Ingrid Mae - Shoeb Ahmad - Inkfields
Ingrid Mae has written and produced an album where the broken pieces are beautiful. We know it is “Closing Time”and the party is indeed over but we want to stay. From the first track “No SOS” we are hypnotized by this haunting capture and she holds us there; and we enjoy it.
If “Holy Smoke” was the outlaw cry then “Closing Time” takes us back to the hideout for the after-party with songs like “Like It’s Over” and “Poor Little Thing”. An explosive writer with the ability to traverse many different moods you can just label her at whim; Alt-country, Americana or Country-Rock. Whatever country bucket she lands in, there’s a Mae-DNA in her music.
It was a labour of love for Ingrid Mae and Rock Guy (drummer and partner) who produced the album. It was a bitter sweet ending to a year that saw the loss of their beloved best friend and bass player, Eddie, who played on all tracks on the album and has been part of the family since the beginning. The new album, “Closing Time”, is dedicated to him and the time they shared in the old shack “707” recording this album back in early 2020.
“I enjoyed producing the album and working with my close friends to achieve what I heard in my head when I wrote the songs”, says Mae.
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Following a performance at MONA FOMA and ahead of an appearance at SXSW, APRA AMCOS Art Music Award-winning Canberra-based experimentalist Sia Ahmad (she/her) - who makes music as Shoeb Ahmad - has announced her forthcoming record double checks against the corner, to be released on May 5 2023, along with her signing to No Gold, the new label launched by Angus Andrew of Liars.
Taken as the first single from what the multi-instrumentalist describes as a "song cycle" rather than a traditional record structure, part '(c)' shines a light on the loveworn nature of long term relationships and the frazzled state of distance, as a slo-mo indie-soul bassline and loping groove roll along with the punches.
Sia Ahmad says, "Like all of my work, the "double checks against the corner" song cycle speaks from a personal place and part (c) in particular highlights the unspoken domestic stresses of a relationship in breakdown. There's resolution and an understanding but the distance that's grown before then needs to be addressed. It's a hard observation to make. Musically, this section bridges the song craft from the "quiver" period with the more naive soundclash territory from A Body Full Of Tears and Facade, a dubby off-kilter soul vibe"
A five-part tome weaving a narrative around relationship breakdown, reconciliation and parenthood, double checks against the corner encapsulates what is seen as a hyper-domestic experience, but digs deep into the nuances that are left behind closed doors or in text threads, bringing together Sia's experimental sound art practice with the purity of honest pop songwriting and deep, beat-heavy production.
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‘Your Head’s in the Sand’ is the second single from the upcoming album (The Third Side of the Coin due April 27) of Edinburgh based artist Inkfields and the track sees the songwriter inspired by the fluidity and calming effects of the ocean as he conjures up a mesmerising back drop while he encourages the subject to “give
up you pride”.
Following on from the album’s title track, ‘Your Head’s in the Sand’ came out of a moment of frustration, and you can hear it in the flicker in Inkfields’ voice and the hammering tones that keep you on edge while maintaining that soothing atmosphere.
Heralding a progression in the Inkfields sound these single’s bring about an artist that understands where he is at, it’s a less complicated, more mature, more settled sound that feels like Inkfields hitting his a-game, an artist able to allow his tracks to breathe and engulf the listener.
Inkfields, the guise of Samuel James-Griffiths, began in Dresden, Germany as a spontaneous after work street music experiment, moving through Sweden, Southern Germany and finally to Edinburgh. The music has been forged through thousands of hours of street music across dozens of cities in Europe, from -12 to +40 degrees, through rain, snow, wind and sun.
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