Over the past few years, and through a few different iterations, Seattle-based math-rock emo-punks Scarves has established themselves as, “One of the city’s top notch rising acts,” according to KEXP. In that same paragraph, the words “jarring” and “abrasive” also appear so that starts to paint a picture of the dichotomy that has been at play for the band and its frontperson/founder Niko Stathakopoulos.
On “Delicate Creatures,” Scarves ponders human fragility through an ordinary day that changed in an instant. Inspired by a friend who maintained her composure after busting her lip open on a basketball court, “Delicate Creatures” conjures up the character of “Jackie,” a person who comes to embody the attempt to be strong within an unrelenting world.
“A regular moment can explode into blood so quickly.” Stathakopoulos says. “What does that mean for a human? What are we pushing against by existing?” As he paints the portrait of Jackie, a wild thing, Jackie, a switchblade on her shoulder, he fleshes out her out-frame-opponent through her struggles: “It’s hard to stay soft when you feel surrounded by such sharp teeth / It’s hard to stay calm when you feel just like fresh meat.”
Still, Stathakopoulos glimpsed an act of resistance on the basketball court that day, however small, and it is this such act that drives the track’s reluctantly hopeful closing lines: “We are all just tiny comets up against one big rock / And I hope you make an impact.”
On his third solo album, the self-produced Papercut—armed with a couple lifetimes of songwriting and touring in his rear view mirror—Carleton Stone gets honest about the toll of devotion to craft while illustrating his mastery of it. Through sax-blasted Americana, power-pop laced with '80s synth, and dreamy, sophisticated pop melodies, the Nova Scotia songwriter blurs genres to explore a tumultuous few years and some of the scariest questions someone can ask: "What the hell have I done? What if I'd gone down some other path?"
His brand new song, "House In The Hills," encapsulates the feeling of accepting that we are enough with what we have in our lives. It feels like the media or internet is always trying to sell us something to help improve our lives or make us feel like we aren’t enough, and Stone is trying to counterbalance that feeling with this song.
With this song, Stone really wanted the lyrics and the message of the song to stand out so he kept the production as simple as possible with just enough to help support the story. When the song was written in early 2020, the pandemic wasn't even a thing that was on most people’s radar at that point. The pandemic only highlighted the feelings in the chorus of this song and reminded us what is truly essential in our lives.
Bay Area indie-punk band Shutups are proud to share “Endless Heaven”, the lead single from their new album, titled I can’t eat nearly as much as I want to vomit. The full album was mixed and mastered by Grammy nominated engineer / producer Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Jeff Rosenstock, King Woman), and will be released via Kill Rock Stars on October 21st, 2022.
“Endless Heaven” is a four and half minute crash course on the songwriting style of Shutups, who combine catchy indie punk melodies that share similarities with bands like Mannequin Pussy and PUP, filtered through the go-for-broke ambition of a band like Foxing and the experimental genre swirl of Spirit of The Beehive. Describing his intentions behind the single “Endless Heaven”, the band’s songwriter and vocalist Hadley Davis says “I wanted to write a song that mirrored the feeling of letting out all your air and laying on the bottom of a pool. The crushing comfort of calm water. Every time I worked on this song, I pictured that. It’s a summer song, but for the more mundane moments of summer (sitting in hot cars, power outages, sunburns, days lost to the void). It’s about dissociating and returning mid sentence”. Meanwhile, bassist Bud Armienti said about the song – “I played the gong”.
Beginning as a duo of Hadley Davis on vocals and guitar and Mia Wood on drums, Hadley recruited childhood friends Eric Stafford (Guitar/Synth) and Bud Armienti (bass / synth) from his hometown of Livermore to round out the full band roster. The influence of Weezer on Shutups is immediately apparent – something that Mia and Hadley bonded over early on in their friendship. Songs that contrast distorted guitar tones with disarmingly pleasant pop melodies are not exactly a reinvention of the wheel – in addition to Weezer, they cite bands like The Pixies as inspiration for their own take on the classic quiet-loud-quiet-loud 90s alt rock sound – but the way they assemble these songs is truly unique. “There’s also a good amount of inspiration pulled from mash-ups, as a compositional tool.” Hadley says. “I was and still am obsessed with Girl Talk’s Night Ripper. I worshiped that album in high school as it satisfied my need for non-stop hooks and changes. It also taught me the value of juxtaposition in texture. When I write now I’m thinking about cut and paste techniques more so than typical song structure. This album feels like a mashup of our songs.”
Twain announces a new album called Noon, out October 21 via Keeled Scales. This week they share the softly rollicking new song, “The Priestess.” Songwriter Matthew Davidson offers, “I thought I was writing this song to a friend and later found out it was directed towards myself. It is about allowing the heart to speak, and being direct.”
Davidson elaborates on the new song, “‘Rugby’ is a street in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn and ‘the Odyssey’ is my old van. The inner landscape of the song, the place it takes me and where it was written, is Las Trampas, New Mexico, and I think about the cold nights and sleeping on the ground under wool blankets, taping up holes in my sleeping bag with duct tape, Folgers coffee in the blue cardboard can, and hearing the elk song for the first time.”
Twain’s fourth release on Keeled Scales, Noon, is a collection attempting to balance soul-fantasy with self-scrutiny, to erode the barrier between those two places, and to find the liminal state between the spirit’s ambition for itself and the often harsh truth of the present. Says Davidson, “Sometimes the facts of life make dreams difficult to protect. Twain is my effort to reconcile those two states… to forget that they could ever exist in opposition.” Noon was recorded by Twain’s longtime collaborator Adrian Olsen at Montrose Recording in Richmond, VA and features bass by Ken Woodward and drums by Austin Vaughn. From Noon, Davidson previously shared “King of Fools,” an offering that compelled Under The Radar to praise “a songwriter of uncommon emotional weight.”
“Noon is where I am, more-or-less, in my natural life span and in my creative life span. I picture noon being at the very bottom of a bowl… the resting point of a pendulum… not the apex of an arc, or the crest of a hill. Arriving at noon for the first time in my life, I sense everything reversing and the possibility to change and cure and heal is real for the first time. This album is a prayer from noon for the rest of the day.”
Last year, girlpuppy (aka Becca Harvey) released her debut EP Swan. made with producer Marshall Vore who is known for his work with folk dynamo Phoebe Bridgers, the five song collection, found a supportive home with Royal Mountain Records, and drew remarkable acclaim for a debut EP, earning praise from outlets like NPR, FADER, Paste, Under The Radar, Coup De Main, Office Magazine, i-D, Line of Best Fit and NYLON who called her "one of indie folk's most promising newcomers."
This week, girlpuppy is back and announcing her debut LP When I'm Alone, which will be out October 28th on Royal Mountain. To mark the announce she is sharing the album's lead single "Wish".
“On 'Wish' I was thinking about when friends leave your life and you're not entirely sure why," Harvey explains. "It's a pretty universal feeling, I think. And, the thing is—even if you managed to live in the walls of that person's apartment and were able to figure it out, their reasons might not make total sense. This song is me living with that feeling, when loss just doesn't quite add up. This is the first shoegaze rock song I’ve made and I did that intentionally—the emotions in the song go from anger to sadness to nostalgia and all the other emotions that you feel when you go through a “friend breakup." I imagined it being really cathartic to play it live.”
After returning in recent months to deliver their highly-praised single ‘Wishful Information’, their first piece of new material since the release of their stunning debut album ‘Dead Circles’ in 2018, Finnish outfit Tuomo & Markus are back to announce the details behind their eagerly-awaited sophomore LP ‘Game Changing’, alongside the vibrant new single ‘Highest Mountain’.
Throughout their tenure, the pair have always looked to bridge the gap between psychedelic and folk-inspired soundscapes, and ‘Game Changing’ aims to continue that broad and adventurous spirit. With the record cut in the studio of Jonathan Wilson, best known for his production work with Father John Misty and Angel Olsen, and after the stellar reception to the record’s lead single ‘Wishful Information’ earlier this year, ‘Highest Mountain’ makes for an airy and more atmospheric listen. Sitting in the same vein as Nick Drake and David Crosby, it revives more of that smooth and tranquil quality they are known for, this new offering makes for the perfect introduction for what to expect from their upcoming full-length.
Speaking about the inspiration behind ‘Highest Mountain’, they said, “Highest Mountain was inspired by the political polarization and dogmatic thinking that our societies have been faced with in the last 5-6 years, starting with the elections that lead to Brexit and Trump presidency, resulting with the US Capitol attacks, the overturn of abortion rights in the US and in parts also the current war in Ukraine. Some of these can be attributed to the tribalism that the age of social media has created - the idea that ”we believe what we need to believe” and our confirmation bias.”
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.
Written by Pearl Diver’s Matt Sage following an intense psychedelic experience which saw him feel an epiphanous sense of connection with the natural world, the lead singer reflects of “Heaven Help Me":
“Heaven Help Me came to me in the woods on strong mushrooms. It’s about the way in which it sometimes feels as if nature is luring us to rejoin it, to remerge, to allow ourselves to be subsumed. It’s almost like a poetic death wish in slow motion. It’s the same impulse that sometimes makes you want to serve into oncoming traffic, or leap over the edge, but you don’t: some grace manages to save you at the last minute and you continue to cling to life, at least for now.”
Through a labyrinth of casually trippy guitars and tightly knotted riffs, wormhole backing-vocals and lysergic lyrical couplets; Sage’s sentiments like “came upon a fallen tree, I thought it was a throne so I took my place. No one there to witness me, or record my fall from grace” make “Heaven Help Me” a listen that is as tightly intricate as it is wholly immersive.
The new single is a glittering entry-point to the ‘Look For The Light’ EP (out now on all streaming services); a record which sees the trio of Matt Sage (vox/guitar), Josh Rigal (Bass), and Joel Bassuk (drums) deliver 4 original songs of a finessed calibre far beyonds its debut credentials. Nodding to the classic works of Radiohead, Pink Floyd and The Beatles, the release finds a band spiralling through psychedelic portals (“Look For The Light”) and taut post-rock jams (“Heaven Help Me”), sleepy reflections (“Give It All Away”) to soulful 70s-inflected grooves (“You Can Bring Your Darkness”).
Franklin Gothic, the solo project of musical artist Jay DiBartolo based out of Portland, OR, announces his debut record titled Into the Light, out August 19th via split release with Very Jazzed and Pleasure Tapes. The record was made in collaboration with producer Erik Blood (who has worked with Shabazz Palaces, Pickwick, Tacocat, and more).
Into the Light draws inspiration from musical influences that stem back to Jay’s early ‘90s childhood. It showcases a variety of styles, from shoegaze to Americana, challenging the expectation that a band, record, or song is bound to any specific genre.
The 12-song LP follows the ups and downs of the singer/songwriter’s experience, as he struggles to leave behind an old cynical view of the world to make room for a more openhearted one.
Chris St. John has been on a roll these last two years, having written dozens of songs which have appeared on two separate albums. His first album, I’m Dreaming, which was released in 2021, gained critical acclaim and commercial success. The album had four chart-toppers on the World Indie Music Charts and the Euro Indie Music Network, including “I Called You Rose,” which climbed all the way to No. 3.
Recently, Chris was in Nashville, working with legendary producer Stephen Wrench, as well as some of the finest session musicians in Music City, to record his upcoming album Fly Away. During the production of the album, Chris released the song “Hey Siri,” which quickly hit No. 1 on the World Indie Music Charts and the Euro Indie Music Network and remained there for five weeks. “Hey Siri” has a playful, rolling African groove reminiscent of Paul Simon’s Graceland. This clever, lively, and thought-provoking song focuses on the drawbacks of modern technology. Stylistically, it’s an outlier of sorts, scratching only the surface of the deep and impactful artistry Chris showcases over the course of 13 tracks.
The diversity of the songs makes it very hard to fit Chris’ music into any one genre. His voice is velvety and clear on the album’s ballads, and heartfelt and rocking on the up-tempo songs. His tenor voice has remarkable range and clarity, and his different vocal stylings on each track make it hard to believe it’s the same singer throughout the album.
Last Friday the Athens, GA-based psychedelic folk band Elf Power released their new album Artificial Countrysides via Yep Roc Records. Also released the same day is an official animated video for the new song “Clean Clothes” created by Michael Rostig. Elf Power are currently in the midst of a summer tour that will make stops in Philadelphia, New York, Atlanta and more.
Artificial Countrysides has been praised by Stereogum, Under The Radar and BrooklynVegan, who said “It finds their unique psychedelic pop/indie rock fusion sounding as great as ever.” FLOOD Magazine proclaimed, “Elf Power are far from running out of ideas nearly 30 years into their time together as a psych-folk unit,” while MAGNET Magazine said, “The songs themselves are some of the catchiest and most structurally sound Rieger has written in quite some time.”
With Artificial Countrysides, singer and multi-instrumentalist Andrew 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.
East Nashville-based singer-songwriter Derek Hoke has announced that his new album Electric Mountain will be released on September 9 via 3Sirens Music Group, the first release from the Music City collective 3Sirens’ label arm. Hoke has also just shared his new single “Wild and Free,” a dreamy blend of acoustic guitar and synthesizers that arrives with a lively music video.
“‘Wild and Free’ is an acoustic song that I wanted to have build and build and build,” shares Hoke. “Originally it was about 10 minutes long and we edited the end off, as it just kept going which would be too much for some people. The idea was to start small with a chorus of voices. I think of it as driving through the desert as the sun’s coming up, as the idea.”
Hoke's forthcoming record Electric Mountain finds the East Nashville music veteran stepping back into the light following his previous release, 2017's Bring the Flood, which in contrast was a bit darker and moodier. Produced by longtime collaborator and childhood friend Dex Green (Elvis Costello, Allison Russell), Electric Mountain draws on influences that range from Appalachian folk music to Peter Gabriel classics to Bruce Springsteen demos, with plenty of futuristic instrumentals in between. Hoke’s previous records have featured such talents as Robyn Hitchcock, Jason Isbell, Luther Dickinson, Elizabeth Cook, Aaron Lee Tasjan, and more. On Electric Mountain, he keeps the local Music City love going: Prudent listeners will recognize vocals from Thayer Serrano and fiddle from Lillie Mae.
Hoke has spent the better part of the last two-plus decades making a home for himself in East Nashville, whether he’s hosting $2 Tuesday at iconic venue The Five Spot or spending a quiet night alone fiddling with Eurorack synthesizers. But his musical success has been hard-fought every step of the way. Raised in Florence, South Carolina, Hoke taught himself to play and write music by ear, mimicking the sounds he’d heard on records and through airwaves. Despite not having a musical family or a local community of players, Hoke found new influences – including '90s staples like Ben Folds, Wilco, and Drivin N Cryin – through his job at the town record shop.
Marcus Man is a 23 year-old independent artist from Warrington (UK) who has just released the rather splendid song 'Aspirations' along with an engaging video. He tells us "I’ve been writing and performing music for several years now, and I’ve been releasing music for at least the last two. I started off performing in my local town, then moved on to Manchester & Liverpool, before finally moving to London. My biggest influences include Damien Rice, The Last Shadow Puppets, Amy Winehouse, Frank Turner to name a few. I particularly like music that has a lyrical focus and tend to write songs with that in mind."
Regarding the new single he continues, "‘Aspirations’ is about tackling the idea of whether or not someone’s aspirations or work ethic can affect their relationships.
While trying to be quite fun and light-hearted lyrically, I think the song is bittersweet at its core. The track was recorded at Matchbox Studios in Warrington & is part of an upcoming EP due to be released at the end of summer. Musically, it’s sort of like soft indie-rock, and I like to think it’s the perfect soundtrack to putting your feet up at the end of the day, doing nothing, & being content with being lazy!"
Leading up to the writing of her new album, Talking Walls, singer, songwriter, and guitarist Lilly Winwood had all but resigned herself from continuing her music career. Burned out after her last album cycle and in the midst of a pandemic, Winwood took a job to pay the bills—but she couldn’t stop writing. She knew she was on the cusp of something important. “I’d be working in a restaurant all day and then at night, come 3 a.m., I’d be pulling half-written songs out of my apron,” she recalls. “Then it all came together.”
When Winwood decided to get sober, the floodgates opened. Talking Walls captures that tumultuous period, with Winwood literally “talking to the walls” as she looked inward with new purpose. Penned over long sleepless nights, with clear eyes and a willingness to ask tough questions, each song takes a different tack into the introspective wind, backed by a minimalist-roots sound.
The now East Nashville-based artist (and daughter of Grammy-winning British rocker Steve Winwood) simply wrote her story and brought it to her band at Nashville’s Trace Horse studio—no producer needed. The new single “Brighter Days,” is a swaggering, pedal-steel laden track showcasing Lilly’s soulful voice and the simple, organic feel that the band landed on in the studio.
Lauren Monroe - singer, songwriter, and healing artist - announces a September tour in support of Messages from Aphrodite with the premiere of a new video, “Sparrow.” This is the latest offering from the upcoming album, due out September 9th, which Monroe co-produced with the legendary Jim Scott.
Monroe, a New York-born, California-based polymath, conducts parallel careers as a gifted singer-songwriter and a renowned mental-health advocate. She approaches these intertwined roles with equal passion, her nuanced understanding of human behavior informing her music, which she sees as “a heart-based experience” that is “not just about listening—it’s about feeling and connecting.” She draws on her deep well of accrued knowledge in her songs, which she delivers in a luminous alto that resonates with empathy. Her experiential lyrics, emotionally authentic and free of pretense, are embedded in vibrant folk-rock settings, immediate in their impact and timeless in their sound.
Music and healing have always been focal points in Monroe’s life. Earlier this year, she was joined by her husband, the legendary drummer Rick Allen of Def Leppard, for a run of intimate East Coast club dates during which they also displayed their mixed-media art. The pieces were then auctioned online to benefit Raven Drum Foundation, an organization they founded with the mission to serve, educate and empower veterans dealing with PTSD and combat trauma, people in crisis, and other at-risk individuals.
And in 2021, she staged the first Big Love Benefit Concert, which featured performances by Billy Idol, Wynonna Judd, and the Allman Betts Band, among others. Proceeds from the event, which brought financial and mental health support to music-industry professionals affected by the pandemic, were donated to the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund. “Being of service is a way of helping yourself as well,” she reflects. “And the healing power of music is profound. Everything I do is part of a journey of healing.”
Los Angeles-based Artist Bel-la showcases her original brand of ethereal indie rock on the powerful new single with a universal theme of loss - "Nothing's Gonna Get You Back", out now via Dime Dash's BLUROC Records. Bel-la's vocals are captivating and almost dream-like, even when singing about heartbreak or sadness, and the music is appropriately atmospheric and driving. The results is both understated and profound.
Based on her artistic approach, it's no surprise that Bel-la finds much of her inspiration and songwriting ideas in dreams. Whether someone close to you has passed away or you've experienced the loss of a serious relationship, the music and lyrics should relate to nearly everyone. Musically, this darker shade of Indie Rock should appeal to fans of Wolf Alice, Lana Del Rey, St. Vincent and Hope Sandoval.
"The inspiration for this song was really the sentiment of loss in general, loved ones passing, relationships ending etc and how even though these things are no longer in a physical form they still exist so strongly all around us and in our memories, and the fabric of our vast lives."
Hohnen Ford has just released her debut single "Infinity" via Young Poet (Conor Albert, WOOZE, Carmody). Hohnen Ford is the solo project of singer-songwriter Ella Hohnen-Ford who counts the likes of Joni Mitchell, Bjork, Big Thief, Fiona Apple and Sarah Vaughan as inspirations. Prior to the release of any music, Hohnen Ford found a corner of the internet in which to really express herself on Reddit, where she regularly commands the attention of up to one million viewers on her live streams, with the associated Kudos to reflect such viewership. Hohnen Ford has recently taken her live experience “offline” and has sold out venues including Vortex and St Pancras Old Church in London.
Debut single "Infinity" was written and produced by Hohnen Ford and mixed by Tom Carmichael (Matt Maltese, Porridge Radio, Wu-Lu). The song is a delectably sparse treatise on serenity, written at a make or break moment in her life where Hohnen Ford was searching within herself for answers and a breakthrough in her own self-discovery; in her lyrics she muses on the loneliness of youth as she embarks on her exploration: "I haven't found it yet / maybe I never will but I'll tretcher on / It's a lifetime skill".
Speaking more on the lyrical inspiration of the new single, Hohnen Ford described "Infinity" as: "A stream of consciousness in a quiet moment when the world felt overwhelming. A note to myself as I was reflecting on what was bubbling around in my brain at a time of crossroads in my life."
Hohnen Ford is a native of North London, by way of a brief stay in San Francisco where a next-door neighbour (who shared her house with a chatter of Parakeets) introduced her to her first instrument, the flute. From that colourful introduction, music seeped into Hohnen Ford’s world from almost every familial angle. A baptism into the world of Northern Soul came via her father; her mother flooded the house with classical piano pieces and the family has leaned into music’s healing qualities by reciting a grandfather’s favoured jazz repertoire to help him find calm in the stormy waters of dementia.
Hohnen Ford’s path almost inevitably led to the doors of The Royal Academy of music where she studied “Jazz Voice” (one of the few young women to do so). A self-confessed explorer, Hohnen Ford’s ambition is to “fill rooms around the world with people who want to be there, making them really feel something so they get lost in the music”.
Indie singer/songwriter Brooke Annibale announced today her new album Better By Now will release on September 30th through Nettwerk Music Group. A fearless new collection of songs, Brooke has both emboldened her sound on Better By Now as well as entered a new phase of life after making significant strides in her mental-health journey and saying “I do” to her wife. She also shared today the title track and official video for “Better By Now,” a stark reflection that merges personal emotions with the roller coaster of current events.
“I wrote this song in early January 2021,” stated Brooke. “We had literally just put the christmas tree out on the curb, and I felt this terrible sentimental feeling for it. This was also the same week as the Capitol attack. We had pushed through 2020, looking at 2021 as some kind of savior, but once it arrived nothing really changed. There was still the same intensely hostile political discourse and the pandemic continued raging on. It felt like things were getting worse somehow, when I hoped for it to be better by now. Reflecting on that time, it taught me that expecting a perfect external outcome will not lead to feeling better. I’ve got to do the internal work to have any kind of peace with the roller coaster of life.”
Produced by Christian “Leggy” Langdon (Joseph, Amos Lee) and Matthew E White (Natalie Prass, Dan Croll), Better By Now features 10 blossoming indie-pop tracks that Brooke describes as a “spectrum of emotions.” In her trademark layered approach, the Pittsburgh-born, Rhode Island-based artist reflects on love, anxiety, depression, and how two seemingly opposing forces can exist at once. “The album is basically half about falling in love and half about mental health.”
Today A. Johanson releases his single 'Fragments'. After 'Parade' and 'Your Eyes' it is the third track from his debut album 'Who Are We Fooling'.
Fragments' is a true dark indie song, reaching straight for the heart. "It’s about how your life can feel as if it is broken into pieces when things are not lining up" says A. Johanson. The song pulsates through all these emotions with haunting vocals, building up to a carefully arranged moving string section.
If he could, he would take you on a road trip through the Scandinavian nature while listening to his music. Slowly evolving roots music in the car, a little folk song by the fireplace in a wooden hut, soaked in melancholy. That's what A. Johanson sounds like, an indie folk artist from Utrecht, the Netherlands. Whether it's just him and his guitar, or a soundscape where you can dream away.
After releasing his self-produced, recorded and mixed debut EP 'Little Lies' at the end of 2019 and scoring a streaming hit in 2020 with the song 'October, Halfway July', A. Johanson started working on his first full-length record in early 2021. This debut album, 'Who Are We Fooling', is expected to be released in October 2022.
Veteran NYC-Based Singer Songwriter Paul Maged always has something profound to express, whether it's hard-hitting and politically charged or emotionally charged and positive. His hyper-catchy new single "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" leans towards the latter tendency, themed on gratitude and seizing the moment, a message we all could use right now. Paul's songwriting is about as versatile as they come, and this new single finds him stretching lyrically, musically, and generally in life as he finds the positive message within a space of doubt and fear. Paul's songwriting pedigree comes from artists like Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and Billie Joe Armstrong, all writers who evolve and adapt to modern times without shying away from speaking their truth. Effortlessly fresh, care-free, motivational and inspired, "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" is the perfect anthem for these pessimistic times.
“After completing and releasing my last album, ‘Culture War’, I was emotionally spent. I wasn’t sure I wanted to write or release any more music. At the same time I really started to reconnect to the energy of New York City. So many people wrote about the demise of NYC during the pandemic, saying it would never come back the same. But to me, it never left. I went to a bunch of my old stomping grounds and each one inspired something different in me. I started writing again and this song poured out of me in less than a couple of hours. Lyrically I wanted something that combined the romanticism and grittiness of NYC with feelings of positivity, love and gratefulness.”
“This new song has a real funky vibe. I wanted something different, not as hard-edged guitar wise. I wanted more of a groove, I wanted something that would emote toe taps and finger snaps.”
“I needed a fresh feel and vibe for this song so I wanted to work with someone new on the engineering side. I met Dan Konopka from the Grammy winning band ‘OK Go’ and we hit it off. Dan mixed and mastered the song and I feel like he captured the exact energy that I wanted”
Following his beguiling EP ‘II’ released earlier this year, the new cut sees Future Cavemen blend enigmatic riffs with wonky electronics that tingle with electricity and squirm amidst fuzzy reverb and jangling percussion.
“Battle Scars” owes to a range of retro influences whilst simultaneously making a break for the offbeat allure of the future. Written in a 1970s block of flats hemmed in by Clissold Park on one side and continuous building works on the other, Future Cavemen explains of the track’s inception:
“Recording new ideas was tricky because there were only small windows of time to make noise without disturbing neighbours or having my efforts swallowed by relentless engine noise. I was getting into mangling electronic stock beats and making them my own. Taking something pristine, tame, pretty lifeless .. And making it raw and energetic, violent.”
With words that are just as intriguing as its melodies, “Battle Scars” comes as further evidence of the solo artist taking steps beyond his comfort zone and exploring ways of writing and music-making that go far beyond the norm. He adds:
“Lyrics just seem to happen like a subconscious brainstorm. In that sense, the song sort of writes itself. Bukowksi once said: ‘Don’t try. Not for Cadillacs, creation or immortality.’ I find this comforting.”
On the heels of their April release ‘Dig Me Out’ - an emotional and heavy-hearted ode to the lost children of North American residential schools - Miesha & The Spanks are ready to shed some weight and break into summer with high energy new single ‘I Can’t Wait’.
Known for their bold and explosive sound, ’I Can’t Wait’ sees the pair deliver a fun and raucous slice of garage-rock gold, brimming with vibrant textures. Produced by The Buzzcocks’ Danny Farrant and channelling their diverse array of power-pop and punk influences, this new release sees Miesha & The Spanks in renewed spirits - a taste of what’s to come as they work to complete their upcoming full length album.
On their new single, Miesha says, “‘I Can’t Wait’ is meant to be a sweet summer jam, somewhere between a fond callback to summer shenanigans and daydreaming about what’s coming up next. We’ve got some laid-back garage beats, big gang vocals and oohs, hand claps, tambourine - good vibes are all over this one.”
“I think writing I Can’t Wait had a particular challenge. It’s a song with so many good parts and it’s hard to not overplay on everything,” Sean elaborates on the recording process, “It would be fun to have rippin’ drum fills over all the pauses and screeching lead guitar over the chorus - but just getting out of the way of how the song naturally wanted to settle was the right thing to do.“
Pity-Me, UK’s finest, Martha (come on, you know who they are by now) return with a brand new 7”! The A side is called “Beat, Perpetual”. Warning: it’s catchy.
The B side is called “Dreaming Out Loud”, is a cover of Wisconsin rock band Tenement, and is exclusive to this EP. Warning: it’s also catchy. This 7” is a one-time only pressing of 500 copies (300 on black, 200 on blue), and will never, ever be repressed. Order it through Dirtnap Records.
"Beat Perpetual" was recorded at JT Soar Nottingham. It was produced by 'Bad' Phil Booth and mixed by Phil along with Rich Collins and Rob Newman. It was mastered by Dave Williams. The B side is a cover of a song by the Wisconsin rock band Tenement. That one was recorded by Neil Combstock at Rocking Horse in Durham, and mastered by Dave Williams.
WILDES just announced her debut album 'Other Words Fail Me' will be released on 7th October via AWAL. Produced by St Francis Hotel (Michael Kiwanuka, Little Simz) the album will feature previously released tracks "Lightly" and "Woman In Love" and this weeks newly released single "Far and Wide".
The solo project of London-based singer/songwriter Ella Walker, WILDES' music sonically falls somewhere in a Bermuda Triangle of Angel Olsen, St Vincent and Mazzy Star, embedded within an entrancing skeleton of folk songwriting, all the while lifting the listener up on a storm cloud of cinematic electronics and her sharp, honest lyricism. Citing the influence of PJ Harvey, Patti Smith and SASAMI on her new album, WILDES notes - "They are unapologetically honest women and musicians. They gave me permission to come out of the box I'd been cowering in."
New single "Far and Wide" is released today alongside a new video directed by WILDES herself, with the music deftly showcasing her stronghold of emotional clarity. Specifically focusing on the importance of friendship in early adulthood, "Far and Wide" unites a delicate swell of electronic atmospherics, churning muted guitars and WILDES' serene vocal.
Of the song's lyrical inspiration, she said: "Far and Wide is a celebration of friendship. It reflects the madness and uncertainty of early adulthood and the constant change and turbulence we all go through. After neglecting them for a long time, I realised how constant and secure my friendships had become. They saved me, melting away my shame and holding me when I couldn’t cope. Banding together against our shared, frenzied existences, it dawned on me that these loving and intimate friendships were more valuable than any boyfriend had ever been. The constant support and unconditional love of these people is the reason I am here today. So this is a love letter to those friends who saved me - I would do anything for you."
Rowsie [pronounced rosy] sound like a car crash between Lou Reed, The Replacements and Dinosaur Jr, while listening to the best indie rock mixtape you made when you were seventeen… or still are. It was an idea sowed a long time ago in New York - but got lost due to the need to pay rent. Now, the rent is paid and Rowsie has been quietly building a buzz around central London and beyond. No longer an idea, just a whole lotta Rowsie.
Just back from a Spring tour of Mexico in support of Freddie Cowan of the Vaccines the band are on fire, and a full LP looks likely for 2022 amongst lots more live shows and a residency at The Social in London along with their residency at Sixty Sixty Sounds, Denmark Street.
This June saw the release of their second EP, four noble rock n roll anthems for modern times. Set closer and epic six minute plus beauty ‘Gaslight’ leads the charge while EP title ‘Searching’ and two other titles ‘Love So Clear’ and ‘Legs Of Sand’ implore you to further fall for this vagabond group of misfits conjured from what may be the ghost of Tom Petty.
If you’re not already acquainted Rowsie are an English baroque pop singer-songwriter, a Canadian filmmaking composer and one of London’s coolest teenage jazz drummers along with Brooklyn’s belated rock star Richie Rothenberg. They all were playing in different scenes, different genres, different genders, and different cultural generations. They make no sense together at all! But when they play together magical music alchemy ensues.
Massachusetts-based folk singer-songwriter Dan Pallotta is sharing the second single from his upcoming LP, American Pictures, out October 5th.
“Charity Town” connects directly to his career as a philanthropist, where Pallotta is sometimes asked to speak for local community foundations in towns that have lost their major economic drivers.
This track reflects empathetically on the resilience and loss endured by citizens of these towns, who Pallotta describes as “the people left behind when the future has moved on.”
Featuring percussion composed by Pallotta’s fourteen-year-old daughter, “Charity Town” is a rousing yet intimate piece of storytelling folk, capturing the reality of the circumstances that have befallen these communities.
Vancouver-based musician Syd Warwick released her latest single, “Mercury” yesterday, with a video directed by Nathalie Taylor. The track is featured on Warwick’s upcoming debut EP, Sad Astra, out August 26 release via Nevado Music.
Discussing the track, Warwick stated, “‘Mercury' is a journey through the grief that comes with processing family trauma, and the difficulty of having to cut ties with people that you love. Even though there’s fear, uncertainty and pain within the process of letting go, there’s also a first step towards empowerment—the kind that comes when we face the world as an individual, belonging to no one but ourselves.
‘Mercury’ is about being your own advocate, understanding the cyclical nature of abuse and trauma within a family system and remembering that you are so much more than where you come from. It serves as a reminder to put yourself first, else you may never be able to move forward and become the person that you’re meant to be."
For Warwick, songwriting has shaped her into the person she is today. Writing songs is how she expresses herself and processes the world. Creating Sad Astra has been a progression through healing, as she worked on older songs whose production eluded her and new songs that pushed their way into the world through her creative process. The hardship Warwick experienced in this creative endeavor was amplified by the difficulties of working during a global pandemic and uncertainty about whether or not the music industry would come out okay on the other side of it. For Warwick, being in a room with a friend to record these songs was one way through those hard times and to see them released feels like a triumph.
The song is about the specific moment when you realize how much reality can hurt you when your expectations are shattered.
The melody tries to physically show the pain inside somebody's chest when reality hits. And sometimes, reality hits hard.
Gaby is an easy name to remember & she tell us - I'm 18 and I tend to write songs whenever I have a deep feeling that I want to fix in my memory like a picture or when I'm tired of crying to myself while eating ice cream. Writing and singing for me is the cure, a therapy, something I physically feel in my chest.
Produced by Ricky Ferranti at Fuzzo Studio, Mastering by Jacopo Camagni at Monkey Studio.
Last month Jesca Hoop announced her sixth album, Order of Romance, the follow up to her 2019 LP Stonechild, an album that earned high praise from outlets like Pitchfork, NPR, The Guardian and The New York Times, saw Hoop perform her second Tiny Desk Concert, and was the critical high watermark of her career to date. The album was announced with the single "Hatred Has A Mother", and today Hoop is sharing a second single from the record, a track called "Sioux Falls".
A cryptic and unsettling lullaby, Sioux Falls, is a of series memories recalled in snapshots of harmony and melody a nation sleepwalking to the falls.
“Deeper into the Psychosis Cyclone as paranoia strikes. All the Preppers double up on supply and double down on guns. America the home of the free.” says Jesca “The vernacular all too familiar, like verses I learned in bible study, as the term “greater good” takes the shape of a dog whistle for the death spiral. Meanwhile, we over here are just simply looking out for each other while we manage the hard facts of life.”
Order of Romance is Hoop's most intricate and finely balanced album to date, one that draws on classic song writing, recalling anything from Gershwin to Paul Simon, but creating something that is unmistakably, indelibly Jesca Hoop.
“Skull Creator” is the new solo record by Canadian singer/guitarist C.Ross, better known as Chad Ross, who currently fronts Toronto psych rockers Comet Control (Teepee Records). The new record features eight genre-stradling songs of americana tinged folk-rock, while hinting at Ross’s fuzzy psych-rock past. Recorded, produced and mixed by Joshua Wells (Lightning Dust, Destroyer, Black Mountain) at the Balloon Factory in Vancouver, British Columbia (home studio of Dan Bejar of Destroyer), the new album “Skull Creator” was written at first as a solo acoustic project.
When Destroyer’s Joshua Wells joined in on both drums and keys, Isaiah Mitchell (Earthless, Golden Void, the Black Crowes) on guitar, and Aaron Goldstein on pedal steel, the project morphed into a sweet psych-folk adventure. Speaking of the hauntingly powerful album, Ross states: “I had it in my head that I was gonna make an acoustic record, with the sole purpose of making fun of myself, reflecting on a few of my past wasted lives and just generally taking the singer/songwriter thing out with the trash. The lyrics all made me laugh at one point, but when Josh and Isaiah got involved, things got elevated…. as they tend to do with musicians like that.”
“Wrong Side of the Sky” is the first single and video off of the new album. It is a sunny psych folk jam that will start your summer off with haunting, mellow vibes that transport the listener back in time to the gentle late ‘60s. The video was created by Waterloo, Ontario artist/musician Olde Nightrifter. She has created lush and beautifully psychedelic videos for the likes of Shabazz Palaces, Knife Knights, Comet Control and Icky Reels. The video takes you on a visual journey through light and dark spaces, with morphing objects that intertwine and complement the lyrical and compositional feel of the song.
Ross has spent years navigating the Canadian music scene as the singer/ guitarist for heavy psych rockers Quest for Fire (Teepee), solo acoustic as Nordic Nomadic (Blue Fog, Teepee), a member of legendary garage rock band The Deadly Snakes (In the Red) and a touring member of Vancouver’s Pink Mountaintops. Get your hands on his newest project which branches off from these influences and shows his maturing songcraft into psych-folk territory. “Skull Creator” is available July 13, 2022 as an LP co-release on Atlanta’s Echodelick Records, Canada’s Noise Agony Mayhem and Australia’s Ramble Records. Available digitally on Party Product Records.
Alternative-pop quartet Ralph of London have released the music video for their recent single Flowers of Edo today alongside an accompanying B-side single Sun Bleach.
Currently based between London and the North of France, Ralph of London was formed in 2016 as a solo project by songwriter, drummer and producer Ralph Phillips who has spent the better part of his life developing various music, art and film projects in the UK, France, Switzerland, Germany and Japan, touring across Europe as a session musician for established artists such as Scritti Politti and Go-Kart Mozart as well as scoring soundtracks.
After putting out a handful of singles and recording his first full length album as Ralph of London, Ralph was invited to put a band together in the North of France and has since been working with musicians Léopold, François and Diane on developing Ralph of London’s now full-band live repertoire, and playing shows in both France and the UK. The group bring together synthesised rock and roll, West African polyrhythms and English folk fused into melodic pop songs that glance in on our fragmented social milieu from the sidelines.
Following up on the 2022 release of their recent EP Yellow Sky Highway, recorded at their recently self-built Yellow Sky Studios, located within the disused premises of a Protestant Temple, comes Flowers of Edo which was lyrically inspired by the sinister side of hedonism on display in the music industry.
Leeds UK indierock trio Nervous Twitch debut new single "Forgive Yourself" and announce upcoming new album 'Some People Never Change' on Reckless Yes Records.
It's pretty hard to put into words but I'm gonna try, but seriously I'm way excited to be working and bringing this new album by Nervous Twitch on the awesome UK label Reckless Yes to your attention. I've been following Reckless Yes for a few years and have become a big fan of not only their roster but also the way they do business and how they treat others and create a solid inclusive community, so working with them is a big honor.
This new album by Nervous Twitch is like a guide to UK and US indiepop and indierock with nods to Mambo Taxi, Huggy Bear, Modern Lovers, Television Personalities, the Pixies, Sleeper, Ash, Lovely Eggs, Dressy Bessy, and even a bit of Swearin'. I could go on and on, but I say just check out the first single "Forgive Yourself" which debuted earlier today at Austin Town Hall. If you want a promo copy hit me up, but you can stream or download the album below. The band are up for doing mix tapes, features, guest editor spots, you name it, and we have a few exclusive still up for grabs so seriously like reach out. ~ Mike
Nervous Twitch—talk about a perfect band name! Listening to their fifth album, Some People Never Change, it’s hard not to notice the nervous energy of front woman Erin Hyde’s vocals. Nervous Twitch built a solid reputation for songs that bristle with punk energy, mixing a vibe that also incorporates girl group passion, post-punk angularity, and even the occasional surf guitar cool.
ACER is a dream pop duo made up of multi-instrumentalist Kyle Gottschalk & vocalist/art director Connory Ballantyne. Borrowing from the brooding post-punk sound of their former band House Art, Ballantyne’s vocals lend a confident and lyrical vision to the dynamically maximalist instrumentals written out of Gottschalk’s love for bedroom-pop & shoegaze.
Starting in 2019- and writing together during the past year of lockdown as housemates- the duo is set to debut their first mini-album in 2021- the 6 track self titled “ACER” – a youthful, hungry record showcasing the musical diversity & raw energy of the two producers.
Dreamy atmospheres abound (a nod to Beach House, Daniel Lanois, or Eno), the tracks sputter & glitch to life reminiscent of bedroom producers like JPEGMAFIA or the recent work of Toro Y Moi, and Ballantyne’s vocals constantly flirt between the swaggering bravado of artists like Archie Marshal’s King Krule, the effect-laden Justin Vernon or Kanye, and the soft ambience of Slowdive.
Singer-songwriter Rat Tally has shared a new track from her upcoming debut album. Single Longshot is an insight into the singer's anxiety and cyclical thought patterns, adorned with lush instrumentation and elevated by her unique vocal style.
Out August 12th, the debut album from one of the most exciting young singer-songwriters to emerge in recent years, 'In My Car' sees Rat Tally (aka Addy Harris) deliver on the promise of her earlier releases and her distinctive candid style both sonically and lyrically. With concise yet poignant lyrics, and guest features from Jay Som and Madeline Kenney, 'In My Car' is easily one of the most fully realised debut albums in the indie rock realm.
"This is the opening track and one of my favorites off the record. The song is a lot about anxiety and not being able to stop overthinking, so I wanted the verses to feel tense, lyrically and musically" says Harris of the song.
“Longshot and In My Car have a wall of quadrupled power chord guitars that my producer Max Grazier recorded that just absolutely smack you in the face. When I wrote it I was really obsessively listening to Fountains of Wayne, XTC, and a lot of 90s and early 2000s hits, and I wanted it to have a big stadium rock vibe. I had this hook that I hummed in the demo and thought I would eventually write words to it, but it works so much better as just a melody riding on top of the huge guitars."
Hailing from Chicago (by way of LA and Boston), Rat Tally emerged in 2019 with an impressively fully formed sound on her self-released debut EP, 'When You Wake Up'. The release quickly caught the attention of 6131 Records (Julien Baker, Joyce Manor, Katie Malco), who were eager to work with the young, yet clearly very talented musician.
American singer-songwriter and actress Alison Sudol unveils the hypnotic visuals for her recently released single ‘Meteor Shower’ and shares the details of her upcoming new album, ‘Still Come The Night’, due for release on September 30th via Kartel Music Group.
The video is an invitation to witness and partake in a series of self-imposed actions and rituals. Alison presents herself to the camera in her truest form; raw, vulnerable, enduring, powerful, while using a variety of visual approaches - from irregular depth of field, video feedback loops, erratic zooms to affected speeds - the director transports the viewer beyond this dimension, intimately navigating levels of Alison’s subconscious.
Directed by Alison’s close collaborator and Creative Director Federico Nessi, also responsible for the upcoming album’s art direction, the video concept, Nessi explains “stemmed from the song’s hypnotically repetitive beat and Alison’s stoic tone - a mystical force seducing the listener to join in on a meditative journey of self-exploration.”
Talking about the visuals, Alison adds; “Federico’s vision for ‘Meteor Shower’ matched the heartbeat of the song and leaned into it. Sitting with grief - whether noticed or not - kinetic ritual. I had never seen tapping before Fede introduced it to me but I have done it naturally at different points in my life. Energy and emotion can get trapped and settle in parts of the body. There’s a tremendous amount of power in movement and healing in touch”.
‘Meteor Shower’ serves as the upcoming album’s poetic finale, book ending the equally hypnotic opener, ‘Bone Tired’. “It’s the moment of space between one chapter ending and a new one beginning - a moment of uncertainty, the unknown... of possibility. The record begins with exhaustion and ends the same way, but with light pouring in.”
The video follows the release of recent single ‘Meteor Shower’ and the deeply personal ‘Peaches’, as well as her recent support dates with Goldfrapp at London’s Royal Festival Hall, and the UK release of ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore’, in which Alison reprised her role as Queenie Goldstein. The new tracks precede the release of the full length ‘Still Come The Night’, the album Alison wrote, co-produced and recorded at Giant Wafer Studios nestled between sheep fields in the Welsh countryside with London based multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer Chris Hyson, who is also half of adventurous collective Snowpoet.
We’re Sam Clark and Yasmine Shelton. Together we are the folk-duo Basset. We call Toronto home, and this gritty, massive, in-your-face, messy place is woven deep into the music we create. Through fiddle and intricate harmonies, our voices wrap around each other and evoke the rawness of this city.
Our lead single, “In The Clay,” is from our debut full-length album and is an account of our experience living in a big city yet feeling isolated for 2 years. We came far, we still managed to grow in the dark, but it was very heavy.
This album was conceived in isolation. We felt very tucked away underground, and we couldn’t go anywhere aside from the long, long walks we took through the west end of the city. It was easy to feel trapped in the monotony, the rhythms we repeated each day; especially underground, where the lack of sunlight was crushing. This got morbidly fascinating. Maybe to distract ourselves, we fell into some rhythms of really intense work, trying to shape ourselves into the musicians - and humans - we wanted to be, to create this album.
We practiced hard, we studied, and we pushed our bodies too. We ate less and worked out. At times, we ate too little and worked ourselves too hard. We constantly chased after light, on long walks on the coldest day of the winter, our “happy lamps” and “grow lights.” All these, perhaps, were ways of trying to make something of being trapped in that basement and the trials that everyone faced for the past few years.
This song evokes the feelings from Sam’s weeks-long canoe trips in the Canadian wilderness. The first few hours of paddling are always hard, and aches start to set in. It’s easy to wonder how you could possibly do this for days on end. But then the aches seem to settle, and your mind flows into the rhythm.
A powerful singer and songwriter who can convey passion, confusion, strength, pleading and more sometimes all at once Asheville, North Carolina’s Ashley Heath has gained a fervent fan base with appearances at festivals like MerleFest, Bonnaroo, Shakori Hills, and Floydfest. Now, she’s signed with Organic Records and is making a head-turning debut with “Something to Believe,” the first single and title track from her forthcoming EP.
The track opens with guitar, bass and organ serving up a twisty blues-rock figure that sets an ominous tone before Heath makes her entrance, giving soulful voice to the mood of unease:
"I spent my time getting lost in a dream But I can’t let go of memories of the bad things I’ve seen"
From there, the song never lets up in intensity, even as it swells and subsides in volume and complexity, underlining the insistent questions of its chorus:
"Let me in or let me out Give me answers show me somehow Are we gonna end this or work it out?... Give me, give me, something to believe"
Accompanied by members of her touring band, Heath gives a compelling performance that is at once boldly and intimately expressive, offering a common thread of emotion that fits equally well not only with a personal interpretation of the song’s plea, but of a broader one, too, revealing the distinctive outlook and artistry that has earned Heath a growing number of fans around her western North Carolina home.
“There have been many times in the last few years where we as a collective have felt very powerless and lacking a sense of control,” she notes. “The entire world shut down due to Covid-19 and with it crashed our livelihoods, our sense of safety in the world, and being able to be close with our family and friends. When we did see each other, our faces were behind masks. ‘Something to Believe’ was written about these angsty yet melancholy feelings that came up by trying to make sense of it all. At certain points, I was thinking, give me any sign that I can continue doing this thing that I love and have put my heart into for years. ‘Are we done with the hard times, are they over?’
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