Showing posts with label Joni. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joni. Show all posts

Tuesday, 11 March 2025

Joni - Vera Ellen

Photo - Charlotte Patmore
Joni - Still Young.

Today, American-born, London-based songwriter Joni shares "Still Young," a new single from her forthcoming debut album, Things I Left Behind, out April 11th via her twin homes of Keeled Scales (North America) and Hand In Hive (in the UK and the rest of the world).

"Still Young", Things I Left Behind's penultimate track, was also the song that kickstarted the process of writing the album and, as such, holds an important place on the record. A brooding four minutes, 'Still Young' is indicative of the charm that Joni exudes: the confessional lyrics, a weary heart, but elevated by an endearing and compelling sense of pop nous that shimmers throughout.

"I originally wrote this song for my little sister who was going through a rough patch," Joni explains, "but then somewhere down the line she got her life together and things were kind of unraveling for me... I remember being on tour and thinking that the perspective had shifted and I was really just singing the song to myself. I think it’s good to be in touch with younger versions of yourself and to carry them with you as you move through life."

When Joni says that “pain is the price you pay for loving someone” it’s coming from a place of deep experience. Having relocated to London from LA with her long-term partner, and closest musical collaborator, the singer-songwriter suddenly found herself thrust into a deeply unsettling break-up, one that left her isolated in a brand new country, and also one that pulled back the curtain on a host of unhealthy patterns she had become accustomed to within the relationship.

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Photo - Gabrielle Mary
Vera Ellen - sangria (demo).

2024 was a big year for rising Aotearoa songstress, Vera Ellen. The year found her awarded the coveted Taite Music Prize for her 2023 album ‘Ideal Home Noise’, touring 14 dates across mainland China, and flying through 10 sold-out arena shows around Australia with Crowded House… all while hard at work in the studio with longtime producer and collaborator Ben Lemi, working on what’s to come.

Today Vera shares delicate forbidden-love-anthem ‘sangria (demo)’, A fan-favourite from recent sunny festival sets at Laneway Festival and Twisted Frequency. This track is performed, recorded and mixed by Vera herself, and in keeping with its DIY essence, it’s paired with a self-edited music video.

The video is composed of lo-fi footage captured in earlier days of summer; commemorating time spent on a national tour with fellow Flying Nun alumni Voom and Reb Fountain, as well as being on the road with Aotearoa icons Crowded House, playing to their masses of Australian fans at iconic venues such as the Sydney Opera House.

About the song Vera shares “‘Sangria’ is an ode to all the romantic halfwits who know about wanting something they shouldn't have. The intoxicating mix of alcohol and the familiar scent of an old lover. Saying 'to hell with it!' and doing the thing you mustn't in the name of a particularly inviting moon.”

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Tuesday, 11 February 2025

NO KING - Joni

NO KING - Roadside Rhythms.

The long-awaited debut album from NO KING is finally here! Roadside Rhythms will be available on all streaming platforms and on CD from February 21.

Roadside Rhythms features eight tracks that reflect the band's unique and dynamic style. It is a powerful blues rock record with captivating songs where both the lyrics and solo work take center stage.

NO KING is known for their energetic and captivating performances. The band delivers a refreshing mix of powerful blues rock infused with funky influences. The sublime guitar work, the distinctive sound of a snarling Hammond organ with Leslie, solid drums, and a groovy bass come together to create an unforgettable musical experience.

Inspired by legendary blues, rock, and funk icons, NO KING proves—with a nod to their influences—that you don't need "King" in your name to deliver a royal dose of blues rock.

The album was recorded at Woodstock Recording Studio in Enschede, a location where artists such as Philip Lassiter and King of the World have also recorded. With Roadside Rhythms, NO KING has created an album that perfectly captures the power of blues rock, personal storytelling, and musical connection.

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Photo - Charlotte Patmore
Joni - Things I Left Behind.

American-born, London-based songwriter Joni announces her debut album, Things I Left Behind, ahead of an April 11th release via her twin homes of Keeled Scales in North America and Hand In Hive in the UK/Europe. She also announces a sold-out Brooklyn show supporting Hannah Cohen at Union Pool on April 16 and a London headline show in celebration of her new album on May 8 at Servant Jazz Quarters.

Alongside the news, she shares the album's beguiling title track, a captivating account of how so much of growing up is centered around losing people, places, and things; how we constantly leave pieces of ourselves behind as we move forward. Underpinned by a shuffling drumbeat that keeps the song forever moving forward, Joni’s voice feels suitably alluring against a subtle swirl of guitars and varying tonal shifts that lend the track a bewitching edge. The track comes produced by Jackson Firlik (B. Miles, Great Barrier).

Speaking about "Things I Left Behind," Joni calls it "a reflection on how we're all made up of the things we've lost and left behind. People. Places. Experiences. While writing the lyrics, I was having all these vivid images from my past rush by, almost like lights when you're driving in a tunnel. Little things and big things. Scraping my knee as a kid. Falling in love for the first time. Losing love. Taking mushrooms and calling my childhood best friend. Lying on the grass at night. It's painful to realise you can't hold onto these things physically, but ultimately comforting to know that they sort of become you and you carry them along in some way."

When Joni says that “pain is the price you pay for loving someone” it’s coming from a place of deep experience. Having relocated to London from LA with her long-term partner, and closest musical collaborator, the singer-songwriter suddenly found herself thrust into a deeply unsettling break-up, one that left her isolated in a brand new country, and also one that pulled back the curtain on a host of unhealthy patterns she had become accustomed to within the relationship.



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Will Morton - Ruth Lyon - Penny & The Pits - Caravan Palace

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