Saturday, 19 December 2020

Eric Anders and Mark O'Bitz - JEWLS

Eric Anders and Mark O'Bitz have shared a beautiful Americana song entitled 'Careful Now My Son'. The impassioned vocals cry out for attention and the slow rhythmic musical arrangement just adds to the emotion and feeling this track conveys. ===== JEWLS debut song 'Take It' is a heartfelt and touching piece. Her natural and refined vocals are immersed in a gentle soundscape that seemingly dances around her singing, adding more depth to this gorgeous piece.

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Eric Anders and Mark O'Bitz - Careful Now My Son.

"Careful Now My Son" is the first song of the collection Eric Anders and Mark O'Bitz have named "music in the time of coronavirus."  Eric decided to have three separate releases for this collection so that each release would be more consistent style-wise.

Everything done for this collection--from songwriting to recording to mastering--was done remotely during shelter in place (Eric in NorCal; Mark and Mike in SoCal).  Most of the songs were inspired by the isolation, anxiety, and cultural upheaval of the pandemic year of 2020.

"Careful Now My Son" is the only song that was done in a truly Americana style, so they've decided to release it as a single. They also thought that its foreboding feel and lyrics worked well to represent how we were feeling during this pandemic--so it would make a good kick-off song.

From the Artist:The song is about both the pandemic and the authoritarian and cultish politics of Trumpism. We were deeply afraid of both infectious diseases during 2020 and as 2021 gets going.  With regard to Trumpism, "Careful Now My Son" can be understood as an Americana companion song to our song, "Wounded Son"on our 2019 album, Ghosts To Ancestors. 


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JEWLS - Take It.

JEWLS released her debut single 'Take It' an alternative pop gem that takes you higher.

JEWLS is a melancholic pop alternative to hold on to. With her debut single 'Take It' she shows her mixture of a husky, sensitive, sometimes even moody voice and heartbreaking honest lyrics. JEWLS her music is predestined to go under the skin. For her, writing and composing music is a way to express what’s underneath. The release comes with a self-directed music video:

JEWLS: Will is lost. The cold has returned. Hearing footsteps above and the rain outside. Blue pretends to be my colour now.  Moments of the past rushing back, cloaked in ice. Everything seems to be a reminder and silence has never been so loud.


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Friday, 18 December 2020

Myths - Big Little Lions

Myths just shared 'When You Go Where You Go When You Die' and it's a catchy, melodic and gorgeous psychedelic song with timeless pop sensibilities and yet still manages to retain a fresh and modern feel. ===== Big Little Lions have also just released a new single entitled 'Turn It Off'. Mixing folk and high class pop the song has refined dual vocals and harmonies and a whole load of musical hooks running throughout this refreshing track.

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Myths - When You Go Where You Go When You Die.

“When You Go Where You Go When You Die” is the latest offering from Australian psychedelic pop band Myths. The song comes as the first single from their
upcoming second LP “The Art of Pretending” – a project over two years in the making, and due for release in 2021. The track is a playful ode to the macabre and surreal experience of trying to reconcile everyday life with unexpected bouts of nihilism. Much like their previous releases “When You Go Where You Go When You Die” is entirely self produced by the band’s songwriters Mike Nutt & Jamie Turner and was recorded throughout the last year in various makeshift home studios.

The track was mixed by Sydney-based producer and musician Jack Mo ffitt (The Preatures, I Know Leopard) who the band is currently working with to put the finishing touches on their new album.

Myths formed in 2017 and are based in Perth, Western Australia. Their music is best described as neo-psychedelia, taking inspiration from the styles and sounds of the 60s and 70s, and merging them with a modern approach to sound design. This comes to the forefront in their new single, opening with an 8-bit collage of old video game death sounds before layers of vintage synthesizers, sitars and more take over. In 2018 the band released their self-produced debut album “Paradigm”, and work on a follow-up has been underway almost immediately.


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Big Little Lions - Turn It Off.

Big Little Lions have been described as ‘a blissful marriage of new folk and
sophisticated pop’. Prolific songwriting, infectious folk-pop style, and an
offbeat, memorable live show. This award winning duo consists of Helen Austin and Paul Otten who, despite living thousands of miles apart, have found a way to connect and create music together. Despite being in two different countries, they have found common ground to share their message.


Call it destiny, or call it fate, call it a necessary progression for these modern times. Helen lives in British Columbia, Canada and Paul lives in Cincinnati, OH. But the distance provides the necessity to create in a new way. Using technology as their ally and their differences as their strength.


Their monthly single releases are their way of getting through this pandemic
while all the usual album cycle release plans don’t make sense anymore. Their
music is jam-packed with emotion and tight harmonies, the sound of two
people working side-by-side.

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Wednesday, 16 December 2020

Villages - KodiakArcade - Paper Tapes

Villages recently shared a video for their beautiful song 'Poetry In Motion'. The bands indie folk music has a fresh and pristine feel to it along with some mature pop sensibilities, add in the melodic arrangement and fabulous vocals and this is one special song.  ===== KodiakArcade new single 'Silicon Hill' is a fabulous synth driven instrumental track, where the huge array of musical sounds intertwine and create a mesmerizing piece and at two and a half minutes duration leaves me wanting more. ===== Yesterday Paper Tapes released a video for the song 'You And I' which is taken from the E.P 'Homecoming' that was released in October. Fresh, catchy and with gently delivered vocals, the soundtrack is quite addictive and with the new visuals this is a fine recommendation to check out the E.P if like me you have not done so yet.

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Villages - Poetry In Motion.

Having had their praises internationally sung for their self-titled full-length debut album in 2019, the four members of Villages continue to keep the spirit of their home province, Nova Scotia, in their thoughts, whilst letting their minds escape to their fantasies.

Comprised of Matt Ellis, Travis Ellis, Jon Pearo and Archie Rankin; the quartet have managed to spark a genre-bending sound of indie-folk and experimental pop; standing tall with the likes of Father John Misty, Fleet Foxes and Band of Horses. Taken from their recently released EP ‘Upon the Horizon’, new single ‘Poetry in Motion’ delivers a flavour of the bands next full-length album due in 2021.

Directed by Mel Stone, the new live visuals see’s the band gather together; delivering a hopeful message that things will get better. With the ongoing pandemic restrictions, it’s an outlook that we all need to hear from time to time, especially the live industry.

Mixed by American Indie rock legend Phil Ek, their recently released EP ‘Upon the Horizon’ was written aimed to transcend the sense of isolation and dread that we have all faced this year. Frontman Matt Ellis says, “Being locked up naturally conjured visions of escapism. Escaping to the wilderness has always been a way to find peace, but when even that was not an option it was yet another thing that had been taken for granted.

The songs were written on an old guitar with four dead strings that had been neglected for years. There was something fitting about it, given the current condition of the world. This guitar was once a prized possession and over the years just sat collecting dust. Yet, the moment I picked it up the memories it had amassed over the years flooded my mind. It was the comfort and inspiration that was needed—the feeling of a new instrument yet to be discovered, and of new beginnings and endless possibilities.” 


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KodiakArcade - Silicon Hill.

As a project, Graeme Cornies’ Kodiak Arcade is a hi-fi homage to the lo-fi  sounds of the past. It’s a set of sonic landscapes, where the humanity of the organic performances are intertwined with sounds that can only be created by modern tech.

Graeme spent a lot of time thinking about his own relationship to technology while making Kodiak Arcade’s debut album, Arcade. From the time he spent consumed in the fictional worlds of Sierra games as a kid, and how those stories affected his real-world self.

Focus track, “Silicon Hill,” began with a dream. Two friends sat on a hill at sunset, looking into the distance at a newer sort of Art Deco city skyline. Everything around the city was a desert, though there was no sand in sight. The whole desert was made of a sort of semi-soft silicon with faint lines underneath – like patterns of a motherboard under the desert’s milky surface.

This song title is also a nod to the time Graeme spent in Silicon Valley, at events like the GDC, where he spent many nights year after year talking with passionate artists and programmers in the game industry, getting high on talk of the future, admired artists and the meeting places between art and technology.

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Paper Tapes - You And I.


GPSs flicker, spirits emancipate themselves from any final destination… PAPER TAPES’ first EP 'Homecoming' was released in October on Geographie.

Native of Lyon (FR), living in Paris and a member of the band Brace ! Brace ! (Howlin’ Banana), Cyril Angleys delivers, under the pseudo PAPER TAPES, an adventurous and immediate pop.

Influenced by the 70s film score, the outsiders that became heroes like Stereolab and Air, the psyched pop from Todd Rundgren or the R’n’B from the first The Neptunes’ albums, he assumes boldly but with finesse his carelessness of time and genres.

It is while composing with Brace! Brace! That he feels the need, this desire to start a solo project. Drum machines, synthesizers… he starts writing and experimenting from home, in his flat during the 2018 summer.

With 'Homecoming', co-produced by Barth Bouveret (Brace ! Brace!, Good Morning TV, Marble Arch) PAPER TAPES offers us a first magnetic and luminous EP. Five little hits nestled between some modern soft rock and emancipated pop, to listen to while traveling or at home… even though we know travels always start home.

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Tuesday, 15 December 2020

Another Sky - Petunia-Liebling MacPumpkin - Charlie Nieland - Whizz Bomb

Another Sky return for a third time this year with another gorgeous song entitled 'Sun Seeker'. The band have garnered plenty of attention and the latest song demonstrates why, it's beauty lies in the subtle and intricately arranged musical backdrop that grows with intensity and the fabulous vocals that add breathtaking emotion. ===== Is there a finer artists name than Petunia-Liebling MacPumpkin possibly, but that's not really the point when you take the delicious song and video for 'The Marionettes' into account. It's the ninth video from her second album so lovers of creative and "out there" music have plenty of catching up to do, well I have anyway!  ===== Charlie Nieland has appeared on Beehive Candy a few times as one half of Lusterlit and it's a real pleasure to share the title track for his forthcoming album 'Divisions' which is one hundred percent impressive. ===== Whizz Bomb (Paul Wishart) has released 'All I Want Is You'. From the outset his vocals are just so rich and wonderful as they add intensity and genuine feeling to the song, the musical arrangement adds even more, this is one rather special song.

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Another Sky - Sun Seeker.

On the first day of 2021, Another Sky will release their latest body of work, an EP entitled Music For Winter Vol. I. Today, the band released the second single “Sun Seeker.” “Lyrically, ‘Sun Seeker’ is about being the only one who can say who you are,” vocalist and lyricist Catrin Vincent says. “It’s also about letting things self-destruct and then rebuilding. Someone once said they’d tell me when to quit music. This is me saying, I say who I am and I say when I’m done.”

Having confidently stepped into the spotlight with their performance of ”Chillers” on ‘Later… with Jools Holland,' Another Sky has earned praise from Paste, Under the Radar, The FADER, and NPR Music, who invited them in for a Tiny Desk Concert earlier this year. Front woman Catrin wryly credits some of their early success to the fact her distinctive, haunting vocals are frequently mistaken for those of a male singer. “People say I sound like a man - maybe that means they’ll listen.”

On how Music For Winter Vol. I came together, Vincent explains, "some songs are old, some are new, all are entirely collaborative. After being kept apart because of the lockdown and writing a bunch of our second album separately, we just wanted to get back into our studio and record." The entire EP was recorded, produced and mixed by the band themselves at their South London studio, The Lighthouse, in October 2020.

"Where do we find our portable paradises?" - Catrin found herself staring at this very poem by Roger Robinson on the London Underground in March 2020.

For the first time in six years, the band couldn't see each other, and the band's bassist Naomi was able to sit still long enough to confront her intense fear of going to hell for being in a same-sex relationship, due to a Christian upbringing.

Catrin explains, "After lockdown eased, myself and Naomi revisited the opening track ‘Pieces,’ an old track originally sung by Naomi. We wrote lyrics together from an imagined conversation with a loved one telling Naomi she was going to hell."

Naomi’s journey became the lyrical foundation for each of these six songs as Catrin drew universal comparisons with others' lives; "a struggle with identity, walking past churches you are no longer part of and the person you become when you are in pain. If there is no end in sight of struggle, where are our white sands, green hills and fresh fish? If we can't ever truly escape, which is what we were exploring in our debut album I Slept On The Floor, can we carry paradise in ourselves?"

Naomi adds about her experience, "It’s so easy to push things to the back of your mind. You never really know the impact this has on you until it becomes overbearing, and you're forced to address it. I found it incredibly cathartic to tackle these issues head-on by visualising certain situations and being able to say whatever I needed to say, both in therapy and in writing music.”


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Petunia-Liebling MacPumpkin - The Marionettes.

It’s a curio to see… It’s a curio indeed! Join Petunia-Liebling MacPumpkin as she tells a special holiday tail about her encounters with the magical marionettes. Follow them through their adventures, trials and tribulations. 

With childlike wonder catch a glance behind the curtain of the grandscale show that we all belong to.

Petunia-Liebling MacPumpkin is an escaped ghost from an old coloring book that was left out in the rain at some point in the 20th Century. The Marionettes is the ninth video taken from her second album (I Left My Heart in Uncanny Valley). 

She also recently curated a remix album entitled All My Friends Live In Uncanny Valley, featuring the likes of Renaldo & The Loaf and Toxic Chicken gleefully rearranging her songs into strange new forms.


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Charlie Nieland - Divisions.

My heart is full and I made a solo album, Divisions. It will be out early in the new year. The title song was Inspired by The Hidden Life Of Trees by Peter Wohlleben and Charlie is joined on the song as follows.

Charlie Nieland: Lap Steel, Electric Guitars,  Electric Piano, Korg MS20 Synth, Piano, Virtual Mellotron,  Synths, Percussion, Vocals, Brian Geltner: Drums

Musician/producer Charlie Nieland creates a variety of cinematic music. Engaging the boundless creativity within his musical community, including the duo Lusterlit and the Bushwick Book Club, he reaches for an ever widening range of songcraft and textured sound. less

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Whizz Bomb - All I Want Is You.

Growing up in rural Kent, also known as the Garden of England, Paul Wishart (aka Whizz Bomb) learnt classical piano and church organ. In this traditional English environment that viewed any music more modern than Beethoven with extreme distrust, Paul started writing his own music on the piano and organ to amuse himself, and offend others.

At the age of 13, Paul managed to persuade his parents to buy him a Roland SH101 analogue synthesizer as a reward for passing exams, thus starting a love affair with strange noises, nobs, sliders, sequencers, and generally avoiding school studies.

Originally influenced by the early electronic music of Wendy Carlos, Jean-Michel Jarre, and Vangelis, Paul embraced 80’s synth pop when his contemporaries were listening to prog rock, then 90’s shoegaze guitar bands when his friends were twisting their melons.

The dance / rock cross-over acts of the 90’s such as Jesus Jones started to bring an interest in darker and louder electronic music, with Depeche Mode’s move to introducing guitars with synths and Nine Inch Nails ability to use synths and samplers to create alternative music that jumped from loud and discordant noise to quiet and often melodic piano music or even dance-influenced beats, led Paul to believe that much more was achievable with electronic music now. These predominately electronic music influences, though of considerably variation, have influenced Paul and his vision for Whizz Bomb. Paul’s lower-range and slightly raspy voice is a “character” voice for rock music that is “lived in”, and has been favourably compared to those of the late Lou Reed and Nick Cave.

A plan emerged, and all that was required were the financial resources to build a rig that could actually allow reasonable multi-instrument performance,       sequencing, and recording. Paul has had to endure years working, with only brief interludes entertaining friends and family on the piano, to put together all his musical equipment and now release material to an unsuspecting public. His first single, an electronica cover of U2’s All I Want is You, is now released on iTunes and other major online stores and streaming services. There are numerous other works in the pipeline, and will be ready for release from early 2021 onwards. In December 2020 All I Want is You introduces Paul, and his characterful voice to the world.


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Sunday, 13 December 2020

Sun June - Palberta - SLUGS

Sun June have shared 'Bad Girl' and the song has been getting plenty of attention over the past two days since it's release. Accompanied with a video this gently melodic and dreamy song still packs plenty of emotion and is an excellent foretaste for their upcoming album 'Somewhere'. ===== Palberta return for a fourth time on Beehive Candy with the final pre-release song 'The Way That You Do' ahead of the album 'Palberta5000' due on January 22nd. As always their vocals and harmonies are exquisite and juxtapose a somewhat quirky musical backdrop wonderfully. ===== From SLUGS we have 'Super Sane' and the four piece alt rock outfit out of Los Angeles really do impress. This is fine and original track, the music arrangement is notable as are the refined vocals.

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Sun June - Bad Girl.

Austin, Texas' Sun June have shared a stunning video for their new single "Bad Girl," the latest from their upcoming new album Somewhere. Of the song and video, Sun June's Laura Colwell says "Bad Girl is about a deep manic drive to regress into the person I used to be - back when being bad was cool and being cool was everything. 

I was given a lot of freedom as a teenager and always took advantage of it. After I lost a good friend in high school, my fear of death was overwhelming. The song reflects on how that fear combined with my own thrill-seeking affected my decisions since. It cycles through self-destructive choices I've made in relationships to avoid responsibility, and how my fear of loss has lead me down some dumb paths. The tone is sad and resigned, but also self-righteous somehow.

There's something pushing and pulling between the lyrics and the beat, so we thought a dance video might draw out some internal tension. We filmed around Lockhart, TX, where we recorded the album, because there are so many farms and fields out there that are unchanged despite the area's growth. We took some inspiration from films like "Blood Simple" and "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," which were also shot in rural towns just outside of Austin. Basically, we tried to channel Frances McDormand, Willie Nelson, and Haim (if Haim were an only child)."

Somewhere showcases a gentle but eminently pronounced maturation of Sun June's sound, a record full of quiet revelation, eleven songs that bristle with love and longing. It finds a band at the height of their collective potency, a marked stride forward that is able to transport the listener into a fascinating new landscape, one that lies somewhere between the town and the city, between the head and the heart; neither here nor there, but certainly somewhere.


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Palberta - The Way That You Do.

Palberta's upcoming LP Palberta5000 is due out in a little over a month on January 22nd, 2021 via Wharf Cat Records, and so far has seen high praise on a level unmatched in the band's already celebrated career. After being 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 idiosyncratic bands in the East Coast DIY scene, the album's early singles have earned 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.

The band are returning with a final pre-release single entitled "The Way That You Do," accompanied by a video directed by band member Ani Ivry-Block. For a band that have always projected an anarchic energy and historically been associated with a punk-adjacent DIY scene (if never quite being what could be called a punk band themselves) the track explores a gentler tone than has been typical for the band, as it focues on the penchant for harmony arrangements that often sets them apart from their contemporaries, but links these vocal forward sections together with a fanciful, and deceptively complex guitar and bass interplay that only Palberta could have created.

"In 'The Way That You Do' we essentially repeat the same phrase over and over with the exception of Ani's passionate 'I been lyyyyying," Palberta's Lily Konigsberg explains. "I've never really thought about the meaning behind the lyrics, but when I think about them now it seems like someone accusing another of deception and trickery. Also the harmonies are sick. It’s our waltz!”

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SLUGS - Super Sane.

SLUGS is a 4 piece alt rock outfit out of Los Angeles comprised of singer, songwriter and guitarist Marissa Longstreet, Sarsten Noice (bass/vocals), Josh Beavers (lead guitar) and Dash Hutton (drums). 

Their influences range from Linda Perhacs with their melodic harmonies and tenderness to Thee Oh Sees with their high energy, spitfire performances.

Their latest single “Super Sane” features high voltage expression along with a calmer wash, showcasing restrained strums of electric guitar which is both divinely gripping and atmospheric. 

The delicate lower harmonies are so haunting, while the intimate vocals are gentle and totally skeletal in their honesty. Somewhat warm and somewhat cold, the overall feel is wonderfully juxtaposed with feelings of healing and acceptance. The minimalist sound is also vividly complex in its dynamics and meticulously placed elements.

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Saturday, 12 December 2020

All Things Blue - Tacsidermi - The Hempolics - The Highway Women - Silent Forum

All Things Blue make their fourth appearance on Beehive Candy this year with the new single 'Buddha & Penelope'. The Los Angeles psych pop (& more) band have been consistently creative with each track they have shared ahead of their debut album, this final taster being another fabulous affair. ===== From Wales we have Tacsidermi and their debut single 'Gwir'. If you read the background piece below you may notice we have already shared some music from their Welsh counterparts and as a new duo they have created a wonderfully beautiful new song. ===== During the latter part of last year and the early part of this The Hempolics really impressed us and it's great to have a new video for 'In the Night' which is the final individual piece from their last album. Reggae and Dub fans may now indulge once again to this superb band. ===== We featured The Highway Women back in July with a video for 'Shake The Dust'. Now they have produced a new video for 'The Highway' and it's another powerful track from these fabulous country rockers. ===== We indulged with Silent Forum a number of times last year culminating with a full share of their Welsh Music Prize nominated debut album 'Everything Solved at Once'. Celebrating the first anniversary of said release they are back with a Charlie Francis Smokehouse remix of 'How I Faked The Moon Landing' along with an unreleased song 'Don't Overcook It'. Both songs more than deserve a good listen. 

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All Things Blue - Buddha & Penelope.

Los Angeles band All Things Blue have released the final taster of their upcoming debut album Get Bit – new psych-pop single "Buddha & Penelope". All Things Blue will also be streaming an album release show from LA venue Non Plus Ultra on December 10th. The show will be ticketed on a Pay What You Want basis, with all proceeds going to Bail Project.

The project of singer-songwriter India Coombs (aka Blue) and guitarist Jon Joseph, All Things Blue’s much-anticipated debut album Get Bit (out December 11th via Terrible Records) follows a series of hype-building EPs and singles, tackling the personal and the political with equal vigour.

New single "Buddha & Penelope" is accompanied by a stop-motion animated video created by Kat Bing. The track drifts in on the back of a lilting guitar line and relaxed drums, with the lyrics asking "How long ago were you someone's baby? / Your belly full, wrapped in warmth and safety". Directly highlighting the disparity between the wealthy and the homeless, especially in places like Los Angeles – the track's blissful psych-infused instrumentals offer up the perfect backdrop for India Coombs's sharp lyrics and sweet vocal tone.

Speaking on the release of the new single, Coombs said: “When I first moved to Los Angeles I met a houseless man named Buddha and his sweet pitbull Penelope. I saw them every Sunday for a few years and we came to know each other well. Having a relationship with someone so open and loving despite their circumstances created a deeper wonderment in my mind. It created a heartfelt realization of this morbid disparity between the rich and poor in cities such as LA. This song is an ode to people like Buddha and Penelope and how they deal with our shared reality.”

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 “Scratch" is a blistering 40-second tirade against unrealistic expectations, which sees All Things Blue bare their teeth and take cues from gutsy garage rock.


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Tacsidermi - Gwir.

Tacsidermi could only have come to fruition as a project during the strange and uncertain year that was 2020!! It’s a positive reaction to all of the years negativity by simply channeling boundless creative energy into writing / recording songs to inhabit and escape within.

Gwenllian Anthony from the ‘Welsh Music Prize’ winning band Adwaith has been jamming and writing on and off over the last few years with Matthew Kilgariff. Matthew toured as a session musician with Adwaith during their post ‘Melin’ tours. It took lockdown for them to decide to form a bubble and move into Matthew’s studio in rural Carmarthenshire and start recording. 

‘Gwir’ their debut single is a perfect marriage of both of their influences. With its 90s baggy grove and Flaming Lips twisted popness this is a bold first statement. The Brian Jonestown Massacre psychedelic textures, dancing along to a low-slung Breeders inspired driving bass brings a darkness to the song. It mirrors the uncertainty and emotional vulnerability of the lyrics and Gwenllian’s beautiful restrained delivery.

‘Gwir’ was supported by David Newington (Boy Azooga) on drums and mixed by Matthew Evans (KEYS). Expect new Tacsidermi material to follow quickly in early 2021.


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The Hempolics - In the Night.

The Hempolics release their official video for 'In The Night', which is taken from their sophomore album 'Kiss, Cuddle & Torture Volume 2'.

Vocalist Nubiya Brandon sojourned to Joshua Tree, California to direct and star in the video with the desert scenes at dusk complementing a dark slant on the end of a relationship. The vintage surroundings of time-frozen Americana are combined with the fresh yet backwards looking sound of The Hempolics to present an audio visual treat.

The album was featured by BBC 6 Music as their ‘Album of The Day’, was included in Rough Trade’s ‘Edit’, and its singles saw support at radio from BBC 1Xtra’s David Rodigan, 6Music’s Steve Lamacq, Don Letts, Chris Hawkins and 6Music Recommends, BBC 6 Music Mix Tape with Tom Robinson and BBC Scotland’s Vic Galloway.

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The Highway Women - The Highway.

Inspired by their own movement “Be a Highway Woman”, Kristen Kae, Bonnie Dymond (Warner Chappel and BAHW Member) and The Highway Women’s Guitarist Dallas Duff, penned a song that embodies their fierce determination to make their mark in the music industry. 

"The Highway" which released on October 30, 2020 generated a great response from their fans, so The Highway Women partnered up with Cowgirl Magazine to release a surprise music video celebrating  their fans continuous support of their journey. The Highway Women dropped their EP "The Highway" on November 27th and is featured on iTunes New Releases "Country".

The video depicts a fun road trip with The Highway Women (Kristen Kae, Drew Haley, Jess Paige & Bailey James). They celebrate their music and journey as a band on the road together. True to real life, their personalities shine through in the various scenes and showcase their sisterhood. 

The Highway Women wanted to pay homage to their beautiful home city and state of Nashville, TN by featuring famous landmarks such as The Loveless Cafe (yes, they had biscuits) on the infamous Natchez Trail. With scenic drone footage, a cliche cruise in a convertible, a snack grab stop at a convenience store, they really bring their fans along for the ride. The girls bring their humor, charm and talent to the table with the creation of this music video produced by James McGettrick (Nashville).

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Silent Forum - How I Faked The Moon Landing (Charlie Francis Smokehouse remix) / Don't Overcook It.

To celebrate the first anniversary of our Welsh Music Prize nominated debut album Everything Solved at Once, our producer Charlie Francis has created a bonkers dance pop remix of 'How I Faked the Moon Landing'. 

We’ve also slipped in a previously unreleased song 'Don't Overcook It' which was recorded during the same sessions as our debut.

It feels good to be releasing something in 2020, a year where we have managed to (in between lockdowns) write a lot of material but have been unable to record or gig due to social distancing. We hope these two songs go a small way towards capping a crappy year off nicely!

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Friday, 11 December 2020

Remington Super 60 - Mood Taeg - Ali Horn - Wynnm - Lorna - Casual Fan

We shared an E.P by Remington Super 60 at the beginning of the year and it's good to have them back with today's new single release 'I Won't Change My Mind'. The bands smooth flowing indie music is notably melodic and intimate on this new track. ===== Mood Taeg double A side release is a feast of German musical influences from Kraftwerk to Can indeed the first song 'Corpora' is reminiscent of both bands, whilst 'Konkord' sees the duo put more of their own mark and styling into effect, both songs are wonderful. ===== We have had the pleasure of featuring Ali Horn a couple of times in the past and today's release 'End Credits' is another fine song, with a bright and rhythmic musical backdrop and his distinctive vocals adding plenty of feeling. ===== Wynnm returns for a third time this year with 'Falling From The Stars' a song that sees her attractive vocals upfront above a more restrained yet intricate musical arrangement. ===== Yesterday Lorna released her first E.P 'Who I Really Am' from which we have 'Go On And Breathe' which makes for a good representation of this imaginative singer songwriters four song collection. ===== Earlier in the year we shared two tracks from today's E.P release from Casual Fan entitled 'I've Dreamt About These Days' and I think it's fair to say all eight songs are of a very high standard where alt rock melodic and sweeping vocals and harmonies are everywhere.

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Remington Super 60 - I Won't Change My Mind.

I Won't Change My Mind is the second single from Norwegian band Remington super 60's upcoming EP, due to be released February 2021. The theme of the EP as well as this song is very personal to the band due to the breakup between Remington super 60's producer Christoer and singer Elisabeth. 

They are still good friends and have continued their musical work together Remington super 60 was founded by Christoer Schou in 1999 as a bedroom DIY project, between 1999 and 2007 the band was very active on the indie scene with several albums and EPs released on various small labels around the world. The early music style was very inspired by 60s music such as Beach Boys and Burt Bacharach but with the addition of lots of Casio keyboard blips and beeps.

Christoer has an impressive collection of small Casio and Yamaha keyboards. This resulted in the band being labeled as a Casio pop band. After 2007 the band only gave a few life signs every now and then. But since 2019 they started to produce a lof of new music again that resulted in the EP "New Ep" released January 2019. Musically they have now been labeled more or less a dream pop band by various blogs.

The band is still a DIY project although not based in Christoer's bedroom but in his living room. “Remington super 60 know how to cut a track” - Super world indie tunes “Dreamy sounds from Norway” - Tonspion.de “Remington Super 60, «The highway again». En ekte drømmelåt” - Kultur magasinet PLNTY “what matters most is that they sound just as delightful now as they did back in ’98” - Austin town hall “beautiful dream-pop” Barry Gru Remington super 60 2020 consists of: Christoer Schou, Elisabeth Thorsen and Magnus Abelsen.


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Mood Taeg - Corpora / Konkord.

Mood Taeg (pronounced mood tag) is a Scottish / German musical project located between Düsseldorf and Shanghai. Mood Taeg create music that incorporates the motorik drumming of Klaus Dinger and Jaki Liebezeit; the melodic sensibilities of Neu! and Kraftwerk; and the experimentation of Can, Cluster and Harmonia to produce instrumental compositions that are contemporary and, at the same time, fit exactly within the lineage of their influences.
 

Mood Taeg see their music as uncompromising but totally accessible. They don’t believe the form dictates the art. For them, the art dictates the form. Thus, songs may often be 10 minutes long with motorik grooves punctuated with vocal samples, ethereal synths and angular guitars. On this new single the band add extra elements to their sonic pallet. The A side, ‘Corpora’ has been tightly edited with pulsing electronics at the forefront, creating a soundscape that is as much dreampop as it is krautrock. The AA side Konkord is part of a collaboration with Dundee Poet Andrew French. Its spoken word vocals in a distinctive Scottish twang add an edgy lo-fi indie-rock dimension, akin to that of Glasgow’s Arab Strap.
 

Mood Taeg record all of their music at their home studio, Lowell’s Garden. They are also part of the wider Mood Taeg kollektiv which includes musicians, graffiti artists, DJs, photographers, painters, and video artists.

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Ali Horn - End Credits.

‘End Credits’ is a nihilistic yet optimistic track about slipping into the unknown of the afterlife. Musically joyous, lyrically dower this track perfectly sums up the highs and lows of realising our human condition as we hopelessly and defiantly trudge towards the end.

More dance-y than his previous work and making use of a wider range of interesting instruments, Ali self-produced this track at his home studio in Toxteth, Merseyside in May 2020 collaborating with Ste Cole of What? Studios to add drums and mix the track.

The only thing we know for sure is that we can’t stay here for long. We’re a speck of light reflecting off a fractured fragment of smashing glass in slow motion. There for a second and then gone. But let's have fun while it lasts. You can’t hide for the inevitable.

2019 saw Ali Horn release his debut E.P. ‘It Wears Off’, six songs exploding with hazy pop hooks and sunburst psychedelia, with themes that stray between life, death, love and paranoia.

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Wynnm - Falling From The Stars.

Falling From The Stars is a bold snapshot of Wynnm's music evolution and, with her new EP in the works for 2021, an exciting peek at what’s to come from a multi-talented artist who crafts a new world with every piece of music she makes.

New single Falling From The Stars is a downtempo, electronic, indie song, where she brings together her unique mix of styles. After 2 minutes and 45 seconds you only want to do one more thing and that is press repeat.

Wynnm about her new single: "Falling From The Stars, as a song, asks you to walk the path towards the stream of consciousness. To alter reality, and to not trust what you once trusted. A fusion of nostalgic sounds and forward vocals, winter will be better with this song."

Much acclaimed debut EP Moonwalking, released earlier this year, gave Wynnm the attention she deserved with rave reviews and radio airplay all over the world. Her music can now be heard on radio in the USA, UK, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France, Russia, Ireland, Mauritius, Switzerland and Austria. Also her singles could be found in the Apple Music iTunes Charts in 44 countries worldwide! Falling From The Stars is released today 11 December 2020.

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Lorna - Go On And Breathe.

Who I Really Am, the first EP of singer-songwriter Lorna’s new Inspiring Conscious Pop project is coming on December 10th. The EP with original songs is the result of the Las Vegas-based singer's deep emotional conversations with followers of her new Facebook page, released right after the pandemic hit, back in May.

With a unique style that combines ambient music, Enya-like hypnotizing beautiful vocals, and emotional pop lyrics, Who I really Am, is a balm for the soul of the listeners, bringing comfort to their hearts and not rarely bringing tears to their eyes. In times when there is plenty of negativity and fear in the world, and when so many are hurting, emotional songs like “Go on and Breathe”, and “You Are Enough” transport the audience to a place of peace, hope, and positivity.

“I started this music Facebook page to create a community of people supporting each other to stay positive and to grow into self-love by developing themselves mentally and spiritually. To spread love and to comfort, but at the same time to empower them to feel strong and worthy, to overcome their challenges and to be happy”.

Soon enough, the engagement rate on Lorna’s page went through the roof, and people started sharing with her how overwhelmed, lonely and hopeless they felt sometimes, especially since the health crises started. That is how the songs of the new EP were born. With the intent of bringing positivity and encouragement.

Nowadays, even with a relatively small community of 15 K followers built in 6 months, Lorna’s Facebook engagement rate climbs up to 201 %, which shows how strongly and deeply she’s connecting with her audience when comparing these statistics to some of the biggest names on social media.*

Lorna is a multicultural influencer. Of English descent (her last name is Earnshaw), she was born and raised in Argentina and lived for years in Brazil before moving to Hollywood to teach vocal technique at a Los Angeles’ music university in 2013. She started building her Youtube channel in 2008, teaching singing lessons in Portuguese and English and helping students to believe in their dreams, with some of her videos reaching 1.2 MM views organically. As a voice coach, she has taught more than 1000 students from 102 countries with her online courses and more than 350 one-on-one students in English, Portuguese and Spanish.

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Casual Fan - I've Dreamt About These Days (E.P).

'I’ve Dreamt About These Days' was written between late 2017 and mid 2019, with most songs written while moving from Newcastle to Sydney in April 2019. Shortly after the move, friendships were made, a band was formed and songs were given shape and structure, going through several iterations before finally being captured during a week recording with Mark Myers at Big Sister Studio in Cairns, Sep 16-21, 2019.

The songs are primarily about movement between places. They were mostly written on acoustic guitar, but playing some sporadic live shows in 2019 allowed the songs to breathe and move beyond the confines of folk chords and simple lyrics.

'I’ve Dreamt About These Days' is a line in the second last song. It’s about growing up and realising that, while things are not what you thought they might be years ago when you were up late thinking about the future on a January school holiday midnight, the life we are given is usually more beautiful and meaningful than we give it credit for. In a sense, that’s what all these songs are about. Ultimately, the best thing about music is the friends we discover through making it or listening to it, and I’m grateful that writing and playing these songs has given me the chance to meet many wonderful people, who I now couldn’t imagine not knowing.

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Wednesday, 9 December 2020

Melby - Classic Water

Melby make their fifth appearance on Beehive Candy with the new song 'Common Sense'. Whether it's indie pop, rock, psych or folk Melby have the knack for creating superbly crafted music the latest single being no exception, it's another beauty from the Stockholm four piece band. ===== Classic Water have released a live version of their song 'Carthage' today. We have including the live and studio original as both versions are beautiful. I guess the easiest description for the song is indie folk however part of me feels it's more than that, whatever the case just enjoy this lovely track.

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Melby - Common Sense.

Stockholm four-piece Melby have constantly been growing since their debut with catchy single 'Human' in 2016. Last year, the band took their biggest step yet with the acclaimed debut record 'None of this makes me worry' which was followed by tour dates all over Europe. The band returned earlier this year with fittingly named single 'Things I Do When I'm Alone' and are now following up with new psychedelic pop single ‘Common Sense’.

The band often gets compared to fellow Swedes Dungen and Amason but Melby’s dynamic sound, with influences from folk, psych, indie and pop, stand out. The quartet's light, semi-psychedelic folk pop is led by Matilda Wiezell’s enchanting voice which fits perfectly with Melby’s unique musical landscape - a sound that's been called "otherworldly, and wholly brilliant" by The Line of Best Fit. The band consists of Wiezell, Are Engen Steinsholm (guitar), David Jehrlander (bass) and Teo Jernkvist (drums) and formed while living together in a Stockholm shared housing.

Common Sense is a new step as well as a development of the sound of Melby's debut, building a dreamy, psych-pop atmosphere and drawing on the more melancholy folk inspired sides that were showcased on None of this makes me worry, without losing the playfulness and sense of melody that always have been a big part of the band's sound.

Melby on the track: “During lockdown we started making music in a new way, recording demos at home and sending them back and forth to each other. Common sense was created like this, and we wanted to keep the strange and messy vibe of the original home recording. We are kind of modest people, so our version of weird and messy might not be the most weird and messy you’ve ever heard, but still. I think it’s got a bit of an edge to it?” 


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Classic Water - Carthage (Live & Studio versions).


Carthage is inspired by the story of the fall of the city of the same name, and by the Roman general who stood weeping outside the city as his soldiers burned it to the ground. He knew that at some point in the future, Rome had to fall as well. The song draws a parallel between the rise and fall of civilizations and the rise and fall of human relationships.

The songs of Classic Water bring to mind driving through dusty back roads of deserted villages, thinking back on what once was but will never be again. The surreal words of singer Tom Gerritsen are guided by stretches of intertwining melodies, alternated with brief bursts of rock and roll. 

In an earlier life, Tom released folk music as The T.S. Eliot Appreciation Society, playing over 180 shows in Europe. Seeing Classic Water perform live is a visceral experience. The debut album Concrete Pleasures was recorded and produced by Stacy Parrish (T Bone Burnett, Alison Krauss & Robert Plant) in a 14th century farmhouse in Sweden.


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Tuesday, 8 December 2020

Royal Horses - Mackenzie Leigh Meyer

Royal Horses shared 'A Modern Man's Way to Improve' a few day's ago and it's a really fine song from the South Mississippi trio. The bands desire to bend genre norms results in some fabulous music, the featured song being no exception as it mixes potent southern rock with impassioned vocals. ===== Mackenzie Leigh Meyer recently released the song 'Before You'. The Canadian multi instrumentalist country-roots singer has already received some well deserved attention and this song helps explain why, as the melodic arrangement, natural and heartfelt vocals collectively ensure the hooks dig in deep.

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Royal Horses - A Modern Man's Way to Improve.

“A Modern Man's Way to Improve is a genre bending love letter to the sounds that shaped the new South and us along with it.” - Royal Horses

Forged deep in the Piney Woods of South Mississippi, Royal Horses embodies the very best of what the region has to offer.

Featuring lyric-driven melodies that pay respect to the musical genres that helped shape the New South, including 70's rock, early blues, rockabilly, and folk, Royal Horses has managed to create a name for themselves the old-fashioned way – one high-energy performance at a time. 

The trio often bends genre norms while blazing a new path for themselves in modern music. The result is a gritty, yet powerfully-unique sound built on the strength of an undeniable musical chemistry. The band's debut record, A Modern Man's Way to Improve, was selected as an official release for Record Store Day 2020 and is now streaming on all platforms.


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Mackenzie Leigh Meyer - Before You.

Hailing from Hamilton ON, CA the 26 year old multi-instrumentalist country-roots singer has come a long way from her humble beginnings of community theatre and songwriting on the family piano. Emerging into the country music scene with her May 2018 release of debut EP “Dive Bar Diva”, Meyer is already getting praise for her unique style and enchanting vocals from industry professionals and country music fans alike.

With her song “Your Company” featured on ET Canada and more than 182,000 views on her YouTube, it’s no shocker that renowned producer Ken Scott (David Bowie, Supertramp) exclaimed “ Watch out Carrie Underwood” after working with Meyer on EP country-rock ballad “Should Have Known”.

Produced by Jeff Dalziel (2019 CCMA Producer of the Year) and written by Mackenzie, the heartfelt love ballad was a first-day-add to Spotify’s “Live Country” playlist and currently sits at the #10 position on Amazon’s “Breakthrough Country” playlist.

The track is a showcase of Meyer’s poetic and authentic storytelling paired with her unique sound and enchanting vocals.

“This song is my take on finding your soulmate” Meyer shares, “When you’re with the right person, they make everything better without seemingly doing anything, at least that’s been my experience. It’s not about the grand gestures. Love is in the little things”

“Before You” follows the heat of her debut EP Dive Bar Diva, which landed her a nomination for CMA Ontario “Roots Artist of the Year” in 2019.


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Sunday, 6 December 2020

Departure Lounge - The Ninth Wave - The School Book Depository

Departure Lounge new song 'Mercury In Retrograde' is a melodic affair, the musicianship is glorious and vies for attention with the softly delivered vocals, the only challenge is trying to pin it into any specific genre. ===== Glaswegian band The Ninth Wave new track 'Everything Will Be Fine' is now out. The bands mixture of indie pop and rock is dynamic and powerful, the vocals and harmonies add emotion on what is a hook filled piece. ===== It's been a while since we last featured The School Book Depository they have been consistently impressive and the new song 'Sunny Disposition' sees their gorgeous style of Americana once again impact wonderfully.

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Departure Lounge - Mercury In Retrograde.

"Mercury In Retrograde refers to the phenomenon whereby the planet Mercury appears, for a period of time, to be travelling backwards in the sky in relation to Earth. This happens a few times a year and is, according to astrological lore, responsible for all kinds of chaos, confusion and frustration in our lives here on the blue planet.

So that’s where the song title comes from and the lyrics document a period in a relationship when the protagonist is perhaps feeling the effects of this supposedly illusory occurrence.

Mercury in Retrograde is the only complete song we already had when Departure Lounge reunited recently to make the Transmeridian album. It had been a live staple in our first operative period around the turn of the century, but slipped through the net when it came to recording. At the reunion gigs, several people said it had always been their favourite and it still sounded fresh.

Musically, Mercury In Retrograde is a bit of an oddball, with a slow-picked acoustic guitar reminiscent of ‘Here, There And Everywhere’ offset by a Roni Size-esque drum ‘n bass groove played with brushes and double bass, accompanied by a slightly wonky Casio CZ101 nursery rhyme synth line. I’m making it sound like a car crash, but somehow it works. The way these apparently disparate elements fit together makes for a good analogy of how our band works and its celebratory chorus has proved to be a stubborn earworm."


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The Ninth Wave - Everything Will Be Fine.

Glaswegian band The Ninth Wave just released their new single "Everything Will Be Fine", the first new music to be heard since the band's Faris Badwan (The Horrors)-produced EP ‘Happy Days!’ and their AIM Award and Scottish Album of the Year-nominated debut album Infancy.

"Everything Will Be Fine" is a portent mantra to shout from the rooftops amidst some of the most confusing and unsettling times our generation has faced. Brimming with prudent positivity, the track is a product of the last 6 months the band have spent together in Glasgow.

It's immediately apparent that The Ninth Wave are moving into exciting new territory with "Everything Will Be Fine". An invigorating dose of dark emotive pop; there's a new air of confidence in the music the band are making. Not only is that confidence evident in their songwriting and production (they're currently self-producing much of their new material) – but also in the conviction of their lyrics.

"It’s a song about twisted optimism, self-reassurance and hope," singer Haydn Park-Patterson explains. "The overall message of the song seems fitting for the world that we’ve found ourselves in now. Like many of our songs, it has existed in various different incarnations. I wrote the first version of it in the summer of last year and it was originally intended to be a song for someone else’s comfort and reassurance. It was shelved until earlier this year, when I stripped it down and kept only the name of the song. It then became the twisted optimistic song that it is now after it was brought in, stripped down and rebuilt by us in the studio. It’s the happiest sounding song we’ve recorded."

The new single arrives alongside an almost 10-minute long extended 'Driving Version' of the track, which the band says: "was intended to be listened to when you’re driving alone in your car, imagining yourself in that sad but sweet scene in a movie when you’re the heartbroken but hopeful character driving off into the sunset to find yourself".

The band's new material promises to be more upfront and honest than ever before. Celebrating honesty and real life, The Ninth Wave want their listeners to find comfort in their music. They want their fans to feel safe; to be confident in who they are, and to know they're not alone with their feelings and anxieties.

“It’s a cathartic thing for both us and the listeners; we want to help with normalising being emotional and finding comfort within your sadness", the band went on to say.

With limited resources, isolation and continuing the self production they first began toying with on their 'Happy Days!' EP, "Everything Will Be Fine" is the first taste of the band's second album - due for release in 2021.

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The School Book Depository - Sunny Disposition.

This is a beautiful gem of an Americana-song, both punkish rebellious and bittersweet melancholic in its expression. Helena Lindsten’s fantastic voice effortlessly turns from soft and fragile to explosive with brutally honest and heartfelt passion that brings both Phoebe Bridges and Courtney Love to mind.

But behind this cheerful and sunny title we find an ironical orgy of frustration, boredom, angst and shortcomings that intentionally balances between tragedy and comedy. The narrator stacks low points in li life on top of each other, from job related boredom, rejection, broken collarbone and dishonorable discharge from the military, to being deprived of the fundamental right to dwell in your misfortunes in an imaginary canyon in the company of alcoholic beverages.

”If there was one, I’d be in the canyon, searching for answers in the bottle, if just not so, seems I forgot my opener at home, once again forgot to make a list."

With the album ”No depression”, the band Uncle Tupelo gave name to a new genre called ”No depression-country”. With that in mind, it might be time to add a new genre to the list?

Luckily this song, seen in its entirety, depicts the human ability to see humor in tragedy and the comical irony of life.And that is a cheerful thought is’t it? - Fredrik Solfors


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LeVolume - Clint Wilson - Pam Ross - Chad Price Peace Coalition

LeVolume - LeVolume (Album). LeVolume is a new project for its members Jenny Whiteley, Joey Wright and Julian Brown. "That Was Then, T...