The Steele Syndicate - Uhl - Vera Ellen - Jade Empress

The Steele Syndicate - City of Dread.

A tranquil, subtropical rainforest studio made the perfect setting for Meanjin/Brisbane-based funk/rock octet The Steele Syndicate to record their debut album ‘Weekend’s Coming’. The result is an uplifting, delightfully noise-filled listen brimming with feel-good fun, and is out to enjoy now.

Encompassing the themes of work, love and happiness, 'Weekend's Coming' showcases the band at their raucous and rocking best, with signature doses of funk led by plenty of horns. Each song was recorded using only analogue instruments - so every horn stab, synth note, guitar, organ or kick sound is the real deal. Frontman Steele McMahon divulges:

“I remember tracking the lead guitar line for ‘One Beer (Is Never Enough)’, and having this old Roland Jazz Chorus maxed to the proverbial 11, and there being so much thick noise even when the guitar was not playing, that it sounded like the studio was literally drawing breath.

While it was challenging to utilize only real instruments, in a day where nearly every sound can be achieved with the touch of a button, I think it presented a fun and creative opportunity to embrace limitations, and really allow the nuances and idiosyncrasies of analogue instrumentation to shine.”

The band's feature album opens with the thought-provoking, sway-inducing 'City of Dread'. It sets the scene for next track 'Dance' to steal the spotlight, and amp things up with plenty of brassy fanfare.

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Photo - Zeke Bogusky

Uhl - Haunted Tune.

"Oh what haunted tune can I bring you?" Uhl asks at the opening of "Haunted Tune," the first single from Channels. Her serpentine melodies and operatic storytelling cascade from there in perfectly executed art pop waves that crash over and over, recalling Kate Bush's The Sensual World or Annie Lennox's Diva or Weyes Blood's more recent work. To be sure, this is really not the kind of thing that works if it's only halfheartedly executed or if the artist is anything but exceptional.

And so here's Uhl: fully going for it and fullly pulling it off, supported by the acrobatic production of Peter Murray (Alela Diane, Lisa Crawley). The melodies are memorable, the arrangements are spot on, and the dramatic effect is consuming. Fans of Liz Fraser's and Cindy Sharp's songs on It'll End in Tears, brace yourselves.

Uhl embodies a different character in each song, "channeling" these narratives. In "Haunted Tune," the narrator seems to be singing from the other side, warning that "you can't fool love and you can't cheat fate," but then coolly posing: "Isn’t it a pity / A quick hand deals and suddenly you’re carried away / With all your mistakes / Can’t lose what wasn’t yours to take."

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Photo - Nicola Sandford

Vera Ellen - Homewrecker.

After recently being nominated for 'Best Alternative Artist' at the 2022 Aotearoa Music Awards, Vera Ellen has released her first new music in over a year! It comes in the audio visual form of instant classic 'Homewrecker'.

"Homewrecker is the personification of my inner demon forcing its way in to create chaos where it senses harmony. I'm my own home wrecker. Ain't we all?" - Vera Ellen

The video, directed by Albert River, and made with the support of NZ on Air, is a cheeky tip-of-the-hat to "The King of Cool" Dean Martin, and his 1983 'Since I Met You Baby' video. The high contrast visuals see Vera cheerfully crooning amongst a cast of gorgeous models, despite the bleak and introspective undertones of the song's lyrics.

"I didn't realise it was my dream to dress as Dean Martin and prance about on a roof until a few months ago. Never give up on even your most current dreams!"

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Jade Empress - Madness.

Get swept away by Jade Empress when her powerful electro-pop single 'Madness' came out yesterday October 14. Jade Empress has been gaining steam and collecting accolades over the last few years as a talented songwriter. She was the winner of multiple categories of Songsalive!'s Song Comp in 2017, a finalist in the Australian Songwriters Association Songwriting Contest for three consecutive years, a semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition 2021, a participant in Ben Folds’ 2021 songwriting intensive retreat - all while working as a frontline doctor in rural and remote Australia.

Now, the artist is swapping the stethoscope for a microphone, and is ready to share her second single with the world, named 'Madness'. A soaring piece that celebrates the artist's impressive vocal ability, 'Madness' speaks to embracing the chaos of daily life. Produced by Grammy award-winning Kon Kersting (who's worked with the likes of The Jungle Giants, Tones & I, The Reubens and many more), this is a moving, melancholic pop track with emotive piano, converging in a dramatically swirling melody that uplifts and carries the songwriter's compelling voice to even greater heights.

Written in response to the chaos of her life in recent years, she chose to welcome it rather than fight against it. "Routine has always been important for me. I thought the pandemic was bad. Now, suddenly I'm finding myself working in the Pacific, as a doctor alongside the Australian Defence Force, and living day to day in an environment of civil and political unrest, I truly appreciate uncertainty and a certain kind of daily madness."

Jade Empress has already received enthusiastic support for her first release from Triple J, Double J, as well as commercial and community radio stations. 'Golden Hours' has also been featured on international music blogs including Send Me Yours Ears, Roadie Music, Indie Dock Music Blog (UK), PopMuzik (Sweden).

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Listen To BCMR (Beehive Candy Music Radio) streaming 24/7 with all the music featured on Beehive Candy in recent weeks and an eclectic mix of music from days gone by. BCMR-HERE. 

Ariel Bui - Kirby Heard - The Orchids - Julianna Riolino - Lasse Matthiessen

Ariel Bui - Real & Fantasy.

Nashville based singer / songwriter Ariel Bui has released the music video for “Real & Fantasy”, the second taste from her new album of the same name. The music of Ariel Bui, who Ann Powers of NPR Music once described as "a psychedelic cowgirl cool rockabilly queen”, pulls from her wide ranging musical background as a performer and music educator, blending elements of indie rock, indie pop, country, soul, surf, and psych rock into a distinct sound that should instantly appeal to fans of artists like Angel Olsen and Courtney Barnett. 

This new album Real & Fantasy reunites Ariel with Grammy-nominated producer Andrija Tokic (Alabama Shakes, Hurray for the Riff Raff), with the entire new LP recorded at his Nashville studio, The Bomb Shelter.

The video was recorded in Tokic’s Bomb Shelter Studio, featuring a team of seasoned Nashville musicians who helped bring this record to life – including Jo Schornikow (Phosphorescent) on Piano & Keys, Megan Coleman (Jenny Lewis, Yola) on drums, Jack Lawrence (Jack White, The Dead Weather) on bass, and Ellen Angelico (She’s A Rebel) on guitar. This studio performance not only highlights the stellar musicianship and warm indie rock sound that makes this record so rich sonically, but also the undeniably compelling presence of Ariel herself as both a performer and songwriter.

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Kirby Heard - Angel Wings.

There is marvelous comfort that comes from listening to this eclectic collection; a sense of warmth, a sense of being nurtured, of being cared for as a listener. While some songs touch on parts of life that aren’t comforting - loss, injustice, hypocrisy - even these convey love, concern, and hopefulness for a better future - the essence of a nurturing spirit.

The album title "Ripples in the Wake” reflects how songs of deep self-reflection, tribute, and political introspection, can ripple into each other, overlapping in a way that carries you into the currents of this album. Kirby remarks that “(That’s What Makes) A Bluegrass Song” was great fun to write and, at times, almost a music theory lesson. “Grab the Lightning” is a tribute to horses she rode in her late teens, especially a retired barrel racer named Rocker. From the very first chord the song takes you into the rush of wind on your face and the beautiful balance of horse and rider.

In comparison, Kirby's voice, an older one in its expression of wisdom, long-held understandings, and timelessness, can ache like winter wind on cold hands. She sings as if she deeply knows herself in “I Was Never a Child.” Kirby’s worked hard the past 3 years and this new CD shines with her fresh songwriting, self- confidence and performing. Sharing her point of view via her heart, these are the songs she lets fly out into the world, bringing us the same insight she brings to herself.

Since the November 2019 release of her first solo project, “Mama’s Biscuits”, Kirby Heard has become known for songs that take listeners on journeys through yesteryear and memories of home. Often introspective, inquisitive, and witty, these are songs with an authentic voice and perspective. Chris Spector (Midwest Record) called it ‘delightful, meaty songwriting that could only come from the heart and does a great job of opening your ears. “Mama's Biscuits" also earned an A- from Robert Christgau, “Dean of American Music Critics” and author of the online music newsletter “And It Don’t Stop”, and ranked #26 on his Dean's List 2020.

JKirby Heard · Angel Wings

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The Orchids - I Never Thought I Was Clever.

The long-awaited return of the best Scottish pop band since Orange Juice!Sometimes it can take several years to realise what you’ve been missing. Sometimes it can even take decades.... (If you already know all about The Orchids, well, you’re going to like Dreaming Kinda lot.) The Orchids were making sophisticated pop music right back in the early 1990s when Sarah Records first started. 

Their songs were as emotionally pure as anything else on that label, but they were always a step ahead of their peers in terms of song arrangements and musical ambition. With a casual, unpretentious air they made writing perfect pop songs seem easy, almost accidental, and several great releases followed. The Orchids gained a passionate following: people knew a good thing when they heard it and they hugged it close. But now it’s time for the rest of the world to be let in on the secret. The songs themselves are a beautiful mix of strength and gentleness. 

They wrap you in a powerful embrace, making you feel comfortable and secure –and then whisper their insecurities and anxieties into your ear. They say: ‘it’s OK to admit weakness. It’s OK to be fragile. That’s where true strength comes from’. From Glasgow, and proudly Scottish, the band shares a musical lineage with other great groups from that city, from Aztec Camera to Orange Juice, Lloyd Cole to Teenage Fanclub. All bands that specialise in song-writing that that can tell big stories through small fragments, that can make the ordinary extraordinary. Producer Ian Carmichael has helped the band createa perfectly-crafted masterpiece. 

He subtly accentuates the drama of the songs, with a sophisticated choreography and gloss that never overwhelms the tenderness of the music. In ‘This Boy Is A Mess’ (the first single from the album), the lyric confesses frailty while the music gets stronger and stronger. It is bittersweet and exhilarating at the same time. ‘I Want You, I Need You’ has harmonies as big as a house –but the yearning message remains intimate and close. ‘I Don’t Mean To Stare’ is a sophisticated new version of the track that first appeared on the Under The Bridge compilation earlier this year

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Julianna Riolino - Isn't It A Pity.

Toronto-based artist, Julianna Riolino shared her new single, "Isn't It A Pity" earlier this week, which comes as the final advance track to be lifted from her forthcoming debut album, All Blue which is out for release via You've Changed Records today. The album has found support so far from Pitchfork, Uncut, The New York Times, Stereogum, CBC, Exclaim, Shindig, Brooklyn Vegan and more.

Leaning more heavily on emotional reality than diary details, the kernel of truth and experience always shines through in Riolino’s songwriting. That duality rings like a lovesick bell on “Isn’t It A Pity”, a track lodged somewhere between AM radio breeze and the florid wash of Waxahatchee. Trilling organ and Roddy Carlyle’s rangy bass play the perfect complement to Riolino’s sweetly strummed acoustic. “Isn't it a pity, isn't it a shame / The flowers in our garden have bloomed and shed their fray," she bounces, before adding lines about astral projection, bringing a modernist edge to the vintage proceedings.

While also moonlighting as part of Daniel Romano's 'The Outfit', Riolino has slowly but surely been building a solo career of her own over the past few years with this debut LP following on from her 2019 EP, J.R. which helped to establish Julianna's musical direction while finding her open for the likes of Julie Doiron and Daniel Romano across North America.

Recorded in August 2020 at the now-shuttered Baldwin Street Sound, All Blue was produced by Aaron Goldstein (credits with Cowboy Junkies, Ducks Ltd, Le Ren, Kiwi Jr) and largely features a cadre of musicians playing together in the room. “Recording live made for some long days, but it was a lot of fun and I had the benefit of working with some really talented people,” Riolino says. “It helped create this feeling of glimpsing a moment in time. It's like therapy: I could just let out this period of life and then move forward.”

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Lasse Matthiessen - Dreams Don't Make Noise.

In Lasse Matthiessen's "Dreams Don't Make Noise", he sings of looking out over to Sicily's warm, dry sienna-coloured earth. He sings about the grapes that grow from the ground and about the sweet wine he and a mystery lady friend had in the evening. Wine made from the grapes. While he looks at her, who ”sucks the light out of the day and glows like the full moon at night”.

He sings of how they could sing their dreams out into the night or let them wither in the darkness of the silence. Because that's how dreams die. If you don’t go after them. But Lasse wants to go back and be there with her. Or maybe he was never there - as he sings in the chorus, "Dreams don't make noise when they die they just fade. It is only a dream”.

Lasse's dark, deep and rich vocals alone in the verse with only pumping synth bass. From the verse and into the pre-chorus, where the clear synth adds color to the chorus's explosion of choirs, beats and the heavy deep sub-bass while Lasse sings. We have to let ourselves dream and follow the dreams until they swallow us.

In "Dreams Dont Make Noise", the singer finds himself in a place that could be Sicily. It could be the South of France or elsewhere. A place where the dry sienna-colored soil is the fertile ground for the grapes grown there and is the ingredient in the sweet red wine he drinks in the evening in his dream when he sings:

"And you can kiss me if you like.
We can play the piano downstairs
Could sing dreams into the night
or let them fade”

In "Dreams Don't Make Noise", the "dream" of what Lasse hopes will happen, the dream of what has happened and what will never happen, flows together. It’s another excellent electro-indie banger from this hotly tipped artist, that’s flecked with melancholy and romance and it is also the title track of Lasse’s forthcoming new album.

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Sister Wives - Gabrielle Shonk - Bad Sounds - Sunglasses For Jaws

Sister Wives - O Dŷ i Dŷ / Streets At Night.

Sister Wives have shared two more tracks from their forthcoming debut album. The Double A single release sees the emerging Welsh speaking band release tracks 'Streets at Night' and 'O Dŷ i Dŷ', following on from a string of well-received singles and appearances at festivals across the UK this summer. Inspired by Welsh mythology, thread throughout a cavernous mix of psychedelia, folk, post-punk, garage and 70s glam rock, Sister Wives recently announced their debut album will be released on 28th October via Libertino Records.

New track 'O Dŷ i Dŷ' is about the Welsh folkloric custom of South Wales, The horse headed Mari Lwyd. The song discusses the tradition and questions whether she has been culturally appropriated, and if she has, whether this is a bad thing or not. The earliest accounts of the horse headed Mari date back to 1798, but the tradition declined in popularity in the early 20th century. The tradition saw a resurgence towards the end of the 20th century and then in 21st century has increased its popularity with the iconic image and use of the Mari spreading as far as North America. O Dŷ i Dŷ’ translates as ‘From house to house’, referencing how she attempts to gain entry to houses, where a musical battle would commence to gain entry, like a poetry slam.

"The song questions whether this is a way of celebrating Welsh culture or whether this is a form of cultural appropriation" says the band. "It mentions how ‘the mare runs free, let’s see where she ends up landing’ and asks for people to reflect on whether those who have resurrected her in other countries are guilty of stealing her skeleton."

Meanwhile, 'Streets at Night' is a literal, visceral description of what it feels like to fear for one's life when walking at night. Paired with a retro organ and a pulsing changeable tempo, the track imbues a distinctive sense of dread - almost emulating a classic horror movie soundtrack. "The song was written as an outlet for this experience that we’ve all felt" says the band. "The speed of the song changing halfway through influenced the lyrics and we hear heartbeats speeding up and slowing down throughout, mirroring the feeling of being on high alert when out walking alone."

 

Libertino · Sister Wives - O Dŷ i Dŷ

Libertino · Sister Wives - Streets At Night

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Gabrielle Shonk - How We Used To Be.

Montréal-based singer-songwriter Gabrielle Shonk shares “How We Used To Be”, her first new music in five years. The song is taken from her forthcoming 2023 album which chronicles the enormity of heartache and hope that comes with endings and new beginnings.

“How We Used To Be” marks a new chapter in Shonk’s career. After parting ways with the major label behind her debut album, she used her newfound creative freedom to collaborate with longtime friends, co-writer Jessy Caron of the band Men I Trust, and producer Jesse Mac Cormack (Helena Deland). The result is a moody single with tinges of 90s R&B exploring romantic nostalgia by reminiscing about a relationship before it fell apart.

Released today via Arts & Crafts, "How We Used To Be" is a love ballad about "a relationship that was hard to leave," explains the JUNO-nominated singer. Delicate piano lines and softly-strummed acoustic guitar accompany Shonk's dreamy vocals recalling a time in a relationship before it turned toxic. “I hate you, I love you, I miss you,” Shonk laments before the soulful chorus reflects on better times: “Touch my hand, gently / Talk to me, it’s soothing / Make me see how we used to be.”

How do you come back to yourself? Perhaps it’s important to first understand you have become lost, and admit you’ve veered off path. How then do you begin to piece yourself back together? Five years since her self-titled debut, this is the journey Gabrielle Shonk takes us on with her sophomore album set for release in winter 2023.

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Bad Sounds - Nu Me Nu Yu. 

Sounding bigger and better than ever before, Bad Sounds return with their knock-out new single ‘Nu Me Nu Yu’. Self-produced and mixed by Nathan Boddy (Mura Masa, Biig Piig, PinkPantheress), bursting with energy the track is an unmissable reminder that Bad Sounds are ever-evolving and here back once again to stay.

Sharing more, the band explained: "We’re absolutely delighted be the latest in a long list of bands ripping off the Beatles and repackaging it as our own. ‘Nu Me Nu Yu’ is a song that was originally destined for one of our side projects, but everybody we know told us it sounds too much like Bad Sounds, so we eventually got the hint and now we feel silly for not realizing it ourselves. The lyrics are pretty self explanatory, they’re just spelled stupid.

The video is super DIY just like they were when we first started out. We built a room of mirrors and spent a day bumping into our reflections, and trying to not break the glass floor/ceiling/walls. It was super fun to shoot and kinda trippy to watch. We really hope people like it!

Nu Me Nu Yu is the band's first release since January which saw the launch of their impressive EP ‘Escaping from A Violent Time Vol 2.’. The dreamy five track record played host to some stand-out collaborative moments including ‘Move Into Me’ which featured New Zealand two-piece BROODS and ‘You Move backwards’ which features hotly tipped UK artist Ruti.

The band's collaborations continue outside of their own music as their production and songwriting network flourishes in their purpose built studio in the Cotswolds. They’ve had their finger on the pulse collaborating with lots of important new acts coming through, including Arlo Parks (co-writing and producing track ‘Bluish’ off her debut album) and others like Rose Gray, Miso Extra, Joey Maxwell, Devon, Max Pope, VC Pines, SOFY and LCYTN.

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Sunglasses For Jaws - Under a Rainbow.

London based outfit Sunglasses For Jaws today announce their new album 'A Room In Europe' will be released 16th February 2023 via Hackney tastemaker label Pony Recordings (Tempesst, Caleb Kunle). The trio mark the album announcement with the release of the album's first single and album opener, "Under A Rainbow" - featuring vocals from Australian singer Elle Musa.

Widescreen, psych-rock with a penchant for the dramatic, Sunglasses For Jaws consists of David Bardon, Oscar Robertson and Olivier Huband. The outfit's new album was produced by David and Oscar in their London studio and mixed by Elliot Heinrich  (Sorry, Parquet Courts, DEADLETTER).

Combining a love of Scott Walker, Somalian 70’s funk, Hollywood strings with a dash of Portishead, new single "Under A Rainbow" opens with a spiralling string arrangement intertwined with splashes of Turkish Yazh - before dropping into its riveting, luxurious psych-groove. Never short of epic reveals, the instrumental is punctuated by welcome splashes of wah wah guitars and triumphant horn sections.

Featured vocalist - Brisbane based painter and musician Elle Musa adds a delicacy and poise to the track, as she pines for normality, new experiences and good times amidst unusual circumstances.

Speaking on the lyrical inspiration, Elle Musa said: "At a time of isolation in Byron Bay, when we weren’t able to go out or see the world, I wrote this song about longing for newness and good times. I recorded my vocals on a very old little tape machine that my partner found. It was used to record nature documentaries back in the day. I love how the tape machine only records mono but somehow it sounds stereo due to the nature of how well rounded the saturation is. The sounds become more alive and that’s exactly how I wanted to feel when writing the song. In my mind I saw the evening light with the sea close by... Falling in love and the bliss that comes with it. Feeling so free as if dancing underneath a rainbow."

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Rhonda - Laure Briard - Gal Musette

Rhonda - Modelo.

With the release of “Modelo” on October 7th the Germany and Los Angeles based band Rhonda has not only announced their fourth studio album Forever Yours but also tour dates for early spring 2023. Forever Yours follows the critically acclaimed album You Could Be Home Now (2019) and will be released on February 17, 2023 via popup-records.

Musically, the single ranges from soul, rock, pop to film music. The focus lies on an extremely catchy guitar hook and the bittersweet vocal melody of exceptional singer Milo – an instant Rhonda classic.

The pandemic and the resulting restrictions have put the band to the test because of the distance between the musicians who live in Germany and in Los Angeles. However, necessity is the mother of invention: the forced break initiated an intense creative process among the band members. Due to lively exchanges via Zoom and sending back and forth sound files a new album was created.

As an album and intimate snapshot, Forever Yours demonstrates the longing for human contact. The characteristic Rhonda sound, which the band has cultivated in the last few years, illustrates searching and finding in different ways – quietly or brutally, but always carried by human warmth and soul. Rhonda's songs are always personal; they deal with highs and lows, foreign shadows and familiar light and stem from experiences, visions, stories and hopes. Between the poles of sweetness and gloom, new and unfamiliar tones which carry an aestival lightness resonate on Rhonda’s new album Forever Yours.

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Laure Briard - Ne pas trop rester bleue.

After a South American getaway marked by her two EPs Coração Louco and Eu Voo, created at the sides of the Boogarins – along with tours in Latin America and in the United States, where we caught a glimpse of the new tracks Miossec and Lemon Twigs – Laure Briard reveals her fourth LP, celebrating rebirth and letting go.

Not blue, then this record’s color would be yellow maybe; the shade of the Californian sun as it sears the ochre desert of Joshua Tree, reputed for its icy nocturnal temperatures and its sweltering hot days. A two hour drive from the City of Angels, this remote national park is a no man’s land where space and time seem to stretch on and on. While the old gold rush mines lie seemingly untouched, we still find old guitars at the antique dealers in the Yucca Valley. An America both obsolete and haunted by its past legends. A fantasy. It is here that Laure Briard’s new album is born.

It would take nearly three years to finish this new album. The labor was long, enriched by her travels, and in the end, liberating. Lighter and more optimistic than the broken destinies and disillusionments of Sur la piste de danse, Ne pas trop rester bleue follows an autobiographical story punctuated with encounters. It is a cathartic work that would allow Laure to free herself from her ghosts, all while conjuring up new ones. We find there the storytelling of Lee Hazlewood in “Magical Cowboy,” a tale of a solitary and broken-hearted cowboy; the shadows of the weary country poet Don Gibson; and those of Bobby Gentry also figure in these new compositions. But it is above all Carol King who stands as a major influence. Following the example of the singer activist and New Yorker, Laure Briard produces country imbued with soul.

Laure Briard gets closer and closer to the light, a journey that already began with Un peu plus d’amour s’il vous plaît, appearing in 2019, and continues in the video of the first clip “Ne pas trop rester bleue,” where the proliferation of the protagonist’s possible destinies are dizzying, as well as in “Me pardoner,” a song about liberating oneself from the past. If we had to compare her to more contemporary artists, we would have to look at Cate le Bon for the rough psychedelic pop, the airy pop songs of Aldous Harding for the romanticism, or the falsely naïve innocence of Laetitia Sadier.

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Gal Musette - Je Vois Le Ciel.

The new single from indie baroque pop artist and piano virtuoso Gal Musette is entitled "Je Vois Le Ciel." This enchanting song, sung entirely in French, explores feelings of loneliness and isolation coupled with an unfulfilling mundane daily life, heightening the human need for companionship and someone special to share in the magic of beautiful moments, thus making our lives more complete.

Inspired by acclaimed French poet and screenwriter Jacques Prévert, the song pays homage to his style of "song poems" - orchestrated works consisting of free verse, dramatism, and sentimentality intertwined with clever humor. With emotive whimsical vocals over playful keys and steady upright bass, "Je Vois Le Ciel" is a captivating sonic offering.

"The thousand mornings I spend alone, I watch the sky turn from gold to blue, I walk by foot, I walk everywhere, I see the sky but I don't care." Gal Musette has toured with The Magnetic Fields, Donavon Frankenreiter, and has collaborated with Rufus Wainwright.

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Hailey Beavis - Hippopotamus - Mary Clements - goodheart

Hailey Beavis - Anything That Shines.

Edinburgh-based songwriter Hailey Beavis has shared new single 'Anything That Shines'. Her debut album, I’ll Put You Where The Trombone Slides, will be released on November 4th via OK Pal Records. The album, which has been seven years in the making, is a celebration of resilience, determination and evidence of an artist who has overcome many obstacles to reach where they are today.

‘Anything That Shines’ amplifies Beavis’ message that compassion can prevail over exploitation. Of her new track, Hailey says: "Anything that Shines is a nod to my community and to friendship, the resounding forces of good in my life. Every time I have spiralled out I have been able to return, and I have been that for so many friends also. This is the thing that truly shines. It’s about the time spent chasing miss-decision, like a moth to the flame, getting burnt. As I grow older my priorities are changing and I want to shape my days, and enjoy impulsivity without being wholly guided by the chaos of it.  Think of a fantasy movie where everyone is trying to get to that sparkly orb of light, well I just dropped the ball and it’s a relief."

For all intents and purposes, I'll Put You Where The Trombone Slides is Beavis’ debut. However, the reality is not so cut and dry. In her early 20s, Hailey had become a familiar face on the Edinburgh music scene, playing in folk pubs and regular support slots for bigger acts that came through town. During this time she was approached and offered help launching her career. “I was wide eyed and careless because I was young,” she says. Over the years, Beavis would come to understand a darker side to the music industry. “The more time I invested with them, the more I felt I had to see things through, but there was never an end in sight.” Beavis recorded 3 EPs and an album during that period.

Eventually, things between them reached breaking point and Beavis left, cutting her losses, which included all the material they had recorded together. “Rebuilding my life was difficult. I had been so focussed on just keeping going in the hope that my music would be released. I suddenly found myself lost, believing that was the end of my musical career”, she says.

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Hippopotamus – Horse Race.

Rama Lama Records, winner of Label of the Year at the Swedish Indie Awards 2022, introduces a brand new singles series called Rama Lama Family Club, gathering singles from side-projects of bands who we've had the honour to have released throughout the years. First out is Hippopotamus, the project of Victor Skogseid (Cat Princess) and his uncle & producer Rolf Klinth (Tiger Lou, Dia Psalma), with the single 'Horse Race'.

Musically the smooth track nods to acts such as Timbre Timbre and Mild High Club while thematically treating the various stages of a relationship. During the track we follow a fiction couple through three stages; 1. sudden and passionate love, 2. stagnation and arguments when life stops feeling easy and reality knocks on the door and 3. acceptance, perspective and love based on differences rather than similarities.

Horse Race is recorded, mixed and mastered in Matching Headstudios by Rolf Klinth. The music is composed and performed by Victor Skogseid (drums, keys, guitar and vocals) and Rolf Klinth (bass).

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Photo - Andrea Hunter

Mary Clements - Bonne Nuit.

Mary Clements is a singer-songwriter based out of Hamilton, ON, who uses her music to explore the world around her. Rooted in piano and voice, her songs can sometimes sound like indie-folk, pop, classical or even country. Her sincere vocals combined with the textures of her production create an experience that is simple and authentic.

Clements wrote her soothing new song, “Bonne Nuit,” to encourage a gentle approach to sleep that’s free of judgment about the day. Featuring both French and English lyrics, “Avec mes peurs et défis, je fais des amis, come with me it’s okay, I’ll help you find your way,” translates to “With my fears and my challenges, I make friends” as an invitation to cultivate self-acceptance of the less comfortable aspects of ourselves and life. 

The official music video for this song is filmed, edited and produced by Clements, featuring her singing over a green screen with different dreamy backgrounds, wishing the viewer a ‘bonne nuit’ alongside the range of images they might experience as they fall asleep.

Clements’ radiant and rich vocals are showcased in her first studio album through sincere and poetic lyrics. This combined with the textures of her arrangements equals a unique and fresh musical experience that is curious and innovative, but approachable. Come With Me is slated for release in November 2022.

Mary Clements · Bonne Nuit

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goodheart - Make Me Feel.

goodheart (previously known as Lianna B) releases her new single “Make Me Feel.” The new single takes a different turn from her last one, which hit 12k on Spotify. Make Me Feel is a softer track—a bright, beachy love song that includes melodic vocal layering and a driving drum beat that captures the essence of summer romance.

About the single, goodheart shares: “Deep love has a special place in the summer. Ocean waves, lazy days and a kind of magic that is best shared with someone special. Make Me Feel reminisces on this kind of love.”

goodheart is a Toronto indie artist and producer who combines pop with hints of folk and rock and encapsulates it with singer-songwriter energy.

Through warm toned guitars, bright vocal layering and heart that shines like the summer sun, this new single may be the Canadian singer-songwriter’s best song yet.

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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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