Night Court - Katrina Burgoyne - Bad Pelicans - Nikki Lane

Night Court - Surfin' Iona.

"Surfin' Iona" is the third video from Night Court's second album - "Nervous Birds Too." A tongue-in-cheek, surf-punk ear worm featuring lead vocals by Emilor to make it sound more like the B-52’s. Shot on location in cloudy Richmond, British Columbia!

Vancouver power trio Night Court was born during the great lockdown 2020 with lifelong friends Jiffy and Dave emailing each other song ideas. Using Jiffy’s old Tascam 4-track and stolen recording software, they guerilla recorded what would become Night Court’s earworm-riddled debut duology – Nervous Birds! One and Too. 

The addition of Emilor on drums perfected the band, and conditions were now optimal for Night Court to release itself upon the world of rock. Drawing from a wide pool of influences – “kind of indie rock-ish at times, catchy yet dripping, with feedback in all the right places.” (Ty Stranglehold, Razorcake) – the band’s only concern is to play delightfully sick melodies through stupid ripping guitars, disgusting fuzzed-out bass, and bombastic beats on borrowed and broken drums. Night Court demands attention, but long attention spans are not required.

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Katrina Burgoyne - I Wanna Get Away With You.

Country artist Katrina Burgoyne, all the way from Australia, released a music video inspired by her and her now-husband's love story.

Australia native Katrina Burgoyne’s latest single “I Wanna Get Away With You” is the perfect summer love song with an accompanying music video that captures every moment of a spontaneous romance. Set against a backdrop of lush green and sweet dates around town, Burgoyne and her band jam out to the guitar-heavy verses that complement the singer’s crisp vocals. The palpable chemistry between the two lovebirds makes for an experience that is immersive amidst shots of the band illustrating the excitement of true love. As viewers get out into the world and open their hearts to new experiences, “I Wanna Get Away With You” is masterfully created to usher them in.

With a goal to become the first Australian female artist to make an impact on American Country Music in the last three decades. Katrina Burgoyne moved to Nashville in 2017 with just three suitcases, a guitar, and her little Aussie battler spirit. Since releasing her debut album in 2011, Katrina has secured four top 10 singles, a top 10 ARIA charting album, and two CMAA nominations. As a songwriter, Katrina has collected indie and major label cuts across three continents (North America, Australia, and UK) and four countries (Australia, New Zealand, the USA, and Ireland).

Katrina has seen her songs top the iTunes Charts in New Zealand & Australia. Additionally, topping the mainstream Shazam charts in Northern Ireland and gaining a feature on Fresh Country and New Nashville Spotify playlists & Today's Country Apple Music playlist.

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Bad Pelicans - Paris.

The constant Full Chorus on top of a distorted bass, along with a martyrized snare and guitar riff plucked with the thunderbolts of Zeus present the restless trio of the Bad Pelicans as a V12 powered machine blazing full throttle in the the night with condemned break pedals.

Redirecting the Svrf Pvnk from their first records towards a savage, menacing avant-garde artrock, the band decided to ditch all the codes and protocoles of the punk scene where they grew and revives the flame of Nirvana's "Bleach" with their new record "Eternal Life Now" recorded in Seattle with Dylan Wall, coming out late 2022 on Géographie Recs.

The radical nihilism of the Bad Pelicans, exposed live through (litteraly) incinerating performaces, apparently isn't the band's only tour de force. From underneath the rumbling detonations and layers of feedback emerges a sincere display of delicacy and true songwriting talent.

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Nikki Lane - First High.

Nikki Lane will return with her anticipated fourth album Denim & Diamonds on September 23rd via New West Records. The 10-song project was produced and mixed by Joshua Homme at his Pink Duck Studios in Burbank, CA and is Lane’s first album in five years.

The recordings boast a diverse range of players thoughtfully tailored by Homme to nudge Lane further into the rock and roll space. The All-Star band includes Homme, as well as his Queens of the Stone Age collaborators Alain Johannes on guitar, Dean Fertita on organ & Michael Shuman on bass. Additionally, the album features drummers Matt Helders of Arctic Monkeys, Carla Azar of the acclaimed post-punk band Autolux (and frequent Jack White collaborator), and Lane’s pedal steel player Matthew Pynn (Dwight Yoakum, Miley Cyrus). 

Nikki Lane has also shared the video for the album’s lead off track, “First High.” The video was directed by Jocelyn Cooper and shot in North Fork, CA. Says Lane of the track, “This song is about chasing that feeling of the first roller coaster, the first drag of a cigarette, that first kiss. Those moments are harder to come by the older we get, yet only get better each time. The video captures that feeling of being young in a small town on a summer day, and the lack of inhibition that came with it”

Lane is the first to recognize how long of a gap five years is in the music world, but she credits the time away as allowing her to write the most reflective work of her catalog. “There is a song that didn’t make the album with the lyrics ‘sometimes you gotta run away to live a life that you can write a song about.’ Prior to this album, I was so focused on writing about life on the road, that I just didn’t have the headspace to write about the road that got me here,” Lane says. The result is Denim & Diamonds, a wild and heavy journey into the mind of one of today’s most gifted songwriters.

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Alex Amor - The Hengles - Wy - Carmody

Photo - Harvey Pearson

Alex Amor - Colour Me.

Up-and-coming London-based, Glaswegian indie-pop artist Alex Amor releases her new single "Colour Me" on UK Indie label Young Poet. Fresh off the road after supporting Thomas Headon on his recent UK tour, Alex Amor teamed up with Mack Jamieson and Gianluca Buccellati who produced “Colour Me”, the latter known for his work on Arlo Parks' Grammy-nominated album Collapsed In Sunbeams.

Glowing with star quality, Alex Amor finds a delicate balance between indie and dreamlike alt-pop as she gracefully describes the arrival of a special person using a lyrical pallet awash with colour: "Pocket full of sunshine / Need shades to see her / Golden in the day time".

Speaking on the release of “Colour Me”, Alex Amor said: "When you’re in a dark place, life can seem grey, monotonous and stale. But sometimes, all it takes is for one person to come crashing into your life for the world to come back in blazing colour. Falling in love makes the leaves turn greener, the sky bolder and the sun shine brighter. It’s like you’re viewing the world through a saturated lens, where the boring parts of life become not only bearable but enjoyable again with this person by your side."

Hailing from suburban Glasgow, Alex Amor takes an uncompromisingly direct and emotionally honest approach to songwriting, marrying together an alt-pop aesthetic with biographical accounts of her experiences growing up; combining the sincerity of Billie Marten, the versatility of Phoebe Bridgers and the pop sensibilities of Olivia Dean.

Alex’s debut EP ‘Love Language’ released in 2021 has been streamed over 1.5 million times and received widespread support from Spotify, Apple Music, BBC Radio 1 (Jack Saunders, Annie Mac, Sian Eleri), BBC Scotland, BBC Introducing, The Line Of Best Fit, CLASH, Notion, The Sunday Mail and The Scotsman. 2022 has already seen Alex play The Great Escape and Road To The Great Escape showcases, following previous appearances at Dot To Dot Festival and a UK tour with Thomas Headon.

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The Hengles - Flowers In The Rain.

Summer is coming! The Hengles give you their new single Flowers In The Rain. Many of us will cherish those vivid memories of a long-gone childhood, when life seemed simple and the music was good. Flowers In The Rain brings you back to the days when you were just listening to the radio and enjoying the summer breeze that seemed to go on and on forever. Of course, it didn’t, but those happy days will stay with you for a lifetime.

The Hengles were asked to write a song for ‘The Floral Album’ art exhibition this year. That song became Flowers In The Rain. There are of course many Flowers In The Rain to be picked, but don’t worry, you just can’t go wrong here, because everything will be all right! 

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

The distinguished gentlemen of The Hengles started in 2015 as a 100% cover band. After signing to Dutch digital label TCBYML (January 2019), the band made the transition to recording self-penned music only. Influenced by more than 60 years of British and American pop music, The Hengles manage to blend this into their own style and give proof of their skill in writing and recording melodic, catchy pop songs with a twist.

TCBYML · The Hengles - Flowers In The Rain

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Wy - High Score.

Wy are a band strongest at their most vulnerable. The Malmö indie duo, Ebba and Michel Gustafsson Ågren, have showcased their musical skills across three albums, 2017’s Okay, 2019’s Softie and 2021’s Marriage which gained them recognition from KEXP, Line of Best Fit, NBHAP, Tonspion, CLASH and more as well as tours in Germany, Scandinavia and the UK. But what makes them stand out as a band is the raw, brutal emotion they capture in their music. A Wy song at their best sounds like opening it all up, and letting the feelings flow where they will, letting the pain, anger, fear, hope and love steer the song. Those emotions are spun into the band’s skyscaping, cinematic sound, and turned into music that has a force behind it, a power that hits you, even when it's at its softest. High Score is the second song from new EP Something Amazing which is out on all platforms and a limited CD including a six page booklet (which also includes Marriage) on June 17th.

High Score "expresses some sort of catharsis. Letting go of that control and letting things be the way they are. It’s a message for everyone who, like the both of us, have been struggling all their life to conform and fit in."

Something Amazing picks up where Marriage left off, exploring dramatic life changes, including the experience of knowing that there soon will be a third person in the family. It is the second release since signing to Rama Lama Records (Melby, Steve Buscemi's Dreamy Eyes, Chez Ali etc.) and continues the path from last years Marriage, leaving the more produced style of second album Softie behind, it turns to the simpler sound of their earlier work for music that’s rawer and sharper.

The duo describes it as being about “the light at the end of the tunnel. About narrowing your circle and focusing your gaze on what is important - the people close to you. About a door, opening wide into a completely new life, with entirely new challenges and overwhelming beauty. ”

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Carmody - Trespasser.

London based singer/songwriter Carmody has released her new single "Trespasser", the latest taster of upcoming debut album Imperfect Constellations out 6th July via Young Poet, which will feature collaborations with artists including 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 and produced by Young Poet label-mate Conor Albert, "Trespasser" merges captivating folk songwriting with modern production flourishes to stunning effect; written about relationships that leave a lasting imprint on you: "I can’t forgive my mind / summons you at night"

Speaking more on the lyrical meaning behind the track, Carmody said: "It’s about the frustration you feel when your body still remembers, despite the passing of time. Even if you would like to forget them, there is always a constant pull towards their memory. I took this track to Conor Albert who produced it and added some beautiful piano lines that really brought the track to life."

Carmody's debut album Imperfect Constellations follows Carmody's previously released EPs: 2020's 'My Jupiter', 2019's 'Catching Blue', 2018's 'Five Kinds Of Loveless', debut solo EP 'Skin' in 2016 and her 2014 collaborative EP 'Out to Sea' with Tom Misch – accumulating over 70 million streams along the way, securing strong press (Notion Magazine, Clash Magazine, The Line Of Best Fit, Dummy, LISTEN Magazine + more), radio airplay from BBC R1 (Jack Saunders, Sian Eleri), 6Music and BBC R2, alongside huge support from Spotify and Apple Music.

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Tuomo & Markus - Shaye - King Size Dub 25

Tuomo & Markus - Wishful Information.

Following on from the release of their stunning debut album ‘Dead Circles’ in 2018, which helped propel the duo around the world with their rich and breezy aesthetic, Finnish outfit Tuomo & Markus return once again to deliver their newly unveiled offering ‘Wishful Information’.

Throughout their tenure, the pair have always looked to bridge the gap between psychedelic and folk-inspired soundscapes, and ‘Wishful Information’ looks to become their most alluring release to date. With a new album set to arrive later this year, their latest gem explores a warm and inviting atmosphere that sees them deliver a truly captivating and spacey delight. Rolling Stone critic David Fricke describes their recent effort as the sound of psychedelic Helsinki blowing through LA’s Laurel Canyon.

‘Wishful Information’ was tracked at Jonathan Wilson’s Fivestar Studios in Los Angeles. The song’s captivating lyrics couldn’t be more topical now, portraying an age of disinformation and confirmation bias where our feelings get manipulated, our fears reorientated, and our brains intoxicated.

Tuomo & Markus are a new musical project from acclaimed Finnish soul/jazz artist Tuomo Prättälä and singer/songwriter Markus Nordenstreng of The Latebirds. The duo’s music has been described as Nordic Americana and indie-folk with distinct jazz, soul and prog-rock influences. Their haunting harmonies complement each other much like in the cases of Simon & Garfunkel or Crosby Stills Nash.

Tuomo & Markus recorded their debut album ‘Dead Circles’ in Tucson AZ. The spontaneous sessions at Wavelab Studios featured many high profile guests, including various members of Wilco, Calexico and The Jayhawks.

Tuomo & Markus · 2 Wishful Information

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Shaye - Silver Civic.

From the band - We’re Kim Stockwood, Damhnait Doyle, and Tara MacLean. In 2002 at the urging of then EMI President, Deane Cameron, we came together to form Shaye. We then went on to release two records, win numerous awards, and receive crazy amounts of airplay. While the band broke up in 2017, the friendship that drew us together to form Shaye has not waned.

We wanted to record a song to mark the 20th anniversary of the band. We spent weeks listening to dozens of amazing Canadian songs. Finding consensus is never easy with a band but one day while we were on Zoom, reviewing our shortlist yet again, Damhnait looked out her window and saw Charlotte Cornfield walking down the street.

The universe sealed the deal. Charlotte’s “Silver Civic” spoke to us equally and we wish we wrote it. That heartbreak where you see the person you love everywhere, in everything. We wanted to take people on that journey of loss and longing with us. Now every car we see is a silver civic!



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King Size Dub 25 - Various Artists (Album). 

The music suggests sunshine and sound systems, hot sand, and cool drinks, the bass shuffles calmly but also provocatively rebellious. Dub is the art of the disk jockey they first raised to stardom in Jamaica. In the fifties, there were music mobiles, the "sound systems", the replacement for missing radio stations. 

The DJs, who were concerned about exclusivity, soon recorded their hit singles themselves, with instrumental backing for jokes and announcements. At the end of the sixties, this dub became independent due to technical progress. King Tubby and Lee "Scratch" Perry played with reverb, echo, and retrograde tapes. Dub broke away from Jamaica and went to New York or London, where his militancy goes well with punk.

There is a dub series that has been causing a sensation for years, and has been since the release of "KING SIZE DUB 1" (back then in cooperation with the cult magazine SPEX) in 1994! In the series there were always trips to obscure counting (Vol.69) and specials about certain regions (Dub In Germany), labels (ON-U Sound Records from London) or bands (Dubmatix from Toronto)! 

It's wonderful that with KSD 25, another compilation in the series presents Dub as a multi-layered art of sound mixing. In this edition, Echo Beach friends old and new dub each other or present their own versions of pop and reggae hits by the likes of the Ramones, Bob Marley, Blondie, Robert Palmer and David Bowie.

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Flower Face - The Inflorescence

Flower Face - The Shark In Your Water (Album).

Montreal multi-hyphenate artist Ruby McKinnon aka Flower Face, shares her artfully crafted new album, The Shark In Your Water, via Nettwerk. The ten-song collection is a devastatingly beautiful exploration of when “love becomes an obsession.” McKinnon shares stories of heartbreaking intimacy, working through traumas of love, and the constant struggle of self-identity.

After finding a fanbase online through DIY releases Baby Teeth (2018) and Fever Dreams (2017), Flower Face has established herself as an artist to watch, receiving rave reviews from Alt-Press, American Songwriter, Ones to Watch, FLAUNT, Under the Radar, and more. In addition, she performed to captivated crowds on an east coast run supporting SYML as part of his Sacred Spaces Tour.

A multi-hyphenate artist, Ruby McKinnon creates melancholic folk music with a bedroom pop heart under the moniker Flower Face. Taking inspiration from her own vertiginous life experiences, alongside such varied sources as Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events, Jesus Christ Superstar, the oeuvre of Mads Mikkelsen and her dog Ziggy, Flower Face’s musical testimonials recall the jagged emotion of Bright Eyes while conjuring the ethereal ecstasy of a fresh wound.

Classically trained in piano since the age of 5, McKinnon began writing her own music at 14. Encouraged by her music-obsessed parents, she formed Flower Face in true D.I.Y. style: recording her independent debut, Fever Dreams, almost exclusively on her dad’s GarageBand app. Teeming with acoustic heartbreak hymns, it didn’t take long for the album to find space on bedroom playlists alongside The National, Daughter, Big Thief, and Mazzy Star.

Flower Face · The Shark in Your Water

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The Inflorescence - Board Game.

Thank San Diego for giving us Iron Butterfly, Blink-182 & Stone Temple Pilots but it’s got another distinction now. In 2019, a group of wise-beyond-their-years SD teens, singer/guitarist Tuesday Denekas (they/them), drummer Milla Merlini (she/her) and bassist Sasha A’Hearn (she/her), rose like punk-pop phoenix’s from the ashes of their previous band to corral guitarist/singer Charlee Berlin (who owned but didn’t know how to play her instrument at first) to resurrect Denekas’ songs of heartbreak and determination, starting out as the Fluorescents with 2020’s noteworthy ‘self-titled’ EP.

Proudly christening themselves The Inflorescence, the band found the right home with Kill Rock Stars to unleash their debut LP Remember What I Look Like (due Summer of 2022). The group faces challenges like juggling high school and college classes, finding all-age venues in town to play and rejecting gender labels as they explain: “in a largely male-dominated industry, we see how undermined we are for being a no-man band, and we see how being on stage empowers alternative girls and non-binary people.”

The stunning debut LP Remember What I Look Like, out June 10 on Kill Rock Stars, was conceived during quarantine and draws on the band’s inspirations, including indie, punk, emo, grunge and alternative.  Tuesday Denekas’s songs of shattered, disappointed romance sound triumphant in these infectious songs that are propelled by Milla Merlini’s thunderous drums, Sasha A’Hearn’s steady, anchoring bass and Charlee Berlin’s stinging guitar leads.

The confident nine-song album has zero dull spots or wasted songs. Starting with the sinuous, fast-paced “Phantom Feelings” and the resilient, stomping “So Much of Nothing” to the start/stop drama of “Are You Sorry” and the deceptively sweet, bouncy “Last Week” and the hair-pin turns and resilient defiance of “The Truth” to the brief respite from the title track which launches into the epic, gripping “Tomorrow Night” and the desperate grunge power of “The Button,” finishing off with the roaring climax of “Board Game,” it’s a rollercoaster ride of thrills and anguish to strap in for.

"Board Game" is probably the most desperate song on the album. At this time in my life I felt very manipulated, like I wasn’t being myself anymore and that the people I surrounded myself with didn’t really care about me at all. I felt like I was just a piece of someone else's puzzle, not my own. Instrumentally and structurally I took a lot of inspiration from the song “Your Best American Girl” by Mitski because of how powerful the instruments sounded. The final line, “I don’t know why but I can’t recognize you anymore.” feels like the perfect way to end this album and ties with the album name, Remember What I Look Like.

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Rosanne Baker Thornley - Sarah Klang - The Minks - Bealby Point

Rosanne Baker Thornley - Because Of Me.

Based in Toronto, Rosanne Baker Thornley is an internationally recognized, award-winning singer/ songwriter who writes with an impressive and growing number of international emerging and established artists. RBT has been evolving and expanding her relationship with music (and writing) for quite some time. With her new album, Sorry I'm Late, to be released September 2022, she further delves into her craft, cultivating songs from an intensely personal space.

Like all the songs on Sorry I'm Late, new single "Because of Me," is inspired by personal experience. This song is about someone who always arrived tangled, who willingly succumbed to a vulnerable version of themselves, and who left less tangled. 

It's about changing that someone to their benefit and how those changes in them, while to the betterment of others in their life, challenges those same people. It's about the realization and the risk to the person who is the impetus to their changing – and to the realization they're working against themselves. That every heartfelt moment shared can't change the inevitable outcome.

Rosanne Baker Thornley (RBT) · BECAUSE OF ME

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Sarah Klang - Belly Shots.

Gothenburg-based artist Sarah Klang returns with a lush new single ‘Belly Shots’ and a full Scandinavian tour. The release follows Klang’s third album ‘Virgo’ (May 2021) which recently saw Klang win her second Swedish Grammy, this time in the ‘Best Alternative Pop’ category, and her UK tour earlier this year which included a sold-out Bush Hall, London show.

Klang’s vintage alt-pop is born out of a love of a good old-fashioned ballad, blended with classic ‘60s and ‘70s pop influences, Americana-tinged guitars, country music’s luxurious hues - most mesmerising in her distinctive whispery twang - and an indefinable helping of Scandi charm.

Pouring her life experiences into every line of her songs, from heartbreak to motherhood, Klang says of new single “Belly Shots is about leaving your 20’s behind. A very much overrated time in your life, it turned out.”

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The Minks - Take It Easy.

The Minks are set to release their newest single, Take It Easy, on May 27th, 2022. This new song was recorded live by John Meehan in a cabin in the woods during the fall of 2021. It was recorded in a mobile studio that John built called Sundial Sound. It will be on a compilation being released in the summer under that same name. 

It features many other Nashville artists such as Chrome Pony, Hans Condor, and Bee Taylor. 10% of the profits from the compilation will go to Nashville’s W.O. Smith school, which gives music instruction and instruments to children from low-income families. Take It Easy was written about finding some peace amongst the chaos. It’s a breath of fresh air that takes you on a psychedelic trip to better days. 

Accompanying the release is a music video that was directed, filmed, and edited by The Minks themselves. It’s a surrealistic, hazy moving picture of silly moments on a sunny day out in the woods of Ashland City.

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Bealby Point - Try My Best.

From the band - When someone tells you "I'll try my best," it rarely means they'll actually try their best.

Even if the intention is true, when does one really ever try their best?

What's the best someone can do?

"Try My Best" is inspired by empty promises. The phrase is seldom actualized, but rather used as a Get Out of Jail Free card or sarcastic remark.

Our song plays with the theme of unrealized potential and being true to one's self.

What can we achieve when we truly put our mind and heart into something?

Somehow what I say right now, will make it up to you somehow. I'll try my best.

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Why Bonnie - Bob Marston & the Credible Sources - Pet Deaths

Why Bonnie - 90 In November.

New-York-by-way-of-Texas transplants Why Bonnie announce their debut album 90 in November out August 19th via their new label Keeled Scales, and share the title track and an accompanying video. “90 in November” is a sunny guitar pop song about lead singer and songwriter Blair Howerton’s hometown of Houston, packed full of sparkling snapshots—”a technicolor sun” and “a cardboard cutout cowboy waving me goodbye.” “I wanted to capture the bittersweet feeling of saying goodbye to the landscape that shaped you while still dealing with the anxieties of what lies ahead,” says Howerton.  “Nostalgia always hits with a flash of disjointed memories - like speeding down the highway or sweating in the Texas heat.” The self-directed video captures this feeling.

Following their 2020 Voice Box EP, 90 in November crashes into existence with a squeal of feedback and a burst of distorted guitar. Inspired by fellow Texans Townes Van Zandt, Blaze Foley, alt-rock like the Lemonheads and the Replacements, the eccentric pop of Sparklehorse, and Sheryl Crow, the album is a dynamic introduction to an evolutionized Why Bonnie. 90 in November is a meditation on the pains and pleasures of nostalgia and a lesson in learning how to look back at the people, places, and experiences that have shaped us, with room for both unvarnished honesty and rose-tinted melancholy.

The songs for 90 in November were mostly written in Brooklyn, where Howerton moved from Austin in 2019. Already in the midst of a major life change, her feeling of being between worlds was compounded when quarantine hit and she found herself, like so many others, stuck in her apartment—about as far away from the wide-open spaces of Texas as one can possibly get. It was in this environment that she began to write songs parsing out the complicated, mixed emotions associated with building a new home while attempting to make sense of the one she had left behind.

There’s a deep sense of place across 90 in November. The band—Howerton, keyboardist Kendall Powell, guitarist Sam Houdek, bassist Chance Williams, and drummer Josh Malett—considered making the record in New York or California, but ultimately decided that it had to be done in Texas. In early 2020, Why Bonnie headed down to the town of Silsbee (population: 6,634) to spend two weeks recording with Tommy Read (Lomelda) at Lazybones Audio. Howerton describes it as an idyllic period of time where days were spent walking around with cows and evenings drinking Lone Star beer and looking at the stars.

90 in November is a trip through Howerton’s inner world, but it’s also a road trip through Texas. Often it is both at once. The songs are full of poetic, cinematic lyrics that flash like colorful scenes glimpsed from the window of a car as it barrels along an interstate highway cutting through the Lone Star State, each one a road stop revealing a different facet of Howerton’s experience. The album is a dynamic introduction to a more raw-edged indie sound from a band who have matured from bedroom dream pop into a sophisticated rock act, their evolving sound a reflection of the journey undertaken by Howerton on this vividly rendered collection of songs.

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Bob Marston & the Credible Sources - Lyin' Eyes.

Birmingham, Alabama, Bob Marston & the Credible Sources, will released their new single, "Lyin' Eyes," yesterday. "Lyin' Eyes" is from the band's forthcoming debut LP So Long, set for release on June 3rd. The song features Matt Slocum (Allman Brothers, Susan Tedeschi, Widespread Panic) on keys, and St. Paul & The Broken Bones' horn section!

Bob wrote the song one summer when he was working a migrant farm job. His job? De-tasseling corn. For 12 hours a day.

After those long days working in the cornfields, the 40-person crew would party hard when nighttime came. Bob developed feelings for a crewmate, hoping to become her "corn boyfriend" (which consistently makes me laugh)--feelings that were not returned--and working with her for 12 hours a day every day definitely stung. As a songwriter does when his heart is broken, Bob developed a narrative with a vintage R&B vibe about a love interest who wasn't very sincere in her flirtations. "That’s the thing about unrequited love...it is so neat and tidy because it never actually existed," he says.

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Pet Deaths - Unhappy Ending (Album).

London based duo Pet Deaths today release their second album 'unhappy ending' via Silver Mind Records. The album follows two previously released singles "all the things you said you were (i don’t believe in ghosts)" and "swingtime", and is the follow up the band's acclaimed debut album To the Top of the Hill and Roll... - released in 2019.

An album to be both explored and sat with; in an age of dull disconnection and constant refreshing, unhappy ending, Pet Deaths' second full-length effort was deliberately and acutely considered to be a journey of its own; nine new songs but one whole immersive piece for the listener to climb inside, in the quiet of reflection, in the sobering commute to and from.

Following on from the sparkling celestial folk of the band's 2019 debut To the Top of the Hill, unhappy ending is the next step in Pet Deaths’ somewhat remarkable journey. The pair met accidentally when Liam Karima was sitting on his doorstep feeling deflated late one night, before he noticed a “heavy Geordie accent strutting down the grove, smoking and whistling the guitar lick from Sultans Of Swing”. Graeme Martin and appeared from the shadows and the pair quickly realised that they’d known each other years earlier when they’d both played on the pub circuit. They caught up on each other’s lives, sharing stories from the old days, and by the time the birds started singing they were making drone noises and poetry together – and Pet Deaths was born.

Setting out to make their new album, the band had one question in the forefront of their collective mind: Is life an unhappy ending, or do we become part of a bigger movement to more positive things? Across the album’s nine tracks, this conundrum is explored in many and meaningful ways, their subtle take on melancholic folk-pop conjuring a bewitching atmosphere that hangs over every inch of the album. “We were powering through the entire back catalog of Twin Peaks at the time of recording,” Liam says of that side of the album’s sound. “I think that played a big influence in the surreal parts of the record.”

unhappy ending became a labour of love for Pet Deaths, many of the songs initially written during the same sessions that sparked their debut album. Initially, the band’s original concept for the record was to have a wild string arrangement running throughout, like a Disney film with a touch of Scott Walker, but as time went by it evolved into the free-jazz-rock art piece that we hear today.

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Lawn - Keep Shelly in Athens - Brooke Annibale - Dubmatix Meets Future Dub Orchestra

Lawn - Night Life.

Last month Lawn announced Bigger Sprout, their new record which is due out July 15th on Born Yesterday, the up and coming Chicago label that is home to bands like Moontype, Cafe Racer and Caution. Written, rehearsed, and recorded under a month-long period, Bigger Sprout explores a feeling of urgency as a theme and a catalyst: urgency to get out of uncomfortable situations, urgency to take relationships more seriously, urgency to work on themselves, urgency to play shows again, urgency to record, urgency to start a family, urgency to make plans and leave old settings behind, urgency to grow up and become more in tune to your surroundings, urgency to quit old habits and pick up new ones. The EP, co-written with former drummer Hunter Keene, is a document that embodies the anxieties of change, for better or worse. Now the band are sharing a second single from the record, a track called "Night Life".

Lawn's Mac Folger and Rui DeMagalhaes share lead vocal duties in the band, and while the jangly and melancholic first single "Down" was sung by Folger, DeMagalhaes takes center stage for "Night Life", a more wirey, punky track (with drums performed by Hunter Keene) that was based on an encounter with a former Todd Rundgren crew member in a DC bar.

"I was at a bar in DC shortly before the pandemic started when I met this washed up dude who said he had been a live tech for Todd Rundgren," DeMagalhaes explains. "A few drinks in, he went on a tirade against what he perceived as “weak manners” among millennials and Gen Z musicians, saying that we’ve gotten lazy and soft. He offered to show me around his favorite dives, saying that he was in aa constant search of the night life. The song is written from the perspective of a character loosely based on him, a Don Quixote-like figured who has overstayed his welcome but is oblivious to this.

"On an added note, he complained that Rundgren fired him for being a booze hound and an overall liability. He still seemed pretty resentful about losing the gig, but also played in a Rundgren cover band around the area. To be honest, I don’t know how truthful this man was, but I suppose it does not matter."

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Keep Shelly in Athens - White Rose.

Keep Shelly In Athens pays tribute to groups that fought against the Nazis during WWII on a pair of new songs. "White Rose" is the first of these and will be released on May 27.

"The White Rose was a non-violent, intellectual resistance group in Nazi Germany. Their activities started in Munich on June 27, 1942. The group conducted an anonymous leaflet and graffiti campaign that called for active opposition to the Nazi regime. The core members of the group who carried on distributing the pamphlets, faced show trials by the Nazi People's Court (Volksgerichtshof) and were executed by guillotine four days after their arrest, on February 22, 1943."

The ethereal and swirling sounds of Greece’s Keep Shelly in Athens capture the transient feelings of city life and the inevitable passing of time. With lush melodic beats and dreamy vocals Keep Shelly’s production is an accessible and lighthearted entry into the world of down-tempo electronica.
With previous releases on labels including Forest Family Records, Transparent Records, Planet Mu, Cascine and Friends of Friends, the duo have already transported their whimsical arrangements and soothing productions across the globe, including performances at Coachella Festival, Parklife Festival, Brighton’s The Great Escape Festival, etc. In addition to their own releases they have also done official remixes for Tycho (Ghostly International), Blood Diamonds (4AD), Steve Mason (Domino) and many more…

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Brooke Annibale - 5 AM.

Indie singer/songwriter Brooke Annibale announces a new single called “5 AM.” The latest peek at her forthcoming album, “5 AM” is a slow-burning, ethereal song inspired by long conversations that stretch into the early morning hours and the first blush of new love. "5 AM" is available everywhere this Friday, May 27.

“It’s completely about falling in love with my wife,” stated Brooke. “It's when we realized, ‘I think that we might like each other a little bit, that we would stay up this late talking. It's the journey of falling in love. The first verse was basically me envisioning, what would our wedding day be like? And what do I want on that day? I was like, I wanna dance. I wanna cry. I wanna laugh. It sounds kind of corny, but those are all things that ended up being very true on our wedding day.”

“5 AM” follows the release of “What If You,” the first single off her upcoming album debut with Nettwerk Music Group. A lush and dreamy track, “What If You” serves as the perfect introduction to her evolving sound as she digs into the mixed emotions and gentle balance of maintaining her music career while acknowledging the complicated nature of new love. FLOOD called it “immediately catchy” while Brooklyn Vegan described it as “a dreamy, folky song that kinda feels like the middle ground between Weyes Blood and Beach House.”

Brooke's expressive and beautifully thoughtful songwriting creates a dreamy and enticing sonic landscape. She has been a favorite among music supervisors and featured in such media as Stereogum, Wall Street Journal, Billboard, NPR/World Café, Consequence, Paste, Under The Radar, American Songwriter and more. She has also shared the stage with artists like Mt. Joy, Iron & Wine, Lucius, and Rufus Wainwright. She joins Nettwerk’s expanding label roster, which also includes artists like Old Sea Brigade, Bre Kennedy, SYML, Luke Sital-Singh, Aisha Badru, Wild Rivers and more.

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Dubmatix Meets Future Dub Orchestra - Heavy Stepper.

The sound of Future Dub Orchestra meets Dubmatix is a hybrid of “Cinematic Electronica” and “Leftfield Chill" deeply rooted in Dub, merging into lush vibes, low-end love, and atmospheric layers.

Initiated by J.T. Clarke of FDO (Future Dub Orchestra) when he approached Dubmatix about doing a collaboration of two songs turned into an E.P. with accompanying dub versions. Dub On Dub

The “Innerblues” of Bristol (Future Dub Orchestra) meets the “frontline dub” of Toronto (Dubmatix) in a very exciting and upgraded sound experience.

A delectable showcase full of versions, vibrations and vocal mutations, madness and method, drum and bass, roots and future II.

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Pale Blue Eyes - Lucigenic

Pale Blue Eyes - Globe.

Pale Blue Eyes’ excelsior modernist pop music is rooted in Devon and Sheffield. The group’s debut album, Souvenirs – out September 2 – brims with the influence of both the Steel City – home of British electronic music – and the psychedelic Southwestern greenery that surrounds the band at their South Devon HQ. The album will be released by the Full Time Hobby label.

Souvenirs was recorded in PBE’s own Penquit Mill studio, just south of Dartmoor, the studio having been funded by a bank loan and endless part-time jobs. PBE are the couple Lucy and Matt Board, crucially aided by Motown-mad bassist Aubrey Simpson. Matt (vocals/guitar) and Lucy (drums/electronics) met at Dartington Art College in South Devon, a storied establishment that’s been enlivened over the years by people including Igor Stravinksy, Yul Brynner and John Cage. Lucy’s dissertation was titled “An Investigation into Sheffield's Alternative Music Scene Between 1973 and 1978, with Particular Reference to Cabaret Voltaire.” The PBE album was mixed and mastered by Dean Honer (Eccentronic Research Council, Moonlandingz). Dean has been an integral part of Sheffield's electronic scene and has mixed artists including Róisín Murphy, The Human League and Add N To (X).

PBE’s 2021 self-released debut single Motionless/Chelsea was given much praise. MOJO: “A shimmering Kraut-rail trip to Asgard.” Louder Than War: “Astonishing… conducting Neu! on a ride to the far pop pavilions.” Follow-up single TV Flicker was playlisted at BBC 6 Music. Now, new single Globe continues the PBE singles trajectory, with a track named after a shared student house, in Totnes in Devon. Globe Cottage had previously been a pub, called The Globe.

“The single,” says Matt, “takes its name from this shared house me and Lucy lived in. The track is about a blissful time of parties, of not having a care in the world, all the characters than came and went over the years. The rent was so cheap, it all seemed so easy. The world has changed in the meantime… Rents have rocketed. Life for many people is now harder.”

The PBE album brims with a kind of elective positivity, as made clear when Matt lists the album’s themes: “Embracing good times, losing yourself in a moment of bliss when the world around you is going to shit… Processing and understanding loss and grief and using music as a vehicle to move on… Fighting against the mundane and not giving up on dreams… The pure joy of a good night out or a moment of being moved by a band or a piece of artwork or a great film… Making the most of the time you have.”

 
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Lucigenic - Joy.

With flecks of Patti Smith, Blondie and Belly, Mancunian post-punk group Lucigenic have shared their jubilant and driving new track “Joy”. Combining Lucy Davies compelling vocal delivery with dynamic and jangling alt-rock melodies and capacious choruses, “Joy” finds a hypnotic middle-ground between the gritty, overcast punk of earlier single “Still Breathing” and the chiffony dreamscapes on its predecessor “Hope”.

Inspired by the simple pleasures in life away from the desire for fame and veneration, “Joy” is the third of three tracks recorded by the alt-rock outfit in a session at Far Heath Studio. With production by esteemed producer Mike Bennett (The Fall, Fat White Family, Ian Brown) and Angus Wallace on engineering duties, the single is a scintillating slice of grunge-tinged bliss and is the title track from Lucigenic’s limited edition 10 inch vinyl EP set for release later this year.

Adding more sparks of electricity to an already glistening track, Lucigenic are joined by Mark Refoy (Spiritualized, Spacemen 3) on guitar and drumming legend Dave Barbarossa (Bow Wow Wow, Republica) whose unique style and drum beats lend perfect synergy to a punk-tinged track.  Building up to a dynamic climax that nods to classic alt-rock whilst simultaneously carving out its own path, “Joy” is an adroit and exuberant cut from a band swiftly becoming masters of their craft.  

Coming as a follow-up to the band’s debut EP ‘1’, released in 2020 and featuring tracks with Spencer Birtwistle (Intastella, The Fall) and original drummer Stewart Burnett (The Cheaters), “Joy” has gained early praise from Neil March (6 Music Introducing panel) who wrote on his blog Trust The Doc: “Nice reverberant production suits the guitar-driven style and big melody that fills the chorus. This is agreeably loud, melodic and bristling with energy and attitude. The Title is definitely appropriate”.  With their next live show lined up for Liverpool’s Resistance Street Pro-Creative All-Dayer event on 1st May, Lucigenic also have new material and future collaborations in the pipeline, with more news to come…

Lucigenic · Joy

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Mamalarky - Tallies

Mamalarky - You Know I Know.

Atlanta's Mamalarky released their debut full length on Fire Talk (Dehd, Bnny, Deeper) in 2020. An immediate critical breakthrough, the album saw praise from outlets like NPR, Bandcamp, NYLON, FADER, Billboard, Consequence, Paste and Pitchfork, who highlighted it's "complex instrumental interplay that inspires lean-forward listening." 

As soon as they were able the band began hitting the road in earnest, touring with Slow Pulp, Jerry Paper and like-minded label mates PACKS and Wombo, which has only seen the buzz around the band grow in the last few months. Today, the band are returning with track entitled "You Know I Know", that arrives with a video featuring the Mamalarky's trusty tour van.

"'You Know I Know' was never supposed to come out," singer/guitarist Livvy Bennett explains, "but my bandmates told me it would make for a great single. I accidentally wrote a rock banger that sounded like it could have come out in 2007, like MGMT meets Weezer meets Sheryl Crow.

"The song is about growing up in Texas and having really overwhelming dreams of playing music and takin' it on the road. Having those dreams come to fruition recently has been exciting and has further grounded me in appreciating how much Texas, and Austin specifically, gave us the proper nutrients to do what we're doing now.

"It's also a bit about, ya know, death and impermanence. Having all your accomplishments and high notes framed by mortality is a good way to make sure you're taking it all in."

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Tallies - Special.

The Toronto-based band, Tallies are today sharing their new single, "Special" which comes as another preview of the band's forthcoming second album, Patina which is out July 29 via Kanine Records (US), Hand Drawn Dracula (Canada) and Bella Union (UK/EU). The latest single arrives following a string of recent tracks which have found support at Stereogum, Paste, Clash, Brooklyn Vegan and more with the new record following their self-titled debut which earned acclaim at, KEXP and BBC 6 Music in 2019.

Speaking about this new single, Sarah of the band says: "'Special' is about longing to be seen and heard by those who matter to you most. Sometimes feeling invisible is particularly painful when the indifference comes from someone whose opinion means a lot to you."

The juxtaposition of light and dark is a strong theme in the music of Tallies and certainly apparent once more with this new single, "Special" – another fine example of their gliding, shoegaze-adjacent jangle-pop reminiscent of The Sundays, Galaxie 500, Ride, etc. While many of their songs are upbeat, with Frankland’s breezy guitar lines drenched in reverb, soaring over Cian O'Neill’s propulsive drumbeats, Sarah’s lyrics can add a hint of shadow to even their most jangly tunes.

Coming produced by Graham Walsh (of Holy Fuck, previously helmed records by METZ and Alvvays) alongside Dylan Frankland of the band at Palace Sound, Baskitball 4 Life and Candle Recording in Toronto, Patina arrives as a true labor of love; one that was delayed due to the pandemic but ultimately marks a truly rewarding collection for the band. Upon sharing the music with labels, it pricked the ears of Cocteau Twins' Simon Raymonde – a hero of the band – who signed Tallies to his Bella Union label, providing "a light at the end of a dark tunnel" according to Sarah Cogan of the band.

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Bryde - Monophonics - Blue Amber

Photographed by Cae Candal Sato

Bryde - Algorithms (cyber).

Bryde (aka British guitarist and vocalist Sarah Howells) shares a third single ‘Algorithms (cyber)’ from forthcoming album Still which follows 15 July via Easy Life Records.

“How do you write a song about online dating and its familiar combination of hope and disappointment” say BRYDE of ‘Algorithms (cyber)’, “It’s like a real-life social media notification you can't stop checking. How do you write about ice cream, gaslighting, fleeting feelings that can creep out the back door when you're not looking, THE INTERNET!!  About the fact we can now research each other before ever meeting IRL?”

As with all the ten songs on Bryde's album Still, ‘Algorithms (cyber)’ is not a simple tale of love, or the search for. Instead, it unpacks deep-rooted societal views on it, the preconceptions, and trappings, explored with prose that is both vulnerable it its honesty and worldly wise, wrapped in a lush soundscape led by Bryde’s dreamy guitar, pulsating drums, and the achingly beautiful vocals.

 “An algorithm is a list of rules to follow to solve a problem”, Bryde expands, “The problem of being single? Except being single isn’t a problem until we make it one. In short ‘Algorithms (cyber)’ is an ode to leaving behind the games of the digital word.”

The accompanying video created by Rhys Davies stars Drag Race UK star Scarlett Harlett (aka Harry Luke Mulvey). It captures an intimate moment in time in a couple’s life following an off-screen violent altercation with one of the lovers, a drag artist (played by Mulvey), as he returns home. It’s a beautifully vulnerable and tender portrayal of love in a sometimes-uncontrollable and unfair world.

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Photo by Geoff Whitman

Monophonics - Sage Motel.

Bay Area-based Monophonics just released their video for “Sage Motel,” the title track from their new full-length out now via Colemine Records. The world's premier psychedelic soul band, Monophonics cordially invites you to attend the grand re-opening of the once thriving, once vibrant establishment, the legendary Sage Motel. A place where folks experience the highs and lows of human existence. A place where big dreams and broken hearts live, where people arrive without ever knowing how they got there. It's where individuals find themselves at a crossroads in life.

“We decided to make a film that captures the song’s spirit - encompassing all the desperation, lust, and messiness that can often be met when falling for someone; especially at the wrong time,” says Kassy Mahea, director of the “Sage Motel” music video. “The Sage Motel that I envisioned is set in rural nowhere America, and is frequented by characters that are flawed but, at the same time, interesting and beautiful. This video is an ode to the gritty, the passionate, the lost, the hopeful, and is another glimpse into the world within The Sage Motel.“

What started as a quaint motor lodge and a common pitstop for travelers and truckers in the 1940s, Sage Motel morphed into a bohemian’s hang by the 1960s and 1970s. Artists, musicians, and vagabonds of all types would stop there as seedy ownership pumped obnoxious amounts of money into high end renovations, eventually attracting some of the most prominent acts of the era. But when the money ran out, The Sage Motel devolved into a place where you rent by the hour. Sage Motel, Monophonics' fifth studio album since 2012, tells its story.

“‘Sage Motel’ was the second song we wrote for the album and ultimately was the spark that started this whole concept and story,” says Monophonics bandleader Kelly Finnigan. “It’s a song about a complicated relationship created out of incomparable physical chemistry, lust, passion & love. It’s the struggle of chasing something that will never be a reality, no matter how bad you want it. Some things are meant to happen, but not meant to be… and it all goes down at the Sage Motel.”

 

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Blue Amber - Rockland's Workshop (album).

Following in the footsteps of his Beat Generation heroes, Blue Amber’s frontman Drew set out on a journey that would take him from the bright lights of New York City, through the heartlands of America, finishing up with an excursion down the West Coast highways. The trip, sound tracked by the jazz greats, instrumental hip hop pioneers and lo-fi cult bands such as The Microphones, inspired Drew to create his own new 'Beat Generation'. On his return home, armed with dozens of filled notebooks and completed rolls of film, Blue Amber was born.

Focus track, “Fencing” is an experimental indie rock track that fills you with a beautiful melancholy yearning for more.  Speaking on the track, “Fencing” incorporates an element of hope to the final track on the album, but also a sense of foreboding; that mistakes from the past are bound to repeat themselves. The song is exactly three minutes in length, the same length as each period in a bout in fencing, an idea that my partner at the time provided.

The first half of the record was inspired by the seaside town of Aberystwyth, the people who reside there and the artist’s personal soundtrack living there. The song ‘Hinterland Girls’ is about the people who you encounter on a typical night out in the town, while ‘West Coast Renaissance’ is a tribute to the enclosed art scene within the university arts scene. Continuing the theme, the second half of the record focuses on the experiences of returning to your hometown. It explores the feelings of returning to a place from your past, seeing people you haven’t seen in years and your relationship with a place you once knew so well. As a result, the tone of the second half of the record is darker, and more critical of its surroundings.

Initially a solo project based out of Drew's bedroom, Blue Amber quickly grew into a rotating ensemble of like-minded friends and musicians from all around the UK based in Cardiff. The band, now comprised of composer Freyja Elsy (keyboards/samples/vocals), jazz guitarist Kumar Chopra, and Drew Noel (vocals and saxophone), pull together a wide range of influences from instrumental hip hop to post-punk, beat poetry to indie folk, to create sonically diverse musical offerings that capture the experiences of 20-somethings in a post-Brexit Britain.

Blue Amber · Rockland's Workshop

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