Sunday Lemonade - girlpuppy - Dan Pallotta - Addie Brik

Sunday Lemonade - Runaway.

Melbourne's feel-good folk duo Sunday Lemonade have been spreading their sunny musical storytelling around the country, and are set to do the same with their new single ‘Runaway’ out now.

Touring around the country in a van together since joining forces in 2018 has seen Tyson and Loz spread their high-energy performances far and wide, winning over hearts everywhere they play. They’ve sold out two headline shows, and supported the likes of Daniel Champagne, Steph Strings, and The Pierce Brothers.

After quitting their jobs in 2019 to dedicate their time to music, the pair won the Emerging Artist Award in 2020 at their first festival appearance at Nannup Music Festival before getting caught in 4 months of lockdown. Since, they have been touring relentlessly and have released a number of singles. Having just toured WA for the third time and recently releasing the single 'See You Sometime' in October, the pair are gearing up for more with this special new release, ‘Runaway'.

Already a crowd favourite at their gigs, the tune is an instantly uplifting, piece of heartfelt folk-rock. Focusing on the feelings of mutual but unresolved desire, 'Runaway' boasts a meandering guitar melody, steadied by a tricksy drumpad beat. The quiet moment before the final chorus draws the listener in, stirring vulnerable feelings before amping things up, elevating to cleverly mimic the feeling of heightened anxiety and building anticipation that happens when you begin to obsess over someone.

Speaking on the story behind the song, Sunday Lemonade explain: "'Runaway' is a pop/folk story of reciprocated but unspoken lust, exploring the fascinating hints and moments with another human yet frustrating lack of courage to actually act on it. The fairy tale dream of what would happen if that person would hurry up and grab your hand, take you on an adventure and you’d finally have the chance to fall in love."

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girlpuppy - Teenage Dream.

girlpuppy's (aka Becca Harvey) highly-anticipated debut LP When I'm Alone is due out October 28th on Royal Mountain Records (Wild Pink, Pillow Queens), her second release on the label following 2021's Swan EP, a five song collection that drew remarkable acclaim from outlets like NPR, FADER, Paste, Under The Radar and NYLON who called her "one of indie folk's most promising newcomers." 

Produced with Slow Pulp member Henry Stoehr and Alex G guitarist Sam Acchione, girlpuppy's debut has seen three singles released so far "Wish," "I Want To Be There," and "Destroyer"  and now Harvey is sharing the fourth single "Teenage Dream," a tune inspired by a Keanu Reeves lookalike.

“I wrote “Teenage Dream” after I cried at an Atlanta United soccer game at Mercedes Benz stadium. The song’s about a guy I lead on who looks like Keanu Reeves, and it’s the first one we made for the album. It was, in part, inspired by Caroline Polachek, who said in an interview that her lyrics for “Bunny Is A Rider” make no real sense, and that they just sounded good to sing. Similarly, the chorus lyrics to teenage dream don’t make much sense, but I do enjoy singing them. An important detail: I’m talking to my puppy Obi at the beginning, and you can hear him barking at the end.”

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Dan Pallotta - The Mailman.

 Dan Pallotta is sharing American Pictures, his new album following in the footsteps of folk and singer-songwriter greats to reflect on the human condition. Pallotta brings empathy and wisdom to his songwriting, gained over several decades spent exploring music, philanthropy, and family life.

Pallotta reflects on the joys and the sorrows that mark each of our lives with “The Mailman,” taken from American Pictures, a song whose inspiration was sparked by listening to John Prine’s recollections of working as a mail carrier.

This tender and reflective acoustic track delves into the situations the character at the centre of the song navigates through in his day-to-day, facing the role of being the messenger of both incredible and destabilizing news.

Matt Mahurin’s black and white music video shot in California underscores the humanity of this character, creating an entire world of emotion which parallels the song itself.

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Addie Brik - Retromingent.

Addie Brik returns with the breathtaking new single: ‘Retromingent’. Taken from Addie’s forthcoming new album, ‘That Dog Don’t Hunt’, it’s a song of a transfixing gravity that will bring to mind the works of Talk Talk or Kate Bush to halt you in your tracks.

Co-written with Michael Timothy (Massive Attack), it also features expertly metronomic percussion from Jim McDermott (Simple Minds / The Silencers), guitars by Robbie Macinosh (The Pretenders / Paul McCartney), spacious piano parts and hammond organs, plus the voices of a thirty-strong children’s choir from The Scottish National Youth Choir. Together, its constituent parts infuse to form something utterly spellbinding.

Touching on tolerance and comeuppance, judgement and karma, Addie explains of the themes at play in “Retromingent”: “Whatever people do or do not do to you along the way, if you can’t let go of that (a total tsunami of utter sh**e), you’ll never get to where you should be going. So, I have a responsibility to think correctly and hold myself to standards, my future, heaven or hell, depends on it. People do what they do and will get their comeuppance. There’s a natural working order here that fulfils itself.”

Harnessing slow-burning arrangements into a composition with a glacial kind of power, the original edit of “Retromingent” actually nears the seven-minute mark and forms one of the towering centre-pieces of Addie Brik’s upcoming studio album ‘That Dog Don’t Hunt’ (out 25 November, via Itza Records).

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Lore City - Emily Breeze - Nico Ev - Rutherford Royal - Lightnode

Lore City - Under Way (E.P).

Under Way is the new 7-inch EP from Lore City, released October 6, 2022. The EP follows full-length albums Participation Mystique and Alchemical Task, as the third release from the Lore City Music imprint. “On the whole, the band appears to be rejecting genre norms, and they don't seem to be in any kind of safety zone, while their fusion of indie psychedelia, dreampop, and darkwave sounds isn't directly analogous to anything nearly customary,” advises Destroy//Exist. Lore City is a duo formed in 2011 and currently based in Portland, Oregon. Band members include married couple Laura Mariposa Williams (vocals, keyboard, guitar) and Eric Angelo Bessel (percussion, keyboard, guitar), who met as peers at Syracuse University.

Oneness. Whether you like it or not. Creeping up on you. Morse code tapping you on the shoulder. Runoff into the sea. A little bell ringing. Windchimes singing from forces unseen. I wanna believe. I animate these bones, for you. A paper skeleton on Halloween dangling from the front door. Animate, animate. Shuddering and twitching with your comings and goings. The thresholds we know. Everyone in their own little box, moving between containers. Remembering the orange glow of old sodium vapor streetlamps, and simultaneously, the terror of noticing that your heart is constantly beating. The fading roar of airplanes overhead, rerouted.

Suddenly you can see the flashing red and white lights out of the corner of your eye, every night, from your bed. Sometimes, the thing that happens along the way to something else turns out to be the thing in itself; saying to you, “I am not what you thought I was, but rather, I am my own all together.” An early departure, announcing its entirety upon arrival. Once thought of as the beginning of the next album, Under Way exists as a standalone 7-inch EP, confined only to the parameters of vinyl. Two sides, two tracks, pressed into another thing in a world on its way to something else.

 

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Emily Breeze - Ordinary Life.

Bristol-based indie noir-pop artist Emily Breeze returns with a bitter-sweet new single Ordinary Life, dripping with brit-goth nostalgia and sad-pop synth lines via Sugar Shack Records on September 23rd 2022.

Emily’s previous single ‘Confessions of an Aging Party Girl’, received airplay from Lauren Laverne, Don Letts and Tom Robinson alongside continued support from BBC Radio Bristol and BBC Introducing in the West. Ordinary Life continues in this vein, a reflection on a gloriously misspent youth and a celebration of the magic, misery, miracles and monotony that are sewn into the fabric of everyday existence where you are the hero of your own mythic quest.

Speaking of the inspiration for the song Emily says, “It’s a quest that involves biblical first loves and tragic one night stands, epic all nighters and the quiet desperation that follows as your dreams disperse like the fronds of a dandelion clock in the cold morning air. You blink, two decades have passed and you become the thing you always despised, a three dimensional, functional adult with reasonable expectations... Or perhaps it's the theme song to the end of a John Hughes movie set twenty years after Prom night, except it's not prom night, it's Butlins and Mike Leigh is directing but Simple Minds and Souxsie Sioux are still sparkling in the spotlight, and so are you.”

Ordinary life is the opening track to Emily’s third solo album Rapture which she describes as “A collection of coming-of (middle) age stories which celebrate flamboyant failure, excess and acceptance”, due for release January 2023.

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Nico Ev - The Final Ride.

Based in Glasgow, Nico started composing at the age of 6. Nico's debut release Hunter gained radio air time on BBC Radio Scotland and saw her named as Freshman Guitars 'Artist of the week'.

The inspiration for the song was a short story called 'The Cab Ride I'll Never Forget' by American author Kent Nerburn.

The tale acts as a reminder that one little act of kindness can be so truly important. I would recommend taking five minutes to read it. "You captured the essence of the story, painting with gentle strokes" - author Kent Nerburn.

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Rutherford Royal - Back Burner.

The new single from Nashville based multi-instrumentalist, producer and singer/songwriter Rutherford Royal is entitled "Back Burner." This enthralling rock single features Americana infused guitars, dark pop hooks and fuzzy intoxicating basslines for an immersive southern goth rock listening experience.

On the single, Rutherford Royal confides, "The boy has been waiting for the girl to fall in love with him as he watches her burn through several brief, meaningless and destructive relationships. Despite clear signs that he should move on, he is determined to die on this hill. Often it feels like the right thing to do is take the side of love and wait for the one you know you’ll never get over. This can be the single most destructive decision you ever make, but half measures will only lead to a life of ‘what-ifs."

Hailing from the barrier islands of South Carolina, Andrew Christopher Rutherford Royal has a deep connection with the land and embodies a non-traditionalist’s interpretation of the eastern South. He writes Southern Gothic cameos which he weaves into often dark, Indie Americana. After writing and curating the works for an album he records and mixes the music for Rutherford Royal (as well as other artists) in his remote cabin studio overlooking a hidden waterfall in southern Tennessee.

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Lightnode - Same Time Same Place.

Lightnode from Switzerland play rock music - direct, real and honest. Their style is strongly influenced by the rock bands of the 90s and sometimes reminds of the energy of the Counting Crows or indie rock moments of Wilco. Occasionally, however, there are also hints of the 60s and 70s through the distinctive organ sounds. The individual influences and musical imprints of the five musicians flow together to create their own emotional and vibrant sound, sometimes softer, sometimes more powerful. 

'The Bright Side Of The Edge' is the name of Lightnode's debut album, which comes across as playful, gritty and atmospheric. The songs and lyrics by singer Roger Imboden reveal profound explorations of various themes.

'Same Time Same Place' is the song that opens the record. It is not meant to be a single, but opens the listener up to Lightnode's music. The dry, direct guitar immediately pushes itself to the forefront before the band as a whole gives a glimpse of where else they can go shortly after. The lyrics thematically deal with self-confrontation and one's own comfort zone and, in terms of content, pick up on the old familiar, recurring situation that constantly and consistently throws you back on yourself. The depressing situation is resolved at the end of the song and finally allows the realization that it is always worthwhile to have the courage for self-confrontation in order to get ahead. Self-ironically and with a wink, the band has also implemented the whole theme in the music video.

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Isla Craig - H.C. McEntire - Una Rose - Cozy Slippers

Isla Craig - Moon.

Today, Toronto based songwriter Isla Craig has shared 'Moon', the second single to be taken from her forthcoming album Echo's Reach. Of her new single, Isla says: "The new single is my humble offering into the canon of 'Moon' songs across the ages. A song that is more a vibe and a vibe that asks us to suspend the harsh frequencies of earthbound folly for a moment of reflection and feeling. Keeping it psyche and casting a spell, the lessons of the moon of which I live to tell!"

For over a decade Isla Craig has created a formidable body of work, a unique musical vision last heard on 2018’s The Becoming and stretching back to 2012’s Both the one & the other, (an a cappella suite of songs featuring some of Toronto’s best known vocalists Daniela Gesundheit, Tamara Lindeman, Ivy Mairi, & Felicity Williams). 

With Echo’s Reach, Isla presents a sophisticated set of compositions that perfectly wrap her Highland influenced melodies in an organic blanket of musical peat formed from a mix of jazz, R&B and psychedelic folk. Leading a band of luminaries that include Evan Cartwright (drums), Ted Crosby (sax) and Mike Smith (bass), Isla showcases the affecting vocal presence that has made her an in-demand collaborator with artists such as Jennifer Castle and the spiritual jazz octet The Cosmic Range.

Isla summarises: “The album is a collection of songs that express an earnest desire for meditative paces and spaces, absorbing and reflecting the sacred grounds beneath concrete city life. Echo's Reach describes a desire to illuminate and walk in the transmissions and meditations of life between the fallow and the seed.”

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Photo - Heather Evans Smith

H.C. McEntire - Soft Crook.

H.C. McEntire shares her new single “Soft Crook” via Merge Records. An unfiltered reflection of navigating depression, the strikingly hopeful song is accompanied by a DIY music video she filmed herself. This weekend, H.C. McEntire will hit the road on a fall tour supporting Bob Mould, with stops in Nashville, Atlanta, Vienna and more.

“‘Soft Crook’ was an exercise in vulnerability and trust,” says McEntire. “At its narrative core, the lyrics expose my struggle with depression through an unfiltered lens—calling it what it is, shaking hands with it, unapologetically honoring the power of its grip. It’s a mysterious and unpredictable companion that can make walking this world feel like slogging through unforgiving fields of mud.” She explains, “Navigating the nuances of pandemic isolation while under a debilitating depression fog was the most alone I have ever felt. To embody grief honestly, to embrace its clumsy and unhinged corners—to survive—required efforts and elixirs of self-preservation. The chorus became an anthem, of sorts; a mantra for letting go of guilt in needing these things—whether medication or TV shows or other vices—to offer myself some grace.”

She continues, “I also wanted to capture a moment in time last fall when I’d opened myself back up to love; a way to summon the feeling of resting deeply in my girlfriend’s arms—that safety in hold, that transfer of both white-hot surrender and soft certainty, being touched strong and gentle at the same time; when guards are down and there is peace, if only for a moment, in the quiet consent of joy. So I walked to the front porch and snapped a photo of the late afternoon sky as proof, a reminder that there is much to feel, and much to lose. That love needs to be nurtured, even if stacked with unknowns. And we need to nurture ourselves as best we can, with whatever it takes to move towards another dawn.”

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Photo - Taryn Fleischmann

Una Rose - Resolutions.

“What good comes / from you still believing?” asks Montreal’s Una Rose in “Resolutions,” the opening song on her ephemeral and exploratory debut Myth Between. The solo project of Una Rose (Rosie) Long Decter from shoegaze duo Bodywash, Myth Between finds her trading walls of sound for delicate synths, crystalline vocals and deft lyricism. Far from an exercise in apathy, the EP probes the ineffable—the way feelings circulate and stick, laughter builds and dies—seeking hope in passing impressions.

Long Decter was named after her two grandmothers, Una Decter, a social activist in Winnipeg, and Rose Long, a music teacher in St. John’s. She grew up harmonizing at Newfoundland kitchen parties, playing open mics in Toronto, and studying the songwriting of Joni Mitchell and Neil Young. A move to Montreal at 17 drew her towards dream pop and experimental music, and she founded Bodywash with Chris Steward in 2014. In 2019, they released their debut full-length Comforter via Luminelle Recordings with a follow-up forthcoming in 2023. Long Decter has also refined her musicianship as a band member for rising local acts like Helena Deland and Magi Merlin.

Bringing these experiences together, Long Decter approaches the singer-songwriter tradition from an experimental bent, drawing inspiration from Julianna Barwick’s ambient echoes and Cate Le Bon’s unknowable moods, as well as Sara Ahmed’s theorizations of affect. Composing in her bedroom via synth and voice, Long Decter wrote Myth Between from 2019-2021. She then enlisted the help of electronic producer Yoon Rachel Nam, longtime collaborator Steward, and percussionists Andy Mulcair and Ryan White to flesh out the arrangements.

Mixed by Steve Eldon-Kerr and mastered by Tom Nixon, the EP’s six tracks blend the grounded storytelling of folk with otherworldly atmospherics, lifting Long Decter’s lyrics into a space between real and imagined. Beginning with her personal experiences and observations, the lyrics expand outward. “Partly” tells a story of desire on its way out the door. “Resolutions” is a reflection on phone calls back and forth with her father; “In the Garden Digging” a tribute to her mother’s pandemic planting.

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Cozy Slippers - I Can't Keep You Safe.

Cozy Slippers announce their return with the release of their self titled debut album on Kleine Underground Schallplatten (vinyl) and Subjangle (CD) on October 14th, 2022. The First single from the album was "Nobody Knows Me, Anyhow", a love letter to alienation. A trapped narrator finds solace in knowing that anonymity makes space possible.

"I Can’t Keep You Safe" is an eerie jangler that addresses major pandemic fear - that protecting loved ones was not possible. Previously Cozy Slippers released the 7" "A Million Pieces" (Kleine Underground Schallplatten 2019), and two EPs: ‘Postcards’ (Jigsaw Record 2018) and ‘Late Night In Summertime’ (self-released 2017).

In 2019, the band toured the UK, including an appearance at the Cambridge Indiepop All-dayer. The band largely recorded the album themselves, and it was mixed by Dylan Wall (Versing, Great Grandpa, and High Sunn) and mastered by Paul Gold (The Chills, Allah-lahs).

Cozy Slippers · I Can't Keep You Safe

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Nathaniel Bellows - Allison Lorenzen - Hannah Schneider - Derrero

Nathaniel Bellows - Well Water (feat. Shara Nova).

My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Nova joins Nathaniel Bellows on the single “Well Water,” just released through Harmon Blunt Music. The pairing–built upon multiple past collaborations– creates a conversation between the two contrasting voices, which in turn captures texture, contrast, atmosphere, beauty, and surprise.

“Well Water” swims in introspection while inventorying “the self” in moments of challenge, ambiguity, indecision, or indirection. Simply put, the message is: The search for one’s place in the world–or in one’s life–is ongoing, as long as you’re willing to participate. Bellows says, “I wrote this song throughout the pandemic, and in the wake of my father’s death, all the while reflecting on the question: What makes us who we are?”

The contrast of growing up surrounded by the quiet beauty of the natural world in rural New England and now living in New York City’s urban landscape creates tension in Bellows’ music. The songs are an ongoing dialogue between internal, reflective wonder and an external sense of outward, urgent searching.

Bellows works in three creative fields simultaneously–writing, music, and visual art– exploring a cohesive artistic point of view among the three mediums to undergird his songs. He says, “I explore emotional terrain with these various creative outlets in an attempt to understand–through different vantage points–what matters to me.” He writes about memory, affect, family, legacy, the natural world, human frailty, injury, redemption, and resilience. He says, “I’m interested in unresolved images and fragments of unfinished thought and dialogue.” The engine of most of his work–writing, music, and artwork–is the constant process of reconciling the past while existing, in an ever-changing state, in the present day.

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Photo - Jake Stephens

Allison Lorenzen - The Fourth Cycle.

As the weather is starting to cool down a bit we proudly bring you this appropriately autumnal single release of "The Fourth Cycle"  by Denver based Allison Lorenzen. A staple in her live shows, "The Fourth Cycle" centers Lorenzen's prodigious and classically trained piano and features a particularly tasty pop hook that is difficult to shake once it gets it's hooks in you.

Lyrically, it seems that Lorenzen is turning her face towards the other side of the cathartic nature of the critically acclaimed Tender released last year on Whited Sepulchre Records. Lorenzen states that "The Fourth Cycle", "explores themes of intimacy and change, and the spectrum of emotion -  from grief to empowerment - that arise from facing and allowing said change." If Tender charted a way out by going through the crushing span of personal tragedy, then "The Fourth Cycle" stands on the other side of it, looking back a bit more wisened and grateful.

Recorded, mixed, and co-produced by Mark Anderson in Colorado in 2022. The song was written on piano and then the recording was built around a live drum take which was sent through analog machines such as Space Echo, Binson Echo Rec, and spring reverb to create counter rhythms, bringing the track to life.

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Hannah Schneider - Ocean Letters (album).

From the beginning of her career, Hannah Schneider has established herself as a unique musician on the Danish scene. With her love of strong melodies and well crafted lyrics, she constantly treads new artistic paths, carrying the weight of contemplation as a companion. On her new album Ocean Letters, the classic piano composition and the evocative electronic elements form a seamless kinship and create a picture-saturated tale of time.

Ocean Letters is Hannah Schneider's first solo album in 7 years. Behind her, she has 3 highly acclaimed solo albums in her own name, while in recent years she has been busy in the electronic duo AyOwA, and the performance project Philip I Schneider. Hannah has been nominated for several Danish music awards and has performed all over Europe, the UK and the US with her captivating solo performances, where she live samples, loops and creates playful soundscapes on stage. In addition, her voice has appeared in several films and TV series, including the national DR TV series Ride Upon The Storm.

With Ocean Letters, she seeks out new landscapes again. The songs create an intimate connection between the neoclassical and the modern, the near and the universal, and emphasize her cinematic, evocative expression with strength and a human humility. The pandemic as a new worldwide condition became the beginning of the new songs. The album is inspired by the book Havbrevene  (The Sea Letters) by Siri Ranva Hjelm Jacobsen - an exchange of letters between the sister oceans the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean who write together about life in the sea and on earth. 

Central to the songs are the piano and Hannah's spherical and evocative vocals, while the productions create budding hopes with flickering electronic elements. And while it's still the strong melodies that are the focal point for Hannah Schneider, the record marks a new sonic path, with a cinematic sound that creates strong images in the listener's mind.

After the years in the internationally recognized duo AyOwA, where Hannah has written and sung in Danish, she again wanted to write in English with the new songs. But the way of writing - in more direct, minimalist lines, which come from the spoken language has stuck with her ever since. “You write in a different way in your mother tongue. And even though my father was American and I grew up with English as my second language, I had to go around my mother tongue to find my own way in the English lyrics”.

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Derrero - High Side.

Celebrated Welsh band Derrero continue an unstoppable 26-year trajectory with their new album Curvy Lines. Recorded back in Nov 2021 the album sees Derrero exploring new ways of working to expand upon their sonic palette and distinctive use of cut and paste song writing. Many ideas were traded across the web and new material was rapidly realised during 4 days of marathon studio sessions.

Maintaining a resolutely DIY approach to music making Curvy Lines demonstrates a strident and confident band who remain steadfastly unafraid to swim against the tide and self-produce and self-release uncompromising music outside of the mainstream

The members of Derrero all met at Falmouth Art college in 1993: after studies, they evolved in Brighton before settling in Newport, Wales. There they released their debut single Tiny Shoes on Size 8 Records in 1997 and also their debut LP later that same year after signing to Big Noise records in Cardiff.

Since the bands foundation Derrero have released 4 critically acclaimed albums and toured with the likes of Super Furry Animals, Catatonia, Sebadoh and Granddaddy as well as collaborating on the film ‘Beautiful Mistake’ with John Cale. The band also recorded three sessions for the legendary John Peel.

Derrero · High Side

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Thallo - Womb - Signe Marie Rustad - Lesley Pike

Photo - Abi Sinclair

Thallo - Pluo.

Upcoming Welsh artist Thallo shares new Welsh language single Pluo (transl. Feathering) and announces details of her forthcoming bilingual Crescent EP, inspired by a unique subject matter and one deeply personal to Thallo – immobility.

On new single Pluo, Thallo showcases her unique sound, one that is enveloping, otherworldly, and multi-instrumented, spanning bedroom and dream-pop with subtle, textured jazz infusions and contemporary classic touches, both ethereal and utterly enthralling.

Pluo translates as ‘feathering’ in English, meaning ‘lightly snowing’ which relates to the song’s poignant opening line “I gather dust which is feathering stillness.” Inspired by the effects of a sudden condition that Thallo suffered in 2020 which caused chronic knee pain and debilitating mobility issues, Pluo touches on the peculiar pain of watching the world return to normal following lockdown, whilst Thallo was trapped in what she describes as “My own personal lockdown.” As she expands “I felt so stuck, unable to return to my normal life. But most of all, the song is a cry of fear for the loneliness and hopelessness of being left behind whilst everyone else moves forward.”

Pluo’s accompanying video, a collaboration with Welsh channel Lŵp (S4C) produced and co-directed by Aled Wyn Jones and Andy Pritchard, takes inspiration from psychological horror and is filmed at the popular ghost-hunting spot Bron y Garth Hospital - a former 1800s workhouse/hospital now abandoned and frozen in-time. As Thallo explains “The setting perfectly mirrors Pluo’s lyrics of feeling stuck and deteriorating.”

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Photo - Ted Black

Womb - Oceans.

Flying Nun Records and Pōneke’s Womb are thrilled to announce the trio’s upcoming album, Dreaming of the Future Again — out digitally and on 180g black vinyl on November 11th, 2022.

Womb is made up of siblings Cello Forrester (vocals, guitar, strings), Haz Forrester (synth, guitar), and Georgette Brown (drums). Their music is a composite of the three and builds on the shoegaze and dream pop sounds they are inspired by.

Dreaming of the Future Again is Womb’s sophomore album, recorded between 2020 and 2022, between living rooms and bedrooms, and at their dear friend and collaborator Bevan Smith’s backyard studio, Circle Blue Studios. “Dreaming of the future again” is a phrase that sprang to mind for Cello as they woke up one morning, and these are the words that tether each song on the album together.

The album builds musically from where their previous album, Like Splitting the Head from the Body, left off. The arrangements have moments that are layered, warm, and ethereal, where Georgette's driving drums are met with percussive samples, Haz’s synths bend and rise, and Cello’s textured strings stretch across the tracks. There are also sparse moments that draw you to Cello’s direct vocal delivery, for example on the opening track, Sylvan’s Song, and later in The Dove.

Lyrically, the songs trace moments across the two years recording the album, drawing on a repeated lexicon for Cello: of light and refraction; butterflies; birds; and dreaming. Each song is both personal and allegorical, and looks at connection and the things we are tethered to.

The album art is a drawing of a star-flower by band member and artist Georgette — titled, “I want you to see above your head a beautiful, beautiful star”. The drawing is on the wall of Cello and Georgette’s kitchen. The title of this artwork comes from a book that Georgette’s dad, Justin, used to read to her, guiding a visualisation of a star that is your very own, one which you can carry with you everywhere you go.

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Signe Marie Rustad - Hello It's Me.

"Hello It’s Me" sings Signe Marie Rustad in her crystal clear, inimitable voice. And with that, she’s back, three years after the release of her successful third album, When Words Flew Freely. The above lyric is taken from a song bearing the same name, the first single off Rustad’s fourth album, Particles of Faith.

Of her new single, Rustad says: "'Hello It’s Me' is about peeling off the layers and finding strength within yourself to take control over your own narrative. The lyrics reflect upon reaching an empowering point of trusting your own judgement while navigating through complicated times: “I decide how I will feel about it all, I’m gonna keep it real.I prefer forgiveness, and finding a way that works, to maintaining stable fronts. I don't do well with feeling angry over a long period of time, it just shuts down all other emotions. So the last line of the song, “I’ll be the judge of the culprit of the crime, let go I’m leaving it behind,” is kind of a mantra: Set yourself free by letting go of anger and disappointment and get on with your life.”

Known for her poetic lyrics and clever songwriting, and backed by a tight knit band that’s been with her for years, Rustad’s new album offers a natural transition from the already classic When Words Flew Freely (WWFF). However, Particles of Faith also brings something completely new and fresh.

WWFF presented a broader, organic and piano-driven Laurel Canyon-sound, and less of the Americana sound present on Rustad’s first two releases. Particles of Faith is harder to place in any genre, other than in the broader singer-songwriter tradition, helmed by pioneers such as Joni Mitchell and Carole King. But Rustad also points to a host of other inspirations.

Jansen Records · Signe Marie Rustad - Hello It's Me (DWYBO Records)

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Lesley Pike - Paper Thin.

Lesley Pike's upcoming album, Wild, focuses on the resilience that comes after pain. Ahead of its October 28th release, she shares "Paper Thin," written with folk duo The Dunwells, a fragile yet hopeful reflection on a couple's fight that Pike overheard while staying at a hotel one night in Leeds, England.

"Oh god, have I ever sounded like this?" Pike asked herself as she tried to catch some sleep. The next morning, she and The Dunwells set out to write a song which feels tender but also quite optimistic and hopeful. Delicate lap steel guitar and Pike's vocal at the forefront tell a story of comparison and the shifting perceptions of conflict that come from overhearing such a personal row between strangers.

The evolution of singer-songwriter Lesley Pike’s musical journey takes centre stage with the release of Wild. The recording artist’s fourth disc is an accumulation of confidence and drive as well as an all-important focus: producing and creating music on her terms. The result of her ambitions? Twelve stunning recordings which represent new heights in Pike’s song craft—ranging from the personal into the universal. Take, for instance, the recently released, “Bar Américain” (September 9th). 

The song chronicles Pike’s powerful storytelling abilities by way of her lyrics, which share memories of a real-life romantic encounter she had in a bar in London, England. Lines such as “We run with wild abandon / with whiskey on our breath and in our veins / we talk like we have got forever / but we kiss like we’ve got no time to waste” provide a stool-side point of view into Pike’s elations and emotional epiphanies.

“I felt confident to produce myself because I could take more risks and open up in ways I never thought possible. In the past, I always thought people knew better than me, so I would give way…. This time, I’ve realized I don’t have to outsource—I can tap into who I am for the answers.”

 This same type of intimacy can be heard in songs such as “Home” and “Tall Tales,” which convey conversational anecdotes via lyrics and vocal delivery reminiscent of folk-country-pop greats, ranging from Dolly Parton and Father John Misty, as well as Jenny Lewis and Aimee Mann. Both “Home” and “Tall Tales” dig into Pike’s internal dialogue, making listeners feel as though they are being held close in Pike’s confidence, much in the same way an old friend would be.

Lesley Pike · Paper Thin

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DOWNGIRL - Mazey Haze - Angela Strehli - Smoke and Mirrors Sound System

DOWNGIRL - Manic.

Explosive and energetic femme nu punk / grunge-rockers DOWNGIRL have doused stages around their hometown in Gadigal land in their highly flammable sonic kerosene and are kicking things up a notch with the release of their track, 'Manic', out now.

Born out of the ashes of punk outfit BoysClub, DOWNGIRL formed online during the 2021 lockdown and are gaining plenty of momentum. Within the space of a year, they've supported FANGZ and Battlesnake, cutting their teeth on lineups for Doomed Friday, Bonez Queer Party, Winter Magic Revival Festival headlined by Hermitude, Haiku Hands and Urthboy, and are set to tear it up at Chopped Festival with Amyl And The Sniffers later this year. The four-piece also just played with one half of The Veronicas for Jessie333’s new music video for 'Seeing Stars'.

Bursting onto the scene with the dynamite 'Beauty Queen', this epic second track, 'Manic', off the group's upcoming EP is 4 and a half minutes of powerful punk goodness.

The gradual build of gritty riffs and fury-driven drums match the energy of the lyrical confessions that escalate with a fight or flight intensity. By the time it gets there, it fervently begs for relief with a euphoric, wall-to-wall noise-filled chorus and its refrain, ‘Manic’. The song hits like shots of cinnamon whisky - hard, fast and to dizzying effect, with a sweet but spicy aftertaste. Each member gives it their all, and collectively let go like an unrelenting force of nature.

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Mazey Haze - The Weight of the Weekend.

Indie-rock rising talent Mazey Haze today returns with new single "The Weight of the Weekend" - the first new music to be heard since her breakthrough debut EP 'Always Dancing'. Also she announces a date supporting Feng Suave at Lafayette in London on 2nd November.

”Gotta find my way back / Gotta find my way back,” sang Nadine Appeldoorn aka Mazey Haze on the closing track of her ‘Always Dancing’ EP, released in 2021. Now, she has at last arrived. The Amsterdam based artist’s forthcoming second EP is reflective of this desire for simplicity: a collage of self-reflection, where thought, feeling and a powerful sense of place merge to make singular worlds that are entirely her own.

Toning down the more ethereal, synthetic textures present on her debut, Mazey Haze's new material finds her rooting herself to the earth, together with a little less perfectionism. Organic, acoustic sounds, her love of French New Wave cinema, Italian film scores and 60s psych-rock informs the vein of nostalgia that runs through it, finding its way back to a distant world.

Wreathed in light, cinematic with its gong-like percussion, new single "The Weight of the Weekend" traces the difficult terrain of her childhood. “It’s sensitive for me, so it was a scary song to release,” she shares. The track is released today alongside a new video shot in the streets of Bar-le-Duc in France, directed by Tara Wilts.

Speaking more on the lyrical inspiration of "The Weight of the Weekend", Mazey Haze said: "This song is about me trying to figure out for myself how to connect with people and wanting to get rid of the part of me that holds me back from being free. Thinking about my childhood, myself and people in general. I find it hard to connect with myself and others, want to know why and how to get better. In this song you could say I’m talking to myself, to certain people around me and to the particular voice in my head that refuses to give me real peace and pride in anything I do."

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Photo - Paul Moore

Angela Strehli - Ace Of Spades.

Angela Strehli returns with Ace of Blues on November 18th via Antone’s/New West Records. The 12-song set is her first album in over 17 years and was co-produced by Strehli & her husband Bob Brown. For over five decades, the 76-year-old’s voice has coursed through the genre akin to blood through a heart. Her influence can be felt in the legacy of Antone’s — the iconic Austin blues club she helped found with the late Clifford Antone and where she performed & became friends with the likes of Muddy Waters, Albert King, Otis Rush, Jimmy Reed, and countless others. 

Ace of Blues pays tribute to the artists who inspired her throughout her career and features renditions of songs made famous by Elmore James, Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Otis Clay and more. It concludes with “SRV,” a beautiful and personal tribute to the late Stevie Ray Vaughan. As the only original on Ace of Blues, the song celebrates their friendship, creative connection, and musical bond with one of the most heartfelt, hypnotic, and hard-hitting performances on the record.

Buddy Guy calls Ace of Blues, “Tough, soulful, and sexy. My kind of blues” while Bonnie Raitt says, “Always a fan, I’m so glad Angela’s back with a new album, putting her soulful take on this collection that pays tribute to her old blues friends.” Charlie Musselwhite says, “Angela has just kept getting better. She truly loves and ‘gets’ real deal blues and what it means. It’s great to see her share her blues with us all” while Maria Muldaur offers, “Her lifelong devotion to the blues is fully realized here! This is an absolute, must-have album for any blues lover.”

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Smoke and Mirrors Sound System - Undercover (album).

Smoke and Mirrors Sound System is a project involving dozens of artists from many countries, having been locked down, we picked up our laptops, phones, tablets, mics, mixers and created the magic, playing together in a dream of musical unity that frees us to imagine the concerts that may yet be. Travel with us! less

Undercover is much more than a passion project. It’s a lifelong obsession with music, from Rhythm & Blues, Soul Reggae, Ska, Rocksteady, and 2Tone, to New Wave. A picture may tell a thousand words, but a song can transport you through time and space, or bring up long forgotten memories.

For some, listening to this album will be a soundtrack to their own formative years. For others, it will be a discovery of decades of music to dig deeper into. I encourage everyone to go back and listen to the original recordings with news ears and then, listen to Undercover to hear the spirit of those recordings along with the subtle nuances and flourishes by all the great musicians and their combined experience. This is more than a tribute. It’s a love letter in songs, a great mixtape given to those you love.

Smoke and Mirrors Soundsystem · Mad World (Tears For Fears cover)

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Melby - Popup - The Labrit Project - Pat Razket - Klô Pelgag - Melissa Carper

Melby - Hammers.

On a first, careless, listen, Stockholm four-piece Melby might seem like a charming, fun little jangle-pop band. Pay a little more attention however, and you’ll find their waters run a lot deeper than that. The band (Matilda Wiezell, Are Engen Steinsholm, David Jehrlander and Teo Jernkvist) have all the flash and sparkle of your favourite indie band, but add an ability to touch moods and feelings with a meaning beyond most of their peers. Their guitars, drums and synths rattle, roll and flicker around each other, all held together by the soul-shiver in Wiezell’s vocals, to make immaculate little guitar-pop gems, equally dusted with sadness and sugar.

Melby’s debut album None Of This Makes Me Worry was released in 2019, and took them on tour in Scandinavia, Germany and the UK, as well as earning them slots at prestigious showcase festivals like Norway’s by:Larm and Hamburg’s Reeperbahn. Now after a couple of years of beavering away, they’re back with the follow-up Looks like a map which will be released on October 21st with the last single 'Hammers' available now alongside an animated music video by Isabelle Friberg.

From the temperamental opening bars of “Hammers”, all moody and dark, you might imagine that Swedish four-piece Melby have lowered you into the centre of a storm. Instead, “Hammers” is a piece of swirling indie-pop that paints in light and dark, complex emotions and ambiguity recast as a glittering four-minute earworm.

Clicking play on “Hammers'' can feel like cracking open a ship inside a bottle, a pop song that contains a dramatic, detailed and fully-formed world inside its borders. After the splash of thunder that opens the track, and recurs here and there within, “Hammers'' transforms into light-footed, sparkling and merry indie rock. Matilda Wiezell’s vocals paint a picture of a village idyll, but with a little disquiet humming beneath the surface. That unease however, doesn’t stop “Hammers” beautifully soaring into its chorus, a real feeling of release and freedom, blended with a little chaos fraying its edges. 

Guitarist Are Engen Steinsholm says: “’Hammers’ is an associative, free-flowing journey into the memory of my home-town: A small place in northern Norway, with spectacular sceneries and a community that's warm if you belong, and harsh if you don't”.

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Popup - Soltice

Popup have returned with the new single Solstice. The Glasgow guitar-pop group got their start back in 2004 and quickly became one of the UK's most talked about young bands. The next few years saw them touring extensively, grabbing high profile support slots and garnering media praise for their candid lyricism and infectious buzz. 

They were heralded "the most exciting band in Glasgow" (Is This Music?) and toured across the USA, including playing SXSW, before even releasing their debut album. Popup released A Time And A Place in 2008, but the band split in 2010. They quietly reunited in 2020 and self-released album Whimpers.

Last Night From Glasgow are thrilled to bring you new single Solstice; a track that honours the sound of their breakout success but also illustrates how time has given the band space to mature and mellow since their start as teenagers. Solstice includes b-side track Hitting Nine that premiered on The Roddy Hart Show. Upcoming album Promise will be released in March 2023

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The Labrit Project - Way Down.

London-based guitarist and music producer Muca, (Los Bitchos, L.A. Salami, Alice SK) teams up with UK singer and vocals performer Randolph Matthews to release a new duo track and remix under his new world music project, The LABRIT Project. A striking world, tribal Brazilian roots track embellished with an outstanding performance from on Randolph Matthews vocals, ‘Way Down’ also comes with a modern and fresh remix.

Both tracks complete each other. The original sounds like classical tribal world music with the uniqueness of Brazilian berimbau, yet with Randolph Matthews bringing his infectious vocals and performance style to create something fresh. The original track has Serra Petale on drums (Los Bitchos) Rafael Kalil on Cello, and Bahia on pandeiro. The remix is a unique mix of vocal performance and beat-making with guitars, drum programming and electronic conjuring into something intoxicating.

Both artists have known each other since Muca moved from Brazil to the UK. Muca produced some of Randolph's songs in the past, but now as he's releasing his project, he wanted Randolph to be one of the first artists he worked with. After the recording and the mixing of the original track, Randolph came up with the idea of getting some of the stems and playing around with them. He then sent it back to Muca with unique new ideas. They then decided to create a remixed version, combining Randolph's ability to create amazing vocals and percussive loops with Muca's guitars and programming.

On the process, Muca explains: "As a producer, you must always keep updated on new forms of making music. When I started to learn finger drumming and the MPC, I found I felt it would be a great place to start adding this new knowledge to my music.”

The video for the remix, filmed and directed by Giovanni Mattei and performed by dancer Thiely Volga, is set around a powerful and moving performance in São Paulo's downtown Roosevelt Square in a semi dusk vibe. On the video Mattei said, “The mix of jazz and pop with an intense beat of Muca's and Randolph's sound gave us a chance to create a film that extracts colours from a grey metropolis like São Paulo. But the result was incredible, and the dance conveyed the intensity of the track.”

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Pat Razket - Night of O'Malley.

When wild folk-meets-pirate collective Pat Razket release their third studio album - "Hymns from the Abyss" - on October 25, we find a band that has both refined its craft and developed new dimensions.

"Hymns from the Abyss" is an album where death, booze, sorrow and happiness are alternating. Where Irish melodies meet Nordic sadness and melancholy meets frenzy. Where dancing always belongs and where fragile hope is the most beautiful thing there is.

Does that sound like a lot in one package? When nine musicians from very different backgrounds are all allowed to influence the ensemble, a creative melting pot is created where Irish folk music, Metal, Scandinavian melancholy and Americana ultimately become something of its own. "Hymn of the Abyss" is thus a broad album where the stories and the energy keeps it all together.

"Hymns from the Abyss" grew out of the isolation of the pandemic. When Pat Razket's intense touring came to a halt, the members decided to put all their energy into a new album. The process was different from previous album recordings. The songs were written over a long period of time, allowed to develop bit by bit. The arrangements and musical ideas were determined during a pre-production phase, something completely new for the band. Under the supervision of producer Andreas Morén in Studio Fluff, Västerås, Sweden.

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Klô Pelgag - À l'ombre des cyprès.

Klô Pelgag has unveiled a new video for her track "À L'ombre des cyprès", ahead of her debut UK headline show this October. Singer-songwriter Klô Pelgag has gotten us accustomed to strikingly colourful and innovative music videos. The one for her song “À l’ombre des cyprès” is no exception. It was directed by her frequent collaborator Soleil Denault, who earned a Félix at last year’s Gala de l’ADISQ for her video for the song “Mélanine.”

“The À l’ombre des cyprès video shows Klô Pelgag being pursued by her monstrous alter ego” reveals Soleil. This contemporary fable represents the need to take back your power in the face of adversity. We all have a monstrous alter ego and, when it awakes, we feel breathlessly chased by its negative thoughts. In this video, we illustrate Klô’s quest for emancipation and rebirth; we witness her ultimate empowerment”.

Last week Klô Pelgag received four nominations ahead of the next Gala de l’ADISQ, after earning 13 of them last year, matching the record established by Céline Dion. The categories in which she is nominated are: Female Singer of the Year, Concert of the Year, Direction and Scenography of the Year, and Artist of the Year – International Reach. The winners will be revealed on November 2 and 6.

Klô Pelgag recently returned from the Sukiyaki Meets the World Festival, where she was reunited with her Japanese fans after several years of absence. She is now set to wrap up her “Notre-Dame-Des-Sept-Douleurs” tour this fall with a few shows in France that had been postponed during the pandemic, as well as her first ever concert in London, England, on October 11 at the Lexington.

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photo - Lyza Renee

Melissa Carper - Ramblin' Soul.

Melissa is THE ramblin' soul - of the song she says: "I wrote 'Ramblin' Soul' driving down the road on a familiar trip from Arkansas back down to Texas. I had just spent time with some musician friends and was feeling re-energized. On this trip, I realized just how much that free, ramblin’ life I’ve lived over the years has stimulated my creative process.  Arkansas, Texas, and Tennessee have been states I just keep making the rounds to, as well as New Mexico and Minnesota, so these places made their way into the song.  I say 'you can't keep me in a hole, 'cause Lord I'm a ramblin' soul.' 

By that I mean, if something isn't working for me and making me happy or it seems I've gotten in a rut somewhere, then I move on to whatever the next thing is that feels right, or I get out of town for a bit to find some new inspiration and fresh perspective.  That is really the gist of it, trying to go with the flow of life wherever it seems the Universe is guiding me."

Ramblin' Soul is the follow-up to her 2021 LP Daddy's Country Gold, which was praised by Rolling Stone, NPR, No Depression, Slate, Saving Country Music, and many, many more.

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McDermott & North - Rachael Dadd - Lost In Japan

McDermott & North - Elope.

Beloved indie folk songwriters McDermott & North are back with their heartfelt sounds, this time with a sweet and sophisticated plea to marry a lover in their new single 'Elope'.

The talented songwriting duo have been winning hearts around the East Coast with their busking performances and beautiful songs since 2016, from which time their dedicated fanbase has amassed and only continues to grow. Their charismatic music making has likewise caught the attention of artists Ben Lee and Alex Lloyd, and consequently invited them to support on their separate tours. Stages at Bluesfest, TEDX Talks Brisbane and Bigsound have also showcased the pair in 2019, and they've two sold-out headline shows in their hometown - just to name a few.

The innocently earnest 'Elope' is sure to once again melt hearts, as Patrick McDermott and Rhys North do so well, with this release being their second for the year after the swaying 60s-inspired tune, 'All Things Come And Go'.

This considered and carefully-crafted song is set to evoke nostalgic memories of that sweet, innocent feeling of being so hopelessly in love that you're ready to abandon everything and tie the knot. Weaving through romantic invitations to escape into the sunset, declarations of love and heading down the aisle, 'Elope' charms all the way through with beautiful harmonies that glide effortlessly to a climactic final chorus, pirouettes through waves of strings before landing gracefully on an impressive baritone outro.

"Elope" was written during Patrick McDermott's first real relationship. It's about vulnerability and innocence of the heart when you're caught in the throes of love.

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Rachael Dadd - Children of the Galaxy.

The wildly creative free-form songwriter Rachael Dadd is sharing her new single, "Children of The Galaxy." ’Taken from her forthcoming 14 October album Kaleidoscope, the single was written on electric guitar with the hot spring sunshine beaming down from a deep blue sky.

Says Rachael: "We were locked down, I was living with my two children, solo parenting. Life needed a certain amount of escapism, and music and songwriting were providing this. A combination of listening to Sun Ra at the time, the hot sleepy sunshine, and finding this particular pattern of notes meant I could feel as if I were on the other side of the earth's atmosphere, and imagine other civilizations and a different way of life compared to our own. "We are stardust, we are golden" from Joni Mitchell's Woodstock, was probably a subconscious influence. From up in space, we might look down and understand how precious life is, all of it born of and connected to the universe."

Co-produced by Rachael and Rob Pemberton (The Staves, Emily Barker, Maja Lena), Kaleidoscope includes musical collaborators such as Maja Lena (Low Chimes), long-time collaborator Emma Gatrill (Willy Mason) and Flux producer Marcus Hamblett (Villagers, James Holden, The Staves), and is Rachael’s second album for Memphis Industries following 2019’s Flux which Rachael was touring when the pandemic struck. "If I had to pick a favourite album it would be this one because of the magical rekindling of human connection when me and my band got back in a room together again”, she adds, "All that magic went into these songs."

Over the years Rachael has toured across Europe and Asia including appearances at Greenman, Cambridge Folk and Glastonbury Festivals. Having performed alongside Rozi Plain, This is The Kit, Alabaster DePlume, Francois and the Atlas Mountains and Michael Kiwanuka, she will be playing some intimate instore shows in October to celebrate the album’s release before heading out on a UK Tour in November and December.

"Many of my musical heroes are my best pals. I feel so lucky to have so many inspiring people close by and even luckier to be able to share music and stages together, particularly with all my band members and with Kate and Rozi of This Is The Kit, and Maja Lena who I am excited to be touring with this year”.

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Lost In Japan - On My Way.

After a year of preparing and releasing “Before The Blink”, “Red Line” & “ Congrats” London, Ontario’s Lost In Japan releases the first part of their sophomore LP “Night Talks Pt. 1”.

Lost In Japan saw great success with the releases of “Red Line” (#18 on Billboard) and “Lonely” (2021 Winner of Corus Entertainment’s Summer Song Contest). They’re now following up that success with new tracks “Before The Blink” & “Congrats”, developing the next chapter in the blossoming career of one of London, Ontario’s premiere up-and-coming bands.

“Congrats” tells a story of acceptance regardless of how difficult the situation may be. The single was produced by Grammy Award winner Matt Snell at Noble Street Studios in Toronto.

Lost In Japan Music · On My Way

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