Gold Dime - Vera Bloom - Ora Cogan

Gold Dime - Denise.

Gold Dime has just released "Denise," the propulsive second single from their upcoming LP, No More Blue Skies. Headed by Andrya Ambro (Talk Normal), the art-rock project's full album will be out October 20th via Liars' Angus Andrew's new imprint No Gold.

Featuring Ian Douglas-Moore on bass and Jeff Tobias on alto-sax, the instrumentation on "Denise" is deeply intricate, sharp, and rigorous. Along with the single comes a video co-directed by Joe Wakeman and Ambro herself. As unflinching as the music itself, the video shows Ambro sprinting fearlessly towards the beach and into cold water.

Regarding the music, Andrya Ambro says – “Denise” the song is about perseverance. Approaching most of my music from a cinematic perspective, Denise, the character, is on the bottom of things. With a weakened gaze, she just keeps going. No More Blue Skies? You gotta believe. The ZZ Top inspired repetitive rhythm section keeps Denise buoyant through her journey while the wailing sax by Jeff Tobias acts as her spiritual guide. As for the motivating drum beat– this was definitely under the influence of a charged live performance by Irreversible Entanglements drummer Tcheser Holmes."

Regarding the video, directors Andrya Ambro and Joe Wakeman say – "From the onset, “Denise” feels like an endurance test with its always forward momentum. So I thought I’d run. Performing this song live can be demanding on me physically."

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Vera Bloom - Eyes On You.

Emerging rock artist Vera Bloom, who holds nothing back in her addictive hybrid of alternative, grunge, and punk, has released her new single “Eyes On You” and announced her sophomore EP, It’s Me, will be out Friday, September 29th. The new track storms out of the gate on a galloping drumbeat and as the momentum increases, Vera sinks her teeth into a hypnotic hook punctuated by a promise, “my eyes are always on you.”

“‘Eyes On You’ is my dance song!” shares Vera. “It started out as a love song, which is something I don’t really write often, but it leans into the possessiveness of love. It visits the loss of excitement in a relationship where things get a bit settled in and mundane. I’ve noticed that I am afraid of this stage in a relationship, so I used this song to process that. Over time, the lyrics have revealed new meanings as they always do and I can find the loss of childhood innocence where even the touch of skin is fascinating, and acknowledging the demons and darker feelings we find in adulthood.

And, lastly, as I grow as an artist, I can see my desire to be seen and heard. My admission of wanting eyes on me and owning up to that. I wanted the video to be interesting, colorful, and also shine some light on the real rock and roll happening in the music. It’s about energy and making vibes through sound with other humans. This song, as with all my songs, really comes to life in a live band setting. I hope you like it!”

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Ora Cogan - Feel Life.

Experimental singer-songwriter Ora Cogan will release her new album Formless this Friday, August 25, an LP that finds beauty, absurdity, humor, and unlikely joy in the bleakest of times. Ahead of the album release, Cogen shares one final gift in the urgent “Feel Life,” a track that dances through the derangement of everyday turmoil and epic, life-changing loss.

Cormac Mac Diarmada from LANKUM plays strings on “Feel Life”, which speaks to diverse kinds of grief – losing loved ones to overdose and suicide; losing love where a connection can’t be sustained; seeking out ways to better understand love –, slashing, shimmering guitar both a foil for and echo of Cogan’s imploring, trance-like timbre. The track dances through the derangement of everyday turmoil and epic, life-changing loss. “I want you to feel life - I want love.”

“Feel Life” is the final part of a trilogy of videos by K. Bray Jorstad created for Formless. It follows “Dyed”, which revolves around a singular character who carries water as a symbol for the human heart, and “Cowgirl”,  a haunted acid trip of intense sorrow, deep solitude, and dark nights of the soul.

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Lucy Lorenne & The Early Birds - Laura Groves - Ora Cogan - Echo Ladies

Photo - Mediaroid

Lucy Lorenne & The Early Birds - Tamagotchi Nights.

Melbourne's dynamic six-piece indie pop rock outfit, Lucy Lorenne & The Early Birds, are dropping a vibrant and nostalgia-driven pop anthem, 'Tamagotchi Nights', accompanied by an equally charming music video today Friday, August 11.

With her debut EP, 'Summers Gone', already under her belt, the charismatic Lucy Lorenne and her band continue to grow their endearing sound as they explore new depths of sonic and lyrical maturity with this power pop anthem that takes a colourful trip down memory lane.

'Tamagotchi Nights' – co-written by Lucy Lorenne, Matt Hargreaves and Flagrant Artists producer Ben Oldland (Ūla, Ashwarya, Alley Eley, Genes, Sian Fuller) –  is a vibrant boppy number that pays homage to childhood innocence and fantasy. With an air of melancholy for the more innocent times gone by, the song captures the essence of post-millennial nostalgia.

Lucy Lorenne & The Early Birds create a captivating soundscape that goes on a joyful trip down memory lane. Opening with an 8-bit synth riff, the track bursts with a delightful blend of upbeat guitars and charming video game-like synth lines, infusing the song with a playful atmosphere. The driving drums keep the energy soaring, while Lucy Lorenne's absolutely adorable vocals and heartfelt lyricism add a touch of innocence and sincerity to the mix. Effortlessly weaving together the catchy 8-bit elements with infectious indie-pop hooks, the track is a mixed bag of emotions that builds to an exhilarating and euphoric chorus.

 

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Laura Groves – Radio Red (Album).

Much of Radio Red, the first full length album Laura Groves has released under her own name, was written, produced and recorded by Groves in her studio, watched over by two radio transmitting towers. “I became very drawn to them and they became like symbols to me; they were always awake, sending their messages, the red lights always came on at night and watched over whatever was going on in my life.” The album deals with themes of communication - missed and intercepted signals, chance meetings, synchronicities, the channels through which we try to express our true feelings, the outside interference that can get in the way and the joy of letting go and allowing the messages to flow freely.

Working its way through years of Laura’s life as an artist - early experiences of releasing music, live performance, touring, build up and breakdown, the record was a way to tune in to the many, often conflicting signals of fragmented memories. “I’ve always been very sensitive and open to what’s happening around me, and also struggle with the sheer amount of noise sometimes. There was a radio tower on the hill opposite the house where I grew up - I would look out at the network of streetlights winding up towards it and it all had a sort of mystery to me. It was a kind of escapism and a comfort, with an undertone of melancholy that was hard to put into words. I think that glow, that strange feeling, is what I’m always searching for and exploring through making music and artwork.”

This is the wavelength Laura is tuning into and trying to pin down in “Sky at Night” and the “faraway feeling” that she talks about being consumed by in the hymn to miscommunication and determination “Any Day Now”. This faraway feeling makes itself known as the need to open up and show emotion in the chord voicing of “Synchronicity”, true friendship, togetherness and isolation in our online world in “Sarah” and the heartbreak that can come with the breakdown of communication in electric piano love song “I’m Not Crying”. The “Silver Lining” of the final track, which returns to Laura’s early love for fingerpicked guitar, leads us back to the power of the redemptive love that always seems to show up just when everything seems lost.

Self-recording and production is a core part of Laura’s songwriting process. “I remember years ago getting hold of some basic recording software and being instantly drawn in. The idea of being able to layer up my voice was a dream, like building an orchestra out of what I had at home.” The passion for home-recording, using the resources available at the time, working through limitations and capturing textures through layering, forms the foundation of Groves’ experimental and off-centre pop music and electrified folk music. The sound world of Radio Red is made up of echoes and snapshots of half-remembered pop songs, piano ballads, chopped up TV theme tunes, ambient synthesized sounds and electronic music; tuning in between channels without fully belonging to any one of them, with the comfort, familiarity and strangeness that can come with hearing voices on the radio.

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Photo - Stasia Garraway

Ora Cogan - Katie Cruel.

Experimental singer-songwriter Ora Cogan will release her new album Formless on Aug 25, an LP that finds beauty, absurdity, humor, and unlikely joy in the bleakest of times. Cogan’s smoky, psychedelic approach to gothic country and hazy folk merges with post-punk, groove, psych rock, and traditional balladry.

This week Cogan releases "Katie Cruel,” a tragic ballad about a sex worker traveling with light infantry soldiers. ‘Once they called me the roving jewel, now they call me Katie Cruel.’ The haunting track is a defiant, vindicating, feminist proclamation that flips the script on the way women are vilified.

Ethereal vocals and a shuffling brush snare lay over a sitar-like guitar pattern to underscore the strength of the lyrical message. "You can demean a woman and call her 'Katie Cruel’," said Cogan. “So what… F if I care!”

Formless, finds beauty, absurdity, humor, and unlikely joy in the bleakest of times. Cogan’s smoky, psychedelic approach to gothic country and hazy folk merges with post-punk, groove, psych rock, and traditional balladry. "Katie Cruel" follows the VHS/Super 8 video for the first single “Cowgirl” and the haunting "Dyed."

Recorded in mostly off-the-floor takes with rhythm section David Proctor and Finn Smith on analog tape at Vancouver Island’s Risque Disque studio and co-produced by Cogan and Loving’s David Parry, the album features international guest stars including Cormac Mac Diarmada from LANKUM, who plays strings on “Feel Life,” and a duet with Y La Bamba on “Ways of Losing.”

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Echo Ladies - Coming Home.

Last month, Malmö, Sweden shoegaze/dreampop trio Echo Ladies announced that they have signed to Rama Lama Records/Gazehop Records and will release their second album Lillies on 8th September 2023.

Commenting on the track, the band say: “‘This song is heavily inspired by two of our favourite bands, A Place To Bury Strangers and The Jesus & Mary Chain. Our aim was to make the song feel like a big wave of noise, feedback and guitars that hits you in the face. Can’t remember how many layers of fuzzed and distorted guitars are on this track, but it’s maaany.”

Echo Ladies are Matilda Bogren, Mattis Andersson and Joar Andersén—three school-friends who, after playing together in a few different bands, realised that they worked best on their own. In 2014, after looking for “a name that represented our sound”, they became Echo Ladies, partly inspired by the name of the drum machine from another of their favourite bands, Echo & The Bunnymen (though their own drum machine, for now, remains nameless).

Following a quiet spell for the band while the rest of the world turned upside down, Echo Ladies are now proudly returning with their second album Lillies, recorded and mastered by Joakim Lindberg at Studio Sickan in Malmö, and following on from their acclaimed 2018 debut Pink Noise on Sonic Cathedral, which was one of Rough Trade’s albums of the year.

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Ora Cogan - Ariana Delawari feat. Devendra Banhart

Photo - Stasia Garraway

Ora Cogan - Dyed.

Experimental singer-songwriter Ora Cogan recently announced the Aug 25 release of her new album Formless by sharing the VHS/Super 8 video for the first single “Cowgirl”,  a haunted acid trip of intense sorrow, deep solitude, and dark nights of the soul. This week, Cogan ponders awkward love with the release of the haunting "Dyed."

"I wrote 'Dyed' while I was reading Italo Calvino's Difficult Loves," says Cogan. "It's about how strange and ridiculous romance is... how ridiculous human interaction can be. You're dealing with people on the surface but also their imaginations, fears, dreams, and projections. We're just a bunch of broken funhouse mirrors sometimes and that's sort of horrifying but also kinda fun."

“Dyed” is part two of a trilogy of videos by Latro Films created for Formless. The video revolves around a singular character who carries water as a symbol for the human heart and we follow her interactions with others in her world.

Formless, finds beauty, absurdity, humor, and unlikely joy in the bleakest of times. Cogan’s smoky, psychedelic approach to gothic country and hazy folk merges with post-punk, groove, psych rock, and traditional balladry.

 

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Ariana Delawari feat. Devendra Banhart - You Can Love Again.

Ariana Delawari is an Afghan-American musician, activist and filmmaker. Her film We Came Home (2013) documents her family, her travels to and from Afghanistan over a ten year period, in which Delawari recorded her first album. That album, Lion of Panjshir, was released on David Lynch’s record label to great acclaim. The events that transpired during the recording of her new album, I Will Remember, were even more personally significant and traumatic, as Delawari’s mother and brother-in-law both passed away and she saw her home country fall to the Taliban. Delawari explains:

“I started to write about my mother, about living and dying, Earth and Heaven, Afghanistan and my life growing up in America, refugees, love of different forms, and about the social justice and environmental justice themes that my mom taught me about which shaped my own activism as well. I never could have imagined that COVID-19 would hit a few months before she died, and that I would lose her during quarantine. I’ll never forget the day I wheeled her up to a nurse in a hazmat suit at a sidewalk and couldn’t even kiss her goodbye.”

“I never could have imagined that just as I was finishing the album, a little over a year later, we Afghans would lose Afghanistan to the Taliban. Afghanistan is my whole heart, it is the cause of my entire lifetime and all of my activism. I am a very loud anti-Taliban Peace Activist, so the fall of the country was my biggest nightmare coming true.” Delawari was essentially born into her role as an activist and her mother was even friends with Malcolm X. She explains, “I was born just after the Soviets Invaded Afghanistan. I attended my very first protest in utero when my father led an anti-Soviet Invasion protest at the Federal Building in Westwood. Four decades later, I would be at that very same location at a protest I helped organize after the fall of the country to the Taliban.”

“My mom’s name was Setara which means “star," and she died literally in the middle of a Leonid Meteor shower, so there are themes of stars on the album too. She also died the same day that Prince died, who I like to imagine is one of the many magical cosmic souls who welcomed her at her celestial dance party ;) I tried to honor her as much as I could, and I wanted to connect with everyone out there who lost loved ones during Covid19. I wanted to transmute deep grief and loss into something hopeful and meaningful. I also wanted to reach the hearts of my people, and honor Afghanistan and our refugees. I wanted to transmute the losses of my mother, brother, and my motherland… finding hope as we all move forward together."

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Pollyanna Blue - Ariana Delawari - Ora Cogan - Bandits on the Run

Pollyanna Blue - Sapphire Lake.

Bristol-based alt-rock two-piece Pollyanna Blue are pleased to announce the release of their upcoming debut studio EP ‘Trials and Tribulations’ on June 23rd 2023.

Formed in the summer of 2019, Pollyanna Blue is led by Zoe Collins (guitar and vocals) and Rich Earle (Bass and vocals). Although based in different cities, the pandemic forced the band to really utilise the digital age, writing tracks back and forth online before travelling to Bristol to complete them in person.

Their name was inspired by a self help book ‘Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway’, which talks about a nickname ‘Pollyanna’, typically given to a person who is deemed overly optimistic. That ethos, blended with the waves of difficult emotions life throws at you, creates a concept of musical  juxtaposition within a 90s/00s alt rock atmosphere which sees the duo wield their self discovery, vulnerability and love of music to create something authentic and raw to connect with anyone experiencing some type of hardship.

Following up on the April release of their latest celebrated single Stray, comes their debut studio EP Trials & Tribulations, recorded with Ash Scott (Memorist, Harper, Aniimalia). The title of the EP was inspired by personal and abstract experiences, from the trials of being in a band that started right before a pandemic, to the personal tribulations of battling with your own mental health.

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Ariana Delawari - Cloak Of Lies.

Ariana Delawari is an Afghan-American musician, activist and filmmaker. Her film We Came Home (2013) documents her family, her travels to and from Afghanistan over a ten year period, in which Delawari recorded her first album. That album, Lion of Panjshir, was released on David Lynch’s record label to great acclaim.

The events that transpired during the recording of her new album, I Will Remember, were even more personally significant and traumatic, as Delawari’s mother and brother-in-law both passed away and she saw her home country fall to the Taliban. Delawari explains:

“I started to write about my mother, about living and dying, Earth and Heaven, Afghanistan and my life growing up in America, refugees, love of different forms, and about the social justice and environmental justice themes that my mom taught me about which shaped my own activism as well. I never could have imagined that COVID-19 would hit a few months before she died, and that I would lose her during quarantine. I’ll never forget the day I wheeled her up to a nurse in a hazmat suit at a sidewalk and couldn’t even kiss her goodbye.”

“I never could have imagined that just as I was finishing the album, a little over a year later, we Afghans would lose Afghanistan to the Taliban. Afghanistan is my whole heart, it is the cause of my entire lifetime and all of my activism. I am a very loud anti-Taliban Peace Activist, so the fall of the country was my biggest nightmare coming true.”

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Ora Cogan - Cowgirl.

Ora Cogan has announced the August 25 release of her new album Formless via Prism Tongue Records. Along with the announcement the cinematic singer-songwriter shares the VHS/Super 8 video for the first single “Cowgirl”,  a haunted acid trip of intense sorrow, deep solitude, and dark nights of the soul.

“Cowgirl” is a psychedelic, country slow jam reckoning with social isolation in grief. The ghostly guitar lines blanket ethereal vocals to create a twilight landscape of deep solitude, setting the stage for show work or a saloon brawl.

Formless, finds beauty, absurdity, humor, and unlikely joy in the bleakest of times. Cogan’s smoky, psychedelic approach to gothic country and hazy folk merges with post-punk, groove, psych rock, and traditional balladry. With a singular voice as much sensation as sound, Ora Cogan seeks out new realities within the smoke-and-mirrors labyrinth of our cruel society.

“Writing this album was a very much a lifeline… transformative and healing,” Cogan recalled. “Re-calibrating an internal compass constantly thrown off by the magnetism of a deranged world.”

Raised by a photographer and a singer-songwriter on the islands of Canada’s Pacific coast, where she once again resides, Cogan shaped her approach to music far from big-city scenes. Her childhood home played host to a constant stream of artists as it served as a professional recording studio. Cogan absorbed a myriad of influences from Édith Piaf, Ladino and Rumbetico to Karen Dalton, and American country blues, all feeding into her glacial and cinematic yet tinglingly intimate sound.

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Bandits on the Run - Radio.

Known for their vivacious performance style, genre-defying sound, soaring harmonies, and ability to make music-magic happen everywhere from subway platforms to concert halls, Bandits on the Run kick off a tour with the release of “Radio” and an appearance at Milwaukee Summerfest, opening for Deer Tick and The Avett Brothers.

Formed upon a chance encounter while busking in the subways of New York City, Bandits on the Run have become modern troubadours, the flower children of the digital age. The Brooklyn-based indie-pop-Americana trio is anchored by three-part harmonies and eclectic instrumentation, including accordion, cello, melodica, and a suitcase-kick-drum. Since their first release, 2017’s, The Criminal Record, they’ve received accolades from NPR Music’s All Songs Considered, American Songwriter, NPR Weekend Edition, and the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project. Their most recent EP, 2021’s Now Is The Time, was produced by Ryan Hadlock (Brandi Carlile, The Lumineers). This year has seen a new phase in Banditry, with band members Adrian Enscoe, Sydney Shepherd, and Regina Strayhorn jointly producing their own recordings for the first time.

“‘Radio’ was written at a time when I felt like I was living in a funhouse mirror... I was dealing with intense feelings of anxiety, dissociation, and dread about the state of the world and the state of my place in it. Many songwriters talk about songwriting as therapy, and I suppose that's true in this case, though it felt a bit more like expelling demons -- and does simultaneously reveling and revolting in your own inner world of absurdity count as a coping mechanism? Who's to say? I do know the bones of this song poured out of me all at once, and afterward, I felt lighter, freer,” Shepherd says. “I shared it with Adrian and Regina the very day it was born, and their brilliant care and thoughts and arrangements crafted it into the beautiful wild entity it is today. We've performed this song out many times (after I got over the weirdness of singing a Bandits song without a cello in my hand), and many folks have come up to us after shows and expressed a kinship with this song, and gratitude for giving a safe space to work out some darkness and dance with their own skeletons.”

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