Friday, 18 February 2022

All Things Blue - VanWyck - Jesse D'Kora - Nice Vice - Oceanator

All Things Blue - Grog Log.

LA dream-punk duo All Things Blue return with new single "Grog Log". The new single teases the release of a new EP from the band, and follows the pair's widely acclaimed debut album Get Bit, released in 2020. Led by singer and guitarist India Coombs and accompanied by longtime songwriting partner Jon Joseph, All Things Blue together create "dream-punk" soundscapes in their most tender form; celebrating life's experiences and wrapping them in the soft tones of 60s analog.

New single "Grog Log" is an escapist, psych-imbued slice of indie-rock, combining the classic teachings of the golden age of pop including The Ronettes and The Beach Boys, with the lucid psych-pop of Melody's Echo Chamber and La Luz.

Speaking on the release of the new single, India Coombs said: "Musically, Grog Log is inspired by Tiki Drinks. Lyrically, it’s inspired by real life, while a beautiful thing, is also filled with let downs and situations that don’t live up to expectations we come up with in our minds.  As a human who likes solutions, I can get a bit addicted to daydreaming. When I can’t figure out people’s nuanced and often nonsensical emotions, I can escape into my mind to live out scenarios the way I wish they really would turn out. May not be real but, I have to say I am a dreamland advocate."

Coombs' composition is impactful; power presented in sound, and the natural depth in her lyrics and melody will have you dancing and thinking of love/life/minds lost (or found). Joseph is the perfect wing-man to Coombs; decorating each story with musical quirks, foxy boxy beats and sun-worn shine to extend their mystical ambience. Dirty riffs, choruses that hook on your brain for days, and stories of lives lived to the fullest remind us all of good times, angst, and of being a little turned on.

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VanWyck - Maybe, Maybe Not.

Amsterdam singer-songwriter, VanWyck, announces the release of her single, “Maybe, Maybe Not,” on February 18. The single is off her fourth album, The Epic Tale of the Stranded Man, due out on April 8 through Excelsior Recordings. ”Maybe, Maybe Not” is an anthem for the indecisive, the loiterers, the unsure, the ones that can’t seem to make up their minds: the one step forward, two-step back people; the maybe, maybe not kind.

The song’s mood is deceptively lighter. It’s a tug of war between a persistent jogging beat and skipping interludes, with VanWyck’s vocals pulling the listener back into a state of suspended indecision. The protagonist’s answer is to keep walking, even if he doesn’t know where to go.

VanWyck says, “I’ve always had this sort of feeling that if all fails, I can just start walking. As a last resort, I could gather my stuff in a backpack and move on, keep walking. In the pandemic, when it looked like all shows would be canceled for a long time, I decided that if that happened I would just start walking and have an adventure. An escapist longing I guess, but maybe also a sincere desire to be some kind of pilgrim, to be truly free. But I stayed put – hence the song.”

Enchanting, moody, and rich, the album vividly reflects these confusing modern times through whispered tones and cavernous themes. It’s a timeless album portraying the different ways in which modern man is lost, scared, stuck in his ways, and searching for a way out of his predicament.  Twelve songs that intertwine both lyrically and harmonically. Together they tell a story about a man who washes up on a wondrous island and doesn’t remember where he came from. Is he a victim or a perpetrator? Has he escaped, or is he imprisoned? Can he be saved, or is his end near? Luckily a woman enters the stage. Will she be able to save him?

The album also speaks of these times in a broader sense: we are living on the brink of epic transitions. We know that the old ways will lead to our destruction but can’t decide on the path forward. VanWyck says, “Sometimes it feels like we are trapped in our own prisons, in our inability to take good care of each other and this wonderful planet, like we are failing in our most epic of struggles, the survival of our humanity.”

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Jesse D'Kora - Cricket.

Background from Jesse - My name is Jesse D’Kora and I write indie / dream pop music with some beachy vibes, with a style that is inherently lofi as I write, record, mix and master all of the music in my spare bedroom in Salford (UK). I have embarked on a musical journey this year whereby I am going to release a single every month, ‘cricket’ is the 2nd instalment and chosen song for February 2022.

Sometimes, you just have to write a song about your favourite sport, don't you? I mean with the world in such a rough place it's the little distractions that can bring you that joy and an escape. Which is essentially a deeper way of saying, I like cricket so I wrote a song about it. Inspired partly by memories of going to see England play and partly by the family impact it has had - my grandad loved it, my dad loves it, me and my brother love it.

Musically, it is as bitesize as the come, it's over 200bpm, less than 3 minutes, and it's a good old pow pow pow and finish. It’s got the jangly guitars and pushing drums that are synonymous with my sound. It’s totally uncomplicated - perhaps in juxtaposition with the game of cricket - but it's the way I like it.

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Nice Vice - Bloom.

Nice Vice just released his debut single, “Bloom.” The single draws inspiration from 90s rock and features melodic guitars, heavy undertones, and honest lyricism. The single is released ahead of a music video that guides audiences through the storytelling and range of emotions that influence the track. “Bloom” is now available to download and stream across all platforms.

Seth Horst, who performs under the alias Nice Vice, spent the better part of two years writing and recording a slew of new songs for his forthcoming EP, First Dose. “‘Bloom’ was the first song written in a large batch of songs over the last year and a half. It was never supposed to be on the EP,” explains Horst. “I had honestly forgotten about it. Sometimes you miss the beauty and potential in something at first; fast forward, and it’s the debut single.” The indie-rock single will be accompanied by a music video shot by Dirty Shot Clean, set for release on February 17th. The visual showcases four friends as they embark on a road trip in an RV and the adventures that ensue along the way. Horst played and recorded every instrument on the single. “It took me a long time to teach myself how to record all of the instruments and really get the sounds that I was looking for.” He recruited Zak Van Zeumeren to mix “Bloom” and Theodore Papadopoulos to master it.

Nice Vice got started in his hometown of Toronto and is currently located in Los Angeles. Drawing inspiration from artists such as Counting Crows, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, and Jack White, Nice Vice has been able to capture and reinvent the sound of 90s rock and melodic acoustics, exemplified in the new single “Bloom.” Horst’s songwriting style is a culmination of these artists, along with his own honest and unique flair. Blending sounds of the new and the old, this first release gives the listener a broad range of what he is capable of. With smooth and surprising transitions from soft to heavy, the powerful voice and captivating lyrics touch on themes of new love, lost love, and introspection.

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Oceanator - Bad Brain Daze.

Brooklyn artist Oceanator announces her sophomore album Nothing's Ever Fine, co-produced by Bartees Strange, due out April 8th via Big Scary Monsters / Polyvinyl. Today, she shares new video for the leading single 'Bad Brain Daze', directed by Chris Farren, featuring special appearance by Jeff Rosenstock as 'Saxophone Man'.

Director Chris Farren says about the video: "When Elise asked me to direct a music video for her, I thought “I don’t know how to do that!”, but I said “Yes! I know how to do that!” and quietly panicked for the next 3 weeks. Luckily “how make music video” yields tons of YouTube results. The video we came up with is a fantastical little day-in-the-life tale about anxiety, productivity, dread, and being horrifically ripped in half by cartoon animals."

"The cars break. Everything goes slow motion. There’s disaster and fire,” foretells Elise Okusami, describing her cinematic vision of the end of the world. Apocalypse is a subject she mined in acute detail and to critical acclaim on 2020’s Things I Never Said, her debut full-length as Oceanator. But in her most recent cataclysmic telling, she keeps the camera focused on the people who survive and need to keep on living. A couple escapes the wreckage in a classic pickup truck, their dog riding in the back. They find a new home in the woods and consider how to start over. “It could either be hopeful or negative,” Okusami explains of the tale’s ambiguous ending. “You’re either walking off into a nice sunset or going off into a black hole. For me, it depends on the mood; it can be both ways.

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Wednesday, 16 February 2022

Erika Lewis - Shayla McDaniel - Alas The Sun - Renata Zeiguer

Photo - Sarrah Danziger
Erika Lewis - Loser.

Erika Lewis, of beloved New Orleans trad jazz band Tuba Skinny (but currently based in Asheville, NC), has released her fantastic new single "Loser." The track is from her phenomenal forthcoming LP A Walk Around The Sun, out on April 29th.

Erika says the upbeat "Loser" is "loosely based on my own experience in romantic relationships and the push and pull that comes with it. The push of dedication and loyalty and the pull of betrayal and broken promises. Feeling like you would do anything in order to make it work yet not really knowing what to do." She brilliantly distills the sound of heart wrenching, classic country into each of the album's poignant tracks. She has the voice of an angel, I think I could listen to her read Wikipedia entries and be happy forever.

When this album was made, a crisis had struck - she was given a health diagnosis that required surgery that could permanently damage her vocal nerves and end her career. Her friend Lani Tourville, wife of The Delondes' John James Tourville (who also produced the record), told her she had to make one last record before the surgery. She made the album, and the surgery was a success!

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Shayla McDaniel - Depend On.

"Depend On" is a retro soul song with a modern twist that elicits a cool head nod with a groovy vibe that's perfect for cooking dinner, cleaning the house, or just hanging out. It's about longing for someone to depend on in a relationship, romantically, in business, or a friendship, after being hurt by someone you trust.

“I was in a jam when someone bailed on me. I was thinking in the shower and trying to figure out what to do,” McDaniel said. “I said to myself, ‘I want someone I can depend on, like the kick on the one’s and three’s.’ Then I was like, ‘Dang! This needs to be a song.’ I just sang the lines to see what melody came out, and it stuck.”

Shayla’s honeyed vocals, her pop-rock songwriting, and her instrumental instincts invite comparisons to John Legend fronting an indie rock band, The Roots affiliate Cody Chestnut (“The Seed 2.0”), and a silken Gary Clark Jr. But the truth is, there aren’t many talents who sound like Shayla. Her smoothly emotional vocals, self-contained artistry, and indie rock outlook is singular. Shayla counts as influences artists as diverse as the band Joseph, Lianne La Havas, Andraé Crouch, and Deep Sea Diver, among others. She released her debut single in 2016; her debut EP in 2017; and a follow-up EP in 2019.

It took a little prodding to get lifelong musician, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Shayla McDaniel onstage. A friend of hers had never heard the Knoxville-based singer-songwriter’s musical gifts, but was well-versed in her steely determination and Type A personality. He suggested she take her music out of the basement, and Shayla took his sage advice and emerged an award-winning prolific artist with a soulful, guitar-driven alt-rock sensibility.

 

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Alas The Sun - Out For Something.

Swiss indie pop duo Alas The Sun are back with their infectious new single 'Out For Something'! The female/male vocals and dreamy guitar melodies make for a sparkling Indie gem, taking you on a roadtrip through sunny climes!

Following on from critically-acclaimed debut album "You And Your Love" (2019), new single "Out For Something" opens up a new chapter. Nuria Thie is now the group’s front woman, completing the line-up alongside founding member, Sandro Raschle. She has been a permanent fixture since February 2021, and this first single since her arrival offers a luscious appetiser of Alas The Sun’s sophomore record “Wild Honey Inn”, out May 6th via Taxi Gauche Records.

A glimmering infectious indie pop gem that makes you want to move your hips and hum along simultaneously, ”Out For Something" was co-produced by Tim Frey at firstdoorleft in Aarau together with the band. Frey and Raschle were responsible for recording almost all instruments, given helping hands by Simon Truog (bass) and Yvan Brunner (guitar), both of whom form part of the live line-up. Raschle: ‘I wrote "Out For Something" a few weeks before the release of our debut album. Unfortunately, the song didn't make it onto the record, but the band liked it so much that we included it in our live set. It made sense to have Truog and Brunner in for the studio sessions as they had helped shape the song while playing it live.’

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Photo - Josh Goleman
Renata Zeiguer - Evergreen.

Brooklyn-based Filipino/Argentinian artist Renata Zeiguer today is sharing her new single “Evergreen” from her upcoming album, Picnic In The Dark, releasing April 8th, 2022 via Northern Spy. In the meditative and driving "Evergreen," Renata Zeiguer sings of a transformative migration from her lifelong NYC hometown to the Catskills of upstate New York. “The move was a pivotal rite of passage, where leaving every familiar thing behind in exchange for exploring a completely new environment in solace allowed me to see a new world of perspective,” says Zeiguer. “Rewiring the brain through meditation in nature and constantly feeding it with new environmental signals helped me uproot the hold of past life-experiences.”

The song was the last to be recorded for Picnic in the Dark, symbolizing the trajectory of the album's journey, as well as the idea of leaving one concept of home behind in order to find home within oneself. Like a prayer honoring the forest, the lyrics are a reverent homage to the evergreen trees as the song flows in and out of expansive choruses that conjure big sky horizons and feel ethereal and grounded all at once.

Picnic in the Dark follows Zeiguer through a dreamworld of magical realism as she navigates her memories and seeks to confront inherited dysfunctional patterns head-on. As Zeiguer reconciles her childhood and her adult lives with careful compassion, Picnic in the Dark reveals itself as an album not only of transformation, but of healing and self-actualization.


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Monday, 14 February 2022

Brittany and the Blisstones - Emma and the Fragments

Brittany and the Blisstones - Mermaid.

Whenever Brittany is near the ocean, a feeling of calm and stillness comes over her that provides enough space to allow awaiting wisdom to blossom. A great deal of personal growth has happened for Brittany when she is close to the waves.

“Mermaid” is about connecting with nature, and finding the wisdom that awaits us. It’s also about the importance and responsibility of continuing to nurture one’s own growth. It’s not just given although the Universe will never stop providing inspiration for growth.

Brittany Bliss and Reid Givens make up the twosome, and their journey is a touching story of reinvention, reclamation, and second chances on love. In addition to warming hearts, the couple are opening minds to female artists and helping shift the narrative of women in creative fields through support and exposure. Today, Brittany and the Blisstones announce their recording debut EP, La La Love.

The five-song EP bursts open with “Mermaid,” the first song Brittany ever wrote. It is a song about reconnecting with nature, but it also seems to be about reconnecting with Brittany’s own human nature. The lyrics brim with breathtaking imagery and awe-inspiring reflective moments. She sings: By the sea/A mermaid rewrote the pages of all my dreams, so I found fear and faith in the waves. The music is as majestic as its impressionistic lyrical passages. The song lilts on a vaguely Jamaican pulse and brims with jeweled trumpet melodies, vocals that are sultry and sensitive, lush layers of harmony vocals, and moody chord changes that have a sweet sadness.

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Emma and the Fragments - No Hope For Love.

No Hope For Love is the 5th single from Emma and the Fragments and completes the the EP ‘Smile ‘Til It Hurts’ The song delivers a driving back beat complete with rhythmic indie guitars and catchy melodies. Working perfectly with Emma’s soaring and uplifting crystal clear vocals, their innocence and purity allows the listener to hang on to her every word.

The song describes a failing relationship using the dark imagery of a bird dying, which is brought to life in the official lyric video. The juxtaposition of the song’s meaning with the memorable and upbeat feel of the track draws the listener much closer to her story.

No Hope For Love is the final single release from the EP Smile ‘Til It Hurts. The EP takes you through a roller coaster of emotions from anxiety, despair, jealousy, joy and loss and the title reflects how a smile can reveal happiness or hide pain.

Emma and the Fragments are an energetic female-fronted indie rock band based in East London. Formed in 2012 by founding member Emma, she leads the band on vocals with Donn on guitar, Jon on drums and latest addition Jonny on bass. Emma and the Fragments have made a name for themselves with their hard-edged indie rock and released 4 singles across 2021 to critical acclaim – Circle of Concern, Part of the Wildlife, Back to Blue and Proper Everything from the forthcoming EP ‘Smile ‘Til It Hurts’

Inspired by 90s indie rock the band take their influences one step further, exploring a multitude of styles from pop to metal, and display a sound that at times is both dark and brooding or light and fun, complete with catchy melodies and driving guitars. Their music would be equally at home in the playlists of both the most ardent The Cure fan, or a serious lover of Circa Waves, Foals or The Mysterines.

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Sunday, 13 February 2022

Heavy Salad - The Weeping Willows - Anna Sun - Barzin - Ellevator

Heavy Salad - Psilocyberman.

Scattering a melange of bouncing robotic beats, raygun guitar splatters, and alien doo-wop choruses in its technicolour vapour trail, “Psilocyberman” leads a sonic invasion of the seriously addictive kind. Coupled with a jubilantly malfunctioning break-down, listen out for a cameo from South London music scene legend Patrick Lyons too.

“Psilocyberman” arrives as the first official glimpse of Heavy Salad’s upcoming second album ‘Long Wave’, which is confirmed for release later in 2022. The follow-up to the band’s warmly received debut ‘Cult Casual’, it was recorded at Damon Albarn’s Studio 13 in West London and at their current base in Manchester. Striking up a creative partnership with esteemed producer Stephen Street, he is confirmed to have produced and mixed a number of tracks across their forthcoming record, alongside Christophe Bride (A Certain Ratio). Speaking about working with Street, Lee Mann adds:

“Working with Stephen Street was a dream come true for Heavy Salad, he instantly recognised the band’s knack for a killer hook and a guitar player who does things differently! Having worked with some of the most distinctive guitarists in British rock, Stephen can now add Rob Glennie to his illustrious list of collaborators. Stephen is well known for delivering experimental guitar pop and “Psilocyberman” is no exception.”

The “Psilocyberman” release also finds Heavy Salad collaborating with another of their favourite creatives, acclaimed illustrator: Stan Chow. Having drawn Northern icons from Andy Burnham to Maxine Peake, Chow now inducts Heavy Salad into his Mancunian hall of fame with the specially commissioned artwork for their current single “Psilocyberman”, and the promise of more to come “When it came to bringing “Psilocyberman” to life there was only one artist on the band’s wish list and the single features amazing, bespoke artwork” says Lee.

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The Weeping Willows - House Of Sin.

Golden Guitar-winning duo The Weeping Willows have long burned brightest in the shadows. True to form, with the earthy new single and cautionary tale, “House of Sin”, the pair considers the irresistible flame of temptation and the wages of iniquity that follow in its train.With its sinuous fingerpicking and ominous note of warning, “House of Sin” finds The Weeping Willows at the peak of their songwriting and vocal powers.

The Weeping Willows have performed everywhere from AmericanaFest (USA) to Folk Alliance International (USA) and have supported the likes of Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real (USA) and Iris DeMent (USA).

Recorded, engineered and mixed by Ryan Freeland (Ramblin' Jack Elliott, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, Ray LaMontagne, Bonnie Raitt, Aimee Mann) at Los Angeles’ world-beating Stampede Origin Studio and drawing from the same shadowy thematic wellspring as the duo’s critically-acclaimed sophomore studio album Before Darkness Comes A-Callin’ (2016), “House of Sin” is a thrilling meditation on the darker underbelly of a fallen world and offers a glimpse into The Weeping Willows’ much anticipated third studio album, “You Reap What You Sow”.

The song is also the first release under The Weeping Willows’ new distribution deal with Compass Bros for the forthcoming album. “I’ve long admired Andy and Laura’s musical sensibility and work ethic and am delighted to be working with them on the release of their extraordinary new album, You Reap What You Sow”, said Compass Bros’ Graham Thompson.

From Laura Coates of The Weeping Willows: “We’ve had great respect for Graham’s work ethic and integrity since meeting him when we were the support act on Shane Nicholson’s Hell Breaks Loose album tour back in 2015. Compass Bros has long been an important name in Australian Country and Roots music so we’re truly honoured to be joining such an amazing team and music family”.

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Photo - Dylan Thomas
Anna Sun - What A Shame.

With seductive vocals, dreamy atmospheres, and explosive energy, Anna Sun explores the world through a haze of mystery and romance. Their debut EP, Extended Play, just released in January 2022, manages to capture the triumphs and anxieties of being alive in such a strange time. “What a Shame,” was written as a catharsis for lead singer Samantha Aneson as she was forced to accept the reality of losing her mother to dementia. It captures the trauma through a filter of enthralling vocals and explosive energy.

“I’ve grown to love the dichotomy of pain and lightness in art. How one can make the other so much more pronounced,” Aneson says. “I was in a place (am forever in a place) of begrudgingly agreeing to this reality that’s been forced upon me. Having to move forward without railing against existence for doing something that once seemed so unimaginable. Having to find light in my nightmare.”

The core of Anna Sun’s appeal lies in the diary-like songwriting of Aneson (pronounced just like the band name). Sometimes thought-provoking, sometimes heartbreaking, the songs always seem to find an underlying sense of optimism, a reflection of their writer’s personality. They dig deep into the often tricky dynamics of relationships while managing to remain exceptionally catchy.

Aneson credits her desire to weave a story bigger than herself to her background in theatre. The Southern California native studied acting at the University of California, Irvine, before relocating to NYC and co-founding the folk-rock band Satin Nickel, which Balać and Shewaga eventually joined. When that group disbanded in 2020, Aneson began adding original indie-pop-rock songs to her repertoire and recruited her former bandmates to bring them to life, and Anna Sun was born. Making music that is meaningful and accessible is a rare thing these days, but Anna Sun seems to have achieved a perfect formula for their unique brand of expression.

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Barzin - Voyeurs In The Dark.

Four years in making, Voyeurs In the Dark is Toronto artist Barzin’s fifth studio album. That the album is more cinematic in its scope and conceptual in feel than his previous studio albums can be attributed to the time he spent over the past several years composing the soundtrack for the independent film, Viewfinder.

Voyeurs In the Dark retains that cinematic quality, and at the same time infuses the music with elements taken from Jazz, electronica, rock and pop. Having primarily explored the quiet side pop and folk in his previous four albums, Barzin has expanded his musical palate, broadening his sound towards a more an experimental direction, while still retaining his preoccupation with exploring the  internal landscape. The uniformity of sound that characterized the previous albums has been abandoned for the expression of differing aspects of the self that at times hold opposing views and desires. This is best represented in the image chosen for the cover of the album, which depicts three figures in one body. The album seems to be the expression of not one unified self, but the various aspects of the self.

Voyeurs In the Dark sees the artist plot a seductive, contemplative route through city haze, shuttling between graceful glimmering interludes, with wonderfully atmospheric songs at every stop. From opener Voyeurs In the Dark’s first guitar strums and the fizz of its drum machine, the record envelopes itself in a glorious shadow, as shown in the slow waltz of I Don’t Want To Sober Up, dancing around its own swirling guitar chords. On Watching, Barzin plunges himself deeper into a wash of cyclic bass, guitar and synth riffs, as the gloom grooves into light. It’s Never Too Late To Lose Your Life has a much more affirming and urgent tone, shade turning into shapes and motion, while To Be Missed In the End builds its own smoke in a cloud of saxophone and sparse guitar notes, closing out a record full to the brim with scatterbrain beauty and eclectic dusk.

The video for Voyeurs in the Dark, takes you on a sensual journey through a nocturnal cityscape. “I remember, years ago, coming across a passage written by the writer and psychologist, James Hillman”, explains Barzin. It said: "The only solution to the longing for union is union with longing." This has stayed with me ever since, and I think it has informed this song.””

Voyeurs In the Dark will be released worldwide on Monotreme Records on April 22nd 2022 digitally, followed by physical releases on CD and 180 g black vinyl on May 6th. Pre-orders of vinyl LPs or CDs from the Monotreme Records web shop will also include a free limited edition 27-page booklet of poems by Barzin, Playboys in the Holyland.

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Ellevator - Slip.

The Hamilton, Ontario-based trio, Ellevator are today sharing their new single, "Slip" which arrives with another stunning visual piece directed by Cam Veitch and featuring Hawksley Workman. Alongside the new single, the band is announcing details of their debut album, The Words You Spoke Still Move Me  – out May 6 via Arts & Crafts – which comes produced by Chris Walla (formerly of Death Cab For Cutie), who has previously helmed production duties for the likes of Foxing and Tegan & Sara. The new single arrives following earlier tips from NPR, The Needle Drop, Exclaim, FLOOD, The Line of Best Fit, Under the Radar, CBC and more for "Easy" and "Charlie IO."

The band, which is comprised of Nabi Sue Bersche, guitarist, Tyler Bersche and bassist/synth player, Elliott Gwynne, will deliver on the promise of their self-titled 2018 EP with their long-awaited debut album. The record was pieced together across numerous locations but primarily while living together at The Bathouse (a Kingston-area facility owned by Canadian alt-rock legends The Tragically Hip) and comes off the back of earlier dates with Amber Run, BANNERS, Cold War Kids, Arkells and Dear Rouge. Across 12 tracks, it inhabits an emotional landscape that is both breathtakingly intimate and impossibly vast, documenting various experiences to turn universal (existential longing, romantic power struggles, the neverending work of true self-discovery) and highly specific (e.g., one band member’s journey in extracting herself from a cult) storytelling into a truly hypnotic body of work, giving rise to the kind of radiant open-heartedness that radically transforms our own perspective.

Ellevator poses a fantastic ability to sculpt these mammoth, melodramatic post-rock and indie-rock soundscapes, somewhat inspired by the late-aughts sounds of Spoon, Metric, Interpol and Arcade Fire, as well as the stadium-ready sounds of U2, Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel. "Slip" acts as another wonderful installment of this dynamic with the trio turning the dial on the prog-rock influences incorporating chugging guitars with tightly-bound vocals. With the new single, the band turn to explore the folklore surrounding the Selkie, a theme mirrored in Veitch's accompanying visual.

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Saturday, 12 February 2022

The Last Broadcast - Jenny Berkel - Anya Anastasia - Roni Bar Hadas - Pillow Queens - Single Girl, Married Girl

The Last Broadcast - Daisy.

Laying their foundations in Sheffield and Coventry, The Last Broadcast is a coming of age project made up of frontman Kyle McGurk and drummer Paolo Lombardo. TLB presented the pair with a vehicle to navigate and make sense of the confusing and complicated transitional period from youth to adulthood.

The project encompasses a range of emotions and life experiences. Melodic and fuzzy tracks bursting with sunny indie nostalgia and swoon pop are contrasted with deeply introspective lyrics that wrestle with the dark side of human condition. 90’s and 00’s influences are heard throughout the pair's arrangements, with nods to the likes of John Mayer and New Radicals as well as contemporaries such as Wolf Alice, Penelope Isles and Hatchie.

Debut single ‘Daisy’, produced by Ryan Pinson (The Assist, Riscas, Violet, SUGARTHIEF), features Birmingham vocalist and alt-pop band DAME’s frontwoman Shannon Farmer. The track's lush, piano arrangements and sunny melodies are contrasted with lyrics that wrestle with grief, trauma, love and validation.

“Daisy is a song about forgiveness, it is asking for forgiveness” says frontman McGurk. The track explores the aftermath of a traumatic event of a loved one that occurred at a young age. ’Daisy’ looks back to this period of time in hindsight, as the bystander to the individual. It navigates through the questions and emotions experienced from this situation, feelings of regret for not understanding the situation due to childish naivety, the need to have been there for them, and the acceptance of being wrong. Emphasising the lyrics “I’m sorry for naivety It’s our fault not yourself”, ‘Daisy’ strives for forgiveness but above all seeks for hope, happiness and closure.

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Jenny Berkel - You Think You're like the Rain.

“I wrote the album in a tiny apartment, at a time when everything felt big and overwhelming,” says poet and songwriter Jenny Berkel about her new album, These Are the Sounds Left from Leaving, out May 13 on Outside Music. She was living in a brownstone walk-up full of radiant light and the ever-present soundscape of a leaky bath faucet. It was a sudden move at the time—a spontaneous departure from touring, bustling city life, being many things to many people—that landed Jenny in a space of self-imposed stillness.

“The songs themselves are a study of proximity, bringing big fears into small spaces,” says Jenny, reflecting on the album. “They’re intimate examinations of a world that often overwhelms.” Each song is set in the micro-world of a keen feeling observer, trying to parse a mindful moment in a setting where it feels impossible to drop a truth anchor—a post-Trump, heavily gaslit world where perceptions of reality remain distorted. “Kaleidoscope,” the first single from the album, is a dissonant and poetic consideration of the importance of care and precision in language, both in the broader political landscape and in intimate emotional ways. From the heart-wrenching confusion of interpersonal manipulation, it extrapolates a collectively felt disorientation at the kaleidoscopic swirling of disinformation and misinformation. “Lavender City” is a more intimate look at lies. A breakup song with crescendoing strings, insistent percussion and hopeful harmonies, it’s about gaining the capacity to see clearly again – but with the painful entailment of anatomizing the lies that drew you in. Looking beneath them to see what’s inside.

Songs like “July” and “Just like a River” embody a similar dichotomy, but feel more like mellow meditations; they are recreations of moments where small, specific reveries gave way to more sprawling contemplation–but in an appreciably peaceful and illuminative way. “July started as a tiny chorus written for somebody I thought I could maybe love someday,” Jenny says with a smile, in a conversation about the seeds of the album’s singles. “It was a hot summer, one that reminded me of being a small child in the middle of July in southwestern Ontario. It’s a love song, but it’s also a nostalgic song that expresses how memory shifts and shapes you, and how the stories we tell become who we are.”

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Anya Anastasia - Losing Wild.

Adelaide singer-songwriter, Anya Anastasia, made her debut with her fusion of experimental folk and West-African inspired desert rock in the form of her single 'Losing Wild' on January 28. She is now letting her heart go wild with the stunning visuals in the accompanying music video.

Filmed, directed and edited by Aaron Austin-Glen, the clip is a surreal performance in the picturesque plains of Lake George in NSW, that has Anastasia reconnecting with the earth that she walks on. Taking years of experience in theatre and contemporary performances, Anastasia choreographed the piece with help from Elizabeth Cameron Dalman.

Like channelling a wild beast, her movements are with ferocity and untamed freedom. When artistically paired with the perspective from above with the help of the drone, we see her movements take a whole new shape in the form of her silhouette on the earth canvas.

Moving through wide-spanning shots of the ominous landscape to Anastasia's captivating performance, the music video innately feeds into the earthy arrangements and gravitating feeling of the track that questions the destructive path that society is on - laying waste to the natural world and our creative, playful minds.

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Roni Bar Hadas - Is It Love.

Roni Bar Hadas is a singer-songwriter based in Tel Aviv. After years of playing with various bands, she burst onto the scene with her debut album Calm the Beast last November, winning acclaim across the globe.

Roni Bar Hadas’ new piece “Fear,” explores themes of self-love and healing, blends pop, soul and alternative R&B music, and is produced by her partner Maor Alush.

Roni started her musical journey as a classical musician. Yet she felt the need to create her own original work and began to pursue the freedom and courage missing in her experience as a classical singer, in her writing. Over the last couple of years, Roni has been gaining listeners all over the world, touring with her band and playing in major festivals.

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Pillow Queens - Hearts & Minds.

Last month Dublin's Pillow Queens announced their sophomore album Leave The Light On, their first release on Royal Mountain Records (Wild Pink, Alvvays, US Girls), which is due out on April 1st. The band have been quietly building momentum on their side of the Atlantic since the release of their 2017 debut EP Calm Girls, selling out shows in their native Ireland, supporting artists like IDLES, Pussy Riot and Future Islands, and earning enthusiastic support in the UK before they independently released their 2020 LP In Waiting. 

The album was a major breakthrough for the band, earning them praise from outlets like The Guardian, who called them "2020's most exciting indie rockers," NPR, NME, DIY, and The Line of Best Fit, a Band To Watch feature from Stereogum, an Irish Album of The Year nomination, and most remarkably of all a US national television appearance on the Late Late Show w/ James Corden.

Now the band are sharing the second single from the new record, a track called "Hearts & Minds" that singer/guitarist Pamela Connolly describes as capturing the reoccurrence of teenage insecurities occasioned by the band's rise to prominence and the imposter syndrome she experienced as a result.

"'Hearts & Minds' is about experiencing the feeling of being a teenager again," explains Connolly. "The insecurities about body image and ability when it comes to being a musician that’s seeing themselves recorded and pictured, as well as commented on. It deals with the idea of imposter syndrome when it comes to an industry that favours the male form and the insecurity of not being able to be effortless with your movements."

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Single Girl, Married Girl - Scared to Move.

L.A.-based pop/folk/Americana outfit Single, Girl, Married Girl writes simultaneously beautiful and devastating songs with poetic, perceptive lyrics that astutely capture what it means to be human. Steeped in a folk songwriting tradition that harkens back to Pete Seeger and Joan Baez mixed with modern songwriting elements in the style of Jenny Lewis and Brandi Carlile, the band fearlessly tackles issues ranging from loss and drug addiction to insecurity and depression. Since its release in November 2021, the album, Three Generations of Leaving, which chronicles the trials and traumas of three generations of women from the same family, has been praised by fans and critics alike, including No Depression, American Songwriter, The Bluegrass Situation, and more.

Jon Pareles of The New York Times highlighted “Scared To Move,” which features harpist Mary Lattimore, in The Playlist, stating, “With patient arpeggios and soothing bass notes, [Lattimore] builds a grandly meditative edifice behind Chelsey Coy, the songwriter and singer at the core of Single Girl, Married Girl… Coy’s multitracked harmonies promise, ‘In a strange new half-light, I will be your guide’ as Lattimore’s harp patterns construct a glimmering path forward.”

The band worked with the artist Ryan D. Anderson to create a striking visual accompaniment for the song. PopMatters exclusively premiered the video, and said “Anderson’s rich, ethereal coloring makes his atmospheres pop—his cinematic shots providing a fitting backdrop to this dreamy, meditative song.”

The collaboration came about after Coy discovered Anderson’s work and reached out to him via Instagram. “We felt his style and sensibilities were a perfect match for our song, which is on the lush and atmospheric side,” she says. “The piece he created is everything we hoped for: visually arresting, transportive, meditative, hypnotic. It’s gorgeous. The different scenarios depicted are both quirky and alluring, almost lonesome. We could not have envisioned a better backdrop to this heavy emotional journey and physical connection we’re attempting to convey in the song’s lyrics.”

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Friday, 11 February 2022

Angela Sclafani - Karen Harding - Katie Kittermaster - Timo de Jong - Sooner - Malin Andersson - Sophia Alexa

Angela Sclafani - Bell Jar.

Bell Jar is Angela Sclafani’s forthcoming single that blends her pop sensibility with compelling flares of folk and Americana. Inspired by Sylvia Plath’s 1963 novel, the song uses literary imagery to encourage the listener to “shatter” the conventions that hold them down- be it family, lover, or state of mind. The single features production and instrumentation by producer/songwriter Katie Buchanan.

Sclafani is a New York City-based songwriter, performer, and theater-maker. She has independently released three original EP’s, History, Your Ghost and Blossom, as well as Edge Of Seventeen, an EP of re-imagined Stevie Nicks hits. Angela's music combines confessional lyrics with catchy melodies and dynamic vocals, often echoing the work of multi-genre singer-songwriters like Regina Spektor, Sara Bareilles, and Norah Jones.

A two-time first-place winner of the Great American Song Contest's Adult Contemporary category, her music has been praised for its “engagingly original lyrical story, inventively appealing imagery and smartly crafted melodic design.” Angela’s music earned her a finalist spot in both the 2021 Unsigned Only Competition and the 2020 John Lennon Songwriting Contest. She was a 2020 semifinalist in the acclaimed International Songwriting Competition.


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Karen Harding - Something Special.

Following the success of her first three releases, I Didn’t Realise, I Heard Somebody Talking and Anxiety, Karen Harding is releasing catchy indie pop track, ‘Something Special’ on Friday 11th February 2022.

‘Something Special’ is a song written as a conversation to an individual who cannot see how special and valuable they are. They are riddled with self-doubt and low self-esteem. From the outside, the writer wants to tell them how much they are truly appreciated and how special they are.

“Christmas Day 2021, I was unwell and missed all the festivities.. Instead, I was able to spend the day creating the 16-layer song ‘Something Special’. I wanted to portray a sense of freedom and gratitude within the song and felt that nothing felt more like freedom than the sound of the ocean waves rolling in.. If you listen carefully, youcan hear this subtly throughout the song.”

Mastered by Pivotal Music’s Joshua Hennessy, ‘Something Special’ is Karen Harding’s first fully self-recorded and produced release. With music ranging from the singer/songwriter genre to indie pop, Karen Harding’s alluring vocals can be likened to the emotive sounds of Sarah McLaughlin, Sara Bareilles or Eva Cassidy or the more pop based feel of Gabrielle Aplin, Adele and Ella Henderson.

Music has always been a part of Karen’s life, beginning piano lessons at the age of 6 and singing lessons at 14. She has played at many cafes and bars around the north-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, in a combination of solo, duo and band performances, that have contributed to the sound that you hear today.

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Katie Kittermaster - She Should Be Here.

When we ask Katie about the song she says: “I wrote SSBH during lockdown by myself. The song follows the story of a group of girls on a night out – getting ready to go, at the bar, in the bathroom, at the kebab shop and waiting at the taxi rank for a ride home. For me this song perfectly captures how I've felt about a particular friend who I had fallen out with.”

With her spry pop framework, Katie Kittermaster articulates the melancholy of young adulthood with wit, warmth and clarity. She possesses an ability to express some of the more difficult, confusing aspects of human relationships in a lucid, plain-spoken way. That makes her songs, even in their most downcast moments, a study of resolve, strength and triumph. Katie's latest single 'Good Liars' is a song like this and was played on 120 regional radio stations in the UK, including 'Amazing Radio' and 'BBC'.

With her spry pop framework, Katie Kittermaster articulates the melancholy of young adulthood with wit, warmth and clarity. She possesses an ability to express some of the more difficult, confusing aspects of human relationships in a lucid, plain-spoken way. That makes her songs, even in their most downcast moments, a study of resolve, strength and triumph.

Kittermaster was well aware of this power from the starting gun, leaning mostly on guitar and voice on her 2019 EP ‘Coming Home At Dawn’. Hitting the road with the likes of Kaiser Chiefs, Scouting For Girls, Ronan Keating and Lucy Spraggan in her career’s formative stages made it abundantly clear that crowds really homed in on her honest, conversational songs, which have gathered millions of plays worldwide.


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Timo de Jong - Light At The End.

On Friday February 18, Timo de Jong will release his new single 'Light At The End'. This is the second single from his upcoming EP 'Dawdle'. An atmospheric song in which the question is asked where we are going.

“For me, 'Light At The End' is an expression of thoughts that I have been walking with for a long time. I think that we are now at a tipping point and that we have to be careful about which direction we choose for the future,” said Timo.

For this single, the Leeuwarden musician works together with a producer, Thomas Olivier, who contributes ideas about the process and makes Timo aware of his 'blind spots'. During the past six months they have worked on the music together, from demo to the final product. A conscious choice was made for a characteristic sound with a warm and natural-sounding production. For example, all of Timo's vocals were recorded with a microphone from the 1950s.

Timo de Jong is no rock singer. With a deep, warm singing voice he is more reminiscent of crooners like Chris Isaak, Marty Robbins and Perry Como. Although clear influences can be found from the 1950s to the 1970s, Timo's music can still be described as timeless due to the tasteful productions. He is an old school musician who lives for (and from) his live performances, of which he has done more than 600 to date. This includes three successful UK tours and performances in Germany and Belgium. Whether it's an intimate living room concert or a band performance in a pop venue, Timo does his thing and that thing is: making good music.



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Sooner - Thursday.

"Thursday" is the lead single from Sooner's debut album, Days and Nights.

On the track, the band shares "Like a lot of themes in our music around contrast (i.e. Days and Nights), the lyrics are pretty different from the feel of the song – centered on a complicated and abusive relationship."

Formed in 2016, Sooner blends alternative rock, dream pop, and shoegaze in a style that is both lush and energetic – with Federica Tassano’s ethereal yet powerful vocals haunting every song.

After fits and starts and pandemic delays, Sooner are now finally able to bring their grand, whirring dream-pop to the fore. Meditations on a deep longing for an impossible love, dreams of being inextricably connected and nurtured by nature and heavier subjects in depression and addiction come together to rise up beyond the darkness and celebrate the depths of emotions.




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Malin Andersson - Reef.

Following her 2018 album Follow, which received critical acclaim from both the UK & Swedish press, Scandinavian singer-songwriter Malin Andersson returns with Reef – the first single from her upcoming album Space To Feel.

Recorded between London & Grästorp, Sweden with co-producer Anders Rane & mastering engineer Moritz Hausler (Bat For Lashes, Marina And The Diamonds, HONNE), Reef’s lush arrangement of ethereal guitars & textured strings is the perfect accompaniment for Malin’s mellifluous vocal style & intense sensitivity.

The idea behind Reef grew from concerns around the world’s environmental crisis & humanity’s elemental connection to nature. The song likens humanity’s direction of travel to a ship that’s sailed into a reef and now stuck, is trying to figure out how to re-establish some sort of balance, both collectively & individually. Malin says of the release: “Reef is the first in a collection of songs I’m writing about ‘high sensitivity’, deciding to no longer apologise for my own vulnerability whilst encouraging others to do the same. It’s a gift to be sensitive, use it & don’t hide it!”

The video was shot by London based film director Alex Simpson. Known for her work with Apple, Channel 4, Guardian & The BFI, Alex collaborated with Malin in pulling together imagery inspired by the lyrics & shot it on both digital & super-8 formats, creating a perfect amalgam of sound and vision.

Originally from the Swedish village Tibro, Malin grew up in a multi-generational musical household & at the age of eight she started writing her own songs. Citing musicians Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez & Anna Ternheim plus author Virginia Woolf & Swedish poets Edith Södergran & Karin Boye as inspiration, Malin’s gentle finger-picking guitar, along with her contemplative lyrics & evocative melodies soon caught the attention of SKAP (the Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors), who presented her with the prestigious SKAP Award for Emerging Artists & Songwriters. Later, Malin moved to London where she collaborated with various songwriters & producers developing her sound. Also, since living in the capital, she’s played over a hundred shows at many venues including the legendary Union Chapel & The Lexington to name a few.

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Sophia Alexa - Hit and Run.

Fast rising newcomer Sophia Alexa continues to build the rising momentum around her name with Hit and Run, the follow up to well received debut single, House Of Cards. Having gained acclaim from areas such as Wonderland and Fashionably Early, Alexa beguiles again with her dreamy brand of indie -pop. Speaking on the release, she states:

I wrote ‘Hit and Run’ after I noticed myself feeling the need to escape every time I got too close to someone. I was afraid of feeling trapped or attached even if the relationship was positive. The escape felt like a defense mechanism and writing this song was a way to summarize that feeling. In the process of writing it I wasn’t sure if the title was too dark so contrasting it with more uptempo drums was a great way to hide the reality of the lyrics.

Sophia Alexa is a singer-songwriter with an intriguing background; born to German and American parents in California, she was raised in Amsterdam and has been based in London for over 10 years. Moving schools and cities a number of times, she often found herself feeling like an outsider and music was the one constant she could cling to. Growing up, Sophia developed an enduring love for classic singers like Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Stevie Nicks and Neil Young who have all influenced her style, mixing folk-inspired pop music with an electronic edge and her soulful voice as the focus.

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Wednesday, 9 February 2022

The Delines - Allegra Krieger - The Royal Foundry - Pierce Turner

Photo - Summer Luu
The Delines - Drowning In Plain Sight.

The Portland, Oregon based country-soul group The Delines have shared the final music video from their upcoming album, The Sea Drift, which will be released on this Friday February 11, 2022 via their new American label home Jealous Butcher Records. The song, a focus track for the album titled “Drowning In Plain Sight”, is a perfect example of songwriter and author Willy Vlautin’s knack for giving you a look into the interior lives of the characters who populate these songs with just a few well-chosen little details. 

As lead singer Amy Boone croons lines like “The kid’s ice cream is melting, my husband’s beer is getting warm / The phone starts ringing an hour after I should have been home”, her soulful and smoky voice gives these storytelling vignettes instant emotional heft, communicating years of struggle in the lives of these characters with just a few words, as lush and cinematic country-soul arrangements gently swell around her. Simply put, the music of The Delines not only makes you feel like these characters are real people you could meet in any of the small towns and cities along the gulf coast of Texas where The Sea Drift is set, but that their lives will continue on long after these songs end.

The music video for “Drowning In Plain Sight” combines footage of The Delines performing the song in their home studio in Portland with scenery from those beach towns along the Texas gulf coast that serve as the setting of The Sea Drift. If you’ve never been to a town like Galveston where this video was shot, the visuals will instantly give you a sense of the way the natural beauty of the ocean is juxtaposed with the desperation, regret and wistful longing of the people who inhabit this world. The houses are all on stilts, the sun sets over abandoned train yards and industrial plants, and lights from carnival rides on the boardwalk glisten across the ocean waves at night.


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Photo - Dallas Starky
Allegra Krieger - Wake Me If I'm Asleep.

Brooklyn, NY based singer-songwriter Allegra Krieger today shared two new songs from her forthcoming album Precious Thing, releasing March 4th, 2022 via Northern Spy Records. On the two tracks that open up the album—“Wake Me If I’m Asleep” & “Isolation”—Krieger sings about the fear of loss and her hope to live more presently. Inspired by a pang of fear that struck her after seeing the paramedics leave a neighbor’s house, Krieger’s anxiety is palpable, yet her resolve remains strong. Listen to the songs here.

In October 2020, Allegra drove across the country to record Precious Thing in Marin, CA with producer Luke Temple (Here We Go Magic, Art Feynman) and musicians Jeremy Harris, Kalia Vandever, Rob Taylor and Jacob Matheus who contributed organs, synths, bass and lap steel. Delightfully mellow but never bleak, Precious Thing is a soundtrack for the daily motions of our lives.

On Precious Thing, Allegra Kreiger tries to capture fleeting moments in a world that is sick from itself. With a voice that rings like a windchime signaling a storm coming, Allegra masterfully weaves together ephemeral moments as life barrels by her unforgivingly. From singing about sharing a gaze with a man on the train to Coney Island as the clock strikes 12 on New Years, to saying goodbye to a loved one, to processing the religious trauma of wine, Krieger portrays the particular pang of being a woman alive in a modern world.

At the heart of this album is a young, working woman asking “Do you see this right now? I can’t be the only one.” This is an album about looking, and Krieger fills up each lonely space she enters with her gaze. Krieger asks you to look, to really, really look, so that you can remember something, however small it is, when it’s all gone.


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The Royal Foundry - Hello Dreamer Baby.

Background from The Royal Foundry - You are made to be that which you dream to be. No matter how you get there, who you meet along the way, or how many detours it takes – it will always be waiting for you, so try and try and try and try.

This is the ethos behind our new single, "Hello Dreamer Baby," written after we took a spontaneous road trip and discussed our dreams, goals, and our desire to accomplish them in the now.

The music video, featuring a sunrise that reveals amazing red rock canyons with each passing second.
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It's so easy to quit and just live with mediocrity, but this life is short so why would you not want to be the best you can be? We wrote "Hello Dreamer Baby" for us, but we hope it resonates with you too.

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Photo - Chris Schoonover
Pierce Turner - Love of Angels.

The internationally acclaimed Irish performer, Pierce Turner, releases a new single titled “Love Of Angels.” Set over a rocking guitar arrangement, the philosophical track combines the teachings of acclaimed The Power of Now author Eckhart Tolle and the idea of the psychological “ego.” This is the fourth track off Pierce Turner’s forthcoming album, Terrible Good, which was created with legendary guitarist Gerry Leonard (David Bowie, Suzanne Vega, Rufus Wainwright). The album is set for release on February 25 via StorySound Records.

“For me, lyrics always have to have a message,” explains Turner. “On ‘Love Of Angels’ I take the phrase ‘you are what you eat’ and expand upon it to a further truth. We are everything that comes in-what we think, read, see, breathe, smell, hear, and believe as well as eat. If it’s good stuff, you will be good, guaranteed. How we move affects us too, I swear!!!!! You can dance to this. It’s The Rolling Stones meets Eckhart Tolle.”

An Irish-American musician in the truest, and most literal, sense, Pierce Turner lives half the year in his hometown of Wexford, Ireland, and the other half in his longtime adopted hometown of New York City. Both places are reflected in his songs, which frequently move between these two different worlds. Since he began his solo career in the 80’s, he’s worked on a broad range of projects including writing for opera, scoring movies, and composing a contemporary Mass. His genre-bending songwriting has led Turner to collaborate with legendary producer John Simon (The Band, Leonard Cohen, Cass Elliot) on 1991’s Now Is Heaven and composer Philip Glass on projects such as 1986’s It’s Only a Long Way Across and “Yogi with a Broken Heart.”

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The Hengles - Books of Moods

The Hengles - Cover Up (Album). Experience a trip down memory lane with The Hengles' latest album, Cover Up. This Dutch indie band revi...