Eat The Evidence - Be The Bear - City Calm Down
Eat The Evidence - Fruit Of The Loot.Background - “This song is about how other countries can't be trusted at looking after their own belongings. What better way to express this than using a slide whistle and swear words.” Eat The Evidence
A satirical account of the artistic trappings of the British Empire set to supercharged-ska, ‘Fruit Of The Loot’ is a tongue-in-cheek yet brutally honest address to all those nations, from Greece to Chile and beyond, whose prized cultural artefacts have been pilfered for exhibits in UK museums and galleries. It’s all set to an astonishingly agile brew of agit-ska – all dubby bass, fiesta beats and, yes, that is a slide-whistle solo. The video captures the band dressed as colonialists, visiting the stolen artefacts at the British Museum.
A breathtakingly entertaining hybrid of The Specials, NOFX, Ween and The Streets, Eat The Evidence are led by brothers Jack and Tom Lattimer, skilled musicians whose deceptively dextrous playing demands equivalent levels of expertise from fellow band members Ric Lygo, Joe Bartlett and Michael Saminaden. With an earthy, animated and uninhibited stage presence, the band’s live shows are swiftly becoming London legend, riotous gigs of carnivalesque proportions with not a little audience interaction. Exploding onto the ska-punk and festival circuits in 2014, Eat The Evidence are always the punkest band on a reggae bill, or the reggae'est band on a punk night. Either way, they will always own the room.
Capturing such visceral energy on tape could have been a challenge, but with the help of Sam Duckworth (aka Get Cape Wear Cape Fly), Jay Malhotra and Rees Broomfield, Eat The Evidence emerged from The Broom Cupboard in Southend-on-Sea brandishing their debut album, ‘Sex, Drugs & Wishy Washy Politics’, which surges from the speakers in a flood of sonic sweat. Eschewing romantic escapism for the distinctly down-to-earth, the album’s subject matter ranges from junkie girlfriends to the post-party comedown to political and existential conundrums, all delivered with biting satirical lyrics, breakneck rhythms and such a liberal approach to instrumentation that accordion, trumpet, ukelele and even slide whistle are thrown into the bass-guitar-drums mix. There’s no pretence, no heeding of passing trends, just the foul-mouthed rejection of societal flaws and a riotous celebration of the good times. Facebook here.
A little bit of humour in this increasingly insane and lost world seems in order, which is partly where 'Fruit Of The Loot' comes in. The other "part" is that, this is a delightfully catchy and enjoyable song. That the message is poignant and steeped in historical facts, should be centre stage, it's just that right now, something to smile about is quite useful.
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Background - Be The Bear is a one-woman industry – a fiercely independent female artist and producer, writing and recording her own songs in her commercial studio in Gothenburg, home to her own record label Loud Attic Records and publishing company. Be The Bear’s debut single ‘Erupt’ is a spectacular representation of this young gifted Swedish talent, who has the confidence to create music in an uncompromisingly unique way.
The alias Be The Bear derives from Christina’s childhood fear of bears and recurring cold-sweat nightmares. “I used to dream about them every night, chasing me up old wooden staircases. When dreams come back again and again, I think it's because you’re trying to deal with something. I wasn't facing my fears and challenging myself.” Christina adopted the totem of the wild bear, creating a powerful musical persona for herself. When asked about Erupt, Christina states: “Erupt is my ode to new places in life and an invocation to the fearlessness in all of us. It’s about the learning experience of transporting strong emotions into something physical”.
This Norse alt pop epic builds from a whisper into an inspiring vocal performance that is guaranteed to give you goose bumps. Accompanied by a 60-piece string orchestra, Christina’s voice is at once intimate, passionate and cathartic with an honesty reminiscent of Aurora and Emiliana Torrini, rising to an explosive and uplifting Björk and Susanne Sundfør. Christina’s work is in huge demand with music supervisors and sync companies, having already featured in several high profile global ad campaigns.
Erupt is a milestone of an effervescent artist, and will be out on Christina’s label- Loud Attic Records, through Kobalt. It is in all the usual places as of now. Website here, Facebook here.
'Erupt' is beautiful. That there are some similarities to Bjork and others, as mentioned in the promo piece, is better seen as an endorsement of the sheer quality of this song, rather than having any negative connotations. It's a fabulous song from a very talented and creative artist.
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City Calm Down - Blood.Background - 'Blood' is the new single from Melbourne's City Calm Down it's the first taste of the band's highly anticipated second album. Inspired by a standoff with a former employer, 'Blood' is all formidable, joyful crescendos – the push and pull of a day job versus touring commitments.
"I ended up quitting my job," singer Jack Bourke explains. "My boss was being inflexible but I was also being self absorbed, and the lyrics reflect that. They touch on the grind of work and how easy it is to isolate yourself from the people who matter to you by being too caught up in your own ambition and what you're doing.
"This is a place I feel we ended up towards the end of recording the album," he continues. "We were running late-night recording sessions during the middle of the week when we all had work the following morning, and we were all just emotionally exhausted by the end. Not to let an opportunity go to waste, we really tried to capture that sense of madness in the final chorus."
For album #2 the band are reteaming with producer Malcolm Beasley (who helmed their debut). "The new record feels like a natural progression from 'In A Restless House'" explains Bourke. "There are songs that expand on the themes and songwriting present on that record, and there are songs that mark a clear departure. It also feels much more cohesive… which is probably due to us having a clearer idea of how we wanted the songs to sound before we went into the studio." Website here, Facebook here.
Atmosphere, energy and commitment combine to create 'Blood' a passionate alt rocker, where the lyrics, and their determined delivery, are backed by some equally powerful music. If the rest of the album is on a par with this, I reckon there will be, a considerable number of very satisfied listeners, a little later this year.
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