We have the latest E.P from Little Church titled 'It's Not You' streaming in full below, it comprises of five songs opening with 'Last Night' a gorgeous track that typifies the bands music where various genres merge into a distinctive and refined band sound.
Shiny Glide (aka Antony Venneri) shares 'Innocent Moon' a beautiful, sweeping and natural ballad, accompanied by a fabulous video collage of old film and cartoon clips, that somehow add to the tenderness of this song.
It's been some time since Manwomanchild appeared here, that said 'Bellwether' is a welcome return, the lyrics are clever and the video suitably works alongside, the song is catchy, personal and very pleasing.
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Little Church - It's Not You (E.P).
On their latest release Its Not You, Little Church seamlessly merges rock, soul, layered psychedelia, and melody into their own unique form of art pop. Although a studio recording, the EP maintains a strong sense of live energy and showcases the bands musicianship - highlighted by Chelsea's soaring voice with a dose of purposeful edge against Christian's signature counter melody bass lines.
Little Church, the pop/soul/noise band from Chicago, took its name as a quote from a book that ultimately transformed into a metaphor for the band that occupies that name. Through their music, Little Church has connected spiritually and created a small congregation together. Bassist Christian Whiting explains that "[They’re] fairly tight-knit and thinks through the band were able to attain some spiritual fulfillment and we're really just one microscopic and localized part of the connection that the whole world has with music."
Through DIY venues and mutual connections, Little Church was formed within the Chicago music scene in 2016. When lead singer and guitarist Chelsea Foss-Ralston and bassist Christian Whiting first met, they realized they had a common musical vision and lived only four blocks away from each other - so they quickly jumped into songwriting together. It didn’t take them long to add the rest of the band members into the picture. Soon after Chelsea met drummer Khori Wilson at the DIY venue, the Dojo, the band's initial core was complete. Sean McConnell (synths) was later added in the spring of 2018 after serving as their mix engineer on the first Little Church recordings.
Once the band was fully formed, Little Church started coalescing their sound to what they now describe as "a smattering of art pop, rawk, soul, and gentle, gentle Eskimo kisses by a bear-shaped robot that can’t control its voltage." The inspiration and process for their writing and sound is a shared effort between Chelsea and Christian, often with a focus on the interplay between vocal melodies and bass countermelodies. Christian shares that they “primarily write songs built around vocals and bass and then built from there.” This allows them to highlight the primary movement and counterpoints before building the rhythms and textures. Not to be completely premeditative, the band still allows for spontaneous and unexpected elements to find a way into their writing by capturing effortless, fun and improvised moments that eventually get refined.
Shiny Glide (stage name of Antony Venneri) is a recording artist, poet, singer-songwriter, guitarist, music videos creator and stateless, charismatic figure with international experience.
Shiny Glide is pure music and inspiration, as free and natural as a gliding albatross. The music styles ranges from psychedelic rock to blues, from romantic and spiritual ballads to oriental and alternative music.
Shiny Glide is an international artist available for tours and festivals and always open to artistic collaborations and any kind of professional and spiritual support as long as it doesn't hurt peace of mind and creative freedom.
Manwomanchild is a rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania fronted by David Child.
The band was started in Rhode Island in 2008. In February 2010, the band release a self-titled EP recorded at Machines with Magnets in Pawtucket, RI. The band’s lineup for the EP and album consisted of David Child on vocals, guitars, and synths, Mason Neely on drums, and Craig Gifford on bass. In May 2010, Manwomanchild released the song “Chile La Roja” in support of Chile’s 2010 World Cup team. The song was featured in 4 national newspapers and on 2 Chilean TV networks.
The band released its self-titled debut album on December 14th, 2010 on West Cortez Records. In 2013, Manwomanchild (now consisting of just David Child) moved to Philadelphia. In April 2014, Child wrote and recorded the soundtrack for Decidedly‘s iOS and Android game “Floyd’s Worthwhile Endeavor“.
In September and October of 2014, the band released the singles “Wedding Toast” and “Recent History”, followed by another, “The Telepath Returns,” in December of the same year. In March 2015, “The Difficult Years” was released. Music blog “Surviving the Golden Age” described the song’s sound as “LCD Soundsystem being fronted by Ben Gibbard” as well as “hybrid glam rock/chamber pop”. In June of 2016, Manwomanchild released its sophomore album, Awkward Island.
It's our fifth feature for Annabel Allum in just over a year and we don't mind! The Guildford (UK) artist continues to deliver impressive and driven songs packed full of hooks, the more the merrier as far as I am concerned.
UV's vocals are striking and emotive whilst the ambient musical backdrop gives them even more exposure on 'Wilt' a powerful and intriguing song.
Kyle Craft & Showboat Honey have just shared 'Deathwish Blue' along with a video, it's a dreamy, atmospheric and pleasing power ballad and it's hard to resist a second play.
Finally we have seven songs to enjoy on We Are Strangers new E.P. It's hard to categorise the music and yet it also has the conundrum of a timeless feel on some of the songs, whatever, give it a listen this is very good music.
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Annabel Allum - When The Wind Stopped.
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the rise of Guildford slacker-pop sensation Annabel Allum. From playing local pubs in her hometown six nights a week, to acclaimed performances around the world, Annabel is certainly approaching the peak of her startling development. From single to single, the emerging songwriter has evolved and added further layers to her trademark punk repertoire, with second EP cut When The Wind Stopped, out via cult London label Killing Moon, proving the latest remarkable addition to her rousing collection of vital, snarling songs.
A common theme throughout her material is the ease with which tracks simmering with steely angst can sit side by side with touchingly sentimental tracks dedicated to friends and family. When The Wind Stopped, with its anthemic tendencies and undercurrent of billowing fury exemplifies this style with aplomb. Discussing the release, Annabel revealed:
"When I was a kid I had such big expectations of how life was gonna be. I think most people do. But somehow we lose track of our dreams and what we really want from life. It’s so easy to shut yourself in a societal box and put your dreams to bed. I say # that. If you want something, go get it. Less moaning, more chasing”.
Long marked out as one to watch, the swell of praise for Annabel Allum from all corners is resounding. Long-time championed by BBC Radio 1, she’s hit the daytime playlist, recorded a live session at the iconic Maida Vale studios and performed on their SXSW stage, a festival she’s now taken by storm twice. Other notable shows include a dream-come-true emotional performance at Reading festival, as well as The Great Escape & Live At Leeds; tours with Nadine Shah, Alex Lahey and Beth Ditto have been the perfect way to cut her teeth in the presence of esteemed artists with plenty more opportunities lined up this autumn.
UV is the solo project of London-based artist & award-winning composer Marina Elderton.
Today see’s the release of new single ‘Wilt’. Following the 2018 single ‘Defender’ and 2019’s ‘Joys Of Pain’, ‘Wilt’ is yet another demonstration of UV’s haunting combination of powerful vocals and hypnotically ambient soundscapes. Once again co-produced by Knut Jonas Sellevold, ‘Wilt’ sees Elderton's distinct vocals draped over interlaced harmonies, guitar strands, electronic textures and pulsing rhythms.
Previously fronting ethereal-psych band Kull and electronic duo White Russia, Marina Elderton is also co-founder of the female sound artist collective Erinyes, has also composed soundtracks for Film4, Royal Television Society award winning documentaries, and shorts, and commercially for the likes of Lynx, NBA and Cadburys.
Supported by the PRS Women Make Music Foundation, the debut EP ‘Defender’ will be released on July 19th.
Kyle Craft & Showboat Honey have delivered a very sweet video for “Deathwish Blue,” a highlight from Showboat Honey, the group’s forthcoming album, out July 12th worldwide from Sub Pop and directed by Eleanor Petry.
Craft had this to say of the visual, “I can’t dance and my fiancée Lydia isn’t the biggest fan of it either...we’d actually never danced together before the shoot. We wanted to have fun and aim for a Pulp Fiction vibe. So, I just slicked back the mop, cranked Spirit in the Sky over the bar speakers, and we went for it.”
Showboat Honey was recorded and produced by Kyle Craft, Kevin Clark, and Billy Slater at their own Moonbase Studios in Portland over 2018. The album was mixed by Trevor Spencer and mastered by April Golden at Golden Mastering.
Showboat Honey is now available for preorder through Sub Pop Mega Mart. Preorders of the LP through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers in North America, the UK and Europe will receive the limited Loser edition on a clear blue translucent mix with spots red hi-melt (while supplies last). There will also be a new T-shirt design available.
We Are Strangers is the new music project from Josh Kramon, a talented TV composer who has written scores for The CW’s iZombie and Veronica Mars, Fox’s Lethal Weapon and ABC’s Forever, among many others.
It’s with this background in TV composition that Kramon’s new songs could have only been written by someone who is used to matching sound to pictures and telling stories. Each track is an atmospheric, cinematic short story that exists on its own, but also lends itself to a dramatic scene or an end credit.
Most songs on this project explore his time in recovery, the universal human need for connection, how we often fail in our relationships and find redemption in moving on. He leans heavily on sounds from the late 70's and early 80's fusing together acoustic and electric guitars with lots of atmospheric vintage synths.
Eli Raybon first appeared with us back in March when we commented on his "sci-fi weirdo auteur" description, however as 'Primitive Man' demonstrates he is also a really fine songwriter and performer. His sci-fi concept album, Supertoys, is due out July 12th, and it's packed with some superb material, it's well worth checking out when you get the chance.
We featured The School Book Depository a couple of times back in 2017 and now we have the new song 'The Trail', where once again the vocals of Fredrik Solfors are so engaging as is the whole atmospheric smooth rock vibe running through this piece.
Having already featured 'Astoria' and 'A Dream Of You' from Far Caspian's brand new E.P. 'The Heights' it's good to be able to include the full collection from this excellent Leeds (UK) trio, in fact this makes it appearance number six on Beehive Candy, clearly they are doing something we really like, how about you?
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Eli Raybon - Primitive Man.
21-yr-old Eli Raybon's sound plays like the lovechild of King Krule & Chromeo - a blissfully weird take on future funk, bathed in 80's pop. He's quickly established himself as a synthwave auteur, with Noisey, Ones to Watch and Earmilk lauding his retro tunage. His ready-to-be-shared single is like a mashup of 80's Bowie, MJ, Devo: "Primitive Man" Eli's sci-fi concept album, Supertoys, is due out July 12th. With only a few releases to his name, 21-year-old Eli Raybon has quickly established himself as a sci-fi weirdo auteur. The staunch non-conformist is now priming his most rebellious release yet: a sci-fi concept album called Supertoys.
Raybon’s work is fueled by an unrestricted imagination, born from a serious case of childhood nostalgia. His formative years were spent exploring small-town Mississippi, writing songs, and directing his own Hi8 tape movies. But as he grew, Eli became keenly aware of the sobering realities that faced him and his peers – a conveyer belt existence where they were destined to become carbon copies of their parents. He himself was on route to New York to study computer science and mathematics, before pulling the emergency brake and changing his plans only two days before freshman orientation.
When the dust settled, Eli began recording his debut LP, The Machine & My Dilemma, which documented his desire to jump off the hamster wheel of life. Following its release, Raybon moved to LA to pursue music full time. Never one to flounder, Eli immediately recorded and released two lauded singles. The track 30 Cents was accompanied by an ambitious music video which was screened at film festivals across the country. He soon followed up with Green, an EP that drew praise from Buzzbands LA, Noisey and Paste.
Eli became infatuated with hardware synthesizers and moved from writing material on the guitar to a more expansive pallet on synths. Feeling his new material called for a producer beyond his skillset, Raybon sought the help of synth guru Prozak Morris, who had transitioned from making bass heavy hip hop to calibrating cutting edge vaporwave. The two collaborated on a remix and Eli quickly realized this was the producer he had been dreaming of. They began work on an album, recording from opposite coasts, Eli on the East and Prozak on the West, connecting through frequent phone calls as they slowly pieced their production together.
The School Book Depository is an imaginary storage facility where the Swedish moniker and songwriter Fredrik Solfors releases his songs and videos. The motto of the project has always been ”It’s my party, I can do whatever I want”, in order to embrace all forms of creative outlet both musically and lyrically. The songs range from groovy, psychedelic hop hop to noisy and catchy garage pop and beautiful, atmospheric post-rock.
In 2017 he released hos self-titled album which got high praise with words like ”classic Americana with a touch of modern electronica” and ” a gem of an album, with philosophical lyrics to be considered and huge melodies to be enjoyed”. Now he’s back with another albumet titled ”Bob and the Pitchfork Mob” due release on the 20th of June.
Fredrik started playing the drums early in his hometown but moved on to vocals, guitar, piano and songwriting in bands as Wagon, The Low Season Combo and Kinetics, appointed best international act by the British magazine Pure M in 2015. He also played drums in Surrounded, a Swedish band signed by American Deep Elm and British One Little Indian. Fredrik is now living in Bollebygd outside of Gothenburg in Sweden.
Flitting between insular, emotionally engaging bedroom-pop and moments of festival-ready breathlessness across their luscious dream pop sound, Leeds trio Far Caspian’s sonic formula is earning them fans at an exponential rate. From recent single Astoria with its calm, slowly grooving verses clearing the decks for expansive choruses, to previous effort A Dream Of You and its wistful, effervescent undercurrent, the band have delivered once again in sophomore EP The Heights, out June 18th via Dance To The Radio.
Emerging last year with a collection of catchy lo-fi gems on hazy debut EP Between Days, and crafting their self-coined ‘melanjolly’ style to widespread critical praise, the three-piece’s newest material showcases their trademark sound with fresh commercial overtones and a very intentional 80s production sheen. Blending these two shades on a UK tour in support of the debut EP in the spring peaked with thrilling, sold-out debut headline shows in London and Manchester.
Discussing their forthcoming EP release, frontman Joel Johnston reveals: “The Heights has taken us a lot of work to get to where it is. We started with some songs that were brought into a studio and we soon realised we weren’t the sort of band that could work that way. We took the tracks away and then re-recorded it in our house.
The themes on the EP are about embracing the present and enjoying the good times you do have even if you’re struggling through something else. From writing and recording this project we went from a pretty dark place into a place of contentment and I feel like the tracks have that feeling within them”.
Brother Son have a rather distinct brand of Indie Rock partly garnered by their musical influences, however nothing can take away how they have developed some superb songs, where as mentioned in their press release, blues, soul and even jazz styles manifest themselves. As for the new album 'Goodies' I have to say, this is a very fine collection of music (streaming in full below).
From Toby Johnson we have 'Isla' the first of four songs from his forthcoming E.P. It's a fine modern folk song, the musical backdrop is restrained, the vocals just right for the genre, and the overall production exudes quality.
If you dig further back in time on Beehive Candy you will see plenty of evidence for our love of live music and also Sandy Denny. Early in 2018 we featured Winter Wilson a couple of times, and their return with a live album full of original songs from the pair, along with a gorgeous cover version of Sandy Denny's 'It'll Take a Long Time' (performed with Fairport Convention) is just fabulous. Comprised of fifteen songs, this is a must hear for folk music fans.
Finally Caracol has shared 'Flooded Field' (featuring Illa J) a refined song where electro and natural musical sounds and a reggae type rhythm back the beautifully melodic vocals.
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Brother Son - Goodies.
The story of Brother Son begins with four unlikely friends of disparate musical tastes and backgrounds uniting over a shared love of Alabama Shakes, The Strokes, Mac DeMarco, and ganj. Their music reflects this, bringing a unique blend of bluesy soul and jazzy smoothness to indie rock.
And so they began in early 2017 with their debut EP Young & Pretty, the first order of business being to play as many shows in as many midwestern cities as they could.
Rising quickly to local prominence, by the end of that year they began headlining and selling out shows at venues like El Club, The Shelter, and The Loving Touch. Now, with a tour under their belts as well, they've been gearing up to release their second LP, Goodies, with even more tucked away for a third project slated for early 2020.
With all that locked and loaded, their next move will be east and west coast tours this summer.
Mahogany Recordings new signing is Toby Johnson, this is the first of four tracks from Toby's forthcoming EP.
Having already performed alongside artists like Lewis Watson, Mahalia and Isaac Gracie, Toby’s debut headline show will take place in Hackney as part of ‘Mahogany Sessions Live’.
The writing process for the EP was a simplistic approach, which drew from pivotal moments and inspirations in Toby's personal life.
Toby expresses “if a song reveals every detail, then it ruins the illusion. It’s like a text message, people absorb information in different ways, a simple text can be misconstrued entirely, that's the beauty of storytelling.”
Winter Wilson with Fairport Convention - It'll Take a Long Time.
Live & Unconventional the new album from Scots/English duo Winter Wilson, goes on general release in August. Live & Unconventional is the duo's ninth album and was recorded on tour last year with folk rock icons Fairport Convention and it features Fairport on a couple of tracks.
Unusually for Winter Wilson the album contains a cover, it's not every day you get invited to perform a Sandy Denny song (It'll take a long time) live in front of several thousand people with Fairport as your backing band. The remaining tracks are all originals, reproduced as they were on the night.
This year Winter Wilson have completed a five-week tour in Australia before heading off again around the UK, Europe and Canada.
If 2019 goes half as well as 2018 they will be delighted. 2018 started with them completing 29 gigs in 32 days around the UK with folk-rock legends Fairport Convention. This lead to them being invited to perform with Fairport in front of twenty thousand people at Cropredy Festival. Recordings from the tour and Cropredy will makeup the duo's forthcoming live album.
The latest album "Far Off on the Horizon" is their best selling to date and has been very well received by both punters and critics alike. But it is their live performance where these two really excel.
Now in their 7th year as full-time musicians, Kip Winter and Dave Wilson bring a sense of intimacy to every venue, blending superb, often hard-hitting original songs, stunning harmonies and musicianship with sometimes hilarious humour and tales of life on the road.
Caracol is a bilingual artist who walks a singular path. Her new album “Symbolism” is the sum of all her past musical experiences: her beginnings as a percussionist and back-up singer in reggae bands, her work as a sound engineer in film music, and more recently, her presence in the songwriting community and pop music writing camps, where she collaborates with some of the best beatmakers from around the world.
Always cultivating her uniqueness, Caracol stands out with her particular vocal tone, her catchy melodies and the daring way in which she uses rhythmic vocal patterns to create original arrangements. This particular blend of electro & organic sounds has given rise to her signature sound, where indie & alternative pop meet modular synths and tribal percussion instruments. Several of her livelooping performance videos have become viral on the web, and she keeps releasing new ones regularly.
The "Symbolism" adventure begins with an encounter with producer Joey Waronker (drummer for Beck, Roger Waters) during a creative trip to Los Angeles. After he fell in love with her demos, he decided to work with her. During the recording process, Caracol reached a new height in authenticity and artistic expression. She then continued the exploration at her Studio de l’Est headquarters in Montreal, with her long time allies Seb Ruban & Toast Dawg, two of Montreal’s most talented producers.
The 1st single from her new record, ”Flooded Field” feat. Illa J had a soft-release on Spotify with immediate impact, claiming spots on Canada’s biggest Spotify playlists (New Music Friday, Indie All Stars, Indie Pop Chillout, Evening Commute, etc) and currently has over 250 000 streams. The unique-sounding indiepop track infused with reggae was written in collaboration with Detroit rapper Illa J (also the brother of the late Jay Dilla). ”Flooded Field” feat. Illa J now features a video and has been released to media world-wide.
Caracol was recently nominated at the Canadian Indie Awards in the ”Electronic Artist of the Year” category, alongside international acts such as Milk & Bone, DVBBS and Rezz. The album also caught the attention of College Radio networks, reaching position #38 on the National Top 200 Earshot Charts in Canada, and was also the #28 most added record in the USA in College Radio charts.
With songs as good as 'Really' it's hardly surprising that mimi bay has already gained considerable attention, her Bedroom Pop is smooth, dreamy and beautifully arranged.
Just four weeks ago we featured Hanna Barakat and the song 'Damage Done'. Swiftly following on from that we have 'Leave Your Light On' a song that really showcases the power and splendour of her vocals, ahead of August's album release entitled 'Siren'.
It's been a while since we last featured Perth, Australia's Corniglia whose music has evolved into a resplendent mixture of shoegaze, psych rock and darker dream pop, with the new song 'A Lost Forgotten Dream' also demonstrating the quality attached to all of that.
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mimi bay - Really.
Hailing from Gothenburg, Sweden, 18-year-old Bedroom Pop artist, Mimi Bergman is set for bigger things. From a young age, the self-taught multi-instrumentalist has been surrounded by music, showcasing it best with her deeply personal songwriting and poetic music. Influenced by many artists, mimi taught herself how to play a variety of instruments and at 14 started to write and self-record her own music in her home recording studio, then sharing it on her YouTube channel Hi I’m Mimi which has grown to near a quarter of a million subs.
With the release of ‘really’, mimi bay explores the feeling of unrequited love, the dreamy heartfelt track is set to bring back memories of a past love that you never seem to get over. mimi will send you into a musical daydream with her sweet soft-pop vocals and emotive guitar playing. To best describe her sound, think beabadobee, Girl In Red and boy pablo. mimi’s debut EP is to be released later this year.
After releasing music on YouTube, the songwriter soon started grabbing attention, gaining a huge amount of support and fans along the way. With over 3 million streams on Spotify, her singles ‘Afraid’, ‘Too Late’ and ‘in your neighbours garden’ – her ever-growing YouTube fanbase has secured her at the forefront of the bedroom-pop.
mimi says that “’really’ is about romanticizing people you see online and spending time thinking of them while they don’t know you exist”
With her keen eye for dreamy aesthetics, mimi bay takes all control of her visual output, creating artwork that fully accompanies her music, assuring a strong and cohesive narrative throughout her work.
Austin-based, hard/alternative artist, Hanna Barakat, announces her new single, “Leave Your Light On,” ahead of the upcoming album, Siren, due out August 16, 2019, produced by John Moyer (Disturbed). Born in Texas to an American mother and a Lebanese father, Barakat spent her early years traveling around the world with her family. Barakat pays homage to her roots on the album.
The album was produced by John Moyer, bassist from famed hard rock band, Disturbed, mixed by Martin Nessi (Michael Jackson estate, Ariana Grande, Josh Groban, Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli, Ricky Martin, Kelly Clarkson), and mastered by Ted Jansen of Sterling Sound (Disturbed, Evanescence, Three Days Grace, Breaking Benjamin, Halestorm, Pat Metheny).
Barakat states on "Leave Your Light On:"“Society portrays love like a fairy tale, and if the relationship you’re in is not picture perfect, there’s always someone else out there to sweep you off your feet and ride off into the sunset with. Reality tells us that pairing lives with another soul is one of the hardest things two people can do on this earth. Relationships take constant care, devotion, patience, and a hell of a lot of strength. We all go through periods of depression, weakness, physical or psychological traumas, and we need help. We need people in our lives to lift us up and hold us tight while we recover. Leave Your Light On is an honest plea between two lovers to do just that - be strong for one another in tumultuous times - Be each other’s light - their pillar of strength - and know that it is an ebb and flow - the roles will most certainly be reversed not long down the road. This is what relationships are built on.”
Barakat beautifully describes the inspiration behind the album: “I chose the title, Siren, for my debut record, after John Moyer and I produced our final song together, which happened to be “Siren.” The power of the music and the lyrics filled me with such fire. It motivated me and inspired me to take this next step in my journey with such confidence. Though the song references the mythical sirens of the sea, I loved the idea of a double meaning: an actual siren, warning call, alarm! The songs on this record were written over a span of 10 years. These songs have been my comfort and my therapy, as I’ve journeyed this world, witnessed injustices, engrossed myself in my ancestral culture, grown within myself, literally travelled the globe, loved, lost, failed, loved again, and struggled to reach the place where I am today.
I want to bring awareness to these situations, not by forcing any political agenda, but by pushing for love, understanding, and acceptance of all the other humans walking this earth together. Throughout history, there have been unnatural walls physically erected, or socially accepted and perpetuated, in order to divide people. I want to tear those walls down. All of them. Through my music, with rock guitars, heavy drums, deep rhythmic bass lines, and my intricate vocal melodic lines and punchy harmony stacks, I have chosen to forge arabic instruments like the oud, kanun, frame drum, riqq, into my sonic landscape, where I feel they so naturally and appropriately belong.”
A Lost Forgotten Dream It's waking in a primordial land. It's waking from a dream. A dream of nature and of man - Conjoined twins long separated - both reunited and at war. It's a rolling psych song. It's dark dream pop. It's the undulating, pulsing flow of surreal lyrics over rolling drums and guitars that drive and release like the rise and fall of the ocean.
“On/Off”: Album Notes - It’s dark melodic shoegaze. Dark dream pop. Whispery, stunted psych. Surreal and introspective. Disconnection. Discontent. Fraying. A derelict Cyborg Earth. But it is technology overreaching, faltering. The Earth reclaiming power. It’s the future mirroring the distant past. It’s Man and Nature reunited and at war.
Time erodes, swallows everything. Monoliths - cultures, cities, ideas… Buildings inevitably crumble. Become irrelevant. In the face of the enormity of time - our own perceived self importance dissolves away - It’s finding a calmness and contentment in this. This microscopic-ness. This irrelevant-ness. These aren’t sombre thoughts though. These are beautiful and freeing. A freedom in anonymity.
Other possible things to take from the title “On/Off”: Living on autopilot in mindless routine like an appliance - with an on/off switch. The Earth reseting itself like an appliance (when it’s not working properly).
The album is a little different to previous stuff. Was definitely more focussed on a theme this time. The obvious difference though, Chloe not singing on the album………unfortunately. That wasn't planned. She was really busy with Uni the last 12 months, so we decided I’d be left on my own for this one. She’ll definitely be back for the next thing though. The album was recorded at my house. My brother Mitch, played most of the Drums. It was mixed and mastered at Bergerk! Studios in Perth.
Less than a month since we featured 'Honey' by Thandii they return with 'Tides' where the driving bass line and assortment of sounds blends beautifully with the gorgeous soaring vocals.
Team Me also return for a second time, back in April we shared 'The Future In Your Eyes' and now we have 'Does Anyone Know How To Get To The Heart Of This' a splendid enough song title and equally splendid indie piece the bands knack for creating rousing catchy tunes continues.
We featured Julia Rakel a couple of times back in March and now we have 'Summer Hit' another creative and melodic song where her fabulous vocals and wonderful musical arrangement work wonders.
Finally and pretty much a month to the day since we first featured her, Grace Gillespie has shared the new song 'My Love Surreal', a hook filled pop piece that is just a little off kilter making the track even more engaging.
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Thandii - Tides.
Margate based duo Thandii have released new single ‘Tides’. This will be the final single from upcoming EP ‘Serious Town’, slated for July 5th.
Having gained support for their signature blend of sultry female vocals and upbeat pulsating bass lines on previous singles ‘Company’ and ‘Honey’ Jess and Graham now return with ‘Tides’ where they explore the themes of guilt and how people deal with it. A growing cluster of rhythmic sounds and shuffles, and an ever-present increasing bass line invoke the feeling of being relentlessly chased by guilt. A tribute to Greta Thunberg, the song has a constant nod to her work in raising awareness toward climate change, and uses it as a metaphor for regret. “There’s another heatwave on….” and “I can’t ignore you,” Jess sings with her soaring vocals.
‘Serious Town’, out July 5th on the band's own label Bad Hacker, sees a departure in tonality as well as the way it was recorded from Thandii’s previous works. “For the EP we chose to spend some time in a proper studio, rather than recording at home as we have done before. One of our favourites is a place called ‘Echo Zoo’ down in Eastbourne - it’s an analogue recording haven more akin to the Southern States than the southern coast of the UK.” The duo wrote and produced the EP themselves and took inspiration from the darker side of the psyche. “Imagine if the voice in your head sang at a dystopian disco.” Featuring previous singles ‘Company’ and ‘Honey’ the EP also features 4 new tracks, including upcoming single ‘Tides’.
‘Suits’ is a delicate and floating melody over the stab of reverb bathed synths that laments the aftermath of a fight. It culminates in a distorted guitar solo that perfectly conjures the moment raw passion meets vulnerable emotion.
Team Me - Does Anyone Know How To Get To The Heart Of This.
After their euphoric return earlier this year, Team Me present the memorable ‘Does Anyone Know How to Get to the Heart of This’, out now via Propeller Recordings (Highasakite, Dagny, Sløtface, Moddi), the third instalment of their upcoming EP.
Leading man, Marius Drogås Hagen of Team Me tells of the track, “‘DAKHTGTTHOT’ teleports us back into the post-apocalyptic world. A future where our cyborg heroes are fighting a losing battle. A battle for love, lost in a sea of flames”, continuing the harrowing and poignant narrative from it’s predecessor ‘The Future In Your Eyes’.
Capturing the anguish and romantic longing in the sonic soundscape, paired with Marius’ soft vocals, Team Me have taken a gentle and thoughtful approach on ‘Does Anyone Know How to Get to the Heart of This’. The single demonstrates the band’s capacity to create versatile sounds, showcasing their artistry while cementing Team Me’s reputation for manufacturing cinematic indie bangers in all forms.
When speaking of the band’s new chapter, Marius tells “as for the music, I really want to be more focused on documenting this time, rather than releasing an album and touring for three years on a campaign. I want the project to just be a way to let things out of my system.”
Umeå-via-Malmö Swedish musician and producer Julia Rakel is the latest addition to Stockholm indie label Rama Lama Records' (Melby, Steve Buscemi's Dreamy Eyes, Chez Ali etc.) roster. Debut EP indie fEELz was just released in march and Julia is already back with a new single called Summer hit, out now on all platforms
Julia works at the well-known Malmö studio Tambourine and her credits include sound design and music for the award-winning short film Plankton. With her expertise as a producer she's refined her stripped-down sketches to a daydreaming beautiful soundscape that develops with every listen. This, put together with Julia's individual vocals and often ironic lyrics, create a intimate and memorable sound. A sound that has been described as “a laid-back, dreamy, DIY aesthetic provided with some wonderfully candid and vulnerable music”.
Julia Rakel's own words about the single: "Man, I’ve had such a shitty 2019 so far. So frickin’ long and dark. But then April comes along and is really warm and sunny, and I thought. YES. It’s finally going my way. So I took a longer route to work, smelled a flower, all that jazz. The day after I wrote and recorded this little jam! The lyrics are super depressive, but the song is happy! My favorite combination."
Debut EP indie fEElz is six track creation that according to Julia is a try to deal with the very different kinds of relationships we have with each other and ourselves through "a lot of irony, drum machines and way too many choirs parts". The tracks treat universal topics such as forced acquaintances, love, desperate attempts to be understood, how we feel about our egos and sad celebrations of friendships.
“Summer hit” is out now on all platforms via Stockholm independent label Rama Lama Records. Julia Rakel made her live debut in October last year and have since supported Molly Nilsson amongst others, more live dates to be expected.
Grace Gillespie follows the infectious 'I'm Your Man' with the off-kilter pop track ‘My Love Surreal’, from her debut EP ‘Pretending’.
It’s South London based Grace’s exploration into solo psych-pop material after touring as part of Pixx’s live line up, supporting names such as Nilüfer Yanya, Cosmo Pyke and Trudy and The Romance.
Diverging from her previous romantic ballad, ‘My Love Surreal’ reveals the playful element of Grace’s sound, with discordant synth patterns that feel like the “cool blue light refracted” she’s singing about. Layered upon an almost-sinister plucky guitar riff and doused in her ethereal, vintage sound, the track is the epitome Grace’s individual pop vision.
Summarising the push-pull feeling of the charm of the track with the unexpectedness of dissonant chords, she describes the track as a “summer dysphoria”. With references to “blue light” and “day-glo”, “everything is vivid, patterned and bright - and yet entirely out of reach.”
Grace wrote the track in the peak of the hot concrete London summer, feeling frustrated, as “the circular synth patterns reflect little repetitive, negative patterns of thought, born out of a sense of isolation, being stuck indoors, being stuck creatively.” Anyone who lives in a big city will understand the confusing feeling of loneliness matched with endless potential.
In the end, the track comes full circle to remind Grace that her “love is real”: “It’s easy to be critical and get stuck in these relentless little cycles of negativity - I suppose the song was me trying to win myself over.”
It's yet another demonstration of Grace Gillespie’s ability to craft captivating pop songs whilst keeping listeners on their toes, a reminder to “get out of your head - it’s beautiful out there!”
From Sydney, Australia we have Dive Bell and a video for the song 'Lupine', a rich and unique sounding track where somewhat ethereal vocals are joined by a disparate musical arrangement yet they work beautifully together.
The Goa Express have shared 'The Day' an energised indie rocker where the vocals are enthused and the band tight and feisty.
It's our third feature for Honey Moon as once again the London jangle pop outfit impress us, this time with 'Magic' a timeless pop piece that is rammed full of hooks.
Oh, Rose new album 'While My Father Sleep' opens with '25, Alive' accompanied with a video, the song is a loose rocker, Rose's vocals ebb and flow with charm and feeling, it's a fine teaser for what's to follow.
We have 'I Gotta Pay' from Late TV another band making their third appearance here, in fact we have two versions studio and live to checkout, both are really fine as the band take us in another direction that is nonetheless just as pleasing as their previous songs.
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Dive Bell - Lupine.
Sydney’s Dive Bell exhibit their mysterious, divergent sound with ‘Lupine’, their cut through first release of 2019.
Shaping a truly vast and cinematic soundscape with their blend of alt-rock, electronica and trip-hop, ‘Lupine’ sees haunting harmonies effervesce around brutal guitar tones and shimmering synth lines. Initially striking with its raw digital crunch, this dissolves effortlessly to reveal a lush final quarter full of bright optimistic tones. “I was inspired by a doco I watched which delved deep into the territorial nature of wolves. It raised themes around belonging and entrapment, freedom and repression - which I explore lyrically in the track,” singer/keyboardist Aleesha Dibbs explains.
Voyaging to the wolves' nomadic habitat, the music video adds to the wonder, catapulting viewers into a seemingly ethereal world. Far from civilisation and shot on location in the Snowy Mountains, the clip sees Aleesha running amongst the wild. ”It involved the most intense cold I’ve ever experienced, a substantial amount of time on the freeway and a real-life 'Man from Snowy River,'” she jokes.
Having shared the stage with the likes of as Jonti, VOWWS, Body Type, Party Dozen, Lucianblomkamp, VOWWS, 100, Exhibitionist and A Swayze & The Ghosts, four-piece DIVE BELL have captivated audiences from all across the musical spectrum. Cementing themselves in both the local and national scene, their previous singles have seen support from the likes of FBi Radio and Rage.
The Goa Express release their urgent new single 'The Day' on Friday the 5th of July. Recorded at Champ Zone with Nathan Saoudi (Fat White Family), it rattles with an unstoppable new wave rhythm, shudders with abrasive guitars and with vocals that sneer with the spirit of seizing the day while everything is falling apart around you, their sound may rustle with the ghosts of acts like The Stooges, Psychedelic Furs and contemporaries like Shame, but the Goa Express possesses youthful energy, northern spite and ever-evolving sound all of their own. The band's frontman James Douglas Clarke says ‘The new tracks are about moving out to university and getting caught for doing shit whilst there and also about the fake, social media platform of our society, lick arses and how everybody wants to pretend that they’re friends.’
Teenagehood, brotherhood and a love for an array of alternative music, across the years, has closely united Burnley and Todmorden's, The Goa Express. Although the intensity of their friendship has resulted in the occasional bust-up, along the way, it is outweighed by their chemistry, which the band offers collectively both on stage and on record. Together, James Douglas Clarke (Guitar + Vocals), Joe Clarke (Keys), Joey Stein (Lead Guitar), Naham Muzaffar (Bass) and Sam Launder (Drums), each contribute to a fuzzy wall of diverse sounds that become hard to pin down with their ever-changing, experimental sound.
Since coming to Manchester, The Goa Express have enjoyed support slots with international bands like The Murlocs, Moon Duo and Mystic Braves as well as performing live with domestic indie champions such as Cabbage, YAK and The Orielles. Whilst at university, The Goa Express have played headline shows at both Manchester's Band On The Wall and The Castle Hotel, as well as slots at Liverpool Psych Festival and the Leeds based, Karma festival. Their live sets are raw, and with expressive, outspoken mindsets, the band transform the hyper- communication and speed of modern life through hard-hitting, relatable lyrics.
London jangle-pop crooners Honey Moon reveal new single ‘Magic’ – perhaps their most ambitious cut to date. It’s straight from the classic songbook, replete with saturated Hollywood strings, swooning vocals and a spine tingling key change. Once again frontman Jack Slater Chandler’s vocals come to the fore, with the rest of the mooners’ model musicianship dealing a handful of expert flourishes to deliver the slow, hip-swinging ballroom bop.
To put the track out they’re once again teaming up with Manchester label Heist or Hit (Her’s, Pizzagirl, Baywaves, Guest Singer), with whom they released last year’s acclaimed Four More From… EP, enchanting taste makers as well as BBC 6 Music and legendary crate digger Elton John.
Augmenting their trademark doo-wop sound with new textures, rhythms and instrumentation to give a more expansive sound, Honey Moon capture shadowy, wistful late-night moments. Plucked guitars, walking baselines and shuffling drums carry ‘Magic’ as it drifts through faded dreams. Slater Chandler explains the wider concept the band are aiming to express with this latest ode:
“We wanted to explore the illusionary theme, to try and make something expansive and cinematic-sounding. 'Magic' represents the soul-mate style love we see in film, literature, Honey Moon songs - everywhere! What can seem like the most mundane, everyday elements of companionship are often the most important and overlooked. This sort of souped-up version of having 'one true love' is, whilst a nice idea, pretty difficult to imagine as anything that's realistically achievable, but there's something very real in the sentiment, and that's the ‘spell’, that's the illusion.”
While My Father Sleeps by the Olympia, Washington based band Oh, Rose tells the complex story of family, adversity, love, and friendship. In ten songs, the record bears the soul and shares the truths of the band’s front-person and creative driver, Olivia Rose, while also serving as a homage to Rose’s mother, who passed away in January of 2017. It is Rose’s life story, told under the banner of a story her mother was never able to finish.
“While My Father Sleeps is the title of the book my mother wrote throughout her life,” Rose says. “It involved her relationship with my grandfather, the way she could communicate with him through the poetry of Carl Sandburg and the writings of Truman Capote. Her storytelling always inspired me to tell my own through music. The album title and artwork serves as a bookend, the songs written between two moments. The front cover shows my mother reading to my brother and me outside the North Asheville library in the summer of 1995, the back is her headstone. Though I didn’t write these songs in a state of grief, I came to know this album while I was grieving. When my mother died, I learned a new language, the language of death. At the same time, I was continuing to build strength and love within my community; my story isn’t uncommon. I hope my music finds a home with those who speak these same languages.”
Soon after arriving in Olympia, Rose met the friends and musicians who would become her community and extended family. Formed in 2014, the band built its foundations by playing DIY house shows and contributing to Olympia’s long-standing punk and art scene. A play on Rose’s own name, Oh, Rose recorded and self-released their first EP, That Do Now See in 2014 followed by a mini album the following year titled Seven. Sticking with the tradition of their previous release, WMFS was recorded and mixed by band member Kevin Christopher in Olympia Today, the live lineup includes Rose on vocals and guitar, Liam Hindahl on drums, Sarah Redden on synthesizer, and Kevin Christopher on bass; the dynamic continues to be as supportive and collaborative as any group of people can be. Each member writes their own instrumental parts with Rose bringing the songwriting and melody. The trust the unit shares with one another is where the group’s power truly lies.
While My Father Sleeps begins with “25, Alive,” a dirge-y, distorted-guitar gem that is fueled by Rose’s lovely rise-and-fall vocals and its choppy-smooth rhythm. The album’s lone number written following her mother’s death, it is a self-appeal to release the anger Rose had been holding both during her mother’s life and after her passing. As the song opens with the lines “Am I strong enough to tell my truth/25 I am alive and I am angry,” the way is paved for the passionate soul-bearing that follows. “I was 25 when my mother died and I was angry and broken” Rose says. “This song is me saying I don’t want this anger because I know what it does to a person if they hold onto it.”
About ‘I Gotta Pay’ There’s a humbling eclecticism in Late TV’s sound when comparing ‘I Gotta Pay’ with previous singles like ‘Citizen’ and ‘Great Gulfs’. Just when you think you can pin them down, they throw a swerve ball from somewhere left-of-field. That their music still (lucidly) gets to the core of who they are with every release is a testament to their versatility as songwriters, their voraciousness as listeners, and their clarity of vision as a group.
Their latest release is a poised and effortless foray through the familiar avenues of jazz and funk, with Defunkt-style motifs of punk and new wave, (frontman Luke Novak name-checks the seminal ‘Make Them Dance’ as an influence), weaved in alongside the afrobeat-tinged rock of The Budos Band. Lyrically Novak has modern culture in his sights as he threads together a series of financial frustrations and western cultural ironies with rhyming couplets to make a dour and absurdist collage. Like all the music of Late TV, it’s a mutant assemblage of ideas that succeeds through the canniness of its juxtapositions, never setting out an ideal, but through the subtlety and force of their craft and energy alone, leaving us in no doubt as to what’s being communicated.
About Late TV 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 Indiana’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. 2018 saw them take major steps forward. Kickstarted with the release of their brilliant ‘Citizen’ single, the group then appeared at Standon Calling Festival that summer alongside Goldfrapp and spiritual forefather Bryan Ferry. They followed it up early this year with the wind-swept soft rock of ‘Great Gulfs’ - its louche romanticism showcasing their immense songwriting versatility. 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.
Erin Durant has just shared her fourth and final single from the forthcoming album 'Islands'. Her appealing and gentle vocals glide above a restrained yet detailed musical canvas, 'Islands' should be good.
'Bankquilizer' from Catacomb Saints is atmospheric and simmers with restrained power, the mixture of post punk and sonic exploration both musically and vocally gives this song some rotatable edge.
Michael Paul Lawson has released the song 'Memories And Throttle' a refined singer songwriter piece his vocals are perfect for folk orientated music as they convey emotion and earnest feeling.
We first featured Keøma in April this year and they return with 'Young' accompanied by a video, their fresh and extremely catchy music once again proving hard to resist.
'Autumn Jam' by Glass Mountainis a hook laden indie rocker, the bands natural delivery and level of distinct overall sound, helps them stand out in what is a crowded music genre.
The overall production and resulting sound on Chapell's latest song 'Ride' is a deliciously rich, the musical arrangement and backing vocals are superb and allow enough room for Alan Chapell's palpable voice to own the piece.
The fourth and final single from Erin Durant’s forthcoming ‘Islands,’ ‘Rising Sun’ is its raison d’etre, the grand statement that leads you by the hand into her sprawling, sun-dappled archipelago. Over a gently strolling guitar and muted toms, Durant sings ‘I’m going far, I’m going wide’, signalling her intention to embed you within her travelling time machine. A lesson in sophistication, ‘Rising Sun’ fuses strung-out trumpets with Durant’s balm-like voice. ‘Rising Sun’ is like the lavender you spread on your pillow to induce sleep. Lie with it, doze off and dream of magical lands.
Rarely does an artist appear, as if out of thin air, with a full body of work where lyrically lush songs carry you into other worlds as if they were your own. Erin Durant's second album, Islands is an odyssey of sorts, with songs that blur the line between reality and fiction. Produced by TV On The Radio’s Kyp Malone, the eight songs deliver clarity within mystery and adventure in their uncluttered vignettes.
Born and raised in New Orleans, Durant has been based in New York for over a decade, all the while keeping track of the intricacies of life surrounding her and diligently developing her craft as a songwriter and performer. Lyrically, she composes most songs on piano, songs that tend to unfold structurally like a memory or a scene from a movie. As a performer, Durant usually transports a 232-pound ¾ size piano to venues without one. To hear her play the instrument makes plain her case for the extra effort. Her music is rooted in an ongoing dialogue between the physicality of her playing and the high, clear tone of her voice. Enmeshed with one another, it’s a display of an artist in full possession of herself and vision.
Islands sprawls out in front of you, weaving disparate stories into an overarching narrative. The songs touch on the ability to find meaning in minutiae. On “Take A Load Off” Durant tells a story of a weary traveler disoriented but pulled into revelry in an attempt to assuage their loss. The titular track “Islands” takes a similar tact, focusing on the conflicting process of attempting to find joy when joy seems lost. Islands is a continuously shifting landscape, with a knowing nod to the inevitability of these shifts.
Catacomb Saints share their new atmospheric post-punk meets folk single "Bankquilizer". Regarding the song, the band stated ""Bankquilizer" is a hypnotizing post-punk ballad of greed and violence, sung in a visceral style inspired by Nick Cave and the falsetto of Klaus Nomi. This song is a call to arms to rise up and not be tranquilized by banks and good ol’ boys. We recorded this long distance between LA and Edmonton, but that distance pales in comparison with the distance between the oppressor and the oppressed."
Catacomb Saints is Neil Holyoak (Holy Oak) and synth artist Devon Beggs. They recorded their first song in a cave in Banff, Alberta. Neil was burnt out on folk music and could only sing one line over and over again. They traveled through the Canadian Rockies in mid-winter to seek inspiration in a dank dark cave.
Immersed in the unusual environment and through sonic experimentation, they began a new composition. Playing the entire cave like a giant instrument, they used the natural reverberation to create a sonic landscape. Neil began making records in Montreal under the band name Holy Oak in 2007. Inspired by poets such as Thich Nhat Hahn, Rabindranath Tagore and Tomas Tranströmer, Neil’s fascination lies with the dark undercurrent of the subconscious.
Devon’s background is visual art, but his work in performance and video led him to experiment with synthesizers and homemade instruments. He uses a process based approach to synthesis and composition, in the spirit of Brian Eno or John Cage. Catacomb Saints release their EP, Cruel as the Grave, on June 14th, 2019. They’re currently working on their first full length album, which they’re recording at their studio on a small island in the Pacific Northwest.
Michael Paul Lawson was born into a deeply musical family, with generations of band leaders, classically trained academics, and brass band legends before him. While his early inclinations were to follow in their footsteps, his contentious relationship with his father and the urgings of his family to pursue more lucrative career paths, dampened his musical ambitions. Trading in the rust of northern New York for the luster of Long Island’s gold coast, Lawson set his artistry to the side in pursuit of corporate life. Eight years later, saddled with student loan debt and weary from the relentless New York City grind, Lawson moved, on a whim, to Norfolk, VA.
In Norfolk Lawson found space and clarity. He could watch the sunrise over the Atlantic and the sunset across the Blue Ridge Mountains in the same day. In Virginia the music started to flow. Plain-spoken ballads with deceptively straight-forward lyrics. A mix of beautiful prose and raw realities, conjuring up the early work of Jason Isbell and the slow burning, sobering lyrics of John Prine. Lawson was soon singing these songs in breweries and bars across Virginia, working it out, making up for lost time.
A disciplined artist with a punch-clock work ethic, Lawson began building a reputation as one of the most prolific writers and performers in the area, and he quickly began securing notable slots at the Norfolk Folk Festival and providing opening support for The Steel Wheels, and Sons of Bill. Eventually, his songs reached producer Daniel Mendez (Noah Gundersen, The Native Sibling) who offered Michael a development deal and an invite to track a debut EP in Austin.
Returning to Austin, where Lawson spent childhood summers visiting his father, was cathartic. It had been 16 years since Lawson was last in hill country, and 16 years since he last saw his father’s silhouette in the back of a squad car, when the constant drinking and violence came to a head in the Texas night, ultimately leading to their estrangement. It was an odd place to return now that he was carving out a new life path, but it also felt strangely in step with the material he had written for his debut EP, Some Fights You’ll Never Win. He was reconciling his relationship with his father, there in the flesh, and in the studio, as he committed his highly personal songs to tape. It was a healing experience, coming full circle, continuing the lineage of musical craftsmanship that had run in his family for generations.
“It’s taken a long time for me to get to where I should have been going from the start,” Lawson reflects. But taking the ‘back roads’ gave him the clear understanding, as the songs on Some Fights You’ll Never Win attest, that the most important battles to dive into are internal.
KEØMA, the collaborative project between Sydney-born, Berlin-based multi-instrumentalist/producer Kat Frankie and Cologne-based singer-songwriter Chris Klopfer, have released their new album "Saudade" alongside a video for "Young".
"Young" is a summery jangle-pop number with a lo-fi video celebrating the carefree feeling of youth as the duo take a trip down memory lane. Clips of sandy beaches, ice-blue swimming pools and palm trees are composed together like flickering memories of a postcard from an unforgettable holiday.
Kat Frankie is a well-known character in the German music landscape via her soulful indie pop, dynamic live shows and collaborations with top-tier German acts (Clueso, Olli Schulz, Casper & Materia). Chris Klopfer hails from the indie rock world, writing in both English and German and duetting with some of Germany’s finest singer-songwriters (Gisbert zu Knyphausen, Moritz Krämer).
This fateful and organically evolving project came together after Klopfer caught a performance from Frankie and suggested they write a song together. The name originates from a Castellari Spaghetti-Western movie about a gunfighter who returns to his hometown only to find out that it’s been ravaged by plague and menaced by outlaws.
Saudade is the duo’s latest release; an album whose title suggests a longing for brighter seasons. Gone is the dusty melancholy of their previous offering - instead, a more blissful pop-focused chapter has opened up. The album was written and recorded in Berlin and though the artists are certainly in a happier space, Klopfer admits many of the lyrics reflect his homesickness for his hometown of Köln.
“Those songs are about yearning for a home or vacation, which came from feeling isolated in cold, big Berlin as a small town boy. Our Saudade is the strong desire for a place you can call home, with the people you love.” Saudade puts Klopfer’s honest lyricism and heartfelt vocals into focus, while honing in on Frankie producing. Their collaboration with Markus Ganter (Casper, Drangsal) brought their sound radiating more into the pop world, exactly how they wanted it to be.
Bradford based four-piece Glass Mountain have released their new single ‘Autumn Jam’.
The single follows their EP ‘Wow & Flutter’ and lead single ‘Gin Flows Through My Veins’ and is a song about the joy and fear of love which is eerily beautiful in both its poetic lyrics and cinematic sound.
The band are currently touring the UK with Radidas and label mates LELO.
Alan Chapell is a unique character – even by the quirky standards of the West Village, NYC. The product of years of traveling the world, honing his craft and moving seamlessly through musical genres, Chapell’s lush sonic pallet falls somewhere between the progressive pop rock of Bryan Ferry and the jangle rock nuance of 10,000 Maniacs.
Growing up on the “mean streets” of Stamford, Connecticut, Alan was something of a musical wunderkind - playing piano and trumpet before the age of six. He recorded with the legendary producer Jimmy Ienner at age 15, and more recently with Talking Head Jerry Harrison. He’s played to jam-packed houses around the world from Managua to Mumbai. It took Chapell a while to get to this point, but audiences across the U.S. are starting to take notice in a big way.
One of the more interesting things about Chapell is that, in addition to his musical successes, he’s carved out a niche advising tech companies on privacy issues. When the producers of HBO’s Silicon Valley consider creating a character to lampoon your role as chief privacy guru for dozens of tech companies, you know you’ve made it. Chapell has started drawing comparisons to Roger McNamee’s Moonalice as each has a foot firmly planted in both the tech and music worlds - and each are vocal critics of the privacy practices of Facebook.
Chapell’s newest LP, Penultimate, is the closest he’s come to bridging his innate musicality with the perspective gained wading neck deep through the rise of the Internet age. Chapell’s music evokes the naïve optimism of the early days of “new media” and juxtaposes that with the current state of constant surveillance. “Ride,” the first song on Penultimate, somehow manages to be both optimistic and dark. Similarly, in “I am Zuck,” he parodies the never-gonna-happen confession of Mark Zuckerberg; at times using Zuck’s own words to take him down. And if you’ve paid any attention at all to what’s currently taking place in the tiny Central American country of Nicaragua, you’ll find “Sandinista” to be nothing short of chilling.
On making music in 2019 Chapell now says, “I feel like I’m discovering myself as an artist in a way I never could have earlier in my life. For too long, I bought into the notion that I couldn’t become a successful artist after age 30 – and it was liberating to recognize how foolish that was. The most invigorating thing is that I don’t feel I’ve written my best song yet.”
