Friday, 25 January 2019

Stephanie Rose - Roman Harris - Fling - ElectroBluesSociety feat Boo Boo Davis - Odetta Hartman - Small Forward - Business of Dreams

With a gorgeous musical arrangement and beautiful vocals Stephanie Rose's 'Luxury' is a timeless country song. South London's Roman Harris has a distinctive and engaging voice that is accompanied by a refined musical backdrop on his latest track. Fling exude psychedelic charm, the vocals add some grit, whilst the band add layers of psych goodness. Once again ElectroBluesSociety and Boo Boo Davis serve up some classic blues rock with their natural take on Little Red Rooster. Odetta Hartman exquisite vocals glide above a stripped back guitar driven soundtrack whilst the hooks dig deep. Melodic and gentle, Small Forward take us on a dreamy indie journey where the vocals and harmonies are notable and the music precise and atmospheric. Finally we have our second helping of Business Of Dreams this month, with a vibrant & catchy indie rocker to conclude today's new music picks.

Stephanie Rose - Luxury.

A storyteller beyond her years, Stephanie Rose is an old soul with a new sound.  Her new single Luxury is a perfect example of using real life experiences as fodder to blaze a lyrical trail. Rose embraces the true reality of love amidst the hardships of life.

Nominated for two categories at the 2018 Saskatchewan Country Music Awards, small town Stephanie Rose has had a big year. Releasing her single “Crushed” on February 5th, 2018, she cracked the Top 100 on both the BDS and Trax national radio charts, which was the launching pad to a great season.

Playing multiple shows throughout the spring of 2018, which included a packed-house performance at the Professional Bull Riding circuit in Nipawin, SK. Stephanie shared the stage with her fellow Saskatchewan artists at the Songwriters Café at the 2018 SCMA awards weekend. With the release of her sophomore album EP “Sprout” (Sept. 28th, 2018), produced by RyLee Madison (ECMA Country Recording of the Year) and Clay Krasner (touring bass player for Terri Clark) of 7-17 Music, Stephanie Rose will be bringing her new songs on the road again in 2019 and to both Commercial Country Radio and the international media.


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Roman Harris - The Smell Of Heather.

Roman Harris is a singer and songwriter from Brixton, South London. With his guitar in hand, a voice of raw emotion and heart on his sleeve he crafts songs of simplicity enriched with depth and feeling.

In 2016 Roman achieved song writing credits on the Snakehips ‘Money On Me’ EP with the track ‘Falling’ followed up in 2017 with his first feature as an artist on the track ‘Moving Again’ produced by Cr3on & Marcus and released through Dutch record label PM Recordings.

Influenced by Indie, Folk and R&B, Roman now releases his debut single ‘The Smell of Heather’ a truly heartfelt ballad influenced by a poem of the same title from the book ‘Heather’s Book’ written by the poet Vivian Anglin.

Roman is now looking forward to a year in which he intends to let the world hear his sound and warm the ears and hearts of many. That starts with ‘The Smell of Heather’. ‘The Smell of Heather’ will be released on all platforms on 25th January, 2019 with a house concert at a secret location taking place that night in celebration of the release.

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Fling - Revolution.

Psych-rockers Fling are set to release debut album ‘Fling Or Die’ via Dance to the Radio on 22nd February. Ahead of this they tease with one final SoundCloud only single, Revolution, an upbeat fuzz-bass driven psych stomper, with a colourfully cathartic chorus. The quintet’s kitchen-sync approach to instrumentation comes to the fore, a glittery wall of noise ramping up the decibels throughout.

 The debut LP release comes off the back of a year of sold-out hometown shows, appearances at Live at Leeds, Swn Festival, Neighbourhood Festival and singles supported by Steve Lamacq (6 Music), Huw Stephens (Radio 1), Gideon Coe (6 Music), Tom Robinson (6 Music) Radio X, Beats 1 across radio, and Wonderland, The Line of Best Fit and Clash at online press.

Describing themselves as ‘Wonky Pop’, the 5-piece from Bradford comprise of Charles McSorley (Vocals), Jack Winn (Guitar), Billy Fielding (Drums), Jake Lees (Bass) and Sam Malynowsky (Keyboards).

The quintet explain the feelings they’re chasing: “This album for us, is a coming together of our collective imaginations, through themes of longing, wonder and hedonism. It feels like an audible representation of a brief moment in our lives and how we evoke the best emotions in each other. There’s an overall positive undertone to the record that definitely reflects on us as people, and it feels good to be able to share it with everyone.”

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ElectroBluesSociety feat Boo Boo Davis - Little Red Rooster.

For this recording session ElectroBluesSociety went back to basics and teamed up with Mississippi blues man Boo Boo Davis.

Together they revisited classic Chicago blues and recorded seven songs. These will all be released as singles in the near future.

Here is the fifth track from the recording session This time it’s another Howlin Wolf classic with a little 'electrofication'.

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Odetta Hartman - You You.

Following the release of her critically acclaimed album 'Old Rockhounds Never Die', Odetta Hartmam has shared a new video for track 'You You', to mark her return to the UK and Europe at the end of January. Inspired by the fuzzy double vision of first love, 'You You' dances through a pastoral adventure while celebrating a young woman in bloom. In this wild, wonderful and warm landscape, Odetta Hartman explores the superpowers of romance on a sultry summer night.

'Old Rockhounds Never Die' is a bonanza of beautiful contradictions: intimate yet fiercely internationalist, spiritual and yet tangible, sweet and also sexy. It convenes with the ghosts of the past while marching relentlessly forwards.

Drawn from experiences as far-flung as riding a train from San Francisco to Chicago with an old-style, rootin'-tootin' cowboy for company ('Cowboy Song'), to experiencing the intense natural beauty of Icelandic waterfalls ('Dettifoss'), it’s a record that taps into the musical traditions of the past while being a collection of songs about living in the moment.

Raised by pioneering parents on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, NYC, Odetta’s milieu was a “colourful culture of artistry,” that included early exposure to community activism, renegade film screenings, poetry readings and trips to CBGB's. Inchoate punk and hip hop were aural wallpaper, as were the 45s spinning in the household jukebox featuring her dad’s extensive collection of soul and afrobeat records, as well as her Appalachian mother’s classic country selections. A classically trained violinist with a penchant for back-porch banjo, Odetta combines these variegated sounds of her childhood with her personal passion for folk music and the musicological legacy of Alan Lomax. Lomax is writ large on 'Old Rockhounds...' at least in spirit anyway. Odetta plays all the instruments on this and her debut '222'. 


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Small Forward - Kind of Funny.

While attending college in Los Angeles, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Michael Stevenson and Rounak Maiti converged on a desire to collaborate and meld their love of Americana and pop music. Informal bedroom jam sessions resulted in hours of demos, constructed from the duo’s rudimentary yet textured take on songwriting. After condensing their work down to four downtempo, home-recorded songs, they self-released an eponymous debut EP in 2014. From hazy, forlorn atmospheres to more heart-on-sleeve folk, Stevenson and Maiti worked with Campbell Scott (bass) and Nick Waldram (drums)  to craft rich, full band arrangements.

From 2015-16, Small Forward began developing their live act, playing with a full band across the Los Angeles area. During this time, they began recording The Moon You Stand On, the band’s debut full-length album. Here, Maiti and Stevenson’s lush, folk-inspired ideas were rounded out by a prominent rhythm section, where Scott’s dulcet bass tones dot Nick Waldram’s jazzy, intrepid approach to percussion and drums. Together, the four wrote, recorded and produced the album entirely in their shared home, over the better part of a year. Self-released in October 2016, Deli Mag described the album’s sound as “timeless, teeming with multi-layered guitars and chugging beats that lend a uniformity to their quietly resplendent melodies.”

The band began recording another project, Affections, in early 2017. They channeled 70s psych-rock and AM pop with the first single, “The Reservoir”. The release was met with praise from Gold Flake Paint and Buzzbands LA, the latter describing it as a “soundtrack to (their) reverie.” The resulting collection of 6 songs, released on Forged Artifacts in October 2017, saw left-turns and plenty of new texture, decorated with their customary take on sweet wistfulness. With live performances across the greater Los Angeles area and a southwest tour under their belt, plus two new singles on the way, Small Forward is alive, kicking and ready for 2019.

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Business of Dreams - N.R.E.A.M.

Following on from the lovely "Keep The Blues Away," Slumberland Records and Business of Dreams are psyched to share another song from their forthcoming album Ripe For Anarchy. "N.R.E.A.M." is a tune about the fashionable negativity that seems rule the mood and discourse of the day.

Says the song's writer Corey: "This song was my attempt to write something fun for the album. Of course it had to be the one song focusing on negativity but I think a dose of cynicism is quite healthy these days. Humanity isn’t exactly passing its classes lately so I decided to poke a little fun at the more coarse side of our nature. It’s my version of “Ring-a-round The Rosies.” Ashes, ashes we all fall down! Wee!"

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Wednesday, 23 January 2019

The Day - Kopper - Sarah P - Short Shadows - Jess McAvoy

The Day share a catchy and imaginative dream pop song. Kopper provides us with a six minute epic piece that is full of passion and power. A firm favourite of Beehive Candy is Sarah P, who has impressed us since her days with Keep Shelley In Athens, the new E.P. is a real treat. Short Shadows vocals are a splendid affair as is the fabulous musical backdrop and finally we have Jess McAvoy whose addictive bluesy rock song is given extra edge by her guitar licks and fabulous voice.

The Day - Grow.

"'Grow' is quite literally about growing up through different phases of life and your very personal 'pursuit of wisdom'" says Singer Laura Loeters. The song is about farewells" and realizing how you grow older yourself by watching close people around you getting older.

Laura adds: "Like many of our songs when I came up with the first idea it sounded more like a quiet more folky song. But when I picked it up on electric bass with our drummer at rehearsals it became much more of a grooving pop song than we first intended."

The Day are Laura Loeters from Utrecht/Netherlands and Hamburg based Gregor Sonnenberg. Since meeting at 'Hogeschool voor de kunsten' in Arnhem the two keep reconciling distances, differences and always new approaches and perspectives. What runs like a thread through all of this is the interest to take charge of things themselves, try out and grow on it together.

The Day is where whimsical Dream Pop meets a DIY ethos learned from hardcore. A sparse, springy and rapturous dynamic alternates with a wildly imaginative dream-pop harmony, rock and synths create just as inspiring contrasts as the refreshing, reduced postpunk references.

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Kopper – Winter Sun.

Kopper is the brainchild of visionary London musician and experimental filmmaker Jon Williams. Born in a soporific small town in Kent, the artist packed up to London to build something louder, fiercer and more anthemic. Jon is joined by his fellow provocateurs, artists and all-round renaissance men, band members: Ed Smith and George Town.

Elegant, emotional, energetic – the early dusk of a November evening has enticed London artist Kopper from hibernation. Their debut single, Winter Sun (released on January 10, 2019) evokes the inner warmth of a cold evening through soulful guitar and exploding electric soundscapes. Its big heart and dreamy scope enchants like a burnt dusk skyline, delivering something that will glow through your stereo on bitter nights.

The track’s sierra tones tell a story drawn from romance, heartbreak and old lives passing into the dark. Inspired by the likes of the National, the War on Drugs and Arcade Fire, it’s littered with moments of tenderness and contemplation ripped apart by glorious, cinematic melodies. This sumptuous and exciting song from one of London’s extraordinary talents is the first from Kopper’s debut EP Fading Fires, due for release in Spring 2019.


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Sarah P. - Maenads E.P.

Maenads is a triumphant return for Sarah P, where the artist explores the theme of female power – its magic, strength, and imperfect perfection.

With her debut album Who Am I (2017) praised amongst music lovers and tastemakers alike, Sarah P. returns to celebrate feminine power and her Greek heritage with a transcendent collection of songs known as Maenads. The former frontwoman of Keep Shelly in Athens does not shy away from revisiting the past as she uses music, aided by magnificent, self-directed visuals, to divulge her endless accomplishments: be it her openness about mental health and the creation of her monthly zine EraseRestart aimed to wipe out the stigma that surrounds it, to the lobbying for the protection of artists’ rights as an active member of IAO (International Artist Organisation).

“This record is the link between my previous work and what’s coming. Free symbolised my rebirth as an artist, Who Am I helped me discover different music paths and Maenads is representing 100% me, both musically and as an individual. I’m not big on classifying my music in genres, because I believe that this process is taking away from the magic of listening. I think that Maenads is way more accessible than my previous work, yet mysterious and uncommon.” (Sarah P.)


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Short Shadows - Nothing Good Comes Out Of Preston.

Short Shadows, a self-professed short-ass, middle-class, north suburban smart-ass punk with a piano has written the soundtrack to your public transport journey. The alter ego for Andy Coates; a singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist from Melbourne, War Anecdotes From The Northern Suburbs takes indie rock, hip-hop, jazz and punk and blends it all with wry observations, punchy horns and suburban soundscapes that are epitomised in lead single Nothing Good Comes Out Of Preston.

Coates has entertained audiences Australia wide while fronting his nine-piece band Frankie Wants Out. FWO, who brought original party-swing back on to the music scene, could play a classy cocktail bar one night, then a grungey pub next and worked hard gigging, recording and touring for over ten years.  While still paying tribute to his love of swing music, Short Shadows is a step away from the jump-blues and focuses on the peculiar styles of suburbia.

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Jess McAvoy - Do What You Want.

With the recent release of her newest single “Do What You Want,” Jess McAvoy just released the lyric video. Harkening back to the golden oldies with an infusion of rock, pop and blues, Jess McAvoy delivers “Do What You Want” with an astute lyricism that is seldom heard in music today.

Coming about in a playful way, McAvoy wrote the single when she seeing someone even though her heart wasn’t quite open to a romantic commitment, but both she and her partner were open to having a good time together.

Even though her friends were all up in arms over the idea of it, Jess’ outlook was very much towards the idea that good things happen when we all feel good. So, from a law of attraction standpoint, it’s important to move towards things that make us all feel the most like ourselves, even if it’s not meant to last forever.


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Monday, 21 January 2019

Hajk - Marble Mammoth - Henry Jamison - Porteau - Living Hour

Hajk are polished, melodic and with some R&B vibes rather catchy on their new song. It's been some time since we featured Marble Mammoth and the alt rockers return with a stunning couple of tracks. Henry Jamison's beautifully crafted songs continue to impress, whilst Porteau offer us an exquisite piece that exudes both feeling and quality. Living Hour's vocals are gorgeous and the musical backdrop is a perfect complement on this wonderfully lush song.

Hajk - Breathe.

Hajk have released a brand new single entitled 'Breathe', the third and final single from the upcoming album 'Drama' that is out on February 15th on Jansen Records. The track is a soaring, emotional R&B-tinged song with an instantly infectious melody guided by Sigrid Aase’s powerful vocals that enthrall throughout.

Behind the sheen though, the band's Preben Sælid Andersen has explained that 'Breathe' is actually, "about the ability to believe in yourself and the ones close to you. It’s about trying to hold on to something, but deep down you know it's already too late. Breathing is also something we have talked about a lot during the making of this album, and it now serves as a theme throughout the record, in the lyrics and with actual breathing sounds hidden all over. Being able to take a step back and take a deep breath can be the only right thing to do sometimes."


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Marble Mammoth - The Light.

Marble Mamoth have just released a new single The Light.

It’s a track in two parts with a fuzzed out bass, a didgeridoo and sampled seagulls from The Beatles.

It is the second single release after the debut EP, and the band are planning on releasing two more tracks this spring. 

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Henry Jamison - American Babes.

Henry Jamison’s upcoming album ‘Gloria Duplex’ is out February 8th on Akira Records, and is shaping up to be not only a formidable follow-up to his stellar debut album ‘The Wilds’ (which has over 90 million streams on Spotify alone), but also an insightful deconstruction of what it means to “be a man” in 2018. And this week Henry has unfolded another chapter in his exploration of masculinity by releasing the fourth single from the upcoming set, “American Babes”.

If album cuts like the previously released “Boys” and “Gloria” acknowledge the ways young boys are enlisted into a “toxic fraternity” by society, “American Babes” is a mini tableau of that society as a whole. As Henry describes it, “The verses are about a group of students that I saw on the train from New York to Vermont years ago and about a homeless man who I talked to once in Baltimore. The juxtaposition isn't totally worked-out, but it's loosely about young people who still feel some trust in institutions and an old man who felt utterly failed by them. When the structures of our lives crash down, what can we lean on?”

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Porteau - River Song.

Do we really have a choice? Does instinct guide us home? These are the questions posed in “River Song,” the first single from Water’s Gate, our forthcoming debut album. At the time, the lyrics were simply poetry I wrote in a journal during summer evenings spent in a remote Alaskan village. We were independently writing ideas/songs that neither of us necessarily intended to combine together; we weren’t trying to write a record. This poetry was a catalyst, and “River Song” as a whole naturally revealed itself.

I found myself inspired to write “River Song” while watching salmon swim in the streams. Their journey back to spawn is magnificent – one that brings life, but ultimately ends in death. Using the earth’s magnetic field, like a compass, the salmon return to their final resting place. I was struggling to wrap my head around accepting the natural cycle of life. Seeing the salmon’s instinctual guidance drawing them back to their place of birth helped me discover where I needed to be “River Song” is not a story with a concrete ending. Ask yourself – do we really have a choice? Does instinct guide us home?


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Living Hour - Water.

Winnipeg’s Living Hour shares "Water," the second single from their upcoming album, Softer Faces. The band teamed up with filmmaker Ryan Steel for a short film to accompany the song.

Steel says:  "'Water' is a video about winter in Winnipeg. The video was shot covertly on the streets and in the homes of friends and grandmothers. Liminal spaces such as buses, shopping malls, and arcades all percolate together. Periods of rest and the textures of winter were captured on the outdated medium of 16mm film."

Everything about Winnipeg’s Living Hour has been expanding since their humble basement beginnings in 2015. What started with dreamy love songs inspired by the cinematic sky of their hometown has transformed into even more sprawling and expansive expressions on their latest effort, Softer Faces due March 1, 2019.


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Sunday, 20 January 2019

Running Red Lights - And The Kids - Rina Mushonga - Money For Rope - Ivan & The Parazol - Popincourt

Still catching up on some bands and artists whose new tunes came our way a few days ago. Running Red Lights atmospheric and gentle song exudes emotion, And The Kids serve up a hook filled indie rocker with a message, whilst Rina Mushonga continues to consistently impress us with her distinctive and charismatic music. Melbourne's Money For Rope share some timeless psych rock with plenty of determined attitude, and Budapest's Ivan & The Parazol are rocking with style and class. Finally we have the first of four fine songs from Popincourt's new E.P, a refined and charming collection of material.

Running Red Lights - Calls of Prudence.

Nostalgia is an addictive comfort to snuggle up to when the present day seems intolerably bleak.

“Calls of Prudence” is a moodier, more sorrowful track in comparison to our previous, most recent releases. It was penned during a moment where I felt myself longing for the vibrancy of youth, the thrill of experiencing things for the first time. 

One day, I was feeling particularly nostalgic and found myself reflecting on the days when I was young and could get blissfully drunk without having anyone or anything to answer to, without regard for the time that I was wasting. I curled up on my sofa with my notebook, my grief and my imagination, and I did what made sense – I began to write.

I hope you can find some solace in “Calls of Prudence.” - Scarlett of Running Red Lights.


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And The Kids - No Way Sit Back.

And The Kids have shared a new song from their upcoming album When This Life Is Over out February 22 on Signature Sounds (Lake Street Dive, Josh Ritter, Dustbowl Revival). “No Way Sit Back” is a rollicking indie rock attack of the media and the toll it takes on minorities. While it's written from the queer perspective, the message isn't limited to one viewpoint. The joyful melody clashes against a stabbing line, "The world was never made for, Made for us." When This Life Is Over is the beloved Northampton group's third full-length and the most dynamic declaration of their distinctly rambunctious sound to date.

Since their earliest days as a band, And The Kids have embodied the wayward freedom that inspired their name. “When Rebecca and I were teenagers we just lived on the streets and played music, and people in town would always call us kids—not as in children, but as in punks,” says Mohan. On their third full-length When This Life Is Over, the Northampton, Massachusetts-based band embrace that untamable spirit more fully than ever before, dreaming up their most sublimely defiant album yet.


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Rina Mushonga - For A Fool.

Rina Mushonga released a new single For A Fool on January 16th through [PIAS] Recordings. The Dutch-Zimbabwean pop innovator unveils the latest track from her imminent second album In A Galaxy on February 15th. Listen to For A Fool here

Having played a handful of low-key London shows towards the end of 2018, Mushonga makes her first UK live foray of 2019 when she plays London’s Shacklewell Arms on March 19th. Tickets go on sale on Wednesday 16th January and are available to purchase here.

The track unraveling into shape at the end of the album sessions having existed in various guises over the years. Explaining the origins of the track, she says; “this is an old love song or rather heart-ache song. Old, in the sense that it was plucked into existence over a period of time- in parts fictional in others less so.” Mushonga adds further; “in a way it chronicles a betrayed lover tormented by the desire to trust again whilst acknowledging that everything has been tainted and can’t go back to how they were.”

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Money For Rope - Actually.

Melbourne psych-rockers Money For Rope will release new album ‘Picture Us’ on March 8, 2019, following international tours which have previously taken in shows across Primavera Sound, Glastonbury & SXSW, alongside support slots for Courtney Barnett (also an early champion of the band). Details of a 2019 UK headline tour from Money For Rope in support of the new album are soon to be announced. The band are trailing the album announcement with lead single, ‘Actually’.

Spawned from the same fertile Melbourne music scene which has fostered not only Barnett but also other friends including King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard, The Goon Sax and Rolling Coastal Blackouts Fever, Money For Rope are releasing ‘Picture Us’ off the back of a dogged touring habit which has kept them on the road near constantly for the last four years. Entirely self-produced, mixed & mastered by the five piece - comprised of Jules McKenzie (guitars, vocals), Rick Parnaby (keyboards), Erik Scerba (drums), Chris Loftis (drums), Ted Dempsey (bass) - ‘Picture Us’ was recorded over the course of a single summer in Victoria, Australia on the coastline of the Southern Ocean.

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Ivan & The Parazol - Changin.

Following the release of the laid-back, West-Coast-influenced ‘Nr. 1003’, ‘Changin’’ showcases another dimension of Ivan & The Parazol’s creative prowess. Energetic from the start, the second single in the lead up to the band’s third full-length uses the saturated sing of distorted guitars and grooving basslines as an invigorating platform for frontman Iván Vitáris to deliver vocals bursting with character and colour. Rhythm-led verses let loose into a youthful, melodic chorus which is deserving of a place as the soaring opening of a coming-of-age indie film.

Ivan & The Parazol, a four-piece Budapestian band carrying the spirit of 70s glam-rock and incorporation of modern psych-rock instrumentation, making for an amalgam reminiscent of a Brian May-Kevin Parker compound, with their flamboyant guitar solos and overdriven octave-pedals on guitars. The upcoming album ‘Exotic Post-Traumatic’ was produced and recorded by Grammy Award-winning Wil Anspach (Muse, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Justin Timberlake, Frank Ocean) at the renowned EastWest studios in LA; hallowed grounds where Sinatra, Michael Jackson and Foo Fighters are just a few of the notable names to have recorded their material there.


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Popincourt - Blue Winter.

Following an album "A New Dimension To Modern Love" (2016) and a couple of singles (including one for a Jam Tribute), Popincourt is back with a new 4-track EP - featuring Susanne Shields on backing vocals and Olivier Bostvironnois on electronic arrangements. The EP contains four ballads, one for each season, exploring new sounds in the studio and mixing acoustic guitars, vintage keyboards and loungy electro vibes.

The ideal soundtrack for a picnic alongside of the Thames, the pure pop of Popincourt, an Illegitimate child of Paul Weller and Roddy Frame, makes it seem like you are traveling. His new EP looks like a postcard written during a blue winter. In the spring, we wander in the alleys of Hyde Park, serenaded by the clean guitars of "Green Spring". Then begins the red summer, conducive to romances that are come and go on a Brazilian beach. The final scene is a landscape of William Turner lit up by the fantasy colors of autumn. Crossing the Channel to the sound of this '4 colours 4 seasons', is the guarantee of a "voyage that will last a whole year", to paraphrase another lover of the London sound.» Pierre Mikaïloff.

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Saturday, 19 January 2019

Misty Coast - Jenny Teator - Distant Stars - LAGS - Geppetto & The Whales - Acrylic

We commence with some fabulously sweeping shoegaze from Misty Coast, plus a no nonsense rocker and brand new single from Jenny Teator. Distant Stars are synthy, mysterious and seductive, whilst LAGS offer up some potent and almost furious post rock. Geppetto and The Whales add refinement to the collection with a beautifully crafted song, and to round off today's selection Scottish band Acrylic share a catchy and fresh alt rocker.

Misty Coast - Backseat Warriors.

Misty Coast is the dream-pop, shoegaze amalgam from Linn Frøkedal and Richard Myklebust (previously part of the Norwegian noise rock act The Megaphonic Thrift). September 2017 saw them release their critically acclaimed debut full-length, attaining a Norwegian Grammy nomination. The Bergen-based duo now gears up for their sophomore album Melodaze, which the band themselves has simply described as their “Berlin rebel album”.

The entirety of the second full-length was written under the brutalism of the German capital’s architecture, during their two-month stay in the locality of Schöneberg through winter 2018. Stationed in an icy-cold outpost, observing local smoky beer joints and the groaning of car exhausts through the sub-zero night, Misty Coast have created something reminiscent of the bleak optimism of Cocteau Twins, where heavily distorted guitar hooks and pulsating bass lines meld with Frøkedal’s effervescent vocals.

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Jenny Teator - Surrender.

Surrender is about lust and curiosity. It talks about the primal want you get when someone comes into your life and they leave you wanting MORE. It’s more than just “I’m attracted to you”. It was this powerful gut feeling that took over my body, creating thoughts of what it could be like with this person. I think we are quick to disregard those moments and immediately feel “dirty” or “wrong” for thinking those thoughts. I’m saying, embrace it. We are only human. The possibilities are endless y’all. - Jenny Teator.

Jenny Teator is a St. Louis native who’s made her move to Nashville sharing her soul through her guitar and vocals. Performing for over a decade, Teator’s music shows her strength and confidence both in solo shows, collaborations, or when she performed with her long-term group Jenny Teator and the Fevers – a sexy blues/rock band that rocked Columbia, Missouri for years. Inspired by singers Grace Potter and Susan Tedeschi, Teator has a very straight forward lyrical style and the music follows the feelings of those words verbatim.


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Distant Stars - Robots (Do It Better).

The Melbourne/Caen 2 piece (named after Ultravox lyrics), deliver 5 tracks of warped pop that spill their minimal/dark/cold waves over the edge of the infinity pool.

The title track is the final release on Detonic Recordings "Minimum Viable Product" singles series, it is featured as track 3 on the vinyl compilation LP.

"cerveau facultatif
mémoire en périphérique
disques durs externes
perd pas ta plaque à induction magique
robots do it better
my computer does it better
no need for you anymore
outdated format"


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LAGS - Knives and wounds.

Italian post-hardcore band LAGS have announced their return with their new single 'Knives and Wounds'.

Speaking about the 'Knives and Wounds', frontman Antonio Canestri says, "‘Knives and wounds’ is the opening track of our new album and is the first song we wrote for the new album. It’s a song written in collaboration with our former singer (Luca de Santis aka SUVARI) and addresses two very important themes in the record: a disease and the search for a cure; the difficulty of being sabotaged by our own body, the failure in breaking down the "walls" in our mind, that most of the time we build as a form of self-defense from others and also from ourselves. The video is based on the concepts expressed in the lyrics and it was written by the director Stefano Pedretti: “I am my own fears, that’s what I’ve become.”"


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Geppetto & The Whales - Faust.

Here’s a new video that sets the bar high in terms of being incredibly beautiful. It’s from Geppetto & The Whales’ long awaited new album ‘Passages’ out yesterday on PIAS:

The track is called ‘Faust’ and is set in a lo fi production oozing with honey-like pedal steel, subtle jangly guitar and restrained strings, conjuring up picture-esque campfire and log cabin reflection.

The accompanying video is an exploration of the innocence and freedom of youth with stunning visuals of a young inquisitive man investigating a forest, playing with fire, cigarettes and insects as the track softly soothes the imagination, a perfect ode to the misunderstood. Some great guest musicians feature on the album including Ben Lester (Tallest man on Earth), Rob Moose (The National, Arcade Fire) & Trever Hagen (Bon Iver).


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Acrylic - I've Got Too Many Friends.

Glasgow's Acrylic prepare to kick start 2019 with the release of their infectious new single I've Got Too Many Friends, out now and premiered via Clash with early features on Tenement TV, Netsounds, and BBC Rapal amongst others.

The single is a soaring slice of indie rock from the offset, filled with jangling hooks, sweeping guitars and effortless harmonies throughout.  Frontman Andreas Christodoulidis' rich baritone vocal feel instantly reminiscent of the likes of The National's Matt Berninger, giving the track an undeniably defiant and endearing sound.  Talking about the single, Andreas elaborates "I've Got Too Many Friends is about feeling as though you've found yourself in an ideal situation, with all the pieces falling together, and knowing that you've still going to mess it up.  It's about a rift developing in a relationship and explores the naive idea that sex will resolve your issues, even though it will, in fact, be a colourless and sad affair and will most likely send you straight to the abyss."

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Thursday, 17 January 2019

William the Conqueror - Natalie Shay - Eerie Wanda - Business of Dreams - I Was a King - Hawksley Workman

Our catching up for January 2019 continues with Beehive Candy Lite part two.

William the Conqueror - Looking For The Cure.

Looking for the Cure is a song about redemption. It's raw, laid-bare song-writing but with an acerbic wit and an overall cathartic effect that turns a dark experience into something more hopeful, even joyous. As frontman Ruarri Joseph expands:

“'Looking for the Cure' started out as a mournful ballad about witnessing the process of recovery from addiction: the tragedy of searching for something that doesn’t exist. Then it dawned on me that if you're looking, at least it means you're alive to do so, and that’s a cure in itself.”


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Natalie Shay - Yesterday.

Natalie Shay is a 20 year old multi award-winning, indie pop/rock artist from North London. Deemed as one of London’s hottest emerging talents and having already acquired an impressive array of awards, Shay is ready to launch herself into the forefront of the industry, with her highly anticipated upcoming release.

As a classically trained guitarist from the age of five, Shay's outstanding talents soon found herself accepted into the prestigious BRIT school, known for producing such prodigies as Adele, Jessie J and Katy B. Shay credits her time at the famed BRIT school for encouraging her independence, “It allows student’s to develop creatively and socially so that they are prepared for the world once they graduate”, explains Shay.


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Eerie Wanda - Pet Town.

Eerie Wanda shares the title track from its upcoming sophomore LP, Pet Town. The video was filmed partially at the Nine Lives Cat Cafe in Indianapolis, IN over the holidays. Pet Town is out Jan. 25 on Joyful Noise.

Eerie Wanda is the brainchild of audio and visual artist Marina Tadic. Born to Croatian parents in the former Yugoslavia, Marina became a political refugee when she was just 6 years old. Forced to leave their home due to the Bosnian war, Marina’s parents sought asylum in the Netherlands- which is where Marina grew into an adult, became an accomplished artist, and where she still resides.


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Business of Dreams - Keep The Blues Away.

Corey Cunningham's Business of Dreams is all about emotional catharsis. When his father passed away a few years ago, Cunningham took leave from his long-running Bay Area/LA musical partnerships Magic Bullets and Terry Malts to return to his home state of Tennessee to grieve and confront his past.

Making music to cope with this loss resulted in Business of Dreams' lovely eponymous debut album, an unexpected pop pleasure that wound up on Bandcamp's and Raven Sings The Blues' year-end lists for 2017. Soon the live version of Business Of Dreams took shape as Cunningham opened for Rogue Wave on a national tour and played scores of local shows with Frankie Rose, Real Estate and many others.

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I Was a King - Bubble.

Originating from the windswept, moody southwestern coast of Norway, I Was A King are living proof that the sweetest pop songs can be cultivated and thrive in the oddest places.

I Was A King are announcing the release of new album Slow Century, out March 8th via Coastal Town Recordings. With the album announcement the band also released a new single 'Bubble'.

 Led by singers and guitarists Frode Strømstad and Anne Lise Frøkedal, whose united vocals melt into one extraterrestrial voice, their new album Slow Century is the result of a close collaboration with Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub) - who produced the new album.


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Hawksley Workman – Lazy.

I’ve always had this constant hunger to innovate, reevaluate what I do, and keep remaking it to confuse myself and maybe confuse my audience. This time, I’m just committing to writing focused and honest songs, which feels like the most interesting thing I can do right now.

“Lazy” is the latest single off of Median Age Wasteland, my upcoming new record. It’s an exploration of love and memories. Childlike images of winter and school portables give way to a lover's proclamation of staying awake and staying the course. The profound decision of love meets the feeling of love.







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Wednesday, 16 January 2019

Beehive Candy Lite presents: Someone - The Wave Pictures - Light Wheel - Nick Waterhouse - Late TV - Sister Sparrow

A new year, a delayed return, and a different approach, something along the lines of "Beehive Candy Lite". There are numerous reasons for altering our approach, circumstances change, we are now a very lean setup, and with so much to instantly stream and new music playlists tailored to personal listening habits, just how relevant we can remain, well time will tell. One advantage we have is our ever growing international range of new music sources.

It's a given that Beehive Candy only shares music they genuinely like and sometimes can't help but love.

So the new approach will see us morph into a more playlist orientated style. Less words, if the artist or band are featured then please consider that our full endorsement, our recommendation to check their music out.

Our hope is that we can expand your musical world by curating a wide variety of great new music and artists from around the world.  So by way of a catch up here's whats pleased our ears, so far this year - part one.
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Someone - Pull It Together.

Multi-disciplinary Amsterdam artist Someone, AKA Tessa Rose Jackson, releases her new single Pull It Together via [PIAS] Recordings. A stunning slice of infectious psych-pop, equally indebted to Tame Impala or early 90s French electronica pioneers Air, it is the first single taken from her upcoming new EP Orbit, the follow up to last year’s Chain Reaction EP.
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The Wave Pictures - Shelly.

The Wave Pictures are delighted to share the video for their new single “Shelly”, which is taken from their recent album Look Inside Your Heart (out now via Moshi Moshi). Singer and guitarist Dave Tattersall describes the track as, “A love song in the laid back style of late 70s Grateful Dead only with even better lyrics.”






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Light Wheel - Answers.

Light Wheel is a musical act from Austin, Texas formed by vocalist/songwriter Tyagaraja and producer Evan Dunivan. Their music is marked by colorful soundscapes and eclectic rhythms, anchored by powerful, dynamic vocals. It is aesthetic pop music with touches of R&B grooves and Electronic flair. Their upcoming debut full length record, "See Through" will be released in January of 2019. Light Wheel started playing live in December of 2017, debuting at the Day for Night Festival, featuring Bjork, Aphex Twin, Run the Jewels, and more. Live, Light Wheel is a four piece act, accompanied by drummer Ethan Yeager and bassist Michael Sanders.

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Nick Waterhouse - Song For Winners.

Los Angeles-based musician Nick Waterhouse has announced his new self-titled album set for March 8th release via Innovative Leisure. Following 2016’s 'Never Twice' which was hailed by Vogue as “the second coming of soul” and earned Nick a performance on 'Later' with Jools Holland, the new album was recorded at LA’s legendary Electro-Vox Recorders, and co-produced with Paul Butler (Michael Kiwanuka, St. Paul and the Broken Bones), with backing from a heavy bevy of friends and session players including Bart Davenport, percussionist Andres Renteria (Flying Lotus, Father John Misty), flutist Ricky Washington (Kamasi’s dad), and saxophonists Paula Henderson (Gogol Bordello) and Mando Dorame (JD McPherson).
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Late TV - Great Gulfs.

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 Liverpool's Matthew Halsall on trumpet, their new outfit Late TV harks back to a time when music was all fearless fusion and intractable improvisation.


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Sister Sparrow - Gold.

Sister Sparrow (nee Arleigh Kincheloe) has released “Gold,” the video for the title track of her recent album and announced the first leg of her 2019 tour. “Gold” is currently being spun on numerous influential radio stations nationwide, including Sirius XM The Spectrum’s Shortlist and Jam On, WFUV (NYC), WXPN (Philadelphia), and WRLT (Nashville), and was recently named Song of The Day on The Current (Minneapolis).











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Tuesday, 18 December 2018

Beehive Candy Are Taking A Break

Thank you to everyone who have visited Beehive Candy this year and for those who have been with us for even longer.

We need a break from music blogging and with new music slowing down considerably for the next couple of weeks, now seems like as good a time as any.

Sunday, 16 December 2018

Klara Zubonja - Babyteeth - The Stone MG's - Wes Hollywood

Klara Zubonja - The Winds Of Life.

Klara Zubonja, an alt-pop singer-songwriter who forms a distinct sound of her own, prepares to ascend with her latest single The Winds Of Life. Since the release of Klara’s debut album Stuck Between in late 2016, her sound has continued to grow and evolve, leading to Zubonja’s brand new EP Eye To Eye.

Like the entirety of the EP, The Winds Of Life is also about meeting oneself eye to eye, facing all facets that lie within, and learning how to go with the flow of it all. The track ventures into the contrasting aspects of oneself; the light, the dark. The song expresses various tempo and time signature changes, as Klara explores and reminds you of those ups and downs in life, but also nudges you to ride the wave, and let those winds of life carry you far.

“It’s about having the courage to face yourself, gently, and learn to flow, despite it all. Remembering that it’s okay to have darker days and darker aspects of yourself, and accepting that in yourself. It’s all part of the bigger plan, if only you trust within it.” - Klara Zubonja

The Melbourne artist approaches pop’s light-footed bop with underlying hints of experimental soul, jazz and psych. Immersed in traditional Croatian singing and dancing culture from a young age, she moved to Melbourne to study a Bachelor of Music degree and found success amongst National and community radio with her debut album Stuck Between in 2016.

Klara Zubonja draws inspiration from her eclectic background in European folk music and combines this with her broad knowledge of various contemporary and independent musical traditions. A world exploding with colour, conceptually theatrical and thematically provocative, The Winds Of Life rises amongst the heady realms of emphatic and intelligent alt-pop and secures her as a contemporary of Montaigne and Jaala.


Alt pop seems to cover a lot of bases however 'The Winds Of Life' fits that label almost perfectly. Melodic & with plenty of hooks, the intricate musical backdrop and Klara's remarkable vocals add the "Alt" doing so with especial beauty.


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Babyteeth - Cocoon.

The new single from Babyteeth "Cocoon", is the third from the London based 5 piece, who with every release gets stronger and bolder.  Another banger, it follows the success of "Shame" which saw them garner new fans in Radio 1 and Kerrang Magazine, who featured the band, not once, but twice in so many months. 

Influenced by grunge and punk rock and inspired by strong female artists and role models, "Cocoon" arrives to rock the alternative world with Babyteeth’s signature guitar sound. Reminiscent of your best loved 90's rock bands, yet filtered through huge, exhilarating modern production, Babyteeth are certain to become your new favourite band for 2019 and beyond.  The new track not only makes an audio statement but a strong lyrical one to boot.  "Cocoon is about how we’re sometimes addicted to making bad choices because they’re the more exciting. It’s also about how powerful it can be to decide to feel gratitude for all the shitty experiences, as they’ve turned you into a stronger version of yourself. It’s about personal rebirth, and remaking"

These sentiments reflect in the bands video. In order to contribute to the eerie dark feeling of the song, it was shot in black and white, inside a 70’s time capsule- like, retro workingmen's club in North London. The video features various imagery around the theme of death and rebirth  -"Lot's of it is hidden if you take a closer look", says the band, which will prompt you to watch it over and over. Babyteeth loved getting to “destroy a load of stuff”, despite it resulting in two of the members setting themselves on fire accidentally!  Never give a band a can of lighter fluid is the real lesson here.

The video also hints at just how explosive Babyteeth are live.  It's no wonder they were Live At Leeds 'Ones To Watch' and have supported the likes of The Naked and Famous and The Pearl Harts. The band is in demand and will finish the year as fast and furious as they started it when they support Adam Ant at a sold out Roundhouse in Camden on the 19th December.


'Cocoon' opens with a slacker rock feel before powering up into something far more potent as Babyteeth display some impressive rock and roll credentials. The video works as intended, certainly giving me some 70's London pubs and clubs flashbacks, those were the days eh?


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The Stone MG's - I Need You.

Rodney James and S.J. Warman would make great neighbors in the country, where the effort of respect is as easy as a passing nod on a dusty backroad. In a Hells Kitchen fifth-floor walk-up, they would eat each other alive.

Personalities clashing like two cars on a dim lit street make The Stone MG’s what they are. On one side of the fence is a fierce reverence for the story; The other prays to the piety of performance. But they come together in a room where Otis Redding and the MC5 find common ground. Regardless of where you find yourself, all they ask is that you listen close, and maybe, just maybe, if they’ve done their job, you’ll understand what they’re all about.

 ’I Need You” is about addiction. The song takes us on the journey of addiction as it takes over, corrupting and distorting reality for the user. When Rodney James sings “Shelter undercover,  desire never satisfied,” the background vocals personify the persuasiveness of the addiction: “If you scream you love me, I’ll be your whore and give you the only thing worth dying for.


I was fascinated by the "Otis Redding and MC5 finding common ground" expression mentioned in the promo for 'I Need You' and it actually makes sense. Soulful vocals and primal garage rock vibes collide and combine wonderfully, this almost pleads to be played over and over!


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Wes Hollywood - Dynamite.

Wes Hollywood has a new album out and it's Dynamite.

Imagine Ray Davies and Elvis Costello having a punch-up in the front row of a Cheap Trick concert... 


it's exactly what your thinking... 

explosive Midwestern Power Pop steeped in 60's British Invasion and 70's New Wave.

Additionally, the surplus of hits spilled over onto an equally Amazing four - song e.p. You might even hear traces of The Cars, Bram Tchaikovsky, The Plimsouls or John Lennon.


'Dynamite' comprises of twelve tracks that have everything Wes Hollywood suggests in his brief resume above. Gorgeous sixties vibes some notable seventies new wave influences are all present and it is fair to say given a refined twist where pop sensibilities cram in endless hooks.

The vocals lend themselves to the musical styles, this is good music that deserves a large audience and plenty of attention.

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Penny & The Pits - Electric Litany - Lydia Luce - Ketch Secor - The Happy Fits

Photo - Nicole Cecile Holland Penny & The Pits - Headcrusher. Penny & The Pits have just shared "Headcrusher" along with ...