Immaterial Possession - Gillie - Junior Bill - Miss Velvet - Sock - Josienne Clarke
Mercy Of The Crane Folk is the beautifully accomplished second album from Athens GA’s Immaterial Possession. A theatrical soundscape littered with subconscious flashbacks, retro keyboard flurries, wandering Morricone-esque guitar and dreamy Sumac-like harmonies.
Featuring the ethereal eerie dream pop of former artist commune residents Cooper Holmes and Madeline Polites, with drummer John Spiegel and Elephant 6 descendant Kiran Fernandes (keyboards, clarinets, flutes). Additional contributions come from drummer Jon Vogt who can be heard on "Mercy Of The Crane Folk" and "Birth Of Queen Croaker."
It’s a haunting and immersive trip into the inner psyche of these nomadic soothsayers; a psychedelic dance party from a half-lit underground world; breathlessly eerie and all consuming; a salubrious sojourn that sounds like nothing else. Filled with a kind of peculiar optimistic uncertainty that any quest to make sense of a drowsy recollection of simpler and far better times would have; Mercy Of The Crane Folk is soft and serene summoning up a fanciful folkloric place where, undoubtedly, the mysterious crane flock prosper.
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After the success of her single ‘i ti’, a song that announced a new beginning and a new creative chapter for Gillie we are excited to unveil its follow up the mesmerising yet quietly brooding ‘Llawn’.
With this new single, Gillie who also produces and records her own music wanted to “Sonically explore something that felt both rhythmically uncertain, and free, with builds and small releases of tension throughout”
Thematically Gillie explains the background to the song: “‘Llawn’ centres around the feeling of your life changing due to external factors/other people’s control over decisions, and finding a safe place for yourself within this. The idea that someone has power over you whilst you’re in a vulnerable state is interesting to me, and when I was writing this song, I had an image of someone force feeding me these ‘changes’, hence the opening lyrics. It’s also about finding freedom in uncertainty and practicing resilience, trying to find warmth in the present and embrace ambiguity.”
Blending gold-flecked guitar loops into an ambient haze on top of relentless driving rhythms, Gillie harnesses the anxieties, stress and struggles of modern life, weaving them into something unapologetic and inherently intimate.
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Described as 'a 21st Century Joe Strummer' by BBC 6Music's Tom Robinson, Junior Bill is the project of Welsh songwriter Robert Nichols. 'Teeth' is the third single from upcoming debut album 'Youth Club!' and documents the ailing health of an elderly sugar addict, spending her last days in a 'tiny cul-de-sac' that represents the claustrophobic society of present day Great Britain.
With buzzing lead single 'Boys From Jungle', Junior Bill found international praise for a powerfully charged attack on the mistreatment of asylum seekers in the UK. 'Flag of St George' followed, honing in on the dour mood of the country with an equally bleak black & white music video. 'Teeth' is another political missive, this time wrapped up in a bouncing dub reggae outfit and swaying with glittering production and charming depth.
The band, led by Nichols, are set to travel the UK this year in support of the album. A well-honed live show has been seen supporting Supergrass, at Glastonbury Festival and most recently at a packed out hometown show.
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Channeling the legends of classic rock with powerhouse vocals, impeccable leather style and an elusive sense of danger that takes you by surprise, Miss Velvet has taken the rock n roll world by storm. No stranger to the stage, Miss Velvet has dominated over 100 cities and 127 shows opening a world tour for the iconic George Clinton - who calls her voice “the definition of rock n roll.” George Clinton isn’t the only one singing Miss Velvet’s praises either, with numerous music critics comparing her bold and electrifying performances to the likes of Mick Jagger, Janis Joplin and Robert Plant.
Additionally, her previous releases (with her band, Miss Velvet & The Blue Wolf) have garnered two top 20 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Indicator Chart. Entering a new era of self, Miss Velvet’s forthcoming solo album Traveler blurs the lines between the roles of being a rock star, an artistic explorer, and a young mother – resulting in a potent rock escapade that’s both raw and multifaceted. After moving from her native New York City to sunny Los Angeles, Miss Velvet connected with acclaimed rock producer Esjay Jones.
"'Born to be your own wild' is the very first song that my producer Esjay and I wrote together, on the day we met" says Miss Velvet "I had my little girl who was 10 months old at the time sitting in the room with us as we wrote this song to her, and at the same time, I didn’t even know I was pregnant again! I wanted to sing about the hope we have as mothers, about the beautiful dreams we have for our children and the fears we hold deep inside about the hardest journey we embark on".
The original version of the song was a Miss Velvet classic- a rock power ballad. But right as she was meant to submit the song to her team, her and Esjay decided that they should make the song more intimate- it was written for her baby, after all. And so, the "lullaby version" of the track was born. "We created this 'lullaby' version to honor that delicate sentiment where parents dream of the best, yet at the same time, lament the inevitable letting a child go from their loving arms to go 'be their own wild.' Unconditional love".
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Formed in Cardiff, Sock make guitar-driven alternative rock, taking inspiration from psychedelic music. Known for their creative melodic arrangements and blending of genres, the band describe their music as “a rather progressive affair”.
Following on from the bands debut album ‘Fresh Bits’, in 2018, their much anticipated self-titled follow up is out this April. The album features Jacob on Rhythm Guitar & Vocals, Billy on Lead Guitar, Sam on Bass & Keys, and Simon on Drums & Percussion.
Produced by the band, the album was recorded during the pandemic and sees the music move into a heavier and more refined sound. Accidentally High is the third track released from their self-titled second album, which is out on the 28th April through Bubblewrap Collective.
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Last Friday, Josienne Clarke released her new album Onliness (songs of solitude and singularity) via Corduroy Punk Records. Onliness is both a wholesome project and a spellbinding work in its own right. Opening with one of her earliest compositions – ‘The Tangled Tree’ – and closed by a brand-new song, it presents a career retrospective viewed through a new lens. The album is comprised of reworked versions of fan favourites and hidden gems from a back catalogue that always glimmered, but this time they’re entirely hers, carrying everything from booming drums to intimate acoustic guitars, with Josienne's powerful yet, at times, fragile voice whispering and screaming straight into the listeners ear.
In her own words, Josienne Clarke viewed her 2021 album – A Small Unknowable Thing – as a leap into the abyss. Finally free from the industry structure that had been built around her over the preceding decade and more, she released the album via her own label, Corduroy Punk Records, and handled every aspect of the album’s writing, recording, and release herself, on her own terms.
From her home on Scotland’s Isle of Bute, Josienne began thinking about the idea of reclamation. Cutting her teeth in an industry that so often works against the artist it's supposed to support – and with a lingering idea in the wake of Taylor Swift’s ‘Taylor’s Version’ project – Josienne began revisiting the songs in her back catalogue that felt buried somehow; that had never had the spotlight she felt they deserved, for myriad reasons.
Of her new single, Clarke says: "'Done' is a resigned break-up ballad that, when writing it, I had intended to be a sort of melancholic ode to “My Way” — which is kind of a ridiculous premise. But the whole song is harmonically structured to sound like an ending, descending inevitably towards its close. When I wrote it, it was originally based on a descending finger-picked guitar pattern which gave it a rhythmic meter so you could feel its last moments tick away. In my reworking, I decided that it could definitely take the “last orders at the bar” piano torch song treatment. My references were Tom Waits’ 'Closing Time' and Randy Newman’s 'I Think It’s Going To Rain Today'. This arrangement places the words centrally and leaves plenty of space for contemplation. It was one of those songs that never quite found its spotlight, but I always believed it was one of my best — one of those rare times when you manage to say exactly what you mean, just how you feel, no more, no less, in three-and-a-half minutes. Making this retrospective album gives it another chance to shine...'
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