Sunday Lemonade - girlpuppy - Dan Pallotta - Addie Brik

Sunday Lemonade - Runaway.

Melbourne's feel-good folk duo Sunday Lemonade have been spreading their sunny musical storytelling around the country, and are set to do the same with their new single ‘Runaway’ out now.

Touring around the country in a van together since joining forces in 2018 has seen Tyson and Loz spread their high-energy performances far and wide, winning over hearts everywhere they play. They’ve sold out two headline shows, and supported the likes of Daniel Champagne, Steph Strings, and The Pierce Brothers.

After quitting their jobs in 2019 to dedicate their time to music, the pair won the Emerging Artist Award in 2020 at their first festival appearance at Nannup Music Festival before getting caught in 4 months of lockdown. Since, they have been touring relentlessly and have released a number of singles. Having just toured WA for the third time and recently releasing the single 'See You Sometime' in October, the pair are gearing up for more with this special new release, ‘Runaway'.

Already a crowd favourite at their gigs, the tune is an instantly uplifting, piece of heartfelt folk-rock. Focusing on the feelings of mutual but unresolved desire, 'Runaway' boasts a meandering guitar melody, steadied by a tricksy drumpad beat. The quiet moment before the final chorus draws the listener in, stirring vulnerable feelings before amping things up, elevating to cleverly mimic the feeling of heightened anxiety and building anticipation that happens when you begin to obsess over someone.

Speaking on the story behind the song, Sunday Lemonade explain: "'Runaway' is a pop/folk story of reciprocated but unspoken lust, exploring the fascinating hints and moments with another human yet frustrating lack of courage to actually act on it. The fairy tale dream of what would happen if that person would hurry up and grab your hand, take you on an adventure and you’d finally have the chance to fall in love."

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girlpuppy - Teenage Dream.

girlpuppy's (aka Becca Harvey) highly-anticipated debut LP When I'm Alone is due out October 28th on Royal Mountain Records (Wild Pink, Pillow Queens), her second release on the label following 2021's Swan EP, a five song collection that drew remarkable acclaim from outlets like NPR, FADER, Paste, Under The Radar and NYLON who called her "one of indie folk's most promising newcomers." 

Produced with Slow Pulp member Henry Stoehr and Alex G guitarist Sam Acchione, girlpuppy's debut has seen three singles released so far "Wish," "I Want To Be There," and "Destroyer"  and now Harvey is sharing the fourth single "Teenage Dream," a tune inspired by a Keanu Reeves lookalike.

“I wrote “Teenage Dream” after I cried at an Atlanta United soccer game at Mercedes Benz stadium. The song’s about a guy I lead on who looks like Keanu Reeves, and it’s the first one we made for the album. It was, in part, inspired by Caroline Polachek, who said in an interview that her lyrics for “Bunny Is A Rider” make no real sense, and that they just sounded good to sing. Similarly, the chorus lyrics to teenage dream don’t make much sense, but I do enjoy singing them. An important detail: I’m talking to my puppy Obi at the beginning, and you can hear him barking at the end.”

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Dan Pallotta - The Mailman.

 Dan Pallotta is sharing American Pictures, his new album following in the footsteps of folk and singer-songwriter greats to reflect on the human condition. Pallotta brings empathy and wisdom to his songwriting, gained over several decades spent exploring music, philanthropy, and family life.

Pallotta reflects on the joys and the sorrows that mark each of our lives with “The Mailman,” taken from American Pictures, a song whose inspiration was sparked by listening to John Prine’s recollections of working as a mail carrier.

This tender and reflective acoustic track delves into the situations the character at the centre of the song navigates through in his day-to-day, facing the role of being the messenger of both incredible and destabilizing news.

Matt Mahurin’s black and white music video shot in California underscores the humanity of this character, creating an entire world of emotion which parallels the song itself.

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Addie Brik - Retromingent.

Addie Brik returns with the breathtaking new single: ‘Retromingent’. Taken from Addie’s forthcoming new album, ‘That Dog Don’t Hunt’, it’s a song of a transfixing gravity that will bring to mind the works of Talk Talk or Kate Bush to halt you in your tracks.

Co-written with Michael Timothy (Massive Attack), it also features expertly metronomic percussion from Jim McDermott (Simple Minds / The Silencers), guitars by Robbie Macinosh (The Pretenders / Paul McCartney), spacious piano parts and hammond organs, plus the voices of a thirty-strong children’s choir from The Scottish National Youth Choir. Together, its constituent parts infuse to form something utterly spellbinding.

Touching on tolerance and comeuppance, judgement and karma, Addie explains of the themes at play in “Retromingent”: “Whatever people do or do not do to you along the way, if you can’t let go of that (a total tsunami of utter sh**e), you’ll never get to where you should be going. So, I have a responsibility to think correctly and hold myself to standards, my future, heaven or hell, depends on it. People do what they do and will get their comeuppance. There’s a natural working order here that fulfils itself.”

Harnessing slow-burning arrangements into a composition with a glacial kind of power, the original edit of “Retromingent” actually nears the seven-minute mark and forms one of the towering centre-pieces of Addie Brik’s upcoming studio album ‘That Dog Don’t Hunt’ (out 25 November, via Itza Records).

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Night Swimming - The Orchids - Lilly Winwood - Girlpuppy

Night Swimming - Freight Train.

Bath-based dream pop five-piece Night Swimming are pleased to announce the release of their debut double single ‘Freight Train // A Wall’ today August 12th.

Formed in 2021, the band have spent the last year honing in on their sound at sold-out headline shows in their home city of Bath and supporting the likes of China Bears and Parlophone Records’ own Sad Night Dynamite. They were also scouted by the Close Encounters Club to be featured in Glastonbury Festival’s 2022 ‘Longlist’ - chosen to be one of their 90 top acts.

Night Swimming’s sound incorporates the ethereal, melodic elements of the early Wolf Alice EPs and Slowdive albums; combining them with the minimalism of local idols Portishead and Massive Attack.

Produced by Calum Wotherspoon at Joe’s Garage in Bristol, and mastered by Novatines’ Tom Cory, their debut release Freight Train // A Wall is instantly striking. Combining atmospheric guitars, ethereal vocals and airy synths with echoing percussion and hypnotic choruses; each individual element is equally as evocative, while perfectly blended with a sugary sweet delivery that you can’t help but get lost in.

Freight Train was written as an introductory piece to the second track ‘A Wall’. The use of trip-hop influenced rhythms and sustained atmospherics evoke a trance-like feel, conveying a strong sense.

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The Orchids - Didn't We Love You.

Sometimes it can take several years to realise what you’ve been missing.  Sometimes it can even take decades....  (If you already know all about The Orchids, well, you’re going to like Dreaming Kind a lot.)

The Orchids were making sophisticated pop music right back in the early 1990s when Sarah Records first started.  Their songs were as emotionally pure as anything else on that label, but they were always a step ahead of their peers in terms of song arrangements and musical ambition.  With a casual, unpretentious air they made writing perfect pop songs seem easy, almost accidental, and several great releases followed.  The Orchids gained a passionate following: people knew a good thing when they heard it and they hugged it close.  But now it’s time for the rest of the world to be let in on the secret.

The songs themselves are a beautiful mix of strength and gentleness.   They wrap you in a powerful embrace, making you feel comfortable and secure – and then whisper their insecurities and anxieties into your ear.  They say: ‘it’s OK to admit weakness.   It’s OK to be fragile.  That’s where true strength comes from’.  From Glasgow, and proudly Scottish, the band shares a musical lineage with other great groups from that city, from Aztec Camera to Orange Juice, Lloyd Cole to Teenage Fanclub. All bands that specialise in song-writing that that can tell big stories through small fragments, that can make the ordinary extraordinary.

Producer Ian Carmichael has helped the band create a perfectly-crafted masterpiece. He subtly accentuates the drama of the songs, with a sophisticated choreography and gloss that never overwhelms the tenderness of the music.  In ‘This Boy Is A Mess’ (the first single from the album), the lyric confesses frailty while the music gets stronger and stronger.  It is bittersweet and exhilarating at the same time. ‘I Want You, I Need You’ has harmonies as big as a house – but the yearning message remains intimate and close.  ‘I Don’t Mean To Stare’ is a sophisticated new version of the track that first appeared on the Under The Bridge compilation earlier this year.

Album opener ‘Didn’t We Love You’ daringly opens up empty spaces where the reverb of the drums is the only thing you can hear... and then floods your ears with a harmonised chorus, sweet guitar melodies and sweeping effects.  Even then, the lyrical lament, expressing the desire to live in a better place - a place unspoilt by the greedy phonies who’ve taken over – comes across as clearly as if Hackett were leaning over for a friendly chat in the snug bar of The Orchids’ favourite Glasgow pub.

The Orchids · Didn't We Love You

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Lilly Winwood - Keep It Spinning.

“They say musicians can’t always be music lovers but that, by far, is not the case for me,” says songwriter Lilly Winwood. “I think a lot of music has saved me in so many ways and this song recognizes that.” The song she’s speaking of is Winwood’s brand new single, “Keep It Spinning,” a breezy rocker that sits comfortably between a Tom Petty classic and a late 90s country radio hit. “Do you ever have one song that just really does it for you and puts a smile on your face?” Winwood quips. “And you play it over and over and over again?” She channeled that feeling, but with a spin, tying it in with relationships, her career, and even her newly found sobriety—the impetus for a number of songs from her upcoming album Talking Walls.

“I’ve been chasing that song that came right at the moment when I thought all I had was lost.”

Burned out after her last album cycle and in the midst of a pandemic, Winwood took a job to pay the bills—but she couldn’t stop writing. She knew she was on the cusp of something important. “I’d be working in a restaurant all day and then at night, come 3 a.m., I’d be pulling half-written songs out of my apron,” she recalls. “Then it all came together.”

Talking Walls captures that tumultuous period during the pandemic, with Winwood literally “talking to the walls” as she looked inward with new purpose. Penned over long sleepless nights, with clear eyes and a willingness to ask tough questions, each song takes a different tack into the introspective wind, backed by a minimalist-roots sound. The now East Nashville-based artist (and daughter of Grammy-winning British rocker Steve Winwood) simply wrote her story and brought it to her band at Nashville’s Trace Horse studio—no producer needed.

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Girlpuppy - I Want To Be There.

Last month, girlpuppy (aka Becca Harvey) announced her debut LP When I'm Alone, which was produced with Slow Pulp member Henry Stoehr and Alex G guitarist Sam Acchione and will be out October 28th on Royal Mountain Records (Wild Pink, Pillow Queens). 

The album arrives on the heels of her Swan EP, her 2021 debut on the label that she made with producer Marshall Vore who is known for his work with folk dynamo Phoebe Bridgers. The five song collection drew remarkable acclaim immediately, earning praise from outlets like NPR, FADER, Paste, Under The Radar, Coup De Main, Office Magazine, i-D, Line of Best Fit and NYLON who called her "one of indie folk's most promising newcomers."

This week, girlpuppy is sharing a second single from her forthcoming LP, a contemplative track built around a tumbling acoustic guitar shuffle entitled "I Want To Be There".

“I wrote 'I Want To Be There' about the pain I felt when my old landlord kicked me and three of my best friends out of our dream home, and all three of my roommates moved to New York," Harvey explains. "I was left all alone in Atlanta and it was a really bad time for me. I was jobless and I felt like I had no friends which made me wonder what was wrong with me, which kind of made me spiral into self-hatred. I like to call this one the “self hate anthem” of the album."

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Twain - girlpuppy

Twain - The Priestess.

Twain announces a new album called Noon, out October 21 via Keeled Scales. This week they share the softly rollicking new song, “The Priestess.” Songwriter Matthew Davidson offers, “I thought I was writing this song to a friend and later found out it was directed towards myself. It is about allowing the heart to speak, and being direct.”

Davidson elaborates on the new song, “‘Rugby’ is a street in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn and ‘the Odyssey’ is my old van. The inner landscape of the song, the place it takes me and where it was written, is Las Trampas, New Mexico, and I think about the cold nights and sleeping on the ground under wool blankets, taping up holes in my sleeping bag with duct tape, Folgers coffee in the blue cardboard can, and hearing the elk song for the first time.”

Twain’s fourth release on Keeled Scales, Noon, is a collection attempting to balance soul-fantasy with self-scrutiny, to erode the barrier between those two places, and to find the liminal state between the spirit’s ambition for itself and the often harsh truth of the present. Says Davidson, “Sometimes the facts of life make dreams difficult to protect. Twain is my effort to reconcile those two states… to forget that they could ever exist in opposition.” Noon was recorded by Twain’s longtime collaborator Adrian Olsen at Montrose Recording in Richmond, VA and features bass by Ken Woodward and drums by Austin Vaughn. From Noon, Davidson previously shared “King of Fools,” an offering that compelled Under The Radar to praise “a songwriter of uncommon emotional weight.”

“Noon is where I am, more-or-less, in my natural life span and in my creative life span. I picture noon being at the very bottom of a bowl… the resting point of a pendulum… not the apex of an arc, or the crest of a hill. Arriving at noon for the first time in my life, I sense everything reversing and the possibility to change and cure and heal is real for the first time. This album is a prayer from noon for the rest of the day.”

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girlpuppy - Wish.

Last year, girlpuppy (aka Becca Harvey) released her debut EP Swan. made with producer Marshall Vore who is known for his work with folk dynamo Phoebe Bridgers, the five song collection, found a supportive home with Royal Mountain Records, and drew remarkable acclaim for a debut EP, earning praise from outlets like NPR, FADER, Paste, Under The Radar, Coup De Main, Office Magazine, i-D, Line of Best Fit and NYLON who called her "one of indie folk's most promising newcomers."

This week, girlpuppy is back and announcing her debut LP When I'm Alone, which will be out October 28th on Royal Mountain. To mark the announce she is sharing the album's lead single "Wish".

“On 'Wish' I was thinking about when friends leave your life and you're not entirely sure why," Harvey explains. "It's a pretty universal feeling, I think. And, the thing is—even if you managed to live in the walls of that person's apartment and were able to figure it out, their reasons might not make total sense. This song is me living with that feeling, when loss just doesn't quite add up. This is the first shoegaze rock song I’ve made and I did that intentionally—the emotions in the song go from anger to sadness to nostalgia and all the other emotions that you feel when you go through a “friend breakup." I imagined it being really cathartic to play it live.”

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Vera Ellen - Big Little Lions - Skidders - Girlpuppy

Vera Ellen - I Want 2 B Boy.

Vera Ellen shares a second sensational single, ‘I Want 2 B Boy’, from the upcoming album ‘It’s Your Birthday’ out October 8th via Flying Nun Records.

‘I Want 2 B Boy’ explores the depths of identity — and the incertitude that can arise from opening a can of this particular brand of worms. Sonically, the track makes immaculate use of synthesizers, and scratches our itch for a spirited sing-a-long. Equal parts triumphant and ambivalent, the sonic delivery oscillates between the two, showcasing Vera’s incredible song-writing prowess.

Vera has said on the track, “Ahh.. the multiple layers of feelings you get when you step into yourself. Joy! Pain! More confusion! You spend your life trying to find your footing and often when you do, you just step into another layer of questioning."

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Big Little Lions - Hold On.

Written and produced by Big Little Lions (Helen Austin/Paul Otten) “Hold On is a dramatically, intense song written from the perspective of someone helping to guide and comfort a friend who is experiencing depression.” We have the pleasure of including the lyrics to the song below as Big Little Lions continue to share another gorgeous monthly release this year!

In the dark corner is where I’ll find you
There’s a spark fighting to light the shadows in your soul
Heavy heart crawling towards desire
You’ve been starved
Hungry to find a taste to make you whole
feed the void that you control
oh
Hold on
Hang on tight so you can
Hold on
You’ll have to fight to keep your body off the floor
Only then you’ll find the door
I’ll cover you
While you battle with all your demons
Help you through
The maze of your mind you feel will never end
But I know that you got this
oh

BigLittleLions · Hold On

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Skidders - I Wonder (feat. Andrew James).

Skidders (aka Steve Skidmore) is back with a brand new single taken from the forthcoming studio album Friends & Family Vol.2.

I wrote the song for my wife to appear on volume 2, but rather than wait until it's release, I wanted to publish it earlier, hence the single! But as a love song, and with my vocals, I really could not to it justice - hence the addition of Andrew James' incredible vocals. Together with the bass, mixing and mastering of the amazing Paul Hogg, although a simple song, it is one I am most proud of. I thank Andrew & Paul from the bottom of my heart and I really hope you will like it as much as I do.

Andrew James: Andrew is well know in the Cotswold area of England, and kept everyone sane during the COVID pandemic with his "Stay Sane Sessions" performed live on Facebook and YouTube throughout shutdowns. I was honoured to record guitar for some songs of his songs and Andrew reciprocated with some fab keyboards on Bukechi videos. Check out our cover of Bonnie Raitt's beautiful song I can't make you love me that Andrew lit up with his piano.

Paul Hogg: Paul is an amazing musician, producer, sound engineer and most of all, a lovely friend. Not only these virtues, but he also composes and publishes several genres of music under his name and also that of 'The Ox', the latter being amazing electronica and downtempo music.

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Girlpuppy - Miniature Furniture

Girlpuppy aka Becca Harvey is sharing her new single "Miniature Furniture" through Royal Mountain Records. Written in collaboration with Lunar Vacation and produced by Phoebe Bridgers' co-conspirator Marshall Vore, it's the second track from her debut EP, Swan.

With an opening tour with The Districts already scheduled for October and her first live performance at Chicago’s Riot Fest, girlpuppy's return with "Miniature Furniture" showcases her effortless confessional indie folk, earnestly examining her own emotions and writing beautifully forlorn pop songs that pierce straight through the heart.

Harvey explains, “This song is a culmination of experiences from a summer where I was traveling back and forth to Chicago and Pasadena all whilst coping with a difficult break up. I was having a really tough time dealing with the breakup, but instead of addressing the feelings I was experiencing, I distracted myself with travel and spent time with friends. I often find myself trying to hide from confronting my emotions head on by doing things to keep myself from thinking about how sad I am, so this upbeat song really embodies the fleeting feelings of happiness while also being so depressed.

I associate great memories with this song because I wrote it with two of my friends Grace Repasky and Maggie Geeslin (of Lunar Vacation) and it was such a fun experience. The "miniature furniture" title is a reference to an exhibit at The Art Institute of Chicago that I visited during that summer."

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