Claude - Karen Harding - Pizza Crunch

Claude - roses.

Claude—the Chicago based existential dream pop solo project of Claudia Ferme—today shared “roses”, their second and final single off their upcoming debut full-length, a lot’s gonna change, produced with Michael Mac (Tenci, Tasha, Devin Shaffer, Mia Joy) and out August 12th, 2022 via American Dreams Records

The single “roses” arrives alongside a Reilly Drew-directed music video. On the track, Claude issued the following statement: "'roses' was inspired by a line in Love in the Time of Cholera where the protagonist starts eating flowers and roses because of how obsessed with someone he is. 

I think in the novel it’s supposed to symbolize how his obsession became all-consuming but I thought about a rose and the thorns on its stem and how someone eating a rose was a perfect metaphor for how as humans we’re so self-torturous, mentally and emotionally, and very unforgiving of ourselves. In the video, we wanted to show this imagery in a more abstract way while still including actual roses - I made the purple top and gray dress and am wearing other pieces that have peaks and spikes and that play with the making and release of tension to show the back and forth we have with ourselves in certain situations."

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Karen Harding - I've Got A Secret.

Following the release of her first 6 singles, Karen Harding returns with the first single release and title track from her Upcoming EP, ‘I’ve Got A Secret’ on Friday 8th July 2022. 

Written during the Melbourne, Australia Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, dramatic singer-songwriter single, ‘I’ve Got A Secret’ dives straight into the heart of fear and anxiety, when sharing a less than perfect side, that you know leaves you open to judgement from others. 

We live in a world that is filled with images of perfection.. Where we believe that to be good enough, we must line up with the messages that essentially only show the highlight reels of a life. This leads us to locking away our own vulnerabilities.. That is, until you reach a point, where you realise that your struggles are a secret that no one knows about. The idea of sharing these fills us with fear, questioning and mistrust, and this is the message within ‘I’ve Got A Secret’. 

The four track EP, ‘I’ve Got A Secret’ is being released one single at a time, each month, and will be available in its entirety by October 2022. The EP is available for purchase at Bandcamp in digital download and CD formats.

KarenHarding · I've Got A Secret

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Pizza Crunch - Wilting Youth.

Glasgow alternative-rock group Pizza Crunch are pleased to announce their follow up single to 'Young Excitement' with new track ‘Wilting Youth’, which is set to be released on the 8th of July. 

The band are excited to release this track, having played it live at a sold-out King Tuts as well as at the Left of the Dial festival in Rotterdam and Stockton Calling. This release is the second of a plethora that will be unveiled this summer. 

Unlike the reflective tone of previous single 'Young Excitement', Wilting Youth arrives from a more yielded perspective, as the lyrics openly admit that the bright, vibrant days of the past have not only vanished, but they aren’t returning.  The track was produced, mixed and mastered by Chris Marshall (Baby Strange, Gerry Cinnamon and Declan Welsh and the Decadent West) at Castle of Doom Studios.

Pizza Crunch · Wilting Youth

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Elizabeth M. Drummond - Claude - Berries

Elizabeth M. Drummond - Crisis.

Getting lost in a window into somebody else's own existential crisis shouldn’t feel as joyful as it’s made to sound in Elizabeth M. Drummond’s sensational first steps as a solo artist. In her aptly named debut single out today titled “Crisis”, you’ll find a track that runs on the pure adrenaline that came from her own self-realisations and the honest reactions that followed.  Drummond was formerly a member of the critically acclaimed band Little May, who toured with The National & City and Colour, whilst headlining their own headline shows across the globe.

Speaking about the song Drummond said, “I wrote Crisis when I had moved cities after leaving Little May and a long relationship. I felt like everything I ever identified with had just exploded in front of me. I also realised I had been living on auto-pilot for as long as I could remember, and that I had been ignoring what I actually wanted for my life. At this point, I had started to feel a huge amount of relief and humour in surrendering to the idea that things couldn’t get any worse. In many ways I felt like I had become “no one”, and this started to become liberating. This song marks that time and those feelings for me.”

The song was written between Sydney & Melbourne, however, It was in Melbourne that she took it to her friend James Seymour for his opinion and he then went on to co-produce Crisis.  Drummond said “ We co-produced the rest of the song together at Small Time (a studio in Brunswick, Melbourne). We threw everything at it, and most of it didn’t work. Liam Gough (from The Teskey Brothers) played drums on this one. His playing really informed where everything else was going to sit dynamically. Zac Barter played strings on it, and that really added another layer of depth and weirdness to the song that I loved. As much as I like the song, I’m relieved I never have to produce it again - it was a bit of a pain in the arse.”

Ask Drummond who she is and she’ll describe herself as a self-confessed misfit with an anxious disposition. Her plans of pursuing a career in acting were sidelined by the breakout success of her band Little May, which she had started with her childhood friends. Their first release took off, a record produced by Aaron Dessner of The National followed and this inevitably led to them touring the world… It was fast, furious and it took its toll. Elizabeth M. Drummond pulled the ripcord, not for any selfish ambitions but to seek the time to repair herself, regain a sense of identity and beyond the band environment, to recover from the bruises of a few poisonous relationships.

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Claude - twenty something.

Claude—the Chicago based existential dream pop solo project of Claudia Ferme has announced that her debut full-length album, a lot’s gotta change, will be released on August 12th, 2022 via American Dreams Records.

Produced and engineered with Michael Mac (Tenci, Tasha, Devin Shaffer, Mia Joy), the album includes contributions from fellow Chicago musicians such as Dustin Laurenzi (Twin Talk, Bon Iver), Vivian McConnell (V.V. Lightbody), Maria Jacobson (Fran), among many others, and was mixed and mastered by Andrew Weathers.

“This album is a snapshot of my early-to-mid twenties — formative, sometimes confusing years,” says Claude. “I can pinpoint specific experiences and instances that correlate with each song. Yet, I was frustrated I still didn’t have things figured out like I thought I should and that things weren’t working out the way I’d hoped they would.” Through catchy hooks, wistful production, and deadpan humor, lead single “twenty something” reflects Claude's frustrations of society’s expectations when faced with reality, which is represented visually with an accompanying music video directed by Reilly Drew.

Regarding the video, Claude shared the following: “I wanted to explore the ‘snapshot’ aspect of the album and way of concretizing experiences through the different landscapes and outfits you see throughout. The emptiness and the surreal and dream-like quality of these spaces serve as a representation of my internal environment. I’m alone in each scene, on some strange kind of journey, walking, thinking, looking inward, even when I’m surrounded by people.”

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Berries - Haze.

Berries have unleashed a third cut from their debut album ‘How We Function’. Rhythmic and rambunctious in equal measure, meticulous new track “Haze” seesaws between infectious and ansty in a beat and evokes how unexpected the onset of intrusive thoughts and mental hurdles can be.

Just as biting as earlier tracks “We Are Machines” and “Wall of Noise”, albeit with a more measured edge, the new track showcases the band’s tight musicianship and ability to find optimism and craft an arresting melody in a tough time.

“”Haze” represents the barriers we often put up and how scary but also uplifting it can be when they break down. The “Haze” descends when least expected and is hard to fight through, but it’s important to recognise the strength it takes to open up and fight past the intrusive thoughts and be the best version of yourself.”

Blending gravelly garage rock stylings with uplifting hooks and a hopeful vision for the future, “Haze” arrives as a third glimpse into Berries’ forthcoming debut  ‘How We Function’ — an album ostensibly about mental health struggles and the resounding empowerment of overcoming and learning to live thoroughly with them.

Having sieved the last four years of their lives through tight, crunchy guitar lines and puncturing rhythmic patterns, ‘How We Function’ explores the band’s musical and emotional DNA revealing what it takes to not only overcome personal problems but set yourselves down a path to being truly independent in sound, ambition, heart and mind. “We really couldn’t have put more into it,” adds Holly, “we are so proud of the end result.”


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