Brooklyn composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Cassie Wieland released the lead single "I don't mind" from her upcoming debut LP as Vines, titled Birthday Party, out August 18th.
There’s dejection in “I don’t mind,” but also a growing assuredness. The first time Wieland sings “I’ll fall apart if I need to, I don’t mind,” her voice sounds tender and soft, even a little distant. But with each emphatic repetition of the simple-yet-potent lyric, which acts as the backbone of the song, her voice fills out, growing into a full chord accompanied by steady piano and glimmering electronics. It’s not unlike the moment when you realize you need to feel the feelings you’re bottling up—and the rush of calm that comes once they’ve finally been released.
Wieland founded Vines as a way to break out of the performer-composer hierarchy, opting for more collaboration and a closer connection to her fans. Vines has already made waves on Tiktok covering indie pop favorites using a vocoder and uniquely processed vocals. She continues this trend on Birthday Party, including a heart-wrenching, some how even more melancholic version of "The World at Large" by Modest Mouse.
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Liverpool singer Ellie Burke is using her university music dissertation 'Filtered Reality' to raise awareness about mental health. ‘Filtered Reality’ takes you into Ellie’s world and insecurities caused by social media and how it has affected her in a negative way, from the filtered images, stories and narratives that lead to unrealistic expectations and lifestyles.
Ellie Burke wrote Filtered Reality as part of her university music dissertation to raise awareness about the negative impact of social media. Ellie took a specific approach by researching individual accounts of people who have suffered and are still suffering from mental health problems due to cyberbullying and comparison to filtered realities portrayed online.
"One girl spoke about how social media exasperated her eating disorder due to the negative content surrounding her disorder that was easily accessible. Another account discussed how cyberbullying ruined their mental health and wellbeing. One influencer spoke about how she suffered with anxiety due to Instagram because she was sharing her life in unhealthy ways, ways that weren’t the real her, and people were influenced by her unrealistic lifestyle. This is where my idea for ‘Filtered Reality’ came from." - Ellie Burke
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The Pink Stones will release You Know Who on June 30 via Normaltown/New West Records. The 11-song set was co-produced by Henry Barbe & frontman Hunter Pinkston and features guest appearances by Nikki Lane, Teddy and the Rough Riders, John James Tourville of The Deslondes, and Annie Leeth. You Know Who is the follow up to their 2021 debut Introducing…The Pink Stones, which was met with critical acclaim. The Pink Stones, a six-piece outfit creating some of the most shimmering, melancholic Southern rock in years...Introducing doesn’t just tell us who The Pink Stones are, it gets us tickled for what they’ll do next."
The Pink Stones previously released the Joshua Shoemaker-directed video for the first single, “Who’s Laughing Now?” which features the actor, writer, and comedian Chris Crofton. The song, which features Teddy and the Rough Riders, hides its aching heart behind a big sing-along chorus. The band also previously shared the album highlight “Someone You Can’t Move” as well.
Made up entirely of Athens musicians who play in other bands around town (including former members of the Drive-By Truckers and The Glands), The Pink Stones match their frontman’s vast musical vocabulary while adding their own twists to spacey honkytonk, pedal-to-the-metal trucker anthems, and ecstatic gospel.
“This record was me trying to take everything I love as a listener and a player and shove it all into one thing without it sounding random,” says Pinkston, former punk turned cosmic country auteur, describing the boisterous, ambitious You Know Who. Ostensibly they play country music, yet all the pedal steel sobs, the two-steppin’ rhythms, twangy harmonies, and lyrics about broken hearts and long days on the road are launchpads for wild experiments and unexpected stylistic forays. “There’s obviously a lot of country and rock in our music, but there’s a lot of gospel and soul and psych and dub. I really wanted to get all of those things living peacefully together in one record.” Especially notable is The Pink Stones’ ability to intertwine joy, heartache and self-deprecating humor in songs. It’s a classic hat trick of country music that is all too easy to overplay and seem forced by modern Americana aspirants, but one which the band crafts perfectly.
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