Dana Gavanski - Kaya Usher - Parrot Dream - Lydia Brownfield

Dana Gavanski - Letting Go.

Following on from her debut album Yesterday Is Gone and her covers EP Wind Songs both released in 2020, Serbian-Canadian musician Dana Gavanski gives us a taste of what's to come next with her brand new single "Letting Go."

It's a slice of wide screen psychedelic pop. Dana and her band are also heading out on the road with Porridge Radio this week, a tour they will be embarking on by train in the interest of lowering their environmental impact.

Of the new single Dana says: "It's like a little mantra for me to sing, though maybe it’s a tad unconventional being that it’s not necessarily the kind of positive message we all associate with pop mantras. It’s more of an account of how the mind works to undermine us. It’s a subverted mantra. In the chord sequence I was trying to excite my ears and explore different melodies."

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Kaya Usher - Heart Clicks.

Kaya Usher's first single as a recording artist is Heart Clicks, a song about the transcending power of love and the ways in which it unites humanity.  The song comes a week ahead of the November 17 release of her debut album, All This Is, produced by Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene and Nyles Spencer. Mastered by Grammy award-winner Emily Lazar, the 10-track project also features Andrea Nann on back-up vocals and two of Usher and Downie’s children, Lou and Willo. Bringing to life the couple’s dream of one day forming a family band, All This Is will self-released and distributed by Arts & Crafts Productions, the label behind Downie’s solo career.

"This is a very personal album for me, not only because I get to jam out with my kids, but also because music has helped me to rise up and transcend what was holding me back,” says Kaya Usher. “Everyone can connect to music. My hope is that this album helps others reach new heights too.”

All This Is represents a reset. It is Usher’s story, told for the first time through a series of songs. Haunting melodies and soul-searching lyrics create an experience for the listener that reflects Usher’s awakening process, a journey that began when she fought breast cancer in her forties. The album speaks to her unraveling, her epiphany and, finally, her metamorphosis.

Kevin Drew met Usher in 2013 through Downie, and they soon became good friends. Their collaboration is heard throughout the album, in its robust compositions, ambient chords and hypnotic rhythms. Featuring her son Lou on keyboard and drums, her daughter Willo on harmonies and Usher playing classical guitar, organ, harmonica and providing vocals, All This Is is an offering almost thirty years in the making. The project was recorded at The Bathouse Recording Studio — a studio owned and managed by The Hip, near Kingston on the shores of Lake Ontario. The album art was designed by Willo.

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Parrot Dream - The End.

NY-based dream-pop duo Parrot Dream are sharing a new single, "The End." It's third and final in the band's 2021 song cycle following "Automatic System" and "Red Circle."

The band shares, "'The End' was not in fact written in response to world events. We were experimenting with big dark synth sounds and wanted to create something minimal but deep & dynamic. The lyrics are essentially final thoughts as a chapter closes and one created world ends. We all move through several worlds during the day; worlds we create ourselves, worlds created by systemic repression, worlds of relationships, worlds created by the illusions of capitalism, to name a few. The world ending in this song is specifically a world built around two beings facing a fire and brimstone type of demise."

Parrot Dream is the Brooklyn via Santiago, Chile duo of Christina Appel and Gonzalo Guerrero. Good Eye released their debut, Light Goes, which dealt with themes of disconnected memory and loss as the partners grappled with their different senses of home.

"The End" is part of a set of material that they had planned on recording in a studio in 2020 and ended up recording in their home throughout the year. It's also their first new work operating fully as a duo.

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Lydia Brownfield - Against The Light.

Lydia Brownfield announces the release of the single “Against the Light." It’s an anthem for those trying over and over again despite the odds and also a reckoning for those getting in their own way.  It’s off the upcoming album, Dig, due out November 19.

The frantic and impulsive tempo symbolizes a moth banging around the dark searching for the light. When she finds it she throws herself against it: “Around and round this light I’m flying banging loudly into the night, torn and broken but not beaten, I will throw myself again and again and again against the light”.

It reflects two areas of Brownfield’s own life she strives to get right, her music career and past relationships. She says, “This song kind of sums up my life. Even after failing at relationships, we all do it again. And again and again. We have to try. I always have to try. It’s the same with music. I’ve been at this for decades. But I still throw myself at it as hard as I can, with whatever I have. Or whatever I have left.”

Brownfield plays acoustic guitar, piano, strings and synths on “Against the Light”. The single produced by Fred Blitzer, also features Andy Harrison on electric guitar, Jeff Martin on drums, and Phil Maneri on bass.

The album travels the euphoric highs of being in love and the dramatic lows of breaking up and discovering internal power. Through genre-bending twists and turns of folk, punk, and pop, it explores the journey of getting caught up in someone else and losing sight of one’s journey of self-discovery.

Lydia Brownfield · Against The Light

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MARBL - Monica Aben - Casper Skulls - emie nathan - Lydia Brownfield - Renée Reed

MARBL - Everybody's Getting Married.

Critically acclaimed Israeli Folk/Pop musician MARBL has released her new single “Everybody’s Getting Marries.”

MARBL about the song: “The new song “Everybody’s Getting Married” is a humorous song that’s winks at those who think that there’s only one right way to live. The video tells the story of a young woman running away from her wedding in the last minute. 

Tomer (who created the video) and me, wanted the situation to be as crazy and exaggerated as it can get, to make our point clear - I think that interviewing and dictating someone else’s life is much crazier and rude. People can be happy and live an amazing life with or without a wedding, with or without kids, in their own pace, due to their own wishes and life-map they draw to themselves. It’s our party, and our party only. Now go pour yourself a glass of wine and chill.“

MARBL, who also works as a vocal coach in Tel-Aviv, was able to generate a great media response worldwide with several singles and her last EP "The Flight of the Hawks". In addition to countless reviews, some of her songs have been included in editorial playlists by Amazon and Spotify.

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Monica Aben - Reasons to Reminisce.

Have you ever written a letter to the one that almost was, but never sent it? How about a letter to your future self, reminding you of the good, the bad & all the milestones in your life? What if you sent the postcard that your friend convinced you not to… would your whole life look different? Venice, California artist Monica Aben pulled the shoebox packed with letters & postcards from under her bed, and whilst reminiscing about the past, wrote a collection of songs that explores every unsent word from those pages, all encapsulated in her new EP Postcards.

This five-track release includes her latest single Reasons to Reminisce – a song that sees Monica stumbling on a thread of messages on an old cell phone to discover how much she’s changed. Through reminiscing, she realised you can learn from mistakes, feel none of the old feelings but still have appreciation for the person you once were.

Monica recorded Reasons to Reminisce with producer Justin Glasco & Ingrid Michaelson guitarist Brandon Walters. Mix duties were left to the Grammy winning Ryan Gilligan (Kanye West, Calle 13) before mastering engineer Jett Galindo (La La Land OST, Weezer) gave the release its final polish.

Other tracks on the EP include her previous two singles: CPH – an ode to Copenhagen & staying connected to your inner-self while building a life in a new city; and Kids In L.A. – about looking back on the best of times with the best of friends, while coming to terms with although life has moved on, you remain friends with your ‘besties’ from back in the day. There are also additional tracks That’s Alright – about having the courage to be yourself when changing direction, and Last Local In Venice – about how the true soul of her home town, Venice / Los Angeles has changed through recent gentrification.

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Casper Skulls - The Mouth.

Toronto's Casper Skulls are today sharing their new single and video, "The Mouth" – this track follows on the heels of recent singles tipped by FLOOD, Exclaim, Brooklyn Vegan and more arriving as the latest from their forthcoming album, Knows No Kindness, which is out November 12, 2021, via Next Door Records. The new record follows previous support from Stereogum, MTV, Brooklyn Vegan, Billboard, KEXP and more, as well as dates opening for the likes of PUP, Thurston Moore, Speedy Ortiz and Charly Bliss.

Once again latching onto the band's new direction of icy folk-inflected rock, taking cues from the likes of Neko Case, and Gillian Welch, the new single "The Mouth" peels back those heavier tones previously associated with the band to find a sound that allows singer, Melanie St-Pierre's lyrics to shine through. Expansive, dreamlike notions are still at play here with guitarist, Neil Bednis finding something more lyrical in his playing drawing inspiration from George Harrison and Neil Young. Written early on in the process of Knows No Kindness, "The Mouth" helped layout the blueprint for how the record would sound as a full piece.

Knows No Kindness is a deeply personal body of work for the band, in particular St-Pierre who tells stories of her life growing up in small-town Northern Ontario, specifically Sudbury and Massey. This new song reminisces on a park called The Mouth Park in Massey where the Spanish and Sauble rivers meet; it was a spot that was regularly frequented by St-Pierre as a child following in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother who used to go when they were growing up.

Speaking about the track, Melanie says: "The park has a bit of a legacy in my family. My grandmother used to take my mother swimming there when she was young, and later my mother would take my sister and me. Every spring hundreds of trilliums grow along the dirt road leading to the park. The protest pictured in our album art, of which my grandmother was a big part, helped save the area from having nuclear waste dumped into it. I’m very grateful for this area and go often to check on it and sometimes bird watch."

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emie nathan - white light.

Following on from this year’s debut single ‘noman’ - hailed as “pop perfection” by Wonderland, and recent follow-ups ‘upstream’ and ‘roses’, emie nathan last week unveiled her debut EP ‘white light’, set for release on November 26th ... You can now watch a video for the title track now out via Platoon.

A seven-track offering, the EP picks up the baton of nathan’s crystalline, soaring, Maggie Rogers-esque pop and fleshes it out, offering deeper insights into her internal world than ever. The first comes in the form of ‘white light’’s title track - which is now available to stream. An expansive highlight of the EP, it draws on the New York and London-based singer’s Jewish heritage, using the holiday of Yom Kippur (the day of atonement) as a stepping off point for some wider questions.

“I was inspired by the concept of “starting over” to write an irreligious song about reconciling with one’s own shortcomings and choosing to be a better version of themselves moving forward,” she explains. “Separating the religious ideology for a moment, atonement and reconciliation are two very real and widely applicable actions we as humans face all the time. I wanted to write something that encourages improvement in whatever way that manifests. When I try to envision an image of sorts that best represents self-reflection and working to right wrongs, I visualise the brightest light you could possibly imagine. It doesn’t really take shape or assume a form, it is just ever present and forceful in its shine. If we can embody this image of goodness and take it with us into our daily choices, I think we as people can do a lot better for each other and for ourselves going through the day to day motions.

“I grew up in a reformed Jewish household which meant we practised as Jews, but largely stuck to the traditional side of the religion that centres itself around family, food and song. My brothers and I have largely forged our own individual perspectives and relationships regarding our religion as we have grown up, but I think we can agree on how much of the hidden meaning can be translated as good advice for life. Make mistakes? Own them. Hurt someone? Apologise. Hurt yourself? Heal and move on.”

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Lydia Brownfield - We Are Bound.

Lydia Brownfield announces the release of the single “We Are Bound” on October 12. Through gentle strumming and Brownfield’s nurturing vocals, the single serves as a reminder that what we teach our kids is who they grow up to be. We can either lift up or tear down. It’s completely up to us. It’s off the upcoming album, Dig, due out November 19.

A plea for empathy, the song focuses on the idea that we all play a part in everyone’s life. Brownfield says, “I was feeling particularly isolated and also very frustrated, mostly within the political climate, near the end of 2019. Watching our political leaders only looking out for themselves was sad and infuriating. I wanted to write something to remind myself – we have the power to heal each other, to teach each other right from wrong and to lift up those who are down or less fortunate.”

The single produced by Fred Blitzer features Brownfield and Jeff Dalrymple on acoustic guitar, Andy Harrison on electric guitar, Jeff Martin on drums, and Phil Maneri on bass. Brownfield also added strings and piano.

The album travels the euphoric highs of being in love and the dramatic lows of breaking up and discovering internal power. Through genre-bending twists and turns of folk, punk, and pop, it explores the journey of getting caught up in someone else and losing sight of one’s journey of self-discovery.

Lydia Brownfield · We Are Bound

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Renée Reed - J’ai rêvé.

Lafayette, Louisiana musician Renée Reed shares the second single and title track "J’ai rêvé" from her forthcoming digital EP coming November 2 while touring with Whitney across the US.

The song is one of two French covers on the record. "J’ai rêvé" was written and originally recorded by Joëlle Patural in 1979. The EP also includes two original songs by Renée sung in English.

Renée says this about "J’ai rêvé": "I originally found this song on youtube a few years ago, and it took my breath away. The video hardly had any information about it or the artist, Joëlle Patural, which made it even more intriguing for me. I have since tracked down a copy of the LP from 1979, and even exchanged a few messages with Ms Patural. She said she wrote the song when she was about my age and longing to travel and see the world but feeling stuck in her small hometown. I think it’s such a beautiful song, and I want it to go out into the world."

These songs were recorded during the same four-track album sessions as her stunning self-titled debut album, released earlier this year. That album garnered early praise from tastemakers Gorilla vs. Bear and Gold Flake Paint and a 7.7 Pitchfork review which describes her music as "full of dreamy, odd notes, and a sense of unreality shimmers around her songs."

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Benz - Lydia Brownfield - Absolutely Free - Koka - aloric

Benz - I Never Thought That This Would Be The End.

Ebba Salomonsson (Benz) grew up in her stepfather's record store where she explored endless different influences and styles. Benz have now signed to Rama Lama Records (Melby, Wy, Chez Ali etc.) and is back with another collection of songs packed with her playful and diverse psych-tinged indie folk, its a sound where Benz with big confidence lets her music both be direct and breathe - creating a musical soundscape for the listener to get swept away in.

The new EP 'This Could Be The End' is out on November 5th. Lead single 'I Never Thought That This Could Be The End', an up-tempo indie folk track about "two friends that make eachother go crazy", is out now alongside a music video made by Ebba G. Ågren (Wy) and produced by Feverish.

Thematically, the EP treats a broken relationship. But this is not your usual romantic sad-break-up-indie, as the lyrics tell the story about breaking up with an old friend. Ebba herself has compared the EP to "six seasons of Girls, a comedy-drama in a compressed format".

All the tracks on the EP are written by Ebba Salomonsson herself, produced by Wallentin Richardsson and recorded with Nathanel Salomonsson (drums), Simon Ström (bass), Olle Wahlström (guitar) and Alfon Keteli (keys).

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Lydia Brownfield - The Digger

Lydia Brownfield announces the release of the single “The Digger” on September 14. It’s off the upcoming album, Dig, due out November 19. The cornerstone of the album, “The Digger,” explores self-discovery before, during, after, and between relationships.

Brownfield’s voice swells and recedes within the crevices of new love, heartbreak, and the holy grail of self-discovery. The song gracefully weaves and spirals in a melodic embrace in the search for truth: “… and if you find hell, well, just dig deeper still.” Brownfield says, “Although it’s rather personal, I think other people can relate.  We all have ‘stuff.’ Stuff we don’t like about ourselves, stuff we wish we could change, stuff that doesn’t serve us well, and stuff that isn’t even ours. We were born into other people’s stuff, and we just learn to carry it along with us. It becomes part of us. All this stuff is mixed in with what’s at the core of us – and if we don’t separate it and rid ourselves of that stuff, then it just continues, on and on.”

The album travels the euphoric highs of being in love and the dramatic lows of breaking up and discovering internal power. Through genre-bending twists and turns of folk, punk, and pop, it explores the journey of getting caught up in someone else and losing sight of one’s journey of self-discovery.

The album produced by Fred Blitzer includes studio musicians Jeff Martin (drums), Andy Harrison (guitar), and Phil Maneri (bass) hand-selected by Blitzer. It also includes Brownfield’s partner, Jeff Dalrymple, on acoustic guitar. Blitzer agreed to work with Brownfield under one condition – if they used his studio musicians. Although it placed Brownfield in an awkward position and created strife with the existing musicians she was used to working with, the results were beyond expectation.

Lydia Brownfield · The Digger

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Absolutely Free - Remaining Light.

Absolutely Free has cultivated a decade-long reputation for an unorthodox approach to both conceiving and performing music. The Toronto psychedelic pop trio’s Polaris Music Prize-nominated debut was hailed as “breathtakingly beautiful” (Stereogum) and a “deep-space cosmic-rock odyssey” (Pitchfork) upon its 2014 release. Following an array of multimedia projects and releases, including 2019’s Geneva Freeport EP (featuring U.S. Girls’ Meg Remy), the band recently announced its much-anticipated sophomore album, Aftertouch, with that “flying wedge of art pop” (Brooklyn Vegan), first single “How To Paint Clouds.”

The album’s second single, “Interface” was a peek further into the kaleidoscopic minds of Absolutely Free, accompanied by a visual drench in vibrant neon palettes and retro-futuristic tendencies by Australian artist Benjamin Portas.

Now with the 3rd and final single "Remaining Light" the group echoes some of their heroes, from Talk Talk to Brian Eno to Steve Reich on a track that has had a five year gestation period.

The band explains: "‘Remaining Light’ expresses the frustration felt towards invincible and corrupt institutions that uphold structural inequities, including police brutality and manufactured poverty experienced primarily by racialized communities. Written during a heat wave in the summer of 2016, the song dishearteningly remains as relevant as ever today."

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Koka - Double Up.

Koka is an independent three-piece group from the Coachella Valley in California. Throughout their 3 years as a group, Koka has managed to perform at venues such as the House of Blues in Anaheim and Chain Reaction as well. 

All of Koka's music is self-recorded and self-produced. "Double Up" is Koka's 6th new single. 

This catchy song is filled with luscious indie pop melodies, groovy bass and hypnotizing drums!

 

 

 

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aloric - Poor Classes / Pour Glasses.

London-based aloric releases his first new single after a 4-year hiatus, with 'Poor Classes / Pour Glasses'.

After the initial success of his first singles 'Who?' and 'Fate', aloric received widespread positive press from Stereogum, HillyDilly, FreshOnTheNet, Overblown and was featured on Spotify's 'Fresh Finds' playlist - all as an unsigned artist who had yet to play his first gig.

His new single is a nod to nostalgia, the rise of the 'rose-tinted glasses' view of the past and the dangers that come with it. A cyclical narrative that seems to be playing out far too often, both on an individual and global scale. Inspired by the sounds of Björk, James Blake, Radiohead and Sigur Rós.

As with all aloric tracks, it finds the artist in the multiple roles of songwriter, singer, producer, engineer, performer and everything inbetween - a true 'one man band'.

aloric · Poor Classes / Pour Glasses

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