Clifton 2.5 - Carolina Story - Velvet Beach
A lush slice of opulent and airy alt-pop, “Outskirts of Nowhere” sees Clifton 2.5 find a shimmering synergy between gentle acoustic melodies and fluttering electronics, served with a side of crystal-clear vocals and an ethereal sense of optimism.
Standing as the first song she ever recorded, it is also one influenced by the evocative settings depicted in Delia Owens’ celebrated coming-of-age novel ‘Where The Crawdads Sing’. As Clifton 2.5 explains: “”Outskirts of Nowhere” was written after I finished reading the book ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ as I was inspired by the landscapes painted in the book, especially the marshes and the imagery of a lonely, heartbroken girl who had been left behind. The song just landed in my head in about 20 minutes and I knew it would be the first song I recorded.”
“Outskirts of Nowhere” follows Clifton 2.5’s glimmering recent release “Under Attack” and arrives as the title-track of her forthcoming debut EP.
Spanning a wide range of both genre and influence, the ‘Outskirts of Nowhere’ EP includes Clifton 2.5’s two recent singles alongside “Crossed Lines”, a song about “how it feels to let love go” that was recorded using a half-broken electric organ found in the studio, and “Are you singing to me?”, a retro-tinted cut about “standing in the audience watching someone sing and believ[ing] that their message is meant for you alone”.
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Carolina Story - Let Go.
Carolina Story shares their new single “Let Go” from the duo’s forthcoming album Colors of My Mind, which releases April 7 via Soundly Music. Written by Ben Roberts and five-time Grammy Award-nominated producer/songwriter Paul Moak (John Paul White, Caitlyn Smith, Madi Diaz), the track finds our main character on the precipice of rock bottom, realizing the only way to make it through is to surrender control and trust the process. The band has also announced a special Nashville album release show on April 6 at The Basement.
"This song is about that foreboding feeling that comes before the storm. Before a momentous period of change in someone’s life,” the duo explains. “If you look back in retrospect, all the signs were there. The universe was giving fair warning before it put its plans in motion. It’s difficult to sit in that place of waiting, before the other shoe drops. More often than not, you don’t see it coming despite passing the ominous mile markers into the eye of it all. This needed transformation can only take place if there is total devastation and a leveling of things all the way down to the bedrock. Rock bottom is the firm foundation upon which something new can be created. It’s coming and there’s nothing you can do about it and nowhere left to hide. You can’t resist it. Once you reach that low and finally just let go and let it take you, then and only then can you pick up the pieces and begin to build again."
Colors of My Mind emerged from a period of tremendous pain and metamorphosis for husband-and-wife duo Ben and Emily Roberts (aka Carolina Story). After parting ways with their former label, the pair headed into the studio to sate their creative impulses, but quickly found themselves with an entire album’s worth of material. The resulting collection of songs contains essential truths about transformation, surrender, and the inevitability of impermanence – altogether forming a narrative of transcendence that soon had a life-altering impact on the band itself. The brooding debut single “Animal” showcases an edgier side to their sound, while the follow-up single “Magic” invites us to see the world in awe.
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Velvet Beach are an independent band from Toronto. Originally formed by members of Newcomer, Matias Gutierrez and Martin Camara were then joined by Sean Stover (Silus, The Honeycomb Flyers), Suhail Othman (Per Su) and Meagan Aversa. Fusing a wide range of sonic elements with emotive lyrics, the band arrives at a unique sound through each member.
Velvet Beach have been on an upward trajectory since their debut single release this past September. They were honored to be a part of Exclaim’s Class of 2023 show in January and are excited to finally release their debut album “The Dream”.
A culmination of nearly 3 years of work, “The Dream” showcases the eclectic mix of dream pop and shoe gaze that has come to define Velvet Beach’s live sound so far. Of particular note is Uncertainty, a driving yet ethereal ballad that pushes the bounds of Velvet Beach’s songwriting so far.
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