Jesse D’Kora - The Starlings - Dunlap & Mabe - Datura
Background from Jesse: My name is Jesse D’Kora and I write dream pop music with some beachy vibes. The style is inherently lofi as I also write, record, mix and master all of the music in my spare bedroom in Salford (UK). I have embarked on a musical journey this year whereby I am going to release a single every month, then with thoughts of an album in May 2023.
Fourth Day of November, the first song in this journey, is written about the anticipation of moving from one place to another. It conveys the blend of nervousness and excitement that inevitably comes with a new beginning. The connotations that align with my fresh start on the road to an album seemed to fit perfectly.
Musically, it's a revert back to the style created previously in Morning Light and Far From Home. After a short musical detour at the end of last year, I want to get back to writing songs that make you feel warm and nostalgic.
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The Starlings today have released their new single ‘Just Come Home’. This is the first single of their upcoming album which will be released in May 2022. The Starlings, better known as Tom Dice en Kato Callebaut, are two singer-songwriters who join forces and share their passion for music and for each other. After they where both solo-candidates for X-Factor and Idols, The Starlings were part of ‘Liefde voor Muziek’, a very popular TV show in Belgium (and the Netherlands). This did not go unnoticed, as they achieved several gold records for the songs used in the TV program. With the release of ‘Just Come Home’ Tom and Kato are now ready to release their new album. On February 13 the will present their new music in the Lotto Arena in Antwerp.
Tom and Kato explain about their new single: ‘'Just Come Home' is about being honest without any filters. Admitting that life and relationships can be hard. But looking forward to the moment you come back to yourself, home. Getting up after you've fallen, trying to break through the wall of negativity. The future holds no promises, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't keep going, let alone fear what's to come. People are strong.”
They stand for rootsy pop music with a great love for harmonies. Music lovers could witness this for the first time in a Belgian tv show called “Liefde Voor Muziek”, in which they performed enchanting versions and brought tears of emotion to many living rooms. The reactions from existing and new fans were simply overwhelming. They received golden awards for single 'Little Submarine' and debut album "Don't Look Back”. Since then, they are among the most talented musicians in Belgium.
For their second album, Dice and Callebaut flew to Norway where Tom wanted to share his love for the country with Kato. It worked. The record has a great positivity and a sound that can only be linked to The Starlings. The music and band pull you like no other into their own world and you will regret having to leave after listening to it . Fortunately, there is such a thing as a repeat button.
First single “Just Come Home” is a recognizable Starlings sound. The song makes it hard not to get emotional. A confirmation of how we got to know them. A lovely melancholy.
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Dunlap & Mabe - Sit and Watch It Rain.
Jack Dunlap, "Sit and Watch it Rain is a classic heartbreak song. A man tore down by losing his love, he can only find peace and satisfaction when it’s raining. I also use rain as a metaphor for drinking, so this is also a song about how loneliness and desperation can lead to unhealthy habits and addiction."
The video was filmed by Jack Dunlap and Robert Mabe. It was filmed at an abandoned farmhouse at Capon Crossing Farm in Hampshire County, WV. Jack Dunlap, Robert Mabe, Alex Kimble, and Mason Wright appear in the video. Valerie Smith from Bell Buckle Records edited the footage.
Jack Dunlap & Robert Mabe have been touring the country together since 2019; though collectively have performed and recorded with the likes of Larry Keel, Gina Furtado, Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike, Scythian, Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley, Bud’s Collective, The Fly Birds, Dry Mill Road, Old Town Flood, Shannon Bielski & Moonlight Drive, Tim, and Savannah Finch and The Eastman Stringband, Lonesome Highway, Circa Blue, and Jakobs Ferry Stragglers, to name a few.
They have also graced prestigious stages such as The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Carnegie Hall in New York City, Lied Center for Performing Arts in Lincoln, Nebraska, The Hamilton in Washington, DC, and Forbes Center for the Performing Arts in Harrisonburg, VA. Both masters of their instruments, they play a mix of original tunes, classic bluegrass numbers, jazz favorites and covers anyone would recognize. With roots planted firmly in bluegrass, they stretch their sound in ways that all audiences will enjoy and leave the performance wanting more.
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| Photo - Jana Divis |
Datura - Phantasma.
Pacific Northwest post-punk trio, DATURA, expand on the tense, synth-heavy sound their first two EPs with their new full-length, Arcano Chemical, which sees release on Sell The Heart Records on January 27, 2022.
Recorded in their hometown of Wenatchee, Washington, and mastered by Seattle-based recording engineer and musician TAD Doyle, the album highlights the band’s range of emotion and stylistic variety, which White Light // White Heat calls, "goth-tinged, compelling, energetic and melodic dark post-punk influenced by '80s greats like The Cure, The Misfits, Echo and the Bunnymen, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Chameleons.“
After finding their show calendar eradicated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the band locked down during the winter of 2020 to craft a pensive collection of songs that tells stories of ghosts, nightmares, isolation, love and death.
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