CF Watkins - Teen Creeps - Lavender Diamond - Charlie Kaplan - Tracy Layne
CF Watkins has shared the title track 'Babygirl' ahead of the album due October 18 and it's an upbeat folk pop track that bodes well for the full collection. === Belgian indie rockers Teen Creeps have just shared 'Seeing Shapes' which is a full on and hook filled track. === Lavender Diamond announced their first studio album in 8 years 'Now Is The Time' with the new single 'This Is How We Rise'. The song itself is beautiful, with sublime vocals and a superb musical arrangement. === Charlie Kaplan has just released 'Pete Williams' ahead of his November album release 'Sunday', the song has been described as "gripping and impassioned" which is a fair and fine description. === Tracy Layne has a brand new single entitled 'Smoke And Mirrors' where her refined vocals are more than capable of powering up, adding passion and drama to a really fine song.
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Americana-pop singer-songwriter, Cf Watkins, has released “Babygirl,” the title track from her upcoming album, due out October 16, 2020, on Whatever’s Clever Records.
“Babygirl” turns the typical love song on its head - instead of focusing on romantic love, Watkins wrote the song as an ode to her best girlfriends. “When I thought of the purest love I know, these relationships were the first to come to mind,” she says. “In romance, I've always been very confused- but love was so clear, magic, and eternal with my best friends, those I called babygirl - who have danced with me in the early morning rain, laughing through the confusion.” She continues, “This is an album meant for other women to hear -- with songs that are vulnerable and powerful.”
Based in Brooklyn for the past nine years, Watkins’ Americana-pop style embodies the influences of her North Carolina roots. Performing since the age of fourteen, she has shared the stage with acts like Langhorne Slim, Future Birds, Chatham County Line, Wilder Maker, Lowland Hum, and Alpenglow. Her 2016 debut release, I Am New, as well as the single, “Frances and Jack,” were produced by Daniel Goans of Lowland Hum at White Star Studios.
For the recording of Babygirl, Watkins collaborated with Max Hart, a producer and multi-instrumentalist who has previously worked with artists like The War On Drugs, Katy Perry, and Melissa Etheridge. The album portrays her growth as both a person and a woman. “When I think about my last album, I feel I was writing songs about weakness,” Watkins says. “With this album, I made a conscious effort to write songs about the power of choosing yourself.”
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‘SEEING SHAPES’ is the first single taken from ‘FOREVER’, the new album by Belgian indie rockers TEEN CREEPS, set for release on 22 January 2021 on [PIAS] Recordings. One thing’s for sure; TEEN CREEPS love the 1990s! The Belgian’s 3 piece’s sound is a high five to the fuzzy guitars, melancholic vocals and fast-paced drums of era defining bands like DINOSAUR JR, SUPERCHUNK or SONIC YOUTH.
Safe to say TC’s debut album (2018) pushed the right buttons. Sophomore album ‘FOREVER’ is gearing up to be as intense as their previous outing, but with room for more melody and a little sprinkle of pop fairy dust.
‘SEEING SHAPES’, the first track to whet your appetite, kicks off with the sort of fast paced guitar riffs and frantic drumming the band’s known for, but it’s by far their most catchy release to date.
In the accompanying video we see the trio getting ready for a show: rehearsing, checking the sound and finally playing said live show. It was filmed before the covid-pandemic hit. That makes it an unintentional testament of the importance of live music. Something we can hopefully return to sooner rather than later.
The whole video was shot on old school video cameras. The VCR quality gives the video a charm and 90s touch that suits the band and their sound.
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Lavender Diamond announced their first studio album in 8 years Now Is The Time with the new single "This Is How We Rise." The Los Angeles-based trio of Becky Stark, Steve Gregoropoulos, and Ron Regé, Jr. will release the album on December 4, 2020 via Petaluma Records.
"Right before our current storm of catastrophe these songs came pouring in to us. These songs of healing for a world in crisis," explains Becky Stark. "Crisis holds profound opportunity for healing and transformation. Now is the most powerful time we have ever known to transform our world and to build justice, peace and prosperity for all by living in harmony and with love for the earth, embodying the wisdom of equality and respect for all."
The band captured the core of the album in just two days, relying on gut instinct to guide their every move, and while the material was written well before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the result is a particularly timely, vital collection, one that couldn’t have come along at a more necessary moment.
"I came to this realization that there’s medicine in the music itself," says Stark. "It can lift people up and heal them and point them toward transformation, and that led me to this tremendously powerful need to start writing and recording again."
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New York based musician and singer-songwriter Charlie Kaplan (Office Culture) has shared "Pete Williams" – the gripping, impassioned second single from his forthcoming debut album Sunday, out November 13.
Kaplan wrote the songs on Sunday in the wake of his father's death. "Each song was an exercise in conjuring light, warmth, insight, guidance, release – my life’s absent emotional palette,” he explains. “I used music as a way to induce feelings that no longer occurred naturally.”
Despite the origin of these songs, the central coping strategy on Sunday is not escapism. On "Pete Williams," Kaplan grapples directly with loss and existential dread, while grinning back into the void. Inspired by finding his high school transcript while going through his childhood bedroom following his dad's passing, Kaplan solicits the voice of his guidance counselor: "He's a man who judges things with his heart/I came to him when shame was tearing me apart," Kaplan sings. The exuberant chorus – "Should I relax?/And take it slow?" – crystallizes a central dilemma that crops up throughout Sunday: will life ever be the same again? How can I find joy, or regain my sense of control? How can I find a new place in the world?
"Pete Williams" features Andrew Daly-Frank on guitars and Ben Wagner on drums, as well as contributions from Kaplan's Office Culture bandmate Winston Cook-Wilson on piano, and Cole Kamen-Green and Alec Spiegelman (of Cuddle Magic) on trumpet and saxophone. "Pete Williams" follows the serene "California Days," and is now available on all streaming platforms.
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From coast to coast, and across the ocean, soul singer Tracy Layne has pursued music just as much as music pursued her. This time, she's taking on Nashville as a solo artist.
“Music has followed me through all the stages of my life."
Layne moved to Nashville last year, and instantly began working on her solo debut EP. She puts a modern twist on a dark, folk vibe with her latest single Smoke & Mirrors. The soulful tune reflects on a past relationship that left her “paralyzed." Once she had the lyrics and the concept down, she reached out to her musician brother to help create something truly unique. She's coined the sound "moon-eyed soul."
“The happy fantasy I always wanted felt like it was right in front of me - only just out of reach. When the ugly reality kicked in, I was left with anger and confusion - hence Smoke & Mirrors."
Layne's upcoming EP, Smoke & Mirrors, touches on the five stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance). The title track represents the second stage: anger. "It paints a picture of the instability I felt during my long term relationship with an alcoholic.”
She hopes for this single and EP to connect with her audience in a relatable way, and that the sound peaks their curiosity to hear more. "Each song on this record has a unique feel - so there's something for everyone. Smoke & Mirrors has a dissonant, angsty vibe that I hope draws in listeners."
Layne didn’t stop there once the song was recorded and ready to be released. She brought the lyrics to life in a music video, with husband and wife duo CreateWell LLC.
The video takes place in a dilapidated and smoky house, representing the internal confusion in Layne's mind. She finds herself searching the mirror and the house for answers, and reflecting on the burns and scars inflicted on her.
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