Malena Smith - Tent Music - The Velveteins - Motihari Brigade

Malena Smith - 18.

Released today it's Beehive Candy's absolute pleasure to feature 18 the exceptional new single from St. Louis-based artist Malena Smith.

 Malena's music is a coming of age story; her previous/recent single, "Betray Myself," was about realizing some of her habits and coping mechanisms weren't really in her best interest. Her new single, "18," is a look back over the last decade of her life, and asking the question, "If I had the chance, would I relive that decade differently?" We are pressured to figure out what to do with our lives at the age of 18, and often succumb to societal expectations to choose the "safe" options - which we can all likely relate to. The weight of the subject matter is juxtaposed by an airy atmosphere and a pop-funk groove, total ear candy.

Malena, a classically-trained singer who came up in the world of jazz, has sung in lounges from St. Louis to Tokyo and shared stages with the likes of Michael Bublé, Clark Beckham, and the St. Louis Symphony. She's a storyteller, and her music is designed to turn her journey into a shared experience that people can connect with.

She is currently writing and recording a body of work produced by her GRAMMY-winning mentor Brian Owens as a part of his St. Louis ecosystem Life Creative. The project touches on her journey through the struggles and triumphs of a young woman blazing a life and career path in a complicated world.

 

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Tent Music - Fade Away.

The first single from Tent Music the name of the project and album by Micaela Tobin (White Boy Scream) and Joshua Hill is "Fade Away" which manages to breaks from dirge into ecstatic pop song within two minutes. It's a wonderful opening salvo hinting at the depths that Tent Music offers.

Tent Music is an album and project by violinist, composer Joshua Hill and Micaela Tobin - widely known for her avant-garde opera White Boy Scream project - that boldly cracks the door open between ritual and music, blurring the line between improvisation and possession, madness and oracular communication, destruction and creation.

Recorded in one night in a tent pitched outside the home of Joshua Hill's father's home, something happened that Hill, Tobin and visual artist Garek Druss (commissioned to provide the album art and sigilization of the album via a beautifully illustrated zine / insert) are just starting to understand the fulness of. While the album is wildly experimental, there are several entry points like the first single - "Fade Away" that recall Akron / Family's ramshackle exaltations while "Closer"  reflects on Coil's ritualized noise.

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Photo - Evangeline Belzile

The Velveteins - Athene.

Soaked in the bright psychedelia of the 1960’s and dipped in the indie rock explosion of the new millennium, The Velveteins are best described as a bridge between the two. Inspired after living out of a camper van on the beaches of Australia for a year, frontman Spencer Morphy returned to Canada and started the band with co-songwriter Addison Hiller in 2014. Later joined by Dean Kheroufi, Daniel Sedmak and Cam O'Neill, the fivesome have since made a name for themselves for their incendiary live performances.

“Athene” is the third single to be released from their upcoming sophomore album. The track was inspired by the war goddess in Homer's Iliad with Morphy sharing, “I was exploring through the Iliad at the time, so the lore was fresh in my mind, but I imagined a tale about a woman sort of mirroring Athene in modern life. I drew from great women that I know, and crafted a song that explored developing a relationship with her, and falling under her influence and just being along for the ride.”

Written in the small surf town of Tofino, Canada, “Athene” emits an easy and laid-back tone with warm, effortless vocals, relaxed guitars and a steady beat, creating an overall comforting atmosphere. It’s easy to get lost in the mesmeric sounds of The Velveteins, where you’ll find yourself hitting repeat and staying along for the journey.

Garnering millions of streams for their music to date, The Velveteins have built an ever-growing, dedicated fan base across all corners of the globe. Their vigorous touring schedule has led to international festival appearances (SXSW, and The Great Escape) and opening slots for established acts including Wolf Parade, Hockey Dad and Chad Vangaalen.

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Motihari Brigade - Reality Show.

Motihari Brigade's new official short film “Reality Show” explores the struggle to perceive reality amidst the onslaught of corporate-state technological dystopian narrative control. Motihari Brigade partnered with filmmaker Jovana Tomasevic of MLADE Studio who directed and produced this creative cinematic visual story for the song. Jovana envisioned the mysterious hooded figure to represent the spirit of hope itself, encouraging people to break free from the technological filters imposed by an elite. 

For a while, they are able to open their eyes, freely perceive reality, and smile, before all being consumed once again by the system. Appropriately, the video ends with a quote from George Orwell's "1984.”  But hope springs eternal, as they say…

Motihari Brigade’s second album "Algorithm & Blues" features defibrillating electric guitar, tachycardia rhythms on bass, and drums played by an octopus on stimulants. Layered keyboard, horn, and vocal arrangements combine to produce the magic of a highly-caffeinated rock band thumping on all ventricles. Twelve original songs and one cover provide an energetic soundtrack for listeners to more happily navigate the dystopian reality show that we are all now busily sharing on our smart appendages.

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Kinley - Motihari Brigade - Amy Petty - Greg Hoy & The Boys - ØZWALD - Mountain For Clouds

Kinley has shared a lyric video for 'Washington' a melodic and desirable mixture of indie folk and pop. === Motihari Brigade have a brand new album called 'Power From Below' from which we have 'Talking To Crazy' which gives a good feel for the bands revolution rock. === Taken from her brand new album 'The Darkness Of Birds' we have  Amy Petty and 'Sick Of The Radio' where the contemporary pop artist delivers some really fine songs. === Greg Hoy & The Boys have released a music video for 'Green' a vibrant rocker that showcases the San Francisco band very well. === ØZWALD return to Beehive Candy after our first feature just over a month ago, this time we have 'Call off the Doctor' a gently paced, calm and increasingly catchy song. === The first of ten songs on their final album before calling it a day we have 'Water' from Mountain For Clouds and I thinks it's more than fair to say they are leaving on a splendid high.
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Kinley - Washington.

Kinley Dowling is a talented songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who spent ten years touring the world as a member of the band Hey Rosetta!. When not on tour with her friends, she finds time to write and record her own music.

She released her solo debut album 'Letters Never Sent' as KINLEY in October 2016. The album won three Music PEI awards and two East Coast Music Awards for Rising Star of the Year 2018.

For over a decade, KINLEY has appeared on violin with the likes of Jenn Grant, Stars, Matt Mays, In-Flight Safety, Rose Cousins as well as loaning her talents to Classic Albums Live and Anne and Gilbert; The Musical.

Her career has also seen multiple appearances with Grammy-winning artist Anne Murray and as a member of Hey Rosetta!, Kinley has toured Australia, USA, Canada and Europe multiple times, appearing at festivals such as Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Ottawa Bluesfest, and Mumford and Sons Gentlemen of the Road tour. She has recorded violin and viola on over 400 songs for numerous artists across Canada.

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Motihari Brigade - Talking To Crazy.

Rock-N-Roll began as an expression of youth rebellion. Beautiful bands of outcasts, renegades, and radicals claimed the music as their voice to express ideals of independent human resistance.

But there was always the music industry - plastic robot manufactured culture to distract and placate the masses.  Many were hypnotized by the artificial programming flooding their tele-screens.

They may call the tune, but we need not consume what we are fed.  We can create our own independent rock-n-roll resistance.

Motihari Brigade creates high-energy revolution rock as a beacon for those seeking their independent lost tribe.  The new album Power From Below evokes the encouraging electric sound of “Bernie Sanders meets Helter Skelter.”  They are a voice in the wilderness calling “We are on our own, but not alone” - words from the song Waiting For the Revolution and inscribed on the electric guitar from the album’s cover art.

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Amy Petty - Sick Of The Radio.

Amy Petty releases "The Darkness of Birds" With pristine production and a powerhouse vocal performance, "The Darkness Of Birds" announces Amy Petty as force to be reckoned with in Adult Contemporary Music.

The eleven song set will evoke comparisons to many of the great divas who have laid the foundation for emotional and introspective modern pop music.

Delivered over an ethereal instrumental bed, developed in concert with producer Andy Reed,  Petty provides layers of vocals that waft and wail with passion and grace.  Both inspirational and foreboding, "The Darkness Of Birds" in an epic sonic achievement.

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Greg Hoy & The Boys - Green.

San Francisco based, Greg Hoy & The Boys have just debuted their latest music video for their single ‘Green’!

According to frontman Greg, “‘Green’ is about seeing the tip of the iceberg of a person while ignoring the depth below its surface: the cheerful barista, a wistful lover, your dear leaders.

And while it celebrates empathy, it also cautions against believing the facade — seeing what we want to see — by asking what goes on behind closed doors. Sometimes the truth is way, way uglier than it appears.”

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ØZWALD - Call off the Doctor.

Comprised of Jason Wade (Lifehouse) and Steve Stout (former-Lost Beach/Blondfire), Nashville-based ØZWALD doles out everyday wisdom on an indie platter.

A departure from their first record, Sweet Delirium, ØZWALD’s new LP Born In A State is inspired by their environment in the heart of Tennessee.  These songs tell stories from the perspective of two creatives pondering the value of art and music in a world of likes and follows.  Truly Nashville, this collection is organic, quietly eccentric, and full of nostalgia.

Roughly five years ago, Stout was called in to play as the guitarist on an international Lifehouse tour that would eventually have its US route canceled, but a bond began to form between Stout and Wade on the overseas run.  Following the tour, Wade needed an engineer to assist him in his California studio where they both lived at the time and called Stout.

What began as an artist/engineer relationship quickly evolved to an artist/artist partnership and the two immersed themselves in the inspiration of something new as they set a goal of completing three songs in two weeks. The duo amassed a total of twelve songs which made up their first record, Sweet Delirium.

They have since moved from Los Angeles to Nashville and quickly found the change of scenery influencing the way they approach writing songs, with the aesthetic of their surroundings really bleeding into the music. Deeper and more colorful, Born In A State probes the melancholic world of Art Pop and Indie Folk, conjuring up the work of Wilco and Foxwarren while retaining their signature levity.

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Mountain For Clouds - Water.

Mountains for Clouds are calling it quits, but not before giving us one last album as a parting gift - Anxious & Aware showcases all the things that made them great; expansive musical soundscapes and contemplative, emotional vocals. The album sees release February 21 via Count Your Lucky Stars, just prior to their last show February 23 at Chicago's Sleeping Villiage. More details on the event are here.

Bands with expansive names evoking strong imagery rarely live up to their monikers. Fortunately in the case of Mountains for Clouds, we have a band that lives up to their title. Composing huge, soaring pieces that build and layer into a delicate beauty so fragile it threatens to break at a the drop of a pin. While most bands would take this step too far, Mountains for Clouds are masters of their craft, reigning in or pulling the intensity of their music like it was clay in their hands.

On their final album, Anxious and Aware, we can hear their entire decade of playing together culminate into one last masterpiece. We hear the return of their large and sweeping musical palate - guitars that create their own sonic soundscapes that evoke images as majestic as their moniker, bass that weaves in and out like fine stitching on a tapestry, and drums with detail precision that add immense clarity and power. We also can hear something refined- contemplative and emotional vocals that cap the portrait, leaving us with a feeling that we have just heard something special - the final work of a musical life well spent.

All bands come to end, but not all of them bow out as gracefully as they came in. Let’s celebrate the last album instead of mourning their death. They would have wanted it that way.

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