Lilac Haze - Arielle Silver - Survival Guide - Cara Hammond

Lilac Haze - Daisy Girl.

'Daisy Girl', is the stunning new single from dream pop artist Lilac Haze, released today, taken from her upcoming debut EP due later this year.

Lilac Haze is the project name for songwriter Katrina Swift. Greatly influenced by bands of the ‘80s/’90s, Swift draws inspiration from The Cure, All About Eve, Eva Cassidy and Fleetwood Mac, combining atmospheric and ethereal textures with a sense of nostalgic romance.

Daisy Girl, was written about pursuing new relationships and how fear can hold you back from experiencing something beautiful.

Discussing the single, Lilac Haze explains: “We all have a little “daisy girl” within us, giving courage to take a chance on something new and different. I wrote this song with the idea of pursuing new relationships with an open heart without letting fear paralyse an opportunity for happiness.  We had a great time experimenting with different guitar sounds for this track, and had fun creating this sweet treat.”

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Photo - Anabel DFlux

Arielle Silver - Ghost Ships.

Much of Arielle's music finds inspiration in the stories she's writing and reading as a literary writer and professor of creative writing at Antioch University, and in the various philosophies she explores as a yoga and meditation instructor at her own Bhavana Flow Studio in Los Angeles.

"A lot of songwriters start by writing the chorus, because from an audience standpoint, that's the part that should stick in the ears," says Arielle when describing her writing and creative processes. "But I typically begin with writing verses in order to dig into the sensory-perceiving portion of a story. I typically enter songwriting (and my other creative writing) by describing setting, character, place in order to present a situation."

A literary mind who cites inspiration in writers like Cheryl Strayed, Jane Austen, Jeanette Winterson, and Mary Oliver (to name a few), Arielle's lyrics read like moving self-contained stories, and are further elevated by her stunning instrumental and vocal performances. “Ghost Ships” is a perfect example of this approach. Inspired by Strayed’s Tiny Beautiful Things as well as Silver’s own flash essay "The Sleeping Porch", the song ruminates on the paths not taken to stunning effect.

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Survival Guide - Lady Neptune.

“Over the last few years, I've had a handful of dreams that involved my own death in various ways, and they've all been profound for me,” says Emily "Agent M" Whitehurst (former vocalist for punk standouts Tsunami Bomb) about the themes surrounding her upcoming fourth full-length Survival Guide album deathdreams (release date: October 19, 2023 via Double Helix Records). “It seemed natural to call the album deathdreams after this theme, and I like the opposing imagery and feelings those words can conjure. I like the way dreams can be thought of as soft, sweet, or strange, and death as dark and ominous. These are all descriptors that fit various songs on the album as well, so it seemed like the right title for the collection.”

"Lady Neptune" is the second single (following "Blood Perfume") off deathdreams and Em says the lyrics for the track are based on a dream she had where she had died, "It involved a chaotic battlefield where people were fighting and killing each other, and somehow, I knew that if I drowned myself, I’d come back to life and emerge from the water with the power to make the fighting stop."

A former Northern California native now residing in San Antonio, Texas, Emily is an electronic indie-pop artist with a background in punk. Her music obsession began with Green Day, leading her to a dreams-come-true life of punk rock as she traversed continents fronting the band Tsunami Bomb as “Agent M.” Over the years, her music gradually shifted toward synth pop in The Action Design, then further into the electronic indie-pop realm as Survival Guide. Her danceable tunes evoke a sonic birthday cake: alternating layers of Depeche Mode, Metric, Peter Gabriel, and Grimes, with vibrant melodies and vocals as the icing on top. “Music is crucial to my survival,” she says wholeheartedly, adding, “Survival Guide is one woman trying to shape her own place in this world as a musician."

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Cara Hammond - America.

Welsh Based Artist Cara Hammond has unveiled a new video for acclaimed new single 'America' and announced her Debut UK Tour which will be in November. Support on the tour comes from Rebecca Hurn.

'America' is Cara Hammond's second self produced single of 2023, following a string of successful festival appearences including Usk's Green Man Festival, 'America' has so far been supported by John Kennedy, Xposure on Radio X, Huw Stephens announced 'America' as his Track Of The Week on BBC Radio Wales, and Adam Walton on BBC Introducing in Wales.

Influenced by Lana Del Reyand Fleetwood Mac, America is a summer anthem about what happens after theAmerican dream. Country guitar slides, gospel organ and 60s girl group harmoniesblend together in creating a classic Americana sound that slowly disintegrates viaharmonic shifts.

I wrote America after returning from showcasing at SXSW 2022. At the beginning of 2022 I’d been dropped by my label & left my management, so when I was invited to play this huge festival in Austin, Texas, I couldn’t have been happier.

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Anna Elyse - Lilac Haze - Tipps and Obermiller - Alice Howe - Mary Lee Kortes - Foyer Red

Anna Elyse - Faster Than We ran.

A poet at heart, Anna Elyse is a singer, songwriter and producer who draws inspiration from prolific songwriter like Neil Young and looks to modernize her sound with influences from  producers like No ID, Mike Dean and Illangelo."I always found solace in music, especially when I connected to the stories. And I hope to provide that for someone else."

After graduating from UCLA, with a concentration in Creative Writing (Poetry), she went on to Audio Engineering School and found that one of her very favorite places to be was in the studio. She was used to spending many hours in the dance studio growing up, and stepping into the recording studio was like slipping into an immersive world she knew she fit.

She worked behind the scenes in recording studios and serendipitously ended up on a few prominent hip-hop albums (Logic's albums: Under Pressure, The Incredible True Story, and No Pressure). But, it wasn't until a couple of years ago that she decided to let go of her reservations and release her own music. Her self-produced and mixed debut single, "Trading Glances" landed her on several upcoming folk-pop playlists (Greywood Records, Dave Powers, HQIndie).

Anna Elyse is excited to share her newest track, "Faster Than We Ran" with the world on March 23rd. Here's what she had to say about it: "This song came to me one foggy morning at the beach while staring out at the water and the thick mist hanging over everything. It felt like I was about to watch a portal open up into a different world. 'Faster Than We Ran' is about looking back on something that was magic and feeling immense gratitude for it. It may have been short-lived and incongruent or wrong in some ways, but it still lit you up and that's what life is about. It's looking back and saying, 'That was so awesome, the human experience is such a magical thing.' even when it's imperfect".

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Lilac Haze - The Ghost That I Once Knew / Lilac Haze.

Bath-based dream pop artist Lilac Haze is pleased to announce the release of her debut double singles ‘The Ghost That I Once Knew // Lilac Haze’ today March 24th 2023. Lilac Haze is the project name for Bath-based songwriter Katrina Swift. Greatly influenced by bands of the ‘80s/’90s, Swift draws inspiration from The Cure, All About Eve, Eva Cassidy and Fleetwood Mac, combining atmospheric and ethereal textures with a sense of nostalgic romance.

Lilac Haze’s stunning debut double singles The Ghost That I Once Knew // Lilac Haze were produced by Calum Wotherspoon (Nightswimming) and mastered by Adam Ayan (Paul McCartney, Lana Del Ray, Carrie Underwood), with guitarist Sam Allan (Nightswimming) and drummer Torin Moore (Nightswimming) collaborating on the tracks to create the backdrop for Swift’s hypnotic vocals.

With a background performing across the U.S and Europe fronting ensembles and orchestras and classically trained with a high, gentle voice, Swift’s angelic, haunting vocals gently soar upon soft guitars, delicate strings and dramatic synths.

Speaking about the inspiration behind the singles, Swift explains, “In December 2021, I wrote Ghost after a period of self-reflection during a time when I felt unsure and lost in my new surroundings. It’s a reflection of the loss of innocence as we mature… a farewell to your old self. Lilac Haze however is a song written for anyone who has been affected by loved ones lost to Alzheimer’s and Dementia.”

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Tipps and Obermiller - Thick As Theives.

It took no time at all for songwriters Hilary Tipps and Steve Obermiller to fall in love and start their lives together. But it was a decade of trying to create life, deal with death and build careers before they wrote their first songs together.

“Love (and Other Mysteries”) is a debut album that bursts open a dream deferred: tunes written long ago, newly developed duets, and their first three co - writes that promise great things for their future. It is a collection of songs with equal parts contemplation (Willow Tree, Heart, Rewind Repeat), wisdom (Mrs. Montgomery, These Hands, Jack), and simple fun (Thick as Thieves, Ferris Wheel, My Love Will). The album ends with a raucous version of Trouble in Mind, recorded in 2017 and added as a tribute to late friend and guitarist Joe Ward.

This is a songwriter’s record that defies genre: folky in its roots, dabbling in country, jazz and rock. Yet, it avoids being too many things. Trey Ware (drums), Aden Bubeck (bass), and Matt Tedder (guitar) give this album a distinct continuity. Their personalities can be felt weaving through Hilary and Steve’s well - crafted songs and offer a through line to the whole of the album.

Though you might call them Folk or Americana, Hilary Tipps and Steve Obermiller are not genre - specific songwriters. Just as they write about every aspect of life and living, they use every style of music to suit the song at hand.

Tipps and Obermiller · Thick As Theives

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Alice Howe - Love Has No Rules.

LA-based, Boston-bred, singer-songwriter Alice Howe new single "Love Has No Rules," is out today March 24th. The song is about those unexpected things that happen when it comes to matters of the heart - you can't help who you fall for, and love definitely has no rules. "Love Has No Rules" is from Alice's forthcoming LP, Circumstance, out April 21st.

Recorded in two sessions at the legendary FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Circumstance chronicles Alice's personal and musical evolution. The songs evoke both the classic singer-songwriters and the seminal music that once filled airwaves, roadhouses, and juke joints.

It’s a deep, personal journey across a soundscape dotted with blues, folk, country, soul, and rock, a personal, soulful nod to her influences and the music she loves. In spirit, it draws from admired singers – Alison Krauss or the 1970s Laurel Canyon circle — but its soul is pure Alice Howe.

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Mary Lee Kortes - Green Sand.

Singer, songwriter and author Mary Lee Kortes has shared a video for her new song “Green Sand” which features Joe Jackson on backing vocals. “Green Sand is partly inspired by the story of Bonnie and Clyde,” writes Kortes, “by the envy and coveting of the riches and plenty of others so prominent in the Depression era—Beulah's era—but also by the more universal desire for what seems forever out of reach. Joe Jackson offered to guest on the record and this song gave the perfect opportunity for the brilliance of both his voice and piano playing.”

The song is the second single from her recently announced album Will Anybody Know That I Was Here: The Songs of Beulah Rowley. Recorded with the Grammy-winning producer Hal Willner, the project presents the story of the fictional dustbowl-era songwriter Beulah Rowley. The record will be released on April 22nd as a Record Store Day vinyl exclusive.

Kortes previously shared the track “Born A Happy Girl,” which premiered with American Blues Scene who writes that Kortes “...has brought her considerable talents to craft songs that sound like they came right out of the Depression Era.” “As a writer, you get in a zone. You get possessed by something. If you're lucky,” says Mary Lee Kortes.

Will Anybody Know That I Was Here: The Songs of Beulah Rowley, Kortes’s new stunning and immersive album, was born from one of those all-encompassing possessions, from a feeling she couldn’t shake, one she had to write through to fully understand. She knew she wanted to expand upon a typical album format to create a more cohesive work with a sense of character that could incorporate her love for writing fiction. “I went to sleep with all of this on my mind,” she says, “and I woke up in the morning with this woman in my head named Beulah Rowley, a depression-era singer-songwriter, from the Midwest like me, and I immediately started writing the song ‘Born a Happy Girl.’” Kortes would go on to create the biography of Beulah Rowley—and her complete songbook.

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Foyer Red - Gorgeous.

Following their more anarchic first single, the new single "Gorgeous" offers a compelling new wrinkle in Foyer Red's sound. Though composed of characteristically eccentric parts, it contains some the prettiest moments in the band's catalog to date, with an arrangement delicately balances the warmth of singer Elana Riordan's voice with the more discordant elements that bubble over wonderfully in the final third of the song. 

The confidence and creativity with which the band explore an unfamiliar sonic landscape provides another engaging example of what makes Foyer Red so exciting.

Riordan expands on the track's background: "We wrote this song organically in the studio together one day. It was one of those songwriting experiences that blows your mind over and over and makes you feel incredibly lucky to have such well-matched collaborators. I recorded a voice memo of us playing (later renamed it “wow gorgeous jam”) and listened to this low quality voice memo on repeat for days, literally bubbling up in bliss. I wrote the lyrics about my partner and bandmate Marco, for whom I keep a list of 'Marco-isms', his ever endearing botched colloquialisms that I hope he will never correct." Yarn The Hours Away will be released on Carpark Records on May 19th.

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