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| Photo - Freya Barber |
Manchester risers The Rolling People release the new single ‘A Crack In The Glass’ released just ahead of the anticipated new EP Outlier (due 6th April). Marking a bold step forward in both sound and identity, the upcoming EP captures a band in the midst of reinvention - sharper, more expansive, and unapologetically themselves.The EP coincides with the launch of a new brand partnership alongside Pretty Green.
Produced by the renowned Richard McNamara (guitarist of Embrace, production credits including Basht., EEVAH), the new single showcases more of the contemplative, 90s alt-rock influenced side of the bands sound, comparable to The Verve whilst bringing a contemporary indie-rock flourish. McNamara’s influence brings clarity and scale to the band’s evolving identity, balancing anthemic indie hooks with atmosphere and depth to create an expansive and immediate, yet, emotional and reflective sound.
Speaking about the single, the band explain: “A Crack In The Glass is our most stripped-back work to date. It was one of the songs that was born out of a live recording session, giving us the freedom to build the song up from a more natural-sounding and relaxed setting. For this EP, we chose to go in a new direction in terms of production, and this live and raw style lent itself perfectly to the track.
The lyrics of this song focus on the emotional journey of living with mental health challenges, following the emotional lows and highs and the quiet relief that comes from overwhelming thoughts. It felt important for us to address this topic, as music can be a cathartic outlet that helps people feel heard and understood, especially when managing personal and unspoken issues.”
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Started late 2020 as 'full Belgian' band, Travellin' Blue Kings had a major update in autumn 2023, displaying solid letters of nobility and an impressive pedigree: Blues Lee, Last Call, The Electric Kings, The Scabs, Hideaway, Howlin' Bill, ... just to name a few. Travellin' is not in the name by chance, these five gentlemen worked with their respective bands all over Europe.
One could find them on festival stages in Norway, Sweden, Poland, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Italy and Spain. And of course, in every corner of Belgium and the Netherlands. The 'Bending The Rules' album, released in 2022, has been very well received and generated considerable airplay in Europe and the States (64 weeks (!) in Roots Music Report's Top 50 Blues Rock Album airplay chart in the US), resulting in the band being booked in France, the Netherlands, Germany and Norway.
But from now on, never say 'Travellin' Blue Kings' again, but say 'Travellin' Blue' !! A modified line-up, a renewed repertoire, written for the 3rd album, which does even more justice to the previous album title "Bending the Rules", prompted the band members to make this (minor) name change.
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Finnish synthpop duo Sin Cos Tan continue the Greed era with the single “Wall of Stone,” the fourth release from the upcoming album. Formed by producer-DJ Jori Hulkkonen and singer-songwriter Juho Paalosmaa.
Sin Cos Tan are known for their rare balance of Nordic melancholy, classic pop songwriting and precise electronic production. Their music lives in the space between nostalgia and forward motion: restrained, melodically exact and deeply connected to the tradition of European electronic pop.
Sin Cos Tan have received an Emma nomination, toured across Europe, and enjoyed long-standing support from international critics. Their music has also been featured in the AMC series Halt and Catch Fire. Their previous album Living in Fear (2022) received a full five-star review from Soundi.
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Northern California indie pop/folk outfit The Corner Laughers have been weaving a rich tapestry of timeless sounds and lyricism since the early 2000s to ever-increasing acclaim, solidifying their quintessential lineup of Karla Kane (vocals, ukulele), Khoi Huynh (bass, vocals and more), KC Bowman (guitar, vocals and more) and Charlie Crabtree (drums) on their 2015 breakthrough album Matilda Effect. When last we left our heroes, they'd spent five years crafting its follow up, the band's Big Stir Records debut Temescal Telegraph, only to have its release date coincide with the onset of the 2020 pandemic.
In a musical miracle for troubled times, the album's themes and musical settings resonated with the unease of the year and offered solace for the losses and isolation of that bleak miniature era. The global music press took note: Goldmine Magazine called it “a wonderfully enticing triumph,” The Swindonian labeled it “a magical otherworld, idyllic and innocent and yet poignant in its many charms,” and Shindig! Magazine's five-star review concluded “Every track is absolutely brilliant, brimming with vim and vigor.” In the end, the album was not just a leap forward for the band, but a lifeline of comfort for fans old and new.
We haven't been treated to the unique wordplay, inventive arrangements and sheer idiosyncratic ebullience that characterize The Corner Laughers' music for the half-decade since, and it's arguable that we need them more than ever. The world remains unsettled, and anyone possessed of empathy might find themselves vacillating between profound sadness and the need to reclaim the joy on which hope is founded. With their new album Concerns Of Wasp And Willow, the band audaciously and artfully create consonance from those very contrasts.
While the band is often thought of as purveying “sunshine” pop, Kane's lyrics and the band's musical textures have always balanced the dark and the light. On 'Concerns', erasing that dichotomy becomes a mission statement with endlessly fascinating results. Listeners first heard this new blend last Halloween when the single “Dark Matter” appeared, its title belied by its jubilant beat and bright melody as Kane celebrated (not for the first time) ravens and crows, inviting listeners to join the band's “new crone coven” in solidarity with anyone who's ever felt like an outsider.
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| Photo - Rosie Cohe |
“When I realized I’d been wrong to doubt Willie Nelson, that’s when music really started to make sense.” Brooklyn-based musician Karen Dahlstrom grew up singing in show choirs and Jazz ensembles, a popular soloist earnestly emulating Sarah Vaughn and Ella Fitzgerald. “I enjoyed performance, but I also knew my limitations. You have to have a certain focus on technique in order to go really far.” She accepted what she considered her constraints and stopped singing for the better part of her twenties. Today, listening to Dahlstrom’s incisive, unflinching lyrics, delivered straight to the heart with a husky, insurgent depth, it’s hard to imagine pesky technique was ever the point.
Around age thirty, at a turning point in her life, Dahstrom’s relationship to music began to change. Visiting a friend in San Francisco, she scavenged Amoeba Records for vinyl and perhaps even a rejuvenated sense of self. “I didn’t even know what music I liked anymore.” She was surprised to find herself drawn to artists whose music didn’t rely on any complex arrangement—Townes Van Zandt, Lyle Lovett, The Stanley Brothers, Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard, Jean Ritchie—folksters palpably at ease alone with their instruments. “Three chords and the truth suddenly seemed like enough. Plenty, even.” She opted for High Lonesome over high brow, sentiment over skill. “The kicker was discovering Gillian Welch,” she says. “Other singers had made me want to perform, but she made me want to write.” In her third decade, Dahlstrom picked up the guitar.
Back in Brooklyn, Dahlstrom began sitting in on sessions at Jalopy and Sunny's in Red Hook. “You can’t help but learn from other people,” she says, wistfully recollecting a time akin to a freshman year. She answered a Craigslist ad for a rhythm guitar-player who could sing harmonies, and soon enough, joined the all-female Americana trio Bobtown. The band released four acclaimed albums from 2010 to 2019; Dahlstrom’s late-blooming love of folk didn’t just endure, it flourished.
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Growing up is hard. Dissecting those universal feelings and turning them into art is much harder, but that’s exactly what The Great Emu War Casualties have achieved on their debut album ‘Public Sweetheart No.1’, out today Friday, March 27.
Across three EPs, Melbourne indie-rock outfit The Great Emu War Casualties have steadily sharpened their sound and songwriting, building toward their most fully realised work yet. The band recently shared the first glimpses of what was to come with the singles ‘Donut’ and ‘Wanna See You’, two tracks that capture different sides of their melodic, emotionally direct indie rock.
Now, it all comes together on their debut album ‘Public Sweetheart No.1’, a record that reflects on personal missteps, relationships, and the search for clarity amid chaos. Blunt, reflective and at times wryly self-aware, the album frames these reckonings through punchy, guitar-driven songwriting and sharp lyricism, presenting an honest self-examination that balances remorse, humour, and a determination to confront the past. Speaking on the album, Joe Jackson shares:
"‘Public Sweetheart No.1’ is a blunt, honest self-assessment of my own behaviour over an extended period of time and the various ways in which I have affected the people closest to me, so I’ve at least tried to make it catchy in order to better live with myself. It’s about the clarity I’ve found in going back to basics, in trying to remove the chaos and noise of the world in favour of honesty. An anthemic apology, with some ‘sorry, not sorry’ sprinkled on top. I am sorry though, really."
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Known for penning tunes that Lee Ann Womack, Charley Crockett and others have recorded, Texas singer-songwriter Brennen Leigh flips the script on her new single “The Traveling Kind.” A cover of a song released eleven years ago by Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, it’s set for release in March on Truly Handmade Records, a Nashville-based label owned by Guy Clark, LLC.
Leigh’s version of the song, which was co-written by Harris, Crowell and Cory Chisel, strips things down to just two musicians. The exquisite and heartfelt rendition features Leigh playing mandolin and lead vocals, with her husband Kevin Skrla on acoustic guitar and backing vocals.
Leigh and Skrla recorded the song at the request of Truly Handmade Records president Tamara Saviano, who wanted a fresh version of the tune to use as the theme song of her new Wisconsin radio show. The Americana music program, which also will be called The Traveling Kind, will air from 5-7pm on the third Saturday night of each month beginning March 21 on Monona, WI, community station WVMO 98.7 FM.
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