'The Strangest Of Lovers' from BRIA mixes alt country and pop sensibilities together with class and style, her refreshing take on country music is splendid, to say the least.
Davina and The Vagabonds new song 'Little Miss Moonshine' combine jazz, blues and bar room influences beautifully, this is simply addictive and oh so pleasing.
As song titles go 'Oh, What A Mess You’ve Got Yourselves Into' is pretty impressive and Vilde doesn't let us down with the music, there's a hint of Thom Yorke but see that as a positive, this is a fine and genuinely alternative piece.
Whilst on the subject of song titles WHY? ups the stakes even further with 'I may come out a broken yolk, I may come out on saddle' a track with just a little They Might Be Giants feel to it, again that's more a compliment than anything else.
Finally today we have Australian band Skilton Avenue whose latest song release 'Tomorrow' is a simple and stripped back alt rocker that allows their vocal and musical strong points to shine through and impress.
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Stripping back their sound and returning to their roots for the first single of 2019, 'Sweet Love' sees the Melbourne pair present their most upbeat work to date. While happy at it's core, accents of the two's signature grunge tints seep through create a wonder of unease and nostalgia.
Twisting together haunting harmonies with ominous acoustic tones, the compelling pop-driven melody matches the optimistic narrative. "It’s about that feeling of happiness, euphoria that overcomes you, even for a split a second for whatever reason," singer Elly Velinsky explains.
The project of sisters Elly Velinsky and Vanessa Morfea, The Bambi Kills blur the line between genres in a similar vein to American pioneer Tori Amos. Receiving praise from tastemaker Pilerats for their self titled EP, the pair have since supported the Australian rock royalty The Mavis's on their Pink Pills Anniversary tour, and performed at the popular Chapel Summer Sessions and Evelyn Hotel.
'Sweet Love' gives us a distinctive taste of The Bambi Kills' potential, and a glimpse of what they will deliver for those lucky enough to catch them at their residency at The Tote in Melbourne this June!
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BRIA is an alternative country singer/songwriter from Derbyshire. Combining traditional country roots with catchy pop melodies, she tells stories of love, loss and friendship.
Her main musical influences include Swedish duo First Aid Kit, Jake Bugg and Phoebe Bridgers.
Currently based in Nottingham, BRIA has been performing across the county since starting out in 2017 and made her debut at Splendour Festival the following year.
Her upcoming single ‘Strangest of Lovers’ was produced by Gareth Jones (who has worked with Madness and Depeche Mode) and is set to be released on vinyl on June 7th 2019 on Denizen Records.
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Red House Records is announcing the release date for Sugar Drops, the first album for the label from Davina and the Vagabonds. They are sharing the track "Little Miss Moonshine".
The album marks the first time singer/songwriter/pianist Davina Sowers entered a proper studio to record an album. The Minneapolis-based artist holed up in Nashville’s Compass Sound Studio with producer (and Compass Records co-founder) Garry West, along with her trumpeter, string arranger and husband, Zack Lozier, and a rotating cast of powerhouse players including Todd Phillips (David Grisman, Robbie Fulks) on bass, Doug Lancio (Patty Griffin, John Hiatt, Tom Jones) on guitar and Reese Wynans (Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Bonamassa) on Hammond B3.
Davina says of the debut track, “My songs always begin with an emotion, so it started out as an ‘I see you and I see through you’ song. I do what I do because I am who I am, not because I wanna make a buck or because it's the next cool trend. There's nothing smellier than dishonest music and fake people. Even if you're doing music from eras past and paying homage to music that you, yourself have been influenced by, it needs to come from the heart and from your own truth. Then, through the process of writing it, I started reflecting, and I ended up giving advice to these types of people and having a little empathy; it was hard when I started out, too. You can get lost in what you think others want and it’s not necessarily who you are. “At the end of the day though, it still needs to be your work and your words.”
Sugar Drops is distillation of bluesy barroom baritone and bravado, graveyard jazz grooves, and noir-ish confessional lyricism backed by boisterous piano, guitar, and strings. Eclectic, engaging and instilled with a deep respect and knowledge for the Great American Songbook, Sugar Drops is the actualization of longstanding intent for Davina.
“It represents about 100 years of Americana; I did exactly what I wanted to do,” she says.
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With a proclivity for delivering exhilarating slices of indie-electronica infused with weird pop sensibilities already established, Vilde returns in 2019 with a new full length record Fidget on The Podium, out this summer. First single Sardines retained the Stockholm based, Melbourne raised artist’s singular style – whilst letting a little more light in to a traditionally dark sound. And now second cut Oh, What A Mess You’ve Got Yourselves Into expands the sound in a different way – by ushering other musicians into his hitherto insular sound.
Falling somewhere between Thom Yorke, Tim Hecker and TV on the Radio it’s another great addition to his steadily growing stylish and sophisticated cannon.
As well as leftfield sonics Vilde, AKA Thomas Savage, offers oblique looks at various themes through his tracks and albums. On Oh, What A Mess… Savage offers: “Topically it’s on the same tangent as everything from Fidget at the Podium; disconnect. The sensation of bare feet on soil is intense, yet it’s where they belong. We cut down an old tree pre-emptively as it might crush our car. We incessantly insinuate to each other that one should philosophise less, make things less complicated, in fear of any sort of raw emotion. We vote for anti-social political parties. Music is entirely about connection, to others as well as to oneself. It’s the most precious tool we have in order to balance our way through a society so constantly encouraging disconnect.”
He began recording the record in early 2018 in Stockholm, just before being served a visa denial from the migration agency. Re-locating briefly to Düsseldorf to stay with his brother, he eventually finished the record in Melbourne through the Australian summer.
Looking to expand the instrumentation to evolve his sound, he brought in flute, saxophone and for the first time, other people’s voices. “I have had such a solo process for so long now, it’s become quite exhilarating to collaborate with other musicians” explains Savage, revelling in opening up his creativity.
Talking on the creative process behind writing this track in particular, as well as its instrumental role in opening up his sound in general, Thomas says: “To start with I had just these two interchanging chords, and it felt like 10% of a song. I figured well, usually my songs end up feeling like 200% of a song, enough to smother you - I could use undershooting it a little bit. That sort of became the challenge - how empty can I keep this? It didn’t end up very empty, so incidentally I think it was a good approach to have” continuing, he explains “It did allow for me to think a bit more laterally though, rather than anxiously filling it with crap at my own two hands. I asked my buddy Sean Gage to smear saxophone all over it. I asked my buddy & drummer Jesper Hättander to speak some beautiful tones. It was an odd & rewarding process, and has become hands down my favourite track on the album.”
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WHY?, the creative moniker for consummate wordsmith and beloved songwriter Yoni Wolf, has returned with a compellingly cryptic visual titled "I may come out a broken yolk, I may come out on saddle."
The video, whose interconnected songs comprise WHY?'s first new music since 2017's masterful Moh Lhean (Joyful Noise), stars Emmy-winning actress Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) and was directed by Sundance Dramatic Special Jury Award-winner Miles Joris-Peyrafitte.
WHY? recently finished touring behind the 10th anniversary of their modern-classic 2008 LP Alopecia, and earlier this year Yoni collaborated with Lala Lala (aka Lillie West) on the bombastic "Siren 042." Stay tuned for more news and tour dates from WHY? in the coming weeks.
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Hailing from Newcastle on Australia's east coast, Skilton Avenue are a passionate band who channel their innermost thoughts and feelings into music that people can relate to. Tomorrow is the debut single from the up and coming acoustic rock band.
Tomorrow is a track about that point in your life when you realise that you're ready to drop everything and focus on your dreams. With the knowledge that the people you love will be there to support you, but also finding the inner strength and drive to be able to chase them on your own. With elements of alternative rock and roots, Tomorrow will take you on a journey of self-discovery from start to finish.
Skilton Avenue consists of Mitchell Challice, the lead singer-songwriter, composer and guitarist, Trent Geal on drums and percussion and Kristy Richards on vocals. Tomorrow was recorded at Nuclear Sound Studios on the Central Coast of New South Wales.
Skilton Avenue came to be when Mitchell and Trent were neighbours, they started jamming together and developed a sound they wanted to pursue. After putting an ad on Facebook and going through auditions they found Kristy whose vocal’s were perfect for their sound. The trio have plans to release an album and tour. Keep an eye out for more from this upcoming alt-rock band.
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