Smoke Fairies - Brudini - The Shacks - Chelsea Williams - Kluster B

Smoke Fairies have just released a new track entitled 'No Matter How This Goes, Just Make Sure That You're Kind', we've already featured three songs from their recent album and this one is another spectacular piece. === Brudini returns with 'Radiant Man' which is a beautiful calm singer-songwriter piece. === Retro indie rockers The Shacks released 'Wings' and it opens as an understated song before adding more melodic layers. === Los Angeles artist Chelsea Williams new song is 'Wasted' which is an upbeat and hook filled track with bags of charm. === So far this year we have shared three songs from Kluster B new album 'b' and it's a pleasure to now share the full collection that has just been released.

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Smoke Fairies - No Matter How This Goes, Just Make Sure That You're Kind.

Smoke Fairies (Jessica Davies & Katherine Blamire) have just surprised fans by releasing an exclusive and unheard new track “No Matter How This Goes, Just Make Sure That You're Kind”.

Recorded with producer Phil Ek in Seattle last year for their recent critically acclaimed ‘Darkness Brings The Wonders Home’ album the track was initially held back. However, the band Feel the song to be so pertinent to the current world health crisis they wanted to share its message of love.

The track comes at a fruitful time for Smoke Fairies who this week sit at Number 1 in both the physical and vinyl Official UK Singles Charts with “Elevator” a Limited-Edition 7” picture disc. The single’s sales pitched the band at #1 in both charts topping The Weeknd and Bon Iver respectively.

This follows the album from which ‘Elevator’ taking a #1 in the Rock Album Charts at the start of February as well. Forced to abandon live plans to celebrate the release of “Elevator” by playing a series of intimate in-store shows and signings the band moved their single launch on-line and managed to raise money for the Red Cross in the process.

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Brudini - Radiant Man.

Having become a fan favourite at his live shows, Brudini’s new single Radiant Man unfolds like a Greek tragedy. A protagonist with good intentions, fighting on, crushed against a tidal wave of forces beyond his control.

Recorded in a basement studio in Stoke Newington without any use of a click-track and on analogue instruments only, Radiant Man has a timeless, soothing feel, and features jazz drummer Derin Bayhan (Istanbul) and Casper Hoedemaekers (Netherlands)  on double bass. It was mixed and mastered at legendary NYC analogue boutique studio Sear Sound (John Lennon, Lou Reed, Ryan Adams ++) by Grammy-winning engineer Jeremy Loucas and Brudini.

Radiant Man is the 4th single from forthcoming debut album From Darkness, Light which is finally due for release on May 15th. It follows the critically acclaimed singles Reflections (which is currently is getting solid support on BBC6), Emotional Outlaw and Pale Gold.

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The Shacks - Wings.

Retro indie rockers The Shacks make their return with the bottom heavy, feel-good anthem “Wings.” With enticing vocals and pulsing guitar, The Shacks’ new single cuts its way through the speakers from the first note, offering listeners an escape from our recently altered reality.

“Wings” is equal parts new sonic landscape and familiar territory for The Shacks. The group made an impressive first mark on the scene with their hit “This Strange Effect”, which soundtrack a worldwide iPhone commercial. The Shacks continued to build their fanbase touring internationally in support of their debut album Haze with groups such as Khruangbin and Chicano Batman. It’s no doubt that their initial success and esteemed touring schedule lead them to this infectiously catchy and tasteful crowd pleaser.

The unique, ebullient beat that backs “Wings” is attributed to the pumping guitar line, which is actually three baritone guitars playing in harmony. “A baritone guitar is halfway between a regular guitar and a bass. It’s also known as a tic-tac bass,” said Max Shrager, guitarist and producer for The Shacks. “It’s an unusual instrument, but you can find it throughout various genres.”

“Wings” is sure to be an anthem for the spring and will give The Shacks’ fans a taste of new music to come. The Shacks are currently finishing up their new album, which is due early 2021.

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Chelsea Williams - Wasted.

Los Angeles artist Chelsea Williams has released “Wasted”, the latest track off her upcoming album Beautiful & Strange, which drops on May 8 via Blue Élan Records. Encapsulating Williams’ unrelenting positivity in the face of misfortune, the upbeat new song depicts a destructive relationship nearing its end with clever lyrics wrapped around sunny pop hooks and a brilliantly infectious chorus. Accompanied by a triumphant new video, “Wasted” was featured this morning at Earmilk, who said “It’s complexion in disguise, perfectly aligning dynamic layers of guitar chords and a simple backbeat. It periodically sneaks in other subtle instruments, jovial and innocent, never once letting you escape its irresistible charm."

“There’s nothing like the freedom you feel when you get out of a toxic relationship,” explains Williams. “I was a master of toxic relationships in my 20s. ‘Wasted’ is a summary of some of my experiences wrapped up in a fun little musical package.”

Beautiful & Strange showcases Chelsea Williams’ diverse musical palette, as she blends catchy pop sensibilities with elements of roots, psychedelia and jazz and incorporates everything from toy pianos and singing saws to sweeping string arrangements and a symphony of harmonicas and keys. Whether she is dissecting relationship dynamics or examining the very notion of destiny, Williams’ charming, confident songwriting and airy, nuanced vocals maintain an underlying current of optimism. The result is a cinematic collection of songs that are equal parts whimsical spontaneity and mature sophistication. NPR Music recently featured the album’s debut track “Red Flag”, with Stephen Thompson calling it a “fantastic earworm” and declaring “Williams’ brightly rendered Americana songs dispense poppy, anthemic uplift and earthy grit in equal measure.”

Chelsea Williams honed her skills busking at Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade, where she captured the attention of passersby including Ron Howard and Sheryl Crow. This eventually led to a high-profile TV commercial singing in Maroon 5’s “Playing for Change” version of their hit “Daylight”, as well as a record deal and a Singer-Songwriter of the Year award from the Hollywood in Music and Media Awards. Williams’ 2017 release, Boomerang, garnered praise from critics including Rolling Stone Country, who describes her sound as “K.T. Tunstall, Sheryl Crow and Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild on a confessional girls’ night out.”

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Kluster B - b (Album).

Kluster B (fka Kluster) are putting out their second album, 'b'. A lot has happened in all the five members lives since the first album, civic (2018). The band was very shattered during the period that the music was written, being far apart from each other both geographically and emotionally, which resulted in turns within the music none of the members could have foreseen. A band crisis emerged, a crisis that was processed in the studio during the recording week, something that has left its clear marks on the record. In the end, the recording of b was an enriching experience for the band, coming out stronger than ever on the other side, with a new name and a new record. There was now nothing left to lose.

Kluster B was founded by four friends and a virtual drummer in Malmö 2014, a real life drummer joined in shortly afterwards and the gang was complete. Since then, the quintet has been active on as well the Malmö indie scene as playing shows in Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm, supporting acts such as Frankie Cosmos, Omni and Nicole Sabouné. Debut album 'civic' was released in 2018 and Kluster received praise from Line of Best Fit, BBC Radio 6, major Swedish music magazines and more.

The band returned earlier this year with new single 'Counterpart', the first taste from the  sophomore album that will be released on April 17th. b is like diving in to 10 different swimming pools of Kluster B's playful sound - a melting pot of broad influences such as pop, punk, noise, lo-fi, indie and jazz. It is a development of the sound we got to know on their first album. The interplay and paradox between the complex and simple is still there but the quintet have this time allowed themselves more time and space to experiment with almost jamming and evolving parts that hypnotizes the listener.

The members have a history as academic jazz players, forming Kluster B after longing to find a collective process free from strict genre playbooks and narrow-minded academic rules. A process that resulted in Kluster B's captivating characteristic dynamic and turning points, alternating from melodious to dissonance, complex to simple.

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Kristina Stykos - Brudini - Ted Z and The Wranglers - Ben Watt

Kristina Stykos has released a new album entitled 'River Of Light'. The country/folk singer has delivered a superb collection of material where the lyrics take you on a variety of journeys. The music can be gritty, stripped back or warm and exuding Americana rock styles, what remains at the centre is Kristina's unique vocals that convey emotion, determination and more, and the comparison to Patti Smith is a fair one albeit more regarding the delivery than the sound. With thirteen songs this really is a musical feast to enjoy.

We have to go back over two years for our only other feature for Brudini that said, the new song 'Pale Gold' adds credence to the old cliche "it was well worth the wait". The musical arrangement is simply wonderful and Brudini has distinct and captivating vocals, put simply I can't wait for the November album release.
 
Ted Z and The Wranglers return just weeks after our first taste of the bands music with new song 'Corner Store'. Once again the classic country rock vibes are everywhere, the bands instruments spar with each other and the feel good nature is notable.

We have a brand new video for Ben Watt and his song 'Sunlight Follows The Night'. An emotional and poignant song, the musical set up is around piano, double bass and drums, that allow Ben's voice to carry the feeling on this wonderful song.
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Kristina Stykos - River Of Light (Album).

Award-winning outlaw country/folk singer songwriter exemplifies pure determination and a fiercely independent spirit. Kristina Stykos's dark, self-produced, poetry-soaked music, lyrics and original vocal cadence bears resemblance to rock n' roll/punk icons like Patti Smith. Her recording studio, Pepperbox Studio, is solar, wind and generator powered.

In 2017, Stykos was diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia, a disorder that
makes speaking and singing difficult or even impossible. That doesn't stop Kristina from continuing to write and record new music; it simply changes how she does it.

Stykos describes the album "River of Light" as 'an exciting departure from anything I've done before.' "I'm a poet-musician working at the outer boundaries of the music industry, and I believe that we can all take control of our own message."

Kristina Stykos is a music producer, recording engineer, songwriter, radio host, podcaster and musician based in Vermont.

Kristina solidified her launch as an audio engineer in 2008, earning a certificate in studio production from the Berklee School of Music. As of 2019, she holds producer credits for upwards of 30 albums created at her hill-top recording loft, Pepperbox Studio: a solar, wind and generator powered, fully off-grid facility. She is also founder-owner of a small, Americana label, Thunder Ridge Records.

Her recent albums include three collaborative projects: The Detangler (2018) with Ariel Zevon, daughter of Warren Zevon; Beautiful Blood (2013) with singer-songwriter Steve Mayone of Brooklyn NY, and Raven (2011), with Grammy-nominated pianist Philip Aaberg of Montana.

Kristina's newest solo album River of Light (2019) brings in Jackson Browne guitarist Val McCallum, along with other notable friends & session players.

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Brudini - Pale Gold.

A demo of the song was written 5 years ago, and in a world that seems to be turning darker, the narrative turned out to be strangely prophetic for the artist, who was once an owner of Soho´s tiny literary-bohemian bastion The Society Club.

“The release coincides with the UK leaving the EU, and me ultimately abandoning London, the liberal, multi-cultural bastion which has been my home for the last 13 years. And the song echoes my sadness over both these events, yet maintains a sense of hope for a new future and shift in my priorities as I return to my homeland, Norway, to be closer to my three year old daughter.”

Pale Gold is the 3rd single from forthcoming debut album From Darkness, Light which is due for release in November. It follows the critically acclaimed singles Reflections and Emotional Outlaw.

Growing up amidst the mountains and fjords of Bergen on Norway’s southwest coast, with a Norwegian father and a Thai mother, a sense of otherness, of not quite fitting in, led Brudini to travel. To Tokyo, to Paris, to New York and eventually to London and the high-stakes world of city traders. A world of huge wins and heavy losses – lucrative but not entirely fulfilling.

While his daytimes were spent in the rapid pace trajectory of a modern capitalist society, evenings were increasingly passed in Soho, amidst a world of artists, musicians, performers and poets. A chance encounter with Babette Kulik eventually lead him to become part-owner of now legendary bohemian-literary Soho outpost The Society Club. As part of this hidden, free-spirited scene of creatives, Brudini began to conjure his music - singing in underground venues in Soho and Hackney armed with guitars, piano and analogue synthesizers, flanked by a rhythm section of local jazz musicians and drawing praise from NYC punk legend Danny Fields (Iggy Pop, Jim Morrison, The Ramones) in the process.

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Ted Z and The Wranglers - Corner Store.

Ted Z and The Wranglers, of Southern California, deliver outlaw country-charged rock. Ted's catchy story-songs are fully-realized tales of love, regret, getting older and getting in trouble. The band stirs up it's Americana influences, featuring quick picking and bluesy slide guitar over galloping train beats and swinging shuffles.

The Wranglers are Collin Mclean (bass), Jackson Leverone (lead and slide guitar, vocals) and Jordan Lipp (drums). The band has honed it's sound on big stages and in biker bars alike. They get audiences dancing and bring them back for more.

Ted Z and The Wranglers were signed to Rip Cat Records in 2015. Their first label release, Ghost Train, was recorded at Yellow Dog Studios in Wimberley, TX and produced by Monty Byrom (Big House, Eddie Money). 2017 Winner Hard Rock Rising LA, Jam in The Van (2017) Headlined Sturgis Buffalo Chip (2018).

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Ben Watt - Sunlight Follows The Night.

Completing a compelling trilogy of albums since his late-flowering return to solo songwriting and singing six years ago, Ben Watt releases his fourth LP, Storm Damage on January 31, 2020, and with it a new sound and fervency. The first track to be shared is "Sunlight Follows The Night" with an accompanying video by award-winning film maker Rahim Moledina, who wrote and directed the video for the title track from Watt's album Hendra in 2014.

"Dawn always breaks out of darkness," says Watt of the song. "For all the struggle there's always a way out."

"I needed a fresh approach," says Watt, 56. "The album came out of an intense period of personal anguish and political anger. Sometimes repeating yourself musically feels disrespectful to the sharpness of your feelings. You have to search for a new way to capture the energy."

Across four decades Watt has maintained a committed forward-looking course, from the ardent echo-drenched folk of his early solo work with Robert Wyatt, through seventeen years as musical mainspring and co-lyricist in the best-selling Everything But The Girl with Tracey Thorn - and ten at the helm of his smart electronic label Buzzin' Fly - to his recent moving non-fiction and mid-life solo albums, the award-winning Hendra (2014) and Fever Dream (2016).

New album Storm Damage is no exception. Sonically adventurous, lyrically detailed and engaged, the album - written and produced by Watt - is a personal journey through anxiety and change cut through with an insistent defiance.

"My closest half-brother died unexpectedly in 2016, only four years after my half-sister," he says of events surrounding the album's origins. "I got stuck for a year, angry inside and angry at the political world casually detonating around me. I felt half powerless, half driven. When the songs finally came, some were dark, yes, but there is always room for light. Always. I just tried to put that across."

Sonically the album forgoes the acclaimed twin-guitar approach of its two predecessors, and boldly shifts focus onto - in Watt's words - "a future-retro trio" of upright piano, double bass and hybrid acoustic-electronic drums, set against a half-lit backdrop of lone analogue synths, spiralling echo spins and impressionistic 'found sounds' adapted from online public-domain recording archives. Low's Alan Sparhawk makes a guest appearance on electric guitar and harmony vocal.


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Kylypso - Brudini - Marlene Enright

Kylypso - Blame Love.

Background - Evolving from a two-piece to a three-piece, East London’s Kylypso are comprised of recent addition Hugh Fothergill, a record producer; Rudi Falla, Ableton set designer; and Tom Greenwood, a session musician. Initially the project started as Rudi and Tom sent ideas back and forth between each other to jam on and flesh out. The resounding success of their collaborations prompted them to form a band. 

Their first track, last year’s 'Means 2 You' was a firm and striking statement of intent, combining pop melodies with a mesmerising production approach that takes in ideas from a broad spectrum of popular music. It caused a respectable ripple in the blogosphere, leaving those in the know with a strong sense that their natural musical chemistry together was something special. Now, with new material like latest single ‘Blame Love’ on the way, Kylypso sound like they’ve already arrived fully formed and leagues apart from the herd without compromising on any of their uniqueness. Central to the construction of their music is a sheer, simple, unabashed love of sweet melody. It’s an approach that will no doubt resonate with people everywhere. All bets on Kylypso to be an undeniably and peerless new sound in the capital. 

‘Blame Love’ is the immersive new single from London three-piece Kylypso. Swelling in with its panoramic synths, it’s a vibrant and multi-tonal affair, traversing a spectrum of different moods. From the glacial sparsity of the intro, it goes through detailed dance segments, warm melodies, and funk guitar lines, all alternating in the blink of an eye. Already virtuosos in production and only at the start of their career together, Kylypso are the new purveyors of smart, slick and considered indie music, a natural progression from the nocturnal sounds of The xx via the meticulous auteurism of Tame Impala and Caribou. ‘Blame Love’ is a song about love, the oldest topic in songwriting, but Kylypso’s unique execution and musical acuity lend it a refreshing new spin. This is a sound for the summer, evoking half-remembered feelings of euphoria, warm nights, and the pervasive feeling of love and all the myriad emotions that go with it. Facebook here.

'Blame Love' suggests Kylypso have a considerable amount to offer. Musically the song is refined with clear attention to detail, alongside that are some fabulous vocals and harmonies. Making indie music that stands out is challenging enough these day's, doing so with such unabashed style is something else!

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Brudini - The Nightcrawler.

Background - A unique voice emerging from Soho’s bohemian arts scene, Brudini spent his upbringing in Norway before uprooting himself to settle in London after a nomadic period absorbing the swarming metropolises of Tokyo and Paris. A regular fixture in Soho’s Society Club, Brudini has attracted praise from NYC punk manager legend Danny Fields (The Stooges, MC5, The Ramones) for his erudite approach to music and lyricism. He has also collaborated with Lulu Gainsbourg (son of the famous French legend) and Californian writer Chip Martin. 

A product of both literary modernism and rock and roll, Brudini’s music evokes a wealth of artists and mediums. From Jim Morrison and the chansons moderne of Jacques Brel, to the avant-garde driving beats of Krautrock via the writings of Hamsun, Fante and Sartre, he comes off like a new-age lounge crooner in some smoky existential dream parlour. Wielding a live show that’s psychedelic to the point of being a total sensory experience, Brudini can always be found in that cosmic last chance saloon, uniting wayfarers and music lovers across the void through his cinematic plainsong. 

“'The Nightcrawler' is the tale of a jaded, worn-out character's inevitable march into darkness; briefly overcome by a triumphant moment of warmth and nostalgia, before the night swallows it all.”
An ambitious and beautifully bittersweet debut single from a vital new London sound, Brudini’s ‘The Nightcrawler’ is the odyssean portrayal of a limping vagabond whose nightly descent into darkness is interrupted by a moment of nostalgia and connection to the world that’s ostracised him. Recalling the organic textures of Radiohead’s A Moon Shaped Pool of yesteryear, Brudini builds his own inimitable style with an artful flair for arrangement. Cannily expressionistic in its use of sound to convey story, - an abrupt swell of strings marks the moment his flaneur catches the nauseating light of the setting sun, for instance - Brudini’s ambition transcends the framework of popular music and puts him in a tradition of narrative songwriters like Nick Cave and Scott Walker. Website here, Facebook here.

Intricate beats and atmospheric vocals are there from the opening moments of 'The Nightcrawler'. Layers of music unfold and the graceful vocals ensure your maximum attention. This is one of those songs that has me hooked and wanting to hear more from Brudini, before it's even finished.

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Marlene Enright - Alchemy,

Background - After a busy end to 2016, including an appearance at The Other Voices Festival, Cork based artist Marlene Enright releases her debut solo album, ‘Placemats and Second Cuts’.

Marlene Enright has a charm and an undeniable songwriting talent. Her solo debut showcases her passions and influences. Written and recorded over a year, the result is a melange of the heavy grooves of RnB, the warmth and nostalgia of great folk songs and the richness of thickly layered harmonies of artists such as Bon Iver and Feist. Enright harnesses all of her influences and delivers her own brew of a life being lived and expressed with touching honesty through the gloriously realised medium of her own thoughtfully crafted songs. It is the sound of modern roots music evolved as it has over decades to something that is unmistakably 21st Century, a sound that is infused with contemporary pop while still carrying echoes of the past.
  
The title, ‘Placemats and Second Cuts’, a line from the outro of the album's closing song, is fitting, for this album offers depth and introspection. Says Enright, "Hindsight has made me realise that it's a much more self-reflective album than I initially realised. It speaks of self-doubt, dancing the fine line between feeling comfortable in your own skin and feeling totally lost at sea, indecisiveness, the battle between strength and weakness, passion and apathy, belonging and isolation and self-acceptance."

While Enright has been looking back and self-reflecting, her work urges her forward. The release of 'Placemats and Seconds Cuts' on May 26th follows the success of her previous band The Hard Ground seeing the singer's star steadily rise, as listeners embrace her unfeigned confessional. Website here, Facebook here.

You still need a good song, even if the video is as appealing as the one for 'Alchemy'. In fact it was only when I listened without the images, that I realised just how gorgeous and beguiling 'Alchemy' really is. The soon to be released album 'Placemats and Second Cuts' is definitely on my want list.


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