BEEHIVE CANDY

Julian Taylor - Wide Awake. How do you follow-up a career high point? If you're Julian Taylor — the Toronto-based singer/songwriter who garnered widespread acclaim for his intimate June 2020 solo album The Ridge you double down on upping your game by striving to exceed the creative fruits that have already bloomed from the artistic spark that got you there in the first place. A lot was going on in Taylor's mind at the time of writing his new song, "Wide Awake." We were all stuck in another lockdown and he was dealing with writer's block, feeling a bit self conscious about himself, his music and about his own life and existence. There was some turmoil going on in my family and that was troubling me too. Mostly because I felt like it could have easily been avoided and at the same time a few people close to me and some that I used to be close with were going through some huge losses in their lives. I could feel their pain but wasn't able to be there in person. S

Louien - Second Best. Norwegian indie-folk act Louien has shared new single 'Second Best', the second cut to be shared from her forthcoming EP Figure Me Out. Emerging from Nesodden, a peninsula in the Oslo fjord, Live Miranda Solberg (Louien) fuses the fiercer elements of Feist and Sharon Van Etten’s songwriting with the timelessness qualities present in the work of Carole King and Gillian Welch. We last heard from Louien in the summer of 2021 when she shared her highly-acclaimed, liberating EP No Tomorrow. An attempt to write from a less serious perspective, it was the antidote to her 2019 debut album None of My Words which dealt with the trauma left behind by her father’s death. Out September 16th via Jansen Records, Figure Me Out is in many ways a sequel to last year’s No Tomorrow. Thematically, the EP is about how characteristics we think of as cool, such as aloofness, are often the reverse and that it’s much cooler and, indeed, stronger to be yourself and choose vulnerabi

Rhett Miller - Go Through You. This week, Rhett Miller released a new single “Go Through You” from his forthcoming album The Misfit out September 16 via ATO Records. The 11-song collection was co-written and produced by Miller’s Hudson Valley, NY neighbor Sam Cohen (Kevin Morby, Sharon Van Etten, Danger Mouse) and continues their musical partnership that began on 2018’s The Messenger. “Every songwriter has a favorite skin they inhabit, a story they tell over and over again. For decades I’ve been writing from the perspective of a sad sack loser, a ‘broken guy.’ He isn’t who I am in real life, but for whatever reason when I sit down to write a song I often become him, picking at old wounds, bemoaning my perceived victimization. The funny thing is that he’s, well, funny. I wouldn’t want to be the sad clown in real life, but thanks to songs like ‘Go Through You,’  I don’t have to,” explains Miller. “For the production on ‘Go Through You,’ Sam Cohen created a sonic world adjacent to Jeff L

Photo - Dominik Asche Moonpools - Damaged Goods (E.P). Moonpools, the charming quintet from Basel fronted by singer Marcie Nyffeler, will release their new EP 'Damaged Goods' on August 19th via Young and Aspiring. On their sophomore release, the band combines emotional dreampop with driving indie rock reminiscent of international artists such as Cocteau Twins, Snail Mail or Soccer Mommy. Moonpools were formed in 2016 by Marcie Nyffeler (vocals/ guitar), Jasper Nyffeler (drums), and Francesco Vona (keyboard) and completed by Matthias Gusset (guitar) and David Blum (bass). The latter are known from various Basel-based projects such as Sheila She Loves You, Don't Kill The Beast, Brainchild and Mastergrief. The band released their first EP 'Turbulent Times' in 2019, which was immediately met with positive reactions: For example, the single ‘Brainbug’ was chosen as SRF Virus CH-Song of the week. After a few concerts, including support shows for Oso Oso and Prince Daddy

Twain - 2 Lovers. Twain shared “2 Lovers” yesterday, another new song from the upcoming album Noon to be released October 21. The song opens with familiar nostalgic warmth. Songwriter Matthew Davidson shares that, " '2 Lovers’ is the oldest song on Noon, from the end of my time living in New York. The bar in the song was called Manhattan Inn, in Greenpoint. I was briefly employed there as a bar-back. There was a beautiful room in the back with tables and benches against each wall and a fucked-up grand piano in the center of the room. It was a great place to see shows, with the audience surrounding the band in a hush. I remember sets from Adrianne Lenker, Nick Hakim, Joanna Sternberg, and really special was working the brunch shift, juicing lemons in the hard sunlight while Dylan Meek made jazz music on the piano." Davidson shares, "Something new for me about making Noon was allowing writing to be an active part of the recording process, making time each morning to f

Natalie Holmes - Floating TV. Described as a consistently astounding songwriter, South West/ Bristol based singer-songwriter Natalie Holmes writes lilting, haunting and yet also invigorating Indie-Folk tinted with a hint of Pop. Now back with new single ‘Floating TV’ taken from the upcoming album ‘Vitamin Be’, Natalie once again demonstrates her honey toned vocals and incredible musicianship. ‘Floating TV’ is a prime example of Natalie’s work, bringing together gentle musical textures with dappled moments of experimentation to create a beautiful and warming soundscape. Blending the gentle folk-infused nature of her material with shuffling drums, twinkling piano, swelling guitar lines and jazz influenced double bass, the result is a stunning, multi-faceted musical backdrop. Topped with Natalie’s effortless, ethereal vocals and a deceptively catchy vocal line, the track manages to gracefully tread the ground between Bon Iver-esque raw instrumentation and accessible indie-pop in a unique

Michael McArthur - Winding River. Singer/songwriter Michael McArthur just released another peek at his forthcoming album with his brand new single "Winding River." Originally penned years ago but never finished, the hopeful song closes out Milky Stars with a message of assurance surrounded by gently finger-picked guitar and McArthur's smooth, elegant vocals. Under The Radar featured the song and called it "a blissful dreamy folk tune, gently burnished by subtle synth lines and soulful guitar melodies. McArthur sweeps you away on the titular winding river, leaving you awash in pastoral instrumentation and fervent lyricism." "If you’ve ever had a day that hasn’t gone your way, you’re not alone," stated McArthur. "It’s likely not the first time it’s happened and it surely won’t be the last. Like the river that winds in pursuit of an ocean, we will, all of us, get to where we’re going. So long as we bend with the bends and seize the ride. That's

Nels Johnson - The Light That Guides Me. Nels Johnson recently released the Americana single “The Light That Guides Me". It’s off the upcoming album release, “Ios,” due out October 14. “The Light That Guides Me” delves into a father/son relationship asking, “If he passed away, how would I want to remember our time together?” The single wistfully remembers and processes loss while finding hope within it all. The single takes a nostalgic look at positive memories growing up, some real, some contrived, all of them gone and not here anymore. Johnson says, “I love the nostalgia of the first verse, of finding a picture of an old loved one in an attic and being surprised at how different and young they used to look, and just remembering them in a new and different way.” The song also looks to the past as a guide through challenges in the present, “as I travel through this distant and foreign land, longing to grow into a man.” On “Ios,” Johnson leans into the theme of surrender, coming t

Night Swimming - Freight Train. Bath-based dream pop five-piece Night Swimming are pleased to announce the release of their debut double single ‘Freight Train // A Wall’ today August 12th. Formed in 2021, the band have spent the last year honing in on their sound at sold-out headline shows in their home city of Bath and supporting the likes of China Bears and Parlophone Records’ own Sad Night Dynamite. They were also scouted by the Close Encounters Club to be featured in Glastonbury Festival’s 2022 ‘Longlist’ - chosen to be one of their 90 top acts. Night Swimming’s sound incorporates the ethereal, melodic elements of the early Wolf Alice EPs and Slowdive albums; combining them with the minimalism of local idols Portishead and Massive Attack. Produced by Calum Wotherspoon at Joe’s Garage in Bristol, and mastered by Novatines’ Tom Cory, their debut release Freight Train // A Wall is instantly striking. Combining atmospheric guitars, ethereal vocals and airy synths with echoing percussi