Sidney Bird - Michelles - Rosie Thomas - Paula Jivén
Sidney Bird - Renaissance Man.
Sidney Bird is a southwestern darling making a name for herself in New York City. Born and raised in Arizona, Bird holds her own in the western pop scene, alongside artists like Kacey Musgraves and Leon Bridges. A true crossover act, she feels a strong creative impulse when home in Arizona, writing all of her songs there before fleshing them out with producers in Brooklyn.
“I grew up listening to Barenaked Ladies, Norah Jones, Joni Mitchell,” says Bird. “Then became obsessed with Katy Perry, Britney Spears––all the popstars.”
Bird’s background in comedy and musical theater fuels a deep love for world-building and storytelling: “Sometimes I feel like I’m playing characters through my music, using them as a vehicle to express honest and genuine feelings.” Her 2020 debut album “Bad Timing,” featuring singles like “Kisses” and “Wild,” has garnered over 1.7 million combined streams to date. In 2021, Bird followed up with her EP “Big Heart,” debuting the project live at Rockwood Music Hall at the end of the year. With a wealth of music ready for release and a dedicated community of listeners, Bird is well-positioned to make 2022 her year.
Here's what she had to say about it: "I wrote 'Renaissance Man' after reflecting long and hard about my childhood and how my parents raised me. I feel so grateful that I have such amazing and supportive parents, and I aspire to be like them one day. Although I am not looking to have kids anytime soon, this song is about the children I wish to have one day, and a thank you letter to my wonderful parents".
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| Photo - Chuck Przbyl |
Chicago-based rock band Michelles – spearheaded by one Michael Daly – are thrilled to share with you, in advance of its official release, their new single “Illusions,” and announce their forthcoming album.
With a driving, propulsive beat throughout and Daly’s unmistakable vocal style, “Illusions” serves as the lead single to the band’s forthcoming album The Empty Promises of Rock and Roll, set for release on March 1, 2022. The song, out January 11, 2022, will mark the first music Michelles has released since 2017’s critically lauded album, Dark as a Daisy.
Michael Daly on the lead single from the album: ““Illusions” was one of the last songs written for the album. Lyrically, it dances around the idea of the masks we wear, literally and metaphorically, the desire to transcend these disguises, and how on some days it really does feel like the sky is falling, but you have to have some lingering faith in the universe just to get up and do it all again.”
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Rosie Thomas’ latest endeavor is truly a project, in the truest sense of the word. A labor of love. An attempt to reach out to parents and help them self-sooth. So, what is Lullabies For Parents? Lullabies For Parents is a multimedia series of resources, entertainment, and encouragement for parents of all ages featuring music, podcast, videos, essays, assorted content and community that promotes finding common ground, connection, and comfort.
The music portion will be a series of singles – some of Rosie’s strongest, most inspired work to date, with a slew of guest vocalists. Rosie has a LOT of musician friends, and almost all of them will appear on this series, including but not limited to: Sufjan Stevens, James Mercer, Sam Beam, The Head and the Heart, Alexi Murdoch, Dawn Landes, David Bazan, William Fitzsimmons and tons more!
-The podcast will finally give a vehicle to some of Rosie’s greatest, and as yet underutilized strengths: her unique ability to quickly disarm, relate to, and encourage people in their struggles, even as they’re entertained by her razor-sharp wit, and engaging, loveable personality. There will be videos, essays, books, and a merch line for both parents and kids alike. Most of all, it will be a community of support, and it’s only just beginning.
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| Photo - Eveline Johnsson |
Swedish singer/songwriter Paula Jivén makes spellbindingly original pop music, each song sparked from her radiant imagination. At just 18-years-old, she’s already cultivated a truly singular voice as an artist, one that defies all expectation in favor of following her most playful and daring instincts. Newly signed to Universal Music Sweden, Jivén is now set to deliver a debut EP titled ‘The Duality In Me’ this summer, revealing her supreme gifts as a storyteller and the tremendous power of her captivating voice. Arriving ahead of the EP release is the stand-out single ‘Say That’, a hypnotic chill-pop offering that served as a cathartic song-writing experience for Jivén. On creating the track, Jivén shares:
“‘Say That’ is a song that I wrote at a special time of my life. I had just turned 16, I was in LA on a songwriting trip working with people that I admire and doing meetings in crazy record-label buildings. I was getting to do things I had been dreaming about for so long! But something was still not sitting right with me. I think this was the first time I really experienced the downsides of materialism, and it was overwhelming me in the weirdest way. I felt like although I had so much, I was still missing something, the way all humans do, I guess. We never seem to get enough. And when you think you have it all, it’s still not enough, you can’t really talk about it! And that’s where the title comes in. It was something taking up a lot of my mindspace, but I couldn’t really find a way to talk about it without feeling like I was coming off as ungrateful. Writing about it felt like a healthy way to unpack all of these thoughts in a healthy environment. It helped me realize that it's a privilege to have these problems, but it’s still ok to feel like shit.”
All throughout her debut, Jivén illuminates the potent balance of emotional realism and dreamy sensitivity within her songwriting—a dynamic intensified by each track's graceful interlacing of live instrumentation and electronic experimentation. Made with genre-bending producers like Sir Sly’s Jason Suwito (Imagine Dragons, MisterWives, Dreamers, DeathbyRomy), Jivén’s debut EP ‘The Duality In Me’ moves exponentially forward with a mission she describes as “disrupting the comfortable and comforting the disrupted.”
“All of these songs are portraits of moments in my life when I’ve felt incredibly strong emotions,” she says. “I love writing songs where I get to vent about something that makes me angry, but I also love writing songs where you sort of take someone into your lap and pat them on the head and let them know that everything’s going to be okay. Either way, I want to convey those strong emotions in a way that brings people closer to a sense of acceptance.” Jivén adds.
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