Nisa - Mike Legere - zzzahara - Red Leaf Hill - FERLA

Photo - Angela Ricciardi and Silken Weinberg

Nisa - The Savior.

New York City-based artist, Nisa, is now sharing "The Savior," the final advance single to be lifted from her new EP, Time To Plant Tears which is set for release on December 2, 2021. This new single follows recent tips from the likes of Consequence, Our Culture, Audiofemme and more with this body of work following on from her self-released debut EP, Guilt Trip which landed earlier this year.

Early in 2021, the 22-year-old – full name Nisa Lumaj – began work on a new collection of songs that would make up the forthcoming EP, Time To Plant Tears. The title takes its name from the final stanza of an Elizabeth Bishop poem called Sestina. Working together with collaborator and producer, Ronnie Di Simone, the songs were recorded between Brooklyn's Studio G and the Brick Box studio. The new EP demonstrates Nisa's penchant for intimate storytelling cast against the backdrop of glistening, cinematic soundscapes reminiscent of Angel Olsen, Indigo De Souza, Japanese Breakfast and Soccer Mommy. In describing the mood of the EP, Nisa has said that the songs are centered around “confrontation and focus; weathering internal and external changes; desire, and emotional rebirth.” Intersecting cinematic and poetic frames of reference, it lands between what is said and what is felt.

"The Savior," which once again finds Nisa pushing the boundaries of her own songwriting abilities finds the artist bringing in a woozy trumpet to flank her intimate guitar work and shimmering vocals. The song acts as an anthem of self-empowerment, calling for Nisa to put herself first in situtations. Speaking about the track, she says: “The Savior," is a trumpet call from within beckoning me to stop prioritizing others’ needs over my own, especially when it comes to making choices that affect me first. It's a reminder of the grounding nature of focus when the illusion of control starts to fade."

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Photo - Greg Francis

Mike Legere - Love Songs (In Fear Of Dying Penniless).

Mike Legere is a songwriter and producer based out of Toronto, Ontario, originally from Nova Scotia. After years of playing with bands Century Thief and Places Erupt he released his first solo record Ourselves in Public on June 8th 2018. He plays lyrically driven indie-rock music.

Playing with bands Places Erupt and Century Thief, Mike released multiple albums and EPs between 2012-2018. Through this process he developed an interest in production, witnessing the creative possibilities that open up in the recording and mixing process. After graduating from Recording Arts Canada, Mike began to work as an engineer at The Root Down Studio, where he’d later become lead engineer.

In May of 2018 he embarked on his first solo tour with Dante Matas, to support the release of his debut solo album Ourselves in Public, which was premiered by Aesthetic Magazine. The first single, “Yourself,” was premiered by Folk Radio UK.

To support the record, Mike booked a solo tour with Dante Matas and his band, who share members with Century Thief. Omar and Colin McNally joined him for a few songs throughout the tour, and later joined the project along with Greg O’Toole (Places Erupt). After the tour Mike decided to record two new songs live off the floor to capture the energy the band had developed. This became the single “Love Songs (In Fear Of Dying Penniless),” as well as its counterpart “Billboard.” He produced a video with Greg Francis (Century Thief) for “Love Songs.”

Shortly afterwards Mike began work on his upcoming record Memory Forming Clouds (2022).

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Photo - Jade DeRose

zzzahara - they don't know.

Los Angeles artist, zzzahara, has officially announced their signing with Lex Records and today they are sharing their label debut, “they don’t know.” Watch the music video directed by Ross Harris here. Atwood Magazine described the single as “A feverish indie rock song drowning in intimate emotion and frenetic energy … an evocative and memorable moment of truth for a solo artist quickly coming into their own.” Read the full interview & premiere here. 

Plenty of people come to Los Angeles looking to make their California dreams a reality. But zzzahara has always been here, turning reality into a dream. Born and raised in Highland Park, where they still reside, zzzahara (the solo moniker of Eyedress/Simps guitarist Zahara Jaime) has witnessed both gang-blighted and gentrified L.A. along the same geographical blocks. Like the transforming city itself, zzzahara has undergone massive personal changes, their characteristic stoicism giving way to a newfound sense of purpose. “they don’t know,” is their debut single on Lex Records and explores a life hanging in the balance between memory and possibility over frenetic Johnny Marr-esque guitar jangle.

Music has always been and escape for zzzahara, who struggled to feel seen as the sibling of a terminally ill brother. Z found solace in bands like My Chemical Romance, the Cure, the Ramones, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and in recording “corny acoustic parodies” about girls they had crushes on in middle school. That same absurdist humor followed them into early projects like bombastic hip-hop persona Lil Boba and post-punk quartet Zahara & the Herd, though as a queer person of color, zzzahara still felt out of place in SoCal’s bro-ish garage rock scene.

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Red Leaf Hill - Snow.

Red Leaf Hill releases her new single ‘Snow’. ‘Snow’ is her fourth single of the upcoming EP which is planned to release February 2022. Carmijn, the mastermind behind Red Leaf Hill, is building towards this release as she emigrates to Norway. Much of her music is inspired by this country, which is reflected in her homemade videos.

About what the single means to her, Carmijn says: You can lose someone, or miss someone terribly, but in your thoughts and in your dreams you can be together forever, that's what I love about this song.

Under the name Red Leaf Hill, singer-songwriter Carmijn Bakker shares the beauty of nature with the whole world. Her cozy pop songs immediately take you to majestic and breathtaking landscapes, the places that inspire Red Leaf Hill to translate her deepest emotions into music.

Red leaf Hill gets her inspiration from nature. From the simple afternoon walks in her backyard, somewhere in a rural area on the border of Germany. To shooting beautiful images with her drone in the fjords of Norway; nature is a majestic place Red Leaf Hill gladly wants to share with you. In this song, 'Snow', Carmijn is also inspired by the landscape around her. The beautiful melody in combination with her eloquent lyrics ensures that you are taken into the image that Carmijn describes.

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FERLA - Nothing Else Matters.

Melbourne synth-pop band FERLA release their self-described “menacing but meditative” new single Nothing Else Matters, the third track to be taken from their new album Personal Hotspot which follows 2022.

FERLA’s unique brand of after-dark confessional pop turns the personal experience into communal release with disarming wit and pathos, with front man Giuliano’s describing forthcoming new album Personal Hotspot as “A love letter to the world…made up of the things I hate about it.” Its honest self-assessment laid bare via acerbic and often brutally unfiltered lyrics which traverse discomfiture to levity, hot damnation to cold redemption. It’s both a confronting and wholly relatable mix of the conflicted, deflated and infatuated. It’s spicy. It’s juicy.

FERLA’s new single Nothing Else Matters is an oozy croon with an earworm chorus, sound-tracked with ghostly synths and lonely whistles that lay the bed for Giuliano’s mystery-man baritone.  “This song’s a bump in the night,” he says of it. “It’s like one of those dreams you have where you’re trying to run as fast as you can, but the air is thick as sludge and it’s taking all of your energy just to put one foot in front of the other. That’s this song.” The song is accompanied by a visual directed by Dan Cahill which sees Giuliano rollerblading his loneliness away.

FERLA has previously released a debut album Its Personal which was nominated for an Australian Music Prize, they have performed live on Triple J and PBS, and sold-out shows across Australia’s key cities as well as performing at various festivals including Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Cash Savage And The Last Drinks and Quivers. They have previously released two singles from forthcoming new album Personal Hotspot, the sly love song ‘Rita’ and the KCRW ‘Top Track’ ‘I See You.’

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Touching - Lena Minder - Jennifer Hall - Nisa - Noir Disco

Touching - All I Need.

Touching is the artistic alias of songwriter and producer Michael Falk. From his home in Winnipeg, the multi-hyphenate musician has organized festivals, run a studio, and operated a record label, juggling countless roles within the local scene. As a performer, he has toured with acclaimed acts including Les Jupes, The Liptonians, and rapper/CBC host Ismaila Alfa. Yet since becoming a father, Falk has consolidated his lifelong pursuit into a renewed, singular focus: Get back to making music. And lots of it.

Spring 2020 saw the release of Touching’s debut album, Isolation Blues. Sharing 10 songs over 10 weeks, the project was unveiled serially with a one-shot video for each track filmed and released every seven days. With its relatable lyrical themes of loneliness, depression, and disconnection, Exclaim! described the collection as “a greatest hits of pandemic moods.”

Hot on its heels comes littleworlds, a new album aiming to disinfect the darkness with sunlight. The sophomore release from Touching is built on feelings of hope, simple joys found amidst conflict, and the anticipation and fear of becoming a parent. Its 12 songs were written during the same period as Isolation Blues as Falk stepped away from touring and various other collaborative projects. Using this opportunity to build a studio in his basement, he centered his
efforts on writing and recording.

“I bottomed out last year and had a desire to reconnect with my own path of self-fulfilment,” Falk explains. “The only way to become a role model for my son was to show him that I know how to walk the walk by living the life that I want to live. You can tell kids whatever you want, but in the end they’ll look up to what you actually do.”

At the heart of littleworlds is Falk’s rich baritone. His striking voice soars with the passion of Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutchison, coasts with the coolness of Marker Starling’s Chris A. Cummings, and plumbs the emotional depths of Richard Dawson. Musically, the album injects the downtempo electronic ambience of Massive Attack (“I’m inspired by their late career stuff that no one thinks about,” laughs Falk) into the high drama indie-rock of Editors, Manchester Orchestra, or We Were Promised Jetpacks.

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Photo - Tim Hoskey

Lena Minder - Fear Of Falling.

After her Spain tour in early October, Lena Minder is now ready with the fifth single to her new album! 

'Fear of Falling' describes the fear to go new ways - although you actually know that it is high time. Often we move in comfortable, familiar patterns, from which to break off we struggle. The song describes this conflict, but at the same time gives you the feeling that it is also ok to be in this dilemma.

Lena has been working on her debut album since early 2020. Her aspiration: to reinvent herself. Inspired by the decision to part with her former stage name (Liv Summer), she sets out to find her own personal sound and mostly produces herself. Together with Cameron Laing, she records her visions in 'The Famous Goldwatch' studios in Berlin. She calls her style "Nostalgic Pop" and experiments with vocal elements and self-recorded loops.

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Jennifer Hall - Why Cut Time.

Chicago based artist, Jennifer Hall, has released a brand new single/video titled “Why Cut Time” which creates quite an atmosphere between the desolate Chicago lakefront shots, the plucking/swelling synthscapes, and Jennifer’s powerful vocal delivery.

Artist Jennifer Hall aims to draw you into her musical landscape with no reservation, where emotions run high and vulnerability reigns.

Not one to shy away from sharing her pain and deepest secrets, Jennifer’s 2015 self-titled EP leans heavily into grief and loss, self doubt and inner turmoil, and unexpected love and her readiness (or lack thereof) to receive it.  Commonly identified as a vocal powerhouse, Jennifer masterfully brings to life the most raw and exposed of emotions.

Shortly after the release of Jennifer’s 2015 EP, the independent Chicago artist hit the road, touring for over 3 years and playing in 31 states, including beautiful Hawaii.  After years of touring and reaching digital milestones like 1 million Spotify plays, Jennifer went into a much needed creative hibernation to recharge.

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Pic - Angela Ricciardi & Silken Weinberg

Nisa - Cold.

New York City-based artist, Nisa, has just shared "Cold," the second single to be lifted from her new EP, Time To Plant Tears which is set for release on December 2, 2021. This new single follows recent tips from the likes of Consequence, Our Culture, Audiofemme and more with this body of work following on from her self-released debut EP, Guilt Trip which landed earlier this year.

Early in 2021, the 22-year-old – full name Nisa Lumaj – began work on a new collection of songs that would make up the forthcoming EP, Time To Plant Tears. The title takes its name from the final stanza of an Elizabeth Bishop poem called Sestina. Working together with collaborator and producer, Ronnie Di Simone, the songs were recorded between Brooklyn's Studio G and the Brick Box studio. The new EP demonstrates Nisa's penchant for intimate storytelling cast against the backdrop of glistening, cinematic soundscapes reminiscent of Angel Olsen, Indigo De Souza, Japanese Breakfast and Soccer Mommy. In describing the mood of the EP, Nisa has said that the songs are centered around “confrontation and focus; weathering internal and external changes; desire, and emotional rebirth.” Intersecting cinematic and poetic frames of reference, it lands between what is said and what is felt.

"Cold," which arguably marks the EP highlight and was written with frequent collaborator, Fritz Ortman, draws on 80s inspired guitar tones whilst further demonstrating Nisa's growing understanding of songwriting and melody. Speaking about the writing of the song, Nisa explains: "Fritz —my close friend and frequent collaborator—wrote “Cold” with the Cars’ “Just What I Needed” in mind. We demoed it a few different ways before deciding to fully lean into the 80s with the chorus, and brought it to Ronnie [di Simone], producer, who came up with the thunderous, Adrien Beluga-inspired solo."

The accompanying video was shot in Stony Point, New York with the director, Ben Klein. Speaking about the visual for "Cold", Nisa says: "For the "Cold" music video, Ben and I wanted to see what would happen if we combined the "hell hath no fury" trope with our favorite elements of classic Halloween slasher movies."

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Noir Disco - Los Angeles.

The Chicago-based project of brothers, Nolan and Carter Dickson, Noir Disco, share "Los Angeles," the latest track to be lifted from their forthcoming debut, NOW! 2073, which is out December 3, 2021, on Terrible Records. "Los Angeles" arrives following recent tips from Brooklyn Vegan, Northern Transmissions, Clash, Pigeons & Planes and more, further helping to portray the duo's genre-hopping approach to music, something they dub as Noir Disco – inspired by the Film Noir aesthetic – that fuses punk with modern psych-rock, indie rock and electronica.

The new single "Los Angeles" perpetuates this sense of cosmic country, nosedibing between genre to produce something that is truly idiosyncratic. Catapulting you into a different universe from the outset with the bombastic opening – "Los Angles! The city of shiny plastic faces, in shiny plastic places!" – the song then turns through warbling bass, fuzzy guitar and twinkling piano; at times summoning comparisons to The Doors and other times the funk-indebted electronica of Todd Terje. It's a unique fusion of neon-soaked electronica and syrupy psych.

Speaking about the new single, "Los Angeles", Nolan Dickson says: “Songs like “Los Angeles” were made with an awareness that every single person wants to feel like the main character in their own movie. If you close your eyes and listen to these songs then you’re going to star in a pretty cool piece of theatre, trust me!”

The pair, who sing and play alongside their friend, Henry Miller have developed something of a cult following over the year; NOW! 2073 marks their grandest project yet, signposting the band’s evolution into a new freeform way of creating. Taking direct inspiration from artists like David Bowie, Kate Bush and The Doors, the new music similarly submerges you in cartoonish art-pop landscapes (think “Happiness Is A Warm Gun” if it was made by Arcade Fire during their Reflektor era) that seem to evolve in real-time.

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SUEP - Nisa - Jackson Dyer

SUEP - Domesticated Dream.

The stubbornly high spirited SUEP create oddball music with a touch of theatrical storytelling. Led by SuepLord (Porridge Radio, Garden Centre, The GN Band) and Brain Wastefield (UK top model), SUEP is borne out of a near-decade of wearing silly clothes and deconstructing pop together.

After relocating from Brighton to London, the pair added GN (The GN Band, Joanna Gruesome, The Tubs), Freakin' Deacon (PC World, Garden Centre), and T-Mr.9 (Head of Pastoral Care) to the line-up. They take turns writing songs and taking lead vocal duties but manage to create a coherent world of playful collaboration. Their songs take the listener through haunted castles, deprived encounters, days lost to the imagination in bed, and through the integral friendships that give SUEP the energy to keep dancing to their own beat.

SUEP’s infectious debut single Domesticated Dream combines a classic 70s Yamaha disco beat, deep bass, nostalgic drum machine sounds, a whole lot of cowbells, and hooky melodies. It’s about homelife, drinking too much, and making big plans that never come to fruition.

As SuepLord expands, “It’s about not having enough money or time to acquire stuff that you want because of capitalism, and about wanting someone to share your life with in a cosy and settled way.”  Sprinkled, however, with a lot of technicoloured positivity for the future of the human-race, with the chorus’ refrain, “the psychedelic 4000s,” predicting the return of a 60s-esque psychedelic Age of Aquarius in a couple of millennia time.

The kitsch 70s home video was shot in one room in Brian Wastefield’s house, an old MOT centre in Fulham, using green screen, Wastefield’s colourful wardrobe and images of odd retro rooms taken from the @estate_age archives on Instagram.

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Nisa - St. James Gate.

Early in 2021, the 22-year-old began work on a new collection of songs that would make up the forthcoming EP, Time To Plant Tears. The title takes its name from the final stanza of an Elizabeth Bishop poem called Sestina. Working together with collaborator and producer, Ronnie Di Simone, the songs were recorded between Brooklyn's Studio G and the Brick Box studio. The new EP demonstrates Nisa's penchant for intimate storytelling cast against the backdrop of glistening, cinematic soundscapes reminiscent of Angel Olsen, Indigo De Souza, Japanese Breakfast and Soccer Mommy. In describing the mood of the EP, Nisa has said that the songs are centered around “confrontation and focus; weathering internal and external changes; desire, and emotional rebirth.” Intersecting cinematic and poetic frames of reference, it lands between what is said and what is felt.

The opening track on the EP and the lead single, "St James Gate" provides a stellar introduction to the new collection. Sonically, it ebbs and flows, building from intimate guitar into a wonderful horn solo that serves to remind us of breaking free from stifled emotions.

When discussing the single, Nisa says: "I wrote “St. James Gate" after reading Sally Rooney’s Normal People and feeling deeply affected by the author’s descriptions of love in private spaces. The raging horn solo and blistering shouts over the final chorus are sobering reminders of the emotional claustrophobia of hiding."

Born to Albanian immigrants in the Bronx, Nisa learned to speak Albanian before English and grew up listening to the traditional folk music of her parent’s native country. It wasn’t long before she began venturing out into what she describes to be a “diverse and accepting arts community,” playing regularly at open mic nights in high school and joining a rock collective in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Her exploration of songwriting began when she was advised to lean into the rock stylings of the Eagles as an introduction to the guitar, from here she developed her own way of storytelling while referencing the likes of PJ Harvey, Björk and Radiohead as other key cornerstones to her approach.

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Jackson Dyer - Losing Light.

Jackson Dyer explains: "The film clip for my newest single ‘Losing Light’ was a fun video that I made with director Job Antoni Schellekens, a fellow Berlin-based artistand good friend. As the song is centered on lovely days with friends and of wanting to extend time so you can squeeze every bit of happiness out of the moment, Job shot the video on a DV handycam and a 16mm camera, which helped create a nostalgic, light-hearted atmosphere. We shot the video with a fewfriends, as well as Pascal Karier, who plays drums on the track, and our friend Elliot McKee, from Berlin duo Charity Children, also lent his expertise to the editing the clip. All in all, it was a super enjoyable process. :)"

'Losing Light’ is an upbeat, joyful track written with fellow Berlin-based musician Florian Höfer and featuring drums from Pascal Karier. The single reflects Dyer’s move to a more collaborative approach to songwriting. Particularly in recent, more isolated times, writing with others has offered Dyer a way to connect more with other musicians and approach his music in a more open and enjoyable way. This care-free approach is evident in ‘Losing Light’, an uptempo and optimistic song.

Since arriving in Berlin, Dyer has shared the stage with Hozier, Hiatus Kaiyote and Alice Phoebe Lou, as well as playing a host of festivals and touring Europe extensively in support of acts like Mighty Oaks and Dennis Lloyd. His laid-back songs are often influenced by nature and he brings a mix of soul, folk and indie to his spacious production and evocative lyricism. Dyer is set to release a new EP this year, featuring a mix of collaborations with fellow Berlin artists, further developing his distinct style.

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