Pinegrove - Liam Davis - Alice SK - Carmody
As they prepare for the release of their new album 11:11 this Friday, New Jersey-based group Pinegrove have shared today a new video for the mini-epic lead track "Habitat." A robust, textural masterpiece, "Habitat' was inspired by long drives around upstate New York with dilapidated houses covered in plantlife spotting the landscape along the way."
Of the song, singer/guitarist Evan Stephens Hall stated, "'Habitat' collages imagery from across the 2020's - monuments to the past torn down, vandalized, and thrown to the waves, making much needed room for new symbols to ornament our world with."
Pinegrove have also announced a full band live performance will take place this Friday, January 28th to celebrate the release of 11:11. The livestream will begin at 8pm EST and will be available for 24 hours. Tickets can be purchased on their website at www.pinegroveband.com.
Hall is big on multiple meanings. The leader of Pinegrove titled their sixth album 11:11 because of its layered significance: the numerals gesturing to a row of trees, or striped corduroy; the cornfields of upstate New York, or people shoulder-to-shoulder. But it’s also a special time, a “wink from the universe,” as Hall says, for those who witness it on the clock to wish for something brighter. “Calling the record 11:11 should be a heartening statement, though there's certainly a range of emotion across the album. There's much to be angry about right now, and a lot of grief to metabolize. But hopefully, the loudest notes are of unity, collectivity, and community. I want to open a space for people to feel all these things.”
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| Photo - Adrian Lewis |
As a native New Yorker, Liam Davis grew up influenced by an array of music. While his father’s love of classic rock engraved the iconic soundprints of The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd into him as a child, his studies of classical percussion (such as Bach’s ‘Violin Concerto in A minor’ for marimba) and jazz (Max Roach’s ‘Max’s Mode’) would shape him into a well-rounded musician as he aged.
Picking up piano at the age of eight and guitar at fifteen only deepened Davis’s musical character and gave him the ability to put whatever he hears in his head into a real space. Influenced by many of the greats (Elton John, Billy Joel, Paul McCartney) as well as more modern acts (John Mayer, Nothing But Thieves, Billie Eilish), Liam has developed a broad writing style that blends numerous genres.
Liam’s career began with the release of his single ‘In My Dreams’ (2020), a contemporary folk ballad about a past relationship that took a downfall due to personal issues. While the release of this song was a huge accomplishment for him, he’s deeply motivated to expand his sound and has been working on a plethora of new songs that will be released in the coming years.
Here's what he had to say about it: "I started writing 'Make Me Cry' when I was still in college. My girlfriend at the time had hurt me really badly, and I channelled that hurt into my songwriting". He continues, "While it's only my second release, it feels like so much more; I focused in on honing my sound, and was able to take influence from the traditional styles I was raised on while still creating something entirely new, unique, and true to my voice as an artist".
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London artist Alice SK's new single “Run Away” is a striking vintage-noir track about being trapped in our minds and how this can lead to us being our own worst enemy. Alice’s haunting, soulful voice sounds classic yet modern through the influence of cultural icons, such as Ella Fitzgerald & Joni Mitchell, and present-day acts, like The Strokes, to create something fresh.
The single comes from Alice SK’s forthcoming debut EP “Electric”, produced by Muca (Los Bitchos, L.A. Salami). “Run Away” is the fourth track to be unveiled from the EP, following the release of Muca’s single “Until We Meet Again” and Alice’s tracks “Another Girl's Man” and “Hidden Paradise”. Alongside Brazilian bossa nova legend Roberto Menescal, Alice featured on “Until We Meet Again” which caused a stir during the summer and the track will also be released as part of the EP package.
Written in lockdown, when we all had a lot of time to reflect on life, relationships, and our own thoughts, “Run Away” captures the moment at when we start to overthink and analyse and start on a self-destruction landslide without realising that it’s happening. The track’s production has an organic feel and an unsettling intrigue with a vinyl crackling backdrop and dark enveloping moods that build to great effect. Portishead vibes are blended with the uniqueness of Alice’s deep and low vocal tones as the track grows out of control.
The video for the single, directed by Henry Harte conjures late 90s nostalgia. On the video’s concept and style, he reveals, “I wanted to capture not only the vibe of the song but the story, and with that I incorporated the backdrop of a harsh city scape paralleled with imagery of escaping or 'running away' by car as a visual metaphor for being more hopeful for the future. I used super 8 sim to portray the nostalgic aesthetic and texture.”
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Carmody releases her new single "Morning" lifted from her much anticipated debut album Imperfect Constellations, out 6th July via Young Poet. Co-written and produced by Tom Misch, "Morning" also features percussion and synth contributions from rising London producer and artist Conor Albert. Addressing grief and ultimately hope in the aftermath of loss, the song's instrumentation oozes positivity, with Misch's uplifting guitar work and Conor's soulful beat-driven percussion juxtaposing the track's affecting, personal lyrics: ["I see your face now, in everything / cause my heart it won’t believe / In the unspoken and unnamed, for a life I can’t reclaim"]
"'Morning’ is about grief and the way the world continues even after someone you love has died," Carmody notes. "It’s also about hope, the idea that although they’re not physically present you can carry them with you in your mind. I wrote the track with Tom Misch, who also produced it and recorded some eerie, but beautiful, high-pitched ooo’s, as well as playing a solo guitar line. Conor Albert made the drum beat and also recorded some wondrous synth lines."
Carmody's long-awaited debut album Imperfect Constellations is due for release on 6th July via Young Poet and will be split into four separate "constellations" – with each constellation housing tracks that are all thematically linked. "Morning" stands as the first to be heard from 'Constellation B' - 3 songs that focus on "loss and learning to accept a new world without the person you love in it", following 'Constellation A' which offered "a group of songs that explore how we remember".
Carmody went on to say: "'Morning' in particular focuses on this as I write about carrying them with me in my mind, although they are not physically present. 'Strange' is about a walk I took through a cemetery, I was really inspired by observational lyric writing and how artists like Phoebe Bridgers and Alex Turner make the everyday sound beautiful and I wanted to emulate this in the song. 'Yosef' is also about grief, but I am mourning someone who is yet to be found, almost a loss in reverse."
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