Lavender Diamond - Riley Downing - Runnner - Lou Heneise - Ida Maria

Lavender Diamond - Turn Around.

Los Angeles-based chamber-pop band Lavender Diamond just released a new song “Turn Around,” a bonus track from the digital re-release of Now Is The Time, their first studio album in more than 8 years out now via Petaluma Records.

“This song is about reversal - the experience of finding the end - of being in the free fall of loss and despair - and that end point being a beginning through the turning,” explains Becky Stark.  “When we were making the record I didn’t think this song should be part of it, but sometime after we were finished I realized it was my favorite one. It had seemed so raw that I couldn’t bear it.  But isn’t that the way? It can feel impossible to see the beauty in what is full of pain - but new joy can be created and found in the turn around.”

Now Is The Time was written and produced entirely by Lavender Diamond, the trio of Becky Stark, Steve Gregoropoulos and Ron Regé, Jr., and mixed by Tucker Martine at Flora Recording & Playback in Portland, OR. The album features contributions from Nathaniel Walcott (Bright Eyes), Sasami and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist Josh Klinghoffer.

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Riley Downing - Start It Over.

Riley Downing of The Deslondes will release his debut solo album Start It Over tomorrow via New West Records. The 12-song set was co-produced by Andrijia Tokic (Alabama Shakes, Hurray for the Riff Raff) & John James Tourville of the Deslondes. On Start It Over, Downing, Tokic, and Tourville are joined by an incredible backing band including Jack Lawrence of the Raconteurs as well as session players for the likes of Dolly Parton, Elvis Costello, Jason Isbell, Blaze Foley, Yola, and more. Start It Over has been met with critical acclaim with Uncut Magazine in the U.K. describing his voice as “...like Johnny Cash with a hangover,” and exclaiming “His brain...is abuzz with sounds and ideas, which makes his solo debut a thrill.” 

No Depression said “No matter how well Start It Over fits into the current realities of the world — and it does — Downing’s voice and lyrics will continue speaking for generations to come, and in one way or another will keep conjuring memories of bygone eras” and in their 8 out of 10 Star Review, Holler stated “Once you’re on board with Downing’s elusive, often entrancing vibe, you’ll wonder why it took a pandemic for him to hit center stage.”

The Boot recently premiered the video for the album’s title track, saying “Start It Over” harnesses the beauty and power of music.” The “Start It Over” video, was directed by Joshua Shoemaker and filmed in part at Grimey’s New & Preloved Music in Nashville.

Downing has also added additional tour dates in support of Start It Over, beginning this Saturday in Athens, GA. Five special performances in Louisiana and Texas will feature his Deslondes bandmate Sam Doores as well as the Athens, GA based cosmic country band The Pink Stones.

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Runnner - Awash.

Runnner—the project of the now LA-based songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Noah Weinman—has signed to Run For Cover Records, which will release his new album Always Repeating on July 16th,  2021. A 10-track collection composed of five re-recorded versions of songs that appeared on his 2017 debut, Awash, and last year’s One of One EP, Always Repeating serves as a fresh introduction to the artist and his enchanting musical world, where he balances intimate and melancholy songwriting through the lens of hi-fi/lo-fi dynamics.

“Awash,” the album’s sweeping first single out now, embodies the feeling of being lost and adrift through its aching melody, and builds on the track’s early demo with lush choral harmonies, banjo, trumpet, slide guitar, and more. “I wrote this song in about 15 minutes, though I had been kicking the title around for a bit,” Runnner explains. “It felt like the word I was looking for, but I couldn’t get past it. I was feeling so lost & distant from everything, but I would choke on the language anytime I tried to elaborate. I eventually was able to let the song come simply and not stress the specificity too much.” 

Self-produced and recorded wherever Runnner called home at the time, Always Repeating documents a cycle of looking back and moving forward, of alienation changing to reconciliation. After leaving college, his friends, and his beloved life in Ohio, Weinman made the reluctant decision to move back to his hometown of Los Angeles; not because he wanted to, but because he wasn’t sure where else to go. It was an extremely isolating time and that existential dread pervades throughout his debut for Run For Cover Records. “I began to feel like all of the people I knew and had met maybe never really existed,” Weinman says. “I fell out of touch with everyone. It was really lonely. I wrote these songs as a way of reaching out and trying to reconnect.”

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Lou Heneise - Trial & Error (E.P).

Lou Heneise is an American singer, songwriter with roots in the city of Chicago, the rolling farmland of the midwest, and the Bible Belt of the South. All of which can be heard influencing her Electro-Acoustic-Folk-Americana EP Trial & Error

Her debut EP, Trial & Error is delicate, charming, vulnerable, and honest, merging the haunting delivery of Lou's live show with the driving force of full instrumentation.

Trial & Error is as introspective and earnest as it is catchy. Lou has captured the American heartbeat in this collection of songs.

Lou currently spends her days with her tender and wild toddler, making music, reading books and contemplating the meaning of life with her fellow artists, activists, philosophers, and poets.

Lou Heneise · Trial & Error

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Ida Maria - Dirty Money.

The opening to "Dirty Money" will immediately grab listeners and confirm that this indisputable viking punk Queen Ida Maria has retained the same rebellious attitude that got her in the game, while referencing the lifestyle of an industry's enabling that took her out of the game for a brief time.

Featuring a punk blast of garage guitar, 'Dirty Money' carries the high-energy punk-pop Ida's been widely acclaimed for with cheeky lyrics that are sugar-coated with a highly addictive chorus, addressing much more serious topics that are frustrating to her. Ida's personal experiences with greed and corruption are detailed with a racket of petulant screams, among them "Pay me all your Dirty oney/I'm your favorite monkey/watch me go!!!"

A pointed critique of capitalism, "Dirty Money" looks at the ways that money and greed corupt us all on some level, despite our best efforts to the contrary. “Everybody wants to be/Full make up and on TV/Talking ‘bout your jealousy/Mom I know I look insane/But they all promised me champagne/Swear they want me for my brain,’ Ida Maria belts out, infusing her innocent fury with snarky giggles that are reminiscent of a taunting childhood chant, as if to say, “Look at me now.”

When she’s not writing or recording music, Ida is head of her local Green Party, devoting herself to spreading a politically urgent message of ecological sustainability, which references her underlying themes to “Dirty Money” –-  making this song not only truly relevant, but also timely.

"Dirty Money” "is about stolen land and Bitcoin. It’s about the oil wars in Nigeria. It´s the mining in Congo, slavery for iPhones. Anything that the greedy human mind  turns to to try and fulfill that hole of nothingness, it’s about the Matrix. Get off the grid! Let's do something that doesn't cost money. The best things in life are for free!” Ida Maria exclaims.

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Stephanie Erin Wittmer - dawn-Song - Alyssa Joseph - Mia Baron - Steve Paul Simms - Julia Bardo - Spud Cannon

Stephanie Erin Wittmer - Pilot.

While the name Stephanie Erin Wittmer might be a new one amongst fans of modern country music, one listen to her debut EP Pilot reveals songwriting and vocal chops on par with seasoned professionals. Recorded at Modern Electric Sound Recorders in Dallas, TX with Jeff Saenz and Beau Bedford at the helm (known for their impressive output with the likes of Texas Gentlemen, Paul Cauthen, Ruby Boots, David Ramirez and more), Pilot merges 90s country influences with modern folk-pop flourishes that make for an inspired journey along open roads and past tumbleweeds, “only stopping for good views” — or news, depending on the chorus.

Equipped with metaphors aplenty, Wittmer takes her musing about relationships full circle in “The Great Ones,” comparing the rarity of an epic love to that of an epic song. “All of the great ones don’t come that easily / It takes a little patience and some fine tuning,” she affirms. She tackles self-discovery and finding solace in the aptly-named title track, dives headfirst into a fast-moving crush on “Always Been a Sucker,” and explores heartache and pain in EP standout “The Difference.” Repeated listens to the short yet spirited collection might recall such iconic voices as Trisha Yearwood, Alison Krauss, and Shania Twain, but fans of modern Americana faves such as Margo Price and Dori Freeman will find something amongst Pilot’s four tunes to love as well.

Growing up in small-town, rural Illinois, Wittmer was exposed to country music and performing at a very young age; she recalls putting on performances for her parents when she was three or four years old. Like many children, she took piano lessons, wrote poetry in her journal, and then finally thought to merge the two when she was a teen. Her post-college life took her to LA, and the road from there to her present sound has been a winding one. Before going back to her roots or “finding the flame” that she once knew, as she sings in the EP’s title track, she teamed up with some friends for a bedroom electronica project and also spent some time writing singer-songwriter tunes on the piano. “I had all these ideas for songs, that I just had to get out … too many,” she says. “I started writing all these country songs and realized I really love this genre."

A fan of Bedford’s work, particularly with Paul Cauthen, Wittmer recalls meeting him while visiting family in Texas and reaching out to him with demos. He responded favorably, which led to the two discussing working together, and ultimately Bedford assembled a rock solid band that knocked out the four songs in just a couple of days, recording live with minimal overdubs. The EP features the talents of McKenzie Smith (Midlake) on drums and percussion; Texas Gentlemen Charley Wiles and Scott Lee on guitar and bass, respectively; and Parker Twomey (Paul Cauthen) on piano and organ. Esteemed pedal steel player Will Van Horn’s embellishments put a flawlessly-placed bow on the glowing, fresh, rootsy package, with instrumental touches that add just the right flair to Wittmer’s sweet-yet-sassy vocal stylings.

Stephanie Erin Wittmer · Pilot

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dawn-Song - Heartbeats of my Son.

"Third tune from my album "for Morgan" released on Ffynnone Recordings at the end of May 2021. A song attempting to convey the depth of feeling looking into your newborn sons eyes for the first time, the overwhelming joy and the impulse to introduce him to your own father who is no longer alive. The video fillmed and edited by Jose Carballal inhabits the songs sentiment perfectly. A meditation on, nature, time, and the dialogue between generations."

Released physically via Ffynnone Records on the 28th of May, 'For Morgan', the beautiful debut album by Dawn-Song will be available on Limited Edition Vinyl and Compact Disc.

Come with us on an epic journey from Dark to Light, an extraordinary tale of total excess to finding ones inner calm, a musical time-capsule 'For Morgan' is an audio letter from Father to Son. Welshman Nick Evans originally from Penarth, South Wales found himself in the centre of London's consuming Music Business in the 90's. His Elemental Records a pioneering Label was home to Alabama 3, Rocket From The Crypt amounst others.

"I made an album of my songs with some wonderful collaborators over the last couple of years. When I’m gone I wanted to continue to be able to sing for my son Morgan if he needed me. My father published a small book of poetry before he died and if I’m missing him a lot I read a bit of it and I feel reconnected. I also wanted to make something my mother could enjoy. So the record is for Morgan" - Nick Evans AKA Dawn-Song

"When we were young We dreamed of creating a better future We Screamed, We Shouted We Loved, We Lost But We Lived Sometimes Together, Sometime Apart And Now I hear my friend talking from a future to his son I hear my friend imploring the world to do and to be better I hear the same song with a different sound I hear the Byrds, I hear Crass The shoutings gone, replaced with fragility and love I hear dawn Song" - Ffynnone Recordings

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Alyssa Joseph - easier.

Indie-rocker and self-identified “grungy sadgirl” Alyssa Joseph released a deliciously creative lyric video for her song “easier”. .

From bagels to baked beans, the lyrics in the video are made entirely from diner breakfast food! The lyric video, created by videographer Max Sternlict, reflects the meaning and lyrics of the song in a distinctly unique way. The song is about a relationship that neither member is truly willing to exit, as it opens with the lines “We say that it’s breakfast, nothing more. Even though I know you want an open door so we meet at different diners.” Holding nothing back on this garage-tinged rocker, Alyssa Joseph presses her powerful voice and growling guitars to describing someone struggling to swallow the lies they tell themselves to get through the day.

Alyssa Joseph opened up about the meaning behind this gut-punch of a song, saying  "easier is a nod to my New Jersey roots and just an honest song where I call out an ex and myself. We’d meet up once a month at diners after we dated to keep the door open since that was easier than finding someone new. Writing this song forced me to take a hard look at how I cope with heartbreak and isolation." The lyric video, which only came together last-minute, started with writing the lyrics in ketchup and moved on to other breakfast foods in an ode to Jersey diners. Describing the process of creating the video, Joseph says, “not everything happens for a reason, but nothing is a mistake.”

A New Jersey native and recent East Nashville transplant, Alyssa draws influence from contemporary songwriters like Julia Jacklin, Sharon Van Etten, and Big Thief. Prior to the pandemic, Alyssa had spent the last few years cutting her teeth touring up and down the east coast, where she became a familiar favorite at Sofar Sounds in NYC, Philly, Boston, and DC. Pairing carefully candid guitar playing with intensely confessional lyrics, Alyssa finds power in her own vulnerability. Her writing is tender and honest, even blunt at times, but always deeply personal - proof that she’s still figuring it out, just like the rest of us.

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Mia Baron - Hide And Seek.

Focused, fearless, and fierce. Mia Baron is a 13 year old force to be reckoned with. Not only is she an outstanding young songwriter but she has already one several singing competitions in her short life, most notably one of which was recorded by the “Reel T.V.” network and judged by Shawn Desman. Yet another first prize award was presented to her by the Toronto City Mayor John Tory and other noticeable city council members.

In November 2019, Mia was honored to perform at the Israel Cancer Research Foundation at the prestigious Koerner Hall in Toronto alongside other incredibly talented singers such as Tony Vincent, Yvan Pedneault, Stacy Kay, Justin Guarini, with whom she sang a beautiful duet.

Another project Mia was humbled to take part of was producing and recording an original Hebrew song written in honour of a Fallen IDF Soldier. This video, following Mia’s interview, made its debut live on Israeli Prime Time News programming in July 2020.

Mia will be releasing her original song Hide and seek in May 2021, and will be releasing several other originals she has written these past few months, with Matt Kahane and Quin Kiu, in the near future. Mia is excited to keep the momentum flowing into 2022 and beyond.

Mia Baron · Hide And Seek- Mastered JCarv MB06APR21

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Steve Paul Simms - No Money Comin' In.

Raw, real, and authentically blues, “No Money Comin’ In” is the latest confessional from Canada’s own Steve Paul Simms.

With “No Money Comin’ In,” the blues riff conquers your groove, willing your body to move. Available now, the grungy rock and blues anthem is a toast to a commonality we’re all facing in the height of this global pandemic — a lack of the benjamins. And Simms bets it all on this track, getting right to the heart of the matter with the truth —  the good, bad and ugly of it all.

“Written at a challenging time, when love ultimately won out over financial hardship, the song allows the listener to imagine their own ending to the story,” Simms explains, adding that the track is “dedicated to the triumph over life's hardships.

“There's a lot of light and laughter here too.” A travelin’ troubadour with a melody on his sleeve and a song on his heart, Simms is a natural-born performer with a knack for telling stories that humanize life experiences in ways we all understand. Born in Wales, Steve Paul Simms’ repertoire refutes the boundaries of genre; the singer/songwriter fluidly intertwines his tracks between pop, ragtime, jazz, blues, soul, country, Broadway, and old-fashioned rock and roll.

For more than 20 years, Simms has spent his life spinning yarns, performing on stages as both an actor and a musician. He boasts a collection of more than 200+ written tunes across his tenure of performing arts, and has honed his craft through years of busking, contributing to the Tranzac Club in his now-hometown of Toronto, private and public concerts on Zoom, having performed in more than 60 theatrical productions across Canada, and more. “No Money Comin’ In” is the latest to land from Steve Paul’s fourth album, Ingrid and the Messenger Boy — a 12-track collection of fables, homages, and testaments to the human experience, pop culture, love, and everything in between.

Recording in Toronto, Simms brought together a host of talent to flesh out the track; the song boasts Bob Cohen on guitars and bass, organ and piano from Ed Michael Roth, drums by George Morellato, moaning vocals compliments of Chantale Groulx and Linda Elaine Lucas, in addition to SPS on lead vox and rhythm guitar. “Nothin' will ease your mind like money — poets are paid to tell lies,” croons Simms, and that’s how to tell fact from fiction. A musician ready to bare it all, and lay our crosses out to dry. Steve Paul Simms isn’t here for poor excuses. He came to gamble on the richness of a song that paints the picture of our times.

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Julia Bardo - Do This To Me.

Manchester-via-Italy singer, songwriter and guitarist Julia Bardo has shared her new single and video Do This To Me, which follows recent single release It’s Okay (To Not Be Okay). She has also announced her eagerly awaited debut album Bauhaus, L’Appartamento will be released on 10th September via Wichita Recordings and shared details of a new Autumn headline tour, which is on sale now.

Do This To Me is like losing yourself in a daydream. An introspective song with personal lyrics about growing up, its charming and laid-back melody builds to a lush and emotive alt pop chorus with a catchy refrain. The video, directed by Georgie Brown, sees Julia glamorising a mundane routine and losing herself in another life.

Julia says; “Do This To Me is a very personal song about feeling abandoned, growing up and family.”

Julia’s debut album follows the release of two EPs, Phase and The Raw EP, both released last year, which saw her experiment further with her wistful and mysterious sound to become the alternative pop artist she is today. Whilst Bauhaus, L’Appartamento will mark her first full length release and the finale of this part of her musical journey, it is also just the beginning for the authentic and curious talent that is Julia Bardo.

With her candidly open lyrics illustrating her world through journal-like observations and poetic visions, her debut album is an intimate and expressive body of work. Named after the apartment complex she lived in when demoing the album’s recordings, but with an Italian twist, it features previous single It’s Okay (To Not Be Okay) and new single Do This To Me and can be pre-ordered here.

“The album is a collection of emotions and feelings; loneliness, solitude, separation, but also unconditional love. Family, emotional dependency, mental health issues, feelings of emptiness and numbness, feelings of not being enough, inability to be in control of my own emotions, self-doubt, self-reflection, past traumas and dealing with them.”

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Spud Cannon - You Got It All (NOT).

NY-based group Spud Cannon are debuting "You Got It All (NOT)," the lead single off of their forthcoming new album, Good Kids Make Bad Apples.

Meg Matthews (lead vocals), “This song DROVE ME CRAZY!!! I spent hours singing along to the voice memo in my car to work out the melody, and even longer trying to figure out lyrics back in Summer ‘19… After trying night after night by myself, I had pages of loose lines, rhymes, and ideas, but it took a group effort with Lucy and Ari to actually solidify anything.”

Ari Bowe (keys, vocals), “Since we collaborated on this song, I followed Meg’s lead when it came to the concept behind the lyrics. To me, it’s about these back-and-forth feelings for someone who is lovable yet stubborn and difficult to deal with. Kind of like an internal conflict between caring for this person while also grappling with their inability to be emotionally mature.

Jackson Walker Lewis (guitar), “Instrumentally, this was by far the one we spent the most time on…The song in total is just a hybridization of many influences—for the intro, I wanted to draw inspiration from “This Charming Man”/”Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” whereas the verse mimics the sequence from The Jam’s “A Town Called Malice”…While it felt like a wrestling match the whole way through it, I refused to give up on it because I fervently believed it to be the indie magnum opus of the album, almost a crystallization of all we had done previously.”

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Giulia. - Ida Mae - Sister John

Giulia. - Tired.

As we enter the season of summer romance, Giulia.’s upcoming single, “Tired,” presents a chill soundtrack chronicling relationships’ ups and downs and twists and turns. A Janelle Monae infused funk and R&B style playfully blends with lyrical rhythms and sounds reminiscent of Amy Winehouse. “Tired” is released today May 12. It’s off her genre-bending EP, Night Before, due out June 25th.

The song opens with a fast-paced beat devolving into a slow groove, reflecting the quickening pulse of a new relationship and the soon-to-follow comfort of falling into familiar habits. There’s an upbeat, carefree nature that umbrellas the song, cleverly disguising the heavier pensive moments. Giulia. takes the listener on a full-bodied journey of a long-term relationship characterized by the verses highs, the pre-chorus questioning, and the lows within the chorus epitomizing the “I’m tired” stage of the relationship.

Giulia. incorporates elements of a multi-versed artistic background in film and dance into her sound. A national champion garnering Canada multiple gold medals, she dedicated 18 years of her life to dance, training competitively and professionally in many dance styles, including modern, jazz, hip-hop, and ballet. She says, “There is an innate rhythm and movement I feel when I write my songs. This especially comes alive in my phrasing and the way I choose to say and sing my lyrics.” Giulia. pivoted when it came time to attend college, deciding to pursue a BFA in Dramatic Arts at The New School in New York City.  Her acting background allows her to explore different scenarios and characters within her songs that come alive when she performs. As a filmmaker and writer, crafting stories and choosing how to depict them informs the core of her songwriting – just condensed and in an audio format.

Giulia. and her dad recorded half the songs on her upcoming EP at their home studio while recording the other half with a full band at Canterbury Sound in Toronto. She says, “There’s an unspoken energy and excitement when we make music together that I wouldn’t trade for the world.”

GIULIA. · Tired

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Ida Mae - Little Liars.

Nashville-via-London duo Ida Mae (Chris Turpin and Stephanie Jean) shared their new song “Little Liars” from their upcoming sophomore album Click Click Domino. "‘Little Liars’ is a runaway song, the first person whisperings of a seductress that you’ll follow whatever the consequences," writes Turpin. "This song was written on a late 1800s Mandolinetto that we picked up at the end of a tour in Nashville and what you hear on the record is actually the demo. Stephanie Jean's live vocal performance on the demo was a first take and it had such a dark and playful intensity we didn't want to change it."

Ida Mae previously released the singles "Road to Avalon" as well as the title track “Click Click Domino” which was featured in Rolling Stone who writes, “With guitar assistance from shred wizard Marcus King, the tune is a heaving mass of scuzzy blues-rock riffs and thunderous drums that indicts social media for its isolating, alienating effects… Somewhere, Jack White is busy looking for new amp settings.” The track was met with similar acclaim from American Songwriter, Wonderland, Clash Magazine, Live for Live Music, and more.

For nearly two straight years following the release of their critically acclaimed debut, Chasing Lights, Ida Mae lived on the road, crisscrossing the US from coast to coast as they performed hundreds of dates with everyone from Willie Nelson and Alison Krauss to Marcus King and Greta Van Fleet. While those shows were electrifying for the duo, it was what happened in between - the countless hours spent driving through small towns and big cities, past sprawling suburbs and forgotten ghost towns, across deserts and mountains and forests and prairies - that truly laid the creative groundwork for Click Click Domino.

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Sister John - In My Place.

The new Sister John album I Am by Day is a total beast in that way where you just keep hitting repeat and discovering more with each listen. I'm loving every moment of this Pretenders meets Tom Petty vibes all over this album, but not like the regular albums, but almost like the Greatest Hits to where you know every track already. This is one of those records you get to know that becomes like home. Take for example the new video "In My Place."

The group, which includes members of labelmate group The Gracious Losers, was hard at work throughout their respective quarantines, capitalizing on the increasingly unnoticeable changes in day-to-day life. The new record, 'I Am By Day,' out May 21st on Last Night From Glasgow, doesn't provide a strategy to get through those 'Spot The Difference' days/weeks, instead seeking to explore every nook and cranny. This exploration is accomplished gently, through equal parts Petty-inspired overdriven riffs, vibrating synth pads, and summery drum programming, continuing Sister John's trend away from traditional Folk/Americana instrumentation. Not since Fiona Apple's "Fetch the Bolt Cutters" have I been so taken aback and unable to categorize the breadth of sound on a record.

'I Am By Day' doesn't pick a side, laying bare the emotions customary on a Folk record, while speaking with a brand new voice, somewhere between curiosity and silent-authority. The lead single, 'How Can I Keep It Alive' is in no rush to share with us its desperate message, leading with a grooved bass line. Like the rest of the record, McKeown and Co. are intentionally sparse with their instrumentation. In turn, each word, synthesized moan, and shimmering snare create vastly greater meaning to this collection of unadorned experimentation and meditation. We love it, and think you will too!

Sister John is a group of four multi-instrumentalists from Glasgow, centered around the songwriting of Amanda McKeown. Amanda and Last Night From Glasgow joined forces after a fateful Facebook DM accompanied by a link to an album’s worth of warm acoustic guitar, spine tingling violin, and McKeown’s emotional affect piqued the label’s interest. Sister John’s debut record, ‘Returned from Sea’ highlighted the group’s sparse yet melodic sensibility. Met with high acclaim and airplay on BBC Radio 6, Sister John followed up with an eponymous second effort in 2019, providing a bountiful feast of the group’s uniquely lush lo-fi.

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Molosser - Tape Waves - Wild Pink Feat. Samia

Molosser - Water My Way.

Swedish MOLOSSER paint an electrically vibrant soundscape with downtuned acoustic guitars, vocals and drums. Tess and Jahn of Molosser found each other in Gothenburg, Sweden’s second largest city and home of a lively music scene. There, both were playing in various bands and constellations, mainly of the loud and noisy variety. After a while, though, they moved to a small farm in the province of Småland, where they found themselves in the company of a couple of horses, an American bulldog, a gang of cats, some chickens and three sheep. 

They started making music on their acoustic guitars, and lacking a bass player they tuned them down so they could share that duty between them. The music that emerged is colored by both their urban past and their current rural surroundings, a bit like when the blues moved from the delta to the city and got electrified, but the other way around. The nerve and drive remains, but have widened and grown to fill the windy woodlands and dusty, open fields as well as the deeper darkness beyond the edge of town.

Molosser’s music springs from a tight-knit, symbiotic relationship outside the music as well as inside it. It is built around the interplay between the two downtuned guitars, the intimate vocals, strong lyrics and meticulous, creative songwriting. Rather than using traditional acoustic guitar techniques of strumming or fingerpicking, Molosser weave deceptively simple and minimalistic lines and riffs into dancing, rolling patterns. 

Tess’s vocals add one more voice and deliver strong, poetical and highly personal lyrics, and on the studio recordings her drums make this little unit into a complete band. Any virtuosity involved is less about dexterity or speed and more about composition, arrangement and balance. One of the foundations for Molosser’s music is having access to two rather different musical temperaments, intent on creating a common territory – not necessarily a middle ground but rather a wide, including landscape.

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Tape Waves - Tired.

We have the blissful dreampop single "Tired" from the South Carolina shoegaze duo Tape Waves starts. The band return with their fourth album Bright which comes out on their new label Emotional Response this June. I love this record and it made a bit of my chill time just hanging out in a hammock on the lake over the weekend just perfect. The exact music I wanted coming out my headphones while little bits of sun would break through the thick cover of the leaves above.  The band debuted the first single at Austin Town Hall on Friday.

Tape Waves are Kim and Jarod Weldin, a dream pop duo from Charleston, SC. They have released 3 full length albums on San Diego’s Bleeding Gold Records, which have garnered comparisons to Mazzy Star, Cocteau Twins and Best Coast. SPIN described the bands’ sound as “wistful, lens-blurred dream pop to soundtrack nostalgia daydreams and sleepy weekend afternoons.” 

Their two most recent albums were also released on 2670 records in Japan, where they toured in support of 2018’s Distant Light. Their new album, Bright, combines the bands’ previously established sun-drenched pop with the fuzzed out indie rock influence of bands like My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, and Teenage Fanclub. Bright was mixed and mastered by Kevin McMahon (Real Estate, Titus Andronicus, Widowspeak) at his studio, Marcata Recording, in Upstate New York, elevating the production and adding the sonic depth that the songs deserve.

 

Emotional Response Recs USA · Tape Waves - Tired

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Wild Pink Feat. Samia - Ohio.

Hot on the heels of releasing one of the years most critically revered albums in A Billion Little Lights back in February, Wild Pink are today sharing their new single, "Ohio". Teaming up with Samia, it is the first track from the band's new EP 3 Songs, out June 25th on Royal Mountain Records, and follows last month's 6 Cover Songs.

Lush and expansive, Samia's and Wild Pink vocalist John Ross' intertwining vocals sit atop a stirring and beautiful sonic backdrop as Ross ruminates on the small moments of calm and glimpses of peace that occur when you take a second to breathe. On the track, Ross explains: "This song is about feeling isolated but then the relief that comes from seeing family/friends. It's about getting some comfort from some of the mundane things I took for granted growing up, like daily summer storms and the hum from an oscillating fan at night. I wrote a lot of it during soundchecks on a tour with Adam Torres in 2018."

A Billion Little Lights was released back in February to widespread acclaim, with Stereogum declaring it as "one of the most exquisitely pretty rock albums in recent memory" while Ny Mag/Vulture declared it "2021's best rock album," alongside praise from outlets like NPR, New York Magazine, Pitchfork, The AV Club, Uproxx, Paste, MTV, FADER, Consequence, BrooklynVegan and many more. The follow up 6 Cover Songs saw admiration from both Billboard and the r/indieheads community, as well as landing Ross a KEXP Live At Home Session, which is out now to coincide with the release of "Ohio".

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Frozen Farmer - The Underdogz - Nico Ev

Frozen Farmer - Things To Share (Album).

Things to Share is the third album for Frozen Farmer, released today May 10th, 2021 by Piesse Groove Records.

Frozen Farmer are active since 2009, when they formed the band out of a visceral love for the american folk tradition, grown during a long trip of Francesco – singer and banjo player – across the States. The first EP, releases at the end of 2011 by Ghost Records / Warner Chapell, didn’t stay unnoticed, and led to several shows and tours. The first full lenght, Stay, released in 2014 by Seahorse Recordings, moved to a more personal sound, with a psychedelic side reminiscent of the Paisley Underground and of Days of Wine and Roses. The single Angels Melody also gained a spot in the Top 100 radio airplays according to Indie Music Like.

Things to Shares comes after years of live experiences, changes in members personal lives, and reveals a definitely contemporary sound, which doesn’t disown the attachment to the folk, rural tradition. As a fil rouge, Frozen Farmer collaborated again with Tim Sparks, american guitarist who has been following the project from the very start. Sparks, who is special guest in two songs of the new album, is known for his works with Tzadik and for his collaboration with John Zorn, Bill Frisell, Marc Ribot and Greg Cohen. Things to Share was recorded at New Art Recording Studio in Saronno, then mixed in Verbania by Pierpaolo D’Emilio at GrooveIt Studio.

The Shore, the first single and video taken from the album, is a serene, positive song, with jingle-jangle guitars and a melodic tune, defining a sound that mixes elements from The Byrds, Green on Red, early REM and Wilco, a must for fans of ’90s indie rock, but also for whoever appreciates a well-written and carefully arranged song.

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The Underdogz - Black Eyed Dog.

Founded as a local cover band by Suat Vergili and Sarp Keskiner in 2016 under the synonym “Almost Rock’n Roll”, THE UNDERDOGZ (Izmir) recorded this obscure modal nugget of Nick Drake for a compilation album, curated by In the Void collective (based in Istanbul). 

Enjoy a rarity from the band that had disbanded in 2018, featuring the one and only female rock drummer based in Izmir.

Musicians:
Sarp Keskiner: vocals, guitar, harmonica, ocarina, jews harp, percussion
Suat Vergili: guitar
Ufuk Sinkil: bass
Oyku Celik: drums, backing vocals.

 

Black and Tan Records · Black Eyed Dog - The Underdogz (Bone Union Records)

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Nico Ev - See in the Dark.

Background from Nico: Based in Glasgow, I started writing and composing at the age of six.  Over the last few years, I have carved out my place in the Glasgow music scene, through hosting regular music nights across the city and providing a platform for other local talented singer songwriters to showcase their original material. 

Unable to perform live due to current restrictions, I have concentrated on live streaming and recording my debut EP which has new brought me many new fans,  increased media attention and radio play throughout the UK, Europe and the USA.

See in the Dark is the third track from the EP HUNTER, which was released in December 2020.

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Course - The Spare Parts - Anya Hinkle - The High Hawks

Course - Nick Of Time.

Chicago based synth/indie/pop group Course released today their brand new single "Nick Of Time." The track is the latest peak at their forthcoming debut album A Late Hour, out on May 21, which also features a collection of nine short stories written by singer/guitarist Jessica Robbins to accompany each song on the record. Robbins stated "'Nick Of Time' is about being in a toxic relationship and the freedom and realization of being in a happy/safe place because you acted and got out in time. This song, paired with the short story, is a progression from pain to liberation and self-worth."

"Nick Of Time" follows the release of Course's previous single "Sixteen," which Consequence embraced with "optimistic synths that dance with anticipation." The nostalgic track debuted along with an advanced preview of the song's accompanying short story. Lead single "Give It All Away" is also out now, which Under The Radar called "a lush dream pop tapestry."

Comprised of veteran musicians Robbins, Chris Dye (drums), Dan Ingenthron (synth/keys), Mikey Russell (guitar), and Brian Weekly (bass), Course blends diverse aspects of dream-pop, 90's new-wave, alternative, electronic, and indie rock. Drawing on Robbins' indie-folk roots, Course incorporates polished, modern production and lush electronic instrumentation to create songs with a characteristic ethereal-industrial sheen.

Course recorded the bulk of A Late Hour in the desert town of Dripping Springs, TX with producer Dan Duszynski (of Subpop group Loma), who's studio is set up among a series of airstream trailers. Bright but with depth, the album offers a collection of elegantly upbeat reflections on life and love - though not without somber moments. It's an album filled with intricate and sweeping stories - literally. At one point while writing lyrics, Robbins found herself stuck, so she devised another way into the songs: She wrote narrative fictional short stories to accompany and elaborate each track. The stories will be released in a Chapbook along with the record.

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The Spare Parts - Life Moves Fast.

Cheesy love stories really do happen. Our frontman, Phillip Vonesh, wrote our new single for his brother Mickey and sister-in-law Jamie's wedding.

She's from Vancouver and was studying to be an urban planner at York University. They met on OkCupid and fell for each other hard. Jamie moved in within two weeks and the rest is history.

Dance, kiss, love and take it all in this summer. "Life Moves Fast" is taken from our upcoming album, Infatuation, out on June 4th.

It is a collection of songs inspired by a two year period of being single in our mid twenties – trips to Austin and New Orleans, Tinder dates, hook-ups, crushes, late nights and embarrassing mornings. Infatuation is a meditation on unrequited, new, and true love.

The Spare Parts · 06 Life Moves Fast JTmaster3 88k24b

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Anya Hinkle - Why Women Need Wine.

For songwriters, any phrase, experience and observation can find its way into their next song. And often, it’s those details from life that make the music relatable, that make the music something people hear and say, “Oh, I know that feeling.” Organic Records artist Anya Hinkle’s new release, “Why Women Need Wine,” does just that, relating stories of situations and attitudes that women deal with day to day and reminding them with a little humor, a lot of friendship —  and maybe an eye roll — they can shake it off and move on with their lives.

The phrase “Why Women Need Wine” came to Hinkle when she was feeling down and reached out to a friend who said “Come over, I’ve got a great bottle of wine, let’s talk.”

“I spilled it all out, just said every ridiculous thing and we laughed, I cried, and on my way home I just felt so much better,” says Hinkle. “Everything seemed possible again, I got a grip, and this line popped into my head: This is why women need wine.”

That thought spurred another for Hinkle, and she began to list all the ridiculous things that drive women crazy, from “My skirts are all too long or short, my shirts too loose or tight” and “I swear what do I do with my hair” to “Cause girls can do anything, but women must do everything” and “Nobody wants to hear you whine / Grow up, but not over thirty-nine.”

As Hinkle sings these lines, the songs gently swinging country blues binds the ideas in a way that gives its subtext of struggle a light-hearted groove. Women will nod, smirk and laugh with the recognition that they feel these things, too — and they’re not alone.

Syntax Creative · Anya Hinkle - "Why Women Need Wine"

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The High Hawks - Heroes & Highways.

In the first few seconds of The High Hawks’ debut single, a flurry of pulsing electric piano, kick drum, and Townshend-esque guitar strums give way to a flat out J.J. Cale groove just in time for the first line to be sung: “If we could just find a highway...might even find a way to make it home.” And thus, The High Hawks take flight. That tune, “Heroes & Highways,” is an appropriate first taste of music from the long-time-coming, feel-good Americana cooperative, naturally expressing the range of which the bands’ members can reach. 

With close to 150 years of collective experience as professional touring musicians, The High Hawks—Vince Herman (Leftover Salmon), Tim Carbone (Railroad Earth), Chad Staehly (Hard Working Americans),Adam Greuel (Horseshoes & Hand Grenades), Brian Adams (DeadPhish Orchestra) and Will Trask (Great American Taxi)—have maintained a generation-spanning presence at the forefront of the roots music scene for over two decades. On June 11th, their debut album The High Hawks will be released via LoHi Records.

Yesterday, Live for Live Music premiered the music video for the aforementioned “Heroes & Highways,” a song the band calls “a nod to the ever-present tension of the thrills and experiences of ‘the highway’ and the comfort and pleasures of home sweet home.” Live for Live music echoed that sentiment, calling the tune “a much-needed reflection on the way of the road.”

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Laddermen - Pam Setser (Featuring The Isaacs) - El Misti - Someone - Wy

Laddermen - Welcome to the 20's.

Two weeks after the release of their second single «Welcome to the 20’s», the band Laddermen (CH/US) delivers the accompanying video clip.

In February, Laddermen from Lucerne emerged on the Swiss indie scene with their debut single 'The Huntress Obeyed' and generated radio airplay beginning throughout Europe, finding a home in central America and reuniting with its roots in the States - guitarist and singer Leopold Oakes moved to Switzerland from Texas just a few years ago.

Laddermen will release their debut album later this year. Their haunting songwriting and deep dramaturgy, for which they draw inspiration from English bands, should splash the indie scene with another palette of colour.

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Pam Setser (Featuring The Isaacs) - Neighbors.

Neighbors, is a song that says so much about my life. The lyrics are not just a reference to people who live near you or in your community, but how we relate to each other in general.

I was fortunate to grow up singing in a family band, "The Simmons Family." We sang at our local courthouse and traveled many places to promote our small town, Mountain View, Arkansas. All of these experiences were wonderful, but my best memories are of neighbors from near and far coming to our house for what we call "pickins."

Many great friends and musicians enjoyed many hours of music. Also, on occasion, a delicious breakfast was prepared early morning by my mom. Charley Sandage became one of those neighbors and wrote this song for my family in 1975. "Neighbors"  has been recorded by The Simmons Family, The Grandpa Jones Family, Harmony, Joe Mullins, and the Radio Ramblers and most recently on my new album, Pam Setser, Now.

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El Misti - Don’t Ya Love Democracy.

‘Don’t Ya Love Democracy!’ is the first single from ‘All is Lost’, El Misti’s second album in as many years. Encapsulating frustration and concern for the expanding control in every aspect of life. An anti-imperialist boogie, a song of its time.

After last year’s eponymous debut, El Misti return with their second album in 2021. Despite turbulent times and ever-changing circumstances, ‘All is Lost’ marks a striking development in their sound and musicality. However, before this epic LP gets its full release this summer, the Liverpool/Cheshire band have offered up their first single entitled ‘Don’t Ya Love Democracy!’ which comes with a steady flow of insightful instigations towards an unbalanced centralization of power throughout the lands.

Singer and songwriter of the group Paddy Bleakley, gloriously throws up a catchy chorus reminiscent of The Doors and Dylan in full late 60s Vietnam style protestations, “Tongue tied, I will be no longer, Tonight, I will bring your house down, Freeride, You won’t get from me, Because I’m already sick and tired of the way things are.”

The verses are acerbic and full of venom for a world gone insane over the course of the past twelve months, but its beautifully disguised in a bluesy romp which allows great enjoyment on whichever level you choose to focus on.

Of the new album Paddy explains, “Completing a record is never an easy road, especially as directionless as everything seems to be right now, but the affinity and trust of this group of experienced, adventurous, and independently minded musicians was enough to anchor it through to its conclusion.”

El Misti · Don’t Ya Love Democracy

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Someone - Strange World.

Someone is the work of Dutch/British musician, producer, and visual artist Tessa Rose Jackson, a purveyor of abstract stage visuals and psychedelic pop music, with a soul and voice as  light as Air, as fragile as Feist, as deep as Nick Drake and as future-psych as Tame Impala.

Strange World is the first single to be taken from Someone’s velvet lined, cinematic debut album Shapeshifter (coming late 2021), a record that is intimate and immersive but also richly layered and uplifting. Written during lockdown it conveys the strange often surreal feeling of a life suspended.

Strange World, the alluring dream-state beauty that is the album’s first single, explores the paralyzing realisation that we cannot control life, nor predict an outcome. Born as a simple bass melody with a melancholy that conjured up a sadness of time passed;  the song grew to touch on the bitter-sweet escapism of daydreams where the warm security of nostalgia contrasts with our uncertain future. As Someone explains:

“I couldn’t stop playing it and in my mind the image started to form of a vast outstretched beach. Deserted, but for one person. This is her place; this is where she keeps returning to. But it’s not real. And so the story started to take shape. The song is about stepping back into an old, fond memory. And though it welcomes you in every time, the more you revisit it, the more you begin to realize how much things have changed. It becomes a reminder that nothing is constant, not even you.”
 
Strange World’s video was shot in London during lockdown by director David Spearing alongside Someone who joined the crew via video call. Inspired by their mutual love of musicals, the video uses dance to subtly reference our current isolation. As Someone explains:
 
“The idea was to create a video about a young woman who uses her imagination to evoke magic in the world around her in a situation that could very easily become numbing.”
 
Strange World is visually and sonically an exploration of the human mind’s ability to imagine and transport itself out of a bleak present and, ultimately, it’s about the importance of “staying positive and staying playful.”

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Pic - Larnia Karic

Wy - Marriage (Album).

Wy are a band strongest at their most vulnerable. The Malmö indie duo, Ebba and Michel Gustafsson Ågren, have showcased their musical skills across two albums, 2017’s Okay and 2019’s Softie which gained them recognition from KEXP, Line of Best Fit, NBHAP, Tonspion, CLASH and more as well as tours in Germany, Scandinavia and the UK. But what makes them stand out as a band is the raw, brutal emotion they capture in their music.

A Wy song at their best sounds like opening it all up, and letting the feelings flow where they will, letting the pain, anger, fear, hope and love steer the song. Those emotions are spun into the band’s skyscaping, cinematic sound, and turned into music that has a force behind it, a power that hits you, even when it's at its softest. And that power that illuminates the band’s songs is more present than ever on their new album Marriage which is out now.

Marriage is the first record since signing to Rama Lama Records (Melby, Steve Buscemi's Dreamy Eyes, Chez Ali etc.) and the sound of Wy moving forward and backwards at once. Leaving the more produced style of last album Softie behind, it turns to the simpler sound of their earlier work for music that’s rawer and sharper. On both the indie-rock and the pop songs of this album, there’s less between the listener and the heart of the song - this is music that’s very direct, both in theme and sound, with melodies that hit cleanly and leave nothing even trying to hide. It’s the work of a band that have grown into themselves and what they do, and making the strongest songs of their career.

That album, in a way, begins with a wedding. Ebba and Michel have been together since their schooldays, but a couple of years ago they tied the knot. The songs on Marriage have all been made since their wedding, and so in that sense the timing made it a natural title for a record that’s something of a scrapbook from the first two years of that marriage. But there’s also a deeper sense to it. Both in sound and theme, Marriage is more of a conceptual record than their earlier work. Ebba writes the band’s lyrics, and on the previous albums her themes were specific to her. But on this album, their relationship is at the heart of the songs. The lyrics have come from the experiences they’ve shared together, which they’ve then worked together into what they want to say, to each other and to everyone else.  “I have always written the lyrics”, says Ebba. “But this time they feel like our lyrics, and not just my diary set to our music. We've talked a lot with each other about what we want to say. About who we are and where we can find our place in the world. The title has been in place since we started, and that was because a lot of the songs revolved around our relationship since we got married. Not so much the relationship between us, but more about the internal conflicts that appear when you’re in a long-term, safe relationship, where you’re really sure about each other, but you’re not sure about yourself”.

The journey to the record has been a difficult one. The band started work on Marriage not intending to make an album. They went into the studio with the idea of making an EP, wrote some songs, but couldn’t quite nail what they were going for - the songs didn’t quite feel right together. So they went into overdrive, wrote a bunch more songs, and suddenly found themselves with over 20, and within those 20 what they realised was an album.

Rama Lama Records · Wy - Marriage

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Dizzy - The Quilter - Kelly McMichael - Los Lobos - ELUNIA

Dizzy - Sunflower, Are You There? (Feat. Kevin Garrett).

Following their recent JUNO Award nomination for Alternative Album of the Year, Dizzy are excited to release their new single "Sunflower, Are You There?" featuring Kevin Garrett. The new track is the second offering from a forthcoming collaborations EP titled Separate Places.  The EP will be released by Royal Mountain Records and Communion Records on 11th June, and features recent single "The Bird Behind The Drapes" featuring Luna Li.

The Separate Places EP sees the Oshawa four-piece reimagine some of the standout tracks from their second album, 2020’s The Sun and Her Scorch. Each track features a different guest artist: "Sunflower, Are You There?" is a reworking of the album’s lead single "Sunflower", now featuring Grammy-nominated musician Kevin Garrett, known for his work on Beyoncé’s Lemonade.

On the collaboration, vocalist Katie Munshaw explains, "We opened up for Kevin back before we had released any music as a band. I remember looking up to him as someone our age touring, writing perfect songs and just doing the damn thing so well. Having his seal of approval on "Sunflower", a song about self-doubt, felt very full circle."

Upon its release, The Sun and Her Scorch album was praised for its “lyricism paired with their dreamy indie-pop sound” (MTV) and its candid exploration of the messiest, most raw emotions young people experience in the modern age. “I wanted to be completely honest about the things nobody ever wants to admit, like being jealous of your friends or pushing away the people who love you,” frontwoman Katie Munshaw says. “So instead of being about romantic heartbreak, it’s really about self-heartbreak.” The Sun and Her Scorch has been nominated for Best Alternative Album at the Juno Awards, a feat previously achieved by the likes of Arcade Fire - and Dizzy themselves, for their 2018 debut Baby Teeth.

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The Quilter - The Long Weekend.

The Quilter is Glasgow native Stuart Dougan, who having previously made an impact on the Scottish indie scene with notable projects French Wives and Smash Williams, returns entirely on his own terms - writing everything himself and recording most of the project alone. Set to release his debut EP in June, setting a high standard for what is to come, latest single ‘The Long Weekend’ (May 7) is the quilters most anthemic indie pop tune yet.

‘Bolt The Door’ EP is a collection of bold alt-pop songs, some of which were made before the pandemic and others that were written during the initial lockdown. This EP follows on from 2020’s immersive, cinematic visual record Dark Cloud/Grey Area, equal parts documentary film, live concert and album. Currently being considered for various film festivals for 2021.

Inspiring the same sense magnitude and euphoric nostalgia as Phoenix or Arcade Fire, ‘The Long Weekend’ is a driving anthemic slice of alternative indie-pop. Bold and colourful textures and melodies drive the track euphorically forward. A love letter to ordinariness pre-pandemic days, The Quilter makes one ache to share our lives with our friends again, to sit on the grass and bask in sunlight, stand shoulder to shoulder in the face of live music, just to spend a long weekend in the company of other humans - we’re all ‘patiently waiting for nothing particular, the mundane’s incredible now that it’s simpler’.

For The Quilter, ‘this song was in part inspired by a viral clip I saw from the set of ‘Uncut Gems’ where the crew had finished filming and were all dancing to ‘I Feel It Coming’ by The Weeknd.  It was just a short clip but I wanted to try and capture the palpable sense of joy that was clearly being felt at the time.  It was written during lockdown and is basically a love letter to my friends and daydreaming about getting to hang out and have fun in a post pandemic world.  I’m very aware that it’s bombastic and over the top in places but I wanted to purposely try and capture a sense of hopeful euphoria that one day, not too far from here, you’ll get to hug all your friends again.’

The Quilter · 1. The Long Weekend

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Kelly McMichael - Stepping Stone.

Kelly McMichael (from Peterborough ON, based in St. John’s NL), is known for her commanding vocals and stage presence as well as her classic-sounding songwriting. She has a unique ability to conduct powerful musical forces whether making bedroom beats, rocking a Gibson SG or serenading softly on the piano. Kelly has toured Canada, the UK and the US with various projects, most recently keys and vocals with Sarah Harmer. 

She has fronted Renders, Thelma & Louise, Kelly McMichael and The Gloss and Rouge, and as a collaborator Kelly has performed with Regina Gently (and alter ego Gentleman Reg), Allie X, Richard Laviolette, Terra Lightfoot, The Hidden Cameras, John, Claire Whitehead and Geordie Gordon (Islands, US Girls).

The first two singles from Kelly McMichael’s debut full-length album Waves display a wide range of rock sounds and mark a transition from her electronic based project RENDERS. It has taken years to find the right circumstances to bring these arrangements to life, and she finally found them by the ocean with the support of engineer, co-producer and drummer Jake Nicoll (The Burning Hell), and multi-instrumentalists Maria Peddle and Sarah Harris (Property) from St John’s. Kelly is keeping busy with musical explorations on the island, sharing little treats in the form of piano covers, vocal looping arrangements and other musical explorations until touring the album becomes a possibility.

Kelly McMichael / RENDERS · Stepping Stone (singe,wav)

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Los Lobos - Love Special Delivery.

Los Lobos will return with Native Sons on July 30th via New West Records. The 13-song set was produced by Los Lobos in East Los Angeles and finds the band mapping their musical DNA as a kaleidoscopic selection of tribute songs from their homeland, ultimately creating a crucial snapshot of L.A.’s musical heritage. Having formed in 1973 and gotten their start playing spirited renditions of Mexican folk music at parties and in restaurants, Los Lobos are no strangers to reinterpretation (and if you’ve ever been to one of their legendary live shows, you already know that). These brothers have always held a deep appreciation for diverse music, and they love pulling out old gems and making them shine like new.

For all the trailblazing musical acts who’ve emerged from Los Angeles, very few embody the city’s wildly eclectic spirit more wholeheartedly than Los Lobos. Over the last five decades, the East L.A.-bred band has made an indelible mark on music history by exploring an enormous diversity of genres—rock-and-roll and R&B, surf music and soul, mariachi and música norteña, punk rock and country—and building a boldly unpredictable sound all their own.

In a nod to their neighborhood, Native Sons opens with the wide-eyed frenzy of “Love Special Delivery” by Thee Midniters, an East L.A. garage band and one of the first Chicano rock groups to ever score a major hit in the U.S. From there, it features favorites and deep cuts by other Los Angeles luminaries such as the Beach Boys, WAR, Buffalo Springfield, Jackson Browne, and more. In a particularly meaningful moment for the band, Native Sons includes a fiery cover of “Flat Top Joint” by the Blasters, the seminal L.A. roots-rock band who helped pave the way for their signing to Slash Records in the early ’80s (and whom counted Steve Berlin as a member before his joining Los Lobos). The album’s title track is its sole original song, a loving homage to Los Angeles that sounds right at home amid so many classic tracks.

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ELUNIA - Pressure Points.

When reality became too much, ELUNIA created an alternative existence. A singer-songwriter-producer executing all of her own visuals, the New Hampshire-based recording artist captures the endless meaning of human interaction as an immersive experience. Her music delves beneath the surface, with striking electronic textures, soaring melodies, and observant, probing lyrics.

Although trained in music from an early age, it was the discovery of transforming feelings into creative entities that inspired the emerging songsmith to chart a different path. The multi-instrumentalist began writing and producing incessantly, hiding away in school practice rooms as a coping mechanism for the isolation she faced in the world around her. Fragments of thought noted in the midst of heart-wrenching moments evolved into ethereal, liquid atmospheres. Co-producing with multi-million streamed producer JMAC (Haux, Luz), the result is a flood of wild self-expression channelled through cinematic soundscapes.

Her latest release “Pressure Points” speaks of idolizing someone through a struggle with mental health and the fear of losing them. ELUNIA describes, “It's not like someone is outright saving you, but more that they're just existing in the right places and the right ways, and it's really subtle, but that makes it all the more powerful.”

ELUNIA is inspired by unique sonics that push boundaries, alongside currents of inexplicably raw, human emotions. The genre-bending, alt-pop essence radiates through her music, with the introspective single oozing in intimacy and vulnerability. “Pressure Points” features cries of hazy guitar falls and atmospheric keys, all shimmering with authenticity. The mellow track includes original voice memos with birdsong floating in the background, resulting in a hypnotic and peaceful delivery and ultimately giving listeners a moment to breathe and appreciate our inner strength.

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