday's Son' are psychedelically gorgeous. Timeless, this could be pure sixties psychedelic glory, the quality of production tells us it's more modern, whatever, it's a feast of sonic delight, enjoy!


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Malena Zavala - Could You Stay.

Background - Last year’s singles ‘Should I Try’ and ‘If It Goes’ showcased Malena Zavala’s inventive new sound. Fusing Latin rhythms with her dulcet vocals, they announced a vital new voice unshackled from the conventions of indie rock. The Argentine born London raised artist, producer and filmmaker is now set to release debut album ‘Aliso’ and new cut ‘Could You Stay’ adds new layers to her exuberant artistry which has already been championed by LOBF, Wonderland, Nylon and much more.  

Born into a family of creatives, Malena draws inspiration from the women in her family and small town in the north of Argentina; from the strong Latino character of her Mother honoured in If It Goes, to her maverick Grandmother who in particular encourages a free-thinking approach.

"Every person in my family is truly unique to me and I draw inspiration from different parts of their life and ideology. I'm really lucky to have people around me that let me be me"

Malena was in a band with her brother for five years before he took an opportunity to move to California, a life dream of his. Whilst in the UK, he was a strong musical influence as an older sibling, and would educate her in his music taste, instrumentation technique, songwriting and recording styles. Losing her mentor, although hard at first, was a vital step for her to step out of the shadows. She holed herself up in his house in Aliso Viejo, California and in a surge of energy and desire to prove herself, wrote most of her first LP in a couple of weeks - within 6 months she had recorded, produced, mixed* (with Gareth Jones*), completed all the art, visuals and videos.

"It's really satisfying to find a way to express yourself and get things off your chest that have been there for years, I’m really glad I found it and kinda surprised as well. I'm finally at peace." FACEBOOK.


The musical arrangement for 'Could You Stay' is seductive enough and beautifully produced. Marlena's vocals are more than capable of matching and adding to the piece, this is beautiful, simply beautiful.

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Tenderfoot - Break Apart.

Background - Tenderfoot’s gorgeous debut album Break Apart is now out, along with its limited-edition white vinyl courtesy of Seattle’s Porchlight Records. To celebrate its release, the dreamy lo-fi folk quartet released a emotional video for the album’s title track “Break Apart” this week.

Tenderfoot will be celebrating the album’s release in each of their respective hometowns; their native Seattle (where the band was formed and where 3/4 of the band still resides), and Brooklyn, where frontman Adam Kendall Woods recently moved. The Seattle show is happening at the Sunset Tavern on February 8th, with two of their favorite local bands supporting, Cumulus and Whitney Ballen, and the Brooklyn show will be taking place on March 16th at C’mon Everybody.

Tenderfoot started out as a solo project on the highways and back roads of the US, when Woods and his partner lived on the road for a year in a vintage camper trailer towed behind a Volkswagen Rabbit pickup truck. After several months on the road, the two men found themselves feeling stranded, frightened, and falling out of love. Woods ultimately moved on, and began pouring his heart and soul into Tenderfoot’s early recordings. With an unabashedly romantic, experimental approach to songwriting and the lush dynamics of a full band, Break Apart encompasses the loss of loved ones, health scares, and strained relationships. The album is a constellation between these moments of turbulence and heartache, but with the hopeful glow of found family. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.


The first of eight tracks on the bands debut album 'Break Apart' sets standards high & what follows is more than equal to that benchmark. Musically the band create fabulous textures and do vary the mood, whilst retaining a core vibe that is somewhere around dream pop and folk rock, and all points between.


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Sunday, 4 February 2018

Canary Islands - Everett Bird - Bryde

Canary Islands - Glöm Baby Glöm.

Background - Swedish Canary Islands, consisting of members from Animal Five, are now en route to a new album release.

They have previously released music under their own format ”3P”: 3 songs, recorded in 3 days, released as a long triple song.They released 3 of these 3P’s in one year.

”Glöm baby Glöm” is the first single from their upcoming album, and it’s a straight forward and dreamy pop song:

”Glöm baby Glöm' is about a person that breaks up with someone they love above all because they deserve that kind of love.” - Martin von Inghardt. FACEBOOK.


'Glöm Baby Glöm' is a smooth flowing indie pop song that is beautifully crafted. The vocals are natural and pleasing regardless of any language barrier, the music is vibrant and equally charming.

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Everett Bird - Bucket of Dark Meat.

Background from Everett Bird - We’re Everett Bird, a Montreal-based trio who are very stoked to be releasing our debut record, People Person, through Royal Mountain Records on February 23rd. We’re sharing the first song that we wrote for the album “Bucket of Dark Meat.”

“Bucket of Dark Meat” is about that feeling of anxiety that takes over when it seems like everyone is being more productive than you. On the other end,  it’s a song about suppressing that feeling with things that make you happy.

Fueled by Guru Energy Drinks, Pilsners and twenty years of friendship, People Person was written in an old Montreal apartment. Everett drank so much Gru that we actually turned purple. To fill out the line up, we picked up Mikey Arcidiacono. After catching him slappin' and tappin' on the razorback at Guitar World, we knew that he was the missing link. 


The album was recorded at Montreal’s Breakglass Studios with Jace Lasek (Besnard Lakes, SUUNS), where each session wrapped up with celebratory 306’s (Pilsners) and stogies. The album we created meshes rock, jazz, and R&B, with overtones of punk and garage – pairs well with liquor and a bucket of dark meat in the park. FACEBOOK.

With a title like 'Bucket of Dark Meat' your halfway to being featured, just make sure the song is up to scratch! This is a creative and very catchy track, the ideas, the twists and turns make it very addictive, the album is awaited with intrigue & expectation.

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Bryde - To Be Brave.

Background - After setting up her label Seahorse Music to publish records by like-minded women and help make them more visible in a male-dominated industry, Bryde finished up her debut LP Like An Island flitting between London and LA. Exploring themes of independence, liberation, and relationships, her inimitable brand of candid indie rock is realised with mixing help from Catherine Marks (Wolf Alice, PJ Harvey and St Vincent), and mastering by Mandy Parnell.

Lyrically, London based Bryde finds intense internal poetry in everyday adversity. While concentrating thematically on life and human interaction, her songwriting persona wears her bruised yet resolute heart on her sleeve.

For the Wales-born songwriter, it’s not just the technical precision of her lyrics that resonate with a widening fanbase, it’s also her vocal delivery. On her latest song To Be Brave Bryde’s voice carries us beyond the imprecision of words into feelings we all know but can’t delineate.

As she says: “To Be Brave was written as kind of a soft squeeze of the hand to many friends who have, like me, been through many a dark period and put on a brave face and just got on with it. It’s a comment about how we all live out certain episodes of our lives in such a public setting these days that I feel we almost edit them to appear flawless, nothing but smiles.”

To Be Brave is a shock to the system of preconceived notions about the style of artist Bryde is. She’s rock and roll for sure, but protean and poetic, a rocker in the vein of Patti Smith. 'Like An Island' comes out on Bryde's own label Seahorse Music on the 13 of April and will be available to preorder. Support in the form of Women Make Music fund from PRS has been awarded to assist its release. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.


Time flies, I new we had featured Bryde before, in fact it was back in 2016, still it's good to welcome her back with the new song 'To Be Brave'. The vocals are captivating and just feel so personal, the music gradually builds without dominating, however it does become quite epic, the mood and feeling completes the circle.

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Saturday, 3 February 2018

TALMA - Blakk Pearl - Ecstatic Union

TALMA - In Circles.

Background - With its urgent ticking drums and syncopated bass lines, ‘In Circles’ is a canny sleight of hand from London alt-rock band TALMA. Frontman Henry Adams’ vocal line pairs with guitarist James Creed’s lyrics and arrangement to create a tune which effervesces with heady romance and nostalgia. As James explains: "In Circles is about the sense of apathy we can experience when returning to a routine lifestyle after time away from it all - the everyday, the mundane.

Where the loss of rhythm helps us to see what’s before us with renewed perspective, it can ultimately lead us to question it too. We all crave a sense of purpose, but affecting a change towards that offers the unknown. We then have a choice; to resign ourselves to the security of these sleepless cycles or to take a chance, step away from paths well known and chase a new sense of meaning."

The second EP from London based TALMA, Out To Sea sees the alt-rock 5 piece produce some of their most powerful and intricate works to date. Taking inspiration from rock music’s most innovative artists including Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The National and Radiohead, the EP is defined by the dexterity of its guitar led arrangements and a poignant lyrical anxiety regarding the modern world. 


Themes of loneliness, isolation and upheaval are explored with a sense of romantic optimism, showcasing a musical offering that proves that TALMA aren’t just another glib or fanciful indie group. Like their heroes, they’re conscious of the power of rock as an art form primed to tackle timeless concepts and get to the heart of what it means to be alive and to be human. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.

We featured 'Lifeline' by TALMA back in December and are pleased to share another track from their 'Out To Sea' EP entitled 'In Circles'. This is another very fine alt rocker, the band are tight and vibrant, the vocals are distinctive giving the song  further individuality & the EP matches the calibre of the tracks we have shared.

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Blakk Pearl - Cowboy.

Background - London born, France resident singer Blakk Pearl released her debut single 'Cowboy' at the end of last year. Sleek and commodious and driven by a subtle backbeat and a warm marimba sound, the track perfectly showcases Blakk Pearl’s haunting, mellifluent tones floating atop a lush and otherworldly dreamscape.

Blakk Pearl has now shared a video for her debut single, a video she has put together herself: "I love 1930's era cut-out animation, and when I came across this clip of these beautiful trio of fairies trying to help a soldier, who had lost his way in the woods, I knew it was the perfect video for 'Cowboy.' It tells the story of 'Cowboy' so beautifully and delicately, and in such a feminine way".

Blakk Pearl grew up in North London and moved to Devon when she was a young teenager, where she would watch her, by now absent, father on US TV shows and hear of his activities in LA as a manager of NWA.

She now lives in a convent just outside Toulouse in France. Having rebuilt it from a ruin, it serves as her creative hub and sanctuary. Blakk Pearl divides her time between Toulouse, London and Paris. WEBSITE.


Soft melodic and captivating vocals make 'Cowboy' attractive from the opening moments. The musical arrangement is subtle and yet detailed, this is a gorgeous debut song.


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Ecstatic Union - Desert Queen.

Background - Ecstatic Union's sound is like a liquid sun-soaked harmony layered psychedelic dance party. Started in 2012 as a kind of solo-spiritual-folk-rock recording project by frontman Rex Costello, after assembling a few core members (including Oliver Hart & recording partner Paul Olsen) the band took on various forms over the years and primarily played as an acoustic folk act. In 2015, while living in his home town on Catalina Island, Costello recorded what would become Ecstatic Union's second full length album (released 2017 on Lolipop Records).

Over the next year he assembled the band into a complete electrifying 5-piece psychedelic-rock outfit in support of the release. The core members include Rex Costello (Guitar/Vocals), Oliver Hart (2nd Guitar/vocals), Solange Kupersmid (Bass/Vocals), & Bradley Cluff (Organ/Synth/Vocals). The band now primarily resides in Los Angeles, CA where they recently recorded the Neurons EP.

Look out for the Neurons EP, set for release early this summer! BANDCAMP, FACEBOOK.


The music is punchy psych rock, the vocals take the psychedelic vibes even higher and 'Desert Queen' quickly grabbed my attention, this is a band that deliver potent rock & roll.

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Friday, 2 February 2018

Late TV - PBSM - Sofia Härdig

Late TV - Losin’ It.

Background - Amidst the cultural detritus of television’s after hours rises a freaky new street beat played by London’s Late TV. Culling influences from jazz cats and art rockers, B-movies and trash television, via Lynch and Tarantino, Late TV are the moonlighting house band for a surreal all-night dream club where the intangible dance floor shifts and folds to become the set piece of a talk show beamed onto the farthest reaches of your channel selector. Helmed by Luke J Novak, who hails from the slabbed post-industrial backwater of Kidderminster, Late TV originates from a folk noir group formed by Luke and Richard ‘The Showman’ Bowman, a drummer whose restless search for groove quickly outgrew their genre.

Joined by Chicago’s jazz fusion obsessed Ryan Szanyi on bass, Parisian keyboard maestro Martin Coxall, tenor sax player Evesham Nicholas, and Matthew Halsall (whose bionic heart valve’s separate mic-detectable rhythms occasionally cause problems in the studio), their new outfit Late TV harks back to a time when music was all fearless fusion and intractable improvisation. In the postmodern wastelands of pop they’re the high-brow/low-brow mutant junk dwellers, collecting the shards of our fragmented culture and building something both irresistibly dangerous and dangerously irresistible.

"It came together as an abstract meditation on that element of the human condition that’s always searching for something unattainable, possibly because it doesn’t exist. But we are playing a game, and we are destined to lose it.”

After the triumph of last year’s ‘Citizen’ single, Late TV have crafted a thematic companion of sorts in ‘Losin’ It’. The rhythm section’s grooves will seize your jiving body back into their neon dreamworld, a lurid post-pop-culture dystopia where the fundamental human quest for the ineffable is realised in surrealistic paranoiac lyricism and jazz parlour instrumentation. Sonically, ‘Losin’ It’ can best be described, in the words of the late Bowie, as ‘plastic soul’ - the Thin White Duke’s epithet for the kind of jazzy avant-garde funk & roll of Young Americans. As Late TV’s recent output suggests, there’s still a space for organic ensemble songwriting in a growingly disposable sonic landscape. Maybe that’s their grand irony. Named after the most disposable form of entertainment for the pre-internet generation, they’re here to remind us that everything has the potential to live on indefinitely, whether that’s trash TV, or a song you can really lose it to. FACEBOOK.


A funky riff is quickly followed by additional layers of Jazz rich instrumentation. The vocals liven the song up even further and 'Losin’ It' is quickly pummelling hooks galore into my ears, upbeat and gorgeous hooks.


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PBSM - Dance Floor (feat. Adrianne Haslet).

Background - Danish alt-rock duo PBSM recently dropped their second EP 'Dance Floor' - a five track release that has given them a staunch reputation as a contemporary danceable, dark and cold duo offering a perfect soundtrack for going clubbing incognito. PBSM are now ready to reveal the video for the EP’s title track which features TED Talk star and Boston Marathon survivor, the All-American dancer, Adrianne Haslet. Adrianne perfectly complements the theme of the song that revolves around going to your happy place, and portrays her battle in getting back to the dance floor after losing her left leg in the tragic Boston Marathon bombings in 2013.

The song initially took form in a basement in Kreuzberg, Berlin where the duo had arranged for a jam and recording session with British, drummer Joe Dilworth (Stereolab, Cavern of Anti-matter). Upon returning to Copenhagen PBSM finished up the recordings and further assistance on the drums was provided by Lasse Herbst (Fallulah, Spektr, Choir of Young Believers).

The film production company Mellow CPH got involved and the idea of bringing in a dancer as the main character telling the story of the song was born. PBSM explain, “We reached out to American dancer Adrianne Haslet to hear if she by any chance would consider flying out to star in our music video. Which she did. And since being told that there was a one in a million chance of ever dancing again after she lost her leg in 2013 she has been struggling to get back to the dance floor - determined to beat the odds. Which she did.”

In 2015, Adrianne danced the foxtrot on the Boston Marathon finish line, in 2016 she crossed that finish line as a runner, and now she appears in PBSM’s music video for their new single “Dance Floor.” In the video, Adrianne shows off her talent, but doesn’t shy away from the difficult (but necessary) parts of healing. When sharing her story, Adrianne is very open about her struggles with the anger and depression that come along with the grieving process, along with her constant striving for progress. These themes come across clearly and poetically in the video as we see Adrianne’s low points intersperse her beautiful, graceful movements. FACEBOOK.


There is an inspiring story line that accompanies 'Dance Floor,' so much so that, the song and video are intrinsically linked. The music is refined and flowing in it's own right, the vocals add additional feel, collectively this deserves to be seen and heard.


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Sofia Härdig - Illuminate.

Background - Sofia Härdig’s radiant new single, “Illuminate,” is a fitting addition to the 80’s-themed Drive soundtrack.  Deep glowing synths and echoing vocals take the wheel on a late-night cruise. The track builds with subtle guitar rhythms that scream at times like screeching tyres. Lyrically, the song explores loneliness and a seemingly endless search for “another heart”. Driving through the night, she looks skyward to navigate the road to a new love. It’s a contemplative rocktronica song that demonstrates Sofia’s tight control over her craft.

Sofia Härdig lives up to her “rocktronica” reputation with her new single, “Illuminate”. Championed by Belle and Sebastian’s Stevie Jackson, she has worked with major Swedish artists including Grammy Award winners The Hellacopters and bob hund. Furthermore, she has collaborated with Yoshimi from Japanese noise-rockers Boredoms and the alternative indie band Free Kitten. Sofia’s experimental nature shines through with her new material that blends rock and electronic influences.

“I worked with the song Illuminate alone in my studio for many long, lonesome nights. It was just the studio, the stars and I, while I played all the instruments, made the soundscape and recorded the single in solitude. Later, I invited over some friends to improvise over the track. Guitarist John Essing and bass player Mats Hellquist, both from the band ‘bob hund’, but also a classical pianist and cellist respectively, added parts to the soundscape of Illuminate. I brought all the new recordings back into the studio - tore them apart, rebuilt them and made arrangements, as if I was a mad scientist in my lab. I then brought in Jari Haapalainen to produce the songs. The solitary fashion in which Illuminate was crafted reflects the mood of the single.” – Sofia Härdig. FACEBOOK.


We featured Sofia Härdig a couple of times back in 2016 and she makes a welcome return with  'Illuminate'. Powerful synths and a determined beat make a gorgeous backdrop for her intoxicating vocals, as the song merges elements of rock with swathes of electronica.

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Thursday, 1 February 2018

The Golgis - Sol Heilo

The Golgis - Mr Fisher.

Background - The Golgis, an Alternative Folk band from the Worthing/Brighton area of the south of England, release their debut single 'Mr Fisher' on 9th March 2018. This debut single from the band is a quintessentially English slice of quirky Jazz Folk replete with saxophone solo and melody horn parts. The song is an infectious and accessible introduction to the band's sound ahead of the release of their album, which is slated for release in early summer.

Mr Fisher was written by The Golgis' Tony Whiting about a work colleague. Whiting cites The Beatles as the reason he first picked up a guitar and began to write songs. "Lindisfarne, Caravan, Syd Barrett and the Barrettless Pink Floyd had a lot to do with it as well" he explains.

Ade Fettucini also writes songs for The Golgis, characterised by weird time signatures and unlikely key changes. "I always think he is the Lennon to my McCartney" says Whiting. "We help each other out with harmony vocals on each others songs. He can play a lot more instruments than me, such as flute, bagpipes, recorders, and teapot, all of which we experiment with. He can also juggle while riding a unicycle. I think musically we are quite different, which is probably why it works so well."

Saxophonist Richard Mullin hails from Yorkshire. Classically trained and a jazz lover, the band say Richard is the most naturally gifted saxophone player any of them have seen. Richard has been known to sing and is normally seen with two saxophones and a melodica around his neck when The Golgis play live.

The line up is completed by Wolf Stanley, the newest member of The Golgis. He came in to play some bass guitar and percussion, of which he has a large collection of unusual items. He has been known to perform vocals, and sounds very much like Lee Marvin singing Wandering Star. Idiosyncratic time signatures and key changes, quirky Jazz Folk and a band unafraid to celebrate the eccentric aspects of everyday life. 2018 is the year of The Golgis! FACEBOOK.


Alt Folk or Jazz Folk I will leave that to the genre purists, wherever 'Mr Fisher' lands it's a intrinsically English affair. Echoes of the past are brought right up to date in a lovable and slightly eccentric manner, this is just fabulous.

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Sol Heilo - London Is Trouble.

Background - Following a successful career in Norwegian folk-tet Katzenjammer, today sees Sol Heilo announce her new single 'London Is Trouble - lifted from her debut LP ‘Skinhorse Playground’ – out now via Propeller Recordings. ‘London Is Trouble’ trails the downside of life on the road. It took shape at London’s iconic, but now defunct, 12 Bar Club, following a bout of retail therapy on Denmark Street. “I remember I was in the bar and had just bought myself a new guitar – a 1961 Gibson LG-0 – almost to fill my soul with something,” she says. “It’s about how grey and dull London can be when you have no joy in your heart, and the ever-fleeting glow of late nights and early mornings."

Showcasing her illustrative talents, the video was created, cut and directed by Sol Heilo herself, providing a wonderfully accurate representation of Sol's DIY-approach to her creative craft. On both 'London Is Trouble' and her acclaimed debut album 'Skinhorse Playground' Sol is writing and performing with no boundaries, no expectations - and she sounds more liberated than ever. Grandiose strings swirl around the folk-tinged pop instrumentation, sprinkled with delicate piano turns, with Sol’s hushed Norwegian tone tip-toeing between the breaks.

‘Skinhorse Playground’, produced by Hasse Rosbach, was penned during a time of personal unrest that, rather ironically, paralleled the peak of Katzenjammer’s career – a twelve-year pursuit culminating in three albums, multi-million streams, tours spanning Austin to Australia, and praise from the likes of The Guardian, The Quietus and BBC Radio 6Music, alongside personal plaudits from David Byrne and Steve Lamacq. The band earned bonafide export status, with an enamoured international fanbase driving sales in excess of 500,000 and hitting Certified Gold status in Germany with sophomore release ‘A Kiss Before You Go’.

“In the beginning, there are no consequences. You’re unaware of the boundaries, and you have nothing to lose” Sol muses. In many ways, Skinhorse Playground is a chance at just that – a new start, and a renaissance made all the richer for the experiences that shaped a brighter, braver Sol Heilo. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.


'London Is Trouble' is gorgeous. A gentle acoustic and string lead backdrop is the perfect canvas for some personal, melodic and captivating vocals with this timeless, beautiful song. 


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The Hengles - Books of Moods

The Hengles - Cover Up (Album). Experience a trip down memory lane with The Hengles' latest album, Cover Up. This Dutch indie band revi...