Eli Raybon first appeared with us back in March when we commented on his "sci-fi weirdo auteur" description, however as 'Primitive Man' demonstrates he is also a really fine songwriter and performer. His sci-fi concept album, Supertoys, is due out July 12th, and it's packed with some superb material, it's well worth checking out when you get the chance.
We featured The School Book Depository a couple of times back in 2017 and now we have the new song 'The Trail', where once again the vocals of Fredrik Solfors are so engaging as is the whole atmospheric smooth rock vibe running through this piece.
Having already featured 'Astoria' and 'A Dream Of You' from Far Caspian's brand new E.P. 'The Heights' it's good to be able to include the full collection from this excellent Leeds (UK) trio, in fact this makes it appearance number six on Beehive Candy, clearly they are doing something we really like, how about you?
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Eli Raybon - Primitive Man.
21-yr-old Eli Raybon's sound plays like the lovechild of King Krule & Chromeo - a blissfully weird take on future funk, bathed in 80's pop. He's quickly established himself as a synthwave auteur, with Noisey, Ones to Watch and Earmilk lauding his retro tunage. His ready-to-be-shared single is like a mashup of 80's Bowie, MJ, Devo: "Primitive Man" Eli's sci-fi concept album, Supertoys, is due out July 12th. With only a few releases to his name, 21-year-old Eli Raybon has quickly established himself as a sci-fi weirdo auteur. The staunch non-conformist is now priming his most rebellious release yet: a sci-fi concept album called Supertoys.
Raybon’s work is fueled by an unrestricted imagination, born from a serious case of childhood nostalgia. His formative years were spent exploring small-town Mississippi, writing songs, and directing his own Hi8 tape movies. But as he grew, Eli became keenly aware of the sobering realities that faced him and his peers – a conveyer belt existence where they were destined to become carbon copies of their parents. He himself was on route to New York to study computer science and mathematics, before pulling the emergency brake and changing his plans only two days before freshman orientation.
When the dust settled, Eli began recording his debut LP, The Machine & My Dilemma, which documented his desire to jump off the hamster wheel of life. Following its release, Raybon moved to LA to pursue music full time. Never one to flounder, Eli immediately recorded and released two lauded singles. The track 30 Cents was accompanied by an ambitious music video which was screened at film festivals across the country. He soon followed up with Green, an EP that drew praise from Buzzbands LA, Noisey and Paste.
Eli became infatuated with hardware synthesizers and moved from writing material on the guitar to a more expansive pallet on synths. Feeling his new material called for a producer beyond his skillset, Raybon sought the help of synth guru Prozak Morris, who had transitioned from making bass heavy hip hop to calibrating cutting edge vaporwave. The two collaborated on a remix and Eli quickly realized this was the producer he had been dreaming of. They began work on an album, recording from opposite coasts, Eli on the East and Prozak on the West, connecting through frequent phone calls as they slowly pieced their production together.
The School Book Depository is an imaginary storage facility where the Swedish moniker and songwriter Fredrik Solfors releases his songs and videos. The motto of the project has always been ”It’s my party, I can do whatever I want”, in order to embrace all forms of creative outlet both musically and lyrically. The songs range from groovy, psychedelic hop hop to noisy and catchy garage pop and beautiful, atmospheric post-rock.
In 2017 he released hos self-titled album which got high praise with words like ”classic Americana with a touch of modern electronica” and ” a gem of an album, with philosophical lyrics to be considered and huge melodies to be enjoyed”. Now he’s back with another albumet titled ”Bob and the Pitchfork Mob” due release on the 20th of June.
Fredrik started playing the drums early in his hometown but moved on to vocals, guitar, piano and songwriting in bands as Wagon, The Low Season Combo and Kinetics, appointed best international act by the British magazine Pure M in 2015. He also played drums in Surrounded, a Swedish band signed by American Deep Elm and British One Little Indian. Fredrik is now living in Bollebygd outside of Gothenburg in Sweden.
Flitting between insular, emotionally engaging bedroom-pop and moments of festival-ready breathlessness across their luscious dream pop sound, Leeds trio Far Caspian’s sonic formula is earning them fans at an exponential rate. From recent single Astoria with its calm, slowly grooving verses clearing the decks for expansive choruses, to previous effort A Dream Of You and its wistful, effervescent undercurrent, the band have delivered once again in sophomore EP The Heights, out June 18th via Dance To The Radio.
Emerging last year with a collection of catchy lo-fi gems on hazy debut EP Between Days, and crafting their self-coined ‘melanjolly’ style to widespread critical praise, the three-piece’s newest material showcases their trademark sound with fresh commercial overtones and a very intentional 80s production sheen. Blending these two shades on a UK tour in support of the debut EP in the spring peaked with thrilling, sold-out debut headline shows in London and Manchester.
Discussing their forthcoming EP release, frontman Joel Johnston reveals: “The Heights has taken us a lot of work to get to where it is. We started with some songs that were brought into a studio and we soon realised we weren’t the sort of band that could work that way. We took the tracks away and then re-recorded it in our house.
The themes on the EP are about embracing the present and enjoying the good times you do have even if you’re struggling through something else. From writing and recording this project we went from a pretty dark place into a place of contentment and I feel like the tracks have that feeling within them”.
We have received some fine music through the Microdose single series and 'This Time' from Mirrorball is no exception their dream pop is quite exquisite. Far Caspian return for a fifth time here, the latest song 'Astoria' is once again full of smooth hooks and a fine melodic vibe. The Silver Lake Chorus as you might expect know how to perform a chorus (and some), 'Tabu' is a splendid affair that gives indie music a unique dimension. We have a new video and a recent single from Her Crooked Heart, both are creative pieces and rather addictive. Alt rockers Strangejuice are fascinating, their music is original and just a little quirky, with the lyrics worth a little attention along the way! We finish this selection with South Australia's Corduroy Spaceship and a melodic and extremely catchy indie song 'About Everything'.
Mirrorball - This Time.
Mirrorball have shared a new video for their single "This Time"; a shimmering sinking light show with a hint of 1980s. "This Time" is part of Dangerbird's Microdose single series.
Dangerbird Records is proud to announce the latest artist to feature in their Microdose single series, Los Angeles dream pop upstarts Mirrorball.
Mirrorball is the newly-formed project of singer/songwriter Alexandra Johnstone and guitarist Scott Watson. Johnstone and Watson are both fixtures of the Los Angeles underground music scene. The roots of Johnstone’s songwriting inspiration date back to first hearing Leonard Cohen’s Songs from a Room, prompting her to “put poems to music.” She went on to front the band Monster, later known as White Dove, as a vehicle for her more minimalist, folk-woven leanings, garnering comparisons to the music of Low and Cat Power. Watson’s musical history dates back to playing in various groups in Silver Lake’s early 2000s indie rock heyday.
Johnstone and Watson’s combined efforts in Mirrorball push both musicians into new territory. The Los Angeles band’s otherworldly yet grounded sound evokes imagery of abandoned shopping malls and 1980s coming-of-age movies. Johnstone’s hauntingly memorable vocal lines are supplemented by dense beds of swelling synthesizer and strikingly bare, percussive guitar parts that fuse together into a compelling whole.
The debut A-Side single “This Time” is a more uptempo post-new wave number imbued with mystery and longing. Johnstone’s words ring out with poignancy over a sea of fluttering keyboard arpeggios, culminating with the almost cautionary phrase “never say this time.” The accompanying B-Side “Natural World” slows things down into a pulsing soup of dark Tropicália and slow motion disco. Johnstone reveals her Cohen-esque poetry influence in her plaintive uttering of the song’s opening line – “Think I’ll live the quiet life, stop living by the knife.”
Flitting between insular, emotionally engaging bedroom-pop and moments of festival-ready breathlessness across their iconic hazy sound, Leeds trio Far Caspian’s sonic formula is earning them fans at an exponential rate. New single Astoria epitomises this thrilling contradiction; calm, slowly grooving verses clear the decks for expansive choruses, replete with a timeless synth line. It’s the final preview ahead of imminent sophomore EP The Heights, out June 11th via Dance To The Radio.
Emerging last year with a collection of catchy lo-fi gems on hazy debut EP Between Days, and crafting their self-coined ‘melanjolly’ style to widespread critical praise, the trio’s newest output showcases their trademark sound with fresh commercial overtones and a very intentional 80s production sheen. Blending these two shades on a UK tour in support of the debut EP last month peaked with thrilling, sold-out debut headline shows in London and Manchester.
Discussing their forthcoming single, frontman Joel Johnston states: “’Astoria’ is the song on the EP that kind of sums up the feeling we wanted to put across, embracing the good things in your life when things aren’t so good.
Before we had started writing any of the songs I had already decided that there would be a track with this name. It's a town in Oregon where the Goonies was shot. The Goonies has been my favourite movie since I was no age, and I've always wished I lived in that neighbourhood – this is me trying to emulate what I heard in my head when I pictured the town.
Me and Alessio were lying in the living room hungover when we wrote the chorus for the song. It came from nowhere and we just went with it.”
The Silver Lake Chorus is celebrating their Los Angeles roots. Partnering with LA-based artists Van Dyke Parks and Lucius, and producer Luke Top (Fools Gold, Cass Mccombs), TSLC is putting out two new tracks that serve as a delicious follow-up to their critically-acclaimed 2015 debut, which, according to The Wall Street Journal, relied on “the beauty and expressiveness of the voices to make its mark.” The same can be said for Lucius’s “Not Not” and Van Dyke Parks’ “Tabu,” which signal a return to the group’s choral roots after their celebrated 2016 remix album, which earned producer starRo a 2017 Grammy nomination for best remixed recording for “Heavy Star Movin’.”
Upon collaborating with The Silver Lake Chorus for the documentary film Markie in Milwaukee, film composer Morgan Z. Whirledge opined, “The power of multiple human voices, there’s nothing like it. You can use software and you can layer one person over and over again, but there’s just really nothing like getting a bunch of people together in a room. It is what it is and it can’t be replicated.” The Silver Lake Chorus figured this out over nine years ago when they first formed as a Los Angeles-based choir that could also be described as an indie rock band... with twenty lead singers. Their latest recordings are even more stripped down than usual, exposing their raw musicianship and vocal talent rather than slick production value. As TSLC’s music director Mikey Wells puts it, “We wanted the recording process to capture our natural choral sound, to have as few layers between the vocals and the listeners’ ears as possible, so we popped a couple mics in a room and pressed record.” The result: two gorgeous tracks that revel in lush harmonies and playful instrumentation and lay bare the irreplicable power and pleasure of multiple human voices.
In “Not Not,” written for the the chorus by indie pop band Lucius, the chorus opted to follow the songwriters’ lead, singing in perfectly aligned unison, as Lucius’s frontwomen Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig are known to do, until the harmonies delicately split then build to a powerful and affecting crescendo. The recurrent phrase “none of this means nothing at all” swells alongside soprano Jett Kwong Kelly’s solitary and evocative guzheng accompaniment, and by the song’s end, the lyrics’ double negative implications leave us with a cleansing sense of loss and clarity.
Her Crooked Heart is the new name; the new music of Rachel Ries - multi-instrumentalist, singer, producer, rock & roll choir director, sideman and singer. Her Crooked Heart’s forthcoming album, To Love To Leave To Live (out May 31st) features members of Bon Iver, Shane Leonard and string arrangements by the inimitable Rob Moose. First single Courthouse was recently released followed by the new video for single Windswept released this week.
With To Love To Leave To Live, Minneapolis-based Her Crooked Heart presents a debut record unique in form, made up of cyclical narratives and intertwining histories, each informing the next. The result is a transformative song cycle, led by a charismatic personality, wholly indifferent to expectations of genre and instrumentation. Rachel Ries, the writer, multi-instrumentalist and producer behind Her Crooked Heart, demonstrates immense vulnerability and multifaceted musical craftsmanship to deliver a personal and profound musical soliloquy on love, leaving and the life that follows after burning it all down.
To bring these songs and this record to the stage (and to the UK for the first time with a full band) Ries has enlisted a powerful group of women; women who can, in their way, take on the feminine, humanist mantle of Her Crooked Heart and make it their own: Siri Undlin (Humbird), Adelyn Strei (Adro), Hilary James (We Are The Willows, Bathtub Cig). The quartet blends classical and electric guitar; piano and vintage synths, cello, woodwinds and drum triggers. This merging of acoustic and synthetic sounds is all in service of the voice: four park vocal harmonies that shift from ether to eat elemental wail, always telling a story of transformation.
The latest full-length album from prolific underground indie rock outfit StrangeJuice entitled "Raising Cannibals", is due for independent release May 10th.
During the writing and creation of this album, nothing was sober, everything was afternoon, and there was a constant background of live chickens. The entire record was conceived and created in roughly two weeks, so nothing had long enough to be overthought, contrived, or to become stale.
Strangejuice is a prolific underground indie outfit who mix absurdist prose with conventional and unconventional musical instruments and artistic approach. With a discography of ten album releases spanning over a decade, StrangeJuice has a small cult following that keep catalogue of StrangeJuice's life's work and purpose here in the universe.
From banjo plucks, screeching birds and shuffling cards, StrangeJuice records and masters all their work in a secret studio in Perth, Western Australia overlooking the mountains where the alcohol flows as free as the natural rivers.
Emerging last month with his loveable debut single 'About Everything', multi-instrumentalist Corduroy Spaceship is now blasting off with the follow-up EP, Corduroy Spaceship & The Custard Gumboot.
Unravelling a sound which screams Summer, Corduroy Spaceship's debut EP cannonballs into a psychedelic pool of reverberated melodies, striking guitar riffs and vast, ethereal soundscapes. Across five sweeping tracks, Corduroy Spaceship & The Custard explores themes of love, life and death through the unique peephole of modern psych pop.
Anthemic yet beautifully laidback, highlight track 'Burden' aligns Corduroy Spaceship with contemporaries such as Tame Impala, Pond and Yellow Days. Driven by a choir of twangy guitar chords and a grooving bass tones, lyrically 'Burden' echos the fragile instrumentation with a introspective narrative. "I was in the friend zone for many years and I let loving this girl ruin me. The track is kinda explaining that and talking about how I'd never be her burden, even though she was mine." Corduroy Spaceship explains.
Hailing from Mount Gambier in rural South Australia, Corduroy Spaceship is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Torsten Gustavsson, who recorded, mixed, and mastered all instrumentation aside from drums on the EP.
I needed a little break and a whole load of great tunes turn up, so once again I am playing catch up. Not that I'm complaining with songs like 'Hunted' from Luvia, it kind of makes it a pleasure. Cat Princess return with 'Silver Socks', this band are really impressing Beehive Candy right now! Jaws have released 'Please Be Kind' and I will, it's one fabulous song ahead of their album due next week. Deliluh are something else as 'Freeloader Feast' demonstrates, this is an imaginative and addictive rocker. Charlotte Cornfield's 'Silver Civic' is a beautiful singer-songwriter piece that exudes real personal emotion. We featured Far Caspian three times last year and 'A Dream Of You' is just wonderful, leaving me looking forward to hearing more again. Eli Raybon is described as a sci-fi weirdo auteur and that's from his promo, that said give him a listen, it starts to makes sense.
Luvia - Hunted.
Brighton’s Luvia is back with new single ‘Hunted’. Marrying the raw attitude of Mazzy Star with the melancholic pop sensibilities of Billie Eilish and Lana Del Rey, the newcomer has already been turning heads with appearances at The Great Escape, 2000trees & Liverpool Sound City.
Luvia’s haunting cinematic pop provides the perfect sonic landscape for her emotive storytelling. Her vulnerable lyrics tell the secrets that people are too afraid to share and new track ‘Hunted’ is no exception:
“Hunted has a few layers of meaning to it - the first addresses developing and growing as a person. The character starts off quite young and naïve. She’s left to her own devices and starts to 'grow thorns' as she goes through her life making mistakes and growing from them. She then becomes older, 'the lion as she hunts' which represents how life has affected her. She's become fierce and is trying to fill her life up with crazy experiences in order to learn from them and to excite herself. It deals with the extreme highs and lows of life, the desert being the low part and the rain and flood in the chorus being the highs. It brings out a crazy and manic side of her. The feeling is all-consuming, and she gets swept away within that mind set which inevitably leads her back to the desert. Each time she finds that she's more and more developed; she's changed from the rose to a lioness.”
Its accompanying video presents these ideas in visual terms, with Evan Galeano explaining: “I wanted to explore the themes of isolation present in the lyrics. We juxtapose Luvia’s traversal through a barren, almost alien desert with projector images that flicker in and out in a confined space. Luvia’s isolation is a form of growth, a decision to forge her own path. At the end of her journey, she climbs atop a mountain and rediscovers civilization on her own.”
Uppsala quintet Cat Princess formed at a New Year's party and debuted only days after playing at guitarist Robin's birthday party. Singer Nils joined the gang after drummer Victor claimed Nils was "a diamond in the rough" of a front-man. Just as spontaneous as the band's birth are their music. Today the new wave cut Silver Socks is released, the second single from Cat Princess' long-awaited debut album Forbidden Items.
Silver Socks follows first album single Sweet, released in February, and shows the band develop their sound further. Sweet broke about a year of silence from the band since their retro banging single Fly on Your Wall, which was followed by the band's debut London show and a support slot for synth legends OMD. Silver Socks is a fine representation of the band's live intensity and one of the brightest cuts from the upcoming LP which took a majority of 2018 to make. The result is an eclectic art rock mix, equally put together by the bands' influences spanning from 80s new wave to contemporary greats.
The band about Silver Socks: "In essence the song is about the feeling of meeting that one person who kind of soars above it all and who brings you with them on the journey; someone with the alien ability to make you not give a shit about worldly things. We wanted to match that theme in the energy and the melodies of the song. We want the listener leave the ground with us. We all dig late 70:s Bryan Ferry and also wanted to capture his luxurious sound in some way, but make it a bit dirtier and Cat Princess-esque. The result was Silver Socks."
Cat Princess' sound have been crafted since their 2016 debut EP Please Me which received positive reviews from Swedish magazines GAFFA and HYMN, stating that their explosive combination of modern indie pop and 80's art-pop channeled the spirit of David Bowie and Talking Heads. The band later signed to Rama Lama Records which re-released the EP on cassette. The quintet has since the EP shared stage with acts like Pale Honey, Magic Potion and Cloud Nothings as well as playing frequently on the Stockholm indie scene and an international appearance in Copenhagen and London.
Following the announcement of their long-awaited third album, "The Ceiling", Birmingham dream-pop group JAWS have shared a new single from the record entitled "Please Be Kind".
Their third and most ambitious album yet, "The Ceiling" (out April 5th 2019), sees the band head back into the studio with Gethin Pearson, who also produced 2016's "Simplicity". The album represents another musical leap forward for the band, adding new textures and further honing a sound that has been theirs since their inception.
"Please Be Kind" follows the bands latest singles "FEAR" and "Do You Remember?" as well as their propulsive 2018 single and album opener "Driving At Night", which earned numerous plaudits.
Front man and guitarist Connor Schofield has the following to say about the new album and single: “Lyrically "The Ceiling" is generally about feeling a bit lost, I think as you grow up everything feels like its moving along a lot quicker; friends, relationships, life can all seem to move at 100 mph. Sometimes we forget that its OK to stand still for a bit sometimes and actually breathe. A lot of these songs are about dealing with that. Musically I think we’ve surprised even ourselves with it, we’ve gone down paths we haven’t taken before and ended up with something we’re really very excited about.
Emerging experimental art-rock group Deliluh have announced a brand-new mini LP for release on May 3rd via Tin Angel (UK/EU) and Telephone Explosion (CA/US) – ‘Oath of Intent’ comes hot off the heels of a year spent tracking fresh ideas to tape in local veteran’s hall Owls Club. ‘Oath of Intent’ is a summer sibling, one of two albums birthed in the community space, and documents the group in its most cut-throat realisation to date.
Today the band share a first cut from the record, - Freeloader Feast is a visceral explosion, gritty and urgent as it arrives. The accompanying video was shot on 16 mm film in a vacant room of the band’s apartment with friends and neighbours discussing their everyday lives and personal struggles. The negatives were later distressed by members of the band (and nearly destroyed) through various combined methods; boiling, burning, scratching, painting, bleaching and other means of chemical tampering (detergent, window cleaner, ammonia, etc). The results portray the vulnerability of people under the pressures of modernity that escalate out of their control.
Following on from their self-produced debut LP ‘Day Catcher’ (released via Hand Drawn Dracula, 2018), new EP 'Oath of Intent' tells tales that pick apart the conflict and unease within our human makeup, respectively inhabiting its characters and peering through anxious lenses at the past, present and future, with lyrical tenacity and razor-sharp tact. Swift instrumental exchanges are opted in preference to layers or blending, delivering an experience front-to-back like a tight collection of hard-boiled short stories.
Deliluh’s live propensity to ignore the traditional circuit of bars and clubs in favour of unconventional venues has built a reputation at home, and one they intend to maintain. Over the past few years, they’ve given audiences a variety of performances in bakeries, libraries, apartments, and a decommissioned subway platform. They embark on a tour of the UK and Europe this May, with festival appearances across Canada to follow throughout the summer. The band hail from Toronto and have solidified a reputation as a torchbearer for the DIY music community. The exciting post-punk quartet combine drone and experimental music into a fiercely resonating sonic identity.
The group’s slow-burning force is becoming more potent by the month. Foregoing the clean polish of professional studios for living spaces of contextual importance, Deliluh's dedication to thoughtful writing and analog documentation has been a constant process that's kept loyal fans highly anticipating their culminate fruit in this year’s offerings.
Charlotte Cornfield has a new single from her forthcoming album The Shape of Your Name. The video for "Silver Civic" (feat. Leif Vollebekk on the piano) features a subtle, but devastating performance from Charlotte. The whole album features a star-studded cast of collaborators including (but not limited to) Grammy-winning engineer Shawn Everett, and Broken Social Scene members Brendan Canning, Kevin Drew and Charles Spearin.
Charlotte on the origins of "Silver Civic": This is something I think we have all experienced at some point, that association of an inanimate object with somebody, or something – that wave of emotion it brings. And cars, they’re just everywhere. I recorded what I thought was going to be a demo version of this song with my friend Matthew Bailey right when I wrote it. And then I tried recording it a bunch more times with different arrangements but in the end that first recording had the emotion, the rawness.
“You free yourself when you take away the script,” says Toronto songwriter Charlotte Cornfield. “That’s where this record came from, dismantling patterns and embracing the process.” Cornfield’s third full length, The Shape of Your Name, is set to arrive in Spring 2019 via Outside Music imprint Next Door Records. The album has a more honed studio sound than her scrappier 2016 release Future Snowbird, and for good reason: it was recorded in 5 different sessions over the course of 3 years. The songs are her strongest and most striking to date – contemplative and contemporary, funny and heart-wrenching – and they’ve got that stuck-in-your-head-for-days quality that Cornfield is known for. The Shape of Your Name features a star-studded cast of collaborators including (but not limited to) Grammy-winning engineer Shawn Everett, Broken Social Scene members Brendan Canning, Kevin Drew and Charles Spearin, and Montreal songwriter Leif Vollebekk.
Specialising in stylish, college dorm low-key indie, Leeds risers Far Caspian continue to show remarkable progression in latest release A Dream Of You, the second effervescent slice of luscious dream pop taken from upcoming sophomore EP The Heights out this summer.
Emerging last year with their collection of catchy lo-fi gems on hazy debut EP Between Days, and crafting their self-coined ‘melanjolly’ style to widespread critical praise, the trio’s newest output showcases their trademark sound with fresh commercial overtones and a very intentional 80s production sheen.
Discussing their forthcoming single, frontman Joel Johnston stated: “A Dream Of You was the first song I wrote for this EP. It was inspired by some of our favourite synth pop bands of the 80’s and gave us the idea to play with that sort of sound for the rest of the songs. It’s mainly about feeling abandoned whether that’s from a relationship or from friends or family and already knowing that feeling from previous experiences.
The inspiration for the lyrics came from a place where I was thinking about my experiences as a kid. I’m the youngest of five boys and I was always seeking validation and wanted to be a part of the fun. I quickly got used to the feeling of being alone as each brother eventually moved away from home. It made me realise my expectation of others now that I’m older. The more I have conversations with people the more I realise everyone carries something from their childhood with them and at our age it’s about figured out whether it’s a good or bad thing”.
With only a few releases to his name, 21-year-old Eli Raybon has quickly established himself as a sci-fi weirdo auteur. The staunch non-conformist is now priming his most rebellious release yet: a sci-fi concept album called Supertoys.
Raybon’s work is fueled by an unrestricted imagination, born from a serious case of childhood nostalgia. His formative years were spent exploring small-town Mississippi, writing songs, and directing his own Hi8 tape movies. But as he grew, Eli became keenly aware of the sobering realities that faced him and his peers – a conveyer belt existence where they were destined to become carbon copies of their parents. He himself was on route to New York to study computer science and mathematics, before pulling the emergency brake and changing his plans only two days before freshman orientation.
When the dust settled, Eli began recording his debut LP, The Machine & My Dilemma, which documented his desire to jump off the hamster wheel of life. Following its release, Raybon moved to LA to pursue music full time. Never one to flounder, Eli immediately recorded and released two lauded singles. The track 30 Cents was accompanied by an ambitious music video which was screened at film festivals across the country. He soon followed up with Green, an EP that drew praise from Buzzbands LA, Noisey and Paste.
Eli became infatuated with hardware synthesizers and moved from writing material on the guitar to a more expansive pallet on synths. Feeling his new material called for a producer beyond his skillset, Raybon sought the help of synth guru Prozak Morris, who had transitioned from making bass heavy hip hop to calibrating cutting edge vaporwave. The two collaborated on a remix and Eli quickly realized this was the producer he had been dreaming of. They began work on an album, recording from opposite coasts, Eli on the East and Prozak on the West, connecting through frequent phone calls as they slowly pieced their production together.
Background - London-based anti-music collective Moderate Rebels – whose members include Mo, Kate, Chris, Nick, Emma, Susan, Bob, Beth, Joe and more (crucially, not all at the same time) – present their new song ‘Faith & Science’ as a further preview of their second album ‘Shared Values’, which is released on 30th November on Everyday Life Recordings.
It follows recent singles ‘I Love Today’ and ‘Beyond Hidden Words’. Moderate Rebels say: “Faith & Science seems to be about the romance of feeling doubts and recognising that there can be mysteries in life… Which is a good thing. We actively have no intentions when writing; music just forms and we guess about any meanings, along with, hopefully, the listener. Language is inclined to be tricksy, and can be looked at from a number of angles. Less chords and words; simple and complicated; direct and vague. We have our mottos.”
As with all Moderate Rebels music so far, Shared Values was recorded in a small studio in South Bermondsey, London, where “you can hear church choirs through the walls – people looking to lift up each other’s spirits. We hope somehow that seeps into the racket we make.” TWITTER.
Upcoming live shows (more to be added soon): 24th Oct @ The Finsbury Manor House, London (For The Rabbits night) 2nd Nov @ The Cause, London 10th Nov @ Sebright Arms, London (w/ Olden Yolk) 25th Nov @ Broadcast, Glasgow.
'Faith & Science' is the brand new Moderate Rebels track and the last single before the album is released on Nov 30th. This is the third track we have shared from the bands the highly anticipated 'Shared Values' album, once again the bands distinct and hypnotic sound is highly compelling, their approach to writing, developing and recording music might be a little nonconformist, but oh boy does it work!
Background - Leeds, England, quartet Far Caspian unveil new single Blue, the latest cut taken from their forthcoming debut EP Between Days, out via UK label Dance To The Radio. Following on from the majestic Holding On, which turned heads when it drifted into the online sphere’s consciousness, and following singles Let’s Go Outside and The Place, Blue reaffirms the band’s knack for hazy, infectious dream-pop.
Whilst Far Caspian have been based in Leeds since formation, frontman and guitarist Joel Johnston has only recently moved over to England from his native Ireland, and themes of isolation born of relocation pervade his writing.
Blue however tackles a more intimate theme, yet just as universal. “The track itself is about unrequited love, and being consumed by being so close to a person, yet knowing that your feelings wouldn't be reciprocated” Johnston says, before revealing “My good pal Milhouse Van Houten was the main inspiration for the song.”
Referencing the dichotomy between the often gloomy themes in the lyircs and breeziness of the music with the playful self-nominated tag of ‘melanjolly’, Far Caspian’s wistful sound calls to mind the likes of Local Natives, Real Estate, Grizzly Bear or Band of Horses. However where those bands’ textures lean on the symphonic side, the lo-fi origins of the project in Johnston’s university house, before Nath Sayers (guitar), Alessio Scozzaro (bass) and Jof Cabedo (drums) came in to complete the line-up, lends Far Caspian’s sound a comforting, insular edge. TWITTER.
Our third feature for Far Caspian this year is the new song 'Blue'. The band are consistently producing fabulous indie pop that is crammed full of melodic hooks and delivered with refreshingly bright production and dreamy vibes.
Background - Lightfoils have announced their new album Chambers (Bandcamp pre-order, out November 16th), which is their first taste of new music since the release of their acclaimed 2014 album Hierarchy. To coincide with the long-awaited announcement, Lightfoils is sharing the album’s mesmerizing lead single “Summer Nights”. The song is a gorgeous, richly layered shoegaze track with a calculated build-up that pairs melodic bass with alternately chiming and blanketing guitars, while Lightfoils’ lead singer Jane Zabeth Nicholson's vocals float longingly above.
Formed in 2010, Lightfoils’ sound is decidedly shoegaze, although the band subtly stretches the auditory boundaries of what the term embodies, honing in on a more cosmopolitan and ethereal sound. Their forthcoming album Chambers (advance below) represents a band that has mastered the atmospheric tone they've become synonymous with and continue to occupy, almost a decade after formation. The band is self-releasing the album, both for the autonomy and for the ability to be intimately involved in all aspects of the album’s production and subsequent roll-out. The first track on the album “The Bitter Over” opens with dream-like guitars, transporting the listener away - it's the sound of Lightfoils taking the listener by the hand and leading them into the unknown. Zabeth’s vocals both echo in the background, and dance in the front.
“Duende” sounds like a surf rock wave rolling onto darker shores, with the rhythm section keeping an upbeat tempo, keeping one grounded, while the vocals and guitars provide a loss of gravitational control. This mix of rhythm and reverb-laden guitars, combined with the right amount of bite from classic fuzz distortion is what Lightfoils does best. “This Time is Up” speeds things up with a faster tempo and swirling, distorted guitars, and rattling bass. Zabeth’s vocal melodies are reminiscent of classic 90s rock that has a touch of shoegaze, a touch of grunge, and channels the softness of singers of earlier alternative rock bands. It has an easy comedown, changing in tempo to seduce the listener into the next track. “Honeydew” draws on whirring guitars and crashing cymbals, carrying Zabeth’s vocals through an experience of senses. The track enters an intermittent key change midway, and continues to soar toward a more upbeat, crashing close. WEBSITE.
'Summer Nights' is a combination of atmospheric shoegaze and lush dream pop. The vocals are set perfectly within the mix allowing their melodic beauty to shine through, the music is creatively textured. As a taster for the album, this ticks pretty much all the right boxes.
Background - The Ophelias have just shared their "Moon Like Sour Candy" video ahead of fall tour dates with WHY? "Moon Like Sour Candy is based on Midwestern longing and all four of the elements. The video takes everyday textures and pushes them into surreal territory." - Spencer and Jo. Through a blend of understated rock, baroque pop and wide-skied atmospheres, The Ophelias explore the juxtapositions of youth on their album, Almost.
Having formed the band while still in high school, bassist Grace Weir, guitarist/lyricist Spencer Peppet, percussionist Micaela Adams, and violinist Andrea Gutmann Fuentes first met at a time when each were independently serving as the “token girl” in various dude-bands from their hometown of Cincinnati, OH. Coming from varied musical backgrounds (ranging from garage-rock, to surf, to opera), the distinct talents and influences of each member collided in unexpected ways at the band’s first rehearsal. It was here the band discovered that their chemistry wasn’t rooted in a shared musical reference point, but in the creative relief from the expected censorship of being a sideperson.
“In the past we had all kind of been the ‘girl in the band,’ in some capacity,” Peppet said. “Having a band of all women eradicates that possibility logistically, but also makes for a really creative environment without the patronization that often comes along with being the ‘girl in the band.’”
Produced by Yoni Wolf (WHY?), the new album Almost glides between palatial assuredness and pallid introspection, looking back on youthful yearning — the uncertainties, the traumas, the anxieties — without discounting its soft beauty. The Ophelias steer Almost through the lineage of coming-of-age confessionals, and affectionately document their growth into a warm, fractured adulthood. TWITTER.
Tour Dates: 02 Nov. Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland (OH) * 03 Nov. Bottom Lounge, Chicago (IL) * 04 Nov. Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis (MN) * 23 Nov. The Loving Touch, Fernadale (MI) * 24 Nov. Spirit Hall, Pittsburgh (PA) * 25 Nov. MOTR Pub, Cincinnati (OH).
We have already shared three tracks from The Ophelias 'Almost' album released a short while back, however with a tour scheduled they have just presented the video for 'Moon Like Sour Candy' and I'm not about to pass up on featuring another enticing song from this very fine collection.
Background - Emerging Leeds outfit Far Caspian deliver atmospheric pop offering The Place, the next single taken from their upcoming debut EP, out via UK label Dance To The Radio this autumn.
Staking their claim as one of Yorkshire’s hottest new indie prospects, the band’s latest hazy anthem sees the influences of Real Estate, Grizzly Bear and Band Of Horses seep into their sound, combining to dreamy effect and likely to draw further acclaim throughout the online community.
Lead by frontman and guitarist Joel Johnston, the Irishman now residing in Leeds alongside fellow band members Jof Cabedo (drums and vocals) and Alessio Scozarro (bass and vocals), Far Caspian’s infectious songwriting approach explores his transition to life in the UK and the upheaval that ensues.
“We wanted to have a track on the EP that was based more on intricate rhythms but instead we went for a pretty stripped back arrangement so it made sense alongside our other tracks”, the trio stated. “The song itself is about overthinking things in social situations and feeling like you aren’t contributing enough to conversation because you’re feeling awkward”.
With recent singles Holding On and Let’s Go Outside blowing up online, the three-piece are firmly establishing themselves within the indie landscape - support slots alongside Her’s, Indoor Pets and when young in the autumn following their debut appearance at Leeds Festival later this month. FACEBOOK.
Despite the stripped back nature of 'The Place' there is a richness to the song. It's tuneful and the laid back indie vibes are abundant, with the clever rhythm arrangement adding a further dimension to this piece.
Background - Ricky Lewis shares the second track "TV on a Tiny Screen" from his upcoming album. Ricky Lewis has always been a sucker for romanticism and nostalgia. Maybe it has something to do with being raised by the television. A latch key kid of the 90s. John Hughes movies over microwave dinners. Mythical levels of youthful melodrama, its hope and its agony, blaring over car speakers on stoned summer nights in the middle of nowhere New England. The kind of town you either never leave or escape while you can. There was nothing to do but move to New York City.
Lewis dabbled in odd jobs all the while documenting this new life with an almost nightly ritual of songwriting, something he had stumbled upon as a teenager when his uncle gave him a cheap guitar and showed him a G chord. Burrowed in Astoria, what might as well have been a continent away from downtown, the solace songwriting provided felt like enough to get by, but eventually the swiftly gentrifying city caught up with him. Waiting tables wasn't cutting it and Ricky came close to having to pick it all up and move back home.
He was pretty much packing his bags when, like an apparition, a young woman he could have sworn he'd met before came into his life. Within weeks she suggested he move in to her Astor Place loft overlooking Broadway and 8th Street. Herself a burgeoning visual artist, the two kindred spirits had found in each other a muse. Somebody to bounce ideas off of, to challenge, to impress. There was a brand new city opening before Rickyʼs eyes.
Time passed, bands were started and ended, gallery shows opened and closed, small artistic victories came with setbacks- bigger bills to be paid, aging family members to take care of. The couple that had once shared a quickly worn and earmarked copy of Patti Smith's Just Kids grew apart as personal projects took on more weight. This was a breakup, and it hurt. WEBSITE.
Ricky Lewis has distinct and likable vocals that give 'TV On A Tiny Screen' something of a head start in their own right. It's something of a singer / songwriter track immersed in alt rock clothing, and it subtly works it's way into your life.
Background - Leeds quartet Far Caspian unveil new single Let’s Go Outside, the second track taken from their forthcoming debut EP, out via UK label Dance To The Radio. Following on from the majestic Holding On, which turned heads when it drifted into the online sphere’s consciousness, Let’s Go Outside reaffirms the band’s knack for hazy, infectious dream-pop.
Whilst Far Caspian have been based in Leeds since formation, frontman and guitarist Joel Johnston has only recently moved over to England from his native Ireland. This upheaval provides the basis of Let’s Go Outside’s themes.
“Although it's a pretty upbeat instrumental, the lyrics touch on depression and feeling far from something you could call home,” he states, “The whole EP is loosely based on my experiences of moving to England and feeling a disconnect to living in a new city for the first time.”
Referencing this dichotomy between themes and music with the playful self-nominated tag of ‘melanjolly’, Far Caspian’s wistful sound calls to mind the likes of Local Natives, Real Estate, Grizzly Bear or Band of Horses. However where those bands’ textures lean on the symphonic side, the lo-fi origins of the project in Johnston’s university halls, before Nath Sayers (guitar), Alessio Scozzaro (bass) and Jof Cabedo (drums) came in to complete the line-up, lends Far Caspian’s sound a comforting, insular edge.
However there’s a simpler catalyst too for the upbeat elements of the song: “We recorded and mixed the track, along with the rest of the EP in our basement. When we were doing 'Let's Go Outside' there was a crazy snow storm going on, I think it was about 1 degree in that room. That's probably why it's a bit faster than the rest of the tracks.” TWITTER.
'Let's Go Outside' is rapidly gaining some much deserved attention ahead of the bands debut EP. Far Caspian manage to mix hook laden dream pop with an upbeat feel. This is both refreshing and relaxing, with the bonus of having a level of energy that gives the song that little extra "something" to make it stand out.
Background - Central Virginia’s band of brothers Sons of Bill release their new album 'Oh God Ma'am' on 29 June on Loose. Now, with just a few days left before the record is out, the band have shared album opener 'Sweeter, Sadder Farther Away'.
'Oh God Ma’am', Sons of Bill's latest LP is the band’s most coherent artistic statement to date-- subtle, risky, and sonically ambitious. Recorded both in Seattle with west coast indie legend Phil Ek (Shins, Fleet Foxes) and in Nashville with Sean Sullivan (Sturgill Simpson) and mixed by Peter Katis (The National, Interpol) the album shows the Wilson brothers moving beyond the galvanic americana-rock comfort zone of previous efforts, for a more elegant and restrained sound-- a darker, and more complexly layered rock record that manages to be the band’s most emotionally intimate and sonically expansive.
Insistent, dancey rhythms and dreamy, hook-filled, pyrotechnics abound, creating a deceptively anthemic mood around songs that are in and of themselves intensely introverted.
'Oh God Ma’am' is a coming-of-age record for an over-stimulated age-- equal parts post-adolescent anxiety and old-soul humility-- literate, gorgeous, and darkly contemplative. WEBSITE.
Sons of Bill will tour the UK and Europe in August: Mon 13th - The Hope, Brighton (UK) Tues 14th - Omeara, London (UK) Weds 15th - Tunnels, Bristol (UK) Thurs 16th - Brudenell, Leeds (UK) Fri 17th - Broadcast, Glasgow (UK) Sat 18th - Soup Kitchen, Manchester (UK) Sun 19th - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham (UK) Tues 21 Aug - Blue Shell, Cologne (DE) Weds 22 Aug - Milia Club, Munich (DE) Thurs 23 Aug - Musik & Frieden, Berlin (DE) Fri 24 Aug - Stage Club, Hamburg (DE) Sat 25 Aug - Once In a Blue Moon Festival, Amsterdam (NL).
Our third feature for Sons Of Bill in less than a couple of months tends to suggest we are already pretty keen on the bands album 'Oh God Ma’am' due out this coming Friday. So hot on the heels of 'Easier' and 'Firebird '85' we now have the latest song share 'Sweeter, Sadder, Farther'. The song exists somewhere between alt rock and something a little deeper and personal, it's also immersed in emotional feeling, and really does emphasis that this band are comfortable, outside of their comfort zone, if you get my point.
