Katie Kuffel - Hollow Graves - She's Got Spies

Katie Kuffel released 'Carillon' two days ago. It's a powerful singer songwriter song that's fabulously arranged, her vocals are captivating, soulful and ooze emotion.  ===== From Hollow Graves we have their new single 'Far Out Summer,' it's produced by themselves in a live performance setting, it's melodic, flows beautifully and has some enchanting psych feeling. ===== She's Got Spies has shared the video for her track 'All Outta Tears' taken from her new album 'Isle of Dogs'. We featured ‘Super Sniffer Dogs' prior to the album release and are really pleased to have the new video which once again helps confirm what a superb collection of music she has recently given us.

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Katie Kuffel - Carillon.

Seattle singer-songwriter, Katie Kuffel, announces the release of the first single off her upcoming album this week. Exuding a dream-like trippiness, “Carillon” serves as a source of strength and resilience in trauma’s aftermath. Kuffel’s smokey vocals resolutely compliment layered horns, organ, and guitar to build forward momentum. It’s a reminder there’s no going back, only moving forward. “Carillon” is off the album, Alligator, due out early 2021.

The single was written following a violent attack on Kuffel while she was in college. Kuffel says, “I like to speak openly because violence against women is still so prevalent. So many people are stuck during Covid with their abusers, so many folks don’t know what resources are available to them, what laws are and aren’t on their side.

Set to three acts within the song, “Carillon” begins by submerging the listener into the anguish directly after trauma occurs. An acknowledgment of inner strength emerges in the second act, It concludes with a refusal of defeat. Kuffel says, “During the early days of recovering from my attack, I often had nightmares, and would suffer from sleep paralysis. This song is a mix of some of the trapped feelings I felt while dreaming, and me wishing I never experienced that event.” This can be heard in the line “un-ring the bell” that Kuffel repeats over and over. She says, “It’s me desiring to become stronger, it’s me telling myself that only I have the control over myself and my own reactions. That I won’t be undone.”

Kuffel expresses an empowering depth and self-awareness throughout her album. Topics on Alligator range from intergenerational trauma viewed through kid glasses, a song about how a volcano would experience time, seasonal depression, and about her own disability. No matter the scale of her theme, Katie finds the universal thread to captivate her listener, reminding us we’re all human, and to embrace the messiness inherent in being alive during this turbulent, modern era.

Katie Kuffel · Carillon

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Hollow Graves - Far Out Summer.

Hollow Graves keeps the fire burning with their arsenal of new material, all written in a live performance setting to capture the fervent energy of the band.

This single is solely produced by the band themselves, enlisting help from long-time friend and musician Logan Trearty in mixing and engineering the songs, recorded at his studio in downtown Toronto.

The band dives deeper into experimental material with their new collection of music, balancing grunge and psych rock intensity with indie sensibility.

HollowGraves · Far Out Summer

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She's Got Spies - All Outta Tears.

She's got Spies has shared the new video for her track 'All Outta Tears' filmed in Moscow, Russia in 2012, watch/share it below. This lovelorn tune is lifted from her new album 'Isle of Dogs' which is out now.

She’s Got Spies’ second album ‘Isle of Dogs’ refers to an area of London, Laura Nunez’s hometown,  as well as the state of turmoil of the island of Britain. The follow up album to her debut Welsh language  album ‘Wedi’, ‘Isle of Dogs’ features songs written over the last decade. She’s Got Spies is the project of Laura Nunez and her cast of collaborators. She spends her time between Cardiff and London, she’s  multilingual and can sing in Welsh, English and Russian.

‘Isle of Dogs’ is a charming trilingual travelogue album, with most of the songs written on the move  while travelling or whilst Nunez was living in various countries. She spent time in Russia, Vietnam, Italy,  Tierra del Fuego in Argentina, and parts were also written in Cardiff, London and other parts of Wales  and England. Threaded with Laura’s knack for a bittersweet earworm melody and surreal yet personal  lyrics, these charmingly wonky songs are underscored with dark psych tinged sounds and an unsettled  feeling which reflects the turmoil of current times.

With music hall style pianos, bounding percussion, fizzing guitars and a playful vocal, new single ‘Super Sniffer Dogs' is inspired by Laura’s time spent visiting Poplar on the Isle of Dogs, an area of high  contrast with the rich, banking area of Canary Wharf and large, destitute council estates. It’s about an  imaginary dystopian festival with lots of restrictions in a high walled destitute area. Despite its serious  themes, which is juxtaposed by a catchy singalong melody, it’s a joyous tuneful romp.

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Mamalarky - Greg Cockerill - Phil Mitchell Band

Mamalarky share 'Drugstore Model' ahead of their debut album due out this coming Friday. The song is a vibrant mixture of indie pop and punk, there are plenty of catchy moments and a few twists along the way, overall it's a fabulous taster for the album. We have also added the first single 'Schism Trek' which unfortunately passed us by in September however is another notably engaging and original track.  ===== Toronto based Greg Cockerill has shared 'No, Never Alone' and it's a really fine piece which exudes some timeless natural rock vibes, some smooth guitar licks and his vocals add both feeling and gravitas. ===== Phil Mitchell Band latest single 'My Love Is True' has already gained considerable attention. That's hardly surprising this is absolutely exquisite and something of a genre melting pot as indie rock and EDM dance music collide beautifully, the melodic vocals are the icing on the cake!  

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Mamalarky - Drugstore Model / Schism Trek.

In September, Mamalarky announced their debut full length with the single "Schism Trek." The band, who have recently re-located to Atlanta after stints in Austin and LA, have been the subject of a rare mid-pandemic buzz ahead of the release of their album on their new label Fire Talk (Dehd, Pure X, Corey Flood), earning early praise from outlets like NPR, VICE, Billboard, Bandcamp, The Grey Estates, Pond Magazine, Refinery29, Alt Citizen, and The Line of Best Fit. Yesterday Mamalarky shared the final single from the LP ahead of its Friday release, a track called "Drug Store Model."

"'Drug Store Model' is an epiphany in realizing how much I wanted to unlearn and reject power dynamics in relationships," guitarist and vocalist Livvy Bennett explains to CoS. "I kind of allowed myself to fully embody the immature side of myself; to both acknowledge and make fun of myself in regards to the serious inner work that needs to happen to really function in a 'give and take' relationship. Since writing this I definitely feel more able to engage in relationships that really nurture growth, but it’s an ever-evolving process I'd reckon."

“I don’t think Tinder was created to connect bandmates,” bassist Noor Khan says. But in 2018, that’s just how she connected with singer and guitarist Livvy Bennett, who had put a call out for a bassist on the dating app. Livvy was a year into her life in Los Angeles where she had been working in the music industry and playing shows as both a solo artist and as a duo with longtime collaborator Dylan Hill, who is Mamalarky’s drummer. With their friend Michael Hunter on keyboard and synth bass, they recorded their self-released debut EP Fundamental Thrive Hive but were in need of a full-time bassist who could properly distill the “patchwork of different influences that comes together as a cozy quilt you can cuddle under.”

“I was swipin’ for a bassist which makes me cringe to say now,” Livvy adds. “I just had no idea where to start meeting people to play music with in a new city!” In the end, she found Noor, and the final piece of Mamalarky’s puzzle was complete. "Using the best technology the world has to offer, I was able to find my best friend who I'd travel the world with in a few months time.”

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Greg Cockerill - No, Never Alone.

Born in Montreal, raised in Alberta, living in Toronto, Greg Cockerill’s music is a unique expression of Canadian Roots. Growing up and discovering classic albums from John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix amidst the exploding grunge rock scene of the early 90’s, Greg picked up a guitar and played in as many bands as possible ranging in style from hip-hop and r&B to jazz and country. Going on to formally study music and getting a degree in composition/arranging and jazz guitar, he found himself inevitably drawn back to his roots in Alberta, and to his roots in rock, blues and country music.

In Calgary, Greg discovered the power of songwriting. This quickly led to the formation of The Greg Cockerill Band and he released his debut album Summertime & Heartache in May 2008 which received nationwide radio play. In 2010, Greg relocated to Toronto and re-formed a new Greg Cockerill band, releasing Festuca in 2011 with his brother Joshua Cockerill and Stew Crookes. The album garnered industry praise and generated a faithful following in the local music scene playing residencies at the Cameron house and the Dakota Tavern.

As well as fronting his own band, Greg also works as a sideman and session musician and arranger. Most notably his collaboration with blues renaissance man Paul Reddick won the JUNO Award in 2017 for Blues Album of the Year. Currently, Greg has a new roots band playing alongside Steel guitar virtuoso Burke Carroll and Kurt Nielsen on the Double-bass. He released three new music videos in July 2019 through the Unicorn Project. He’s currently in the process of recording a new full-band studio album with the first single to be released in the fall of 2020.

Greg Cockerill · No, Never Alone

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Phil Mitchell Band - My Love Is True.

A stylistically unique Indie Rock Band from day one, the members of Phil Mitchell Band have been singing, performing, and playing in sync as if they’d been together their entire musical careers. 

Throughout the course of the band’s union, they have won over the hearts of music lovers from all walks of life; performing at a variety of venues, making loads of public appearances, all the while recording new music. 

Learn more by exploring the site, and feel free to get in touch with any of your comments and questions.

"My Love is True". Is an EDM Dance song of Phill Mitchell Band's "A Better World" Album

Phil Mitchell Band · My Love Is True

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Bonader - Facing Mountains - Kama Vardi

Bonader shares a gorgeous analog synth based song entitled 'Backseat' her vocals are dreamy and oh so engaging, and the music sumptuous on this moving piece. =====  Facing Mountains new album 'Season's End' has been sometime in the making as the artist explores different musical ground. We have two tracks from the collection, namely 'Echo Returns' and 'Season's End'. Both give a good feel for the collection where Xander delivers a mixture of melancholic vibes, dramatic intensity and often personal lyrics. ===== Kama Vardi has just released 'The Gate' along with a video for the track. This is an absolutely beautiful song, to describe it as catchy is an understatement, its taken from the new album 'Moonticket' due out on 27th November.

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Bonader - Backseat.

Ellinor Sterner Bonander creates experimental, cinematic pop with a penchant for electronica and alt-jazz composition. Her lyrics often concern themselves with existential questions about the world, seen through a feminist lens.

On new single ‘Backseat’, warm analogue sounds mirror the comforting safety of childhood, dreamlike strings envisage the daydreams and unlimited imagination that a child can have. These musical elements stand in stark contrast to the lyrics, which express the ‘rug pulled out from under you’ feeling of adulthood, the fragility of human existence and the risks people face every day.

Bonander tell us “This song is about growing up and the unwillingness to see the world as it is. As a kid you would fall asleep in the backseat of your family’s car, with that comforting feeling. The night wasn’t scary, it was just…safe. Now, you have to walk home alone with the keys in your fist, looking over your shoulder.”

ICEA · Bonander - Backseat

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Facing Mountains - Echo Returns / Season's End.

Facing Mountains' compositions are defined by intimate and personal lyrics, drifting on melancholic melodies. Colourful arrangements are shadowed by ambient textures. The album 'Season's End' is a collection of songs that nests itself inside you and takes on a new identity as the story slowly unfolds. Season’s End came to life in June 2019 and started off as a one-song experiment. After focussing on classical music for many years, Xander felt the Season's End necessity to incorporate and explore different styles of music. 

The first song Xander wrote was The Beggar. Little did he know that this would
create such a creative influx. Spending months in isolation, writing one song after the other, Season's End gradually took shape. Recording 'Slowing Down in Daydreams' meant the capstone of the album. Season's End was born. 

In Facing Mountains' musical realm, opposites do not contradict but rather complement one another. Contemporary, classical, alternative and pop music can coexist. Or, as Xander puts it: "It's all about what you communicate and by what means. If a song is meant to expand your ego and display how good you are as a musician or producer, I believe you are missing the point".

The personal and heartfelt music of Facing Mountains was born out of a longing from Dutch composer and songwriter Xander Slikker. After treading on numerous musical journeys, he has found a way to combine his love for classical, alternative and electronic music and shape it into one identity.

Facing Mountains · Echo Returns

Facing Mountains · Season's End

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Kama Vardi - The Gate.

The Gate is the fourth and final single to be released from Kama Vardi’s new album ‘Moonticket’ (out 27 November). Indicative of Kama’s style, The Gate’s simplistic folk-pop harmonies and quaint yesteryear hint of French new-wave offer a gorgeous backdrop to Kama’s tender, enchanting vocal.

Musically inspired by ‘40s pop and noughties songwriters such as Adam Green and Bonnie Prince Billy, and lyrically by French romantic poets such as Baudelaire and Rimbaud, The Gate oozes a dreamy romanticism and bitter-sweet melancholy. Kama was inspired to write the song from the point of view of her friend after watching her fall in love for the very first time, as Kama expands “She was all over the place - ecstatically happy, but also very scared that everything is going to blow up in her face, that she's going to somehow pay for her feelings, for letting herself get carried away.”

The Gate’s accompany video is a recreation of the final scene of ‘The 400 Blows’ by François Truffaut, filmed in a tiny 30-family village up in the Galilee mountains where Kama grew up, filmed by her friends Lior Shalev and Noya Globen on a simple camera and iPhone.

The Gate was produced by Israeli-American producer Sagi Shahar, and recorded between New York and Tel Aviv, and features musicians across both cities, including Harrison Keithline, Noga Davidson and Shay Roth.

Kama Vardi is a critically acclaimed Israeli artist who, like bygone artists such as Nico, Molly Drake and Joni Mitchell, writes song centred on honestly and depth, with each track on Kama’s forthcoming album ‘Moonticket’ being a story of her life experiences or – as in the case of The Gate - observations of loved ones. Kama has previously released a debut album ‘Forgetmenot’ (2012) and a double E.P. ‘Satchel-Sof Ma’arav’ (2016) which were both critically acclaimed in her homelands of Israel.

The Gate is the forth single taken from forthcoming new album ‘Moonticket’, following Under The Sun, the cover of Nico’s These Days (2020), and first single Whatever Will Be (2019) which received play on Israel’s biggest radio stations, featured on Shazam’s most searched for songs in Israel, and was included on Apple Music’s ‘Israeli Essential Rock Song Of The 2010s’ and ‘100 Best Songs of 2019’ lists.

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All Things Blue - llawgne - Flight Attendant - Palberta

All Things Blue are a Los Angeles pysch-shoegaze band and they have just released 'Lully' ahead of their debut album 'Get Bit'. The song itself slowly opens with gorgeous vocals and plenty of originality, adding some refined musical accompanyment. ===== llawgne (aka Mathias Engwall) shares 'Reverie Neverending' a song that is smooth flowing dream pop with a hint or two of showegaze, the melodic hooks making the piece really stand out. ===== From Flight Attendant we have the new track and video for 'Comedy Show'. The Nashville based quintet serve up a song that builds both musically and with intensity, it's a little dramatic and very enticing, the video conveys all of that. ===== Palberta return just over a month since we featured 'Before I Got Here' with another new song and video for 'Corner Store'. Once again the vocals and especially the harmonies are notable and the stripped back music complements well.

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All Things Blue - Lully

Los Angeles pysch-shoegaze rockers All Things Blue have released the latest taste of upcoming debut album Get Bit, in the shape of contemplative new indie-ballad "Lully".

The project of singer-songwriter India Coombs (aka Blue) and guitarist Jon Joseph, All Things Blue’s new album Get Bit follows a series of hype-building EPs and singles, tackling the personal and the political with equal vigour. “I feel like everybody has a spaghetti brain,” India says. “In one moment you're talking about politics and what's going on in the world, and then the next moment you're thinking about somebody that you really like. It’s the ups and downs of the human brain.”

New track "Lully" leans more toward the political, with India zooming in on cotton plantations in Arizona and putting the magnifying glass on environmental sustainability.

India Coombs said: "My brother sent me an article about farms using flood irrigation on their cotton crops in Arizona and how unbelievably wasteful it is. Cotton is the most widespread profitable non-food crop in the world and its current production methods are completely environmentally unsustainable."

Taking inspiration from the weirder, psych-leaning corners of indie-rock, and especially Aussie psych legends Pond, whose latest album Tasmania tackles Australia’s own brand of climate change-related horrors, Get Bit brings together influences from across the guitar music spectrum. “Tipsy” is a loose, lo-fi romp that recreates the feeling of its title, while “Buddha and Penelope” is a woozy slice of psych-pop. Then there’s “Scratch,” a blistering 40-second tirade against unrealistic expectations, which sees All Things Blue bare their teeth and take cues from gutsy garage rock.

Traversing genres and sounds with impeccable clarity, Get Bit is an open, giving record that allows and beckons listeners to make their own interpretations, and get whatever comfort and validation they need from its songs of rage and love. In an era of oversharing, the album is a tonic with which to use your imagination, project yourself onto, and take these songs into a whole new world.

India and Jon originally met in LA at the age of 18, having both independently moved to the city; Coombs driving across the country in her broken down pickup truck from Philadelphia, and Jon hailing from further south in California. The pair wasted no time becoming friends and firing out an eclectic assortment of demos. They did so namelessly for some time, but eventually settled on "All Things Blue”.

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llawgne - Reverie Neverending.

‘Reverie Neverending‘ is the exciting first single from Mathias Engwall aka llawgne’s upcoming 2021 album Nevereverie. A classic shoegazed dreampop song, Mathias explains ‘Reverie Neverending’: “its about waking up one day and realizing you've been practically living in a daydream all your life. You discover that everyone around you has been living in the real world all along, and are miles ahead of you in their lives.” 

“In your romantic mind you were the protagonist of the movie, but in reality you didn't even get cast in it. And, most importantly -there is no movie.” “I wanted to convey this with a kind of a mildly euphoric but also melancholic wall of sound - think Tom Petty and Deehunter mixed with a classic Swedish indie-vibe”.

llawgne is the brainchild of Gothenburg's Mathias Engwall who had early praise from first 2019 single, ‘The White In Its Eyes’, a dreamy pop song that found its way onto the PSL Top 20 and several major playlists. 

A showcase of ambitions for strong melodies within soundscape balanced with beauty and noise. The previous single ‘Love + Somebody’ was described as "Sonic Youth meets Chris Isaak", getting buzz from Savantmusikmagasin, Hymn, We All Want Someone To Shout For and more. Mathias also works as a record producer, mixer and mastering engineer in Sweden. He has done remixes for Loney Dear, and recently collaborated with David Ahlen.

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Flight Attendant - Comedy Show.

Nashville based quintet Flight Attendant have just issued a video for their dark and sensuous new single, the ironically titled ‘Comedy Show’. Released to coincide with the ongoing election circus in the USA, the song is a sombre, melodic and thought-provoking ballad with a lyric that comments on the current social and political landscape in their home territory of Nashville TN where they will be performing on Sunday.

Flight Attendant lead singer Karalyne Winegarner states that the song "serves as a gentle warning to not lose sight of what’s important in a world filled with so many distractions. The song is supposed to remind you that the easier road of plugging up your ears and laughing your problems away is a temporary fix that won’t hold. The line ‘There’s a ghost from tomorrow’ is a warning to get our heads out of the distraction box and take a long look at our world and ourselves and start changing and improving the one life and world we have to live in. This song is close to our hearts as a band and I couldn’t think of a more perfect time to release it than when the distractions seem to be at their loudest."

A video for ‘Comedy Show’ switches between Winegarner distractedly watching the endless gabble emanating from a TV screen and scenes of her walking through sumptuously colourful woodland to a river in which the band can be seen immersing/cleansing themselves.

Displaying wide-ranging influences that span from Lana Del Rey to Vivaldi, Flight Attendant established themselves locally via a series of ecstatically received live performances prior to lockdown, while the June 2020 release of anthemic single ‘Man Of Chaos’ saw them begin to gain international acclaim via a number of excellent reviews.

The band is currently hard at work creating their debut album with Grammy winning producer Charles Yingling to be released in 2021 by Moraine Music in association with Membran.

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Palberta - Corner Store.

Last month, the beloved NYC trio Palberta returned to announce the follow up to their breakout 2018 LP Roach Going Down, with their clear-eyed fifth album, Palberta5000 (out January 22nd, 2021 on Wharf Cat Records). The album was announced with a deep-dive feature on Stereogum that explored the more expansive and pop-forward style on this new release from a band long-heralded as one of the most original and idiosyncratic bands in the East Coast DIY scene. The announce was also accompanied by the release of the single "Before I Got Here," that created a stir even by the standards of critical acclaim that have greeted the band's earlier releases, earning comparisons to ESG and Delta 5 in The New York Times, being described as "everything great about Palberta" on NPR's All Songs Considered, and garnering glowing coverage from spots like Pitchfork, NYLON, Paste, Consequence of Sound and BrooklynVegan among many others.

Now the band are sharing a second single from their new LP, a track called "Corner Store". Opening with just guitar and voices that builds to full band as the band's three members (Nina Ryser, Ani Ivry-Block and Lily Konigsberg) continue expanding and mutating their layered harmony parts in ways both beautiful and bewildering, before eventually casting their instruments aside entirely in an extended a capella breakdown. The track is full of elements that have been common to Palberta's songwriting for some time, but are given a new depth and power here, and a confident display of Palberta's growing mastery over their sound.

"'Corner Store' is a song we’ve been playing live for a while now and has gone through many transformations over time," Ryser explains. "It culminated in this final version once we discovered that it needed an a capella breakdown that would slowly bring us back into the groove. Though it’s a classic Palberta move to fit in a 3-part harmony whenever we get the chance, it felt crucial. This song tells a story about strolling to the corner store, a sacred place we all know and love, on a Sunday afternoon to meet your friend and you see them on the front of the Sunday Times. And once they arrive, you do a double take and say to them, 'hey! No way! I saw you at the corner — I saw you on the front of the Sunday Times!'"

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