Me and My Friends - Tara-Lynn Sharrock - Frigga
Background - Me and My Friends have announced their new album 'Look Up' the release date as December 6th via Split Shift Records. Album highlight, ‘High As The Sun’, has been released as a first taster. It's a gorgeous sun-drenched track with a chorus that’ll keep you warm throughout winter. The band are also playing several live dates beginning later this month, including a newly announced show on Thursday 6th December at Rich Mix in London which promises to be a wonderful evening.
Me and My Friends play soulful, poignant, and gloriously danceable music, subtly referencing many styles, including vintage Ghanaian highlife, Jamaican roots and Afro-Brazilian folk. The UK-based quintet create a timeless sound with a global outlook, performed with an infectious energy, and the result is instantly recognisable, highly original and truly genre-defying.
On their new album ‘Look Up’, coming December 6th via Split Shift, the elegant voice and West African finger-picking guitar style of songwriter Nick Rasle is cradled by stunning vocal harmonies and the evocative combination of cello and clarinet, all underpinned by a rhythm section with a deep sense of groove. ‘Look Up’ draws heavily on early 70s acoustic soul, as well as the modal ‘Ethiopiques’ of Mulatu Astatke and the minimalism of the Penguin Café Orchestra.
Built on deceptively simple, yet richly satisfying grooves, the songs explore timeless themes of friendship (‘Another Lifetime’), commitment (‘Promise Me This Much’) and nostalgia (‘High As The Sun’). Having worked in a volunteer kitchen on the Greek island of Lesbos at the height of the refugee crisis in 2016, Nick Rasle recounts a tale he heard over and over on the haunting roots reggae track 'Good Life'. Drawing on the determination of the people he encountered to feel hope, to look forward and to be acknowledged, the song is a call for empathy and understanding in our increasingly intolerant society.
From the title track ‘Look Up’ with its energetic afro-beat, addictive melody, and jazzy breakdown, to the atmospheric ‘All Of This I Know’ that has clear influences from avant-garde British folk, the album takes the listener on a journey through many genres and cultures. WEBSITE.
Euro + UK live dates:
Friday 5th Oct - The Marshall Rooms, Stroud
Saturday 6th Oct - The Jam Jar, Bristol
Friday 12th Oct - Franz Mehlhose, Erfurt, Germany
Friday 26th Oct, Old Abbey Taphouse, Manchester
Saturday 27th Oct - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Friday 2nd Nov - Y Plas, Machynlleth
Saturday 3rd Nov - Assembly Rooms, Presteigne
Thursday 6th Dec, Rich Mix, London
Saturday 8th Dec - Cobalt Studios, Newcastle
The mixture of genres that Me and My Friends explore and engage in is just wonderful as witnessed by 'High As The Sun' a fabulously rich and uplifting song. This unique and outward looking track is sophisticated and yet very accessible, in fact it's adorable and very catchy.
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Background - Tara-Lynn Sharrock is a self-taught, versatile artist with a voice to match any genre, any style, any occasion - with the power of Celine Dion, and the delicacy of Enya. Tunnel of Love is a joint project written by Patrice Larkin and sung by Tara-Lynn Sharrock.
Tunnel of Love is an upbeat love Song. The words describe the feelings that two people have, when they first meet and fall in love. When writing the song, Patrice created the beat throughout the bass then the words Tunnel of Love, and from there the song flowed on.
Tunnel Of Love was written by Patrice Larkin and sung by Tara-Lynn Sharrock. It was Recorded by Michael Gerrish at Starmist Studio in Chernside Park, Melbourne. The final mix was completed by Andrew Kerridge.
Patrice Larkin comes from a musical background, she started playing the piano at the age of four and at the age of 18 she attended The Conservatorium Of Music at Melbourne University. Patrice taught piano for years, but in her late 20’s she decided she needed a change and worked various different jobs. Nine years ago when Patrice lost her 16 year old daughter Gabby from a rare cancer, she returned to playing the piano which she hadn’t touched for years and started writing songs. The Tunnel Of Love is a fairly recent song from Patrice.
Tara-Lynn Sharrock was born in South Africa, 1986. Her love of music was first apparent when her mother noticed her bopping in time to the radio at six months old. After turning the music off, discovering that this saddened Tara-Lynn, her mother turned it back on and Tara-Lynn continued bopping in time, to the beat of a different song. Tara-Lynn moved to Australia, aged five, where her love of music continued to grow. She taught herself to sing by singing along to every English Celine Dion album ever released and aurally picking up the same techniques as used by the well-known vocalist. FACEBOOK.
'Tunnel of Love' is dreamy and serene contemporary pop which is full of melodic hooks. The beautiful vocals just blend perfectly with the music, as the warmth and love flows into your life.
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Background - Anglo-Norwegian artist Frigga (FKA Sasha Siem) returns with another Robyn-esqe inspired electronic-pop track, ‘Fiercely Fearless’ out now via Tiferet Records. Following the same writing schedule as last month’s ‘Flower Flower’, the track was written at Siem’s home studio in Brooklyn, New York and produced by Danton Supple in London this year.
Describing her latest work, Siem explains; “This song is born from my story, my family, my life. Having been brought down to my knees by circumstances which as devastating as they may have appeared to be to me – have become my greatest teachers; the rubble from which a new reality is born. This is a song for all those brave souls who know deep inside that no matter what, everything can be overcome, and new worlds can be built.”
Frigga studied music and poetry at Cambridge University and Harvard University. She has written music for the London Symphony Orchestra, The Royal Opera House, The London Philharmonic Orchestra and was the youngest person to receive a ‘British Composer Award.
Her first two critically acclaimed albums – ‘Most of the Boys’ and ‘Bird Burning’ - were recorded in Iceland with renowned producer Valgeir Sigurðsson and have been remixed by the likes of Matthew Herbert, Susanne Sundfør, Highasakite, East India Youth, and Rabit. She has performed at festivals and sold-out shows across Europe and the US, including; The Forum, The Ultima Festival, (Le) Poisson Rouge, Latitude Festival, by:Larm, Barbican & Southbank Centre as well as a special album premier performance at Sadlers Wells this year. WEBSITE.
A song that is based on struggle and being determined to overcome 'Fiercely Fearless' nonetheless has something quite tranquil about it at the same time. The vocals add passionate determination and the electro pop musical backdrop is a refined companion for this gorgeous song.
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