Native Harrow - Benedict Benjamin - Alice Phoebe Lou - Lowland Hum - Grace Acladna - Kuri
We begin today with Native Harrow and her gorgeous new video for 'Happier Now' a superb and natural indie folk song. Benedict Benjamin share's a fresh and unpretentious rocker with the emphasis on melodic hooks and an upbeat pace. At the time of writing this, Alice Phoebe Lou's new video for 'Galaxies' has already had close to forty thousand views, which is unsurprising, both the song and the video are sublime and totally moreish. We have featured Lowland Hum just once before and they are more than welcome back with this subtle and catchy albeit rather short modern folk song. Grace Acladna mixes quite differing genres together in style, in what is a very pleasing, original and refreshing song. We finish today's round up with Kuri and an original sounding and catchy folk based song, I say 'based' as it morphs comfortably beyond that genre, sounding really good as it does so.
Native Harrow - Happier Now.
Indie folk-pop artist Native Harrow, out of New York's Hudson Valley, has released the official video for the title track off their forthcoming record Happier Now via Different Time Records.
"’Happier Now’ is essentially my own anthem," says singer-songwriter Devin Tuel. "I had this very powerful year of touring and making things happen for myself and feeling like I was getting out from under the waves, but people close to me would still say, ‘Do you ever sing any happy songs? Why are you so sad?’ and I think that that is such a shallow thought to have about any art."
"My songs aren’t meant to crush people, but I live in reality and sadness and struggle have a lot to do with the reality of the human experience. So 'Happier Now' is me saying I could be happier if it makes you feel good, but I won’t because this is who I am, these are my songs, and I like them melancholic."
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Benedict Benjamin - Aint Easy.
Benedict Benjamin is Ben Rubinstein, formerly of The Mariners Children and Peggy Sue. He has just released ‘Ain't Easy’, the first single from his forthcoming album ‘Truant,’ a driving and melodic piece of sixties influenced garage rock.
After writing and recording his debut, Ben turned to a more full band sound for his second album. The early sixties Everly Brothers influences are still present in the melodies, but now there is an urgency and grit to the instrumentation that sits somewhere between The Velvet Underground and Tom Petty or more recent forbears such as Kevin Morby and Angel Olsen.
Speaking on the release of 'Ain't Easy', Benedict said: "This song's about how much work you’ve got to put into anything in order to make it work. It’s about how hard it sometimes is just to keep things afloat and not pack it all in. You go through good spells where everything is great and bad spells where everything feels crap and difficult. When you’re in one of the latter you either persevere or you just give up, and this song’s about the persevering."
His songs undercut the dream-like beauty of early sixties pop music with lyrics both frank and poetic, creating a powerful Lynchian duality that makes the heart swell and the head spin.
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Alice Phoebe Lou - Galaxies.
Having been ensconced in the studio working on her forthcoming album, Paper Castles, Alice Phoebe Lou is pleased to release the new single, "Galaxies."
South African singer-songwriter, Alice has just announced a series of live shows in Europe, as well as North America, having sold out two Cape Town shows in February, which pre-empts her forthcoming album due 8th March. Overseen by Grammy winning producer Noah Georgeson (Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom), "Galaxies" follows previous track, "Skin Crawl," described by The FADER as ‘powerful and stunning,’ and is once again accompanied by visuals that portray Lou’s charm and elegant fragility.
The track, as Alice herself explains, “Happened on a rainy moody day in Berlin, my friend Harry Charles & I wrote this song while lying on the carpet of my room. Space had become such a theme in my life & music, not in a scientific way but more in a metaphorical sense; drawing parallels between a planet in the expansive universe & the way that one's tiny & seemingly insignificant existence interacts with the world.
This song is about being nothing & everything. Abut being overwhelmed by the weight of existence while simultaneously being in awe & wonder of it all. 'Galaxies' came to life the first time we played in the Planetarium in Berlin; we've played 13 shows there now & every time I see the visuals come to life & the audience being swept away by the combination of the song with the projections of flying through the galaxies, the song makes so much sense”.
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Lowland Hum - A Drive Through the Countryside.
Lowland Hum have shared a new single from their highly anticipated new album Glyphonic out May 10. Titled "A Drive Through the Countryside," the song is a serene rumination on nature's expanse with ominous undertones. The band tell us, "This one stems from a poem Lauren wrote after feeling both moved and disturbed by the beauty of a drive through the countryside in rural VA. It explores the glory of the landscape here and the horrors of our local history as it relates to slavery and exploitation."
Lowland Hum tour about 200 days out of the year and have done so with the likes of Josh Ritter, The Oh Hellos and more. The indie pioneers will headline a national album release tour this spring including key stops in Nashville, Los Angeles and and New York City. Shows begin this month and the full list of dates is below.
Today's release follows critically hailed singles including "Salzburg Summer," "Raise The Ring" and "Slow," all of which have proven to be steadily infectious. Since album announcement, Lowland Hum have shared the new music at captivating sessions like Paste Studios and City Winery and garnered attention from enthused tastemakers including Billboard, Garden and Gun, Popmatters, Atwood Magazine and more. Glyphonic is the band's fourth studio album and a masterful exploration of the power of restraint, to be released May 10.
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Grace Acladna - When I Saw You.
Grace Acladna, producer, singer, song writer and multi instrumentalist from Hounslow, London has released her long-awaited new single 'When I Saw You'. The first single to be lifted from new EP 'Phonophobia' out this Spring via Hometown Records, Grace has a unique pop sound of her own - fusing nu-house, soca, electronica and dub; partly inspired by her Egyptian, English and Bajan heritage.
Self-produced and written by Grace - ‘When I Saw You’ was written at a time when she had found herself part of a friendship group of overly serious and self conscious people.
"It was really hard to have fun without looking over your shoulder to see who was judging you for it," Grace said. "For me - fun and liberty go hand in hand - so finally I met someone who encouraged me to love and dance freely. This song is a celebration of that relationship and every joyful encounter I’ve had since."
Speaking on the video accompaniment, Grace said: "Our idea behind the video was to convey the soul of the song in an unadulterated way that didn’t take itself too seriously. I was looking at clips of Anna Karina dancing in ‘Vivre sa Vie’ & ‘Bande à part’ as my inspiration for being carefree and not letting anything or anyone steal away your confidence or joy."
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Kuri - Sort Sol.
The new single from British Columbia artist Kuri is entitled 'Sort Sol'. The cinematic folk tune features sweeping acoustic guitars, Irish laced fiddles and harmony rich soundscapes. Reminiscent of Sigur Rós meets Fleet Foxes, ‘Sort Sol’ combines earthy traditional folk and chamber pop for a stunning release.
Though he may be a singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer, Kuri chiefly describes himself as “an observer.” His keen insight and sonic curiosity thread together an intriguing framework of carefully constructed and composed alternative on 2018’s debut Human Nature EP [Nevado Music] and the forthcoming 2019 debut album. The foundation remains rooted in organic performances, classically infused orchestration, jazzy freeform spirit, cinematic ambition, and ultimately inspired observation.
“I like to watch, analyze, and create systems in my brain,” he affirms. “As a solo artist, I enjoy the freedom to express exactly what I want by drawing on what I see.”
Born and raised Scott Currie in the city of Abbotsford, British Columbia, he found himself constantly looking outward. The small Mennonite community he grew up in incited “a sense of questioning everything to figure out why we do what we do.” As the youngest of four brothers, mom bought him a drum set to jam with his guitarist siblings. Soon, he transitioned from behind-the-kit to an old piano in the house by the age of twelve. After a string of high school bands, he founded Oh Village and generated a palpable buzz even competing in “B.C.’s Best teen Band” competition.
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Indie folk-pop artist Native Harrow, out of New York's Hudson Valley, has released the official video for the title track off their forthcoming record Happier Now via Different Time Records.
"’Happier Now’ is essentially my own anthem," says singer-songwriter Devin Tuel. "I had this very powerful year of touring and making things happen for myself and feeling like I was getting out from under the waves, but people close to me would still say, ‘Do you ever sing any happy songs? Why are you so sad?’ and I think that that is such a shallow thought to have about any art."
"My songs aren’t meant to crush people, but I live in reality and sadness and struggle have a lot to do with the reality of the human experience. So 'Happier Now' is me saying I could be happier if it makes you feel good, but I won’t because this is who I am, these are my songs, and I like them melancholic."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Benedict Benjamin is Ben Rubinstein, formerly of The Mariners Children and Peggy Sue. He has just released ‘Ain't Easy’, the first single from his forthcoming album ‘Truant,’ a driving and melodic piece of sixties influenced garage rock.
After writing and recording his debut, Ben turned to a more full band sound for his second album. The early sixties Everly Brothers influences are still present in the melodies, but now there is an urgency and grit to the instrumentation that sits somewhere between The Velvet Underground and Tom Petty or more recent forbears such as Kevin Morby and Angel Olsen.
Speaking on the release of 'Ain't Easy', Benedict said: "This song's about how much work you’ve got to put into anything in order to make it work. It’s about how hard it sometimes is just to keep things afloat and not pack it all in. You go through good spells where everything is great and bad spells where everything feels crap and difficult. When you’re in one of the latter you either persevere or you just give up, and this song’s about the persevering."
His songs undercut the dream-like beauty of early sixties pop music with lyrics both frank and poetic, creating a powerful Lynchian duality that makes the heart swell and the head spin.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Having been ensconced in the studio working on her forthcoming album, Paper Castles, Alice Phoebe Lou is pleased to release the new single, "Galaxies."
South African singer-songwriter, Alice has just announced a series of live shows in Europe, as well as North America, having sold out two Cape Town shows in February, which pre-empts her forthcoming album due 8th March. Overseen by Grammy winning producer Noah Georgeson (Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom), "Galaxies" follows previous track, "Skin Crawl," described by The FADER as ‘powerful and stunning,’ and is once again accompanied by visuals that portray Lou’s charm and elegant fragility.
The track, as Alice herself explains, “Happened on a rainy moody day in Berlin, my friend Harry Charles & I wrote this song while lying on the carpet of my room. Space had become such a theme in my life & music, not in a scientific way but more in a metaphorical sense; drawing parallels between a planet in the expansive universe & the way that one's tiny & seemingly insignificant existence interacts with the world.
This song is about being nothing & everything. Abut being overwhelmed by the weight of existence while simultaneously being in awe & wonder of it all. 'Galaxies' came to life the first time we played in the Planetarium in Berlin; we've played 13 shows there now & every time I see the visuals come to life & the audience being swept away by the combination of the song with the projections of flying through the galaxies, the song makes so much sense”.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lowland Hum have shared a new single from their highly anticipated new album Glyphonic out May 10. Titled "A Drive Through the Countryside," the song is a serene rumination on nature's expanse with ominous undertones. The band tell us, "This one stems from a poem Lauren wrote after feeling both moved and disturbed by the beauty of a drive through the countryside in rural VA. It explores the glory of the landscape here and the horrors of our local history as it relates to slavery and exploitation."
Lowland Hum tour about 200 days out of the year and have done so with the likes of Josh Ritter, The Oh Hellos and more. The indie pioneers will headline a national album release tour this spring including key stops in Nashville, Los Angeles and and New York City. Shows begin this month and the full list of dates is below.
Today's release follows critically hailed singles including "Salzburg Summer," "Raise The Ring" and "Slow," all of which have proven to be steadily infectious. Since album announcement, Lowland Hum have shared the new music at captivating sessions like Paste Studios and City Winery and garnered attention from enthused tastemakers including Billboard, Garden and Gun, Popmatters, Atwood Magazine and more. Glyphonic is the band's fourth studio album and a masterful exploration of the power of restraint, to be released May 10.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grace Acladna, producer, singer, song writer and multi instrumentalist from Hounslow, London has released her long-awaited new single 'When I Saw You'. The first single to be lifted from new EP 'Phonophobia' out this Spring via Hometown Records, Grace has a unique pop sound of her own - fusing nu-house, soca, electronica and dub; partly inspired by her Egyptian, English and Bajan heritage.
Self-produced and written by Grace - ‘When I Saw You’ was written at a time when she had found herself part of a friendship group of overly serious and self conscious people.
"It was really hard to have fun without looking over your shoulder to see who was judging you for it," Grace said. "For me - fun and liberty go hand in hand - so finally I met someone who encouraged me to love and dance freely. This song is a celebration of that relationship and every joyful encounter I’ve had since."
Speaking on the video accompaniment, Grace said: "Our idea behind the video was to convey the soul of the song in an unadulterated way that didn’t take itself too seriously. I was looking at clips of Anna Karina dancing in ‘Vivre sa Vie’ & ‘Bande à part’ as my inspiration for being carefree and not letting anything or anyone steal away your confidence or joy."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The new single from British Columbia artist Kuri is entitled 'Sort Sol'. The cinematic folk tune features sweeping acoustic guitars, Irish laced fiddles and harmony rich soundscapes. Reminiscent of Sigur Rós meets Fleet Foxes, ‘Sort Sol’ combines earthy traditional folk and chamber pop for a stunning release.
Though he may be a singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer, Kuri chiefly describes himself as “an observer.” His keen insight and sonic curiosity thread together an intriguing framework of carefully constructed and composed alternative on 2018’s debut Human Nature EP [Nevado Music] and the forthcoming 2019 debut album. The foundation remains rooted in organic performances, classically infused orchestration, jazzy freeform spirit, cinematic ambition, and ultimately inspired observation.
“I like to watch, analyze, and create systems in my brain,” he affirms. “As a solo artist, I enjoy the freedom to express exactly what I want by drawing on what I see.”
Born and raised Scott Currie in the city of Abbotsford, British Columbia, he found himself constantly looking outward. The small Mennonite community he grew up in incited “a sense of questioning everything to figure out why we do what we do.” As the youngest of four brothers, mom bought him a drum set to jam with his guitarist siblings. Soon, he transitioned from behind-the-kit to an old piano in the house by the age of twelve. After a string of high school bands, he founded Oh Village and generated a palpable buzz even competing in “B.C.’s Best teen Band” competition.
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