Wilma Nea - Palm Friends - Deer Scout - Sky Barkers

Wilma Nea - The Beginning.

With her dynamic expression, shaped by influences from Fiona Apple, Ane Brun and Kate Bush, Wilma Nea debuted with the EP "Issues" in 2020.The debut was warmly received by a united group of critics such as The Line Of Best Fit, GAFFA, Aftonbladet and Dagens Nyheter. As Wilma today releases her debut album "This Too Shall Pass" due, it's with an equal force.

”My music is singer/songwriter pop that has been called both indie-quirky and bedroom pop. I see inspiration as a luxury, and one that does not always come naturally when wanted. For me, inspiration is so much about energy. Going for a run, showering, hanging out, being somewhere else."

On the album "This Too Shall Pass", where Wilma also makes her debut as a producer, we hear an artist exploring stories of daring to communicate her needs, daring to let go and start breathing again. It’s an honest, raw and naked portrait of relationships, the importance of self-respect and growing as a person.

"I want the music to bring energy, to be able to act as a soundtrack to a walk that makes you feel better when you come home than you did when you went out. Writing the album was a stepping stone for me, and I've learned a lot about myself."

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Palm Friends - Domino.

Minneapolis-based quartet, Palm Friends are today sharing their new single, "Domino" which arrives as the latest installment of the forthcoming EP, The Delivery which is out March 24 via Forged Artifacts. The Minneapolis-based quartet found acclaim last month with its first single from the new EP, "Hidden Perks" which went on to achieve support at FLOOD, The Alternative, Mindies, Here Comes The Flood and more. The new EP, mixed and mastered by Ben Etter (Deerhunter, Cate Le Bon) follows the band's 2019 debut EP, Nice Weather.

Palm Friends first came together as a means of healing. After his brother passed away, guitarist and singer Jesse Pedersen moved from New York back home to Minnesota to be with his family. As part of the grieving process, he called up some of his high school friends and asked if they wanted to start a band. With Jon Lindquist on drums, Will Bunton on bass and Jesse on guitar and vocals, the band quickly recorded their debut EP. The result was an ebullient indie rock six-song burst, the sound of a band in its early stages having a blast together. Soon after, Shawnna Stennes joined, and the final Palm Friends lineup was solidified.

The band wrote most of The Delivery together over quarantine before recording in three ten-hour sessions at The Terrarium in Minnesota. The result is a truly collaborative effort, on a songwriting level but then also on a deeper, emotional level. As a songwriting duo, Jesse and Shawnna play off of each other’s strengths, from Jesse’s indie rock songcraft to Shawnna’s warm yet melancholic lyrics but as a full group, this is really a collaboration centered around healing and friendship.

The new single and EP-closer, “Domino” is a tempo-shifting ballad about staying open-minded in a world where everyone feels a social-media-driven pressure to be right all the time. The song begins with a slow-strummed guitar and Shawnna’s soft vocals shifting over the top. The tempo speeds up as the chorus kicks in as Shawnna sings: “I love to be wrong/I swear/It gets me everywhere.” It’s affirming, playful and questioning all at once, a song that pushes for a more understanding and compassionate approach to life. Speaking about the new single, Shawnna says: "This song is about the fantastic power you wield when you’re open to being wrong. Simple as that!"

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Photo - Felix Walworth

Deer Scout - Peace With The Damage.

Last month, Dena Miller announced her debut LP as Deer Scout. Entitled Woodpecker (due out April 8th), the album is both her first full length and her first release on Carpark Records (The Beths, Cloud Nothings, Emily Reo), and was announced with the debut single "Cowboy" which made an immediate impression, earning praise from outlets like NPR, Stereogum, NYLON, BrooklynVegan and FADER, who highlighted the track's "gentle and warm" aesthetic. Today, Miller is sharing the second single from Woodpecker, a track called "Peace With The Damage" that was written by Miller's father, a folk musician.

The track features her father, who Miller describes as "one of my favorite songwriters," playing guitar as part of a beautifully spare arrangement of layered vocal harmonies. It's a track that, in it's subject matter, origin and performance, encapsulates the warm-hearted intimacy that makes Deer Scout's debut so special.

"Peace With The Damage is a song by my father, Mark Miller, originally recorded by my parents’ band, Spuyten Duyvil," Miller explains. "My dad is one of my favorite songwriters and this is a song I always wanted to record even though it’s a little bit of an outlier on the album. It’s a retrospective song about the past and regret. We recorded it together as a duet with me singing both parts, 4 years apart, so it feels like a conversation between a past and present self. My dad played guitar and was generous enough to trust me with it.

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Sky Barkers - Beholden To None.

Sky Barkers is an indie trio based in coastal West Wales. It is comprised of Joanna MacGregor Messore, Dan Messore and Matt Brown. They make groove based, hook heavy, vocal laden music - lyrically connective and energy driven, rooted in song-writing but with a wonky edge.

‘Beholden to None’ is their first single as a trio and speaks to the new sound that is emerging. “This is a song that invites you into one of my regular day dreams – what would life be like if I was a wanderer, a rover, a free soul flitting from town to countryside, sleeping in nooks of the earth and following old paths? 

Of course, it’s is a romanticised version of what it would actually be like to live that way – its more about that deep, simple urge to just get up and walk off. To be answerable to no one, leave no forwarding address - to know that no governing body or co-orperate nonsense can find you. To be elusive, beholden to none but the night sky”.

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Bo Milli - Betty Reed - Kate Klim - Sam Bambery - Sooner - Many Voices Speak

Bo Milli - At The Wheel.

Bergen, Norway based artist Bo Milli  shares her debut track "At The Wheel". The latest signing to MADE Management (Sigrid, AURORA), "At The Wheel" was co-produced by Odd Martin Skålnes (Sigrid, Sløtface, AURORA).

With a predisposition to self-criticise and a talent for turning that into art, Bo Milli is an essential new voice in music. Through her diaristic lyrics, the super smart environmentalist writes hook after hook as she navigates her inner conflict. And indeed, in putting her own life into words, she has unknowingly narrated our collective existential angst. “Writing music is an emotional outlet, but it’s also a puzzle,” she says, reflecting on her craft. “Sentences come to me and I try to make the pieces fit together. And if just for a moment my music is a good thing in someone’s life, then I will take any opportunity to play it.”

Debut track “At The Wheel” is a Soccer Mommy-adjacent song about becoming an adult and suddenly finding yourself responsible for not just your own destiny but the future of the planet. “It’s embarrassingly earnest,” she says of the track, in which she questions “who’s at the wheel these days?” from a bed of idiosyncratic lyrics and melodies. “It’s about how the small things feel big, and how you try to relate to the big things but the everyday stuff takes up so much real estate. There are these flashes of ‘oh fuck!’ but then you’re like… ‘wait, where’re my keys?’” The feeling of powerlessness though, is all-too relatable.

Bo Milli (a deconstruction of her birth name, Emilie Østebø) grew up in the suburbs of Karmøy, an island off the west coast of Norway, before relocating to Oslo. It was there that she collaborated with her friend Lokoy (bassist of Sløtface) on “a mistake” - which saw widespread praise from NME, DIY, The Line Of Best Fit + more.

Now based in Bergen, today's release of "At The Wheel" teases more new music to come in 2022 from Bo Milli. Nodding at times to Phoebe Bridgers, others to nostalgic mid-00s teen anthems – the music sees her lament procrastination, admit to being on the verge of tears for days at a time and recount thinking she might die on the 10-hour bus ride home. Far from bleak, she makes complicated subjects sound like the soundtrack of your next favourite coming-of-age movie.

Bo Milli · At The Wheel

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Photo - Taylor Dill

Betty Reed - Let It Out (Acoustic Version).

This is the brand new single from Betty Read's superb forthcoming acoustic version of her debut E.P. It may be stripped down but the whole collection of new versions are simply beautiful. Betty Reed tells us about the acoustic version of her debut E.P. 

After releasing my debut EP Mistakes Made, Lessons Learned, I wanted to create a stripped down version of these songs. By changing up the tempo and key, and using only an acoustic guitar and percussionist, the songs were re-architected and re-imagined to be more intimate and revealing.

The songs on Mistakes Made, Lessons Learned (Acoustic Version) address the overarching theme (to varying degrees) of learning from past mistakes (or at least coming to terms with them) and finding the strength and desire to move forward. 

"Misunderstood" is about not being afraid to assert your boundaries and make clear that no means no. "Karma" is about getting that good life you deserve after breaking free from a toxic relationship. The chorus of "Happy" is the affirmation to myself that even on dark days, I know that there will be happier days ahead. 

I chose “Let It Out” as the single because, out of all the songs on the EP, this one is the most personal. I cope with depression, as did my grandmother, and she believed a good cry was cathartic. “Let It Out” was born out of a collaboration with Nashville songwriter, Evan Knutila. Evan lent another perspective to my personal story, essentially that men who cry are deemed less manly, which carries the extra burden of being both ostracized and suffering the consequences of keeping their feelings bottled up.

I collaborated with Nashville producer, Evan Redwine, who brought on acoustic guitarist, Nate Dugger and percussionist, Josh Hunt, to give these stripped-down songs a multi-layered, rich sound.

Betty Reed · Let It Out (Acoustic Version)

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Kate Klim - Lines.

“It never goes… the way you thought.” This lyric – which circles around twice in the final song of Kate Klim’s new album, Something Green – pretty accurately summarizes the album as whole.

When the project began, Kate imagined it would be an album about a return to self, navigating new terrain, and the real life messiness of two human beings trying to travel that road together. Over the recording process in the months that followed, the arc of the album grew to include the end of her marriage. This is not an album about loss, though. It's an album about hope, love, change, and new growth.

In so many ways, the album did not go as planned. Not just the content of the songs and their roots in her personal life, but the actual recording process. The song “Lines” was written between studio sessions and added to the album last minute. The second verse of that song was born from Kate discovering that a catastrophic tornado had just torn through her neighborhood of East Nashville while she was out of town recording (her home and family were fine). She flew back from the initial recording session in Dallas on March 5th, 2020 – and within a week the first wave of Covid shutdowns began and it was clear that she would not be traveling again nor heading back into a studio anytime soon.

Over the course of the next year, she chipped away at her vocal and piano parts from home while she and her then-husband navigated divorce proceedings under the same roof. “I was working on creating one thing and letting go of another all from the same house. I think you can hear it in the music,” she says. “If nothing else, it surely helped me.” The release date for the album is meaningful, too – exactly two years after recording wrapped in Dallas.

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Sam Bambery - Songs About Sailors.

Sam Bambery is incredibly excited to announce the release of his third single ‘Songs About Sailors’. Sam puts his alt-country style on display with an innate sense of hook-worthy melody. The song is the title track off his upcoming nine-track album, which explores both the heartbroken and hopeful sides of Bambery’s psyche.

‘Songs About Sailors’ stretches across the canon of New Zealand-based independent music, incorporating sounds from alternative rock, country and folk. Bambery distills this all down to an elegant and thoughtful track with guitar and piano melodies complimenting his powerful vocal delivery. Bambery’s influences are made plain here, with various inspirations from Wilco and Sharon Van Etten.

Sam Bambery is a Christchurch-based musician that has built a steady reputation in the Garden City’s alternative music and art scenes whilst also having a deep interest in folk music and creative songwriting as a whole. Having recorded his debut album with De Stevens (Marlin’s Dreaming, Asta Rangu), Bambery is embarking on a 3-date New Zealand tour with Emily Fairlight to celebrate the album. He also recently released two singles, ‘Here I Am’ and ‘The Other’, the latter of which is accompanied by a Flying Nun-style music video. The full album will be released on Thursday 24th March.

Bambery takes great inspiration from various indie artists like Wilco and Elliot Smith, Aldous Harding and Cut Worms. His music is deeply rooted in Christchurch's local country/folk scene, taking cues from local artists such as Marlon Williams, Adam Hattaway and Delaney Davidson. His music pushes this envelope further into his own contemporary style. His band consists of an ensemble of local musicians that enjoy approaching his folksy songs with a modern artistic sensibility.

Sam Bambery · Songs About Sailors

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Sooner - Pretend.

"Pretend" the latest single from Sooner's debut album, Days and Nights.

On the track, the band shares "Despite it being one of our catchier hooks, the lyrics operate in dark contrast of the feeling – they’re about a sexual assault."

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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Photo - Julia Mard

Many Voices Speak - Within Reach.

Many Voices Speak will release her second album 'Gestures' on 29th April via Strangers Candy. After sharing the record's first single 'Seat for Sadness', described by Stereogum as a 'subtle stunner', she has now released new track 'Within Reach'. She explains: “It is one of the songs on the album that started out from an issue and ended up as a reminder on how to cope with it. As the song was finished, I had figured out something new about myself that could actually help me in real life. That’s something that unites the songs on the album, that I'm trying to find new ways of thinking as a strategy for myself so that I can live with certain things that can’t be changed.”

Many Voices Speak, the project of Swedish musician Matilda Mård, has always found its power in its ability to capture an eternity in an expression. Mård’s elegant, yearning dream-pop makes the world seem to slow down around it, where time stretches out, and you can get lost in the deep pools of memory and emotion. After the success of her 2018 debut 'Tank Town,' her new album 'Gestures' showcases her growth as a songwriter, one more comfortable in her own skin.

Working with longtime producer Petter Nygårdh, the writing process, and how Mård thinks about it, grew into something new on 'Gestures'. She wrote the early versions of the songs on piano, as she always has. But before, she thought as a singer-songwriter, determined to make the songs stand up on their own, in their stripped-back version. Here, she wrote them merely as beginnings, aware of the possibility to evolve them into something more. “I want to capture these things that I can’t really put my finger on”, says Mård. “The lyrics have become more important for me. I’ve put a lot of trust in the text this time. I could explore this darker and more cinematic sound, I didn’t just think about writing a pop song”. That step made for an album that presents a more mature, developed vision of Many Voices Speak.

As well as an artist, the album has seen Mård grow as a person through writing it. Each song represents an issue she has struggled with - they tell a story of unspectacular, but deeply meaningful, transformation. Mård says “What unites the songs is a need for inner change, to handle the things in life that can’t be changed. I’m creating strategies for myself - new ways of thinking, so I can live with certain things. The title comes from that. I’ve figured out that gestures are important because they’re proof of love, and that’s the only power we have against death and separation”. It’s a theme that’s very personal to Mård, but one that resonates with a lot of people – something that could be said about Many Voices Speak itself. The stargazing mood of Gestures makes for an album that’s powerfully moving, one that creates a space apart from the noise of the world around it – a little retreat for Mård, and her listeners, to call their own.

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Merv Pinny - Fe Salomon - The Brotherhood

Merv Pinny - My Freedom My Rights.

Merv Pinny pens a song about those fighting for freedom and never giving up on their beliefs. Taking on a storyteller role with this latest single, Pinny voices the words that many around the world are crying out for. "Let us be kind to our brothers on the road  ...  and their freedom is their journey  ...  their feelings may over load  ...  and the voices call for freedom."

Merv Pinny's brand new album is set for release in 2022. Titled Dark to Light, the album follows Pinny's journey as an artist with songs that have captured the imaginations of millions from across the globe. War; humanitarian crises with children; refugee crises; the cruel world of love on the internet; and gun violence have been the topics that Pinny felt compelled to write about in the hope of invoking change for the better. Seeing the effects that both money and power had had on so many of these devastating events, Pinny used his songs to help give more meaning and donated proceeds direct to World Vision and Children in Crisis. Just this month, Merv performed for Kerikeri locals as part of a fundraising event for the Northland Rescue Helicopter, helping to raise more than $15,000.

Our entire world has now been affected since the pandemic started in 2020, filling lives with heartbreak and sadness as we all have learned to live in new ways. Merv recognised the importance during this time to have more positive and uplifting experiences, so he started writing new material that has been crafted to instill in everyone a much-needed feeling of joy and laughter, with the hope yet again of using his music to invoke change for the better. Dark to Light celebrates the significant journey of an artist who has evolved his music over the years, in keeping with the times.


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Fe Salomon - Polka Dot.

Mixing emotive vocals with an avant-garde alt/pop production, Salomon delivers a stylish follow-up shrouded in a shadowy mystique. With an early demo originally featured in ‘Complicity’ (2013), a US indie film which sees a seemingly innocuous teenage party spiral out of control, the track echoes similar themes of adolescent abandon; with the artist dwelling on the loss of innocence and the growing burdens of responsibility that ultimately comes with adulthood.

Speaking about the new single “Polka Dot”, she says: “”Polka Dot” is about mourning innocence, and the darkness that’s picked up along the way, with an ‘up yours’ sarcastic tone, and not wanting to grow old.”

“Polka Dot” sees Fe Salomon working once again with esteemed classical arranger and maverick: Johnny Parry. The resultant record is one that blurs genre boundaries and defies simple categorisation, with the pair revealing that its outlandish arrangements were “birthed through a pair of orchestral bass drums coupled with the clang of an old washing machine”.

Teaming up once again with Director/Videographer Fraser Taylor (who also shot the “Superhuman” video),  “Polka Dot” is accompanied with artful video that nods to the track’s dark coming-of-age ruminations. Taking inspiration from the works of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama (who is notably renowned for her use of polka dots in many of her installations), the video flickers through surrealist choreography interspersed with real childhood images of Fe from the 80s & 90s that were cut from old home movies and family albums. Watch the video here.

Fe Salomon is a singer-songwriter, performer and producer, currently based in the East Midlands. Born in Northampton, she moved to London where she cut her teeth on the bustling stages of the Camden music scene. Developing her act in the capital for over 13 years, it was there that Salomon honed her idiosyncratic sonic stylings from its melting pot of influences and began to percolate ideas for a solo career.

 

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The Brotherhood - Till The Wheels Fall Off.

The Brotherhood release debut single "Till the Wheels Fall Off" with TLG Entertainment/Ingrooves. The Brotherhood make their way onto the scene with "Till The Wheels Fall Off", an ode to life as a musician. Though this track has many guest features, we owe this country/rock blend to three musical masterminds- Michael Alexander, Scott Wilson (Saving Abel) and Rick Monroe.

The three, while coming from different backgrounds within the vast world of music, join forces with years of experience under their belt. Listeners are in for a treat when they realize The Brotherhood goes beyond their integral three with this debut track and bring in a number of fellow musicians and friends to feature on the track, such as Kent Slucher (Luke Bryan), Neal Middleton (Royal Bliss), Marshal Dutton (Hinder) and more. The Brotherhood stay true to their name by integrating their own friendships into this truly collaborative musical effort.

"When we first wrote “Till the Wheels Fall Off” I never thought of it as being a duet or multi singer song, but when my co-writer Arlis Albritton (Jamey Johnson / Luke Bryan) demoed it he had Craig Wayne Boyd (The Voice) in the studio doing another song and figured let’s try it out. So, when we were looking for our first Brotherhood song, this one seemed perfect- plus, with this group of guys we have definitely lived the lyrics of this tune!" - Rick Monroe

“When The Brotherhood were pitching song ideas back and forth, "Till The Wheels Fall Off" felt like it was written for us. When asked to produce the song, I immediately had musicians in mind to make a grinding musical arrangement. We called in Kent Slucher (Luke Bryan), Brian Bonds (Florida Georgia Line), Steve Hinson, and it was a blast working long distance aside all my friends." - Scott Wilson. "Till the Wheels Fall Off" was produced by Scott Wilson (Saving Abel).


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Dana Gavanski - Papercuts - Laurie Biagini - Ursa Minor

Photo by Clementine-Schneidermann

Dana Gavanski - Under the Sky.

Arriving where introversion and extroversion meet, forthcoming new album When It Comes is Dana Gavanski’s most vulnerable record to date. A Canadian-Serbian artist unafraid of extremes, she seamlessly blends her love of music from the 50s-70s with mythology. 

Led by instinct in its purest form, Dana’s latest chapter is an ode to the voice as an instrument – its power, and how intricately it can deliver words to tug at, and tie knots in, every heartstring.

“Under the Sky,” the second single to be shared from When It Comes, was written as an end of summer tune. Dana wanted to create something innocent and love-y sounding but also plaintive and questioning: that hazy way we sometimes feel when looking back at the past and the memories that stick and wonder what really happened. Shifting perspectives, waves of emotion, chest full with that bottomless breath.

 
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Papercuts - Lodger.

This is the third track from the new Papercuts LP, 'Past Life Regression,' the album is due April 1 on Slumberland. "The song had a slight 60s pop inspiration, and I wanted to see if I could pull off a freakout in the middle that felt like an epiphany. Lyrically it’s inspired by a memory of feeling like a fling is just sort of passing through your life, and wondering if thats all you are to them.“ -Jason Quever

Jason Quever has been releasing timeless guitar-based dream pop as Papercuts since 2004, impervious to trends or micro genres that have come and gone around him. In that regard, his contemporaries are artists like Hiss Golden Messenger, Fruit Bats, Andy Shauf or Kings of Convenience – artists who are more concerned with song craft and perfecting their sound, and less concerned with gimmicks or fitting into a specific scene. Past Life Regression is his new album and it's a journey into the dreamier reaches of psychedelic folk-pop that digs deep into influences as wide-ranging as The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, Spiritualized, Echo & The Bunnymen, Leonard Cohen and late 60s pop of various flavors.

Crafted shortly after Jason's relocation back to the San Francisco Bay Area after several years in LA, the new album revels in the tensions between the pleasures of homecoming and the collective miseries of the pandemic and our current political upheaval. The return home and the enforced isolation of lockdown lend the album a mood of contemplation and immersion in memory. The results are beguiling, from the lush sunshine pop harmonies of first single "I Want My Jacket Back" to the trippy farfisa-driven space-pop of "Lodger" to the gorgeous, Bunnymen-tinged "Palm Sunday."

As always, Jason's songcraft, arranging and production are immaculate, (Quever has been tapped to work with dream pop luminaries Dean Wareham and Beach House as of late) as evidenced by the elegant chamber-pop of "My Sympathies" and the epic flow of "The Strange Boys," “Hypnotist" and "Remarry" in the album's warbly second half. The mood of longing and recollection is a perfect match for the album's dreamy textures and for the unusual times we're living through. It's a true testament to the resilience of the Papercuts project that after several acclaimed albums, Jason still has much that's new to say, and is continually finding new ways to say it.

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Laurie Biagini - Hey Mr. DJ.

Laurie Biagini is a songwriter-singer from Vancouver, British Columbia Canada, whose music would appeal to fans of 1960’s California sunshine pop. Her sound and compositions have been compared to The Beach Boys, The Mamas and the Papas, Carol King, The Carpenters, and Jackie DeShannon. Her main influences include these artists along with The Beatles, The Byrds, The Monkees, The Turtles, and Jan & Dean. 

Laurie has played piano by ear since age five, alongside ten years of classical piano training. She only started writing music in August 2006, after writing her first song which came to her with music and lyrics simultaneously one afternoon as she was commuting home from work. 

Since then, she has completed and released four albums: “Ridin’ the Wave” (November 2008) “A Far-Out Place” (March 2010) “A Go-Go Girl in a Modern World” (November 2011) "Sanctuary of Sound" (May 8, 2013). 

Almost all of Laurie’s songs have been written, composed, performed and recorded by herself, with the exception of a few songs from her third and fourth albums which featured guest vocals, guitar tracks and lyrics. Laurie is currently in production of her fifth album "Stranger In The Mirror" (release date TBA). Recent release 'Hey Mr.DJ' is a gorgeous smooth flowing song that fires out melodic musical  & vocal hooks in all directions, we love it!

 

Laurie Biagini · Hey Mr. DJ

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Ursa Minor - Stardust.

Ursa Minor originated in NYC in the late 90s, coming out of the fertile downtown scene of musicians transcending the usual boundaries of folk, rock and jazz. Michelle Casillas worked as a sound engineer in the late 1990s and early 2000s at Tonic, the now defunct home of New York’s underground music scene. As an artist she sang on scores of films by Elliot Sharp and productions by Anton Fier (Feelies, Golden Palominos) while playing sideman, collaborating and recording with other local artists. Inspired by the freedom and diversity of the music she was hearing, Michelle formed Ursa Minor with guitarist Tony Scherr (Bill Frisell, Feist, Willie Nelson, Lounge Lizards), drummer Robert DiPietro (Elysian Fields, Norah Jones), and bassist Rob Jost (Imogen Heap, Bjork).

Ursa Minor’s debut LP Silent Moving Picture - a stark Fender Rhodes based record - was released by Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley, on Smells Like Records. Their second album, Showface (Anthemusa), took a punchier rock turn with driving guitar rhythms and expansive arrangements.

Ursa Minor’s current LP release, Sian Ka'an (Mayan, pronounced See-AHN KHAN, meaning “origin of the sky”) was inspired by a visit to the protected biosphere reserve on the Yucatán peninsula. Travels along the coast inspired a series of songs and photographs brought on by the raw intensity and untouched beauty of the region. The wonder of this place heavily influenced the writing and sound of the album.

 Sian Ka'an is a return to the barebones vulnerability of the first album, with new resolve, tranquility, ferocity. The band ranges from feral polyphony to hushed stillness; a ballad of the mystery of the natural world. Sian Ka’an was produced by Tony Scherr, recorded analog to Otari 8 track by Derek Neivergelt, mixed by New York musician/producer/engineer Mark Plati (Bowie), and features special guests violist Caleb Burhans (John Cale, Yoko Ono, Steve Reich, the National, Arcade Fire) and organist Todd Caldwell (Crosby, Stills, Nash).

 

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Guise - The Shipbuilders - Vök - Lynne Hanson - Becca Stevens & Attacca Quartet - Rosanne Baker Thornley

Photo - Ben Morse

Guise - Don't Come Back.

‘Don’t Come Back’ is the first instalment of what will be their debut studio album and it sees frontwoman Jess Guise tackling a complicated love affair with uptempo chord progressions, and emotive lyricism to stop you in your tracks.

Talking about the single, Jess says: “This isn’t a song about one particular person so much as a string of disastrous decisions. It’s about the brutal transience and sheer depressing turnover of romantic entanglements I found myself in living in London during my 20s, and about crashing headlong into people who just bounce off and bounce along like dodgems. It’s also about sometimes being the dodgem myself, and not giving myself too much of a hard time about it.”

‘Don’t Come Back’ sees GUISE hone down their staple acoustic sounds, with a touch of nonchalance. Having initially had plans to leave ‘Don’t Come Back’ out of the album, Jess teases that collaborator and husband Frank Turner, “told me I was an idiot,” for not considering it in the album. “And into the record it went” she says.  With a country/pop hybrid in mind, Jess enlisted a cast of friends to bring her vision to life, with Callum Green thrashing out the drums in just two-takes, Lukas Drinkwater bringing his upright bass to the party (plus its stunning acoustic guitar solo), enlivening guitar licks courtesy of Titas Halder, and all underpinned with the deliriously catchy  “bababa” backing vocals from Laura Hanna.

Praised for their 2020 EP ‘The Fun Part’ which saw the group do a UK tour with Frank Turner, this year GUISE will enter a new chapter with a debut studio album two years after their last project and all the mania that has passed in the interim. Released on 29 April, 'Youngest Daughter' is a record filled with affecting singer-songwriter tunes written from the heart, during a particularly poignant passage of personal reflection, self-love and more. As Jess says: “Youngest Daughter is a (mostly) autobiographical, story-so-far record. It’s home to memories and moments spanning decades of my life; it includes some songs I’ve been carrying around safely in my back pocket for years, and others that I’ve recently finished and am throwing straight out into the world. It’s an honest, personal, and self-deprecating wander through the various ways I’ve tried to follow my heart over the years.”

Across its 13 tracks, Youngest Daughter takes the listener on a voyage of love, loss, hope and personal growth; offering tender reflections on music, friends, family and all the twists and turns life can throw at you.

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The Shipbuilders - The Moon.

The Shipbuilders exist as a melting pot where the surreal meets the sublime. Since releasing their first EP, 'Something in the Water' in 2016, the band have continuously expanded their sound and scope of influences to create a world where sparkling pop wonders are nestled between Spanish Civil War laments, gypsy arias, and chaotic, shambolic odes to drinking, death and everything in between. All of this is done with added lashings of melody and the writings of Garcia Lorca and James Joyce, dictating that the wonder of the beauty of the world - and beyond - is never overlooked.

The Shipbuilders' universe is one all are welcome to explore, as the band have also established their own 'Shipwrecked' club nights which over the past four years have played host to some of Merseyside's finest bands and spoken word artists, while raising funds and food for local food banks and charities. Such is the success of Shipwrecked, Summer 2021 saw the inaugural Shipwrecked Festival, a sold out all-day multi-stage event in Birkenhead's Future Yard, before the band took the event to Newport and Bristol in the autumn. 

Naturally, all rivers have led to the ocean - that being the groups upcoming debut album, 'Spring Tide’ (out 6 May 2022). But ahead of the full length release, The Shipbuilders will be unveiling their next single, 'The Moon', released digitally on Mai 68 Records on 25th February 2022. Recorded by Danny Whitewood (BC Camplight, Ladytron), the song is an urgent, fiercely passionate, chest-thumping song with a flamenco flavour that soars as it builds into a chaotic, all-conquering crescendo. It’s a prime example of the band’s frenzied, irresistible sound, the song is a staple of the band's live shows, and has been cemented as a firm fan favourite.

Speaking of the track, singer Matty Loughlin-Day explains: "I've long been fascinated and drawn towards the concept of 'Cante Jondo', the folk music of Andalusia that literally translates to 'deep song'. Moon' came from a contemplation of all of this. It's a song written from the perspective of a soldier in the Spanish Civil War who, while standing underneath a haloed moon, can hear "the wailing of this life and the next collide" while lamenting his love's death and pondering if the same fate will fall on him..."

With ‘The Moon’ appearing, ‘Spring Tide’ starting to rise, and a UK wide tour in the works, The Shipbuilders are diving headfirst into new year, and making mighty waves. Come on in, the water's lovely...

The Shipbuilders · The Moon

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Vök - Lose Control.

Icelandic trio Vök have shared their bold, candid and euphoric new single and video Lose Control, which follows their recent release Stadium and is out now via Nettwerk Records.

Lose Control is a forward-thinking alt-pop song that incongruously blends a buoyant melody with profound lyrics. The track continues the personal story of lead singer Margrét, as told across the whole of the band’s recent EP, with the short film style video portraying a character losing her grip on life and allowing the distraction of partying to give a false sense of security. Margrét says;

“Lose Control'' was one of those songs that just came to me in an instant. It was so much fun writing it because I was stuck in a total fantasy world while creating it. This song is originally just me fantasizing about my girlfriend. Being with a woman is an extraordinary thing. But diving deeper into the story with Einar we found a bit of a darker road so we took it.  It’s my ultimate lesbian appreciation song and may all of you sexual beings find it enjoyable.”

New track Lose Control and recent single Stadium follow recent singles Running Wild, No Coffee at the Funeral, Skin and Lost in the Weekend, all of which made up the band’s unique and lushly layered EP Feeding on a Tragedy. Recorded in their Reykjavík studios, the EP was the follow-up to their acclaimed 2019 album In the Dark, which was written and recorded by the band in collaboration with producer James Earp (Bipolar Sunshine, Fickle Friends, Lewis Capaldi).

Vök continue to cement their position as one of the most exciting and forward-thinking alternative bands right now. Following two critically acclaimed albums, Feeding on a Tragedy marked the first new musical moment in an exciting new era for Vök with lots more still to come.

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Lynne Hanson - Hip Like Cohen.

Too tough for folk and too blues-influenced for country, Lynne Hanson’s brand of porch music with a little red dirt can turn on a dime from a sunshine, blue sky ballad to a full-on thunderstorm of gritty Americana swamp from one song to the next. Her hard-living music has garnered her the nickname “Canada’s Queen of Americana.” And while her deep, bluesy croon has drawn comparisons to Lucinda Williams and Gillian Welch, it’s the poetry of her lyrics that reallysets her apart.

Hanson is known for her high energy, roots guitar driven live performances, whether playing solo or with her band the Good Intentions. She has an uncanny way of connecting with her audience with an authenticity that is as entertaining as it is disarming bringing her sense of humour and spontaneity as a storyteller to the fore.

The prolific songwriter has released eight studio albums along with two books of poetry over her 16-year solo career, toured extensively across North America, Europe and the UK appearing at leading international festivals including Take Root (Netherlands), Glasgow Americana (Scotland), Maverick Festival (UK), Kerrville Folk Festival (US) and Winnipeg Folk Festival (Canada). She has also toured as support for Grammy-nominated artists like Gretchen Peters, Steve Forbert and Albert Lee.

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Becca Stevens & Attacca Quartet - 45 Bucks (Live Performance Video).

GRAMMY-nominated singer-songwriter Becca Stevens and GRAMMY Award-winning Attacca Quartet have announced their collaborative album Becca Stevens | Attacca Quartet, out April 22nd via GroundUP Music. Nearly a decade ago, Stevens was approached to reimagine a selection of her songs with string arrangements for a performance at San Diego’s Mainly Mozart Festival.

It would end up being a life-changing opportunity—introducing Stevens to her future husband, the acclaimed violist, composer, and Attacca Quartet member Nathan Schram. The concert would also inspire a career-spanning passion project—one which blossomed alongside her relationship with Nathan and resulted in what will be the couple’s first collaborative full-length, Becca Stevens | Attacca Quartet. The album announcement comes with the first single “45 Bucks” and an accompanying live performance video shot at Skillman Studios in Brooklyn, NY.

In 2013, pianist, composer, and conductor Steven Prutsman proposed the initial string arrangement appearance to Becca. In collaboration with her father, composer William Stevens, they arranged material from her first two albums: 2008’s Tea Bye Sea and 2011’s Weightless. The following summer, as the festival approached, they enlisted string players from the heralded Decoda ensemble, including Nathan. There was an immediate connection between the two musicians, but it would be another year before they met again in a serendipitous twist of fate.

In 2015, Becca traveled to her hometown of Winston-Salem, NC, where her brother—producer, engineer, and composer Bill Stevens—was set to record string arrangements at his studio, Ovation Sound. This time, the stars were aligned for Becca and Nathan. While those early recordings were never released, they set the stage for Becca Stevens | Attacca Quartet and ignited a romance between the two musicians, who married in 2017.

The couple would then return to Bill’s studio in December 2018, but this time, they were joined by Nathan’s Attacca bandmates: cellist Andrew Yee and violinists Amy Schroeder and Keiko Tokunaga (whose seat is now filled by Domenic Salerni). Hailed for their stylistic versatility, the quartet was the perfect foil for Becca, who had long explored a wide range of genres—from folk and jazz to funk and pop. With more than a decade’s worth of music to choose from, the breadth of Becca’s capabilities was more palpable than ever, and the members of Attacca were ready for the challenge.

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Rosanne Baker Thornley - In Paris.

“The narrative that runs through this album is – life and the pieces of that journey. The insights. The moments of awe. The losses. The lessons. The determination to continue on” says Rosanne Baker Thornley. ”My inspiration comes from everywhere. From experiences and of people both good and bad. From the simplicities that live between the complexities, I have an inherent want to capture those moments and describe them.” So began a new creative journey for Thornley, and in this journey, a quiet and extraordinary shift occurred; fuelled by the magnetic musical pull that she has fed for years.

Based in Toronto, Thornley has been evolving and expanding her relationship with music (and writing) for quite some time. With her new album, Sorry I’m Late, she further delves into her craft, cultivating songs from an intensely personal space. “As my songwriting years have evolved, my writing is more grounded in writing what I know. In searching my heart and writing that. To be honest. To be vulnerable. To be brave.“ She has worked to distill those emotions that are experienced across generations, and she sheds light on the experiences and stories that have the ability to be profoundly moving. “There’s prescience in what I do. I’ve written many songs on the premise of what I thought I was writing about only to find days, months, sometimes years later that I wrote the song from the future. And though I don’t yet fully grasp the how of that, I simply let myself go with where it takes me and write it all down.” It is precisely those joys, discomforts, and authenticities that accompany vulnerability – and she has channeled those feelings into an expansive and intimate collection of songs.

Emerging on the Canadian music scene years ago, Thornley established herself as the lead vocalist and principal songwriter for ‘Daystar’, ‘Niteskool’ and ‘Bakersmith’, a critically acclaimed album “Courage” via Sony Music – as well as through repeat tours of North America and Europe – garnering both national and international media attention. From her base in Toronto, she established her reputation one show at a time, and had audiences connecting to her stories. Over the past few years, Thornley has continued to hone in on her exceptionally gifted writing talents by working with (and co-writing on) a myriad of artists albums, EPs and standalone singles. With brand new music on the horizon, Thornley has her sights on reconnecting with fans and igniting a renewed interest in her music.

The lush new songs are an ode to self-discovery and to the subtle-yet-profound moments of life. The result is an unpredictable, vulnerable, strident and sincere album, built upon strong lyricism and dynamic musicianship. As she says about the album “My hope is that my music and I will reach and fit into people’s lives, everywhere. That my songs will resonate with people who are struggling with, to or from something. That my songs will tell their stories and pull them into a space that is healing, hopeful, familiar, inspirational, safe. That people will feel seen, comforted, moved, heard.”

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Crystal Eyes - Niloo - Tamar Berk - Ali Sperry - Wildlife Freeway - Hannah Schneider

Photo - Rebecca Reid

Crystal Eyes - Don't Turn Around.

The Calgary, Alberta-based psych-rock/dream-pop band, Crystal Eyes have just shared their new single, "Don't Turn Around" which comes off the back of support for last month's release, "Wishes" which went on to find support at FLOOD, Brooklyn Vegan, Exclaim and more. The new single is the latest to be lifted from the forthcoming second record, The Sweetness Restored which is set for release via the beloved Madrid label, Bobo Integral (Motorists, Ducks Ltd, Quivers) on April 22.

Crystal Eyes, who are made up of Erin Jenkins (singer/guitarist) and a revolving cast of musicians, currently Jordan Tettensor (guitar), Joleen Toner (synth), Will Johnson (bass) and Paul de Andrade (drums) describe the new record as a "feel-good self-help record for the age of existential dread." The Sweetness Restored displays a kind of wistful self-awareness right from the start, it's a collection of ten tracks that flirt with musical influences ranging from new wave, psych-rock and shoegaze, with songs driven by melody and steeped in texture.

Recorded at Montreal's Breakglass Studios with producer/engineer, Andrew Woods (The Operators, Legal Vertigo, Basia Bulat) before being mixed by Mark Lawson (Arcade Fire, The Unicorns, Peter Gabriel) the record contains thoughtful attention to musical detail thanks to the talented team of artists behind the project. And with the beautiful, warm tones of the Neve console, it's at once a unique sound, but one that feels comfortingly familiar. The prolific Scott' Monty' Munroe (Preoccupations, Chad VanGaalen) contributed bass and the talented Eve Parker Finley composed and performed string arrangements.

On the new single, "Don't Turn Around" the band turns the dial on some of the forthcoming album's post-punk aesthetics and 00's indie-rock sounds, nodding towards the Show Your Bones era of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Metric and The Raveonettes. Speaking about the new track, Jenkins says: "We wrote this track starting with the synth line and formed all the other parts around that. The drums are actually built off a loop of the live drumming (played by Kenny Murdoch), that our producer, Andrew Woods, built. The guitar part (that guitarist Jordan Tettensor) wrote felt incredibly Joy Division - this is one of the darker tracks on the record. We were definitely going for something moody and also sanguine."

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Niloo - To Feel It Deep.

Niloo tells us "To Feel It Deep is the first single off of my self-titled EP. To Feel it Deep is a catchy, nostalgic and heartfelt dream-pop tune about the grief experienced from a heartbreak you can see coming from a mile away. 

The song begins with a simple yet conspicuous guitar and bass line, blended with warm vocals that carry the intimate lyrics through a build that grows into a lush and energetic arrangement. This song was crafted in the middle of the 2021 heatwave, at Risqué Disque Studios in the beautiful Cedar, BC, with the help of Jen Yakamovich of Troll Dolly on the drums and vibraphone, Shilo Preshyon as co-producer//audio engineer//mixer//bassist, and finally, Jonathan Scherk, who mastered the EP.

For the music video, I worked with the talented director and filmmaker Ali Calladine, who previously shot the music video for my debut single, Funny Face. We aimed to create a simple, yet beautiful music video that highlighted the introspective and emotive elements of the song. 

The visuals interweave three scenes that represent three different facets of post-heartbreak reflection: a vocal performance scene highlighting the lyrics, a movement scene with evocative choreography, and lastly, a water scene representing renewal. The music video features choreography and performance by Ella Huber of The Space Collective, as well as performances by myself and Youssef Ben Ammar."

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Tamar Berk - Your Permission.

Indie pop singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Tamar Berk has released the lead single from her upcoming sophomore album Start At The End, titled “your permission”. This new single is the first new music from Tamar since her full length album from 2021, The Restless Dreams Of Youth, which was just nominated for album of the year and best pop album at the San Diego Music Awards.

The song, which also opens the new album Start At The End, starts out small and intimate – with just Tamar’s voice and some wurlitzer keys – before steadily building up additional layers of vocals and instrumentation until the song arrives at a huge sing-along chorus, showing off the full dynamic range of her songwriting abilities in a relatively small package.

Speaking to the inspiration and lyrical meaning behind “your permission”, Tamar writes “There are days, or even periods of my life when I just want to stop having to be me, and step outside of myself and be someone else…not have to deal with my usual anxieties, issues, and the obsessive thoughts in my head. Just the thought of not being in my head, even for just a day, seems so incredibly liberating!  My thoughts can be quite intrusive and annoying and I suppose, it would be nice to experience not having to deal with being myself for a day or making any decisions. The title of the song “your permission” came to me as I thought about moments when I find myself apologizing for stating my opinion, needing something, or simply standing up for myself. My first instinct is always to apologize which I find myself doing sometimes…ultimately the title is ironic.”

The single is also accompanied by a music video in which many different ghostly versions of Tamar are overlaid on top of each other, each wearing different outfits as they all sit down to play at the same piano, a clever mirroring of the track’s opening lyric “can I ask your permission to be someone else today?”.

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Photo - Fairlight Hubbard

Ali Sperry - Excuses.

Venerated Nashville singer/songwriter Ali Sperry has just released "Excuses," the latest from her forthcoming LP, In Front Of Us, out on March 11th.

"Excuses" calls out those who can't take responsibility for their actions - "In keeping with the archetypal characters in this record, 'Excuses' centers around the person who you want to give the benefit of the doubt to but repeatedly lets you down, a person that makes a mess and holds no accountability," says Ali of the track. "As I continued to tease out the lyrics to the second verse, I found myself picturing our then president and wondering whether in his quietest moments he was ever able to experience the weight of the harm he was doing."

With Owen Biddle on bass, Jen Gunderman on keys, Kai Welch on synth, and Sadler Vaden’s rip-roaring guitar, Ali was able to explore a broader palette of colors, and channel into the music some of the innate anger that comes with being human.

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Wildlife Freeway - Flea.

Wildlife Freeway, the artist moniker of songwriter Sunny Atema, released her debut album Sunny on Alex Ebert's Community Music label, available to stream worldwide. The album features a collection of exquisitely crafted, moody, whimsical indie-folk songs that courageously plunge into the depths of human emotion.

“A wildlife freeway is a bridge for animals to safely cross over busy roads, so when we humans are rushing off in cars to our parties, the animals can get to their forest fairy parties too,” says Atema on the project and album. “The name also speaks of wildness and life on the road. The actual road, putting in the miles, brings us eye to eye, connecting without a screen between.”

A few years back after her beloved dog passed away, Sunny Atema packed her real upright piano in the back of her station wagon and toured the entire US. “I was so sad, I died too. I felt like a kite whose string was cut loose, longing for Earth,” she explains. The music shows were raw, both painful and joyful, surrounded by the perfect presence of people beckoning her back to their shared world when she felt disconnected from it. It was in New Orleans on that very tour that she was introduced to Alex Ebert, and soon after they entered the studio together.

“I don’t normally produce other artists, so when Sunny showed up at the studio unannounced, I had no notion of producing anything,” Ebert recalls. “But as soon as she sat down at the baby grand, I was inspired. This was a uniquely personal kind of music. I approached the production itself delicately, as if the songs themselves would shatter to pieces if a callous move was made.  I wanted to make sure the whole album felt the way I felt when I first heard her at my studio - like we are each being let in on a secret.”

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Hannah Schneider - Mirror Sphere.

With a minimalist and sensitive tone, Hannah Schneider's new single Mirror Sphere tells a monumental story about the beginning of life. Mirror Sphere returns to the amoeba's path from sea to land in an organic, ambient pop song. The single is the second single from Hannah Schneider's upcoming album Ocean Letters. Mirror Sphere was released on February 25 via Copenhagen label Midnight Confessions

The singer is one half of the celebrated duo AyOwA who have received significant international support from the likes of Huffington Post, The Independent, VICE, The Line of Best Fit, CLASH Magazine and Wonderland Magazine as well as airplay from both BBC Radio 1’s Huw Stephens as well as BBC Radio 6’s 6mix with Nemone. Independently, Hannah Schneider has been nominated for several music prizes in Denmark, and has performed all over Europe, the UK and the USA. Her spherical voice has appeared on several big Scandinavian TV series, recently in the international nordic TV series Ride Upon the Storm.

Hannah Schneider released the first single from her upcoming album in November ’21. “We Will Be The Only Sound In The World” is told from the perspective of a conch shell, about the grains of sand and waves that have left their mark over time:

“We Will Be The Only Sound In The World opens on an austere,
elegant piano topped by Hannah’s deliciously haunting voice,
crystalline yet ethereal at the same time. It’s one of those mystical
voices with the power of summoning up the past, present,
and future” pop off.us

The mysteries of nature and the oceans have inspired all the new songs, and the story of Mirror Sphere is told from the perspective of the amoebas - life at the beginning of the earth.

“I wrote Mirror Sphere in the middle of the darkest times of the pandemic. It felt like it was a crucial moment in history - almost as if it was the end of it all. I came to think of the earth's long history, and that everything happens over billions of years - all the way back from the time the amoebas decided to go ashore, to become animals and later humans. We're just part of the long haul, and that’s kind of a consolation!”

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Lena Minder - Christine Tarquinio - Sound&Shape - Chris Tavener - Kindsight - Christine Sweeney - Twain

Photo - Victoria Byt

Lena Minder - One More Time.

Together Alone is the name of the debut album by Lena Minder, which is about loneliness in relationships. In March 2020, her plans to move back to Switzerland were thwarted by the pandemic. Instead of finding her way back to her roots, she embarked on an inner search and confrontation with herself in isolation. 

In her memories, Lena revived past relationships and critically questioned them. She began to put these thoughts into songs and tells with melancholy, nostalgia, but also a pinch of irony about the complexity of interpersonal existence.

The album contains eight songs, some of which are stylistically very different from each other. The beginning is made by the reduced, folky waltz song «Stay Around», which stands out for its sophisticated vocal arrangement. «Stolen Love» or «One More Time» can hardly be assigned to the indie folk genre. They contain elements of soul and gospel and backing vocals reminiscent of the 30s. With the title track Together Alone Lena Minder bids a brilliant, almost anthemic farewell to the journey - time to let go and time to move on. Sometimes you're less lonely alone than as a couple.

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Christine Tarquinio - Falling Free.

Australia’s Christine Tarquinio release’s inspiring new pop single, ‘Falling Free’, available on all streaming platforms on Friday 25th February 2022.

‘Falling Free’ highlights the wonderment of life, love and everything in between, via an instrumental soundscape filled with resonating guitar lines, lush strings and a beat that is sure to have you grooving, combined with the hauntingly ethereal and captivating vocals of Christine Tarquinio. It’s a song that will motivate you to take chances, despite the fear of failure.

“I wrote this song just with an acoustic guitar and it was very introspective as we were in one of our many lockdowns. I wanted to express how I was feeling at the time.  The song was very easy to write and came together over a number of weeks.” Christine Tarquinio

Working with Producer, Joshua Hennessy of Pivotal Music Melbourne, during Covid-19 lockdowns, the pair were required to adapt their process, working through the process remotely. Melbourne, Australia based singer/songwriter, Christine Tarquinio has a passion for turning the experiences of life, into a creative, storytelling musical journey, inviting listeners join her for the ride.

Having released her first single, ‘Didn’t Even Try’ in 2014, and now with seven singles and an EP under her belt, Christine has spent the years exploring the unlimited possibilities of her creativity and the freedom potential of her music, both as a solo act and in collaboration with other artists.

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Sound&Shape - How The Light Gets In.

At a time when subgenres threaten to overwhelm, Sound&Shape make pure, unfettered Rock N’ Roll. Exploring every corner of stylistic possibility within that context, S&S’s songs range from the heavy and fierce to the soothing and gentle. Frontman/songwriter Ryan Caudle’s voice can easily lull you into a false sense of security, only to have his guitars come crashing in alongside drummer Ben Proctor’s herd-of-stampeding-rhinos drumming and bassist Pat Lowry’s soul rumbling low end.

Over the course of several self-released records and relentless national touring, Sound&Shape have honed a sound both familiar and forward thinking. With enough hallmarks of the rock n’ roll history book in which they are descendants of, they honor their heroes alongside a healthy dose of eyes-to-the-future originality. Currently, Sound&Shape has amassed a mountain of new material which they look forward to bringing to the masses for many years to come.

Always striving to expand as much as possible in all directions, the band’s new album, Disaster Medicine, melds the infectious melodies of their previous work with simultaneously the heaviest and most layered, atmospheric work of their discography. Nestled in the heavy riffing and huge choruses lie some of the most personal and heartfelt lyrics of Sound&Shape’s career, supported this time not only by the core instrumentation of guitar, bass and drums, but for the first time by synths and more carefully orchestrated backing vocals.

Sound&Shape has performed at Midpoint Music Fest in Cincinnati, OH (attendance approx. 30,000) as well as shared stages in support of notable bands such as Sparta, King’s X, Fishbone, Crobot, John 5, The Spill Canvas, Tremonti, Jeremy Enigk as well as many tours on their own.

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Chris Tavener- How To Truly Win At Life.

“Answer me this, are you happy?” So sings the online life coach in Chris Tavener's pop-rock satire song for the Youtube generation.

In a modern world often focused on fostering dissatisfaction, 'How To Truly Win At Life' is a song brimming with ironic humour, and soothing melodies hiding a darker truth.

It was written during the difficult era of UK Covid lockdown, when Tavener observed a new influx of online adverts from laughably brazen, so-called life coaches hoping to take advantage of the depressing times for financial gain. The almost surf-rock sounds with a powerful infectious chorus take you away to a tropical paradise, as the exaggerated lyrics speak of a dream lifestyle.

The incredibly uplifting, guitar-fuelled energy in 'How To Truly Win At Life' is matched with subtle minor undertones of deception afoot. There's an epic instrumental arrangement that creates a musical playfulness akin to Randy Newman or Elvis Costello, with a rousing choir and buoyant guitar riffs.

The single is the first from Tavener's upcoming EP 'Easy Ways To Be Happy' that focuses on millennial frustrations and modern measures of success. The new classic-rock-influenced, five-song EP will be released later this year.

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Kindsight - Hi Life.

Danish four-piece Kindsight make music that draws from 80’s and 90’s alternative rock and combines it with the shimmering Scandinavian pop that the region has become so renowned for, resulting in a sound that is both fuzzy and melodic in equal measure. Releasing their first material in 2020, the up and coming Danish four-piece have been quick on the rise, picking up steam with a series of new singles over the last 18 months. Now, they are announcing their debut album, Swedish Punk, will be released on March 25th, 2022.  New single Sun Is Always in My Eyes is out now alongside a DIY video made by the band.

Kindsight formed when front-woman Nina Hyldgaard Rasmussen and guitarist Søren Svensson bonded over a shared love of The Sugarcubes. They went on to recruit bass player Anders Prip and drummer Johannes Jacobsen and over the past few years have earned a reputation within Copenhagen’s thriving indie scene for their exciting live shows.

On the album’s title, Rasmussen says “Swedish Punk’ was an off the cuff term our producer, Adam, came up with when we needed a working title for a new song we wrote during the recording sessions. Our bass player, Anders, then wrote some lyrics based on the working title and we ended up liking the whole ‘Swedish Punk’-thing so much it became the name of the album”.

There’s a real coming of age charm to Swedish Punk. ‘Don’t You Grow Up’ was the first song the band ever wrote together. Written in “a time when we thought to be a sunny teenage rock band, you had to write songs about teenagers in the sun,” they say. Atop jangling guitars, Rasmussen’s distinctive voice dances somewhere between that of Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval and Alvvays’ Molly Rankin, leaving the listener drenched in the nostalgic optimism of summers gone by. Lead single ‘Sun Is Always In My Eyes’, an unrelenting indie-pop earworm, continues in that same vein. Recalling a time when life was carefree, the band say the track is about ‘stealing money from your mother and feigning to run away from home. Being blessed and unable to see because you've got too much sun in your eyes’.

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Photo - Shannyn KT

Christine Sweeney - Do You Have To Go?

Christine Sweeney has one of those rare voices that makes you stop whatever you're doing and pay attention--and she's got the songwriting, guitar, and bandleading chops to back it up, everywhere from a packed, sweaty rock club to a hushed listening room. I've seen it before: literally everyone in a place will turn their heads to see who's at the mic.

To her, the R&B vocal influence isn’t unnatural in settings ranging from hushed folk stages to full band rock shows. Her music reminds her fans of Susan Tedeschi, Brandi Carlile, Sheryl Crow, KT Tunstall, or Grace Potter with music that grooves and rocks but also reveals her story.

Her new album Heart In a Hurry, out April 22, generously dashes blues, pop, Americana, folk, and yes, R&B, in sharp, open-hearted songs, some drawn from hard-earned life lessons. The message has connected with her fans; she’s had people approach her after concerts to tell her hearing her song helped with something they were experiencing. Even when telling a deeply personal story, Christine has the ability to tap into universal feelings. Heart In a Hurry tells a tale of perseverance.

Musically, the album ranges from the rolling soul music of “Feeling So Low,” the message of self-love hidden in the howling blues of “Coyote,” the catchy character studies of “Denial,” full-on New York rocker “Do You Have To Go?,” and the swinging, grin-inducing “Better Parts” (out as a single March 22). In the cathartic, crashing “Down to The River” (single out April 5), she imagines a car driven off the road and into the water and the lightning-strike thoughts that would go through one’s mind. In the heart-rending “Anywhere, Anyway,” she powerfully likens the relationship to taking turns treading water.

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Photo - Wyndham Garnett

Twain - King Of Fools.

Twain releases a new song “King of Fools” with songwriter Mat Davidson sharing that “The premise of this song is that evil is a numbness; it wonders if numbness is worse than pain.”

Under The Radar premiered “King of Fools” yesterday, calling Twain “a songwriter of uncommon emotional weight” and elaborating, “Davidson fully inhabits the role of the prophetic folk troubadour, exploring the evils of past and present with warm pastoral melodies and raw emotive vocals. He ends the song with a poignant indictment of humankind’s everlasting greed一Now I watch the fighting over the womb of the earth / Spilling blood for proverbs that they neither side have learned / And I see a bunch of children fighting over toys / How long must they die and die and die / To satisfy the king of fools?”

Mat Davidson is a prolific contributor to beloved projects including Big Thief, whose latest album Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You features Davidson on six songs. He's also a current member of Buck Meek’s band. Davidson is a former member of The Low Anthem, Spirit Family Reunion, and The Deslondes and has toured as part of Langhorne Slim and Courtney Marie Andrews' live bands. He made his label debut as Twain with Rare Feeling in 2017.

The album was aptly hailed by NPR as "at once human and otherworldly,” by Consequence of Sound as “devastating, delicate, meditative” and by UPROXX as “cosmic folk, bright and sparkling, but with all the caterwauling and rough bits that the most stoic traditionalist might desire.” Twain's music resonates a transcendental weight, his performances reliably noted as raw and intensely emotional. More to come from Twain in 2022.

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