Citrus Country is Milo McNulty, the acclaimed talent behind previous projects Morning Smoke and Method Actress. Returning under a fresh name, the London-based artist is set to release a new track ‘This Heat’.
When Milo’s writing style began to move beyond Morning Smoke’s ‘wall of noise’, he decided he needed a clean split from the group. With a penchant for experimenting with his artistry, Milo moved to London to launch Citrus Country and work on a new set of songs with Chris Zane (Passion Pit, The Walkmen) at Strongroom Studios in Shoreditch.
This Heat is the first of three singles - a unique dreamy song that layers complex electronic production with washy guitars and pensive tones. Carrying influence from Milo’s noisy post-punk days, some fuzzy guitars find their way in and there is still a great energy to the otherwise calm track. On top of it all perch Milo’s poetic lyrics that ruminate on
With previous acclaim from The Guardian, Clash, DIY, The Line Of Best Fit and BBC Radio, and experience playing some of the UK’s high-profiled shows, including The Great Escape, Citrus Country is set to make a name once again for himself as one of the most exciting new acts in London.
Speaking about the track, Milo said “This Heat was written during a period of my life where I found myself questioning my identity and purpose . The song aims to express feelings of despondency and loss however it was important to me that although the song sounded melancholy there was a sense of beauty and joy beneath it.”
Moonshine tell us their story, they also produce some wonderful music: "We are Moonshine, an indie-folk-pop band currently based in Israel. Our music is characterized by a combination of both acoustic and electric sounds along with thought-out lyrics and two voices trying to tell a story.
It all started in a rehearsal room at the well known “Rimon school of music”. With an old songbook that had piled up dust, we slowly found ourselves performing every week.
The band was formed by the end of 2018 by the band's lead singers Coral Oulu and Oshri Bitton and together with the other members of the band (Omer Yihye, Amit Mintz and David Frider) we released our debut E.P "Come back home”.
The E.P entered some international playlists on Spotify, the editors' choice at KAN 88 and a successful Netflix series in Sweden (Älska mig).
In the past year, between quarantines, we continued to create and finish our debut album, which was mostly funded by the "Headstart"crowdfunding project and in which we raised 50,000 NIS".
Taking cues from 60s and 70s musical influences such as John Prine, Leonard Cohen, Warren Zevon, Todd Snider, Willie Nelson, and even Prince, Toledo native Ben Stalets addresses the thorns in his side on new record, Everybody’s Laughing, both personal and worldly.
The songs were not written with an overarching theme in mind, but when it came time for the album art concept, it was the “cult leader” vibe that gave him a sense of what the underlying vision is: Collective suffering allows us to collectively suffer less.
The album is a reference to a quote from Mark Twain’s social commentary book, Following the Equator: “The secret source of humor itself is not joy but sorrow. There is no humor in heaven.”
“The way I look at it,” says Stalets, “everybody is laughing, which means everyone is suffering— we’re all in this together.”
Singer/songwriter Sadie Campbell has released her new EP Darkroom. Campbell wrote Darkroom about her own mental health struggle in 2020, when isolation and uncertainty gave way to despair and, eventually, healing. On three gripping songs, the Canadian-born, Nashville-based artist tracks the mind’s disorienting descent into depression. “2020 for me felt like a darkroom," says Campbell, "It was a lot of isolation and alone time, but it was a place of creativity and development."
Last month, Campbell shared the EP’s effervescent opening track “Fade,” co-written by Vinnie Paolizzi. As Campbell explains, "’Fade’ is about finding comfort in the darkness. Being able to sit in the low points of life because you know they will eventually pass."
Holler.Country recently named Campbell New Artist of The Week saying, “Country-folk is built on the beauty of lyricism, but sometimes a particular musical interlude ends up saying far more than any one verse can. That's the case with singer/songwriter Sadie Campbell's single 'Fade.’ Across a slow, and increasingly intense, opening build of electric guitar, synths and vocals, Campbell captures the difficulty of breaking out of a darker moment.”
The Tennessee Star also spotlighted Campbell recently, raving that the “singer-songwriter has a strong sense of self, and the music that pours out of her is meaningful, purposeful, and it will draw you in like a moth to a flame.”
Campbell grew up in Pritchard, BC, a town so small she says it consists of just one general store. There, she sang in the church choir before taking off for the open-mic scene in Vancouver, ultimately dropping everything to try her luck in Music City, USA. Years of couch-surfing turned to a home in Nashville where Campbell found full-time work performing in the city’s bustling honky-tonks. No stranger to odd-jobs, she has worked as a mail carrier and karaoke host, and has serviced airplanes and flagged logging roads on ATVS in Canada.
Rebecca McCartney returns to the city where she was raised by a family of musicians and nerds, now with her own sound and much to say. She grew up immersed in NYC’s classical music world and her early songwriting eventually led to the release of an indie-folk record under the duo name Garden Party (2020) with her close friend, Jakob Leventhal.
Now, after a college career studying jazz and playing in an R&B band, McCartney is preparing to release her genre-bending debut EP, How You Feel. Calling on her eclectic musical influences and experiences, the upcoming record generates an edgy, ethereal sound that celebrates McCartney’s buttery vocals and absorbing lyrical insights.
Here's what she had to say about it: "I wrote this song in my college house in Minnesota, thinking about the boy I had just left behind in New York, where I'm from. You can hear me working through the day-by-day loss of the tactile feeling of our time together as his memory got farther away, even as I was trying to convince myself I didn't care.
It's a moody fusion of R&B, indie rock, and wondering whether someone's moving on faster than you. I worked with my close friend and collaborator, Jakob Leventhal, who produced the whole EP that Remember Less is on".
With its Telecaster leads, acoustic strums, mid-tempo waltzes and tales of outlaw women and lost love, one might naturally assume Time Stands Still, the new album from Mikaela Finne, is a product of Nashville, TN.
Truth be told, Finne was born and spent her childhood on the coast of Finland in Vaasa, and now hails from Stockholm, Sweden, where the album was recorded with producer Brady Blade (Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle and the Dukes, Jewel, Indigo Girls, Buddy & Julie Miller). Somewhat fitting for an album that’s laden with contrasts, Finne actually found as much inspiration in heavy metal as she did the country genre during her youth, the rebellious spirit she found in both prompting her to pursue her musical passion.
Like her contemporaries Sarah Shook and Lydia Loveless, Finne’s emotive vibrato is its own instrument, adding an undeniable passion to her songs and making lines like “I’ve lost count, how many times you’ve broken my heart“ even more impactful. “The country music comes from my dad,” she explains, recalling his love for Dolly Parton and Creedence. “The word ‘outlaw’, for me, [means] you do something that you love regardless of what anybody else thinks about what you’re doing. … When I was a teenager, the music and the heavy metal that I listened to were totally outlaw.”
While topics like self-awareness and confidence are certainly not new terrain for a songwriter to excavate, Finne puts her own spin on them, with lead-off track “What If I” revealing a realization that sometimes self-confidence means admitting a sense of uncertainty and taking a step back to think things through if another’s intentions don’t seem to be pure. Set to a swinging rhythm section and tasty guitar riffs, and wrapping up with a nice classic country modulation that exudes swagger and confidence, the track finds Finne “second guessing … stressing … going out of [her] mind,” but make no mistake, as she also warns the listener, she can be a bit headstrong and they best get on board or get left behind.
Ben Heffernan’s third EP, drive in movies, sees the Canadian Folk Music Award nominated singer-songwriter move into new sonic and lyrical territory. drive in movies is a personal, cinematic collection of songs that chronicles key events in the life of a teenager: falling in love for the first time, losing someone for the first time, frustration with the world around you, and the speed in which one’s young life tends to change.
After spending the larger part of the second half of 2018 and the first half of 2019 playing over 150 shows across Canada, Ireland and the UK, Heffernan chose to record his by then well road-tested group of new songs at home. While “Drive In Movies” acknowledges Heffernan’s roots in what he describes as “classic singer-songwriter folk-pop”, it also reflects his love for 80s-inspired maximalist pop/rock productions and widescreen, stadium-sized ballads. The songs are neatly tied together through the use of vintage movie samples, which lends the EP a conceptual, unified feel.
Lead single “Movie Nights”, an up-tempo, 80s-inspired pop/rock track, reflects the frustration with the questions asked about a generation determined to see change as well as the “nagging feeling that we might just be living through the end of the world as we know it”, as Heffernan suggests. This is bookended by “When the Stars Collide”, a stadium-sized two-part singalong that leaves more questions unresolved than it answers. This is intentional, as Heffernan points out, as it “reflects the people that this EP is really about – most of us haven’t turned 21 yet. None of us have any kind of real resolution to our stories yet either.”
Ben Heffernan has become recognized as a young Canadian artist to watch over the last few years, after being nominated for Young Performer of the Year and performing at the Canadian Folk Music Awards after the release of his 2018 EP “Home”, and contributing a cover of Tom Petty’s “Angel Dream” to a Petty tribute compilation that included artists such as Matt Mays, Terra Lightfoot, and Royal Wood. Roots Music Canada called his Canadian Folk Music Award performance “a highlight”, while Spill Magazine called his cover of Angel Dream “incredible”. Among an ever-growing list of dive bars, bowling alleys, moving trains, and hair salons, Heffernan’s touring schedule has seen him play the Winnipeg Folk Festival, JUNOfest, and the Ruby Sessions in Dublin, Ireland (previous acts have included Ed Sheeran and Mumford & Sons), among other high-profile festivals and live appearances.
Gal Musette is the nom de plum of Grace Freeman, a musical prodigy who began writing piano based lyrical compositions and performing at open mics in her home city of San Clemente, CA at the age of 10. Her graceful approach to melody-driven indie-folk and French chansons has captured audiences all over Southern California. At age 14, inspired by The Magnetic Fields’ triple album 69 Love Songs, Gal recorded her own collection titled 70 Love Songs, which caught the attention of the band, and won her an opening slot on a few of their Midwestern U.S. tour dates.
In more recent years, Gal has opened for several renowned artists such as Macy Gray, Suzanne Vega, Todd Snyder, and Donavon Frankenreiter. While her artist name is taken from bal-musette, the accordion-based, waltz-style French instrumental music, Gal’s primary inspiration is drawn from songwriters including Joni Mitchell, Regina Spektor, Bjork, Cocteau Twins, Burt Bacharach, Irving Berlin and The Cure.
In October 2021, Gal will be releasing her debut album, Backwards Lullaby, featuring a vocal duet with one of her biggest musical inspirations, Rufus Wainwright. The upcoming album explores the pangs of hopeless romances and unrequited love, what it’s like to move beyond idealized love into the acceptance of what is real and constant, as well as the cyclical nature of life and love in relationships.
Sister duo Purple Pilgrims have released the third part of a trilogy of Super 8 films that were made with friend and fellow musician Gary War. ‘Ancestors Watching’ is taken from the band’s album Perfumed Earth which was released via Flying Nun Records in what seems like another world; pre-pandemic. Due to one thing or another the sisters were delayed in releasing the third instalment, then with the emergence of Covid-19, it was temporarily lost to the archives. This is the final piece of Purple Pilgrims’ current story left to share.
“The video is our take on an ancient ritual. We were thinking about folkloric traditions, and of course our ancestors. The song is largely about being kind to oneself, and the idea that muddling our way through life can feel less daunting when we consider all our family branching out behind us, holding wisdom and strength. It’s an idea that can offer comfort when we’re feeling lost. We had this really simple idea loosely based around a maypole dance - the ancient celebration of oncoming warmer weather and new growth. May celebrations are so optimistic, always looking forward - which felt fitting as the song itself is about a new beginning too in a way.”
this video was filmed by Gary War in the summer of 2019, freely on a hillside in Tāmaki Makaurau, with their ancestors watching on (amused we presume). Concept and art direction by Clementine and Valentine Nixon and makeup by Jessica Hunt.
As Purple Pilgrims, sisters Clementine and Valentine Nixon make music that is at once spacious and sensual, swooning and spellbound. The sisters’ intertwined voices soar and slow dive, radiating a rich spectrum of experience: journeys, homecomings, and great longing.
Soaked in the bright psychedelia of the 1960’s and dipped in the indie rock explosion of the new millennium, The Velveteins are best described as a bridge between the two. Inspired after living out of a camper van on the beaches of Australia for a year, frontman Spencer Morphy returned to Canada and started the band with co-songwriter Addison Hiller in 2014. Later joined by Dean Kheroufi and Danger Sedmak, the foursome have since made a name for themselves for their incendiary live performances.
Radiating hazy energy, “Cosmic Saturation” has a trippy, laxed aura with a structurally, pop-rock sensibility. The vintage twangs on the guitars surf over an ocean of edgy, quirky melodies and soft drums that lend to a more modern indie feel. The vocals maintain a relaxed feel allowing the subtle, psychedelic atmosphere to stand out next to charming, gritty guitar riffs.
While travelling across the USA, the band were exposed to a colorful palette of sights and sounds, with a fusion of delirium, euphoria and chaos spinning the web of inspiration for their new single. Morphy shares, “Cosmic Saturation was largely inspired by our lives at the time, being constantly travelling and the lifestyle we were living playing so many shows. Driving across the country from the east to west coast, watching the interstates fly by in the dawn.” Keeping the themes of their tracks very much in the present day, their sonic taste buds draw them back to the classic flavours of the 60s, resulting in a throwback sound reminiscent of Babe Rainbow, Foxygen and Deerhunter.
Minnesota based folk turned genre-bending Americana-Newgrass duo Maygen & The Birdwatcher, have just released "Jigsaw," the track is an "honest look at the dynamics of what family life really is.
Maygen Lacey is an accomplished, Midwest CMA nominated singer/songwriter with millions of streams on Spotify from listeners around the world. Noah Neumann is a wicked talented guitar virtuoso with a taste for Delta Blues. The combination of the two is Maygen & The Birdwatcher, an indie-folk duo turned genre-bending Americana-Newgrass and Soul experience you need to hear!
In many respects, Maygen and Noah couldn’t be more different. From upbringing and musical taste to the Minneapolis vs Saint Paul debate, there are few things these two agree on. The short list includes: sarcasm, the great outdoors, quality beer, and having a good ‘ol time. Maygen & Noah’s 2018 debut album, “The People We Don’t Choose,” drew on their distinctly different musical influences including Brandi Carlile, Florence + The Machine, and Balmorhea to create a collection of songs that explored family, addiction, loss and navigating the people in their lives. With heartbreak and hope intertwined throughout, it was very well received. Its single, “Comeback” currently spins on local radio, including The Current’s Radio Heartland
Alicia Stockman - Stay Between the Lines (feat. Mary Bragg).
Utah-based country meets Americana singer-songwriter Alicia Stockman has released her new single "Stay Between The Lines." Conceived during a long journey home on the highway from New Mexico, the song is a reflection on how we all can sometimes “dance between right and wrong and personal limits and boundaries to keep life interesting.” Featuring a twangy Americana melody, reverb-drenched guitar, and dynamic vocal harmonies, this is the perfect tune to get lost in during your summer road trip.
Alicia Stockman is a Utah-based folk-meets-Americana singer-songwriter whose music pulls back the veil to reveal everyday vulnerability. Her songs are written like intimate moments, drawing listeners into a relatable emotional journey.
At a young age, Alicia Stockman began her deep love for music, compelled by the vivid storytelling of powerhouse songwriters including Patty Griffin, Brandi Carlile and Jewel. After performing in a loud rock n’ roll band playing bars with sticky floors and belting out Stevie Wonder tunes, Alicia began writing her own music more seriously. Realizing her new songs didn’t have a place in a loud bar with a party atmosphere, she branched out and started playing more intimate venues, quickly finding her home in the folk and Americana scene. Her whisky-dipped soulful vocals and creative takes on day-to-day realities soon sparked the interest of “Nashville’s Americana Queen” Mary Bragg who began collaborating with Alicia on her new album.
Her upcoming debut 10-track full-length album is entitled These Four Walls and is a collection of "songs to make you feel and feel seen." The album says, “I see you. I've been there. I understand.” Written over a three year period, These Four Walls is a luminous roots release infused with gritty blues rock guitar licks and attention worthy melodies.
After his two singles "Mountain" and "Morning Sun", M. Byrd now releases his first EP titled Orion - four songs full of vastness and warmth, carried by the feeling of passing trees outside a backseat car window and the melancholic homesickness that sometimes goes along with. Just one year ago, the first sign of life appeared with "Mountain" and the interim summary is impressive: M. Byrd has become one of the most exciting newcomers on the European music scene, counts 3.5 million streams on just two songs, was recommended in the French Rolling Stone as well as in American blogs. This summer he plays at tastemaker festivals like Immergut, in September at the Reeperbahn Festival and next year he will support indie dance king Roosevelt on his full European tour.
Wafting reverb tails, the casually stoic drums - Byrd's music sounds like Guadagigno's "Call me by your name," at times reminiscents of Tom Petty, Sufjan Stevens or Kurt Vile, while the guitars first sound like Sonic Youth and then fade away like The War on Drugs. In the title single, "Orion" M.Byrd remembers a long-time-nameless turtle that lived with his family for years - without anyone being bothered by the fact that it has no name. In the end, it is named Orion. "It's living in the past, you held me in your hands and never called me Orion". In the accompanying video, director Constantin Timm accompanies the artist and turtle on a journey through the desert.
M.Byrd’s timeless songs shine with a feeling of strength and self-understanding that can be rarely found at the beginning of a young musician’s career - they transport the listener to the American west coast, emitting a sense of melancholic future and euphoric youth, urging them to trust their intuition and find their inner-self. “I spent many years soaking up personal and musical experiences and I’ve been learning a lot in different studios and touring situations. The music I make is thus inspired by being on the road, moving on and allowing growth to happen. I realized that the experiences on my path might also inspire other people and I hope that this will continue in the future with the songs we release.”
“Orb Weaver” is a song about comparing myself to the hidden intricacies that I might find on a walk in the woods. I attach most of my memories to what is visually around during a certain time. Sometimes there is a comfort to the natural world and other times there is a harshness. My experiences can almost mirror them. I’d like to think that nature has a way of telling us exactly what we need to hear.
Taken from the forthcoming "Solely”, the sophomore effort by folk guitarist/singer-songwriter Natalie Jane Hill, it is a record of transition. While the Central Texas native’s stunning debut “Azalea” grew from years spent developing a textural narrative voice and idiosyncratic guitar style in the vibrant Blue Ridge Mountains, “Solely” represents a period of inward growth, and an outward push into an expanded sonic palette.
Following a move back to the Austin area in the fall of 2019, just months ahead of the pandemic, Natalie began an intensive period of reflection, and expanded her song-craft’s foundations from the broader themes of nature into the vulnerable intricacies of self-discovery. Along with this process came an openness to external creative input.
Recorded between October 2020-March 2021 to Tascam 8 track in the Lockhart Texas home of producer Jason Chronis (Voxtrot, Tele Novella), these recordings represent Hill’s first incorporation of other musicians into her arrangements, featuring performances by Mat Davidson (Twain) among several other trusted friends. There is a liberating and careful grace in these collaborations, providing strength and color to the upper branches of each song while preserving space for the health of the roots.
US artist Kate Ellis Bluebirds & Rye released on Friday! This is the second single from her impressive sophomore album ‘Spirals’ due out in early 2022; a collection of songs that came out of a process of soul searching "to quiet the thought storms in my head and find my balance in the world," says Kate.
‘Bluebirds And Rye' follows the critically acclaimed and widely playlisted first single Another Way. Also produced by John Reynolds (Sinead O'Connor, Indigo Girls, Damien Dempsey), it is a sweet, poignant and uplifting folk song about a mother’s loving words of advice for her young daughter. In Kate’s words: "I wrote this for my daughter who, like me, is an emotional girl.
This is my letter to her telling her I know what she’s going through, and it can feel hard, but everything’s going to be fine in the end. The song is about recognising the patterns in myself that I can see getting passed on, and the pitfalls of certain emotional pathways that I know from experience you want to avoid. I wanted to tell her: just take a breath and find a moment of rest. All there is is love and peace, everything else is in your head. This is what's important so don’t worry about the other stuff; it’s all going to be ok."
The newest Dull Tools release is the first solo venture from Mike Etten, who you may know from his contributions to PC Worship & to Dougie Poole's recent LPs. Love Wash lands somewhere in between those two projects stylistically, it's a brooding psych-folk LP filled with unconventional arrangement touches, as demonstrated by the rubato swirl of saxophone, synth and acoustic guitar that kicks things off.
Drive was inspired by a late night trip down a country back road, touching dark memories of that ride and wrong turns made in the past. The tune starts with a simple guitar figure that unfolds and winds its way through changes, with a mix of percussion and drum machines bouncing around it. It felt like it lent itself to pedal steel, so I asked Tristan Shepherd (Dougie Poole band) to put down some tremolo-y tracks and a wild fuzzed out solo in the middle that really gave this one its character.
I improvised a lead synth track that I really like too, it has that first-take spontaneity which I tried to capture whenever I could through the whole recording process. Drive feels full of confusion and hope at the same time, with me trying to move towards a more peaceful station, a more loving vision, and accepting that chaos can always be around the next corner.
Ruth Lyon is a singer-songwriter of intense honesty and an impulse to say it how it is. Making a unique brand of ‘baroque-pop’ she bares her soul with courage and conviction - full of stark self-reflection but also a knowing nod to the absurdity of life. She returns to drop her latest single “Lemon Tree” on August 25th, in anticipation of her debut EP “Nothing’s Perfect” expected October 22nd.
In 2019 Ruth released her first single “I’d Give It All” (under the name Ruth Patterson) which received support from 6 Music, Radio X and Spotify editorial. In 2020 Ruth cemented herself as one of the North East’s most important voices, when Sage Gateshead named her Artist-in-Residence. Over the course of the year, despite being thrown into turmoil by the pandemic, Ruth released two more singles, the evocative “Sink or Swim” and “Somebody Else”, for which she received the PRS Woman Make Music award and was named as BBC Intro one to watch in 2021.
Ruth is now taking on her mother’s maiden name, Lyon, as she launches the next chapter of her career. Co-producing with Rhiannon Mair (Laura Marling, LUNA) and Cameron Craig (Amy Winehouse, Katie Melua) Ruth explores her different identities - from the louche rock star, to the bittersweet poet, looking for love and a place in the world. Classically trained but with an eye for the catchy chorus and bright, pop melodies, Ruth sweeps from self-questioning piano ballads and lush string arrangements, to hands-in-the-air indie bangers. With the raw energy of a young disabled person who has constantly had to adapt to life’s twists and turns, her introspective and sometimes droll twist on storytelling brings up questions you never knew you should be asking.
Introducing Vera Ellen’s third single ‘Crack the Whip’. Vera wrote most of this song when she came back to New Zealand from LA at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I was feeling a bit of whiplash from moving countries. I was reflecting a lot on the motions of life, the wheel of fortune and coming to accept that our efforts to control anything are charmingly futile.”
Lyrically, it's a mash up of different points of Vera feeling homesick for New Zealand; when she was missing the nature and culture and people. “I used to work at this pop up called "Wonderworld" on Hollywood Boulevard. No one would ever come in so I would just stand at the counter and look out the window wondering why the hell I came here.”
The accompanying video is made up from home video footage from Wellington Zoo in 1997, and features Vera Ellen, her brother Albert River (who features heavily on the upcoming album, and is also in Vera’s live band), and their Nana. These images are intercut with footage of familiar sights from Vera’s current LA residence; Hollywood and Santa Monica beach.
“My brother and I are very close and we have always had this way of protecting each other. The video kind of turned into a homage to our bond and the deep sadness of being apart.“
Perth, Scotland based 6-piece Parliamo (pronounced Par-Lee-Ammo) today release new single "She's Only Human", lifted from upcoming EP 'The Parliamo Manifesto', out October 7th via Modern Sky (The Coral, The Lathums, Abbie Ozard).
A bracing indie-rock jammer addressing the fragility of mental health, speaking on the release of the new single, the band said: "She’s Only Human is a testament to confusion in confusing times. It discusses the limitations that those with poor mental health can face when it comes to relationships with others and oneself, and ultimately conveys that it’s okay not to be okay."
The band's upcoming debut 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", spiralling addiction on "Who Needs a Reason?", mental health on new single "She’s Only Human" and the awkward beauty of young love on lead single "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, with ‘The Parliamo Manifesto’ the band are aiming 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.
Written and delivered in the Scottish vernacular, the record offers a somewhat unique perspective on the simultaneously charming and terrifying nature of modern life.
Peckham, London based quintet Black Bordello have released their new single "Nunhead". An uncompromising 5 minute art-rock attack of the senses, the track examines the gentrification of Peckham, its new generation of disrespecting residents and the inevitable fate of us all.
The release of "Nunhead" coincides with the announcement of the band's signing to Hideous Mink Records (Opus Kink, Fake Turins, Body Horror) and arrives alongside an accompanying video for the track, shot in Nunhead cemetery and directed by Will Reid (recently working with the likes of Malady, Slowthai, LEGSS and Lauren Auder).
Comprised of singer and guitarist Sienna Bordello, Eddie Amos (drums/percussion), Anthony Boatright (bass), Rachel Asafo-Agyei (backing vocals) and Henry Carpenter (keys), Black Bordello are widely regarded as one of the most unique and exciting live acts in London right now.
Pulling together the shapeshifting creativity and theatrics of PJ Harvey, the jazz-flecked tones of Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith with the emotional intensity of Patti Smith, Black Bordello are a force to be reckoned with and "Nunhead" is a momentous statement of intent from the 5-piece.
Speaking on the track, the band said: "'Nunhead' was written during the plague, at a time when people were confined to their houses. Sienna would visit Nunhead cemetery frequently as a place of refuge and to see the graves of her family members. There she was met face to face by the ills of gentrification. The place that always held profound, peaceful contemplation and wisdom buried deep within its grounds was now ruined by over-privileged pleasure makers who had no real connection to the area or its history. Sienna and the band felt this reflected the overarching psychopathy in our times."
Last month Sylvie announced their self-titled debut EP on Terrible Records, and shared its epononymous title track. The song is a cover of a song from an obscure 1970s record by Ian Matthews called Later That Same Year, and a track that serves as a partial inspiration for the band's existence. Before they adopted it as a name, the band (which is led by some time Drugdealer & Golden Daze member Benjamin Schwab and features Marina Allen and Sam Burton) started using the term "a Sylvie" to refer to "a song from the past that’s incredible but for whatever reason, is basically unknown," and the group's sound is a sort of homage to lost gems like Matthew's songs, and the recordings of Mad Anthony, the Southern California group that Benjamin's father John Schwab played in during the '70s.
Now the band are sharing a new single from the EP and their first original composition, a track entitled "Falls on me" that features lead vocals from Allen, whose well-regarded solo debut Candlepower, came out on Fire Records earlier this year.
A gorgeously rendered song that feels as though it could have been airlifted directly out of Laurel Canyon, the track is anchored by a powerful and strikingly nuanced performance from Allen, but was written by Schwab who identifies it as the most personal song on Sylvie's debut.
"A lot of the songs on the EP feel like they're about other people's lives, my experience with them, or a time and place in the past, but this is the one off the EP that is directly about my life and my growth," Schwab explains. "When I was writing 'Falls on me', I was sorting through all these emotions that had built up over the past 5-10 years. Through rel-tionships ending, bridges burning, or whatever it was, I found myself at a place where I felt very distant from the source.
Repeating similar patterns, being heartbroken over someone over and over again or whatever it was. I found myself really lost to the point where there was really no other place to go but home. The first half of the song explores this feeling, and then 3/4 of the way through the character meets a friend who reminds them of themselves. There is this person who reminds them just enough of who they are so that they can see themselves again or what it would be like to return home, back to the source, to yourself. This song to me is about deliverance and a returning home that took me many years to arrive at. Itʼs sung by Marina Allen, who realy did such an amazing job delivering the sentiment."
Brooklyn’s Gustaf are sharing "Best Behavior", the follow up to the NPR-approved "Book" and second offering from the debut album Audio Drag For Ego Slobs, out October 1st on Royal Mountain Records. A frenetic and suitably buzzing from one of New York’s “hardest working…and most reliably fun bands” (BrooklynVegan), it comes ahead of an extensive of touring throughout the US, UK and Europe that sees them sharing the stage with IDLES, Pillow Queens, and Osees.
Vocalist Lydia Gammill explains, "“Best Behavior” was fun to record because it was one of the first songs we finished/crafted in the studio rather than onstage. It started out as a demo we had in the early days of the band but never ended up playing live. It sat forgotten until we began planning the record and came together pretty effortlessly in the studio." She continues, "Unlike the bulk of the album that we developed over the course of many live shows, it was exciting to be making decisions and constructing the final song as it was happening. It also helped us get our footing and identify how we wanted to steer and produce the remaining recordings."
"The song’s ethos is a bit of the old and the new attitude for Gustaf. Our narrator, the ‘ego slob’, is bargaining with itself, scrounging for self compassion and self assurance despite a pile of hurt feelings in its wake. In demanding spoils despite having done nothing to earn them, we see the initial cracks in a brutish facade— our antihero slowly realizing maybe the shell they built for themselves was not built for the world."
Last month, UK multi-instrumentalist and story-teller Mara Simpson announced her new album In This Place will be released on September 24th. A heady blend of alt-folk, analogue synth and classical composition, In This Place is a tale of quiet rebellion and taking back control. Today, she shares new single 'Serena'. The track, named after the apartment building in Brighton where Mara’s daughter was born, is based on the experience of becoming a mother and the responsibility of making important healthcare decisions. “How will I know how to love you” she sings over undulating synths and sparse piano chords.
Whilst the struggles of 2020 will go down in history, for Mara it was 2019 that was the tough one. A year spent consumed by worry, whilst in and out of hospital with her one year old daughter, had left Mara feeling like she was playing a constant game of catch up with a world that wouldn’t slow down. With songs ready to be recorded for her new album, she headed into the studio to record with her producer.
“I stepped into the studio not needing my hand held, just my voice heard” explains Mara, who quickly came to the realisation that she was working in a toxic environment with a producer whose moods everyone had started to dread. “Ironically, at the end of a year spent managing my daughter’s breathing issues, I had an asthma attack induced by the studio’s hypoallergenic cat,” she laughs. “Enough was enough.”
It was whilst waiting for a train that she had the sudden realisation that the album she was recording would never see the light of day. Struck by an overwhelming feeling of failure, Mara began to ruminate on the time and money she had wasted but then something clicked. “Perhaps it’s something about train stations, the coming and the goings, that allows a stagnating frame of mind the grace and space to clear,” she says. “The funny thing is, upon realising failure, the despair I’d been feeling was now replaced with something else...Relief”.
The Limiñanas & Laurent Garnier - Promenade oblique.
French psych-rock royalty The Limiñanas and iconic French DJ Laurent Garnier will release their collaborative album 'De Película' on 10th September through Because Music. Following first singles 'Saul' and 'Que Calor', they have today shared the new track 'Promenade Oblique'. The first instrumental single from one of the most anticipated French albums of 2021, 'Promenade Oblique' embraces all of the album's influences, creating a psychedelic momentum reminiscent of the best of Krautrock.
This is the story of a friendship that started via a ringtone and is set to make waves through a one-of-a-kind project. Back in 2017, Lionel and Marie Limiñana, the couple/duo better known as The Limiñanas, were invited by Laurent Garnier to perform at the Yeah Festival. The sound of Lionel’s ringtone, the signature riff from The Kingsmen’s ‘Louie Louie’, caught Laurent’s attention and so started a new adventure for the Perpignan natives and the Parisian artist, now settled in the Provence. Four years on and the psychedelic garage duo and French techno pioneer DJ/producer have created ‘De Película’, a record that feels like a walk on the wild side and one straight out of a film noir.
It’s an album that tells a story, a heated road trip following Juliette and Saul, two teenage rascals straight out of a ‘60s classic movie - think ‘Breathless’ meets ‘Wild at Heart’. The location is the southern border with Spain, stifled by heat and cheap liquor. ‘De Película’ is a true concept album that’s not afraid to stray and run free, or rather “an Italian anthology film” as Lionel Limiñana puts it, a great mumbo jumbo where it takes two, humour and melancholy, to tango. Picture squalid brothels, third-rate dance clubs, ‘60s vintage caravans, smack, Roger Harth and Donald Cardwell productions, distortion and fuzz-pedal sound effects. Gilles Deleuze, Professor X and the preacher from ‘The Night of the Hunter’ are some of the characters that inhabit the world of this drama-inspired record.
Skidders (aka Steve Skidmore) is back with a brand new single taken from the forthcoming studio album Friends & Family Vol.2.
I wrote the song for my wife to appear on volume 2, but rather than wait until it's release, I wanted to publish it earlier, hence the single! But as a love song, and with my vocals, I really could not to it justice - hence the addition of Andrew James' incredible vocals. Together with the bass, mixing and mastering of the amazing Paul Hogg, although a simple song, it is one I am most proud of. I thank Andrew & Paul from the bottom of my heart and I really hope you will like it as much as I do.
Andrew James: Andrew is well know in the Cotswold area of England, and kept everyone sane during the COVID pandemic with his "Stay Sane Sessions" performed live on Facebook and YouTube throughout shutdowns. I was honoured to record guitar for some songs of his songs and Andrew reciprocated with some fab keyboards on Bukechi videos. Check out our cover of Bonnie Raitt's beautiful song I can't make you love me that Andrew lit up with his piano.
Paul Hogg: Paul is an amazing musician, producer, sound engineer and most of all, a lovely friend. Not only these virtues, but he also composes and publishes several genres of music under his name and also that of 'The Ox', the latter being amazing electronica and downtempo music.
In classic punk-fashion, but also in normal-human, I-have-no-idea-what-the-future-holds-because-it's-a-pandemic fashion, Weak Signal, led by one of New York's most sought-after guitarists Mike Bones, dropped their new album Bianca on Bandcamp out of nowhere in May of 2020 (it's since been taken down). Although it was unmastered and flew mostly under the radar, it was reviewed by a few spots, and Iggy Pop graciously featured the track "Drugs In My System" on his BBC radio show.
Now, thanks to Colonel Records, Bianca is seeing a proper digital and vinyl release on October 15th, and the band is celebrating today's announcement with the single "Barely A Trace," which comes paired with a new music video directed and edited by the band's drummer Tran. Additional exciting news includes a release show at Brooklyn venue Union Pool on October 8th, followed by a two-week run opening for beloved psych-rockers Garcia Peoples.
"Barely A Trace is about feeling lingering presences around you, swirling confusion from sudden disappearances, like when you discover someone found your stash spot," says Mike Bones. "Our drummer Tran made the video during the early days of the COVID lockdown in Vietnam, Spring 2020. The song and video are our attempts to affect an approximation of the perfect loneliness and separation present in the work of writers like Marguerite Duras or David Markson."
The Felice Brothers have released “To-Do List,” the final pre-release single from their forthcoming album From Dreams To Dust out on September 17, 2021 via Yep Roc Records. The band also announced that Al Olender and Nik Freitas will support their national tour which kicks off on September 15 at Space Ballroom in Hamden, CT and will make stops in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and many more. Tickets are on sale now. Find a full list of tour at TheFeliceBrothers.com.
“This song is about taking something so deprived of poetic value like a To-Do list and making it work as a lyric,” explains Ian Felice. “The take we chose was the first time we had ever played the song. It had a very loose and playful quality that we liked. We had just learned the chord progression like five minutes before playing it. We listened back to more takes but this one had the best feeling.”
Recently, the band released self-directed music videos for “Jazz On The Autobahn,” a stop motion video hand painted and constructed by Ian Felice that took over a month to complete, and “Silverfish,” which compiled found footage and micro insect video shot by James Felice himself.
Acoustic Syndicate - Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground.
When a legacy group like Acoustic Syndicate returns to the studio for the first time in years, it’s almost guaranteed that the result will be a diverse collection of songs that have been waiting for their chance to be recorded — and then devoured by long time fans. Sure enough, the Western North Carolina group's first three singles of the year ranged across a good portion of their musical spectrum, from the signature sound and thoughtful original writing of “Sunny” to the joyously danceable Grateful Dead cover, “Bertha,” to the irresistible blend of social critique and smooth groove embodied in the most recent, “Simple Dream.”
Now the group, known for its uninhibited jamming and instrumental pyrotechnics, reveals yet another facet of its musical personality with a subtle, almost subdued yet deeply soulful version of the anthemic Willie Nelson ballad, “Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground.” Blending the country accents of acoustic guitar with hushed organ tones that nod to rhythm and blues, the group — lead singer and guitarist Steve “Big Daddy” McMurry, brothers Bryon (guitar) and Fitz (drums) McMurry, bassist Jay Sanders and guest vocalist Aaron “Woody” Wood — offers an interpretation that honors and acknowledges Nelson’s original (check out the Willie-esque start and end to the guitar solo at the track’s center) yet places an unmistakable Acoustic Syndicate stamp on the effort.
“I have always been, and will always be a devoted and loyal follower and fan of Willie Nelson,” confesses Steve McMurry. “We got to meet Willie and hang out with him some when we played Farm Aid way back in 2001. He was so humble, gracious and just a true gentleman in every regard and made us feel so welcome and a full on part of the event.
“I first heard ‘Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground’ in the 1981 movie, Honeysuckle Rose,” McMurry recalls. “I was at home by myself while my parents were away for the weekend. We had HBO, which my parents were NOT so much in love with, for reasons of uncensored and unbridled exposure to the real world. But anyway... I do remember, clearly... chills and goosebumps when the second verse came around. I loved it immediately, and have ever since. I was just sixteen years old, and only beginning to explore my own musicianship and learning to play guitar. As a full-on wanna-be member of the new Outlaw Movement, I was already a fan of Willie, but something about ‘Angel’ hit me hard.
With Laurel Canyon folk vibes that mix and mingle with a Nora Jones-esque, jazz-influenced delivery and production, Lindsay Jarman’s music exudes a depth and maturity far beyond what one might be inclined to expect from a debut full-length album. But to hear her tell it, the songs are less creative endeavors and more a means of healing; of processing life’s painful moments and putting them out into the universe, enabling her to view them much like one admires the paintings on a gallery wall.
“There were extremely painful moments of my life that I was able to get some catharsis for through writing certain songs on this record … they definitely added to who I’ve become as a person,” Jarman says. “Patience is passion tamed, and the rapture that prevails the willful processing of trauma holds healing and gratification in its palm. This record offered that hand to me, and I took it. I found shelter there.”
The songwriter spent time in New York, writing jingles for a score house, before relocating to Georgia and enrolling in UGA, completing her studies in Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management several years ago. While she attributes much of her musical background to her father, she also nods to the value in self-discovery and individuality, enlisting the help of friends in the Atlanta music scene and connecting with producer/engineer Damon Moon to create The Gallery.
“I reached out to Damon, we went and had coffee, and it was an immediate connection,“ Jarman says of Moon. “The emotion and care he showed the music was something I had never had.”
This harmonious relationship is evident in the stellar production of the album’s 10 tracks, which explore themes of self-identity, generational trauma, and lessons in love and loss, all set to a light, comfortable pace and instrumentation so superbly executed that it’s easy to get lost in the textures and overlook the somewhat heavy topic matter.
The Vancouver, B.C.-based songwriter, Ashley Shadow has shared her new single, "Grey" which follows on the heels of the MOJO-tipped "For Love" and the Stereogum and Brooklyn Vegan-approved "Don't Slow Me Down" (feat. Bonnie "Prince" Billy). "Grey" arrives as another installment of Shadow's forthcoming second album, Only the End which comes mixed by Joshua Wells (Destroyer, Lightning Dust, ex-Black Mountain) and is set for release via Felte on September 24, 2021 (CD/Digital) & October 29, 2021 (Vinyl). The new release follows her eponymous self-titled debut which found critical acclaim at Stereogum, The A.V. Club, KEXP, Brooklyn Vegan, FLOOD, Under the Radar, and more.
Ashley Shadow describes the new single as "a gentle moment of existential dread", a notion mirrored in the track's lyrics as she sings, “Grey took over the sky/far too much to think about, don’t try.” However, any temptation to wallow is countered by Colin Cowan’s (Elastic Stars) buoyant French-pop bassline and a dancing pedal steel played by Paul Rigby (Neko Case). The song mirrors some of the moody introspection synonymous with the Pacific Northwest but while this new single explores fairly solemn ideas, it balances these with music that brings with it a palpable sense of hope. Ashley's chilling vocal performance simmers alongside gently picked electric guitar and Rigby's swooning pedal steel.
While the songs on Only the End were conceived in contemplative solitude, Ashley invited some very capable collaborators into the studio to assist with the process of recording; alongside the aforementioned Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Shadow invited Paul Rigby (Neko Case), Joshua Wells (Black Mountain, Lightning Dust), Colin Cowan (Elastic Stars) and Ryan Beattie (Himalayan Bear). Ashley, the twin sister of Amber Webber (of Lightning Dust, co-founder of Black Mountain), has previously contributed vocals to Bonnie "Prince" Billy's album, Lie Down in the Light, Pink Mountaintop's Outside Love, The Cave Singers' Welcome Joy and more.
Yesterday Aidan & the Wild will released his new single 'The Whip'. Teaming up with Merel Sophie, Aidan & the Wild's latest single explores the crossover fields between americana and soul and sleezes the listener into taking it easy.
This song originated when Diederik spoke with Otto Wichers (Lucky Fonz III) about the industry's constant pressure to perform and achieve, to which Otto jokingly said that we've all become musicians so we wouldn't have to slave away for a boss, so why would you whip yourself in the same way? These words stuck in Diederik's head on the way home, and sparked the inspiration for the hook of the song.
At the age of eight, Eindhoven native Diederik van den Brandt became fascinated by the guitar and that love has only continued to grow ever since. Under the alias Aidan & the Wild, the songwriter and multi-instrumentalist tells his musical story. Where his ‘open-tuning’ guitar playing can be traced back to influences such as Ben Howard and the Tallest Man On Earth, he just as often casts his gaze towards Nashville. Armed with a bag full of guitar techniques and an honest voice, he brings a timeless mixture of folk and americana, which carries an unique freshness.
Over the years, his passion for the guitar has branched out to a wider range of instruments, including the pedal steel guitar, banjo and mandolin. Meanwhile, he can be found almost as often as a ‘side-man’ with fellow songwriters. He takes this experience into the studio, as can be heard on Aidan & the Wild's debut album ‘Revelation Never Came’.
Ian Jones’ new six-song EP Evergreens, set for release October 22, 2021, is a seamless collection previewing a forthcoming as-yet-untitled full-length. Spin the title-track lead single to hear a rapidly rising songwriter exponentially evolving. “‘Evergreens’ was written in a garage in Southern California after I had moved from Seattle to chase my music dream,” Jones says. “It all came to a head one day when I just really missed my friends. I had been messing around with the Open D guitar tuning and this song came out. ‘Evergreens’ is for those who have had the guts to leave their hometown and explore the world. We all miss friends and the comfort of our surroundings.”
The poignant single has only doubled down on power and punch as we see light possibly slicing through the COVID-19 pandemic darkness. “We worked tirelessly on my last record (Results Not Typical),” Jones says. “We had the album ready for release, booked subsequent tours and support and were immediately shut down like everyone else due to the COVID pandemic. Of course, that doesn’t mean the rest of the world stopped just because the touring stopped. So, we had to find a way to continue making records so we could complete the follow-up album in a relatively timely manner. Luckily, we had done a good, long session in January before the shutdown and we had started tracking demos in Seattle and sending them to our producer Jesse Siebenberg in Ojai. We have decided to release this EP as a representation of the full-length as we wait out the uncertainties as far as the rate the world will open up again.”
The result produced a timely song-cycle fortified by timeless tunes such as “Liars, Criminals, Beggars and Thieves.” “This song is straight up about politics and politicians,” Jones says. “Not one side or another — across the board. I know a few people who have gone into politics and it changed them. Seems like a pretty nasty career choice. I’m sure there are a few honest ones, but they sure seem to hide. This song came into existence a while ago and every time I would hear something about politics or politicians screwing someone —or everyone, for that matter — I would sit down and jot down a line or two. I knew I had to finish it by the time we were halfway through 2019 and headed for the election with the fighting between both sides being so bad.”
