Vines - Ellie Burke - The Pink Stones Feat. Nikki Lane

Vines - I don't mind.

Brooklyn composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Cassie Wieland released the lead single "I don't mind" from her upcoming debut LP as Vines, titled Birthday Party, out August 18th.

There’s dejection in “I don’t mind,” but also a growing assuredness. The first time Wieland sings “I’ll fall apart if I need to, I don’t mind,” her voice sounds tender and soft, even a little distant. But with each emphatic repetition of the simple-yet-potent lyric, which acts as the backbone of the song, her voice fills out, growing into a full chord accompanied by steady piano and glimmering electronics. It’s not unlike the moment when you realize you need to feel the feelings you’re bottling up—and the rush of calm that comes once they’ve finally been released.

Wieland founded Vines as a way to break out of the performer-composer hierarchy, opting for more collaboration and a closer connection to her fans. Vines has already made waves on Tiktok covering indie pop favorites using a vocoder and uniquely processed vocals. She continues this trend on Birthday Party, including a heart-wrenching, some how even more melancholic version of "The World at Large" by Modest Mouse.

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Ellie Burke - Filtered Reality.

Liverpool singer Ellie Burke is using her university music dissertation 'Filtered Reality' to raise awareness about mental health. ‘Filtered Reality’ takes you into Ellie’s world and insecurities caused by social media and how it has affected her in a negative way, from the filtered images, stories and narratives that lead to unrealistic expectations and lifestyles.

Ellie Burke wrote Filtered Reality as part of her university music dissertation to raise awareness about the negative impact of social media. Ellie took a specific approach by researching individual accounts of people who have suffered and are still suffering from mental health problems due to cyberbullying and comparison to filtered realities portrayed online.

"One girl spoke about how social media exasperated her eating disorder due to the negative content surrounding her disorder that was easily accessible. Another account discussed how cyberbullying ruined their mental health and wellbeing. One influencer spoke about how she suffered with anxiety due to Instagram because she was sharing her life in unhealthy ways, ways that weren’t the real her, and people were influenced by her unrealistic lifestyle. This is where my idea for ‘Filtered Reality’ came from." - Ellie Burke

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The Pink Stones - Baby, I’m Still Right Here (Feat. Nikki Lane).

The Pink Stones will release You Know Who on June 30 via Normaltown/New West Records. The 11-song set was co-produced by Henry Barbe & frontman Hunter Pinkston and features guest appearances by Nikki Lane, Teddy and the Rough Riders, John James Tourville of The Deslondes, and Annie Leeth. You Know Who is the follow up to their 2021 debut Introducing…The Pink Stones, which was met with critical acclaim. The Pink Stones, a six-piece outfit creating some of the most shimmering, melancholic Southern rock in years...Introducing doesn’t just tell us who The Pink Stones are, it gets us tickled for what they’ll do next."

The Pink Stones previously released the Joshua Shoemaker-directed video for the first single, “Who’s Laughing Now?” which features the actor, writer, and comedian Chris Crofton. The song, which features Teddy and the Rough Riders, hides its aching heart behind a big sing-along chorus. The band also previously shared the album highlight “Someone You Can’t Move” as well.

Made up entirely of Athens musicians who play in other bands around town (including former members of the Drive-By Truckers and The Glands), The Pink Stones match their frontman’s vast musical vocabulary while adding their own twists to spacey honkytonk, pedal-to-the-metal trucker anthems, and ecstatic gospel.

“This record was me trying to take everything I love as a listener and a player and shove it all into one thing without it sounding random,” says Pinkston, former punk turned cosmic country auteur, describing the boisterous, ambitious You Know Who. Ostensibly they play country music, yet all the pedal steel sobs, the two-steppin’ rhythms, twangy harmonies, and lyrics about broken hearts and long days on the road are launchpads for wild experiments and unexpected stylistic forays.  “There’s obviously a lot of country and rock in our music, but there’s a lot of gospel and soul and psych and dub. I really wanted to get all of those things living peacefully together in one record.” Especially notable is The Pink Stones’ ability to intertwine joy, heartache and self-deprecating humor in songs. It’s a classic hat trick of country music that is all too easy to overplay and seem forced by modern Americana aspirants, but one which the band crafts perfectly.

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MARBL - Kindsight - Allegra Krieger - Sandy Bailey - Silva & Steini - William The Conqueror

MARBL - A Song For Mom.

Tel-Aviv based singer songwriter MARBL is releasing her new single "A Song for Mom", that is part of the artist's unique piano project. "Mom has always let me paint my unique trails to walk along. She knows best how to plant the confidence and passion in me, to do whatever my heart desires the most, and quiet down the voices of fear.

She is an eternal home to me, where I can find endless support, listening, and unconditional love. "A Song for Mom", is the least I can give her as a gift." - Moria Or MARBL's music has its own widely spread range of influences like Sufjan Stevens, Laura Marling, Norah Jones, Big Thief, Iron & Wine and more. 

MARBL has already drawn the attention of dominant radio stations, music bloggers, journalists & publicists in France, the UK, Spain, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Portugal, Austria, Switzerland, Israel, the USA, Japan, and more, and hit some big official Spotify playlists around the world, alongside leading TV commercials and campaigns. Nowadays, MARBL is releasing a unique piano project, in which she offers a glance into her very first musical passion - the piano, that draws the likes of Norah Jones, Tori Amos, Kate Bush.

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Kindsight - Tibet.

Danish four-piece Kindsight make music that draws from 80’s and 90’s alternative rock and combines it with the shimmering Scandinavian pop that the region has become so renowned for, resulting in a sound that is both fuzzy and melodic in equal measure.

This week the band share the new single 'Tibet'. The single follows the atmospheric 'Love You Baby All The Time' and experimental slowly building "Madhouse Breakout Multitool" and continues to expand the band's sound without losing their lovable characteristics. The band is playing Roskilde Festival on June 26th, a festival they've attended many times and as so many danes before them, partly grown up at.

About the track, Kindsight says: "Our most political love song to date, Tibet celebrates the wildest forms of conformity and anti-self-realization."

In 2022, the band released their debut LP via Rama Lama Records to praise such as "your new favourite band". Titled "Swedish Punk", it's an album packed with charming and infectiously catchy noise-jangle-pop melodies full of exuberant optimism and coming-of-age tales inspired by acts such as Pixies, Cocteau Twins, Snail Mail and Big Thief. The album was followed by tour dates in Scandinavia, UK and Germany as well as several shows at SXSW.

Atop jangling guitars, Nina Rasmussen’s distinctive voice dances somewhere between that of Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval and Alvvays’ Molly Rankin, leaving the listened renched in the nostalgic optimism of summers gone by. There’s not a single song that would feel out of place in an 00’s independent movie. The band possess an unmistakable talent for crafting disarmingly buoyant yet achingly nostalgic indie-rock songs based on the everyday.

Rama Lama Records · Kindsight - Tibet

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Allegra Krieger - Lingering.

In May, the New York-based songwriter Allegra Kreiger announced her signing to Double Double Whammy (Florist, Babehoven, Hatchie) for the release of her new LP I Keep My Feet on The Fragile Plane (out July 21st). The first single from the album, "Nothing In This World Ever Stays Still," attracted immediate attention, earning praise from outlets like FADER, Stereogum, BrooklynVegan, Exclaim, NYLON and Paste, who called Krieger "one of the best working songwriters."

This past Sunday Krieger played the release show for Greg Mendez' new LP at Purgatory in Brooklyn, and this week she's sharing a new single entitled "Lingering." "Lingering" neatly captures the chaotic possibility of city living. Rich with little details – black mold on an apartment ceiling, the smell of piss and garbage – the track has a timeless quality, and showcases Krieger's ability to imbue the outlines of everyday experience with a deep emotional resonance.

"Lingering is about new love, entering that fragile plane, shared pleasure, returning to the stasis of a room, of an apartment in a city that is always moving," Krieger explains to NYLON. "Objects sitting and hanging. Wanting something, but not wanting to want anything. Crossing the street. A nice day, a nice moment."

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Sandy Bailey - Get The Message Through.

Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter Sandy Baileyhas unveiled “Get The Message Through,” the lead single from Daughter Of Abraham, her first LP with Red Parlor Records, set for release on August 18th.

“The latest single from Sandy Bailey -a soft-country power ballad about mortality and heartbreak and everyday existentialism -is the kind of song that country music was built on,” says Hollerin their premiere. “Delivered with a faux breeziness, it’s both painfully real and bleakly comical. Her almost throwaway, conversational delivery making the lines land even harder as she ponders her grown up children leaving home, while the song slowly spirals towards a deeper truth about how disconnected and isolated we become from each other as adults....

It’s like if an AI music generator had been tasked to come up with a Carole King song that perfectly tapped into the futility of doom scrolling and the existential dread of the pre-apocalypse.”“A headline caught my eye in The Wall Street Journalthat read ‘Moms in Middle Age: Rarely Alone, Often Online and Increasingly Lonely,’” Bailey told Holler. “I thought about my love/hate relationship with social media and wrote a song about the irony of the current environment that we live in, where we are more connected than ever through the internet but also lonelier than ever.”For the video, Bailey put a team together from the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.

“We knew we wanted the video to have a throwback 70's feel,” Bailey explained to Holler. “In going through a bunch of vintage stock footage for ideas, the director Sofi Taylor was inspired by a video of a clean, empty kitchen. The contrast of a once vibrant house now unlived in was our inspiration for showing change, loneliness, and the passage of time.” 

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Silva & Steini - If It Was.

Entrepreneur, filmmaker and bestselling author Scott Blum has announced his next venture, FOUND, a US-based independent record label focusing on the contemporary music scene of Iceland. The label’s first signings include jazz vocal duo Silva & Steini, composer Magnús Jóhann, and punk band GRÓA.

FOUND is marking the occasion with the release of the music video for Silva & Steini’s “If It Was” from their debut album More Than You Know. The popular song already has 2 million streams on Spotify and was written by Alan Hampton (Andrew Bird, Fiona Apple, Sufjan Stevens, etc.).

The video is directed by noted Icelandic visual artist Anna Maggý and was shot in gorgeous black & white at the unique "Library of Water" location in Stykkishólmur, Iceland, a fine art installation by Roni Horn featuring large tubes of water from glaciers around Iceland. The dreamlike visuals echo the lyrical themes of memory, loss and rebirth from the evocative song. "Anna Maggý used her unique mind and talent to create and capture something magical," notes singer Silva. "She manages to make her work one of a kind because she is so passionate and knows exactly what she wants in the moment."

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William The Conqueror - The Bruises.

William The Conqueror have just unveiled the video to their new single ‘The Bruises’. Taken from their forthcoming album ‘Excuse Me While I Vanish’, out 28th July on Chrysalis Records, the track is the follow-up to last month’s single ‘The Puppet and the Puppeteer’. Produced by the band in a playground of vintage gear and mixed by Barny Barnicott (Arctic Monkeys, Sam Fender, Kasabian), the ten tracks on ‘Excuse Me While I Vanish’ marry earworm tunes with insistent, imperious, soaring rock shapes, punctuated by chorus hooks that are simultaneously nuanced and anthemic. William The Conqueror, who performed to a packed room at The Great Escape last month, head out on a European tour with Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats next week. The band will embark on a headline tour of the UK in October.

"My favourite kind of songwriting is when you have no control over what's happening” explains frontman Ruarri. “The song just arrives, finding its way through your fingers onto the fret board, as the pen wanders the page and somehow says everything you didn't realise you needed to say. The Bruises was like that. It wasn't and then all of a sudden, it was." Bassist Naomi adds, “'The Bruises' will stay with you all day. And with a verse that catchy, you don’t really need a chorus. Which is lucky.”

‘Excuse Me While I Vanish’, very nearly didn’t happen. Following the imposition of lockdown restrictions, Joseph found himself cocooned at home in Cornwall, ruminating on an uncertain creative future, watching on as his wife Mandy, a valiant mental health social worker, engaged with the all-too-real dilemmas of the pandemic-riven here and now. Her example motivated Joseph to become a temporary care worker, an experience which would provide renewed focus and influence the songwriting on the new album.

Sofie Winterson - Naomi Psalm - Pretty

Sofie Winterson - Southern Skies (Album).

Amsterdam-based musician Sofie Winterson shares her new album Southern Skies co-produced by Benny Sings via Excelsior Recordings featuring previous singles "Jump", "Lost You To A Boy" and new single, closing track "Perfect Goodybe". The project is a continuation and expansion of her and Sings' 2019 collaborative EP Moral, but also offers a glimpse into what Sofie can do when left to her own devices.

Created in primarily Benny Sings' canal-hugging studio in Amsterdam, the upcoming album, Southern Skies was formed as an act of stripping-back and growing as a songwriter. Sofie’s last full-length album Sophia Electric instead acted as a way to expand her work as a producer. Her varied influences, from the soul and folk she grew up on to the dream-pop of her university years can all be heard as part of the album’s eclectic palette which leans in a more minimal direction than before.

Sofie says: "In the opening track ‘Hours’ I sing the words ‘Southern Skies’, that’s where the title of this record comes from. From a very young age I had a helicopter view on life. I, for example, was well aware of the fact that I was too young to experience certain things the way I would probably do when I would be older. Like I realised that I wasn’t yet ready to see the full value in those beautiful ‘Southern Skies’ that I saw when driving through the south of Europe.

The songs are about passing time, the wish for boredom, feeling helpless towards choices your friends make, about doing something better or different and about meeting new people and creating an image of that person from your own perspective before getting to know them. So the songs are written from this helicopter view and by seeing it this way and being able to put it into words in my songs, life makes sense to me."

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Naomi Psalm - Fantasy.

“Naomi Psalm is of the rare breed of singer/songwriters that with just a guitar and a voice, she can transport you into the emotion of the lyric, and that is not a common thing at all”- Bernie Larsen Singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/musician (guitarist) and has produced for Melissa Etheridge, Jackson Browne, Rickie Lee Jones, and Lucinda Williams.

This free spirited Florida girl began turning her poetry into songs in her early teens. Yet highly influenced by the 90's female indie scene, she has a sound of her own. Her powerful vocals reminiscent of Alanis Morissette will move you as you absorb each lyric as if it were written for you. Naomi’s songs have bits of introspection, as well as fun and quirky twists.

She has released 4 full length CDs, 2 EPs , 5 singles, and several music videos. Her latest full length record was released in September 2022. Her award winning music has taken her to 32 countries as well as countless tours in the Northwest. She currently resides in Boise, Idaho. Fantasy is a self-produced song about romantic obsessions

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Pretty - Food For The Moon.

Pretty have released their 2nd single "Food For The Moon" from their upcoming EP "Citrus Magic" (out July 28).

Pretty are people who appear onstage with lots of noise and then leave. This half-silly, half-serious sentence summarizes the band’s ethic and sound, from their early inspiration by Toronto’s 2010s-era DIY punk scene, to their current fascination with psychedelic sound and culture, elements that fuse into a highly distinctive, dark and frenzied sonic landscape. The Torontonian band had a busy 2022, recording their second EP and follow-up to their debut album Sertraline Dream (2020); playing headline sets to increasingly large and enthusiastic crowds and being featured acts for Exclaim! Magazine’s Class of 2022, Canadian Music Week and Sarnia’s Empty Fest. If you dig getting warped and discovering another side of yourself, you won’t want to miss Pretty.

Torin: “The title comes from this phrase I found in a book, something about the moon living off of our emotions, basically farming us in a sense for sustenance - very occult. I can’t remember what book it came from and have been driving myself insane trying to find it again. The song itself was written in the days following a break up, working with the feeling of futility, loss, and emotional torture that comes with that sort of thing. It’s two people who are both dealing with their own things and it gets in the way of them being together - and hey, what does it matter anyways, we’re all just food for the moon in the end."

Amy Stroup - Claudia Cappelletti - Jeremie Albino

Amy Stroup - Valley.

Since Frank, indie singer-songwriter Amy Stroup's fourth solo album, out June 23, works to find a way to be okay on the inside; relatably, Stroup struggles with the heaviness that lives inside all of us—and then finds a way to move beyond it. “Valley,” out now, introduces listeners to the album with its resplendent strings, and posits the idea that shifting perspectives and remembering small joys, like the people (and pets) we love, can be the key to creating a calm inner life.

Since Frank and its 10 songs find a cohesive sound thanks to producer Chad Copelin (LANY, Broncho, Ben Rector) and his expert hand at transforming live tracking into an expansive finished product, with drums by James McAlister (The National, Taylor Swift, Sufjan Stevens).

Known for her ability to tap into rich, emotional honesty and vivid storytelling, Stroup wrote these songs with herself in mind—a change from the hundreds she's written for TV and film. The self-proclaimed “song farmer” is closing in on 1,000 sync credits, which include backing moments on How I Met Your Father, This Is Us, Shameless and Netflix's upcoming Choose Love, among many others.

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Claudia Cappelletti - Mine.

Claudia Cappelletti is an Italian singer/songwriter whose music has taken her around the world, giving her the nickname of “the Nomad of the world”. Having graduated from the CPM Music Academy in Milan, she then went on to sing at luxury hotels internationally, wowing audiences with her charismatic and explosive performances, before making her way to the States where she lived for several years. Her time spent there is where her sound became influenced by American rock and indie bands including Band of Horses, Bleachers and The Killers.

Over the last few years, Claudia Cappelletti focused on her own music, creating a new five-track EP, alongside acclaimed producer Ryan Hadlock (The Lumineers, Vance Joy, Brandie Carlile, and many others) at the Bear Creek Studio in Seattle.

Her latest single “Mine” showcases some of her strongest and most empowering work to date. Speaking on women’s rights, Claudia Cappelletti joins the fight for equality, sharing, “As I traveled as a singer around the world so many times I got to live in underdeveloped countries where many women and girls continue to experience discrimination because of their sex and gender. I can’t deny the anger I felt for the injustice those women have to face in their everyday’s life.”

“Mine” is Claudia Cappelletti’s way of inspiring and uniting all the people around the world to fight for the rights for women to live free from violence and discrimination, to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, to be educated, to own property, to vote and to earn an equal wage. The lyrics give a voice to women who can’t express their own voice. The track showcases real speeches from politicians and girls around the world who talk about women rights, including Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai who said “I speak not for myself, but so those without a voice can be heard. Those who have fought for their rights. Their right to live in peace. Their right to be treated with dignity. Their right to equality of opportunity. Their right to be educated."

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Jeremie Albino - Tears You Hide.

Buzzy Americana artist-to-watch Jeremie Albino has released his highly anticipated sophomore album, Tears You Hide. No Depression has called it “perfection,” and “one of the best releases to come out this year.” Albino also recently announced a Fall U.S. Headline Tour, and his is a show you won’t want to miss. The series of dates kicks off October 10 in Boston and will make stops in New York City, DC, Chicago, Philadelphia, Nashville, Atlanta and more.

Recorded entirely live off the floor, Tears You Hide is a catalog of feelings from time-passed that serves up an ode to family, resilience, and the road ahead. The deeply personal nature traverses Albino’s development as an artist and captivating songwriter.

The artist found support from the team instrumental in the production of his earlier work - The Rosehall Band, his original backing band, and Andrija Tokic (Alabama Shakes), who co-produced his critically acclaimed debut full length. The importance of working with a supportive and collaborative community is something that he knows the value of not only in his music but also from his days working as a farmer in Prince Edward County.”

Earlier this month, Jermeie released a captivating live performance video for “You I’m Waiting On” that was shot and directed by longtime creative partner and collaborator Mark Klassen. The video transports viewers back in time to the historic Owl’s Club in Toronto. The old legion hall, frozen in time, serves as the ultimate backdrop and perfectly pairs Jeremie’s soulful golden sound with the memories painted on the walls.

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headboy - Organ Morgan

headboy - Was It What You Thought (E.P).

London trio headboy release their debut EP 'Was It What You Thought', out yesterday 9th June via Blitzcat Records. Swaying from lo-fi bedroom tones to tumultuous blasts of snarling post-punk, headboy's blend of influences, ranging from Sleater-Kinney and Radiohead to Modest Mouse and Grizzly Bear informs the immediacy of their sound, whilst the band also note the impact of post-punk and no wave acts á la Gang Of Four, Orange Juice, Pixies and Television.

Consisting of guitarist/bassist and vocalist Mars West (they/them), bassist/guitarist vocalist Jess Collins (she/they) and drummer Oli Birbeck (they/them), headboy's debut EP 'Was It What You Thought' was born amidst a period of acute political turbulence. Rediscovering and reflecting on the importance of friendship and loyalty during that time, ending with a heartfelt treatise on loss and vulnerability; ultimately the EP forms a study into the often cyclical, yet always unpredictable nature of life itself.

An examination of knowing and not knowing, 'Was It What You Thought' was written during 2022 and recorded over that summer at Hackney Studios in East London with producer Joe Futak. The EP's four tracks draw on the community-led London scene they've become a key cog in after a year of intense gigging. "We pretty much condensed every emotion we’ve felt in the past two years into 14 minutes. There are moments of anger, fear, and sadness, but also moments of joy, or acceptance, at least," guitarist and vocalist Jess added.

With racing stories of passion, intimacy and connection ("Reservoir"), societal distress and government blunders ("Sheep's Skin") and taking refuge in friendship  ("Cement" and "Jackal Lake"), headboy deliver their shrewd social observations through a lens of deceptively dark, climactic post-punk. 

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Organ Morgan - The Argument.

Organ Morgan is the moniker of songwriter and guitarist and ex-Blaenavon drummer Harris McMillan. This week he releases new single "The Argument" and announces his debut EP 'Figurehead' will be released on 20th July on London based label Everybody's.

Organ Morgan's debut EP 'Figurehead' was recorded and produced (over the course of 2 weeks in 2022) at Black Bay Studios, an ex-crab processing factory on the Hebridean Island of Great Bernera, Scotland.

Gracefully intertwining Laurel Canyon-esque harmony-drenched passages with intricate, towering indie-folk instrumentals, Organ Morgan's music is spacious, grandiose and romantic all at once. New single "The Argument" opens with McMillan's warm vocal weaving between bowed double bass, before swelling into its bracing folk-rock second section, as he retells and reimagines the stories surrounding a coastal meeting point...

Speaking more on the lyrical inspiration behind the "The Argument", McMillan said: "‘The Argument’ was inspired by a beachfront cafe in Brighton called ‘The Meeting Place’, it was usually deserted on rainy days but would call out order numbers for invisible customers over the tannoy. I started imagining the stories that might lead to a meeting there and one particular idea of two lovers trying to stay cross with each other during the course of an argument became the song."

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Off Judy - Moving Into Tucson - Bush Tetras - The Tiger Moths

Off Judy - Under The Weather.

With their nonchalant and carefree attitude, this raucous Byron Bay-based garage surf rock trio, Off Judy, are releasing their latest single, 'Under The Weather' with its accompanying music video today Friday, June 9. Formed as a duo, Off Judy originated with singer and guitarist Finn Mcildowie and drummer Thomas Cameron-Duncan. They have since welcomed the addition of drummer Axl Delandro and Thomas Cameron-Duncan’s transition to bass, solidifying their powerful lineup and expanding their sonic possibilities.

'Under The Weather' is the exhilarating new track that showcases Off Judy's fusion of sun-kissed punk and invigorating surf shack anthems. The song effortlessly combines infectious melodies with euphoric energy, creating a proverbial earworm. 'Under The Weather' has their punk roots shining through with a raw rock foundation that bursts with chant-worthy chorus. Masterfully, they have found a sweet spot between a palatable indie rock bop and a punk-laden belter.

The song reflects the struggles of being in a dark place and emphasizes the importance of supporting one another through difficult times to ultimately emerge stronger together. With Men’s Health Week starting on Monday, June 12th, the boys thought now was a fitting time to release the track. Finn Mcildowie speaks on the meaning behind the track:

“We’ve all found ourselves in dark places. Whether it’s a momentary bad headspace or it feels more like an endurance race with no finish line. This song came to life while I was stuck in a quarantine hotel in Hamilton, New Zealand, which undoubtedly influenced its emotions. However, the message is pretty clear—Be there for your mates, let them know they’re not alone. Lean on each other through the shit times and come out better on the other side.“

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Moving Into Tucson - It Should Have Been You.

It Should Have Been You. And why not? But reality isn’t always as straight-forward as that. Missed opportunities and luckily also second chances are both daytime realities of our real life. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But there is always hope. Always. Even beautiful things can come out of this. See the eponymous new single of Moving Into Tucson. It’s fresh, it’s pop, it’s everything you want from your favorite band. Almost anthem like.

Moving Into Tucson is entering new territories with this second single and heading to even greater promises. But that’s for the near future. First this great new track. It Should Have Been You don’t you think? Definitely!

Moving Into Tucson is basically the side effect of the COVID epidemic. Why, you will ask. Well for the simple reason that the band was formed during the pandemic. Can you call Moving Into Tucson a band? Well, yes as in, it's a band, with a singer, guitarist, bassist, drummer etc. But also no because it's not a band as usual. Band members do not come from the same city or even country, but from different parts of the world. When the world was in lock-down and many were forced to stay at home, there wasn't much left for musicians to do other than work from home. But, how? And better, with whom? Like for many, Zoom video brought a solution. Fortunately, we live in an advanced digital world and a lot is possible without necessarily having to be somewhere. Only someone who arranges it. This is where the label TCBYML, the label of the various artists in the band Moving Into Tucson, stepped in.

Result, twenty songs composed over a period of 18 months. These have now been brought together, mixed, mastered and provided with artwork. In 2023, five of them will be released as singles and together with eight more songs will form the album "Distraction" that will see the light on November 24 of this year. A great initiative that may be followed up in 2024. Who's to say.

TCBYML · Moving Into Tucson - It Should Have Been You

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Bush Tetras - They Live in My Head.

The legendary no-wave punk band Bush Tetras have released the title-track from their upcoming LP, They Live in My Head, out July 27th on Wharf Cat Records. It's a jangly and jagged barn-burner, "about people living in your head rent-free and how life is not all it seems," the band writes in a statement. "Not quite a ballad, with its wild fast choruses, kind of like falling off a cliff."

On the heels of the album announcement and a sold out show at Brooklyn's Union Pool, the New York Times selected the lead single "Things I Put Together" as the first track on their weekly music roundup, proclaiming them "a quintessential Lower East Side post-punk band." Bush Tetras has been credited as the band that "bridged the gap between the Ramones and Sonic Youth" (NY Post), and Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore said they are "without a doubt, one of the greatest rock-and-roll groups born and bred in New York City." Needless to say, Bush Tetras have made an enormous impact on rock 'n' roll in New York City and beyond.

Their first album in 11 years, They Live in My Head was produced by Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth, who is now the band's drummer, joining them after founding member Dee Pop passed away in 2021. Also joining the band on bass is Cait "Rocky" O'Riordan of The Pogues and Elvis Costello. You can catch the new Bush Tetras lineup at their album release show on September 15th at Greenwich Village venue Le Poisson Rouge.


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The Tiger Moths - Dreaming Of Yesterday.

The Tiger Moths release their debut album 'When Sunshine Departs' on June 16th 2023. It includes the current single 'Dreaming Of Yesterday' which has garnered numerous excellent reviews.

An established live act on the London scene, The Tiger Moths reached the Grand Final of the Isle of Wight Festival New Blood Competition in 2021 - making it to the last 20 acts from more than 5,000 who applied.

'When Sunshine Departs' was recorded at the band's home studio in North London, produced and engineered by the band's keyboard player, Alex Rosenberg. While the roots of the Tiger Moths' sound can be traced back to the heydays of the 60s and 70s, the band aim to forge a modern twist on the Americana genre by infusing it with other influences.

In large part, the songs for this album were written during the pandemic. Overall, 'When Sunshine Departs' is a snapshot in time of a band who came together during troubled times to create a record that offers a fitting reflection of that period.

Music Elevator PR · The Tiger Moths - Dreaming Of Yesterday

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Babel - Drab Majesty feat. Rachel Goswell - Jordan Moser

Babel - Closer.

After the rousing response to their highly-praised debut album ‘Yoga Horror’ last year, award-winning Finnish dream-pop duo Babel are now looking to preview their eagerly-awaited sophomore record with the captivating new single ‘Closer’.

With their new single ‘Closer’, the band depicts a story of a couple enjoying their last night together on a vacation. Both parties realise that their passion is gone, but still give in to the romance one last time. Reminding us that in a worst-case scenario, we might as well go out giving it our all.

Conjuring more of the same rich and immersive textures they have developed since their earliest beginnings, ‘Closer’ makes for the perfect introduction to this new era within the band’s catalogue so far. With an uncompromising approach to their kitsch and romantic pursuits throughout this new record, they are looking to make their next full-length their most original and distinctive work to date.

Their newest offering breathes inspiration from soft French sounds, Brazilian bossa nova singer Astrud Gilberto, and last but not least, the EDM hit ‘Stereo Love’. “We browsed a Korg 05R/W synthesiser’s presets and found a wonderful musette sound that started to guide us in the studio. Karin played the first half of the accordion riff, and Mikko figured out the rest. The end result is a perfectly symmetrical accordion riff that makes you want to listen to it forever. We realised that this is our chance to achieve the dream of a one-hit wonder. The song's story is based on the excitement and euphoria, the crushing feeling that all experiences are transient.”

Babel also drop the new music video for the single, shot abroad on vacation in Madeira: “We stayed in a five-star hotel in Madeira with director Reetta Saarikoski for eight days and filmed everything. We wanted the video to be as epic as possible, which includes life in miniature: sunbathing, falling in love and exercising.”

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Drab Majesty - Vanity (feat. Rachel Goswell).

Drab Majesty have announced details of a new EP, entitled An Object in Motion, to be released on August 25th via Dais Records. Along with the announcement, they have shared the majestic first single “Vanity” which features a rare guest vocal appearance from Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell. On the Cure-esque ballad, her iconic freefall voice adds poetic gravity to the doomed refrain: “If the valve breaks / then the earth quakes / and history finds a way / to put you in your place.”

The collaboration came as the result of a mutual admiration for each other's work. Drab Majesty's Deb Demure comments: "As a long time listener and devotee of Slowdive, a band that literally shaped my DNA as a listener and musician, it was truly humbling to have Rachel offer her iconic vocal stylings to this song. Her voice is a sonic treasure and unmistakable. I'm infinitely grateful to call her a friend and am still pinching myself wondering -  how did we get here?"

Rachel Goswell adds: "It’s no secret that I am a long time Drab Majesty fan so when Deb asked me some years ago now if I would be interested in collaborating it was an immediate yes. Honoured to give my voice to Vanity."

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Jordan Moser - Greenbelt Vision.

Jordan Moser shares "Greenbelt Vision" this week, the first single from his new album PERIL out digitally July 28, 2023. About "Greenbelt Vision," Jordan Moser says: "Give me back my green belt vision, bring us back to the wild land. We aren't well equipped for our gray concrete environment. It harms us and keeps us from our true human thriving. This song is a hopeful rally for those who hear the call from the earth (earthtone) to return to our proper place in the earth system. The damage we are doing is displacing all of us from our natural niches in the ecosystem.

Solastalgia is a new word coined by philosopher Glenn Albrecht in 2003. As opposed to nostalgia--the melancholia or homesickness experienced by individuals when separated from a loved home--solastalgia is the distress that is produced by environmental change impacting all of us.  Our disconnection from nature displaces the other beings we share the planet with.  This song hopes to act as an invitation to turn this grief into action."

PERIL follows 2019s Long Night, an album created with Molly Burch, that Paste called "understated, but quietly vibrant and unexpectedly absorbing.” Jordan Moser recently retired from a decade-long career as a professional ballet dancer and now continues to focus on filmmaking and his songwriting.

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The Family Battenberg - Fellow Robot - Semisonic - The Nora Kelly Band

The Family Battenberg - Runny Hunny.

Psychedelic upstarts The Family Battenberg announce the release of their reverb coated,fuzz founded new track ‘Runny Hunny’, out today 6th of June! Cardiff, Wales: Runny Hunny is The Family Battenberg’s third release. Born out of a band-wide love for garage rock, 'Runny Hunny' plays with the ethos of pushing the limits andbending the rules of recording equipment to produce overly saturated and noisy results.

The band successfully create fuzz fuelled walls of sound, draped behind Lennon-esc double trackedvocals, with plenty of reverb to boot. Thematically, the song is a commentary on the universalwish of a stable income, from the perspective of a fresh faced arts graduate. The track wasrecorded by The Family Battenberg at Cardiff’s Music Box rehearsal rooms and mixed by Eliot in the back room of his flat.

A total of 4 arts degrees were utilised in the creation of this track.Of the track, producer and lyricist Eliot Jones explains: “Runny Hunny truly is just about having a whinge. Universities do a fantastic job of convincing you that you’ll walk into your dream jobweeks after graduation. ‘LIGHT THE BEACONS, CALL ABBEY ROAD, A 20-SOMETHING POST GRAD HAS JUST COMPLETED A MUSIC PRODUCTION DEGREE’! Being back at your parents house and catching the train to the job centre on a Wednesday morning is quite sobering after you’ve had your photos in your funny hat.”

 

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Fellow Robot - Rabbit.

Following the release of their acclaimed new album ‘Misanthropioid’, Fellow Robot have released a superbly dark and striking animated video for the album’s opening track.  “Rabbit" sets an ominous tone to the album, and its video counterpart is a perfect pairing. Pulling from two previous animated collaborations, the Prebich sisters and Fellow Robot continue their social commentary with a voyeuristic, occasionally red pilled rabbit. We follow the rabbit down a series of disturbing paths, observing drip feed propaganda streams from the outside of your work and living room windows, and ultimately, the rabbit has enough and leaves Earth.

For ‘Misanthropioid’, Fellow Robot has teamed up with Andrew Scheps (Green Day, RHCP, Adele, Metallica, Hozier, Johnny Cash) who helped co-produce and mix the album from his home studio ‘Punkerpad’ in Titton, UK. Scheps joined the team during the peak of the pandemic in 2020 and over the course of two years helped the band complete the album remotely. Fellow Robot’s latest album will be released through Scheps’ own ToneQuake Records.

Fellow Robot originally started out as a concept piece in 2016, pulling lyrics from the sci-fi novel “The Robot’s Guide to Music” written by singer Anthony Pedroza. While deeply rooted to its origins, “Misanthropioid” is an album that lives closer to reality than science fiction however blurred those lines are these days.

Fellow Robot named their new album ‘Misanthropioid’, due to its brutally honest lyrics and melancholy feelings surrounding what it is to be a human. “It’s our soundtrack to the last few years'' says Pedroza, adding “it’s a diverse take on the perception of emotion, especially regarding how we feel about our fellow humans''. The band does well in reflecting their disappointment of humanity, especially in the opening track ‘Rabbit’ which is a clear reflection of the BLM movement in the US. However dark ‘Misanthropioid’ is, it’s ultimately hopeful within its vulnerable and carefully stitched arrangements. The album at times is theatrical and dramatic, each song seemingly being sung by different characters in a stage production, especially in songs like ‘I’m Going to Hell’ and ‘The People Next Door’. “Society has many voices, and the space in between the harshest opinions are the most truthful”, says drummer, engineer, and cofounder Luis Renteria.

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Semisonic - Little Bit Of Sun / Grow Your Own.

Yesterday, the Grammy-nominated trio Semisonic released “Little Bit Of Sun” and “Grow Your Own,” their first release of new music following their 2020 EP You’re Not Alone. The two new songs arrive as the band embarked on their first national tour in over 20 years with the Barenaked Ladies. In the coming weeks, the band will play their home state of Minnesota, Chicago, Los Angeles and more.

The songs were recorded between Creation Studios in Minneapolis, MN and Ballroom Studio in Los Angeles, and produced by Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and producer Dan Wilson and his co-founding bandmates John Munson and Jacob Slichter.

“’Little Bit of Sun’ came out really fast one day - I think I wrote the first minute of it in one spontaneous take. It felt so right. We’ve all been beaten down by darkness for the last few years, it’s like we can hardly ask for a full sky of sunshine. We’d be willing to scrape by on a glimpse of it. But obviously, the song is asking for more. I can get by on a little bit, but at some point I want it all.” Wilson explains.

“I wrote ‘Grow Your Own’ about the joy and blue sky of starting up a band. If you’re a musician and you hear some music you love, you’re gonna want to make some of that music for yourself. Grow your own. And if you don’t hear the music you want to hear in the world, well then, all the more reason to grow your own. A lot of the imagery in the song is from the years when I lived in Boston, going to Harvard during the day and playing in the clubs at night. I definitely longed to be welcomed by the grungy rock people way more than I needed approval from the scholars. In retrospect, I guess it makes sense when you look at what I’ve done with my life.”

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The Nora Kelly Band - Roswell.

The Nora Kelly Band traveled to Area 51 to confirm your suspicions on their new single "Roswell."  The track is featured on the Montreal quintet’s upcoming debut full-length Rodeo Clown, due to arrive August 25 via Mint Records. In addition, the Nora Kelly Band has announced July dates in the Pacific Northwest along with East Coast dates in August. Rodeo Clown was written by Nora Kelly, produced by Kelly with Ethan Soil, and mixed by Pietro Amato (The Luyas/Belle Orchestre).

Discussing “Roswell,” Nora notes, "As a massive UFOlogy nerd, Roswell was a place I really wanted to visit. Luckily for me, I was in that area of the world when my cousin got married in 2022. In the first verse, I mention an interaction I had with an astronomer at the wedding. He revealed he’d seen a lot of UFOs but, to my dismay, all these events were explainable, according to him. Throughout the rest of the song I try to show the underlying reason why I love thinking about UFOs and aliens. For me, allowing oneself to suspend disbelief is the best way to keep life interesting. If you don’t necessarily believe/not believe something and are just interested in the stories, life stays weird. Once the wedding festivities had ceased, I took off towards New Mexico in a rental car. I wrote the lyrics to ‘Roswell’ in the back seat.”

Regarding the video, directed by Sarah Bradshaw, Nora continues, “Sarah and I shot footage on a recent trip to Mexico (not New Mexico!). I brought along a green alien morph-suit and we had Sarah’s boyfriend wear it all over the country. The result is a silly and whimsical video to accompany the ballad that is ‘Roswell,’ and with this I hope to bring in a little of that weirdness and suspended disbelief.”

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Aaronson - Neu Sierra - Erin K - The Velveteins

Aaronson - Where Do You Go When You Disappear?

Following on from the well recieved 'The Great Swells That Carry Us Will Pull Us Under' single Cardiff #Postrock band 'Aaronson' release their epic new 'Where Do You Go When You Disappear?' single via Dirty Carrot Records.

Taken from forthcoming new Album 'The Great Swells That carry Us Will Pull Us Under' due for release on14th July, Aaronson's 'The Great Swells That Carry Us Will Pull Us Under' album is a sonic marvel filled with beautifully arranged ambient post-rock that will season the senses.

Aaronson are a post rock band from South Wales, whose towering layers of melody and epic crescendos have seen them share a stage with Nordic Giants, Coldbones, A-Tota-So and False Hope For The Savage, finish runners up at The Big Gig Wales 2020, be nominated for a Cardiff Music Award and release their cinematic EP You Are Not A Stranger Here.

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Neu Sierra - Save Believe Forget.

"It's about sweet, conscious self-deception. About believing in the loving words of the person you are with, even though they were said in a moment of arousal. And about forgetting them too” tells Neu Sierra about her new single ‘Save Believe Forget’.

The lead single from her upcoming EP ‘PARIS’ was based on the French translation of Danish 20th century working class poet Tove Ditlevsen's 'Alene for dig’ and on this next one, ‘Save Believe Forget’, Neu Sierra once again finds herself flirting with the author, as the theme of the new single is borrowed from the poem 'Det sandeste’.

“It is so pure and intimate. It’s almost as if Tove Ditlevsen invited herself right into your bedroom and wrote it directly for you, when you needed it the most!", says Neu Sierra about the close to 80 years old poem.

There are quite a few other references to things that have made an impression on her, but the singer teasingly hints you’ll have to find them yourself inside this “Parisian hotchpotch”. Recordings for the upcoming EP began in Paris the fall of 2022, with the help of Marc Collin (Nouvelle Vague), while long-time friend and collaborator Nick Lee (Ulige Numre) took it across the finish line. To celebrate the release, iconic Freetown Christiania venue Musikloppen has invited Neu Sierra to play a concert on September 23.

Neu Sierra - Save Believe Forget - Official Music Video from FIVE FOOT ONE Records on Vimeo.

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Erin K - Goodbye Song.

With a growing audience of over 3 million streams on Spotify, following the fruitful collaboration on 2019s ‘I Need Sound’, the American-born London-resident musician has continued her work with co-producer Kristofer Harris (Belle & Sebastian, Ghostpoet) and recorded new album ‘Sink to Swim’ at his Squarehead Studios in Kent.

Erin’s narrative-driven songs are as forthright and personal as they are engaging, and the candid nature of her often fearlessly self-deprecating lyrics make repeated listens of the timeless songs rewarding. She has toured extensively with her band, most recently completing a successful 20 date Italian tour in March. This is to be followed up with further UK and continental shows in 2023.

The first single to be lifted from the album, ‘Keep Her’, received support from both BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Radio London and with sessions for BBC 6 Music, Radio 1 airplay and major commercial syncs for Google and LG her left-field songwriting is gradually reaching the wider audience that it deserves.

Following ‘Keep Her’, Erin K is further teasing the new album with ‘Goodbye Song’, due for release on 2nd June. ‘Goodbye Song’ eschews genre categorization as its subtle melancholic grooves build and weave their way under the skin. Dealing with accepting and understanding a break-up, the lyrics conjure up memories of places and times spent together with a partner, as the sounds & production wrap the listener in a twilight atmosphere.

But far from being a gloomy and downbeat affair, the song has an infectious shuffling rhythm that grows and grows on each listen. “Goodbye Song” is accompanied by a video filmed on Erin’s recent tour of Italy, a tour which saw her perform twenty dates across the country with her long-time band.

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The Velveteins - Declarations of the 3am Freeway.

Soaked in the bright psychedelia of the 1960’s and dipped in the indie rock explosion of the new millennium, The Velveteins are best described as a bridge between the two. Inspired after living out of a camper van on the beaches of Australia for a year, frontman Spencer Morphy returned to Canada and started the band with co-songwriter Addison Hiller in 2014. Later joined by Dean Kheroufi, Daniel Sedmak and Cam O'Neill, the fivesome have since made a name for themselves for their incendiary live performances.

Their latest single, “Declarations of the 3am Freeway” is the title-track from their upcoming sophomore album. Built upon moody synths and sizzling warbled guitars, the track envelops the feeling of road-tripping at dusk in the heat of summer, when there's no one else on the freeway and it's just you and your thoughts. Narrating driving in a battered motor vehicle on the cusp of a great adventure, Morphy shares, “The lyrics are yearning, and more insightful than our past works. That longing sentiment is relayed perfectly on the title track “It all begins right now / it all begins in the car on the freeway.”

Having moved to Tofino, Canada, a small surf town where Morphy lived for a month and finished the writing, the new single is backdropped by the foggy Pacific Northwest surf allowing the artist to access a diverse palette and find the missing pieces of this song.

Garnering millions of streams for their music to date, The Velveteins have built an ever-growing, dedicated fan base across all corners of the globe. Their vigorous touring schedule has led to international festival appearances (SXSW, and The Great Escape) and opening slots for established acts including Wolf Parade, Hockey Dad and Chad Vangaalen.

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Echo Ladies - Nadine Khouri - Ashley Elle - Sunny Luwe

Echo Ladies - Awake.

Malmö, Sweden shoegaze/dreampop trio Echo Ladies are pleased to announce they have signed to Rama Lama Records/Gazehop Records and will release their second album Lillies on 8th September 2023. To celebrate the news, the band are streaming new single ‘Awake’ which was released on 1st June 2023.

Commenting on the track, the band say: “‘Awake’ is a song about the feeling of drifting apart from each other in a relationship. The feeling of being left behind and forgotten and how small of a person that makes you feel, hoping it’s all a bad dream and wishing to wake up again.”

Echo Ladies are Matilda Bogren, Mattis Andersson and Joar Andersén—three school-friends who, after playing together in a few different bands, realised that they worked best on their own. In 2014, after looking for “a name that represented our sound”, they became Echo Ladies, partly inspired by the name of the drum machine from another of their favourite bands, Echo & The Bunnymen (though their own drum machine, for now, remains nameless).

Following a quiet spell for the band while the rest of the world turned upside down, Echo Ladies are now proudly returning with their second album Lillies, recorded and mastered by Joakim Lindberg at Studio Sickan in Malmö, and following on from their acclaimed 2018 debut Pink Noise on Sonic Cathedral, which was one of Rough Trade’s albums of the year.

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Nadine Khouri - Song of a Caged Bird.

Originally penned as a lament on surveillance capitalism, “Song of a Caged Bird” took on new meaning for Khouri during the pandemic when the world outside fell away, replaced by a miasma of ceaseless 1s and 0s. 

Over walking-pace percussion and spaciously layered Mellotron and guitar, Khouri dreams beyond the digital walls, into an exploration of true freedom; the song becomes a conversation with a universe of possibilities – all the lives we could live, the songs we could sing, if we knew no one was watching.

Currently based between London and Marseille, Nadine Khouri is influenced by dream-pop, film soundtracks and poetry with a sound that has been described as “music born of perennial outsider-status.” Discovered by legendary producer John Parish (PJ Harvey) thanks to her singular voice, Khouri was invited to sing on his track “Baby’s Coming” and subsequently recorded her debut album with the producer in his hometown of Bristol.

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Ashley Elle - Heavy, Heavy, Heavy.

Emerging indie-pop artist Ashley Elle has released her latest single, “Heavy, Heavy, Heavy.” Mastering a level of connection that is seldom achieved through lyricism alone, “Heavy, Heavy, Heavy” is a melodically beautiful quest to find some relief from the overwhelming experience of anxiety and depression while navigating through life. Near and dear to her heart, Ashley Elle wrote “Heavy, Heavy, Heavy” when she “felt so much pressure and responsibility trying to deal with growing up and the challenges we face.” “Heavy, Heavy, Heavy” is now available to stream on digital music platforms worldwide.

“Heavy, Heavy, Heavy” was penned when Ashley Elle was moving back from living abroad in London and feeling overwhelmed by “struggling with the complexities of life.” Unguarded, comforting, and slightly haunting, the track urgently seeks relief from the overpowering experience of navigating life as a lost young adult.  With a catchy structure and repetition paired with a composition strongly reliant on guitar and piano, “Heavy, Heavy, Heavy” feels reliable, reflecting the stability that Ashley Elle yearns for. Perfecting a sound as alluring and authentic as the lyrics, Ashley Elle has an ornate ability to connect with her fans in an intimate way, asking them, “Do you know this feeling?” 

Expressing desperation for connection, she enables her audience to feel seen as well. With a sense of familiarity and intimacy, listeners cannot help but feel as though Ashley Elle is a close friend, inviting them to seek solace and confide in one another. The song goes beyond emotional expression and allows the listener to feel as though they are trying to navigate through these feelings alongside Ashley. “Heavy, Heavy, Heavy” was co-written and produced by Cazz Brindis and is the follow-up to her single “How Do You Stop Loving Someone?”

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Sunny Luwe - Summer Kisses.

Gold Coast-based (Kombumerri Country) First Nations artist Sunny Luwe, formerly known as Dani Teveluwe, returns to captivate listeners with her latest release, 'Summer Kisses.' Following the success of her synth-y summer dream 'Fly Like A Bird', Sunny Luwe embraces her authentic musical journey with this blissful indie-folk gem.

As a natural-born storyteller and Weilwan woman, Sunny Luwe effortlessly warms our winter with the sweetness of 'Summer Kisses'. The track showcases her remarkable vocal ability, blending lush vocal layers, sweet subtle harmonies, and an effortless delivery that dances between near spoken word and a heartwarming vocal style. Recorded in a home studio, this labor of love underwent a transformative process to capture the essence of the song's true sweetness.

Collaborating with Matt Collins of WHARVES, Sunny Luwe found the perfect musical partnership to bring 'Summer Kisses' to life. Their creative synergy is evident in the dreamy instrumentation and uplifting melodies that instantly transport listeners to sunny, blue-sky days. This upbeat and pleasant track invites you to stroll barefoot, bask in its warm and relaxing atmosphere, and immerse yourself in its lulling indie-folk charm.

In alignment with her commitment to the environment, Sunny Luwe has made her musical project carbon neutral through carbon offsetting. With a deep sense of gratitude, she calculated the carbon footprint generated by the entire single release and offset it by donating funds to Rainforest 4, a North Queensland Conservation project focused on protecting the Daintree Rainforest from deforestation and preserving our old-growth rainforests.