Juliper Sky - ackerman - Che-Val - Nikki and the Human Element - The Softone - Youth Sector - Hedara

Juliper Sky have just released 'Waves' which is described as a "dreamy shoegaze love song", it's all of that and it's beautiful. === From ackerman we have 'A Million Sunflowers' which is a creative and predominately instrumental piece that's absolutely striking. === Husband and Wife indie music group
Che-Val share 'Dangerous' a hook filled alt pop song where emotive vocals and a superb musical backdrop impress! === From the album 'Elemental' Nikki and the Human Element have released 'Don't Mess Around With My Boy' which is a feisty alt rocker that calms for some melodic reprise moments before powering right up again. === 'Golden Youth' is the fourth album for The Softone from which we have the song 'Alone and Weird', a somewhat dreamy rocker that resonates emotion and feeling. === Brighton (England) art rockers Youth Sector new single 'Tonight' is perhaps less art and more high octane rock on this occasion, whatever, it's a good one. === Hedara just released 'Love Can Make Me Hate You' a song that is both evocative, powerful and irresistible.
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Juliper Sky - Waves.

Independent artist “Juliper Sky, will be your new obsession; mark our words.” The Daily Listening "I Love this song!" Cheryl Waters, KEXP “a powerful rock sound packed with pop sensibilities which is unique to them.” Mix It All Up Juliper Sky launched in July 2019 with their debut single Heaven, later followed up by Magnetise. Both singles quickly grabbed the attention of Spotify, who featured the tracks in their own curated playlists.

One of which being the U.K’s no.1 ranked indie playlist ‘The Indie List’. Heaven also gained significant radio play across the Atlantic, receiving the backing of Cheryl Waters from the much-esteemed KEXP in Seattle, who liked the track so much they named it their ‘Song of the Day’. Juliper Sky played their debut headline show in early September working alongside Manchester’s Scruff of the Neck to a sold out crowd. Fresh off the back of a huge response to the first two singles, Juliper Sky present their third offering, Waves, due for release 25/10/2019. Sonically, Waves marks a return to a more classic shoegaze sound, with huge layers of washed out guitars and synths, underpinning a dreamy vocal melody.

In the words of lead singer, Jamie Lambert: “Waves is undeniably a dreamy/shoegaze love song, it’s simply about opening up to somebody without any regard to consequence. The type of innocence where you are too infatuated to care about the world around you, everybody strives for this feeling at some point in their life” Juliper Sky continue their collaboration with producer James Kenosha (Rhodes, Dry The River, Dinosaur Pile Up), who was once again in charge behind the desk. The source materials were recorded in numerous DIY set ups around their home city of Manchester, UK including their own makeshift studio.

Daniel Parker of the band commented how ‘for this one we just wanted to create something huge, a bit wet reverby slap around the face. As soon as we had the basic arrangement of the song down we knew we had something that created a sense of drama and euphoria which played into the themes of love that penetrate through the song’.

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ackerman - A Million Sunflowers.

"A Million Sunflowers is the conclusion to our narrative, an epic and melancholy climax that explores the conflicts found in partnerships and relationships: that of codependence, the need for attention and the inherent difficulty of interfacing so deeply with another person.

Where 1000 Variations of Yourself was exploring the intricacies of the self, A Million Sunflowers explores the intricacies of partnerships. At the end of this final track, a refrain leaves the story open for interpretation.

Do we strike off on our own, returning to the beginning of the narrative, or do we continue into the unknown? As the parting words "I wanted to, I wanted to..." swirl into emptiness, the story floats into 1000 possibilities."

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Che-Val - Dangerous.

Introducing Che-Val, a unique husband and wife indie music group that blends live orchestration and electronic synths with well-crafted, smash-worthy melodic hooks. Laura Cash is the sultry and striking singer, songwriter, lyricist and science professor (yes, really); hence the Wonder Woman of this dynamic duo. Kenny Cash, the musical genius behind the group, is the Bruce Wayne: producer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, Berklee scholar, and recording engineer. Together, they form a powerful songwriting/production team of undeniable fun and a pop sensation in the making.

Che-Val’s debut single “My Beat" was released in August 2014 and reached number #55 on the Mediabase Radio "Top 40" Activator chart. A self-produced, retro-inspired green-screen animation video for "My Beat" hit 25K+ views on Vevo and YouTube. Che-val's latest 2 singles "Beg," and "Dangerous" are both of the darker more sinister variety. Both singles have been featured on the USA's networks television show, "Temptation Island."

This dark and moody alt pop song with electronic elements is newly featured on USA Network's Temptation Island in both season 1 (S1E6) and season 2 (S2E2). "Dangerous" is produced by Kenny Cash at the Factory Underground in Norwalk, CT.


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Nikki and the Human Element - Don't Mess Around With My Boy.

Elemental is an eclectic collection of musical styles and themes. " The band has been likened to Heart, Janis Joplin and Led Zepplin".

Nikki Neretin, MD (lead singer, guitarist and creator) is the Director of Homeless Services for the Institute for Family Health a large not for profit in NYC.  A professional singer, she works as a doctor because of her love of people and to pay the bills. Nikki has fronted numerous bands including the popular Pretenders tribute band "Nikki and the Tatooed Love Boys" and her previous original rock band "Dysorderlies"

Her work with street homeless clients for the last 20 years has helped to create the meaningful backdrop of this influential and important music.  Nikki uses her vast experiences with medicine, music, motherhood and marriage, with commitment to social activism towards a compassionate and sustainable world.  She can talk on many subjects including fronting bands, nutrition and medicine, parenthood, music, aging women rockers, veganism, animal liberation, sustainability, and many more.

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The Softone - Alone and Weird.

Golden Youth is the fourth album for The Softone, and is for sure the more similar to his first album “These Days Are Blue”, released back in 2008, that was mixed by Adam Selzer (Norfolk & Western) at Type Foundry Studio in Portland.

As completing a circle Giovanni Vicinanza, the man behind the project, found shelter and inspiration in chamber pop compositions, with an improved songwriting and sophisticated arrangements, involving strings and sax.

Golden Youth is an intimate and deeply felt collection of songs, born out of loss and birth, out of sadness and joy. Music as a private space, to elaborate and transform life's turmoil into beauty, standing between the sea and the shade of Napoli's vulcano Vesuvio, that overlooks Giovanni's Lavalab Recording Studio.

At the end of the songwriting process, Vicinanza moved to Milwaukee, in the States, to give the final touches and mix the tracks.

Golden Youth is an album featuring the pop elegance of modern classic composers as Neil Hannon (Divine Comedy) and Richard Hawley, the dark spirituality of Matt Johnson's The The, but also dreamy arrangements reminiscent of 70's works of Jean Michel Jarre.

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Youth Sector - Tonight.

Brighton art-rockers Youth Sector continue their charge to join the emerging indie elite with swaggering new cut Tonight, set for release 25th October amidst a backdrop of widespread critical acclaim.

Partnering up with esteemed producer Theo Verney (FUR, Egyptian Blue), Tonight sees the quintet double down on their ‘80s influences with a fresh and decisive step away from the brightness of previous release ‘Renting Spaces In My World’ into a more introspective and sombre tone, adorned with Tubeway Army-esque synthesiser and a vocal drawl reminiscent of New Order.

Discussing their newest effort, frontman Nick Tompkins stated: “This song aims to shed a light on the contagious quality of apathy in society, and how we favour small distractions in order to avoid confronting some of our toughest challenges. We’re seeing this constantly in the way the world deals with the climate crisis, where it only seems to be an urgent issue to those willing to make sacrifices while others are happy living in denial”.

With widespread tastemaker approval throughout the UK press (DIY, The Line Of Best Fit, Clash, Dork, Gigwise, So Young) and spins across the BBC Radio 1 (Huw Stephens, Abbie McCarthy) and 6 Music (Tom Robinson) airwaves, the indie newcomers are certainly making quite the early impression, with further new material ready to drop early 2020.

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Hedara - Love Can Make Me Hate You.

London-based singer-songwriter and one of this year’s most exciting new talents Hedara, returns with a spine-tingling piece of alt-pop songwriting. ‘Love Can Make Me Hate You’ perfectly combines Hedara’s undeniable songwriting talent, with a hazy, ethereal production.

Pursuing her passion for music from a young age, Hedara graduated from London's famous BRIT School alongside Freya Ridings and others. She was enjoying a lively start to her music career, performing a number of key shows and festivals, before a near death experience, falling into a diabetic coma caused her to re-assess and re-evaluate her outlook.

Slowly finding her way back into music, she began working with different songwriters and producers before finding a connection with Carey Willetts (Dua Lipa, Freya Ridings, Dermot Kennedy). Together they co-wrote and produced 8 tracks, 3 of which now form the EP Slow. Scarlet soon sent her music to industry friend Tom Speight, who loved her sound and invited Scarlet to join him on his UK tour.

The new single ‘Love Can Make Me Hate You’, comes ahead of her London show at Bush Hall supporting Tom Speight. It’s a track that’s rich in emotion, feeling like a very honest piece of songwriting from Hedara. It’s a lucid, alt-pop production that ebbs and flows around a subtle piano part. On the new track she states:

being in a relationship can be testing, no matter what. loads of curve balls will be thrown in along the way, and it's all about finding that someone who makes all the trials and tribulations worth it. You know you're going to go through all the highs and lows, the arguments, the tears, the happiness - and being willing for them to happen because this is the person thats worth it"

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Saltwater Sun - Future Lives - Hope Waidley - Kaola Queen - Sariyah Idan - alexdgoldberg - Colie

Saltwater Sun were featured a couple of times earlier this year and return today with the blistering indie rocker 'Mouthbreather' with a hint or two of grunge packed in. === Future Lives shared a video for 'Huckabee' a short while back and having reviewed a track from their first album, it's good to know the second album is on the way from these talented Americana music folk. ===  Hope Waidley has released 'Born Again' where her fabulous vocals are showcased above a stripped back musical arrangement. === Norway's Kaola Queen have released a bluesy rocker entitled 'Time' with bags of energy. === We have a beautiful soulful song from Sariyah Idan entitled 'You Got To Go' with some fine jazz vibes in the music. === Taking us into some orchestral territory alexdgoldberg new song 'Stay The Same' is a fabulously creative and rather addictive affair. === Finally today Colie has a brand new single 'Half Of What You Are' a natural indie folk song that feels personal and is simply beautiful.
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Saltwater Sun - Mouthbreather.

Reading thrashers Saltwater Sun are certainly no strangers when it comes to delivering bold, impassioned indie rock, and in rage-fuelled new cut Mouthbreather, the rising quartet demonstrate these feverish capabilities and take it in a whole other direction.

Following on from the release of critically acclaimed EP The Great Deceiver earlier this year, the four-piece kick-start their next phase with a simmering tension and underlying fury nestled deep within their songwriting as they provide one of their most assured releases to date.

Detailing the band’s forthcoming single, frontwoman Jen Stearnes explained: “Mouthbreather is a monumental rant about the myriad people who get on Saltwater Sun’s collective last nerve. Loud chewers, bad drivers and mansplainers – the list goes on! Sure, we could be the bigger people and rise above, but where’s the fun in that?”

Repeatedly championed throughout the UK press (NME, DIY, Clash, Dork, The Line Of Best Fit, Gigwise, Wonderland, The 405) and admired across the BBC Radio 1 and 6 Music airwaves (Annie Mac, Jack Saunders, Huw Stephens), the childhood friends have spent the majority of summer on the festival circuit (Isle Of Wight, Latitude and Truck) alongside notching impressive support slots with US alt-rockers Jimmy Eat World and fellow indie risers The Amazons and Another Sky.

Preceding an explosive batch of new material set for release in 2020, Saltwater Sun’s Mouthbreather, produced by Kristofer Harris (Bear’s Den, Belle and Sebastian, Ghostpoet), drops 23rd October and will be available via all digital platforms.

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Future Lives - Huckabee.

Future Lives - Spirit House - Brandon Taj Hanick on Death: “It’s tough to talk about.” It ain’t no day at the beach to sing about either, but the Future Lives songwriter is but a vessel for the songs of Spirit House. The decision to sing ‘em isn’t his to make. Songs are meant for singin’, afterall. Some of ‘em make your heart heavy with tears, but that don’t mean they should be sung any less.

Shortly after beginning to write what would become Future Lives’ second full-length album, Hanick and his wife Shaliza were standly squarely in a Florence square, where they had just eaten the best Italian food of their lives.

That’s when Hanick received word that his mother had six months to live. What doctors thought was early dementia was actually an irreversible brain tumor. It’s amazing how the best Italian food becomes tasteless when you learn that your mom is dying. When you try to talk to her on the phone, but she can no longer form a sentence. “We were just at the beach with her...like last month.”

Brandon and Shaliza booked the earliest flight back to Florida they could. The flight path of least resistance routed them through Barcelona, Hanick’s home from 2008 to 2011. If he had to make the saddest trans-Atlantic flight he’d
ever made, at least he’d have the company of his brilliantly empathetic wife and his sound friends along the way. While in the company of these sound friends, Hanick got a call from his father and immediately knew the doctors had overestimated his mother’s time on this earth. “She’s gone.”

Her death was sudden and expected. ‘Pleading with the inevitabile’ begins as a theme on “Homebound” and continues throughout Spirit House’s weighty romp through the prism of the valley of desperation and love: “You’ve seen it all, so see it all today, I would love to take your tenderness away. ‘Cause it made you too damn meek, and while, the skies will be your home, The Earth will surely miss you when you’re gone.”

The band will release its second full-length Spirit House comprising of twelve songs on January 10, 2020.


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Hope Waidley - Born Again.

Hope Waidley on the creation of "Born Again" - "I was going through a time when nothing made any sense, things were just unfamiliar. I was praying and felt like I was being told, “You have to treat this time like today, at 19, you were born again, and it’s your first day on Earth.

You’re not going to know what to do and that’s fine.” Looking at the current circumstance with that mentality allowed me to have the patience, appreciation, and acceptance for each little moment, recognizing that knowing it all and being clueless end up being the same thing oftentimes. I laid my old mentality to rest, my old life to rest, so whether I woke up in the morning or not, I would be born again. "

Hope is a 20 year-old self taught guitarist and pianist from Grass Lake, Michigan. She has traveled the country street performing with her sister. Hope is an active surfer, cliff jumper and raw honey enthusiast.


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Kaola Queen - Time.

“Time” is Koala Queens' second single, out now, from the upcoming album The Muppet Show. The track is about finding release from frustration, being allowed to feel content and daring to jump into new challenges. It carries a strong and distinct personality, with a chorus that is almost impossible to rid yourself of hours later.

The rough but simple guitars against the heavy bass drum give it a Friday night feel, while keeping the band on track with it’s organic rock & roll aura. The organ finishes off the whole mood, allowing the vocals to dance playfully throughout the entire three minutes of good vibes.

Formally known as Charlotte & Thieves, who got raving reviews, airplay listing on national and collage radio in Norway, UK, Germany and US, Nordic Spotify support as well as showcasing in front of GQ, Highsnobiety and Vogue amongst others.

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Sariyah Idan - You Got To Go.

Sariyah Idan is an American songwriter, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist whose soul and jazz influenced expressions have come to fruition in her first full-length album, Breaking Shadows . An accomplished artist and arts educator, whose experience began singing ensemble world folk music as a child, dancing professionally and studying poetry and jazz music, Sariyah possesses a profound sense of story alongside a keen understanding of music’s sensual strength and the emotional space a voice can occupy.

Born in New York, at a cross section where the American folk music of previous generations met the hip hop and Caribbean sounds of the streets, Miss Idan has spent her life seeking an articulation of these personal and cultural experiences against the backdrop of her own Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jewish roots. Breaking Shadows, is the first major landmark of this journey. An expression of vulnerability and community.

Recorded in Los Angeles, Berlin and Lisbon, with an array of some 27 musicians, the songs of Breaking Shadows are confessional, confrontational, social and spiritual. They present a woman’s reflections on love, power, patriarchy, and purpose. Across its 17 tracks, Breaking Shadows addresses some of the profound struggles of our age. #MeToo (‘Refuge In Blue’, ‘Temple’) and social justice (‘Truth To Power’, ‘Claim Your Gods’) are of the most politically significant, but of no less importance are the complexities and corruptions of human relationships (‘You Got to Go’, ‘That Woman’), the transformational devotion of romance (‘Can We’, ‘Vibe’) and, ultimately, self-purpose and self-love (‘Shine’, ‘Revel’).

Artistically, Breaking Shadows is an achievement of collective creativity that draws inspiration from the breadth of Sariyah Idan’s experience. The narratives of 60s folk and soul as they meet the vocal rhythms of Zap Mama and Bobby McFerrin; The emotional depths of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone alongside the fierce and fearless Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu; the themes of justice, resilience and spirituality as echoed by the global voices of Celia Cruz, Bob Marley, Buena Vista Social Club, Balkan Beat Box, Rising Appalachia and Nneka.

As the expression of a lifelong musical vision, Sariyah Idan’s Breaking Shadows is as much a journey to the heart for the listener as it has been for its creator. It is the sound of an artist finding her voice. It is the sound of a message that grows in strength when it is shared.


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alexdgoldberg - Stay The Same.

Stay the Same stems from a low-point in the Alex's life, when his 20-something’s stresses had left him in massive sleep-debt, motivated toward social isolation, and beleaguered by self-starvation. This period culminated in a trip to the ER after fainting at his day job.

While recovering, Goldberg continued to grapple with the forces that led him to such a nadir, asking himself, “Will I go on? Will I ever change? ...Or will I stay the same?”

A bountiful arrangement and production seemed the only suitable backdrop for such simple and pure questions, and Goldberg set himself to the task of recording, performing, producing, and mixing most of the song and subsequent album. He says, "I have a lot of experience playing modern classical music and jazz. I sat in the back of the orchestra in the percussion section just sort of listening to all these major composers, and being completely surrounded by that sound."

alexdgoldberg (inspired by the artist’s email address) is the solo project of Alex Goldberg, a drummer and composer/producer based in Brooklyn, NY. He has recorded & performed with L'Rain, Wsabi Fox, Michael J. Schumacher's diNMachine, Throw Vision, Grand Kid, and many others. Loste is his debut album.

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Colie - Half Of What You Are.

A personal and evocative track that shows a more introspective side to her lyricism, Townsville singer-songwriter Colie makes a bold return with her new single 'Half Of What You Are'. The indie folk-tinged ballad made it's premiere on Roots 'N' All Triple J on Monday, and via theMusic.com.au yesterday.

A lover of storytelling, Colie expresses honest vulnerability in her new track, as she opens up about growing up as a fraternal twin in regional far north Queensland. Colie's lamenting vocals sail over the lyrical guitar chords as she portrays resignation with her status when compared to her brother.

"From the moment a child is born, they face a "blue" or "pink" reality. I had a unique experience with this growing up, being a fraternal twin and having a sibling of the exact same age, yet we were treated differently based on our gender. ‘Half of What You Are’ explores the idea that gender is socially constructed by the way members of society evaluate the role of females and males," Colie explains.

Releasing her first single 'Sunday News' in February followed by her EP 'Bug On A Lamplight' in May, Colie received rave reviews and airplay via triple J unearthed, Double J, ABC Local, 2RRR, and many other community radio stations around the country. Influences ranging from Julia Jacklin, Gretta Ray to Johnny Cash and The Police, Colie's own sound brings a humbling sensibility with a song that explores a current subject matter that is both personal and universal.

As her career starts to heat up, Colie is set to tell her story around the country, with upcoming shows across the East Coast from November. But for now, take the journey with her as she bears her heart in 'Half Of What You Are'.


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Sophie Kilburn - Aussie Scots - Oliver Spalding - Martha Bean - Ollie Trevers

Sophie Kilburn first single ahead of her upcoming E.P is 'Indigo Fever'. At the centre are Sophie's striking vocals and she surrounds them with a more than complimentary musical arrangement, that gives the song even further edge.

The aptly named Aussie Scots share the brisk and pleasing 'Phenomena,' a song that mixes fresh indie rock with a hint of folk, and a good few hooks I might add.

Ahead of his debut album Oliver Spalding has shared 'Xanax' a beautiful song that showcases his fabulous vocals, and excellent songwriting abilities.

From Martha Bean we have 'Along The Lonely' which is a beautiful folk song. The vocals are melodic and more than capable of upping the power, the musical backdrop ditto, there's an E.P on the way, this is a superb advert for that.

Someone likened Ollie Trevers to Jeff Buckley and I thought that's one incredible artist to measure anyone with. 'Stage Of Fools' confirms the comparison is not hype there are remarkable similarities, the key one being that this sounds like it's from the heart, just as Jeff's music was.
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Sophie Kilburn - Indigo Fever.

Born in Derbyshire, Sophie Kilburn has been working tirelessly to create some of the most exciting & fiery alt-indie around in her upcoming EP My Room Made Public. It’s a project that unearths the fears of intimacy and the longing to be desired, through the vehicle of affecting, powerful songwriting.

Sophie’s distinctive sound draws influence from across the indie rock and folk scene. Her main sonic inspiration comes from the likes of PJ Harvey, Florence & The Machine, Lana Del Rey and Alt-J, though her own sound also leans on elements of art pop and blues. For Sophie, performing live is an essential cog in her creative output. Her mesmeric live performances have lead to shows at influential venues such as The Troubadour and The O2 Islington, she’s also shared the stage with (MBE) Shirley Collins at Camden Roundhouse, later ending her music residency there with a sold-out show.

Looking towards her own releases, Sophie is launching her project with her first single “Indigo Fever” this Autumn. Showcasing her undeniable songwriting talent, it’s an anthemic piece of Dark-Pop with lush hints of indie rock and folk instrumentation. It’s a track with a catchy, upbeat groove and fierce vocals. Showcasing exactly the sound and style, Sophie is bringing to her new project.

“The song is me asking how can I feel comfortable in myself, when all I can think about is how people see me? Am I doing what I want or what I think people want me to do? It goes deeper than just wanting to be liked it is the overriding pressure to feel needed. I have been such a perfectionist with the song that I have had to force myself to say “enough Sophie it’s time to let it go!” so here you are.”

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Aussie Scots - Phenomena.

With a best friend by your side, anything is possible. That includes going to #1 on their local radio station 2CC in Canberra with their infectious track Phenomena. And that's exactly what happened when Aussie Scots gave a copy of their single to their local radio station years ago. Despite that success, the guys never released the single anywhere else until now, as they are including it in their debut album It's About Time.

Aussie Scots are best friends, bandmates and ex-pats from Scotland who relocated to Australia and with them took their lifelong passion for making music. Listeners of their local radio station 2CC have already gravitated towards their eclectic pop ways thanks to the stellar beat and captivating hook of Phenomena with its melodic barb and a lyrical approach that is unafraid.

Aussie Scots write from a variety of perspectives, Phenomena is the perfect example of how deep they can get with their lyrical content. It’s all based on their belief in a hidden fourth dimension that exists between life and death. Whether or not there’s any reality to that is debatable but what’s not is that Phenomena energy is unbeatable, which is why it went straight to #1 on 2CC.

Having the support of their immediate community, Aussie Scots are allowing the world to hear the music from their eleven track debut album, It’s About Time. An adventurous body of work imbued with a bold spirit and an undeniable sense of wonder. Ballads, spoken word and deep grooves are to be found as the this songwriting duo’s love for making music is on full display.

With passion and candour, Aussie Scots revel in the freedom of song, their self-expression unmatched in its openness to connect, Phenomena proving to be true to it’s name.


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Oliver Spalding - Xanax.

Oliver Spalding is thrilled to share his new single “Xanax”, the latest song to be released from his forthcoming debut album Novemberism, out November 15th on Monotreme Records.

“The album focuses on a certain period of time in my life and the things that happened around me,” says Spalding. “My honesty in songwriting is key. The aim of this album was to be raw and emotional. Emotions are scary and no one wants to face them, and that’s what I wanted the album to feel like - something that is uncomfortable but also beautifully revealing.”

Written and produced with Ed Tullett, the album is both delicate and striking, a masterpiece to truly cherish and as the cold sets in this November, Spalding’s staggering voice and lush emotive soundscapes will lend themselves perfectly to either indoor contemplation of the year past or likewise expansive ice-covered outdoor exploration in the wilderness.

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Martha Bean - Along The Lonely.

“Is it all right to settle for someone who is ‘all right’, just so you aren’t lonely?”

The lilting rhythms of ‘Along The Lonely’ – its warm double bass, whispering drums, shimmering guitar and sweeping strings – carries a song that has something of a dark heart. Via an inventive mix of folk, jazz and pop, inspired by such visionaries as Nilüfer Yanya and Grizzly Bear, Martha Bean’s new single questions the motives behind our longing for relationships. “We all need someone,” says Martha, “and that can be beautiful. But some people just want a ring on their finger and someone to moan at when they forget their anniversary. Is that ‘love’? Is that OK?” As her vocal soars from sarcastic but tender through a powerhouse refrain and its reflective climax, Martha expresses the conflicting emotions of such uncomfortable truths.

About ‘Here Comes The Snowstorm’ EP ”Life rarely brings blocks of pure joy or pure despair. More often the emotions – hope and hopelessness; gravity and levity – all bleed into one another, and I hope these songs reflect that.” Martha Bean

Though united by a bittersweet theme, each of the five tracks on Martha Bean’s new EP stands alone, inspired by real events. Be it the eponymous tale in ‘Slippers to a Wedding’ (“We aren’t perfect – we have to laugh at each other,” says Martha); the emotional vision of a lonely widow captured on ‘Beneath the Shadows’; or the hopes and fears of a new mum expressed on ‘When I Hold You In My Arms’ (Martha became a first-time mother, to Leon, this February), the highs and lows of contemporary existence are all on show. Conveyed via spacious, ambient alt-folk topped by Martha’s skilled guitar picking and silky vocal, her songs evoke artists such as Fionn Regan, Phoebe Bridgers and Lisa Hannigan

Recorded and engineered at home by Martha herself (the versatile musician also played guitar, piano, mandolin and bass, as well as scoring all the string parts), ‘Here Comes the Snowstorm’ has already made an impact in 2019 thanks to two of its tracks – ‘Slipper to a Wedding’ and ‘When I Hold You in My Arms’ – being aired on Tom Robinson’s BBC 6Music show. Co-produced by Martha’s partner Joel Evans (aka Tiny Eyes), who also weighed in on percussion, synths and Wurlitzer piano, the EP features Joe Manger on drums, Rob Rosa (Maniere des Bohémiens) on violin, Mirka Hoppari on viola and Martha’s father John on cello.

Leicester-based alt-folk songwriter Martha Bean began her musical journey early – at the age of just three, she began writing melodies on the piano, but refused lessons from her mum (a piano teacher). She turned her hand to any instrument she could get hold of, which, growing up in a musical household, wasn’t too difficult.

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Ollie Trevers - Stage Of Fools.

“Stage Of Fools” encapsulates a universal feeling of solitude, worthlessness, or nihilism. I like to think that although the content of the song itself is quite depressing, the song’s very existence is comforting in a sense…because knowing that someone else has felt this way indicates that you’re not alone.”

Taking its title from an immortal line in Shakespeare’s King Lear, ‘Stage Of Fools’ focuses on the disillusionment a person feels from their own reality. It is a feeling crystallised both in the thought loops of the depressive mind, and in the nihilism of Shakespeare’s antiheroes. Life is a ‘stage of fools’ or a ‘poor player, who struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more.’ Taking these ancient sentiments as a springboard, Ollie Trevers unpacks their themes of existential emptiness. The song starts with an expansive and filmic soundscape that, through handclaps and coruscating guitars, builds to a wave that buoys us over the bleak nothingness of the void. It’s stormy, melodic, relatable, and vital music from an artist who marries a unique sound with psychological acuity.

Cordelia evokes themes of heartache, melancholia, catharsis and emotional claustrophobia. It is about feelings which often transcend our ability to describe them in words. With his idiosyncratic ear for melody and hooks, and a dynamic sense of opposites (light and dark, loud and quiet, bitter and sweet etc.), Ollie Trevers fires a salvo of emotionally charged numbers that cull influence from across the spectrum of popular guitar music. Cordelia is a narrative of heartbreak, showing the duality of relationships and their untimely endings. It is an exploration of unrequited love and its causes and effects: depression, addiction, disillusionment and longing.

London based singer/songwriter Ollie Trevers studied at Leeds College of Music and ICMP. He started writing and performing music at fourteen years old, harbouring artistic aspirations from the very beginning. A veteran of the band circuit, Ollie released his first solo EP Saucy Naughty Rubbish in 2018. Stylistically, the record saw Ollie exploring a powerful and energetic blend of post-punk and classic rock. His musical direction has since evolved into the five songs you hear on his new EP Cordelia. It is a kaleidoscopic meeting of styles, channeling punk, alt rock, prog, blues, folk, and psychedelia. Ollie takes inspiration from artists such as Led Zeppelin, Ella Fitzgerald, Edith Piaf, Tim Buckley, Jeff Buckley, Pink Floyd, Queen, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell and David Bowie. Having only performed with his new band since March 2019, Ollie toured in the South of France a few months later. He plans to tour Britain, Europe and Nashville throughout 2020.


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Mappe Of - The East Pointers - Debra Lyn - Zinnia

Mappe Of was first featured here earlier this month, so it's a swift return with the new song 'Faesulae'. The single edit comes in at just under seven minutes and it really is a feast of imaginative avante-garde folk, it's quite stunning.

The East Pointers third album is due out this week and they have shared 'Halfway Tree' a refined and beautiful modern folk song, from this increasingly popular band.

Mixing Americana and folk Debra Lyn latest single 'I Pull Me Down (The Maids Of Mitchelstown)' is more akin to Celtic folk, it's natural live feel adding even more gorgeous vibes to the song.

We featured Zinnia back in March this year and the new song 'Requiem' is another creative and beautiful art pop track with plenty of passion in the vocals and a tight smooth musical backdrop.
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Mappe Of - Faesulae.

The Canadian Avant-garde folk artist, Mappe Of - a moniker for Tom Meikle - is today sharing his mesmerising new single, ‘Faesulae’. Released on the heels of ‘Unkno’, this is the third single to be taken from the forthcoming album, The Isle Of Ailynn, which is due for release on November 1, 2019 via Paper Bag Records.

Recorded at Bathouse Studio, Ontario (operated by the multi-award-winning Canadian band, The Tragically Hip) with longtime collaborator Will Crann and engineer Nyles Spencer (Broken Social Scene, Gord Downie), The Isle of Ailynn documents a fantasy world through nine different landscapes that draw parallels between a mythological space and everyday conflicts, troubles and fears within our lives. ‘Faesulae’ pulls on an array of electronics, finger-picked guitar and surging percussion, structurally diving through crescendos and varying degrees of tempo, further demonstrating Meikle’s rich musical understanding.

Speaking about the new single which outlines another of the forthcoming album's nine idiosyncratic land- scapes, Meikle says: “‘Faesulae is the return home, adventure weary, battle worn, empty handed. It’s about setting out for answers and returning with more questions. Though you’ll have to wait for the full album ver- sion for the dust to settle completely.”

The Isle of Ailynn looks to follow-on from the Toronto-based artist’s critically acclaimed 2017 debut, A Northern Star, A Perfect Stone (tipped by Stereogum, NPR, Consequence of Sound and Paste) marking a more focused theme and progressive understanding of genre and songwriting. Meikle’s debut release found him opening for the likes of Martha Wainwright and Bahamas whilst amassing over five-million streams on DSPs. UK dates are set to follow the new release in early 2020, these to be announced shortly.


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The East Pointers - Halfway Tree.

There’s already a waiting list for JUNO Award-winning Canadian trio The East Pointers’ third album Yours To Break, out October 25th.  Redefining the ever-evolving genre - modern folk - with Billboard-worthy pop hooks, deep acoustic groove, trance-like trad breakdowns and three-part harmonies, Tim Chaisson (vocals/fiddle/percussion); Koady Chaisson (banjo/tenor guitar/moog) and Jake Charon (guitar/keyboards), already internationally acknowledged as musical trailblazers, have made sure Yours To Break will light a path for a new generation of music lovers who don’t care for labels.

Previous release What We Leave Behind became an international standout album of 2017, nominated for the Traditional Roots Album of the Year at the 2018 JUNO Awards and attracting over five million streams on Spotify. In the short time between their 2015 JUNO Award-winning debut Secret Victory and the upcoming Yours To Break, the band has performed over 450 shows in the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Mexico, the USA, and Ca

Yours To Break sits uneasily in a classic genre demarcation. The East Pointers have always been musically complex and technically brilliant, the core is definitely traditional Celtic, but on the new album, fiddle tunes are grounded in complex rumbling bass lines, a dirty Americana exploration turns on a dime into a lighthearted guitar feature with flamenco reference palmas, playful keyboard tones turn traditional solos into urgent dance-party journeys, and off-the-leash festival jam sessions give rise to vocal numbers that are either perfect pop songs or moving tributes to the home and people they love.


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Debra Lyn - I Pull Me Down (The Maids Of Mitchelstown).

Americana/Folk singer/songwriter and musician, Debra Lyn and Producer Jeff Silverman are VERY excited to present her new single “I Pull Me Down (The Maids of Mitchelstown)” from her BLUE SUN RISES album.

“Blue Sun Rises,” Debra Lyn’s third album for Nashville-based Palette Records, brings together traditional music that clearly speaks to Debra’s Irish/Scottish/English heritage and intricately weaves these influences with original material. Inspired versions of songs such as the Scottish favorites The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond and The Parting Glass, a popular American Folk/Gospel song, Wayfaring Stranger, and a lesser known British folk song, Billy Taylor with an upbeat feel, are also included.

Blue Sun Rises was produced by Debra’s long-time collaborator, Jeff Silverman, who co-wrote and performed on many of the album’s songs. Jeff is an award-winning producer and songwriter. He has toured and worked on gold and platinum album projects for artists such as Rick Springfield, The Allman Brothers, and Roger Miller, to name a few.

Two songs from the album, Workin’ For The Money & Wayfaring Stranger have been nominated for “Americana/Folk/Acoustic” & “Producer/Production” awards, respectively in the prestigious 2019 Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA).


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Zinnia - Requiem.

ZINNIA is the Toronto-based art pop project of Rachael Cardiello. With layered synth and driving beats, ZINNIA brings an explosive range to Cardiello’s writing, equal parts intimate and fierce.

Recently described as “Kate Bush meets Meatloaf” and first to proclaim a deep love for Bruce Springsteen, this is ZINNIA.

ZINNIA is the artpop project of Rachael Cardiello, James Burrows, Chris Pruden, Connor Walsh and Mackenzie Longpre. With layered synth and infused with movement - ZINNIA is equal parts intimate and fierce, a neon rollercoaster.

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Strandels - Stoner - Eil Marchini - Gabriel Birmbaum

Strandels new single 'Slip' is a refreshingly melodic and catchy song full of indie pop charm.

Stoner has a new release entitled 'Lacrimosa'. Described as a "melancholic, distorted ballad" it's all of that and very hard to ignore.

We have a new video from Eil Marchini for his latest song 'The River'. It's a gorgeous mixture of alt country, blues and the occasional blast of full on rock and roll.

Ahead of his 'Not Alone' album Gabriel Birmbaum has shared 'Mistakes'. It's a beautiful rocker, with vocals that fit the style and a mixture of guitar and piano giving the song a live feel.
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Strandels - Slip.

Strandels debuted with the EP 'Chance of Rain' 2016 and has since toured with Per Gessle (Roxette), played at The Great Escape (UK) and starred in most major Swedish television programs. The latest single "Love On Repeat" spun on Swedish National Radio all summer.

The new single 'Slip', which begins with plucking acoustic guitars and dreamy vocal arrangements, is more organic than the previous release and the song's theme of a new beginning is reflected in the cover's pictured trot card with the same meaning.

Sibling Tova and Sixten Strandell now are looking towards an upcoming debut album it is with partially a new view of their music. The duo has for a long period worked been in the studio working to find a new touch to their sound. This has resulted in something that can be described as melancholic yet playful, floating and honest.


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Stoner - Lacrimosa.

Following the standout singles ‘Ultra Lite Midlife Paradise’ and ‘The Anteroom’, Stoner brings his fierce lyrical eye to newest release, ‘Lacrimosa’.

A melancholic, distorted ballad at its core, ‘Lacrimosa’ is another homage to the tradition of British alternative music. With thumping percussion and glimmers of electro, the track is reminiscent of Mark Hollis, These New Puritans and Cocteau Twins. The result is a poignant track, flitting delicately between 90’s grunge and 80’s new wave.

With humanity at the forefront of his material, drenched in haunting falsetto the track cuts through the noise of hectic everyday life and offers a moment of deep reflection on what is primal. Stoner explains: “’Lacrimosa’ [meaning ‘weeping’ in Latin] studies the first days of being alive. Where you’re still wet with the otherworld. It’s a song of the first born. First breath, first hour. Newness and nakedness- where existence is struggle and the cry the only command.”

Named after John Williams’ lost classic, Stoner, it’s a project that explores our fears of and relationships with death, the dying and its surrounding existential crises. Just as the novel follows a farm hand who dedicates himself in blind pursuit to literature as the world crumbles around him, the project forces us to confront and interact with mortality, through the use of beautiful and often heart wrenching musicality.

The single precedes Stoner’s slot at Mirrors Festival, Roundhouse, London on the 2nd November, amongst the likes of Phoebe Bridgers and Cass McCombs.

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Eil Marchini - The River.

Following his triumphant appearance at Pistoia Blues Festival, appearing on the line up alongside the likes of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Black Stone Cherry and 30 Seconds To Mars, Eil Marchini has returned with a Blues/ Country Rock fuelled new single, The River!

After the atmospheric 50 second intro Marchini's sensational slide guitar playing stands out on the new single, riffing effortlessly over a driving, rolling country rock beat. With tasty guitar licks that Stevie Ray Vaughn or Derek Trucks would be proud of, the 12-bar blues nature of the track manages to feel current with top level production and a Black Keys-esque vocal line.

With guitarists like Jimi Hendrix and John Frusciante as inspirations you’d expect a virtuoso musician and that’s exactly what you get with Eil Marchini – a maverick artist who excels at combining the very best musicianship with an unbridled talent and expertise for presenting it in endlessly fascinating new ways. Not allowing himself to be constrained by fitting into a genre, Eil flits between making atmospheric electronic and country with absolute ease.

Born in Italy, Eil Marchini has spent much of his life travelling the world, on a mystic mission to experience the sights and sounds of everywhere he visits, ready to mould them into the bewildering sonic creatures on both his first album, Smile, before releasing the atmospheric Magpies on Acid and now returning with more new material.

Having just completed a tour supporting Alt-Country/Paisley Underground pioneers, The Long Ryders, Eil Marchini is essential listening for anyone with a passion for guitar, electronica, soundscapes, folk, psychedelia…in fact, for anyone who demands the music they listen to challenges them and transports them to worlds they never even knew they wanted to visit


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Gabriel Birmbaum - Mistakes.

Gabriel Birnbaum turned 21 on stage at a bar in Tampa, Florida, to the sound of strangers singing “happy birthday dear Dave,” having misheard his name. He turned 22 at a house venue in Murfreesboro, TN - one of those spots where they would cook you a meal made out of dumpstered groceries and then let you sleep on the couch when everyone got tired of drinking. On his 30th birthday he played a show at Bard College and spent the night on the carpeted floor of an off-campus house next to a grinning plastic skeleton, the first thing he saw in the morning light.

For someone who's a perpetual outsider, the life of a touring musician can be a salve. You always have a reason to be where you are, and you're always going to be somewhere else tomorrow. It's a kind of suspension of life, an endless succession of similar nights marked by odd details and occasional transcendent moments - the cafe in Idaho where the proprietor left you with his gun overnight for “protection”, the art space in Iowa that reeked of the Subway sandwich bread that was baked upstairs every day, the festival where you met a hero and got to feel that for the day you were peers, members of the same musical lineage. You pocket those stories and trot them out at parties, pore over them until the paper softens like an old love letter, but as the years go by and you remain outside of normalcy and stability (and health insurance), they can feel like a ripoff.

Birnbaum, a working musician since his teens, began as a jazz and avant-garde saxophonist, with stints playing everything from throwback soul music to harsh noise everywhere from the grungiest DIY venues to Lincoln Center and festivals like Bonnaroo and Le Guess Who. At 30, when he began to write the nine songs that make up Not Alone, he had arrived at one of these moments where everything seems to be ending, aside from another year as an underpaid condescension-receptacle in the service industry. After he finished his shifts at the cafe he would go to a bar, a different one each night, always alone. He’d nurse a beer and sit in the bubble of ambient chatter and warm light and see himself fading out of existence. Call it failure, call it burnout, call it clinical depression (doctors did). Call it whatever you want, it can only be lived in for so long.

But if you're going to keep going in the end, in spite of all the bullsht and hopelessness, in spite of an industry full of hacks and strivers and power-abusers, in spite of never being seen, you might as well do it exactly the way you want. So he did. After a luckily timed offer of some free studio time, he decided to make Not Alone as a birthday present to himself, and called in some of his favorite musicians to join him: Will Graefe, who plays guitar for Okkervil River and comprises half of the duo Star Rover; Adam Brisbin, extraordinary guitarist for Buck Meek and Sam Evian; and Jason Nazary, a freewheeling drummer who passes easily between the avant-garde, indie and jazz worlds.

Inspired by Neil Young’s on the fly process, and by the brilliant session players in the Wrecking Crew and their contributions to LPs like Jim Sullivan's UFO and John Phillips John the Wolf King of L.A., Birnbaum took his songs to the band with no real preparation. Together in the living room of the Great North Sound Society they found the magic moment of each track while a pork shoulder simmered in the slow cooker. “Every song has two magic moments,” he says, “the first is when it first coheres from separate parts into one solid thing, and the second is about a year into playing it live, when it reaches a kind of sleek, streamlined perfection. We were after the first one here.” The LP was tracked in a couple of days, with a few gentle overdubs, and then mixed by like-minded songwriter Will Stratton.

Out of a season of endings, if there’s enough time, will always come new beginnings. As the autumn turned to winter, Birnbaum met someone new and began to fall in love with an intensity he didn’t think was possible anymore - it was as if the entire world round him had come back to life, just as everything was freezing. And in falling in love he found a new version of his own voice: a simpler and clearer one, less interested in hiding, willing to accept itself as it is, to trust the song to reveal itself at the right speed. Having seen the dark from the inside, he was ready for the light when it came. Not Alone contains both at once.

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Marika Wittmar - True Moon feat. Christine Owman - Ttrruuces - Malena Zavala - Tuvaband

Marika Wittmar has just shared 'Underneath Your Hands'. The Swedish songwriter has surrounded herself with an impressive musical arrangement which contrast well with her distinct and powerful vocals.

Swedish quartet True Moon feat. Christine Owman share 'Sisters In Arms' a fast paced post punk song with just a hint of Gothic vibes and hooks galore.

Ttrruuces debut track in entitled 'Sad Girl'. Accompanied by an animated video, the song opens as a gently melodic piece. Gorgeously arranged with fabulous harmonies and rich textures of musical sound, it builds into something quite epic.

Malena Zavala latest release is 'En La Noche' a song that somehow manages to capture the vibrancy of Latin American music and mix it with psych pop/rock! This is something rather special.

Just over a month ago we featured Tuvaband for the first time and now we have another fine song entitled 'He Said Me Too'. The vocals are incredible and exude emotion and intensity, it's another fine tease for the forthcoming album.
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Marika Wittmar - Underneath Your Hands.

Marika Wittmar is a Swedish songwriter and artist who mixes influences from blues, folk/world music, ballads and jazz with lyrics inspired by i.a. buddhistic meditation and female mythology.

Her band, constisting of both folk musicians and jazz musicians was formed at the Academy of Music and Drama in Gothenburg 2018. Hammond organ, drums, bouzouki, harmonies, bass and guitars make up the bands' instrumental foundation, together with Marikas powerful and characteristic lead vocals.

The debut-EP Underneath Your Hands was recorded in Svenska Grammofonstudion in Gothenburg in spring of 2019 and will be released later this year.

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True Moon feat. Christine Owman - Sisters In Arms.

Swedish quartet True Moon offers an enchanting blend of dark wave, post-punk, and alternative that eclipses musical trends.  Formed by members of Grammy-nominated band Vånna Inget, Karolina Engdahl (vocals/bass) and Tommy Tift (guitar), they have created a charming darkness; together with Linus Segerstedt (guitar) and Fredrik Orevad (drums), they are a force to be reckoned with.

Engdahl and Tift began this project when they were inspired to create something that was more raw and visceral than the songs they were working on for Vånna. "It was like an urge and we just had to do this,” says Engdahl. The result was True Moon's 2016 self-titled debut, a brooding yet sensual work that garnered attention in the Scandinavian music community and beyond.  With influences including Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sisters of Mercy, The Mission, early Cure, Stevie Nicks, and Heart, they channeled a sound of bittersweet twilight.

True Moon expanded their audience with performances in Sweden, the UK, and the United States, playing with bands like Killing Joke, King Dude, MCC, Dead Soul, Nicole Saboune, and many more. Now poised for their next release, titled II, True Moon has nowhere to go but up. "We want to draw our own cult of believers together and create a little chaos of our own," Karolina says. "We want this record to be like an infectious poison."

Both II and True Moon were produced by Jari Haapalainen, who adds guitar to the recordings and also joins the band on stage occasionally. Lövely Records will release II in digital, CD, and vinyl formats on November 1st, 2019.


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Ttrruuces - Sad Girl.

It’s notoriously hard to stand out in the congested world of new music, but that’s something that TTRRUUCES have achieved with their debut track ‘Sad Girl’. From their storytelling style to their unique sound through to their touching animated video, TTRRUUCES are doing something quite unlike anyone else around.

Their debut single ‘Sad Girl’ represents the first chapter of a grand narrative tale that will be told in full with TTRRUUCES’s debut album. The song introduces Sadie, the ‘Sad Girl’ of its title. She’s 17-years-old, depressed and different. As a musician who loves the icons of rock and roll history – Bowie, Queen, The Velvet Underground, Nirvana - Sadie feels out of place and out of time with her generation. She has few friends and has never had a boyfriend.

But little does she realise that she’s on the cusp of a much bigger adventure. As the song’s lyrics promise, “Have a little patience, you may find just what you’re looking for.”

The opening of ‘Sad Girl’ sounds like some long-lost masterpiece of late ‘60s psych folk that’s only just been rediscovered by a particularly committed crate-digger. Yet it constantly shifts into an individualistic amalgamation of other genres and sounds, taking in choral-style vocal harmonies, lush bursts of strings and a Zappa-esque guitar solo.

That spirit of adventure extends to the striking video. Callum Scott-Dyson mixes a range of animation techniques to bring the ‘Sad Girl’ to life, in the process dropping some subtle references to a variety of legendary artists. The visuals that bring TTRRUUCES’s fictional universe will evolve with future releases, with a live action cast and experimental film techniques bringing the rock opera and its protagonists to life.

Though based in London, TTRRUUCES relocated to the French seaside for a year to give themselves the freedom to fully immerse themselves in creating their debut album. They produced it themselves before calling on Alan Moulder (Arctic Monkeys, Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails) for mixing duties. The song was mastered by France’s leading engineer Chab (Daft Punk, Christine & The Queens).


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Malena Zavala - En La Noche.

Heritage is a complex thing for the Argentina born and UK raised producer/multi-instrumentalist songwriter Malena Zavala. On her debut album Aliso, released last year, she offered an aesthetic which married the worldly rhythms and magical lyricism of her latino background with the vitality and production values of contemporary psych rock and dream pop. It was quickly lauded for its creative fearlessness and dulcet melodics. The Guardian praised it in their 4* review as did The Sunday Times, Stereogum, NPR, The Line of Best Fit and more.

Not one to rest on her laurels, Malena has been prolific since, playing festivals such as Green Man and touring with Men I Trust, Blanco White and Lord Huron and writing a trove of new material which she intends to release as her second album early next year. The first single from this new body of work, ‘En La Noche’ (translates as 'In The Night') combines traditional Latino Cumbia rhythms with lysergic guitars and a swirling ambient production style to create a beatific exploration of the role of dreams in creativity. “I started creating a fictional world where your dreams are just important as your reality" explains Malena.

"I had been reading Gabriel Garcia Márquez’s ‘100 Years Of Solitude’ so I was obsessed with magical realism at the time. In your dreams the whole world dances together. If you get complacent, magical forces pin you to the floor and you can spend the rest of your days there. It’s a metaphor for getting as much as you can out of life and not getting lazy.”

By pairing the music of her earliest memories with the music of her young adulthood, Malena challenges generic conventions while simultaneously crossing the borders of identity. ‘En La Noche’ invites the musical worlds of salsa, afro-funk, cumbia, guarani, and many more, to a moonlit dream party with the likes of Beach House, Tame Impala, Khruangbin and Connan Mockasin.

She hopes the rhythms in her music will bring people together: “Dancing is in the heart of Latin America and in my soul so I wanted to incorporate more of that in my music and live shows to get anyone moving. Even people who aren’t comfortable dancing. It takes all seriousness out of it”.

The dance theme continues with the vibrant new video for ‘En La Noche’ directed by George Moore. “I wanted to really capture the energising effect of the music, and reflect the song’s vibrancy in the visuals,” says Moore. “Out of that came the idea of starting with painterly staged poses, and building up to a dynamic and colourful dance sequence as the music fills the performers with life.

“The decision to shoot in a stunning Victorian theatre and use a lot of smooth motion helped lend a floaty, dream-like quality to the video, and Malena really knocked the choreography out of the park, with intuitive dance skills the rest of us can only dream of!” By synthesising the things she loves, Malena’s music expresses herself in its purest form. She is a vital new sound for our transnational times.


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Tuvaband - He Said Me Too.

Last month Tuvaband (aka Norwegian artist Tuva Hellum Marschhäuser) announced the release of their second album I Entered The Void (27 November via Brilliance Records), and shared the album’s title track - an otherworldly, atmospheric slice of Brad Fiedel-esque cinematic synthwave. Now Tuvaband return with a second single ‘He Said Me Too’, a song equal to its predecessor in its ethereal beauty but with a duskier, heavier soul. ‘He Said Me Too’ is a song that binds itself around the listener, at once both alluring in its melancholy yet claustrophobic, giving the sense that the listener is drowning in the song’s spellbinding current.

‘He Said Me Too’ is a song about the complex process whereby the oppressed become the oppressor, and the mentality that being a victim creates an increasingly accepted cycle of revenge. Inspired by a series of documentaries and media coverage in Norway, of witch hunts and shifting power struggles, in ‘He Said Me Too’ Tuva reflects on ideas such as the cycle of war, as Tuva expands “after a war in a country where one group is oppressed, very often you see that group later go to war against the group that offended”. Its a song that explores without judgment a human trait Tuva finds “interesting, but also scary and sad”, one where values and principles are lost in a cycle of an eye for an eye.

The lyrical depth of thought displayed on ‘He Said Me Too’ is indicative of the I Entered The Void long-player as a whole. The album was written in what Tuva describes as “The Void”, newly relocated to Berlin, the artist found herself in a place between old and new, with most of the album being written
by Tuva alone in her home studio. This period of isolation has led to an album of deep musical undercurrents, and even deeper lyrical reflections.

Tuvaband has previously released one album, the critically acclaimed debut Soft Drop (2018, AntiFragile/Brilliance Records), which garnered acclaim both in Tuva’s homeland of Norway and internationally, with Tuvaband being named ‘Ones to Watch’ twice by The Guardian, and the band’s SXSW Austin showcase of the same year garnering a flurry of attention from tastemaker US media.

‘He Said Me Too’ is released as a digital single today with the album I Entered The Void following on 27 November, both on Brilliance Records. Tuvaband will perform in the UK in the new year: 5th February 2020: The Lexington, London.

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