Mall Girl - Dana Gavanski - Autumn Hollow

Mall Girl - Close My Eyes (Live at Studio Paradiso).

Norwegian math pop four-piece Mall Girl have released their debut album Superstar via Jansen Records. To mark the release, the band has shared a brand new live video for album track 'Close My Eyes', recorded at Studio Paradiso in Oslo where they recorded the album.

Superstar represents an exciting new chapter for the buzzed-about band. The release follows a string of successful singles, including album tracks ‘Bachtap’ & ‘Bubbly Cool Drink’, which introduced them as an act to watch in the alt-pop arena. Members Iver Armand Tandsether, Hannah Veslemøy Narvesen, Eskild Myrvoll and Bethany Forseth-Reichberg were forced to get creative when the pandemic hit, sidelining best-laid plans to flesh out some songs before heading into the studio together.

"Because of COVID regulations and the four of us living in two different cities, we changed the way we worked with the songs quite radically in the months leading up to the studio recording,” Narvesen says. "We’ve always been very oriented towards the live performance of the songs, including when we compose them together in our rehearsal space. That way of working has led to some challenges when recording, as you end up listening to the songs in a different manner and might figure out you should have done everything differently."

While others put their creative endeavors on hold, Mall Girl opted to try something different. Many of the songs on Superstar were tracks that the band regularly performed, but they wanted to seize the opportunity to evolve their sound even more.

 

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Dana Gavanski - Bend Away and Fall.

Conducting each note with a light gracefulness, Dana Gavanski's fingertips appear to dance whilst aiding their owner in expressing the stories behind each of her lighter-than-air tones. Stories which, on her brand new album When It Comes, may never have been heard if not for healing 'lost' vocal cords and a lesson in taking the rough with the smooth.

In many ways this record feels like it is my first. When I could use my voice, I had to focus so there is an urgency and greater emotional trajectory than before… it's very connected to vocal presence, which extended into an existential questioning of my connection to music. It felt like a battle at times, which I frequently lost. – Dana Gavanski

The record's focus track, "Bend Away & Fall," is about the constant zigzag of closing and opening up. Learning to give chances to new experiences and how to stick around when the going gets tough. The hegemony of old habits, fears and anxieties and the attempt to overthrow the deceitful draw to comfort in favour of flexibility and deep focus.

Dana Gavanski · Bend Away and Fall

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Autumn Hollow - Meantime/Between Time.

Autumn Hollow just announced the release of their single, “Meantime/Between Time.”  It’s off the Americana EP, Throw the House, due out June 17 through Oak Honest Records. A song to listen to amongst springtime wonders, “Meantime/Between Time” centers around the necessity to exist in the moment. A lilting melody draws the listener to the present moment while Murphy sings of finding happiness within even the deepest of burdens

The lived-in joy extends to the other songs on Throw the House, a sense of gratitude for the opportunity to build and rebuild no matter how much everyday life tears you down. Murphy’s hopes and struggles come across in songs like “Si Viene Si Va.” He says, “That was the first song that I wrote when I was able to write again. Si viene si va is an Italian phrase, that means ‘comes and it goes.’ That idea was really important during that time. 

I just needed to have more energy and more happiness. Even if you’re writing something that might seem sad or depressing or whatever, you still need those things.”  “Pick up my pills and pick up my kids and hope that one won’t react with the other,” Murphy sings on “Rooting for Laundry.” The sound is often centered around the acoustic guitar and Murphy’s earnest vocal delivery triangulated somewhere between Bruce Springsteen’s bedroom records and Fleet Foxes’ rootsy rock and roll.

Boston Americana rockers Autumn Hollow return with their first new recordings since 2013. The three-song EP features a reconstituted band led by singer/songwriter Brendan Murphy and a refreshed out look on writing and performing. The band has gone through a few lineup changes since its inception in 2007. It currently features Murphy (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Mike Burke (lead guitar, background vocals), Chuck Vath (bass, background vocals), James DeFilippo (piano, organ, keys), and Nick Campbell (drums).

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Fresh - Wildes - Dana Gavanski - Tragedy Ann

Fresh - Babyface.

London DIY punks Fresh have announced their forthcoming new album, ‘Raise Hell’, out 1st July on Specialist Subject. Alongside the announcement, they share lead single ‘Babyface’, a song written in early lockdown, “hence the ‘boredom’ refrain” says lead singer and songwriter Kathryn Woods (cheerbleederz, ME REX). “It’s a song about having a mind that’s both overstimulated and under-stimulated at the same time. The light, airy synths make it a cry for help masquerading as a pop song.” This is a sentiment that runs through much of ‘Raise Hell’ – the push and pull of conflicting emotions, wrestling with opposing personality traits, the tension between learning to self-love and yet wanting more.

Fresh have been an unwavering fixture within the UK punk scene since their first record in 2017. A joy to behold live, lead singer Kathryn Woods honed her craft not only fronting Fresh but as a member of several heralded indie and punk bands, including cheerbleederz and ME REX alongside Fresh bandmate Myles McCabe.

Their new album radiates with their signature mischievous British charm and flourishes of brilliant pop punk flair – though underestimate Fresh at your peril. ‘Raise Hell’ dares to dive deeper than most, delivering Woods’ darker moments and contemplative thought processes through the sharply focussed lens of upbeat indie punk.

Having shared another single from the album towards the end of last year, Fresh have shown no sign of slowing down; ‘Morgan and Joanne’ references the story of a blind date that went viral in 2019. “It’s about queer joy and queer visibility” says Woods. “I wrote Morgan & Joanne because I was so struck by the charm of Morgan and Joanne and how they turned what had the potential to be a typical first date into an adventure. The song is about the magic of meeting someone who you really fancy for the first time and kind of escaping into a different realm with them. I think popular media and historical narratives tend to make queer relationships tragic instead of focusing on all the joy and possibilities that they hold, so I wanted to put a song out there that’s sweet and funny and empowering to counter that a little bit.”

specialistsubject · FRESH - Babyface

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Wildes - Woman In Love.

London singer songwriter Wildes returns this week with her new single "Woman In Love". The new track is the first to be heard since her 2020 EP 'Let You Go' and debut EP 'Illuminate'. Sonically falling somewhere in a Bermuda Triangle of Angel Olsen, St Vincent and PJ Harvey, Wildes' music sits within an entrancing skeleton of folk songwriting, all the while lifting the listener up on a storm cloud of cinematic electronics and her sharp, honest lyricism. Wildes’ sound is one that never falls short of empowering, and new single "Woman In Love" is a biting first taste of her currently unannounced debut album, due for release later this year.

Produced by St Francis Hotel (Michael Kiwanuka, Little Simz) - "Woman In Love is a song of anger," Wildes explains. "It's all about the facade presented by someone who isn't all that happy, and the rage that lies under the glassy exterior. I had put on a brave face for so long when I was in fact feeling underestimated, scared, manipulated, and cornered. I wanted to release that fury and fear in to a song and be honest for the first time about how I was feeling. The music was part inspired by artists who occupied my head at the time - PJ Harvey, Patti Smith, SASAMI. Unapologetically honest women and musicians. They gave me permission to come out of the box I'd been cowering in."

Wildes is the solo project of Ella Walker, a singer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in London. “Come on and bare your teeth” urged Wildes on her soaring debut single "Bare". And bare she did, tenaciously carving out a path that saw her release 2 acclaimed EPs; ’Let You Go’ and ‘Illuminate’, which have over 60 million streams across platforms to date; firm radio support across BBC Radio 1, 2, and 6 Music, as well as Radio X, KCRW, and European stations 3FM, Flux and Radio Eins.

The viral success of Wildes grabbed the attention of Danger Mouse, who became her publisher, and led to over 20 notable syncs on US TV shows like Suits, Scream and The Royals. On top of UK tours supporting Isaac Gracie and Ardyn, Wildes' music has received widespread press support from outlets including Consequence, The Line Of Best Fit, Metro, Stereogum, Notion, Clash Magazine, DIY Magazine and more.

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Dana Gavanski - I Kiss The Night.

Taken from her forthcoming album When It Comes which is out on April 29 through Flemish Eye, Dana Gavanski has just shared the video for the opening track on the LP, "I Kiss The Night". The video, directed by Gaia Alari, is made up of 1,700 hand-drawn frames, around 12 drawings per second, creating a beautiful stop motion animation that fits the music perfectly.

“The nocturnal and lulling atmospheres evoked by Dana's song,” says Gaia, “had me design a video treatment that aims to represent a dreamscape, or, more precisely, the moment of drowsiness happening right before falling asleep. By entering the door of the liminal space between awake and asleep, the character erases the external world and enters within her brain, experiencing a maze made of layered visions, distorted perception of self, time and space, intrusive thoughts that range from playful-bizarre-uncanny sequences to reassuring memories, in the attempt to fall asleep and finally shut the door.”

Dana wrote the song whilst cat sitting alone in her friend’s apartment in Montreal: “It’s an ode to the night, learning to lean into its magic and the spookiness of solitude in a winter storm.” Yesterday Is Gone is the follow-up to her 2020 debut When It Comes. It was started in Montreal, ended in Belgrade, recorded back in London at Total Refreshment Centre, and then mixed by Mike Lindsay (Tunng, Lump).

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Tragedy Ann - The Shield.

Every note of The Shield urges you to surrender to the infectious sense of wonder evoked when driving North and West around Superior. Vivid storytelling pairs with rich strings to create sweeping vistas, with the listener in the passenger's seat; The Shield is as lush and dynamic as the locations it describes. The name of Stuart McLean is invoked, and is not done lightly: this new single by Tragedy Ann rings with a familiar awestruck love and gratitude for the landscapes that define travel in this part of the world.

With their upcoming album Heirlooms (May 6, 2022), Liv Cazzola and Braden Phelan issue a call for deeper connection with each other and with the natural world. The answer to this call is reflected both in the collaborative creation process and the meaningful ways in which Heirlooms will be shared. Setting these intentions rooted them and provided the insight needed to nourish the project and create something lasting.

"We want Heirlooms to encourage listeners to question their individual choices and reconsider the experiences of others in their communities, provoking critical thought rather than merely expressing our opinions. In order to encourage this in others, we must do so ourselves." Heirlooms is an opportunity to reconnect, share stories and learn.

The album is a follow up to their 2018 release Matches which garnered them two ‘Songs from the Heart’ songwriting awards (Folk Music Ontario), international critical acclaim, Canadian folk/roots radio charting, and syndication on CBC Radio and Stingray Music.

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Dana Gavanski - Papercuts - Laurie Biagini - Ursa Minor

Photo by Clementine-Schneidermann

Dana Gavanski - Under the Sky.

Arriving where introversion and extroversion meet, forthcoming new album When It Comes is Dana Gavanski’s most vulnerable record to date. A Canadian-Serbian artist unafraid of extremes, she seamlessly blends her love of music from the 50s-70s with mythology. 

Led by instinct in its purest form, Dana’s latest chapter is an ode to the voice as an instrument – its power, and how intricately it can deliver words to tug at, and tie knots in, every heartstring.

“Under the Sky,” the second single to be shared from When It Comes, was written as an end of summer tune. Dana wanted to create something innocent and love-y sounding but also plaintive and questioning: that hazy way we sometimes feel when looking back at the past and the memories that stick and wonder what really happened. Shifting perspectives, waves of emotion, chest full with that bottomless breath.

 
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Papercuts - Lodger.

This is the third track from the new Papercuts LP, 'Past Life Regression,' the album is due April 1 on Slumberland. "The song had a slight 60s pop inspiration, and I wanted to see if I could pull off a freakout in the middle that felt like an epiphany. Lyrically it’s inspired by a memory of feeling like a fling is just sort of passing through your life, and wondering if thats all you are to them.“ -Jason Quever

Jason Quever has been releasing timeless guitar-based dream pop as Papercuts since 2004, impervious to trends or micro genres that have come and gone around him. In that regard, his contemporaries are artists like Hiss Golden Messenger, Fruit Bats, Andy Shauf or Kings of Convenience – artists who are more concerned with song craft and perfecting their sound, and less concerned with gimmicks or fitting into a specific scene. Past Life Regression is his new album and it's a journey into the dreamier reaches of psychedelic folk-pop that digs deep into influences as wide-ranging as The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, Spiritualized, Echo & The Bunnymen, Leonard Cohen and late 60s pop of various flavors.

Crafted shortly after Jason's relocation back to the San Francisco Bay Area after several years in LA, the new album revels in the tensions between the pleasures of homecoming and the collective miseries of the pandemic and our current political upheaval. The return home and the enforced isolation of lockdown lend the album a mood of contemplation and immersion in memory. The results are beguiling, from the lush sunshine pop harmonies of first single "I Want My Jacket Back" to the trippy farfisa-driven space-pop of "Lodger" to the gorgeous, Bunnymen-tinged "Palm Sunday."

As always, Jason's songcraft, arranging and production are immaculate, (Quever has been tapped to work with dream pop luminaries Dean Wareham and Beach House as of late) as evidenced by the elegant chamber-pop of "My Sympathies" and the epic flow of "The Strange Boys," “Hypnotist" and "Remarry" in the album's warbly second half. The mood of longing and recollection is a perfect match for the album's dreamy textures and for the unusual times we're living through. It's a true testament to the resilience of the Papercuts project that after several acclaimed albums, Jason still has much that's new to say, and is continually finding new ways to say it.

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Laurie Biagini - Hey Mr. DJ.

Laurie Biagini is a songwriter-singer from Vancouver, British Columbia Canada, whose music would appeal to fans of 1960’s California sunshine pop. Her sound and compositions have been compared to The Beach Boys, The Mamas and the Papas, Carol King, The Carpenters, and Jackie DeShannon. Her main influences include these artists along with The Beatles, The Byrds, The Monkees, The Turtles, and Jan & Dean. 

Laurie has played piano by ear since age five, alongside ten years of classical piano training. She only started writing music in August 2006, after writing her first song which came to her with music and lyrics simultaneously one afternoon as she was commuting home from work. 

Since then, she has completed and released four albums: “Ridin’ the Wave” (November 2008) “A Far-Out Place” (March 2010) “A Go-Go Girl in a Modern World” (November 2011) "Sanctuary of Sound" (May 8, 2013). 

Almost all of Laurie’s songs have been written, composed, performed and recorded by herself, with the exception of a few songs from her third and fourth albums which featured guest vocals, guitar tracks and lyrics. Laurie is currently in production of her fifth album "Stranger In The Mirror" (release date TBA). Recent release 'Hey Mr.DJ' is a gorgeous smooth flowing song that fires out melodic musical  & vocal hooks in all directions, we love it!

 

Laurie Biagini · Hey Mr. DJ

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Ursa Minor - Stardust.

Ursa Minor originated in NYC in the late 90s, coming out of the fertile downtown scene of musicians transcending the usual boundaries of folk, rock and jazz. Michelle Casillas worked as a sound engineer in the late 1990s and early 2000s at Tonic, the now defunct home of New York’s underground music scene. As an artist she sang on scores of films by Elliot Sharp and productions by Anton Fier (Feelies, Golden Palominos) while playing sideman, collaborating and recording with other local artists. Inspired by the freedom and diversity of the music she was hearing, Michelle formed Ursa Minor with guitarist Tony Scherr (Bill Frisell, Feist, Willie Nelson, Lounge Lizards), drummer Robert DiPietro (Elysian Fields, Norah Jones), and bassist Rob Jost (Imogen Heap, Bjork).

Ursa Minor’s debut LP Silent Moving Picture - a stark Fender Rhodes based record - was released by Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley, on Smells Like Records. Their second album, Showface (Anthemusa), took a punchier rock turn with driving guitar rhythms and expansive arrangements.

Ursa Minor’s current LP release, Sian Ka'an (Mayan, pronounced See-AHN KHAN, meaning “origin of the sky”) was inspired by a visit to the protected biosphere reserve on the Yucatán peninsula. Travels along the coast inspired a series of songs and photographs brought on by the raw intensity and untouched beauty of the region. The wonder of this place heavily influenced the writing and sound of the album.

 Sian Ka'an is a return to the barebones vulnerability of the first album, with new resolve, tranquility, ferocity. The band ranges from feral polyphony to hushed stillness; a ballad of the mystery of the natural world. Sian Ka’an was produced by Tony Scherr, recorded analog to Otari 8 track by Derek Neivergelt, mixed by New York musician/producer/engineer Mark Plati (Bowie), and features special guests violist Caleb Burhans (John Cale, Yoko Ono, Steve Reich, the National, Arcade Fire) and organist Todd Caldwell (Crosby, Stills, Nash).

 

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Ellen Arthur Blyth - Dana Gavanski - Many Voices Speak

Ellen Arthur Blyth - Young Ones.

Ellen Arthur Blyth is a Dublin based singer songwriter. Her unique, soulful sound blends classic artists such as Billie Holiday and Peggy Lee with contemporary hints of Katie Melua and Lana Del Ray. Honing her craft over the years Ellen is excited to unveil her debut album ‘Nine’ in 2022. Leading up to the album release is her new single ‘Young Ones’. With a seductive vocal line and jazz-infused instrumentation, the new offering is a tantalizing tease of what we can expect more of from Ellen Arthur Blyth.

“It's less about falling in love and more about choosing to stay in love, trying to find magic and playfulness with someone in the mundane of the everyday. It's striving to be someone’s safe place in a world that can seem overwhelming at times. Love is a choice and so it’s important how we frame it.” Ellen shares.

The track was recorded as part of her upcoming debut album ‘Nine’ in Hell Fire Studios, Dublin and produced by Alex Borwick, head engineer at the famed Grouse Lodge studios in Ireland.

The impressive sound walks a tightrope of consonance and dissonance, nostalgia and joy, resulting in a finely poised drama of soft, lilting melody and haunting wistfulness. The vocal, at once resonant, is at times achingly honest and captivates from beginning to end. With the plethora of talent behind it, ‘Nine’ does not sing like the debut album it is, but instead stands as an accomplished piece, unapologetic, stylish, and yet encapsulating the fears and aspirations of a nine-year old girl tottering about in her sister’s high heels whilst belting out numbers into her hairbrush.

 

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Photo - Clementine Schneidermann

Dana Gavanski - Indigo Highway.

There’s something mesmerizing about the fingertips of Dana Gavanski. Conducting each note with a light gracefulness, they appear to dance whilst aiding their owner in expressing the stories behind each of her lighter-than-air tones. Stories which, on her new album When It Comes – out April 29 via Flemish Eye (and Full Time Hobby outside of North America)  – may never have been heard if not for healing ‘lost’ vocal cords and a lesson in taking the rough with the smooth.

“In many ways this record feels like it is my first,” Dana tells. “When I could use my voice, I had to focus so there is an urgency and greater emotional trajectory than before… it’s very connected to vocal presence, which extended into an existential questioning of my connection to music. It felt like a battle at times, which I frequently lost.”

Arriving where introversion and extroversion meet, When It Comes is Dana’s most vulnerable record to date. A Canadian-Serbian artist unafraid of extremes, she seamlessly blends her love of music from the 50s-70s with mythology. Led by instinct in its purest form, Dana’s latest chapter is an ode to the voice as an instrument – its power, and how intricately it can deliver words to tug at, and tie knots in, every heartstring. “Words can be taken quite literally, but to me, a lot of the time, they are pivots. They point in a direction but don’t necessarily stay there,” she says.

The follow-up to her 2020 debut Yesterday Is Gone was started in Montreal, ended in Belgrade, recorded back in London at Total Refreshment Centre, and then mixed by Mike Lindsay (Tunng, Lump). It offers something altogether more atmospheric and widescreen, as heard in the idiosyncratic carnival arpeggio grooves of the first single "Indigo Highway."

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Photo - Julia Mard

Many Voices Speak - Seat For Sadness.

Many Voices Speak has announced her return with second album 'Gestures', released on 29th April via Strangers Candy. Many Voices Speak, the project of Swedish musician Matilda Mård, has always found its power in its ability to capture an eternity in an expression. Mård’s elegant, yearning dream-pop makes the world seem to slow down around it, where time stretches out, and you can get lost in the deep pools of memory and emotion. After the success of her 2018 debut 'Tank Town,' her new album 'Gestures' showcases her growth as a songwriter, one more comfortable in her own skin.

The first single taken from the new record is 'Seat for Sadness'. “The verse of this song kind of came to me all at once. Then it took quite a long time until I got the rest of the song out of me", Matilda recalls, "I lived in Berlin at the time and rented a piano room at a music school, and most of the hours spent in there I was searching for the rest of the song. It wasn’t until me and Petter Nygårdh had started recording the album back home in Sweden, that I came up with the melody that would become the chorus. The new chorus pushed us in a new direction by making the whole song require something more. We had only brought a small part of the home studio to a country house to escape the noise from the neighbour’s renovation, but we found an acoustic guitar in that house that ended up being an important part of Seat For Sadness, and later on an important part of the album as a whole.”

Working with longtime producer Petter Nygårdh, the writing process, and how Mård thinks about it, grew into something new on 'Gestures'. She wrote the early versions of the songs on piano, as she always has. But before, she thought as a singer-songwriter, determined to make the songs stand up on their own, in their stripped-back version. Here, she wrote them merely as beginnings, aware of the possibility to evolve them into something more. “I want to capture these things that I can’t really put my finger on”, says Mård. “The lyrics have become more important for me. I’ve put a lot of trust in the text this time. I could explore this darker and more cinematic sound, I didn’t just think about writing a pop song”. That step made for an album that presents a more mature, developed vision of Many Voices Speak.

As well as an artist, the album has seen Mård grow as a person through writing it. Each song represents an issue she has struggled with - they tell a story of unspectacular, but deeply meaningful, transformation. Mård says “What unites the songs is a need for inner change, to handle the things in life that can’t be changed. I’m creating strategies for myself - new ways of thinking, so I can live with certain things. The title comes from that. I’ve figured out that gestures are important because they’re proof of love, and that’s the only power we have against death and separation”. It’s a theme that’s very personal to Mård, but one that resonates with a lot of people – something that could be said about Many Voices Speak itself. The stargazing mood of Gestures makes for an album that’s powerfully moving, one that creates a space apart from the noise of the world around it – a little retreat for Mård, and her listeners, to call their own.

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Dana Gavanski - Kaya Usher - Parrot Dream - Lydia Brownfield

Dana Gavanski - Letting Go.

Following on from her debut album Yesterday Is Gone and her covers EP Wind Songs both released in 2020, Serbian-Canadian musician Dana Gavanski gives us a taste of what's to come next with her brand new single "Letting Go."

It's a slice of wide screen psychedelic pop. Dana and her band are also heading out on the road with Porridge Radio this week, a tour they will be embarking on by train in the interest of lowering their environmental impact.

Of the new single Dana says: "It's like a little mantra for me to sing, though maybe it’s a tad unconventional being that it’s not necessarily the kind of positive message we all associate with pop mantras. It’s more of an account of how the mind works to undermine us. It’s a subverted mantra. In the chord sequence I was trying to excite my ears and explore different melodies."

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Kaya Usher - Heart Clicks.

Kaya Usher's first single as a recording artist is Heart Clicks, a song about the transcending power of love and the ways in which it unites humanity.  The song comes a week ahead of the November 17 release of her debut album, All This Is, produced by Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene and Nyles Spencer. Mastered by Grammy award-winner Emily Lazar, the 10-track project also features Andrea Nann on back-up vocals and two of Usher and Downie’s children, Lou and Willo. Bringing to life the couple’s dream of one day forming a family band, All This Is will self-released and distributed by Arts & Crafts Productions, the label behind Downie’s solo career.

"This is a very personal album for me, not only because I get to jam out with my kids, but also because music has helped me to rise up and transcend what was holding me back,” says Kaya Usher. “Everyone can connect to music. My hope is that this album helps others reach new heights too.”

All This Is represents a reset. It is Usher’s story, told for the first time through a series of songs. Haunting melodies and soul-searching lyrics create an experience for the listener that reflects Usher’s awakening process, a journey that began when she fought breast cancer in her forties. The album speaks to her unraveling, her epiphany and, finally, her metamorphosis.

Kevin Drew met Usher in 2013 through Downie, and they soon became good friends. Their collaboration is heard throughout the album, in its robust compositions, ambient chords and hypnotic rhythms. Featuring her son Lou on keyboard and drums, her daughter Willo on harmonies and Usher playing classical guitar, organ, harmonica and providing vocals, All This Is is an offering almost thirty years in the making. The project was recorded at The Bathouse Recording Studio — a studio owned and managed by The Hip, near Kingston on the shores of Lake Ontario. The album art was designed by Willo.

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Parrot Dream - The End.

NY-based dream-pop duo Parrot Dream are sharing a new single, "The End." It's third and final in the band's 2021 song cycle following "Automatic System" and "Red Circle."

The band shares, "'The End' was not in fact written in response to world events. We were experimenting with big dark synth sounds and wanted to create something minimal but deep & dynamic. The lyrics are essentially final thoughts as a chapter closes and one created world ends. We all move through several worlds during the day; worlds we create ourselves, worlds created by systemic repression, worlds of relationships, worlds created by the illusions of capitalism, to name a few. The world ending in this song is specifically a world built around two beings facing a fire and brimstone type of demise."

Parrot Dream is the Brooklyn via Santiago, Chile duo of Christina Appel and Gonzalo Guerrero. Good Eye released their debut, Light Goes, which dealt with themes of disconnected memory and loss as the partners grappled with their different senses of home.

"The End" is part of a set of material that they had planned on recording in a studio in 2020 and ended up recording in their home throughout the year. It's also their first new work operating fully as a duo.

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Lydia Brownfield - Against The Light.

Lydia Brownfield announces the release of the single “Against the Light." It’s an anthem for those trying over and over again despite the odds and also a reckoning for those getting in their own way.  It’s off the upcoming album, Dig, due out November 19.

The frantic and impulsive tempo symbolizes a moth banging around the dark searching for the light. When she finds it she throws herself against it: “Around and round this light I’m flying banging loudly into the night, torn and broken but not beaten, I will throw myself again and again and again against the light”.

It reflects two areas of Brownfield’s own life she strives to get right, her music career and past relationships. She says, “This song kind of sums up my life. Even after failing at relationships, we all do it again. And again and again. We have to try. I always have to try. It’s the same with music. I’ve been at this for decades. But I still throw myself at it as hard as I can, with whatever I have. Or whatever I have left.”

Brownfield plays acoustic guitar, piano, strings and synths on “Against the Light”. The single produced by Fred Blitzer, also features Andy Harrison on electric guitar, Jeff Martin on drums, and Phil Maneri on bass.

The album travels the euphoric highs of being in love and the dramatic lows of breaking up and discovering internal power. Through genre-bending twists and turns of folk, punk, and pop, it explores the journey of getting caught up in someone else and losing sight of one’s journey of self-discovery.

Lydia Brownfield · Against The Light

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Dana Gavanski - Jakob's Ferry Stragglers - Glenn Thomas - Deleo - Jennah Barry

Dana Gavanski final single before next weeks album release is 'Small Favours', a stripped back piece that builds a little without losing a natural personal vibe. === We have always been fans of live music on Beehive Candy so Jakob's Ferry Stragglers live single 'Poison River' is very welcome especially as it's a fabulous Bluegrass song with superb musicianship. === Glenn Thomas shares 'Catherine Ames' an intimate modern folk song that is fabulously arranged. === Accompanied by a dramatic video Deleo has just released 'Unfair' a moody and hook filled modern pop song. === Our fourth feature for Jennah Barry just ahead of her 'Holiday' album release is for the new single 'Rocket' which is another beautiful soft rock song. 
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Dana Gavanski - Small Favours.

Serbian-Canadian musician Dana Gavanski will release her debut album, Yesterday Is Gone, on March 27th via Flemish Eye Records (Canada), Ba Da Bing Records (Americas) and Full Time Hobby (Rest of the World). This weekend she presents “Small Favours”, the final single before the album release later this month. Dana shared her state of mind when she wrote “Small Favours” and how it came to her in a song. “Small Favours expresses cheekiness. A playful dismissal of heaviness and getting bogged down by emotions, acknowledging how things may seem small when they’re big and big when they’re small.”

By turns break-up album, project of curiosity, and, as Dana puts it, “a reckoning with myself,” Yesterday Is Gone is an album of longing and devotion to longing, and of the uncertainty that arises from learning about oneself, of pushing boundaries, falling hard, and getting back up.  Moments of beguilement splinter a backdrop of tenderly picked guitar, bass, synth, and poppier elements, which commune to produce her own kind of wall of sound. Each component is meticulously placed, yielding a deeply sincere response to the chaos of human emotion.

Yesterday Is Gone was co-produced between Dana, Toronto-based musician Sam Gleason, and Mike Lindsay (Tunng and LUMP w/ Laura Marling). While Sam helped Dana bring out the tunes, Mike’s input marked the beginning of developing Dana’s sound. The two kept stripped it down to the essentials, keeping things bare and letting the songs speak for themselves. The album shapeshifted as it passed through the hands of Dana, Sam, and Mike, taking on different tastes, feelings, and visions. When Dana performed the songs with a band, they found new form again. She was intrigued by performers like David Bowie and Aldous Harding, who inhabit different personalities on stage, physically tuning themselves to their music.

“Often we have to go a little far in one direction to learn something about ourselves,” Dana says. The months of solitary writing and self-doubt testify to this, but they’ve led to Yesterday Is Gone: an optimistic, steely-eyed gaze into the future.


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Jakob's Ferry Stragglers - Poison River Live!

Jakob's Ferry Stragglers are eager and ready to release their first live album into the world, titled "The Straggle is Live". The album is a curation of the group's greatest hits and was recorded live at The Church Recording Studio by Dana Cannone. The set was performed on 10/9/19 with a private, invite-only intimate audience. It was mixed & mastered by Will Shenk at Metier Mastering in Front Royal, VA.

“The Straggle is Live'' started with an idea to capture the animated onstage energy of the band, in a controlled studio environment. It’s not often that a recorded bluegrass album truly matches the sights and sounds of seeing the talent live in-person.

The team took this task to heart and has produced an outcome where the at-home listener can truly understand what it means to be at a live Jakob’s Ferry Stragglers show.  "Poison River (LIVE)" will be released ahead of the full album, which is set for a drop date of May 22, 2020, at their first-time appearance at legendary The Station Inn in Nashville, ahead of their weekend at DelFest in Cumberland, MD.

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Glenn Thomas - Catherine Ames.

Glenn Thomas new song is called "Catherine Ames," named for the antagonist of Steinbeck's East Of Eden. In it, Glenn sings to Catherine and cathartically tells her he's let her go. The song is about resolution and moving forward.

Glenn says of "Catherine Ames": "This song takes it name from the antagonist in John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, Cathy Ames. She’s pretty evil and causes a lot of pain for the main character. This song is about holding on to pain and anger as though they are part of your identity.

Forgiveness is not the same as forgetting, and as with any kind of healing and moving forward, it takes time. There was a moment for me when I realized I wasn’t holding onto something in my past that hurt me and had become part of me for years, and it was a really cathartic thing to write about. I pulled Steinbeck’s character name because there is a similar theme of resolution and moving forward in that story that was relatable, and he’s one of my favorite American authors."

He's such a poetically clever songwriter, and his sound is like Brit-pop-inspired folky vintage sunshine. Would you be willing to share this one? The song is out officially on 3/20. We'd be so grateful for the support!

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Deleo - Unfair.

Unfair is representative of our sound – a hybrid of pop, rock and electro, as if these genres never split apart but remained a single, fused supercontinent.

The track is a good way to discover our music.

It’s a ballad, maybe our most subtly mutant song, one you can curl up in and sail away, as smooth as Black’s ‘Wonderful Life’ blended with Garbage and Archive.

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Jennah Barry - Rocket.

Jennah's new single is entitled 'Rocket'. Quote from Jennah: "Rocket is about acting on impulse and saying things you can’t take back."

"Rocket" comes from the gorgeous Jennah Barry LP Holiday, coming March 27th 2020 on Forward Music Group. Majorly recommended for fans of Andy Shauf, whose bandmate Colin Nealis produced the LP, the songs here are built to last, with echoes of those soft-rock classics often referred to as "AM gold."

Barry's vocals are warm and weave through the arrangements with so much skill. The arrangements are full and pillowey but always pull up short of being cloying or overdone, more-so than the source material she's referencing. This record is like catnip for me, honestly, just a true pleasure to listen to.

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