Ashley Shadow - Aidan & The Wild - Ian Jones

Ashley Shadow - Grey.

The Vancouver, B.C.-based songwriter, Ashley Shadow has shared her new single, "Grey" which follows on the heels of the MOJO-tipped "For Love" and the Stereogum and Brooklyn Vegan-approved "Don't Slow Me Down" (feat. Bonnie "Prince" Billy). "Grey" arrives as another installment of Shadow's forthcoming second album, Only the End which comes mixed by Joshua Wells (Destroyer, Lightning Dust, ex-Black Mountain) and is set for release via Felte on September 24, 2021 (CD/Digital) & October 29, 2021 (Vinyl). The new release follows her eponymous self-titled debut which found critical acclaim at Stereogum, The A.V. Club, KEXP, Brooklyn Vegan, FLOOD, Under the Radar, and more.

Ashley Shadow describes the new single as "a gentle moment of existential dread", a notion mirrored in the track's lyrics as she sings, “Grey took over the sky/far too much to think about, don’t try.” However, any temptation to wallow is countered by Colin Cowan’s (Elastic Stars) buoyant French-pop bassline and a dancing pedal steel played by Paul Rigby (Neko Case). The song mirrors some of the moody introspection synonymous with the Pacific Northwest but while this new single explores fairly solemn ideas, it balances these with music that brings with it a palpable sense of hope. Ashley's chilling vocal performance simmers alongside gently picked electric guitar and Rigby's swooning pedal steel.

While the songs on Only the End were conceived in contemplative solitude, Ashley invited some very capable collaborators into the studio to assist with the process of recording; alongside the aforementioned Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Shadow invited Paul Rigby (Neko Case), Joshua Wells (Black Mountain, Lightning Dust), Colin Cowan (Elastic Stars) and Ryan Beattie (Himalayan Bear). Ashley, the twin sister of Amber Webber (of Lightning Dust, co-founder of Black Mountain), has previously contributed vocals to Bonnie "Prince" Billy's album, Lie Down in the Light, Pink Mountaintop's Outside Love, The Cave Singers' Welcome Joy and more.

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Aidan & The Wild - The Whip (feat. Merel Sophie).

Yesterday Aidan & the Wild will released his new single 'The Whip'. Teaming up with Merel Sophie, Aidan & the Wild's latest single explores the crossover fields between americana and soul and sleezes the listener into taking it easy.

This song originated when Diederik spoke with Otto Wichers (Lucky Fonz III) about the industry's constant pressure to perform and achieve, to which Otto jokingly said that we've all become musicians so we wouldn't have to slave away for a boss, so why would you whip yourself in the same way? These words stuck in Diederik's head on the way home, and sparked the inspiration for the hook of the song.

At the age of eight, Eindhoven native Diederik van den Brandt became fascinated by the guitar and that love has only continued to grow ever since. Under the alias Aidan & the Wild, the songwriter and multi-instrumentalist tells his musical story. Where his ‘open-tuning’ guitar playing can be traced back to influences such as Ben Howard and the Tallest Man On Earth, he just as often casts his gaze towards Nashville. Armed with a bag full of guitar techniques and an honest voice, he brings a timeless mixture of folk and americana, which carries an unique freshness.

Over the years, his passion for the guitar has branched out to a wider range of instruments, including the pedal steel guitar, banjo and mandolin. Meanwhile, he can be found almost as often as a ‘side-man’ with fellow songwriters. He takes this experience into the studio, as can be heard on Aidan & the Wild's debut album ‘Revelation Never Came’.

Revanche Records · Aidan & The Wild - The Whip (feat. Merel Sophie)

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Ian Jones - Evergreens.

Ian Jones’ new six-song EP Evergreens, set for release October 22, 2021, is a seamless collection previewing a forthcoming as-yet-untitled full-length. Spin the title-track lead single to hear a rapidly rising songwriter exponentially evolving. “‘Evergreens’ was written in a garage in Southern California after I had moved from Seattle to chase my music dream,” Jones says. “It all came to a head one day when I just really missed my friends. I had been messing around with the Open D guitar tuning and this song came out. ‘Evergreens’ is for those who have had the guts to leave their hometown and explore the world. We all miss friends and the comfort of our surroundings.”

The poignant single has only doubled down on power and punch as we see light possibly slicing through the COVID-19 pandemic darkness. “We worked tirelessly on my last record (Results Not Typical),” Jones says. “We had the album ready for release, booked subsequent tours and support and were immediately shut down like everyone else due to the COVID pandemic. Of course, that doesn’t mean the rest of the world stopped just because the touring stopped. So, we had to find a way to continue making records so we could complete the follow-up album in a relatively timely manner. Luckily, we had done a good, long session in January before the shutdown and we had started tracking demos in Seattle and sending them to our producer Jesse Siebenberg in Ojai. We have decided to release this EP as a representation of the full-length as we wait out the uncertainties as far as the rate the world will open up again.”

The result produced a timely song-cycle fortified by timeless tunes such as “Liars, Criminals, Beggars and Thieves.” “This song is straight up about politics and politicians,” Jones says. “Not one side or another — across the board. I know a few people who have gone into politics and it changed them. Seems like a pretty nasty career choice. I’m sure there are a few honest ones, but they sure seem to hide. This song came into existence a while ago and every time I would hear something about politics or politicians screwing someone —or everyone, for that matter — I would sit down and jot down a line or two. I knew I had to finish it by the time we were halfway through 2019 and headed for the election with the fighting between both sides being so bad.”

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Lily Konigsberg - Idle Dream - Mae Krell - Big Little Lions - Maria Pellicano - Church Girls

Lily Konigsberg - That's the Way I Like It.

Lily Konigsberg, a member of the beloved art rock band Palberta, is announcing her solo debut LP. The album arrives after what has been a busy 18 months for Konigsberg, who released her first solo EP on long-time Palberta label Wharf Cat Records (Water From Your Eyes, Dougie Poole) to an extremely positive reception in March of 2020 (Pitchfork described it as a collection of left-field pop that sits "at the center of a Venn diagram containing haunted dolls, Arthur Russell, and Ariana Grande"), before Palberta released their most critically-acclaimed record to date in January of this year ("a gleefully odd record...perfectly Palberta" according to the New York Times), which was followed by the release of a compilation of her early solo recordings culled mostly from Bandcamp and Soundcloud releases.

Her new album is called Lily We Need To Talk Now (out October 29th on Wharf Cat), with the title taken from a text she received from the album's producer Nate Amos of the band Water From Your Eyes, and the announcement is accompanied by the release of the album's first single "That's The Way I Like It".

Though the album is a characteristically eclectic collection of pop songs, recalling in moments the guitar-driven, punk-adjacent feel of her work with Palberta, to things like mid-Aughts Sheryl Crow, and even Cure-inflected post-punk, its buoyant energy is nicely captured by this single. Backed on drums by her Palberta bandmate Nina Ryser with backing vocals from Amos, the track is a burst of perfectly-formed guitar pop with a slight pop punk lean that displays the imaginative and slightly warped melodic turns that Kongisberg has mastered. It holds a deceptive complexity and yet feels as natural as breathing, and its ease only serves to highlight Konigsberg's considerable gifts as a songwriter.

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Idle Dream - The First Time.

About the mixed emotions that stems from listening to your head while following your heart, Dublin duo Idle Dream’s second single ‘The First Time’ captures a wild abandonment tempered by responsibility.

Prior to Connor McCabe joining the once-solo project, Chris had already written and recorded ‘The First Time’ with producer Ben Haynes. The duo then put the finishing touches on the song together in Dublin’s Soundcaster Studios.

The essence of the song is underpinned with far more anxiety than the melody’s hopeful, uplifting feel would portray. It deals with the ideas of young love in its later stages, inspired by the idea of falling for someone wholly as you could when you were younger, but being faced with the push-backs and complications of responsibility and personal history.

On the verse, Chris affirms ‘I wanna know you when you’re sober’, digging into the ways in which we mask our trepidation and anxiety at the beginning of a burgeoning romance. The crashing guitars are powerfully emotive, driving the force of this feeling to peaks and troughs throughout.

The first offering from a new batch of upcoming singles – and possibly what’s shaping up to be an EP – ‘The First Time’ is out today August 20th.

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Mae Krell - rest stop.

New York-based singer-songwriter Mae Krell shares their new single “rest stop” and the accompanying lyric video. There is an undeniable emotional rawness to "rest stop." Underscored by layered, lush instrumentation, Mae’s vocals bristle with palpable emotion as they come to terms with the loss of a friendship: “I’ve been much worse than this / am I not yours unless I'm sick? / was I better to be around / when you had to pull me out?”

Mae started to write the new single when their car broke down in the trucking area of a rest stop. They were feeling lost in life, both figuratively and literally. “I was sad and still processing a really painful friend breakup and just overall not in a great place,” Mae says. “In writing ‘rest stop,’ I was learning that sometimes getting healthier and becoming more independent can end in a loss of a relationship. And, as this specific friendship ended, I started to realize that maybe it wasn't as good for me as I thought it was.”

For the accompanying music video, Mae hit the road with visual artist Caro Hallock to revisit the aforementioned rest stop. The video chronicles the journey back to where the song was first conceived through nostalgic and timeless road trip footage.

Following a two-year hiatus, Mae Krell returned in early 2020 ready to embark on a new musical era. With a newfound maturity and understanding, they have perfected their folk-pop sound and introspective lyrical chops. At just 22 years old, Mae exudes a musicality wise beyond their years. Influenced by revered singer-songwriters like Bob Dylan, Phoebe Bridgers, and Gregory Alan Isakov, their songs are intimate reflections that confront trauma, self-love, and personal truths. Their singles have amassed millions of streams to date, with last year’s singles “wash,” “home,” and “garden,” all individually breaking over 500K streams.

In addition to their artist career, Mae has worn many different hats in the music industry, photographing live music for Rolling Stone and Sony RCA, founding the online music publication Tongue Tied Magazine and, most recently, starting Bitch Mgmt, a multimedia marketing and PR company. With a multitude of career milestones already under their belt, Mae is taking it one day at a time and focusing on writing and recording songs that reach new emotional heights.

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Big Little Lions - Finally.

Big Little Lions are an award winning duo who were born out of a collaboration that won them a JUNO Award in 2014. Since then they have been cranking out infectious folk pop songs that are jam-packed with emotion and tight harmonies that sound like the product of two people working side-by-side instead of living in different countries.

Big Little Lions continue their monthly releases with 'Finally' which is out Thursday August 19th.

"The young people are leading the way with their ability unabashedly speak up about how they feel. Finally is about finding your voice after a long time of feeling held back and the relief that comes with that." - Helen Austin, BLL

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Maria Pellicano - My Gift Of Love.

Our families are filled with a rich history of people, lives and experiences, that contribute to shaping the people we become. Singer/Songwriter, author, teacher and coach, Maria Pellicano is releasing her single, ‘My Gift of Love ’today Friday 20th August 2021.

The release is a personal exploration of her own Family Constellation.. A therapeutic approach that helps individuals identify patterns of behaviour that are rooted in family origins and to work towards
acceptance of the past, to build towards a healthier dynamic. Maria has published an article here that will provide you with more of an understanding of how Family Constellations work.

Maria tells us “In writing ‘My Gift Of Love’, I found a depth in expressing a very personal part of my own family history.. It was only through learning about family constellations that I feel this song came to life.. my hope is that others can hear this song and it sparks a desire for them to discover the depth of their own Family Constellations”

Maria worked with producer, Joshua Hennessy, of Pivotal Music Melbourne, to craft this heartfelt song with the hope that it will inspire listeners to take courage in exploring their own family constellations.

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Church Girls - Separated.

Church Girls is a band that finds comfort in change. Based in Philly, the band's latest single 'Separated' finds revelation in escape while channeling the spoken-word delivery of The Hold Steady and the sheer force of Mannequin Pussy.

"This song is an ode to my twin brother," vocalist Mariel Beaumont (she/her) explains. "It's about realising home was no longer what we thought it was when a family member's battle with alcoholism came to a head. The song is still hopeful in a way since we knew we'd always have a home in each other. He's still my best friend and the first person to hear every song I write."

At the beginning of 2020, Church Girls signed to Anchor Eighty Four Records, a Los Angeles label that had just celebrated a decade in business and carried weighty alumni like The Story So Far and Grayscale. From across the country, out of Philly, came Mariel  Beaumont (vox/guitar), Mitchell Layton (guitar/vox), Vince Vullo (bass/vox), and Julien Varnier (drums/vox) with their sophomore LP, The Haunt, that grounded the band in a gritty, chest-pounding sound.

Now, a little over a year later, they've continued to grow with A84's roster of similarly anthemic acts, and while remaining on the label are also announcing their signing to Big Scary Monsters (American Football/Proper./Illuminati Hotties) for UK + Europe.

bsmrocks · Church Girls - Separated

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Bumsy and the Moochers - Abby Huston - Paragon Cause

Bumsy and the Moochers - Living The Nightmare.

Chicago, Illinois-based ska sextet Bumsy and the Moochers are set to release their latest single, “Living The Nightmare,” on Friday, August 20. The single is their first in a series of singles releases that will result in a mini-EP release with Sell The Heart Records (Neckscars, Decent Criminal, etc.). The video for "Living The Nightmare" was directed and edited by Katie Makes Films.

Although publications like The Washington Post began touting the “ska revival” earlier this year, Bumsy and the Moochers are likely quoting LL Cool J under their breath; they’ve been here for years. Since 2012, Bumsy and the Moochers have been riding a tidal wave sound reminiscent of ’90s pop punk and ska. They deliver melodic vocals, killer horn lines, and steel string shredding hot and fresh to your ears.

In 2015, Bumsy and the Moochers debuted their first full length release Bored Up! with the Easily Distracted EP following hot on its heels the following year. In 2018, Bumsy and the Moochers released their second full length album, Spaced Out.

That said, If “Living The Nightmare” is any indication of what’s to come from the well-established act, expect these local heroes to become and international phenomenon in the coming months.

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Abby Huston - Higher.

Egghunt records newest signing and first hometown artist in a bit, Abby Huston. Abby makes dreamy, introverted guitar pop songs with graceful electronic production touches, coming from the unlikely origin point of acoustic covers of Avril Lavigne and My Chemical Romance circa eighth grade. Their next single "Higher" ft. Benét is out now.

Here's a quote from Abby about the process of making "Higher": Higher was such a pleasure to make with Cam and Benét. It was a kinda rainy day...Benét and I stepped out on the porch and wrote through the walls while Cam was laying the beat and we had a really beautiful conversation about how I had been feeling. 

Sometimes we aren't feeling uplifted in our lives but ultimately it is only our onus to honor our worth and not internalize every little thing people could be thinking about us.

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Paragon Cause - Two To Play.

Paragon Cause tell us - "We are excited to share Autopilot, our third album, with you. It is a moody and atmospheric collection of songs which serve as a meditation on time and how it is mediated by the technology that can often control our lives".

Autopilot features "Two To Play" – a dreamy, fierce, and euphoric song about tracking down sexual predators. When the vocals come in, it is still very primitive, with a retro-lofi indie rock sound that has a narrow field of sound. But once the chorus kicks in, the stereo field widens, as if the world has opened both eyes and can see society for what it really is.

"Two To Play" focuses on confidence and relying on my own talents and opinions and feelings – putting myself first, explains our member, Michelle Opthof, an attitude that has guided our creative process on this record.

The term Autopilot may have connotations of surrendering one's freedom to a machine or going through the motions, but this album's energized and emotional songwriting reflect its polar opposite. - Paragon Cause.

PARAGⴲN CAUSE · Two To Play

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Montgomery Church - Sue Foley - Dot Allison

Montgomery Church - The Great Divide.

Cielle Montgomery and James Church are Montgomery Church - a blend of acoustic folk, Americana and bluegrass influences, grown and distilled in the Snowy Mountain ranges of country New South Wales.

With their organic union of dobro and guitar, harmony vocals and thoughtful songwriting, this captivating duo are enthralling in their dynamic intimacy and offer up some of the sweetest darn sounds being heard around

Australia's alt. country scene right now! Since their formation, Montgomery Church have been quietly but quickly gathering a fan base who site their undeniable chemistry as a rare and beautiful thing to see live.

"Montgomery Church are like the Australian version of Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings but if Gillian was the daughter of Allison Krauss...sitting on a porch, with tea not whiskey... I'm a tad obsessed! The most graceful duo literally gracing stages right now!" - Fanny Lumsden

“The Great Divide” is written about a defining time in Australian history when strangers from all corners of the world emigrated to the Snowy Mountains of NSW to accomplish one of the greatest engineering feats of our time - the building of 'The Snowy Scheme'. This snapshot is seen through the eyes of a post-war immigrant worker who, along with over 100,000 others, risked their lives whilst enduring the harsh mountain climate and extreme working conditions to achieve this extraordinary conquest. Featuring Church’s hallmark sound on dobro & lead vocals as the centre piece of this track, it’s hard not to get swept up in the raw emotion and sheer magnitude of this historic tale.

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Sue Foley - Dallas Man.

Stony Plain Records announces an October 22 release date for Pinky’s Blues, the new album from award-winning blues guitarist/singer Sue Foley. Featuring several Sue Foley originals, as well as songs from some of her favorite blues and roots artists, Pinky’s Blues was recorded at Fire Station Studios in San Marcos, Texas. Joining Sue Foley (guitar, vocals) for the recording sessions were Jon Penner (bass), Chris “Whipper” Layton (drums) and Mike Flanigin (Hammond B3 organ), who also produced the album.

To support the release of her new disc, Foley will embark on an extensive tour schedule that includes both an official showcase at the upcoming September Americana Music Conference in Nashville, as well as a set at the Kessler Day Party Showcase during the conference.

Pinky’s Blues is the follow up to Sue Foley’s breakout album The Ice Queen, released in 2018. Foley’s new album is a raw, electric guitar driven romp through the backroads of Texas blues, with Foley’s signature pink paisley Fender Telecaster, “Pinky,” at the wheel. She won “Best Traditional Female (Koko Taylor Award)” at the 2020 Blues Music Awards in Memphis, was nominated for a Juno Award (Canadian Grammy), and she took home the award for “Best Guitar Player” at the Toronto Maple Blues Awards. For the last few years Foley and her band have kept a rigorous touring schedule across the USA, Canada and Europe. Some highlights were appearances at The Beacon Theater (NYC), guesting with Jimmie Vaughan (opening for Eric Clapton) at Royal Albert Hall in London, Montreal Jazz Fest, Ottawa Blues Fest (w/ Buddy Guy), Moulin Blues (Holland), NPR’s Mountainstage (with Bela Fleck), Doheny Blues Fest, and the Jungle Show in Austin, Texas.

The disc’s first single, “Dallas Man,” also bears special significance to Foley. “I realized when I wrote 'Dallas Man' it was just about all these great guitar players from Dallas and right around there,” Foley says. "I've always been infatuated with Blind Lemon Jefferson and had been reading about him and working up some of his songs. Between Blind Lemon Jefferson and Frankie Lee Sims, and then working on some Freddie King and always watching Jimmie Vaughan came the idea of 'Dallas Man.' Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan, Freddie King, T-Bone Walker, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Frankie Lee Sims, Anson Funderburgh, Zuzu Bollin, Doyle Bramhall II, Denny Freeman and Derek O'Brien all came from that area. That's almost a whole album right there!”

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Photo Maria Mochnacz

Dot Allison - One Love.

From her first album release in twelve years Heart-Shaped Scars, Dot Allison premieres the tranquil new video for "One Love," the third single from the critically acclaimed album.  "We ended up shooting the video on what turned out to be two piping hot days in July in and around Bristol & Wales " says Director Maria Mochnacz, (PJ Harvey's longtime visual collaborator). She adds, "We did keep an eye on the weather and move dates to fit to make sure we got good weather as the video was entirely weather dependent but had no idea it would be quite so hot! 

It was myself, John Minton - wonderful low fi experimental camera man and all round one man band, and Honor and Hopey Parish - I've known Honor and Hopey all their lives, from before they were born!  During one of the lockdown stages I went to sit in their garden - and they started doing a KPop dance - so I stored that memory away and asked them if they'd be up for being in this video...we drove off in John's car the four of us with my giant mirror ball packed in the boot and a whole host of other low fi lighting devices…"

"One Love" is about someone feeling unsure in a relationship, needing reassurance. "The flower metaphors are rare flowers used to signify a rare,  precious, all encompassing love.  Blood Camellia suggests flesh, veins and a pulse, Fire Lilies imbue a sense of passion and Juliette Rose seems to hint at Shakespeare,” Allison says of the single.

Heart-Shaped Scars gathers many threads of Allison’s broad interests – not just musical but literary, philosophical and her interest in science and nature are integral to Heart-Shaped Scars overall aesthetic.. Allison’s father was a botanist, and her mother a musician; eventually, the DNA of music took this former bio-chemistry student in a very different direction – and with good reason too.

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Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters - Heavy Manners - We Were Promised Jetpacks - TeenCanteen - King Park - Jessica Smucker

Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters - Dallas / Reverie.

Since April, Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters have been releasing music from their upcoming collection, The Devil and The Deep Blue Sea, a concept suite built from songs recorded under the straitened circumstances of quarantine and envisioned as a “deconstructed album,” released, not as a package, but in a series of paired singles, with each pair drawing on both of the titular concept’s two sides. 

The latest, “Dallas” and “Reverie,” finds the Organic Records artist bearing down on unanswered questions, whether they’re framed in a slowly simmering country-rocker (“Dallas”) or by the more introverted, acoustic treatment of “Reverie.”

“‘Dallas’ is kind of a tribute to our old tour van, Toby (no vehicle of mine goes without a name),” Platt notes — though, as is often the case, the ostensive subject barely makes an appearance in the song’s lyric — ”and also to all that went on in the years I spent traveling the country in that van. 

It’s weird to look back on that time and realize how young I was for a lot of it. This is a song about feeling older but maybe not any wiser…or wiser just by virtue of understanding how little you know. The track features Kevin Williams on keys and my dad, Mark Platt, on harmonica.”

Amanda Anne Platt · Dallas

 

Amanda Anne Platt · Reverie

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Heavy Manners - Flamin' First (2021 Fresh Mix).

The reason for the release of the new mix is that Heavy Manners are featured in two new Ska-centric books! In Defense of Ska by Aaron Carnes and was released in May; Skaboom! An American Ska & Reggae Oral History by Marc Wasserman was released on July 27.

Heavy Manners formed in the early 80s and both headlined and played support slots at Chicago's earliest punk, Reggae, and new wave clubs, including Tuts and Park West. They opened for a wide array of national and international acts including The English Beat, The Clash, Third World, Jimmy Cliff, The Ramones, The Go-Gos, Grace Jones, and Peter Tosh, who produced tracks for the band that would appear on a 7" record and later a CD and 12".

Heavy Manners, who have played out sporadically in the last decade, is comprised of vocalist Kate Fagan, vox/sax/keyboard player Frankie Hill, drummer Shel Lustig, guitarist Mitch Kohlhagen, multi-instrumentalist and singer Kevin Smith and bassist Joe Thomas (who replaced original bass player Jimi Robinson, who passed away in 2018).

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We Were Promised Jetpacks - Not Me Anymore.

Scottish alt-rock trio We Were Promised Jetpacks today share a new cut from their forthcoming album Enjoy The View – single ‘Not Me Anymore’ showcases a different side to the band. Moving away from the complex guitar driven rock they’ve become known for, the track offers a change of pace and a glimpse into what to expect from Enjoy The View, which is released on 10th September via Big Scary Monsters.

Talking about the track, lead vocalist Adam Thompson says; “I started this song within a few days of us having finished recording our 4th album. I had felt completely lost leading up to recording that album but after finishing recording it, I began to feel like I was turning it around and that maybe everything was going to be ok. I didn’t necessarily feel it was going to be a song for a Jetpacks record but once we got into writing this album together, we felt it that it definitely had its place along side everything else we were working on. We loved our demo version of this song so kept it pretty true to that when recording it. All the vocals were a sort of stream of thought, and we kept it that way. We were originally thinking of putting this song in the middle of the record as a bit of an aural break but by the time of submitting the track list we couldn’t see it being anywhere else but first.”

Accompanying video by Adam Keene and Mathew Marchlewski also highlights the theme of change and progression. “The concept of not being yourself anymore evokes an image that never ceases to change. An evolution of life in motion. Labels peel away and leave the underneath unrecognisable. That’s where we connected with the song, and that’s where we went” they said of the video.

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TeenCanteen - How We Met (Cherry Pie).

To mark the five year anniversary of their lauded debut album, Say It All With A Kiss, Glasgow four-piece TeenCanteen have decided to unleash This Is How It Starts, the collection of recordings that should have been their debut album four years prior.

This Is How It Starts is a raw, fresh exciting record that captures the buzz that surrounded TeenCanteen when they first burst onto the scene, it’s a record full of joyous eccentricities, delightful pop drenched harmonies and some Scottish indie pop royalty cameos to boot (Duglas T. Stewart (BMX Bandits) and Eugene Kelly (The Vaselines)), but ultimately it’s the sound of friends making music together, finding their feet and gives huge insight into the begins of an exciting band.

TeenCanteen are Glasgow formed four-piece known for their sticky soda pop harmonies, stomping beats and classic pop sensibilities, they were championed by BBC 6Music’s Marc Riley and went on to release SAY Award long listed album Say It All With A Kiss (2016) and acclaimed EP Sirens (2017).

Lead vocalist/synth player Carla Easton comments: “Having written and released five albums I can look back at this with different eyes and I think it’s good, it’s energetic, it’s the sound of four friends in a room having fun learning as they go and discovering how they sound together. This Is How It Starts is a key part of our journey and story that has been lost and overlooked.

TeenCanteen · HOW WE MET (CHERRY PIE)

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King Park - Coffee Cheques.

King Park has been turning out mercurial, high-contrast indie rock since they released their 2017 breakout track, “Stay.” Gritty and lush, the quartet’s sound mirrors the antitheses of their hometown, Hamilton, Ontario: on the one hand, blue-collar and raw, and, on the other, artful and lovely.

Following their self-released debut EP, The Light I Can’t See, King Park won the 97.7 HTZ-FM’s Rock Search 2018 contest, which helped launch other Canadian rock groups like Finger Eleven, the Trews, and Glorious Sons. The basement-to-ceiling intensity of their live show has since continued to earn them a growing and devoted following across southern Ontario.

At the heart of the group you’ll find childhood friends and musical co-conspirators Timon Moolman (vocals, guitar) and Tyler Heemskerk (bass, vocals), rounded out more recently by guitarist Brenden Campbell and the animated Nate Wall on drums.

Sneak peeks of their upcoming 2021 full-length, Everett, show the quartet exploiting its strengths. Guitars chime, drums thwack, and Moolman’s broken-up baritone—which often veers into shouted speak-sing—is ornamented one minute by barber shop harmonies, and the next by barstool gang vocals. Songs like “This is the End,” “Stuck in the Middle,” and the title track set up camp in that familiar moment after life has fallen apart, and before a way forward seems possible. King Park’s Everett promises a collection of elegies for ordinary, apocalyptic losses.

King Park · Coffee Cheques

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Jessica Smucker - Dinosaurs.

Lancaster, PA-based singer-songwriter Jessica Smucker is gearing up for the release of a new single, an irrepressibly catchy slice of synth pop called “Dinosaurs.”  The song balances melodic buoyancy provided by her five-piece band, with markedly darker themes that reflect a nagging sense of despair for a future that to her resembles a “slow-rolling apocalypse.”  

Indeed, the song wastes no time illustrating that fact as the opening lyric reads: “I thought the world would end in blood and bones...” Dark stuff for sure, but the song is not without a sense of optimism as well.  Ultimately, Smucker chooses living in the moment and embracing the hope found in nurturing a home and family and finding a fragile peace.  “Dinosaurs” will be released digitally on August 13.

Recorded at Kinsey Audio in Lancaster, PA and co-produced by Chad Kinsey and Matt Thomas, “Dinosaurs” features Thomas on synthesizers and organ, Mike Bitts (The Innocence Mission) on bass, and Paul Murr (Jeffrey Gaines, Fauna Flora) on drums. Megan Woodland Hewitt (The Wild Hymns) and Keith Wilson (Movies With Heroes) provide layered vocal harmonies and counter-melodies. The track was mixed by sound engineer and singer-writer Steve Ward (Cherry Twister), and mastered by Grammy-nominated sound engineer Philip Shaw Bova (Feist, Devendra Banhart, Angel Olsen).

The video, showcasing a stylized and slightly surreal version of her home life, was directed by Joe Terranova and produced by Reverie.

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Josienne Clarke - Alphanaut - The Hengles - Lia D'Sau - Tacsidermi

Josienne Clarke - The Collector.

“You’re the collector / You’ll keep me forever / A small unknowable thing / With you as preceptor,” Josienne Clarke sings on new single ‘The Collector’, a song inspired by writer John Fowles' novel of the same name. For her new album A Small Unknowable Thing, due out this Friday, Clarke is flying solo. No label, no musical partner, no producer. For the first time since her early beginnings, Clarke is in complete control of her songwriting, arranging, producing, release schedule and musical direction.

On 'The Collector', Clarke experimented with unusual sounds, marrying earthy folk with cutting industrial noise. Recording the sound of her phone interface via her Cornell amp, Clarke processed it using some Logic pre-sets to make a sound that eventually resembled an angle-grinder. It’s heavy noise grates and cuts, reflecting the horror of the woman’s treatment.  “Having read [Fowles’] book again, I just identified with some of the themes of it. [The protagonist] doesn’t see her as a human being. She has all this power and then none at all, because her’s was a power she’s unable to use for anything; the man’s was always greater. It’s a power that makes you really very vulnerable.”

It’s an experience the vast majority of women making music today can identify with. Despite writing a plethora of critically acclaimed songs, winning a BBC Folk Award, opening for Robert Plant on his European tour, playing prominent slots on some of the UK’s biggest festivals or even taking a leading role in The National Theatre’s revival of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s Good (after being personally chosen by Cerys Matthews no less), Clarke felt daily self-doubt as a result of an industry that variously gas-lit, put-down, questioned and othered. A Small Unknowable Thing is, at least in part, about recognising there are still existing structures to keep women in their place – but it’s also about having the courage to break those structures down too.

After leaving her label, musical partnership and home (Clarke moved to a small village on the outskirts of Glasgow with her husband), she started afresh. Gradually, as she slowly began to write and record once more, the album’s narrative arc emerged and Clarke found herself again. “It’s an empowered narrative, not a weak and vulnerable one,” Clarke says of the album. “It was a conscious decision to walk away from my career as it was and there’s a positive message on this record: there’s a lot of reclaiming the narrative.”

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Alphanaut - Shake the Rhythm

Avant-garde Southern Californian music collective, Alphanaut, are back with a dynamic new track. ‘Shake The Rhythm’ follows the release of lead single, ‘Virtual Love,’ along with the announcement of their album out on October 15th. 

As the second single, the bright horn section lends a big band influence, while the pizzicato chorus hook adds a playful pop element. This special album edit features a gradual chorus fade towards the end that’s taken over by a jazzy improv jam session where the musicians let go of traditional song structure and have some fun showing off their chemistry as a band.

Told through Mark Alan’s colorful vocals dripping with TLC, ‘Shake The Rhythm’ is about embracing your individuality and dancing to the beat of your own drum, even when it seems like everything is trying to stifle your shine. 

The uplifting animated video that accompanies the track is by artist, Matt Brown. Staying true to themselves and to the theme of the album, each track tells the stories of fictional characters that embrace their own unique place in the world; even if it is different than those around them.

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The Hengles - Find The Way.

The Hengles have never sounded more danceable than on their new single Find The Way! It’s going to move your feet! You just can’t stop the beat! Jingle-jangle Hengle Pop in its purest form, but with just that little extra twist, to give it that boogie feel. Bet you can’t resist a big smile on your face when you hear this golden tune. Simple as it may seem, meticulously crafted and styled in their Hok-P Studio near Amsterdam, to fit your precious ears. Yes, Pop music is a serious business!

You don’t have to Find The Way yourself, because it is already here. But if you do, remember where you heard it first!

In the past year, The Hengles have made considerable progress internationally. That resulted in airplay on radio in among others: Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, USA, UK, Denmark, Australia, Canada, Phillipines, Sweden, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Hungary and Austria. Singles from the band also entered the iTunes / Apple Music charts in: Netherlands, Finland, Belgium and Switzerland.

The distinguished gentlemen of The Hengles have more than earned their musical spurs in the past. The guys from Amsterdam played in illustrious 80s and 90s bands like Fatal Flowers, Treble Spankers, Supersub and Jack Of Hearts.

TCBYML · The Hengles - Find The Way

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Lia D'Sau - Bird.

For Lia D’Sau, songwriting is a declaration. The 18-year-old singer-songwriter explores her thoughts on womanhood, relationships and social issues with maturity and curiosity, using music as her toolkit. “Having other people write songs for me seemed daunting, terrible,” says D’Sau. “I’ve been taught to look deeper at the world since I was a child, and I have things I want to say.” 

Born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel, D’sau grew up listening to her parents’ favorite R&B records, with her father being a former boy band member himself. D’sau began singing at age eight, eventually attending music camp in New York City at age fifteen.

Lia is excited to share her new single, out August 13th. Here's what she had to say about it: "This song means a lot to me, especially after these last 2 years of isolation and feeling trapped: in our homes, our countries, our heads. 

I wrote this song after I came home from watching the sunset at the beach one day, which is something i started doing daily during these times, and I was listening to "good days" by SZA. I think it was the day it came out, and I just felt so free, and alive like I hadn't felt in a long time. This song is meant to be like a breath of fresh air after being stuck in a basement for a year".

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Tacsidermi - Ble Pierre.

Tacsidermi are back and how we have missed them! Gwenllian Anthony from the ‘Welsh Music Prize’ winning band Adwaith and multi instrumentalist Matthew Kilgariff have crafted a sublime pop song in ‘Ble Pierre’. Every note played is powerfully evocative of never-ending, carefree summers and romantic escape and wonder.

Tacsidermi with the support of David Newington (Boy Azooga) on drums and mixing by Matthew Evans (KEYS) find a perfect marriage of Jane Birkin / Serge Gainsbourg 60s French pop, Stereolab’s 90s dreaminess and The Happy Mondays, Paul Oakenfold infused Balearic heartbeat.

With Gwenllian’s beautiful restrained vocal delivery set at the centre of the mix the listener falls yet again under Tacsidermi’s spell!

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The Grahams - Suzanne Santo - Film School

The Grahams - Beyond The Palisades

The Grahams’ Alyssa and Doug Graham are New Jersey raised, New York bred, but Nashville based — a cross-section of regional influences that allows them to slip in and out of genres like they’re changing clothes. Their unique sound landed them at the top of the Americana charts when their first album, Riverman’s Daughter, was released in 2013, led to the critically acclaimed Glory Bound in 2016, and their affair with a more alt-pop sound on 2020’s Kids Like Us (co-produced by the late Richard Swift and Lucious’ Dan Molad).  

Their music has landed them in every major music publication and grown them a legion of dedicated fans around the world. In 2021 their music has evolved again into a nostalgia-inducing mellow gold sound with a nod to mid-century soul and classic UK pop. If that sounds like a mouthful, it’s by design. Consider their upcoming three song EP Sha La La (October 15th) a moment of bliss before the duo’s next full album, due in 2022.

A tongue-in-cheek reference to a laissez-faire approach to life, Sha La La is The Grahams’ attempt to exorcise the pains and disappointments of the last 14 months. Rather than writhing in self pity and judgement, or aspirations driven by narcissism, they decided to simply let go of trying to control or overcome the situation, liberating themselves of their anger and who they thought they were, while embracing who they may become.

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Suzanne Santo - Mercy.

Suzanne Santo shares powerful new song “Mercy” Sophomore album Yard Sale out August 27 via Soundly Music; on tour this summer and fall with Gary Clark Jr, Jade Bird, Arlo McKinley, Murder By Death

Austin, TX-based indie-rock and neo-soul artist Suzanne Santo has shared “Mercy,” the newest single from her forthcoming sophomore album Yard Sale, due out on Aug 27 via Soundly Music and follows the release of “Bad Beast,” “Common Sense,” and “Save For Love.”

“Mercy” is a powerful song that seemingly touches on specific situations, but the moral of the story is that mercy requires compassion, empathy, and forgiveness, for others and for ourselves.

The new album, Yard Sale, delves into the ideas of discarding wants, sentimental treasures, largely in the form of people and places that have lost meaning or no longer serve you. Letting things fall away to make space for better things to come.

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Film School - Said Your Name.

 "Said Your Name" is out now. Greg has this to say about the track “This is probably my favorite track on the album. I love the way Noël’s vocals glide over the top of the instruments and gently lead the listener through this breakup song.

So many breakup songs are about fucking over, or getting fucked over. The ensuing anger can almost make that type of breakup easier;  it’s black and white. This isn’t that. 

This is about a couple that still loves one another, but are changing as individuals and unable to align. I love the way Noël’s vocals glide over the top and gently lead the listener through this breakup, she really captures the situation.”

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Astrid Swan - ADAM & ELVIS - La Bonte - Nichole Wagner

Astrid Swan - Not Your Mom.

Quite a touching story – Astrid Swan will release what is her 5th studio album in October this year. After being shortlisted for the Nordic Music Prize and a second nomination for a Finnish Grammy, Astrid has put together what may well be her final group of songs in what is a lullaby to her daughter to grow up with.

To give a little more context, in 2019, Swan published a memoir Viimeinen kirjani, which touches on her personal experiences of mothering, artistic development, life with metastatic breast cancer, analysing the contexts of feminism, class, whiteness, Finnish and American cultural confluence, romance and illness culture.

Speaking about the new record, Astrid said, “Mothers sleep at night (or at least wish to). In their sleep they cannot mother, because they go away into dreams, just like the kids they tucked into bed in the evening. At night mothers are adrift in the world, they have their secrets, their past selves and their current desires. In the morning mothers are back but dreaming renews them and makes them better in the day.”

Soliti · Astrid Swan: Not Your Mom

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ADAM & ELVIS - The Landlord.

The Landlord channels the nervous energy internalised by the modern tenant. It is partly inspired by lived experience and Guy Shusbrie’s 2019 book; Who Owns England. With the Landlords’ rights axiomatic in our confused liberal society; freedom means the freedom to control and extract. This short agitpop song lays bare the feudal hangover still haunting modern Britain, over modulated synthesisers à la Happy Mondays and Snapped Ankles.

Last week a historic court ruling meant John Christodoulou – a Monaco-based property magnate and 82nd on the Sunday Times Rich List – was ordered to pay £19,000 to four of his ex-tenants for failing to correctly license his property last week. 

With many others facing eviction now the eviction ban has been lifted and with no plan in place to tackle the housing crisis we are chomping at the bit to get out and play our polemical style of disco and hopefully be part of an important change and show that good mental health cannot be achieved without secure housing for all.

ADAM & ELVIS · The Landlord

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La Bonte - Francis Right.

“Some of my favorite songwriters past and present have been able to tell stories through their writing, and Francis Right is my attempt at this same craft. It follows a character that is continually dealing with loss at every turn, every attempt at finding a better path in life. Through the disillusionment of falling time and time again, the story resolves in the arms of a loved one, comforting the character at their lowest.”

And here's a quote from Eddie Ramos, the animator “Using a combination of After Effects & frame-by-frame animation in Photoshop to emulate a hand-drawn style, this music video for the song "Francis Right" takes direct inspiration from the song's lyrics. Through a series of abstract scenes, we follow the character Francis Right as he navigates the aftermath of a broken relationship, and the road to finding closure.”

After a decade of playing in punk and hardcore bands in Southern California, Garrett La Bontestarted La Bonte in 2015 to explore his impulses for work grounded in patience: slow resonances, discomfitting absences, and wayward, creeping catharses.

The project is also, importantly, deeply personal. Don’t Let This Define Me, La Bonte’s debut record, frankly articulates the loneliness and isolation of love lost, but avoids confessionalism or saccharine sentiment. The songs are embodied and exacting, with a gutteral affective impact. The record is built of loss, but it bears no traces of a lack–in the song writing’s enlivened and intelligent sense making, we find renewed strength in radical articulations of deep vulnerability. LaBonte feels his way to planting his feet on the ground, and we do, too. Despite life’s litany of chaos–love’s dissolution and other furies–this record leads us (haltingly) forward.

Over two years, several friends and collaborators (Eric Shevrin of Young Jesus, Brooke Dickson of The Regrettes, Janey Riech of Layman, among others) helped bring this record to life. It was recorded, mixed, and produced by Colin Knight at Paradise Records (Fury, Death Bells, Diztort).

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Nichole Wagner - Monsters.

Austin's Nichole Wagner is back with a moving and poignant new single, "Monsters". Born out of a bout of depression experienced during the pandemic, the themes tackled on the new track are ones that so many of us can relate to. "Monsters" comes a little over year after 2021's Covers EP Dance Songs For The Apocalypse and will be featured on Wagner's upcoming second full length album, which will be out in the first quarter of 2022. 

For the track, Nichole once again tagged producer and engineer Justin Douglas, who has worked on both her first album and EP. Together the two brought to life Wagner's vision for the song at Douglas's King Electric Studio in Austin. The band they put together for the song provides a lush musical landscape that pushes Wagner's lyrics and vocals to the front while complementing them perfectly.

Wagner says of the song : "I started writing Monsters with the second verse during one of the worst bouts of depression I experienced during the pandemic. During that time, I was struggling to hold on - feeling very isolated from my communities and family. Just as the fog started to lift, so to speak, a friend of mine lost their mother and I just didn’t have it in me to reach out, as much as I wanted to.  I knew nothing I could say would help, and that even opening that discussion would send me back spiraling. The first verse came last, as I started to reckon with the clean-up and the broken parts. I am ever grateful to the SIMS Foundation here in Austin, for making mental health services available to musicians and industry folk."

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Favours - Basement Revolver - Lenny - Lindsay Jarman

Favours - Right Back.

Favours are made up of Jacq Andrade and Alex Zen. They released their first LP, “Made to Wait”, in 2020. It was recorded at Candle Recording Studios in Toronto. Their song “Stowaway” was featured on Netflix and CBC Gem. Recently, Favours joined forces with Jacq’s brother, Mark Andrade and built a home recording studio in a former halfway house in Mimico. 

Throughout the pandemic, Favours tracked a ton of music in their home studio. Their EP, “Left Behind”, will be released in 2021 and it features a fresh dreampop, new-wave sound inspired by their shared love of the DIY post-punk feel of Robert Rental. 

The band collaborated with a strong team for this upcoming EP. They enlisted the talents of Broken Social Scene’s Brendan Canning who plays bass on the EP, the engineering chops of Tallies’ Dylan Franklin who engineered the drums and bass, and the mixing prowess of Alexandre Bonenfont.

Favours · Right Back

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Basement Revolver - Skin.

Hamilton’s Basement Revolver has always centered around the friendship of bassist/keyboardist Nim Agalawatte and guitarist/vocalist Chrisy Hurn-Morrison. Lead guitarist Jonathan Malström and drummer Levi Kertesz round out the band’s larger-than-life sound. 

With tour plans on hold through 2020, Basement Revolver found time to wrestle with questions about identity, faith, mental illness, and sexuality. Their forthcoming sophomore LP, Embody, is explicit about these new ideas and new thoughts, addressing them with a deeper sound and crisper production to adroitly express the complexity of the world.

“Skin,” the first single to be shared from the album, is a self-aware slow burn. Desperate to feel like her body was okay or good enough, Chrisy was perched on the edge of a dock when this song began tumbling out. The first time she has ever explicitly written about the struggles she feels with her body, “Skin” has helped Chrisy love the parts of her body that have often been scrutinized in the mirror.

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Lenny - Willow.

Lenny is a folk-pop singer-songwriter from British Columbia, currently based in Montreal. Her vocal and lyric-driven melodies tell visual, emotional stories which explore the complexities of relationships, learning from her mistakes, and embracing her bisexual identity in her mid/late 20’s.

Her Debut EP, Personal Celebrity, is a mix of indie rock/pop, and stripped down ballads. It describes the arc of connecting with your inner power and intuition. From getting lost in relationships and losing your sense of self, to reconnecting with your intuition, learning to say no to what no longer serves you, and allowing yourself to live more authentically.

Lenny’s sound has been influenced by songwriters like Joni Michell, Shania Twain, Leslie Feist, Bahamas, and Adrianne Lenker. She performs regularly throughout Montreal, and in 2019 was selected to participate in YES Montreal’s What The Pop! Showcase for emerging artists in Montreal. She’s also part of Rebl House Media’s artist roster.

Lenny’s music is thoughtful, honest, and romantic. Don’t let her softness fool you – she sings about hard truths and lessons learned. She’ll make you laugh and cry in the same show, and her songs might bring up some real feelings for you. Pay attention to her lyrics, and Lenny’s music might heal you like it heals her.

Lenny · Willow

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Lindsay Jarman - The Gallery.

With Laurel Canyon folk vibes that mix and mingle with a Nora Jones-esque, jazz-influenced delivery and production, Lindsay Jarman’s music exudes a depth and maturity far beyond what one might be inclined to expect from a debut full-length album. But to hear her tell it, the songs are less creative endeavors and more a means of healing; of processing life’s painful moments and putting them out into the universe, enabling her to view them much like one admires the paintings on a gallery wall.

“There were extremely painful moments of my life that I was able to get some catharsis for through writing certain songs on this record … they definitely added to who I’ve become as a person,” Jarman says. “Patience is passion tamed, and the rapture that prevails the willful processing of trauma holds healing and gratification in its palm. This record offered that hand to me, and I took it. I found shelter there.”

The songwriter spent time in New York, writing jingles for a score house, before relocating to Georgia and enrolling in UGA, completing her studies in Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management several years ago. While she attributes much of her musical background to her father, she also nods to the value in self-discovery and individuality, enlisting the help of friends in the Atlanta music scene and connecting with producer/engineer Damon Moon to create The Gallery.

“I reached out to Damon, we went and had coffee, and it was an immediate connection,“ Jarman says of Moon. “The emotion and care he showed the music was something I had never had.”

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