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Like the rainforests from which their name derives, the steady beat of the west coast can be found within the sound of Carmanah. From muddy blues-funk to light soaring melodies, Carmanah creates music that curves and tumbles through valleys and over peaks guiding the listener on a celebratory sonic journey.
Recognizing Carmanah’s passion for their home and the ways it influences their music, renown producer Gus Van Go (The Arkells, Sam Roberts, Wintersleep) coined the term “West Coast Soul” to describe their unique sound. The band’s first album, Speak in Rhythms produced two #1 CBC Music tracks, the effervescent ‘Roots’ and shimmering, brooding ‘Nightmare’, setting the tone for this new west coast sound.
With one album behind them and one ahead, Carmanah is crafting a musical niche of their very own, a vintage blend of the intuitive and the technical; a blend that lies somewhere among roots, rock and blues — all seamlessly woven together by Laura Mina Mitic’s soulfully luminous vocals.
Iris, their forthcoming album is a natural evolution and a moody counterpoint to their debut. Recorded between the wild forests of B.C. and the concrete high rises of Brooklyn, Iris is a heartfelt offering, a tapestry of thoughtful stories for our time. Undulating rhythms and bountiful instrumentation create a rich sonic backdrop for driving melodies and potent lyricism. The first track ‘Mountain Woman’ shows rousing vocals layered atop of propulsive rhythms, a joyful assertion of feminine energy and natural power. Lead single ‘As I See You’ is one of the gentler songs on the album, a sultry composition that speaks of friendship and holding up the people you love while valuing what they love in you. It’s a track that carries a compassionate message; “By embracing those who love us, within ourselves we can find a sense of home and belonging in our own skin”, says Mitic, “By caring for the environment around us, we also care for ourselves.”
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Swansea based singer/songwriter Eleri Angharad will release her much anticipated new single 'Blank Walls' on Friday, April 17. The track has been written solely by Eleri Angharad and was produced and recorded by Lee House at Fieldgate Studio.
2019 saw Eleri burst onto the country scene with the release of her debut album 'Earthbound' which has since racked up thousands of Spotify streams – an impressive feat for an independent artist coming out of Wales. The title-track was even A-Listed on BBC Radio Wales showcasing the support she has across the nation.
Last year also saw the Swansea artist touring the globe on a headline tour playing intimate shows across Europe and even played Glastonbury Festival. 2019 was a huge breakout year for the artist who delivers a mix of country, and pop sonic sounds throughout her musical output.
The European support and radio play signals that 2020 is going to be a big year for Eleri Angharad who shares 'Blank Walls' this April. Speaking about the track, the Welsh performer says: “ Blank Walls tells the story of a fragile, chaotic relationship. A series of fragmented moments you're constantly trying to string together into something solid"
'Blank Walls' delivers a Kacey Musgraves esque production overlayed by the hauntingly beautiful vocal of Eleri Angharad which evokes Clare Bowen's sweet style. The track is a country gem that will delight her loyal fan-base whilst also inviting new listeners to discover her eclectic and unique sonic blend.
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Brooklyn-based experimental art-rock duo, Reliant Tom shares new song "The Sky is Falling" which MXDWN calls, "methodical," and "mesmerizing." The song plays upon themes heard in the lead single "Nevermind the Garbage" and carries dark, cathartic undertones. Singer Claire Cuny took inspiration from the tragic passing of her father who died suddenly in 2018 on the day of the band's last album release no less. Accompanying the track is a music video the band shot while in quarantine. Reliant Tom's new album 'Play & Rewind' is out May 8th via Diversion Records.
Tracing their origins to a chance meeting at a DIY show in Brooklyn in 2015, the Brooklyn-based post-rock electronic band and experimental performance art Reliant Tom is centered around its core creative duo, Western Massachusetts-born, Brooklyn-based composer Monte Weber and Dallas, TX-born, Brooklyn-based choreographer and vocalist Claire Cuny. The duo’s collaboration is a seamless synthesis of their individual talents and interests – sound design, wearable technology, modern dance, and hook-driven, yet genre-defying songwriting.
“Reliant Tom gives me the outlet to explore both pulse driven works while maintaining the other musical elements which I find fascinating - timbre, aleatoric processes, and interactive technologies,” Weber explains. Adds Cuny, “Our ultimate goal with Reliant Tom is to be a multi-media performance experience that straddles the line between pop and experimental music - and philosophizing about what that even means, and is that even possible as ‘experimental pop’?”
Thematically, the duo’s two previous releases, 2016’s self-released, self-titled EP and 2018’s critically applauded, full-length debut effort Bad Orange, touch upon the pitfalls of digital communication and the generally blasé nature of modern social interaction – through the guise of avant-pop and avant-punk-influenced musical devices and arrangements featuring electric guitar, vocals, a hybrid electro-acoustic drum kit, synthesizers, and Weber’s Kontrol Instrument, which he developed while studying at the Paris-based Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music as a way to make electronic music more tactile and immersive in its performance.
Slated for a May 8th, 2020 release through Chicago-based Diversion Records, Reliant Tom’s sophomore effort Play & Rewind is a decidedly bold and self-assured step forward: Cuny’s sultry and expressive vocals while being prominently placed front and center, effortlessly glide over lush yet spacious arrangements of shimmering acoustic
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From NIIKA we have the gorgeous new video for "The Cage," animated by Derek Barber, AKA Perhapsy.
Here's a quote from NIIKA on the song & video: I started writing The Cage while sitting on an enormous face of granite in Yosemite National Park, and feeling the vastness of that place. Now we're all stuck inside, keenly aware of our confines, and the incredible weight of this crisis. I suppose now this song becomes an offering of hope, and a reminder of the beautiful, terrifying sense of smallness we can experience when we're immersed in nature.
A reminder of life, space, the passage of infinite moments, blood pumping through tired legs on a hike, yelling into open air on a mountain or in a crowded bar, joy. The animation was conceived and created entirely by Derek "Perhapsy" Barber- I don't think there's been a better time to engage with a bit of genius whimsy.
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