Caleb Kunle - O - SHiN - Izzy S.O - Alas The Sun - The Storm Petrels

Photo - Andy Banjanin

Caleb Kunle - All in your head.

Nigerian-Irish artist Caleb Kunle has released the new single "All In Your Head". Out now via Hackney label Pony Recordings (Tempesst, Sunglasses For Jaws), Caleb also today announces a new London headline show at Bermondsey Social Club on 8th June. "All In Your Head" follows his 2021 single "Could Be Good" and teases the release of a new EP due for release later this year.

Produced by London production duo Sunglasses For Jaws (known for their work with Sinead O'Brien, Miles Kane, Nick Waterhouse, Yak + more) and mixed by Elliot Heinrich (Little Simz, POND, Metronomy), "All In Your Head" unites folk-inflected soul with psych-tinged production flourishes, bringing forth a swell of sky-reaching horns and swirling strings as Caleb examines the pursuit of authenticity in his art.

Speaking on the release of "All In Your Head", Caleb said, "It's an anthem about facing doubt. I wrote this song during a time when my doubts felt hard to overcome. Our pursuit of authentic expression can bring us to a vulnerable place and in that place we can lose sight of our inner voice, our motivator, reminding us how deep our passion can flow and how much strength is in our hearts when we believe. As the saying goes, self doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will."

Born in Lagos Nigeria, then migrating to Laois in rural Ireland, the journey of early childhood in the busiest city in West Africa to the peaceful solitude of the Irish countryside inspires a consistent inquiry into dual subjects and contrast. Caleb Kunle's music comes from a deep love of folk, soul, hip-hop and storytelling. An eclectic expressionist, his songwriting explores deep themes of harmony and equilibrium, self-love, and the complexity of romance in the modern world.

Michael Kiwanuka, The Beatles and Nina Simone were all key points of influence when it came to recording this new material – with the help of drummer Oscar Robertson and bassist David Bardon (who make up production duo Sunglasses For Jaws), violinist Clementine Brown (Penguin Cafe Orchestra) and flautist João de Macedo Mello (Tankus the Henge).

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O - SHiN - Losing My Nature.

II / ∞ (Second of Infinity) is the long-awaited debut album from Berlin-based electronic artist Stefanie de Beurs, aka O-SHiN. Written over a period of five years, II / ∞ is a technicolour collage of electronica, experimental pop and field recordings. Following on from her debut EP, I / ∞, which was released back in 2018, the album’s name refers to the nature of Stefanie’s infinite relationship with making music and how she will never stop exploring it as well, as being symbolic of how short life is (a mere second) in relation to the eternity of the Earth.

Stefanie describes herself as being at a very different place personally from when she began writing her debut album. In 2016, she was travelling from Rome to Amsterdam when she found herself on board an aeroplane with a terrorist. The harrowing experience had a profound effect on the artist. “For the first time in my life, I experienced the fierce feeling of death being really close, not knowing I would survive or if those would be my last seconds on earth,” she says. “It was an intense experience and this album helped me cope with the emotions I was feeling at the time.”

Despite this, the songs that make up II / ∞  are largely filled with positivity, covering themes of growth, transformation and love. The album itself is almost unrecognisable compared to its first incarnation. “Everytime I met a new musician or producer that I liked, we reformatted the songs, re-recording and adding parts like a collage,” she explains. The lyrics themselves have been rewritten countless times, with new experiences informing and shaping the narrative with each pass.

This evolutionary songwriting process could easily have resulted in an album that sounds transitory, but Stefanie’s skilful use of field recordings anchors the songs in particular moments in time. “I think my work as a photographer has had an impact on the way I write music,” she explains. “I like to collect field recordings like audio snapshots of the everyday and use them in my songs.”

The album opens with an iPhone recording of a jam session with Stephanie’s old band which develops into the main hook of new single ‘Losing My Nature’, a song about growing older whilst maintaining one's sense of self.  Of her new single, Stefanie says: "The older you is a different person, with different interests and even different looks. 'Keep me where the light is' is the call to the universe to shine a light on that path of transformation so we can see where we’re going."

O-SHiN · O - SHiN - Losing My Nature

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Izzy S.O - Flirting With Strangers.

A fresh and new force to be reckoned with, multi-faceted singer-songwriter Izzy S.O captivates listeners with her anthemic tone and lyrical originality. The London-based artist is quickly building a reputation on the live circuit for her signature poetic lyricism, as she fearlessly touches down in the indie music space. Her debut single ‘Flirting With Strangers’ is set for release on the 6th of May 2022 via Silent Kid Records.

Exploring an alternative blend of pop-tinged rock, soft punk, and indie, Flirting with Strangers is a lyrically intimate track that grows into a grunge-fuelled cathartic cacophony, taking on the aesthetics of the 90’s alternative scene and paying homage to the likes of Mazzy Star, Bush and Alanis Morissette. Izzy’s unique songwriting displays the careful touch of a skilled articulator, showcasing a mature capacity for storytelling that transports listeners out of their surroundings and into her own emotional experience. With a voice loaded in emotion and power, Izzy S.O plays on heavy guitar rhythms and soft melodies that will reverberate through your body for days.

The up and coming artist casts a light on mental health issues and the complex emotions attached to growing up while moving listeners through heartfelt tunes that give off a comforting sense of familiarity and warmth. For Izzy, Flirting with Strangers is about 'growing up in quite an idealistic way and then being abruptly shocked into adulthood and given a very different truth, its about the chaos that comes with being confused about your past and being concerned about your future. It was a time where I was being reckless and living fast trying to outrun the sadness of leaving my younger self behind, whilst also believing the messiness was needed as I'd lived a lot of my life trying to be perfect. 'There's no place like here' is realising that you have to find weight and safety in the present otherwise you live your whole life feeling scattered'

Raised in a household buzzing with musical expression and creativity, Izzy turned to poetry as an artistic outlet to process her emotions and experiences. This later transcended into her songwriting, and she began bringing her words to life through working with producer Dustin Dooley and writing with fellow creative Tadhg Daly at Strongroom Studios in Shoreditch.

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Alas The Sun - Wild Honey Inn.

The indie-pop duo Alas The Sun from Zürich and Basel just released their second album 'Wild Honey Inn' via Taxi Gauche Records and have been awarded Best Talent in the month of May by Swiss National radio SRF3. The ten songs on the new long player enchant with their lightness and offer the perfect soundtrack for the next road trip - or just to indulge in daydreaming again.

When Alas The Sun released their debut album, “You And Your Love”, in autumn 2019, all seemed right with the world. The melodies were sweet and the acoustic guitar was always at hand. First single "Absence Of Time" promptly made it into the daily rotation of SRF3, Couleur3, Rete Tre and Radio Rumantsch. Positive reviews from RCKSTR and Artnoir followed, and an inclusion on the list "The 10 best CH albums of 2019" by SRF Virus was the icing on the cake. Two turbulent years later, after many ups and downs, a new chapter has opened with singer Nuria Thie having joined the group. The line-up change brought not only a different voice but also gave the duo the chance to develop their sound, to search for something fresh, something fun, something deeper.

The title "Wild Honey Inn" stems from a hotel sign that captured Raschle's attention during a journey through Ireland a couple of years ago. ‘The large, brownish letters above the entrance caught my eye immediately. "Wild Honey Inn" became a home to ten songs each starring different characters. In my mind, each individual song depicts a scene that takes place in different rooms of the hotel. I was writing mostly about relationships, mixing autobiography with fiction. Taking the view of an observer while writing, I absorbed what was happening in my close environment at that time, be it heartbreak or love blossoming. I tried to write from the point of view of my friends and added my own thoughts and experiences to their stories. There was something very liberating about this mixture of fiction and reality paired with the view through other people’s eyes,’ explains Raschle.

The new record has its roots in 15 demos that Raschle composed in his bedroom during the turmoil of the previous lockdown-plagued year. Back in the studio, the main focus lay on realising the right sound for each individual instrument. With a lot of patience and eagerness to experiment, the duo devoted themselves to effect pedals, bulky synthesizers, old Rhodes pianos and snare drum patterns. What results is an original, vital sound, much more versatile and dynamic than the one before. The duo has moved away from traditional singer-songwriter songs and other styles have been incorporated. On "Wild Honey Inn", Thie and Raschle combine dreamy indie tunes (Long-Haul Flights, Landline), loungey moments with a bossa nova touch (Distant Drone, Slower Motions) and synth-focused pop songs (Feels Honey-Laced, Days On End).

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The Storm Petrels - The Birds.

The Storm Petrels are a four piece indie band who came together in 2020 to bring some joy to those dark days. They herald from both sides of the Atlantic and play unashamedly upbeat indie pop. The band have just released their latest EP - Fabuloso!   

It opens with a catchy pop song, Fairy Tale, before diving into the strange melancholy world of The Birds. The next song is a beautiful reimagining of the old school classic, Wayfaring Stranger. The EP finishes with Your Time, a driving anthem to freedom and joy.

There’s a touch of 80s new wave to their sound, a hint of folk, and the occasional memory of Belly and Abba - but their music is timeless and very much their own.

The Storm Petrels · The Birds

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Elf Power - Haley Johnsen - The BB House Band - Pixie Moonshine - Me Rex - Courtney Cotter King

Elf Power - Artificial Countrysides.

GA-based psychedelic folk band Elf Power released the official video for the title track to their forthcoming album Artificial Countrysides that will be released on July 15 via Yep Roc Records. The video was directed and filmed by Dickie Cox. The band will kick off their summer tour on July 13 in Milwaukee, WI  and will make stops in Philadelphia, New York, Atlanta and more. Find a full list of tour dates below or at elfpower.com.

“The title track lyrically addresses the songwriting process, and the creation of miniature worlds within songs, propelled by a frantically fingerpicked acoustic guitar line that imagines what acoustic guitar virtuoso John Fahey might sound like if he played with a rock band,” explains singer and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Rieger.

The new song followers the release of the official video for “Undigested Parts” and “The Gas Inside The Tank,” which was covered by Stereogum, Under The Radar and BrooklynVegan, who said “It finds their unique psychedelic pop/indie rock fusion sounding as great as ever.”

Rieger and his Elf Power bandmates — drummer Peter Alvanos and guitarist Dave Wrathgabar, with contributions from keyboard player Laura Carter — have created some of the band’s most expansive musical terrain yet. Along with a blend of fuzz-tone electric and layered acoustic guitars, Moog keyboards and lively drums, the group experimented with the sounds of marimba, Mellotron, harpsichord, synth bass and distorted drum machine loops, taking a try-it-and-see approach to recording in the studio.

Artificial Countrysides is Elf Power’s 14th album across their almost 30 year career. The collection centers around the gray zones where the natural world collides with the creeping encroachment of the digital realm, where the balance between real and simulated can shift from one minute to the next. “That title also describes the songwriting process, of world-building or creating an artificial landscape within a song,” explains Rieger.

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Haley Johnsen - Common Ground.

Haley Johnsen is a Portland, Oregon-born musician with a knack for genre-bending and a hard-earned career path that is uniquely her own. Raised listening to powerhouse singers such as Brandi Carlile, Grace Potter, Eva Cassidy, and Bonnie Raitt, her greatest inspirations become apparent in her soaring vocals, introspective lyricism, and cross-pollinated style of indie-pop, and bluesy folk rock music. Whether her songs muse on the aches of self-doubt, the joy that can accompany nostalgia, or simply trying to stay afloat in tough times, her bona fide songwriting combined with her performance ability is bound to evoke an emotional response. “I want my music to encourage people to push through their challenges and continue to have hope and belief in themselves and their authenticity,” she says.

Growing up as a competitive gymnast, Haley quickly learned how to be a daredevil and step outside her comfort zone. This influenced her musical journey by prompting the prolific songwriter to take inventive and unexpected risks sonically at an early age.  In the span of about three years, Haley wrote around 200 songs in her parents back shed, with the most memorable songs being added to her debut EP, Through the Blue, which was released in 2015. She followed up with her second EP, When You Lit The Sky, in 2017, along with a handful of singles and national tours. It was through her critically acclaimed 12-track debut album, Golden Days, where she gained much deserved recognition and ignited the interest of Allen Stone who appeared on the album. Later that year, Haley began touring with the power-trio sister-band Joseph and with EDM/Indie pop artist Big Wild, who she currently works with as a bassist and back-up vocalist. During her first Europe tour in January of 2019, Haley was further granted the opportunity to record an acoustic album entitled London Sessions at the Legendary Abbey Road.

Her 2021 single “Goner” was written in a bathtub in a vintage trailer in the midst of having an existential crisis. The songwriter confides, “it came to be about the romanization of nostalgia; the longing for what once was our youth and also the fear of death. It's about my own internal struggle trying to stay present and at peace with who I am now, where I am now, and realize that my childlike self is still very much alive in me. It's a reminder that I don't need to be afraid or insecure with where I am in my life.” Featuring honey-dipped vocals, breezy guitars, and sweeping 70s inspired folk rock soundscapes, “Goner” is a sun-drenched melancholic daydream.

With her release "Higher" Haley Johnsen explores "not giving up on yourself. It's that feeling of knowing that no matter what, you're going to continue growing, continue dreaming, and that in itself is the greatest high. Knowing that you've built that trust within yourself to keep going even when life has worn you down," she confides. Featuring a stirring melodic hook, orchestral percussion and dreamy slide guitar, "Higher" is the perfect anthem of self love.

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The BB House Band - Without You.

What a great feelgood-tune! Especially in these turbulent times: 'Without You', the new single by Lucerne-based The BB House Band, is a rousing short pop-ska-smasher. Kamila's voice is electrifying. Her attitude: somewhere between The Pretenders and No Doubt.

The BB House Band – the name says it all: «BB» stands for the legendary Lucerne music bar The Bruch Brothers. The 4-piece is their house band – and all those years of live experience can be heard in the sound. 

The BB House Band was founded by Patrick Archer, a rock musician from San Francisco, who's been organizing the Bruch Brother`s jam sessions for the last twelve years.

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Pixie Moonshine - Far From The Wilderness (Album).

It’s been more than seven years since Pixie Moonshine last released a collection of her moody alt-rock musings. The former leader of Toronto’s gender-bending progressive grunge group, Tripping Hazard, relocated across the ocean to Scotland following the group’s dissolution, promptly met a friendly giant, and replicated herself, twice. While doing all of that living, songs continued to percolate and coalesce, as they tend to with those permanently tethered to the muse. 

With a bit of breathing room afforded by older replicants, and overseas support from former Tripping Hazard drum beast, Scott Gray (your humble narrator, aka The World Next Door), Jennifer Once-Hall-Now-McDonald began the task of committing her rapidly growing collection of songs to record. The results of this dual continent collaboration are what we’re thrilled to share with you now. And this is only the beginning, with pre-production started on multiple albums full of backlogged material.

In Jen’s own words, Far From the Wilderness is about “Settling into a new place once the shine of adventure has worn off and homesickness has truly kicked in; throwing yourself into a new life and realizing you’ve lost yourself somewhere along the way. Also, quite a bit about missing sunshine.”

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Me Rex - Toilet Of Venus.

ME REX have shared another cut from their forthcoming EP, new single Toilet of Venus is out today via Big Scary Monsters. Hot on the heels of this year’s Pterodactyl EP, ME REX recently announced their brand-new record – Plesiosaur – out 17th June on Big Scary Monsters, alongside a UK tour with Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties.

Across the four tracks of Plesiosaur, ME REX wrap sharp wordplay around vibrant fuzzed out guitars and keys. Toilet of Venus is an extension of another track on the EP, Lager Door. While the former looks at present struggles, the latter is inherently nostalgic.

“Toilet of Venus looks at present struggles and what they will reveal. The Toilet of Venus is a scene often depicted in classical paintings, by people who could not have foreseen the way that language would change the meaning of the word ’toilet’. This kind of shift in perspective is what made me want to use it for the title of this song” songwriter Myles McCabe explains.

The band have worked hard over the last couple of years to refine the unique characteristics that make them so addictive to listen to - rhythmically charged narrations and a musical stream of consciousness. Themes of friendship, forgiveness, loss, and joy wrapped in fast paced poetic vignettes; ME REX challenge the listener’s preconception of how a song can be structured.

Beginning life in 2018 in the home of McCabe, experimenting with shouty, electronic bedroom pop, ME REX formed when he was joined by long-time friends Kathryn Woods (guitar/vocals), Phoebe Cross (drums/vocals) and Rich Mandell (bass/keys/vocals).

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Courtney Cotter King - Conversation.

"Conversation" tenderly takes one back to the initial feelings of falling in love. It perfectly describes that moment when someone has admitted to themselves (and are one conversation away from admitting to their significant other) that they could sit and talk to that person forever. ”Time goes so slowly whenever you’re gone and time it glides whenever you’re near. All that I want is to sit here with you, with no alarm clocks ringing in my ear.” 

Sweetly relatable, its message is circled by Courtney’s notable vocals and piano and an array of twirling strings, along with guitar and percussion. It will have people longing to fall in love, or thinking back to when they first fell in love and the power of that one conversation that changed everything.

Courtney Cotter King artistry drives her blue-eyed soul, singer-songwriter genre. Courtney is a mom of 3 children with a 4th on the way. She hopes to inspire moms that creativity doesn’t have to stop when kids are created. She humorously balances gigging with nursing and finger painting with songwriting. “Marriage and motherhood has opened me to songs I could have never written without these sweet souls in my life.”

CourtneyCotterKing · Conversation

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Blunt Chunks - The Best Around - Fransis - Cola

Blunt Chunks - Part Of Me.

The Toronto-based project, Blunt Chunks, helmed by Caitlin Woelfle-O'Brien (Jaunt) has just shared "Part of Me" (which features Brendan Canning of Broken Social Scene), the latest to be lifted from the forthcoming debut EP, Blunt Chunks which is set for release this Friday, May 6 via Telephone Explosion Records. Featuring Scott Hardware and members of The Weather Station, Luna Li, Hooded Fang and more, the new EP, which has found tips so far from Paste, FLOOD, Brooklyn Vegan, KCRW, Exclaim, CBC Radio and more, grapples with the many functions of heartache, using music as a mechanism to memorialize the past and the first step to breaking a cycle of self-neglect.

Produced by David Plowman (The OBGMs, Islands) and Nathan Burley (Young Clancy), the EP harnesses a weightless style of guitar-driven pop where Woelfle-O’Brien blends spacious psychedelic country with the unignorable churn of 90s alternative rock. The result is a record deeply uncomfortable with secrets. Woelfle-O’Brien opts to honor — with a Dolly Parton-esque devotion to clarity — her motivations for past entanglements, both devastating and exalting. And yet, the EP rings with quiet optimism, steadfast in its search for the kind of love that’s attentive, honest, and transformative.

"Part of Me", which arrives with a stunning visual, directed by Woefle-O'Brien and Emma Cosgrove and features Canning of Broken Social Scene on piano and back vocals, arrives as the final advance installment of the forthcoming Blunt Chunks EP. It returns to some Woefle-O'Brien's more intimate, soothing sounds, reckoning with the idea that as you grow older, the people you once love are inherently a part of you despite you occasionally wishing they would leave you.

"I wrote this not long after being in Berlin about realizing how the people you love are inherently a part of you and how sometimes you want them to just get out of you," explains Caitlin, "but also that you desperately want them to love you right and give you all the things you need... but then you realize you have to do the self-improvement on your own. I also think this song is kind of a narcissistic anthem... “me me me, I want this, blah blah blah”. It’s very self-involved and just a pleading cry to the heavens to be a better person and have a better life and be loved. It’s got a real element of fantasy and desperation. I recorded a demo of it in the studio one night kind of free-form (I hadn’t figured out a structure yet so it was essentially improvised) and we just built the whole song on that recording! David had a wild idea near the end of the recording process to add a “choir”. We reached out to some amazing singers/musicians and they agreed to record at home and send it in! I’m seriously honored."

 
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The Best Around - Didn't Come Here To Count 'Em.

"Didn't Come Here to Count 'em" is an adrenaline shot from the first note to the last. Multi-instrumentalist Todd Pruner kicks the song off with a string-bending Telecaster lead that is sure to knock over some tables as people jump to their feet. Pruner also plays the bass, acoustic guitar and microKorg synth on the track. 

Multi-instrumentalist Jon Merz drives home the chorus with this trumpet and trombone horn section, raising the energy to the roof. All the while, singer and songwriter, Camron Rushin tells the tale of a light-hearted sot on a bender who is secretly burdened by being the "victim of the ages." At each stage of his journey, our hero is interrogated about how many he's had to drink — with the song's refrain serving as his response to each inquiry. The song reaches a climactic ending as the band heads into jazzed-out, wall-of-sound territory.

Rushin discovered the key line in the song years ago while out with his family when his aunt asked his uncle how many beers he had had to drink. "I didn't come here to count 'em. I came here to drink 'em," he replied. While laughing at the sarcastic retort, everyone in the groups' ears piqued as they almost all said in unison, "that'd be a great line for a country song."

The Best Around formed at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. To conform to social distancing measures, they didn't meet to practice and write, but instead recorded each of their parts in their own respective home studios, tool sheds, and closets. Very little instructions were given as tracks were passed back and forth, leading to a sense of freedom in collaboration that can be heard across the recordings.

The Best Around · Didn't Come Here To Count 'Em

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Fransis - Honeymoon.

Fransis are a four-piece, London based alt/indie band made up of front woman and singer-songwriter Emma Withers, along with guitarists Alex Scott, Stefan Kotlarz and bassist Craig Rattray. Formerly known as Emma & the Idles, the band have been hailed as 'Jessie J meets Joan Jett', making a name for their balls to the wall approach to their sound and sharp songwriting style.

Reminiscent of Wolf Alice and Florence + The Machine, Fransis make music that smacks you in the face in a slightly different way, and whilst they float between genres of rock, indie, pop, soul and blues; they show an unrelenting penchant for dramatic, powerful and meaningful music. After busking on the streets of London and making a name for herself as a unique and energetic performer, powerhouse singer Withers decided to form a band to accelerate the sound she so desperately wanted, and boy did she get it. Fransis was born.

“Honeymoon” is the first single to be released off of their upcoming EP, which narrates a journey of womanhood. The story starts with “Honeymoon”, taking a fond look back on the sweetness of childhood rebellion and the sense of freedom and indestructibility you feel as a teen. Withers lyrically recounts stories from her formative years as her now adult self, sharing “It’s nice to have an uplifting sense of appreciation for my own personal experiences which have moulded me even if they didn't seem so poignant or great at the time, how we know not what we have until it’s gone. With that being said there is nothing melancholy about this narrative, I have such a tenderness and affection for my teen self, an enjoyment to revisit her and a continuation of personal growth and one day looking back at myself now with a similar fondness.” Singing, “It was a honeymoon, a cocoon, feeling like someone new”, the music is driving yet ethereal with pop elements that will have you singing the hook all day long.

Giving us a taste of what to expect from the EP, “Honeymoon” is just a hint of the outpour of emotion that they are forecasting. To celebrate their EP release, Fransis will be hosting their very own launch party at The Water Rats in London on 1st July 2022.

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Cola - Degree.

In February, Cola, the new project from former Ought members Tim Darcy and Ben Stidworthy and US Girls/The Weather Station drummer Evan Cartwright, announced their debut LP Deep In View (out May 20th on Fire Talk Records). With the early singles "Blank Curtain," "So Excited" and "Water Table" immediately earning praise from outlets like Pitchfork, NPR, FADER, Stereogum, Uproxx, Paste, BrooklynVegan, Consequence, Clash, NME and Rolling Stone who named the band an Artist You Need To Know and called their debut "one of the year’s most thrilling rock statements," the album has rapidly become one of the most anticipated releases of a busy spring.

"The character in 'Degree' is cycling in and out of these dreamscape states (movie theater, meditation, etc) and then trying to catch up to something in their day to day life," says Darcy. "I picture what it feels like running to catch the bus when you're in a daze and suddenly have to sprint."

"'Degree' is based on a 2-step kinda track I produced while trying to do the fabled and well-trodden path of using guitars in electronic music," explains Stidworthy. "I came up with this psych-drenched outro that I really enjoyed so I decided to base a song around that chord progression."

"I wanted the beat to feel like the opening and closing of a mechanical valve," Cartwright adds. "The guitar riff supplies this relentless propulsion and I thought that the drums should act as a stiff regulator: aggressively blocking, then releasing the heavy flow that comes pouring out of the guitar."

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Fresh - Emily Jean Flack

Fresh - Going To Bed.

London DIY punks Fresh have shared another track from their forthcoming new album, ‘Raise Hell’, out 1st July on Specialist Subject. New song 'Going to Bed’ acknowledges the uncertainty and tension of nursing a small crush but going ahead despite the fear and embracing all those ‘I don’t knows’.

“There’s a focus on self-love too, taking typical therapy clichés and self-soothing activities (trust myself more/light a candle etc) made into eerie, sacred rituals and manifesting your own safe space” says lead singer Kathryn Woods.

Fresh have been an unwavering fixture within the UK punk scene since their first record in 2017. A joy to behold live, Woods honed her craft not only fronting Fresh but as a member of several heralded indie and punk bands, including cheerbleederz and ME REX alongside Fresh bandmate Myles McCabe.

Their new album radiates with their signature mischievous British charm and flourishes of brilliant pop punk flair – though underestimate Fresh at your peril. ‘Raise Hell’ dares to dive deeper than most, delivering Woods’ darker moments and contemplative thought processes through the sharply focussed lens of upbeat indie punk.

Alongside the announcement of their new album, they shared lead single ‘Babyface’, a song written in early lockdown, “hence the ‘boredom’ refrain” says lead singer and songwriter Kathryn Woods (cheerbleederz, ME REX). “It’s a song about having a mind that’s both overstimulated and under-stimulated at the same time. The light, airy synths make it a cry for help masquerading as a pop song.” This is a sentiment that runs through much of ‘Raise Hell’ – the push and pull of conflicting emotions, wrestling with opposing personality traits, the tension between learning to self-love and yet wanting more.

specialistsubject · FRESH - Going To Bed

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Emily Jean Flack - Changing.

It’s about the collide. The light with the dark. The old with the new. Captivating audiences with her soaring voice, genre defying sound and honest words, Emily Jean Flack is an emerging artist on the Canadian music scene. “Growing up playing Celtic music gave me the fire. Listening to country and folk gave me the soul. Inspired by vocalists like Ella Fitzgerald, Celine Dion, Enya and Allison Krauss — I started to dream. Then I began to write and from there, things started to collide.”

Emily’s story really took off in 2016 when she moved to Limerick, Ireland. By day she was pursuing her MA in Traditional Irish Song at the Irish World Academy, part of the University of Limerick, and by night she was writing her own contemporary songs. She went on to connect with long-time friend and Belfast-based producer Pete Wallace to create what would become her debut contemporary folk EP, Throwing Shapes. The tracks feature a collection of some of Belfast’s most sought-after musicians, along with Irish traditional artists Brian Finnegan (Flook) and Marty Barry. The EP was mixed by Grammy Award-winning, legendary Canadian mixing engineer David Bottrill (Peter Gabriel). The success of Throwing Shapes brought Emily to perform at JUNOFEST 2019, along with several tours throughout Canada, France, Germany, and the USA, as both a solo and guest artist. Leading Irish music magazine, HotPress, described the project as a “modern and inventive take on Irish folk music.”

Carrying on in that same fashion, Emily has a new project on the horizon. Produced by Hamilton pop duo Family of Things , Emily is venturing further into the contemporary sphere. Listeners will hear more 80’s synth vibes, rich harmonies and guttural rhythms. Still, at the heart of her music are her Celtic roots and love for true melodies. The songs talk of love gained, love lost and a coming of age. “It was time to go a little deeper and get a little more vulnerable. This new music brought me to work with people who helped challenge me in the best of ways. People who were from my home and yet took me to places unrecognized. People who made me laugh and helped me make music that made me cry. When listening to this new collection of songs, know that I took a chance. Risked my comfort. If you find some moment of collision, I am glad. A moment where you either face familiarity or something different. Lean into it. The more I do, the more I realize that’s exactly why we’re here.”

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Mall Girl - Dana Gavanski - Autumn Hollow

Mall Girl - Close My Eyes (Live at Studio Paradiso).

Norwegian math pop four-piece Mall Girl have released their debut album Superstar via Jansen Records. To mark the release, the band has shared a brand new live video for album track 'Close My Eyes', recorded at Studio Paradiso in Oslo where they recorded the album.

Superstar represents an exciting new chapter for the buzzed-about band. The release follows a string of successful singles, including album tracks ‘Bachtap’ & ‘Bubbly Cool Drink’, which introduced them as an act to watch in the alt-pop arena. Members Iver Armand Tandsether, Hannah Veslemøy Narvesen, Eskild Myrvoll and Bethany Forseth-Reichberg were forced to get creative when the pandemic hit, sidelining best-laid plans to flesh out some songs before heading into the studio together.

"Because of COVID regulations and the four of us living in two different cities, we changed the way we worked with the songs quite radically in the months leading up to the studio recording,” Narvesen says. "We’ve always been very oriented towards the live performance of the songs, including when we compose them together in our rehearsal space. That way of working has led to some challenges when recording, as you end up listening to the songs in a different manner and might figure out you should have done everything differently."

While others put their creative endeavors on hold, Mall Girl opted to try something different. Many of the songs on Superstar were tracks that the band regularly performed, but they wanted to seize the opportunity to evolve their sound even more.

 

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Dana Gavanski - Bend Away and Fall.

Conducting each note with a light gracefulness, Dana Gavanski's fingertips appear to dance whilst aiding their owner in expressing the stories behind each of her lighter-than-air tones. Stories which, on her brand new album When It Comes, may never have been heard if not for healing 'lost' vocal cords and a lesson in taking the rough with the smooth.

In many ways this record feels like it is my first. When I could use my voice, I had to focus so there is an urgency and greater emotional trajectory than before… it's very connected to vocal presence, which extended into an existential questioning of my connection to music. It felt like a battle at times, which I frequently lost. – Dana Gavanski

The record's focus track, "Bend Away & Fall," is about the constant zigzag of closing and opening up. Learning to give chances to new experiences and how to stick around when the going gets tough. The hegemony of old habits, fears and anxieties and the attempt to overthrow the deceitful draw to comfort in favour of flexibility and deep focus.

Dana Gavanski · Bend Away and Fall

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Autumn Hollow - Meantime/Between Time.

Autumn Hollow just announced the release of their single, “Meantime/Between Time.”  It’s off the Americana EP, Throw the House, due out June 17 through Oak Honest Records. A song to listen to amongst springtime wonders, “Meantime/Between Time” centers around the necessity to exist in the moment. A lilting melody draws the listener to the present moment while Murphy sings of finding happiness within even the deepest of burdens

The lived-in joy extends to the other songs on Throw the House, a sense of gratitude for the opportunity to build and rebuild no matter how much everyday life tears you down. Murphy’s hopes and struggles come across in songs like “Si Viene Si Va.” He says, “That was the first song that I wrote when I was able to write again. Si viene si va is an Italian phrase, that means ‘comes and it goes.’ That idea was really important during that time. 

I just needed to have more energy and more happiness. Even if you’re writing something that might seem sad or depressing or whatever, you still need those things.”  “Pick up my pills and pick up my kids and hope that one won’t react with the other,” Murphy sings on “Rooting for Laundry.” The sound is often centered around the acoustic guitar and Murphy’s earnest vocal delivery triangulated somewhere between Bruce Springsteen’s bedroom records and Fleet Foxes’ rootsy rock and roll.

Boston Americana rockers Autumn Hollow return with their first new recordings since 2013. The three-song EP features a reconstituted band led by singer/songwriter Brendan Murphy and a refreshed out look on writing and performing. The band has gone through a few lineup changes since its inception in 2007. It currently features Murphy (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Mike Burke (lead guitar, background vocals), Chuck Vath (bass, background vocals), James DeFilippo (piano, organ, keys), and Nick Campbell (drums).

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Luianna - The Ragged Roses - The Shipbuilders

Luianna - Heroin.

This week see's the release of Alt-pop Artist Luianna‘s highly anticipated debut EP 'Skia'. Sounding akin to the likes of BANKS and The xx, Luianna shares new single; ‘Heroin’ a dark, blooding slice of ambient pop that packs an emotional punch.

Talking about the single, Luianna elaborates, “this song was written about my Dad. The music was written to feel out and describe the feeling of the lyrics and the story in my life, a gentile start going into noisy chaos”.

Luianna was born in London, brought up in South Wales and has since spent the past fifteen years between Bristol and Berlin. Her upcoming EP was recorded in The Famous Gold Watch Studio in Berlin.

‘Heroin’ is taken from Luianna debut EP, ‘Skiá’, released yesterday 29th April 2022.

Luianna · Heroin

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The Ragged Roses - Do Me Right.

Now, take 2 gallons of Wanda Jackson,2 Gallons of Etta James, a spoonful of Howlin' Wolf, a shot of Dick Dale, Add some Cramps and a pint of Nick Curran, mix that all up, shake it, stir it, and light it on fire. 

The result you get: The Ragged Roses!

The Ragged Roses combine the rock & roll spirit of the 1950's with the attitude of modern roots gunslingers.

It’s a new band, female fronted by Katrien, the embodiment of wild performing art, combining stunning vocals with stunning looks, being backboned by – you can call them although their relative young age and wild raging hearts - veterans of the Belgian roots scene. Watch out for that slapping, walking, gypsy swinging upright bass and lightning bolt guitars, surfing on a wave of groovy drums !

The Ragged Roses are now releasing their debut album “Do Me Right”, containing all self-written original songs and one cover of the great Del Shannon.

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The Shipbuilders - Forest Floor.

Ahead of the release of their debut album, ‘Spring Tide’, The Shipbuilders have announced the release of their latest single, “Forest Floor” via Mai 68 Records.

An eerie, psychedelic shuffle that brings to mind the freakier sides of Love and The Coral, ‘Forest Floor’ features a bass-led groove that descends into chaos with an extended outro made up of ghostly, wordless vocals, haunting harmonica and tumbling piano, all blown about by a storm of reverb-heavy guitars and relentless motorik drums.

Speaking of the track, lead singer Matty Loughlin-Day explains: “The song sings of an impending storm, prophesised by an old sage and queries whether there is hope left in the town or whether it’s best to return to the land and find safety. Ultimately, the hero of the song is trying to find his best to way to survive on the line between the smug and the damned”

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BSÍ - Cal Folger Day - Carmody - Cherry Blaster

Photo - Julie Sjöfn Gasiglia

BSÍ - Jelly Belly.

With soft and gauzy atmospherics countered by anxiety-inducing sprawls of melodic mastery, ‘Relax, blabla’ is another paradoxical release that comes in two parts. Arriving just in time for the heady nostalgia of a sun-baked summer, the two-sided release consists of two enticing new tracks: one bristling and upbeat, and the other more supine and slowed. 

Recorded and mixed by Árni Hjörvar (The Vaccines), the first and fastest of the two new cuts, “Jelly Belly”, plays out like a heartwarming group therapy session, with past pains and trudged up traumas meeting a 157 bpm outburst of agitation and infectious joy. With a sense of urgency driven by a fast-paced guitar line that threatens to run away with itself, overflowing background chatter mixed with injections of fuzzy feedback and a lucid approach to vocal delivery, the track evokes the intense bodily sensation that is triggered by deep-rooted and unshakeable memories of toxic relationships.

With playful rhythms masking a more sombre subject matter, the track comes complete with a prismatic official music video created by Icelandic filmmaker and TV director Ugla Hauksdóttir (The Power, Hanna, Snowfall, Trapped). Touching on the numbness that comes with covering up your own feelings in shame and the heavy burden of grappling with rigid gender roles and unhealthy peer pressure, the video sees its mishmash of characters search for, find and reinvent themselves in a warped wallpaper utopia. Of the video, Ugla explains:

“The music video for “Jelly Belly” is a playful ode to childhood, celebrating the freedom of self expression. It is a reminder for us not to take ourselves too seriously and instead remember to have fun.” Also reaching to the past to touch on painful memories, the release’s second, slower cut “New Moon” is more atmospheric and airy: boasting the duo’s genre-hopping breadth as soft acoustic guitar twangs meddle with almost whispered vocals and a sparse landscape of instrumentals that seem to fade away into nothingness.

Reflecting on memories of an estranged and isolated youth — and the feeling of being “the only blue-haired person in a schoolyard full of blondes” — the track is tinted with adolescent nostalgia as its whispered melodies drift by like a lone tumbleweed in a desolate stretch of desert.

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Cal Folger Day - Act 2.

to Cal Folger Day's first single and video for "Act 2" from her upcoming LP Piece-dye out on 06.03.22. "Act 2" introduces to Irene Nally - Day's documentary subject for Piece-dye and introduces us to Day's inverted world of idiosyncratic pop and folk music.

Piece-dye is an avant-pop journey through the lens of the documentarian's attention to detail. Lyrically, everything you hear are verbatim quotes from an interview Cal conducted with Irene Nally - a distant aunt and Irish immigrant. 

The interviews chronicle her experience arriving in New York City in the post-war boom and explores the unique set of intricacies, contradictions and ground-level observations of navigating the rapidly changing cultural climate of New York City labor. Musically omnivorous, each "Act" moves from bombastic to reverent, centering the narrative thrust of Irene's recollections (paying special attention to each nuance of speech) while Day's elastic and multi-disciplinary musical directions spread out from the center.

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Carmody - Moon.

London based singer, songwriter Carmody releases new track "Moon", lifted from her upcoming debut album Imperfect Constellations - out 6th July via Young Poet. "Moon" forms part of Constellation C – 3 tracks which hone in on the subject of family – including the previously released "Hurricane" and new track "Brother". The full Imperfect Constellations album will feature collaborations with Alfa Mist, Tom Misch, Conor Albert, and Laura Misch.

Carmody has long been using music as a way to uncover her subconscious, examining the complex web of relationships that surround her. Rich in detail and emotional substance, her music evokes the timelessness of Joni Mitchell and Joan Armatrading while nodding to the modern alt-folk of Laura Marling and Big Thief. In the face of memory and generational grief, Imperfect Constellations is split into four main parts (or 'Constellations') and draws on her own experiences of alternative therapy, entering a world of discovery and recognition.

Co-written with Rahm Silverglade (of altopalo) and co-produced with Avi Barath (Berwyn, Priya Ragu, Pa Salieu) and Calum Duncan (Alaskalaska, Rachel Chinouriri, Jones), new track "Moon" explores Carmody's relationship to Judaism - pairing lush finger-picked guitars with atmospheric electronics and soothing percussion.

Speaking on the release of new track "Moon", Carmody said: "My dad was brought up in the Jewish faith and my mum was born into Catholicism. I always felt as if I were between religions. Although I was not recognised as Jewish, I went to Friday night prayers and celebrated the festivals throughout my life. I spent time singing songs and praying in Hebrew, with no idea of their meaning, and I was exposed to a culture I was part of, whilst also being seen as an outsider. Judaism follows a lunar calendar, so the dates change every year and I use this notion to illustrate how Judaism is part of my identity, even though I don’t follow the same calendar. It was written with my friend, and fellow Jew, Rahm Silverglade. The lyrics came very easily as they seemed to encapsulate our shared experience of living in two worlds. The spoken word excerpt is from my Great Aunty Rahma, when I was in Israel I asked her to record a message for my grandfather and I thought it was so beautiful as it encompassed the song’s spirit.

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Cherry Blaster - I don't wanna.

Toronto’s Cherry Blaster pushes intimate bedroom pop musings into curious and full sonic dreamscapes. Brainchild of Iulia Ciobanu, Cherry Blaster was born out of a laptop synth project and has morphed alongside Iulia, growing in sound, scope and members. 

Currently a three-piece, the band explores longing and uncertainty while striking the perfect balance of closeness and detachment. Playful, with aggressive edges and an eccentric approach to rhythm, Cherry Blaster hints at the vocal stylings of Mitski while recalling Metric and St. Vincent at their earliest and most compelling. 

Yet their approach is innovative and fresh, shaking up and pushing past what is expected from indie song structure. Cherry Blaster is eagerly prepping new material with which to return to Toronto’s intimate and dynamic music scene.

Nicky Egan - Personal Space

Nicky Egan - This Life.

Yesterday Nicky Egan announced her new full-length This Life, out June 3rd via Transistor Sound/Colemine Records. The announcement comes with the album’s title track — “This song, for me, represents the journey that we experience going from life on this plane to the next, and the beautiful, heartbreaking, incredible transition in between,” Egan told Jazziz. Born and raised outside of Philadelphia and currently based in Los Angeles, Egan has performed all over the country fronting her own musical projects and performing as a hired-gun for Chicano Batman, Tune-Yards, Carla Morrison, Turkuaz, among others.

After graduating from Berklee College of Music with a degree in Contemporary Writing and Production, Egan spent 7 years in Brooklyn, her early years here spent touring as part of powerhouse funk ensemble Turkua. After squeezing into old vans and sleeping on floors on DIY tours with the band, she’d then return to the city to make extra cash nannying and waiting tables. After parting ways with Turkuaz to focus on her solo career, Egan independently released three of what she dubbed “digital 45’s,” premiering an A/B side each month, with a video attached to each A side, accompanied by a release show and live screening. These digital 45’s became a 7-song EP, The 45 Homestead Project, which was released via Ropeadope Records, garnering much praise from tastemakers like American Songwriter, Okayplayer and Performer Magazine.

While at a crossroads in her own project, during a time when she’d have to re-evaluate some tough relationships, Egan received a call from the manager of Los Angeles psych-soul staple, Chicano Batman, looking for a keyboardist and vocalist to join them on their Spring tour. Egan packed a few suitcases, a hat box, and relocated to LA. What was supposed to be a spring run turned into four years of Egan playing keys and singing as a touring member with the band, performing alongside the likes of Portugal The Man, Vampire Weekend, Jack White, and Khurangbin.

In between tour stretches, Nicky Egan has been stealthily plugging away with New York based producer and Dap-Kings guitarist, Joe Crispiano. Beginning with demos written and recorded in Joe’s Staten Island apartment while his neighbor banged on the ceiling, the project came to fruition as a full-length. The album was recorded in part with their friends at the inimitable Diamond Mine Studios, and partially in Dumbo, Brooklyn at an unnamed dungeon where the two spent one too many hours drinking double espressos, margaritas, and building vocal booth forts. Driven by honest confessional songwriting and influenced by your favorite classic soul sounds, the record was recorded to 8 track tape, and features a who’s who of NY’s most sought after players including Homer Steinweiss, Victor Axelrod, Brian Wolfe & Elizabeth Pupo-Walker, to name a few.

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Personal Space - Long Live The New Flesh.

Personal Space are sharing "Long Live the New Flesh," the 2nd single from their new EP, Still Life. It follows "Enron's Trip."

The Cronenberg-inspired single, according to the band is, "basically about how technology transforms the body, how it reshapes our desires, how it can be used as a tool of control, or — maybe, potentially? — liberation...It maps on to a theme of technology in the song, specifically the cycling from enchantment to horror with social media that I think is a pretty common experience for all of us, especially during the 2020 lockdown when we were all stuck at home for so long."

Brooklyn/DC-based Personal Space are a conundrum: indie without a scene, prog disdaining complexity, a dad band without dads. Their 2021 LP, A Lifetime of Lesuire, found the band fretting over downward mobility, preoccupied with ethically sourcing their groceries, and hoping, against hope, that humanity can still find its way to a very chill, socialist utopia.

Still Life is the natural progression as Personal Space grapples with lost connections in a pandemic, tech-bro hustlers and finding the joy in our whirring 2022 realities. The band will celebrate the EP with a release show w/ P.E. and Gold Dime at the Sultan Room on June 5th.

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Blunt Chunks - Chelsea Rose - Mise en Scene

Blunt Chunks - BWFW.

The Toronto-based project, Blunt Chunks, helmed by Caitlin Woelfle-O'Brien (Jaunt) has just shared its "BWFW", the latest to be lifted from the forthcoming debut EP, Blunt Chunks which is set for release on May 6, 2022, via Telephone Explosion Records. Featuring Scott Hardware and members of The Weather Station, Luna Li, Broken Social Scene, Hooded Fang and more, the new EP, which was announced with "Natural Actors" (tipped at Brooklyn Vegan, KCRW, CBC Radio, Exclaim and more) last month, grapples with the many functions of heartache, using music as a mechanism to memorialize the past and the first step to breaking a cycle of self-neglect.

Produced by David Plowman (The OBGMs, Islands) and Nathan Burley (Young Clancy), the EP harnesses a weightless style of guitar-driven pop where Woelfle-O’Brien blends spacious psychedelic country with the unignorable churn of 90s alternative rock. The result is a record deeply uncomfortable with secrets. Woelfle-O’Brien opts to honour — with a Dolly Parton-esque devotion to clarity — her motivations for past entanglements, both devastating and exalting. And yet, the EP rings with quiet optimism, steadfast in its search for the kind of love that’s attentive, honest, and transformative.

This new single signposts a change in Caitlin's approach to music switching out some of the intimate soounds for something a little heavier and more adjacent to the alt-rock tones that occasionally litter the EP. Speaking about the new single, she says: "I wrote this one while in Berlin in 2019. I was visiting a lover and he really made me feel unwanted. I ended up leaving his place and staying at a friend's warehouse art studio where I was much freer to create. I had gone out to Berghain and ran into his friends and ended up joining them at a concert... and I was secretly doing drugs in the bathroom alone because I felt so out-of-place and insecure. That was a “teetering on the edge of mental-breakdown” kind of night."

"I wrote the song the next day in the warehouse with all that anger and sadness. Originally the song was much more grungy and Nirvana-esque on a de-tuned open tuning, but as we produced it we drew on the Avril Lavigne vibes. This was a really fun, epic recording process. It’s an obvious SMASH lol, so we were all really excited to get our pop-punk dreams fulfilled and just go all out. Vocals are from the studio demo because I happened to have a strong vocal day so we just kept those. I wrote the second verse on the spot the day we recorded the demo, as originally it was just one verse."

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Chelsea Rose - Down The Street.

Truth or Consequences, the debut album from L.A. artist Chelsea Rose, is a sophisticated pop record with a timeless sound touching on bossa nova, jazz, and 60s pop, with deep lyrical introspection reminiscent of the classic 70s singer-songwriter canon.

Rose spent her twenties fronting sunshine pop group Summer Twins with her sister Justine (Easy Love), releasing two full-length LPs and touring as far afield as Japan and Brazil before abruptly coming to an end when a pipe burst in her home studio the night before the band’s final show, flooding the room filled with instruments and other gear. But rather than giving up on music, Rose took this as a sign from the universe that it was time to move on.

“I feel like Summer Twins was a younger version of me,” she says. “This record is like an older version that has been through a little more, been through a lot of heartbreak and facing the reality of growing up, and living in LA and struggling with making a living being an artist, and keeping that dream alive.”

Rose has created a collection of songs that feel sunny and familiar, but still brim with a worldly, authentic sensibility. Throughout the pandemic, Rose learned a lesson in patience, taking the time to ensure that every track on Truth or Consequences was a true reflection of her artistic vision and the hard-won confidence that comes from committing fully to it.

The message of Truth or Consequences is right there in the title—take a chance and live your truth, or bear the consequences…and so it is on the buoyant “Let Go,” where Rose offers counsel to anyone struggling to believe in their own dreams: “Reach out your hand/ It’s yours to have.”

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Mise en Scene - Nicer.

Winnipeg’s Mise en Scene share “Nicer”, their first new music since their 2020 LP Winnipeg, California. The single perfectly captures the essence of Stef Blondal Johnson and Jodi Dunlop’s sound – sun-drenched alt-rock with an enviable chemistry and effortless hooks.

“This song was born out of turbulent times,” explains Stef. “It is about being stuck in a relationship low-point where you are always fighting, you can’t get on the same page or see eye to eye, and you just wish you could both be a little nicer to each other. You wish you could find that love again so that you can get past this hard time. “

“On a larger scale,” continues Stef, “I feel this song is relatable to today’s social climate. We are coming back into the world after years of being locked up and we are impatient with each other, we have been cruel to each other. We need to find the energy within our exhaustion to be nicer to each other, we all know we need it.”

“Nicer” was produced byJohn Paul Peters (Begonia, Comeback Kid) at his studio, Private Ear Recording. The accompanying lyric video features Jodi and Stef’s 3-month-old puppies. In the video the pair are seen learning how to play with each other without hurting each other on Lake Winnipeg as a metaphor for the song’s lead line “Could you be a little nicer to me”.

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