Matilda Mann - The Garment District - Moon Sisters - Vinny Peculiar
The incredibly talented Londoner Matilda Mann has shared her latest EP “You Look Like You Can’t Swim” which comprises of an inimitable collection of acoustic songs that cements her as one of Britain’s most brilliant young talents. Matilda has also shared a Wes Anderson-inspired video for the EP’s title track.
Speaking about the EP, Matilda explained “Over the past few years, I’ve loved progressing and experimenting with different types of genres and musical instruments and working with other musicians and producers, but Ive had such an urge to create a small group of songs that feel so simple, vulnerable, Romantic and emotional. The kind of songs I would’ve dreamed to make and release when I was 16.”
In regards the video, Matilda added “Wes Anderson’s movies have been my favorite since I can remember. There’re so many satisfying qualities in his shots. The symmetrical frames, colour pallets and the movement of the camera, makes his films so unique as a collection. These were all the points I took into the music video planning, and I was so lucky to have such an amazing team help me bring it to life! The title of the song is a bit jokey in itself, so I wanted to bring that element into the music video, while keeping that serious tone of “omg I have no idea how to handle anything in life”.
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The Garment District return with the superb new retro-futuristic single "Left on Coast" and announce their new album 'Flowers Telegraphed to All Parts of the World' will be released on HHBTM Records on September 22nd, 2023.
On their second full-length LP, The Garment District delivers a Kunstkabinett of sound reminiscent of the Manhattan neighborhood (and others around the globe, both existing and shuttered) with which they share a name. Just as one might wander through a Garment District shop entranced by a staggering display of fabric from seemingly every era and locale, surrounded by rows of buttons, threads and trimmings, listeners will be equally entranced by the hypnotic array of textured sounds on Flowers Telegraphed to All Parts of the World.
The album was recorded in a friend's home studio nestled in the labyrinthian hills of Western Pennsylvania during the time warp surrounding the pandemic. For composer and arranger Jennifer Baron (who plays numerous instruments on the album), settling in at David Klug's studio atop Pittsburgh's Mount Washington allowed her to stretch and challenge herself, creating expansive arrangements. In another lifetime, just miles away within nearby hills and hamlets, Jennifer's great-grandfather arrived from Zagreb, forming a family band, a tamburitza orchestra featuring her grandfather, great-aunt and great-uncles, who performed in Monongahela Valley steel towns. Jennifer's work with her first cousin Lucy Blehar, who supplies lead vocals, continues this family music-making heritage.
Along with guitar, bass and drums, listeners will encounter a full suite of strings, horns, a variety of percussion, and finely woven keyboards and vocals. Some parts were improvised on-site, while others evolved at home, highlighting Jennifer's collection of analog keyboards before being translated into final recordings. Having the opportunity to experiment with equipment borrowed from friends, like a rare 1970s Roland Paraphonic 505 and a 1960s UMI Buzz Tone Volume Expander, shaped the exploratory process of crafting dimensional melodies and instrumentation. The result is a gilded tapestry of pop music history that is both panoramic and idiosyncratic.
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‘Land of Escape’ is the first single released by Moon Sisters. The song is about inter-connection on a deep level! People need people; to talk to, to laugh with, to cry with, to miss, to love, to depend on and to support, without bias or judgement. Moon Sisters express this as ‘a connection of hearts and minds’. The song is also about hope, which thrives on human connection - hope for wishes to come true, and for a dreamy escapeland: a better world! The song is inspired by the mutual bond that the three singers formed in a short time after meeting via the online social singing app ‘Smule’.
Moon Sisters are an Irish-Dutch vocal group that perform old classics and original songs. They do this in their own acoustic and polyphonic way. The vocal group was born during the Covid-19 pandemic when three singers met via an online social singing app called Smule. Moon Sisters are Julieanne Black Reel from Ireland, Eva Stultjens and Ilona Dekker from the Netherlands. Through song, the girls instantly connected and formed a beautiful bond, much like sisters.
The girls were recognised on social media by a festival organiser in Ireland. He flew Ilona and Eva over to perform a full live concert with Julieanne at the Muckno Mania Festival (Castleblayney). This was the first time that the girls met and sang together physically. They received a standing ovation, and the concert was a magical experience for them. This was just the beginning of their musical journey!
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Singer-songwriter Vinny Peculiar will release his new album ‘How I Learned to Love the Freaks’ on 15 September, with recent single “Peace and Love” out now. Alan Wilkes aka Vinny Peculiar has been putting out albums for the past twenty years to considerable critical acclaim. Landing this September, ‘How I Learned to Love the Freaks’ will be his thirteenth studio release.
The record is inspired by Hippy culture, the summer of love and the socio-political awakenings of the late 1960s. In part it’s tribute to an emerging free-thinking youth culture, the risks they took, the values they espoused, the sacrifices they made, with the failings and ultimate implosion culminating in “Death of the Counterculture”.
Over its ten tracks the new album looks at the personal impact of these cultural shifts and its impact on subsequent generations, specifically from Wilkes’ unique stand-ppoint as both disaffected youthful enquirer and seasoned older cynic. Recent single “Peace and Love” considers protest, apathy and mistrust. “Flower Power” is both a celebration and a reminder of what can be achieved and how easily it all slips away. “Going to San Francisco” tracks a young man’s awakening and pilgrimage to the Haight and beyond.
All in all, ‘How I Learned to Love the Freaks’ is a guitar-based, Grateful Dead-inspired, Jefferson Airplane-revisited, Chocolate Watchband-approved kind of record.
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