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As a child, Andy Cook was afraid to sing. After years dodging performances in school music classes, he decided it was time to face his fears. Yet 2017 EP In Space and 2018 follow-up Modern Man still bore traces of that childhood anxiety: vocals surrounded by reverb and delay, melting into swelling banks of guitar. This time around, Cook is determined to recognize his voice for the instrument it really is; putting it front and center on new record I’ll Be Fine.
A former hockey player from the Midwest, Cook found new worlds opening up to him as he toured his first records across the country. It was a stop in New York, folded into a tiny Brooklyn bedroom, that helped to crystallize his voice into something he was finally ready to share. This city of dreams—and of harsh realities—was the catalyst Cook needed to push forward with his own dreams in the midst of seemingly unending uncertainty. Recorded live to tape at Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, I’ll Be Fine bristles with a closeness not heard in Cook’s earlier work. With co- production by Matthew Molnar (Sunflower Bean, Friends, Kissing is a Crime) and Jeremy Ylvisaker (Bon Iver, Alpha Consumer, Andrew Bird), Cook is able to anchor a tighter sound with firmer, bolder foundations.
This revamped sound bolsters appropriately direct lyricism, as befitting an artist finding a long-awaited confidence in the stories he chooses to tell. Even the album title I’ll Be Fine faces down the consumerist narratives that bombard us, challenging these ideas of what we should buy, how we should look, who we should like, and how we should talk—instead encouraging us to find a way to be more and more okay with ourselves, however that is.
“Life doesn’t have to be about how many people like your Instagram photo, but it’s hard not to feel devalued when we always feel behind, not good enough,” Cook acknowledges. It’s exactly this pragmatism that makes Cook an artist of note in 2019. His singular narratives have been refined with a close-knit team and released in the self-effacing knowledge that they have to compete for attention with the entire contents of Netflix... and yet Cook still chooses to put them out there. Cook summarizes I’ll Be Fine this way: “These songs are for everyone who’s trying to take our voice from inside and bring it out. It’s scary, but we’ve got to say what we want if we’re going to be heard.”
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Native New Englander, Jenny Reynolds, based in Austin, TX, since 2003, is a singer-songwriter, guitarist and storyteller. She performs Americana and folk music finger style on the guitar, and when strumming goes for percussive guitar patterns that make people feel like moving. Jenny grew up in a family that loved music and experienced it together, by listening to albums and going to shows.
At five years old she fell in love with the guitar, and her first one came from Sears. Some of the songs she learned, in the beginning, were “Blossom,” and “St James Infirmary.” Her songs are stories that evoke feelings; and her lyrics expose questions and issues about the human experience. Jenny is releasing her new album, Any Kind of Angel, on Friday, June 19, 2020. As the album unfolds, it is equally tender and powerful. She describes her music, “As a love child from a three-way with James Taylor, John Mayer, and Gillian Welch.”
Any Kind of Angel Jenny’s fourth album was produced by Mark Hallman and André Moran at Congress House Studio, in the heart of Austin. “Mark and André don’t just record what a person can do. They helped me discover what I can do as a guitar player, then they helped me develop that sound, then we recorded it. Hockey great Wayne Gretsky said, “I don’t skate to where the puck is. I skate to where it will be.” Mark and André help me discover where my music will be. This is why I don’t want to record anywhere else. I like what Mark did with Ani DiFranco’s record Dilate (her first studio record), and all of Eliza Gilkyson’s recordings.”
The musicians playing on Any Kind of Angel include Jaimee Harris (harmonies), Scrappy Jud Newcomb (electric and nylon-string guitar), Warren Hood (fiddle), BettySoo (harmonies, mandolin), Oliver Steck (cornet), Jenifer Jackson (harmonies), and Nate Rowe (bass). “Generally the people I like to play and record with are people who listen to others as much as they listen to themselves, much like jazz musicians do. We may not be playing jazz, but we are responding to each other with that kind of attentiveness and creativity.”
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Sandtimer have a new single. It’s called ‘Different Seas’ and is a solo piano-led new version of one of their oldest songs, featuring a more reflective and contemplative accompaniment than the upbeat shuffle of the original.
Crafting their arrangements with intricate, interwoven guitars and captivating vocal harmonies, composer Rob Sword and oceanography student Simon Thomas began performing as Sandtimer in 2014, building a small but passionate following on the UK acoustic circuit.
Soon expanding their ensemble to include Rachel Thomas on bass and vocals and Alex Jackson on percussion, as well as embarking on tours to northern Europe and Canada, Sandtimer have found an international audience for their music in the tens of thousands.
After a steady stream of EPs and singles over a period of several years, Sandtimer released their debut full length album, everything is on hold, in 2019. With eleven songs that walk the fine line between hope and despair, and inspired by a wide span of artists and musical styles, everything is on hold reflects the world in its current state- full of chaos, often full of sadness but also, perhaps, full of hope.
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Calgary soul-roots singer-songwriter Jess Knights debut full-length record, "Best Kind of Light" is released today.
Commenting on the recently released title track Co-written with Donovan Woods in a Toronto diner over slices of pie, the ballad about a graceful end to a relationship presents Knights’ luminous voice in its rawest form. “I know you’re lonely/I’m lonely, too/But I won’t dare call you/Even though I want to,” she sings, channeling that yearning tug-of-war to go back. It’s a relatable sentiment to anyone that’s left a relationship and chosen instead to move on.
“It’s a choice to move on from any relationship with grace and integrity,” Knights says. “‘Best Kind of Light’ traces a reflection on what was with a recognition of what is, and a choice to remember the good and hopefully learn from the not-so-good.”
Best Kind of Light weaves together Knights’ influences in blues, roots and revivalist soul, and features an array of songsmiths and sidemen, including award-winning producer Joshua Van Tassel, Joey Landreth, R. Grunwald, and others. The lineup adds dimension to Knights’ songs while bringing into focus the moody, dimly lit spectrum of her classically-trained voice. Able to traverse sultry ballads and raise-the-roof-off-the-church soul with ease, this dynamo performer is bound to leave an impression.
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Daylight Star is the debut single by Sun Cutter (aka Kevin Pearce), out June 19th on all digital platforms. Taken from the forthcoming eponymous debut, released later in 2020 on Bronzerat Records.
Two years ago Sun Cutter (who is from Colchester, England) suffered a heart attack (on a golf course!), whilst still in his early 30's. As well as having to redress his excessive living, his rehabilitation involved writing and recording the Sun Cutter project.
It is a reflective album of contradistinction; a timeless classic whose vocals, lyrics and craft bring to mind the warmth of Richie Havens, Cat Stevens, Van Morrison and Tim Buckley while displaying - on songs like 'Hold Out’ and ‘Don’t Fail Me Now’ - a more contemporary sound that nonetheless refuses to bow to the whims of fashion.
Co-produced with pal Dean Honer (The Moonlandingz, I Monster, Keeley Forsyth, Eccentronic Research Council). Kevin spent the tail end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020 on tour with Turin Brakes before the pandemic cut it short, with cancelled festival appearances such as Bearded Theory and Glastonbury. Touring will resume when... you know....
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"Problems and Heartache (I Got Them)" is a dreamy psychedelic pop feel-good music video created and produced by Sophia Nadia (Cold Beaches). The song features dream pop synth chords, reverberated guitars and gentle, crooning vocals. Nadia shows her vulnerability in this track by transporting to a place where the music is intricate, but to the point, as are her feelings.
Cold Beaches is the psychedelic rock n roll brainchild of Sophia Nadia. The project began in 2015 when Nadia moved from the suburbs of Washington DC to Richmond, Virginia. There she met Connor Wood, the late frontman of local Richmond band 3 Legged Dog, and was convinced to start a solo project. Since releasing her debut DIY lo-fi album, Aching, in 2016, Cold Beaches has toured around the continent, with the lineup changing to whatever could work for the band to tour. Consistently described as an “unapologetic do-er”, Nadia’s career dedication has shown more than most. From incessant touring around North America starting at 16 years old to moving to Chicago only a few years later in the fall of 2017, it was evident Nadia did not want to waste any time. When not on the road, you can find Sophia in her home or at the studio, writing and recording her next release; each one further in both garage rock and orchestral composition and heartbreaking honesty than the last.
Drifter is the first energetic, live recorded and thoroughly orchestrated album Cold Beaches has released yet. With honest lyrics ranging from the heartstring-pulling losses of friends and relationships to the optimism of independence and liberation from depression and anxiety, Sophia Nadia sings these 10 tracks with a newly founded voice of empowerment and fervent energy. Capturing the infamous vivacious reputation Cold Beaches has deservedly earned through years of live performances around North America, Drifter forges new ground. It combines the influences of the plain-spoken lyrical integrity of 90’s Pavement and fluctuating modern composition and arrangement. Equipped with an orchestra of instruments and talented local musicians, Drifter’s instrumentals transition effortlessly between hard garage rock (Ty Segal) to indie surf pop (La Femme). With these newly discovered weapons in hand, Nadia steps away from the lofi sound she’s known for and starts her move towards a new era of songwriting and album construction.
It is essential to listen to Drifter right now in the midst of this tidal wave of isolation that the world is feeling, which is right where Cold Beaches’ consistent expression of loneliness has always thrived. It is an album that people from all walks of life can openly interpret and apply their feelings individually, and find that they are in good company. Cold Beaches especially wants to create a space where marginalized people in the music industry can feel understood and important. Feel important, feel confident, and feel understood when you listen to Drifter. Cold Beaches understands what it is like to gain and lose, love and fall out, and lastly, just to be alone.
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New Fries are sharing their latest single, the mind-bending, genre-defying, tongue-twisting "Arendt / Adler / Pulley Pulley Pulley Pulley", the second single from their new album Is The Idea Of Us. Out on August 7th through Telephone Explosion, it is the band's first new material since 2016's More.
On the new track, the band offered, "Something about the women obscuring their gender and traditional roles (intentionally or otherwise) to do their work without interruption or expectation. Being contrarians, shrill. Seeking truth without taking care of emotions. Often their work is forensic, razor-sharp, and bright with clarity.".
The Toronto-based experimental No-Wave inspired band are one of the best kept secrets in the city, and with their new album they delve deeper into their unconventional, ever-changing sound. They worked closely with Carl Didur (Zacht Automaat, formerly U.S. Girls), resulting in a new direction, focusing more on space and repetition, finding the in-between and reflecting on it, examining that transition. Is The Idea Of Us is anxious in its repetitions and unsure of genre, a reflection of musicians and non-musicians making music together; New Fries insist on doing it differently.
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