Favours - Parliamo - The Vaulted Skies - Black Pines
Favours is made up of Jacq Andrade, Alexander Zen and Mark Andrade. They released their first LP Made to Wait in 2020. Their song “Stowaway” was featured on Netflix and CBC Gem. Recently, Favours built a home recording studio in a former halfway house in Mimico. The studio serves as a practice space and home to Alex, as well as their central creative hub for all music videos and photography projects.
Favours’ EP, Left Behind, was released November 12th 2021 and it features a fresh dream pop, new wave sound inspired by their shared love of the 80’s new wave sound and a DIY post-punk feel. The band collaborated with a strong team for this upcoming EP.
They enlisted the talents of Broken Social Scene’s Brendan Canning to play bass on the EP, the engineering chops of Tallies’ Dylan Franklin, who engineered the drums and bass, and the mixing prowess of Alexandre Bonenfont. Previous singles have been featured on NPR, David Dean Burkhart and charted #1 on Canadian College Radio.
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Perth, Scotland based 6-piece Parliamo release their eagerly anticipated new EP 'The Parliamo Manifesto' via Modern Sky (The Coral, The Lathums, Abbie Ozard). Drawing from a plethora of influences from The Avalanches and Massive Attack to Super Furry Animals and The Beta Band – Parliamo bring together witty social commentary–styled lyricism with a distinctive songwriting approach very much of their own.
Widely adored by their Scottish contemporaries including Walt Disco, Glasvegas, The Ninth Wave and VLURE, the band have also seen co-signs from The Libertines' Carl Barat, Primal Scream's Simone Butler and Scottish actor Robert Carlyle. They've inarguably backed this support up, quickly rising through the ranks of new Scottish acts with momentous back-to-back sold out at shows at Glasgow's King Tuts and Dundee's Hunter S Thomson.
The band's newly released EP 'The Parliamo Manifesto' is the culmination of over a year's songwriting and is a bold statement of intent from the 6 piece. Employing a charming tongue-in-cheek approach to some of the slightly darker aspects of life which young people face today, the record touches on the complications of religious pressure on "Catholic Guilt", spiraling addiction on "Who Needs a Reason?", mental health on "She’s Only Human" and the awkward beauty of young love on EP opener "Paul & Barry".
The baggy, swaggering sound of the band and the often darkly humorous nature of the lyrics, stands in stark contrast with some of the subject matter, echoing the band’s propensity for laughing in lieu of crying. In a world of such turmoil and uncertainty, ‘The Parliamo Manifesto’ aims to reconcile people with positivity through vibrant, energetic music, whilst providing a relatable commentary on the modern world and the inner workings of the minds of young people. With lyrics sometimes written and delivered in the Scottish vernacular, the record offers a somewhat unique perspective on the simultaneously charming and terrifying nature of modern life.
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James Scott (Guitar, Vocals) talks us through the story of the song… “A long time ago, at a college far, far away, I was paired up on an acting assignment with one of the popular girls. While we were alone in a rehearsal space, she asked me if I wanted her to do something to me, using a phrase I didn’t understand at the time, because I was naive and innocent. I assumed it would involve some kind of physical pain or humiliation - like a wedgie! - so I said no.
I realise now of course, that she was propositioning me. Given that context, I also realise that she said something else that alluded to a very troubled home life. Knowing what I know now, while I still wouldn’t have taken her up on her offer (she was high, as usual), I wish I’d recognised the cry for help underneath it all. I don’t know what happened to her. I can’t find her on social media. Mutual friends
have lost touch with her.
I may be inventing a reality that never came to pass, and she might be perfectly fine; but this song captures the panic I felt when the memory of unwittingly rejecting her advances suddenly came back to me, which haunts me to this day.”
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Following on from the enormous response to their breakthrough singles ‘Heaven’s Son’, ‘Power’ and ‘Hope’ last year, as well as their stripped-back collection ‘Isolation Tapes’ in early 2021, Essex-based outfit Black Pines are back once again to deliver their bluesy new release ‘Chains’.
Channeling a bold and atmospheric direction this time around, ‘Chains’ sees the five-piece return in stellar form. With its bold and soaring textures, shimmering hooks, and bouncing aesthetic, they are truly breaking out of their comfort zone on this blistering new effort.
Speaking about the new offering, they said, “This was the first track we created after our debut 3 singles. It marks a somewhat noticeable creative swerve, and a change of attitude when it comes to our songwriting - likely motivated by our Covid-induced isolation. It’s more fun and less forgiving, and pushes Tom’s vocals to new heights.
“Sonically, ‘Chains’ was born from a love of what Nothing But Thieves and Royal Blood had created recently, as well as paying homage to the pitch bending, tone destroying guitars of past players like Tom Morello or Prince!”
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