Crawford Mack - Oracle Sisters - Owen Meany’s Batting Stance

Crawford Mack has shared a new video for 'Turning' a song that's taken from his recent album '‘Bread & Circuses'. We had the pleasure of featuring three other tracks from this exceptional album and 'Turning' is another example from this talented and highly engaging contemporary artist. ===== Oracle Sisters have shared 'The Dandelion' along with a video for the song. The Parisian trio have something of a timeless feel musically and have developed some atmospheric, melodic and dreamy music with this gorgeous piece. ===== Owen Meany’s Batting Stance was featured a couple of months or so back and his new video for 'Krakow' is a beautiful accompaniment for this moving and sublime song.

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Crawford Mack - Turning.

Glaswegian songwriter Crawford Mack performs with a sense of purpose and ardour in new video ‘Turning’. An ode to the legacy that people leave through their art, the new track is taken from his recently released debut album ‘Bread & Circuses’.

‘Turning’ exhibits Crawford’s diverse pallet, taking influence from his original jazz background, through to rock and classical, which he holds together with his singer-songwriter soul. Crawford comments “I wrote the track initially about being reminded of a former partner every time I hear certain music, so I flipped the roles and wondered aloud whether it was the same for her.

This track is part of my debut album 'Bread & Circuses'. It was initially inspired from messing around in Nick Drake's CGCFCE guitar tuning and trying to fit in a cello and clarinet line I'd picked up from Mozart Requiem. The guest Clarinet and Bass Clarinet feature is from Gustavo Clayton-Marucci.”

Directed and Animated by Alex Uragallo, the new abstract visual opens with a record spinning, which flourishes into everyday objects; a cleverly crafted metaphor capturing the idea that music evokes nostalgic memories. During the instrumentals of the track, colourful textured motifs created by Giulia Carisi encapsulates psychedelic-like sensations.

Of his new video, Crawford says “I got in touch with Alex Uragallo who is an animator I know from my time at college to ask whether he was interested in making a video that could use everyday objects to explore a theme of being reminded of someone every day when a song plays. Alex suggested collaborating with visual artist Giulia Carisi, to create colourful visual motifs that could be attached to the different instrumental lines, the motifs are inspired by her synesthesia when she hears the track.”

Recorded in Antwerp, the Crawford’s debut full-length ‘Bread and Circuses’ consists of ten tracks in which in his words “hopes will illustrate the conviction of an individual confronting their internal struggles, wrestling them to the ground but all the while waving a white flag of surrender.”

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Oracle Sisters - The Dandelion.

Parisian trio Oracle Sisters have shared ‘The Dandelion’, their new single and first taste of upcoming EP ‘Paris II’. The accompanying video, directed by Celia Marie and lead guitarist Lewis Lazar, is shot on double 8mm and takes the viewer through the personification of Paris. With the band as your beatnik tour guides, the video explores the gothic moods and noire spirit of the city.

Over the past twelve months, Oracle Sisters have built up a loyal and global following, blurring the lines between music and visual arts. Support for their music has come from NME, The Line Of Best Fit, W Magazine, Vanity Fair, Beats1, COLORS, BBC 6 Music, and more. This culminated in the critically acclaimed release of Paris I, mid-way through 2020.

Now, Oracle Sisters turn their attention to its sequel, their next EP ‘Paris II’ (due for release Spring 2021) with ‘The Dandelion’ the first taste of this new music. The track continues Oracle Sisters’ journey as musical auteurs that combine elements of rock, psychedelia, soul & disco into a sound that is truly their own. Speaking on the track, the band say, “the song is inspired by Chet Baker’s singing with a sort of disco back beat behind it”. Oracle Sisters’ influences are broad but also unconventional, and it’s this ability to dip into every musical style that sets them apart from their contemporaries.

With members hailing from across Europe, the band are uninhibited in their influences, finding inspiration within the art, cinema, philosophy, and music of the world over; resulting in a sound that is both sonically sophisticated and warmly familiar. Lyrically, they explore timeless narratives of love, mysticism and spirituality, scattered with intriguing insights into their own personal lives and experiences resulting in songs that are cryptic yet paradoxically familiar.

Oracle Sisters have been working hard in Greece currently finishing off their debut album. Along the road, they’ve also played impromptu shows on the island of Hydra with friends from The Murder Capital & Fontaines D.C – capturing the troubadour spirit of the band.

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Owen Meany’s Batting Stance - Krakow.

Operating under the moniker Owen Meany’s Batting Stance, Canadian singer-songwriter Daniel Walker is still exploring the expanses of human emotion following the release of his debut LP, Feather Weights.

For Daniel, creating Feather Weights was a pursuit of catharsis – trying to understand his personal experiences. After delivering his self-titled EP and doing rounds of the live circuit, he collated eight thoughtful, singularly voiced stories, all recorded above a fishmonger’s shop in the Halifax Regional Municipality.

The latest addition to the Feather Weights narrative is a visual aid for the emotionally charged number, Krakow. The track itself is a reflection of loneliness and absence accompanied with lulling guitar and soft vocals. Written during the final days of an overseas tour in Europe, Daniel contemplates spending Thanksgiving alone, being surrounded by unfamiliar faces and missing important life events all whilst fulfilling his life’s passion.

Directed by Nicole Cecile Holland, the video manifests this separation, following a solitary Daniel traipsing desolate, icy wilderness, whilst constantly being haunted by memories of the people he loves despite his attempts to rid himself of them.

No stranger to telling stories, he explains the inspiration for Krakow: “It was Canadian thanksgiving but, as the lone Canadian in the hostel, was spent navigating language barriers rather than family chatter over the dinner table... During the course of the tour, I also missed out on major life events friends and family celebrated. The crux of the song is how pursuing what you love can take you from who you love.”

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Lauren Hulbert - Cindy Lee Berryhill - Owen Meany’s Batting Stance

Lauren Hulbert has released 'Gone In One' today and it's a striking song with thought provoking lyrics, determined vocals and a distinctive musical arrangement. === Anti folk artist Cindy Lee Berryhill shares 'Woke Up From A Dream' a song that has an intriguing back story and is engaging and melodic. === Owen Meany’s Batting Stance released 'Breakfast Again' a few days back and it's a must hear and simply gorgeous song from alt folk artist Daniel Walker.
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Lauren Hulbert - Gone In One.

Lauren Hulbert announces the release of “Gone in One” today September 14. The single exudes strength, resilience and vulnerability found both in the midst and aftermath of an unhealthy relationship. Gritty determination permeates while a seamless instrumental tug of war introduces the reflexive moving forward and feeling pulled back. The single is off her upcoming EP, Superbloom, due out October 30.

“Gone in One” explores a feminine/masculine yin and yang as harmonies serve as a beautiful fragility to the high energy, grungy guitar. Flamenco style clapping subtly undertones the song with equal parts passion and pain connoting an incredible strength. Driving guitars swell and yearn while pulling into an inner exploration of Hulbert asking, “How fast can you run?” in one breath and “Will you remember me?” in another. Hulbert says, “This song is a vulnerable, personal account of unknowingly losing oneself in someone else, which is lonely, confusing, and scary.

It was like being stuck in a fog not knowing how to get out, looking to others to show me the way but just becoming more lost. I was constantly running internally, but getting nowhere, until I was exhausted into total indifference and I felt like the real me had been erased. Eventually, I realized I was the only one that could really save myself, so I dug really deep and found the strength to get out, which was incredibly hard. I didn’t know when or how I’d heal, but I knew I was on the right path.”

Superbloom was inspired not only by the sound of the EP itself but also by Hulbert blooming back to life; following a dangerous foot injury while on a surf trip in Indonesia, she was practically immobile for six months and it was unclear if she’d ever be able to walk again. While the music for this EP didn’t come from the injury, it was a very dark time for her – life, as she knew it, had ended, and her artistic momentum was devastatingly quelled. Fortunately, over a year later, she has healed and credits the experience as terrifying but ultimately beneficial – one that allowed her to reassess her life, align with what’s important and has made her all the more grateful for health and opportunity – and to be performing and sharing her music again.

Lauren Hulbert · Gone In One

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Cindy Lee Berryhill - Woke Up From A Dream

Cindy Lee Berryhill, New York Anti-folk founder and singer-songwriter, reveals a longstanding family secret in new song that touches on the zeitgeist of white entitled culture and reveals how some white families are not all they appear to be and that some are more akin to a David Duke nightmare. When Berryhill was in her 20s, during time spent between NYC and her longtime home of San Diego, writing songs for what would be her debut album Who's Gonna Save the World (Rhino 1987), she had an extraordinarily memorable dream.

She tells it best: In this dream, I was a retail clerk at Macy's hoping for a promotion. I mentioned my intention to my friends and coworkers looking for some support. Much to my surprise they told me they didn't think a promotion was likely to happen.

Why? Because of the color of my skin. - But I was white with light hair like them, what was the problem? - They led me to a mirror and I saw that I was now a black girl. - I burst into tears, knowing my chances at jobs and promotions had just drastically diminished. - And then I woke up.

A few years ago, as I was recording my 7th album The Adventurist (Omnivore 2017), I took a popular DNA test that informs you of your likely ancestry and some medical proclivities. A surprise was revealed when I received the results. I was part sub-Saharan African. Not that 6% sub-Saharan African next to my 94% European ancestry meant very much on the pie chart, but what it did do was expose a hidden history of my grandmother Fay and where she’d come from. If I was 6%, then my father was approximately 12% and my grandma was roughly 24%.

Through the U.S. census I found out that Grandma Fay Grant (Berryhill by marriage) and her brother, mother and father had all identified as black on the 1900 census. Some time before 1910 the family of four left their home and large extended black family in Charleston, S.C., and moved to Los Angeles, Calif. Then on the 1910 census the family now identified as white. This passing as white,and my grandma’s to-the-death-secret, are her story. My story is one of being a white girl who writes songs in a white man’s world.

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Owen Meany’s Batting Stance - Breakfast Again.

Owen Meany’s Batting Stance announces new alt-folk single and sophomore album via LHM Records. With his music distinguished as ‘impassioned literary folk’, Owen Meany’s Batting Stance is the pseudonym of singer-songwriter Daniel Walker.

Following the release of his self-titled EP, Daniel has spent the last few years exploring the thrills of the live circuit, whilst constantly perfecting his craft. Now, the Canadian native returns with the announcement of his new full-length ‘Feather Weights’, teasing listeners with new single ‘Breakfast Again’ with LHM Records.

Projecting hints of The Mountain Goats, Jenny Lewis, and Conor Oberst to inspire his sound, he tells us: “Their deliberate approach to lyricism coupled with the fact that they emoted a similar high-pitched, nasal vocal delivery proved to me I didn’t need to have a raspy baritone or angelic falsetto to be a singer, let alone songwriter.”

Teamed with delicate lo-fi guitar strings and Daniel’s harmonious, yet flavourful vocals; new offering “Breakfast Again” lyrically explores the implications of a lost love. Discussing the inspiration behind the track, he says: ‘Breakfast Again is about the emotions: the worries and resolution that come with no longer sharing a life with someone important to you’

Accompanying the track is a hazy visual, in which proves to be simple but effective in telling its narrative. Featuring the frontman himself, the new minimalistic music video blends cloudy and clear shots of the lonesome artist dwelling in his thoughts over a cup of coffee. Later on, in the video, we see Daniel laying in the river; a metaphorical representation of drowning in his emotions.

Recorded above a fishmonger’s shop in the Halifax Regional Municipality, his highly anticipated debut album ‘Feather Weights’ consists of eight singularly voiced short stories that explore everyday theming with deep insight, and thoughtful perspective. Boasting the Owen Meany live band with bassist Cailen Alcorn Pygott, and keyboardist Siobhan Martin, together they showcase soft chords of folk pushed into the angles of indie rock.

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