Recorded during a 5 year period which started whilst Bethan and Ynyr (Rogue Jones) were expecting their first child and ended just before the birth of their second child. Dau Fabi. Two Babies. Dos Bebés, is an album exploring life in all its messy glory – light and dark, profound and ridiculous….Raw, bombastic, vulnerable, gentle, big, playful. LIFE and LIVING….BEING ALIVE, embracing the imperfections and seeing the beauty in every moment.
“The initial sessions back in 2017 were experimental and meandering; we turned up in Tŷ Drwg (the studio home of our longtime producer Frank Naughton) with only very loose sketches of songs and often built the song up in the studio in an extremely liberating way of composing and recording.
By the end of the recording process, in winter 2021, we were up against it to finish the album before the baby arrived so a more raw and impulsive approach was taken.
The fact that we have two main song-writers who have quite different styles and influences means that the band’s songs tend to be quite varied in genre. Our first album was quite varied in its musical style and instead of intentionally trying to hone down to a ‘Rogue Jones’ sound for the second album we just wrote and recorded however we felt and embraced the eclectic nature of our sound. And it turns out that even when we try to make 70s disco, thumping dance music or soulful ballads; it still somehow comes out sounding like us and us alone.
Some songs deal directly with parenthood, but all songs are viewed through the prism of becoming parents in a way, whether they’re concerned with spirituality, religion, politics or anything else.
The album takes us through a 5 year period of our life - from hearing a baby’s heartbeat for the first time, through childbirth, toddlers scribbling on things, to pondering why so many new fathers take up Iron Man triathlons, alongside the varied themes and thoughts that floated through our heads - a song that came fully formed in a dream, one based on an alien conspiracy theory, mathematical conundrums, and politics of love. It’s a representation of our subconscious in this time.
‘Island Soul’ is the third single to come from critically acclaimed Hertfordshire singer-songwriter Terry Emm’s forthcoming fourth album ‘Wish You Were Here’, due out May 19th. ‘Island Soul’ is a departure from the previous two singles ‘Wish You Were Here’ and ‘November Evenings’, which are both richly woven melancholic Americana tracks.
‘Island Soul’, however, is a joyous calypso built on nylon strung guitar and an infectious shuffling rhythmic groove, with Emm’s storytelling bringing emotions through amongst the lazy surf-folk vibes. Maz O’Connor’s sweet guest vocals elevate the repeating hummed sections throughout this story of an Island romance.
On the song, Emm said, “I love the atmosphere of staying in a hotel and it’s somewhere where I often find inspiration to write. There’s a certain mystery in the air as to who might also be staying there and who I might meet. When I wrote ‘Island Soul’, I was thinking slightly of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Chelsea Hotel’, but it’s also loosely based on an old demo song I wrote as a teenager about wanting to escape to live on an Island.”
Produced by and featuring the instrumental talents of Lukas Drinkwater, ‘Island Soul’ is sure to turn heads with its colourful beach-ready sound and catchy hooks. The vibrant animated video for the track, created by Holly Mcintosh & Sam Wisternoff, is a hazy daydream of dancing crabs and mermaids as Emm imagines disappearing to live on his very own desert Island. It’s another exciting single of what’s shaping up to be a gorgeous and unpredictable fourth album from Emm.
These two tracks are possibly the most crystalline and pure expression of the album’s main theme – Bethan and Ynyr’s experiences of parenthood. They’re also good pop songs – so they felt like an appropriate AA-side.
1,2,3 - Like much of the album, this song was initially composed by Bethan on the piano. It features Ynyr and Bethan on trumpets but also features Ioan Hefin, the man responsible for performing Welsh music’s greatest and most iconic trumpet solo in Eryr Wen’s Gloria Tyrd Adre. It’s a song about love and the feeling of trying to comprehend the magnitude of the love that you can feel for someone. It can relate to any form of love but in this instance it was written when their daughter turned 3 years old, with Bethan trying to articulate and comprehend the outpouring of love felt for a child and the hugeness of childbirth; the challenge, escalation, triumph, glory and the raw vulnerability of it all.
Fflachlwch Bach - An ode to their first-born child. The inspiration came as Bethan was trying to compose something on the piano with their daughter in her lap scribbling over the notes. There’s beauty in normality and the everyday, joy in an average day with small children. The star of the song also makes appearance with a keyboard solo and her self-penned line;
‘What are you waiting for? A song or what? I’m going to begin one now so open your ears!’
Between the writing and release of the song, the arrival of their second child has brought fresh distractions, beats and chaos to the piano, thus writing himself a part in the song. Llyr Parri on drums, Elen Ifan on cello, Mari Morgan on Violin join Ynyr and Bethan for this one.
Dutch/British artist Someone (aka composer, producer, and visual artist Tessa Rose Jackson) shares the final single Guess I’m Changing from her second album Owls, both released today on Tiny Tiger Records. A lush, enveloping psych-pop track recalling the stirring emotional heights of contemporaries such as Feist or Sharon Van Etten and accompanied by a sci-fi visual telling the tale of an android’s awakening, created alongside up-and-coming Hollywood director David Spearing.
“This song and video are about rediscovering yourself”, explains Someone “Daring to break a pattern, to accept a chance in yourself and feel free in the journey.” Heavily inspired by the work of Stanley Kubrick as well as Netflix’s ‘Maniac’ and Apple TV’s ‘Severance’ series, the visual follows an android working in a postal factory. “She lives the same loop every day,” explains Someone, “until she a postcard with a picture of a beautiful beach and she starts to realize there may be a bigger, wider world out there. Bit by bit, she starts to break the rules of her rigidly structured life, until finally she manages to break free.”
“We wanted to say something about being caught in the mundane routine, whatever that is, and how to break free of that” adds director and long-term collaborator David Spearing. “How the smallest, most seemingly insignificant thing could pull your whole world apart (in a positive way). A nice melancholy idea… set to the most beautiful song.”
Someone draws from her love of cinema in both her visuals and sound, with new album Owls starting life as a screenplay inspired by America’s forgotten towns and David Lynch’s strange, surrealist shadow worlds. Musically it has the beautiful songcraft and otherworldly psych-pop of her acclaimed debut Shapeshifter (2020) but with a rich, layered electronic sound inspired by the expansive soundscapes of French duo Air with elements of 90s and 00s trip hop.
Back to the business he loves best - Beans on Toast - will be ‘Back Out On The Road’ throughout February and March 2023. Heralding the whopping 30-date UK tour ahead with its own anthem, the cult folk hero is releasing a new song custom-made for the journey ahead, simply titled: “Back Out On The Road” - out today.
A celebration of everything that makes the touring life and live shows the joyous experience they are, Beans’ new single is a universal heart-warmer destined to be belted out in venues nationwide this Spring. Speaking about the inspiration for the new track, Beans on Toast says:
“'Back out on the Road' is a love letter to live music, independent venues and the wonderful people who frequent them. It's a celebration of England and the joys of travelling this beautiful land. I've been touring non-stop for well over a decade and have thousands of gigs under my belt, but it never gets old. Hopefully, this song will act as a thank you to all the people who come out to see me play, meaning I can continue on my journey. I think it's important for them to know how much I love doing this.”
An uplifting folk song with gospel flourishes to nourish the soul, it emerges as the first of three brand new singles from Beans set to be unveiled over the coming weeks. The songs are also confirmed to appear on Beans’ next album, which is already slated for 1st December 2023. Hinting how the new album is shaping up, he says: “Granted, it’s a long way off, but I wanted to draw a line after my last album and my quick turn at being a kids' entertainer. These songs are back to a more 'classic Beans' singing songs about the current state of the world around me and trying to make my opinions rhyme.”
Rama Lama Records proudly presents 'Makes You Wonder', the new album from Malmö's art-rock-fuzz-pop duo Mary Anne's Polar Rig. Their sophomore effort is shape-shifting art rock that’s alternatively brooding and euphoric, the record is packed with irresistible melodies, needle-sharp guitars, scuffed-knees scrappiness and Hofvander’s snarling, growling and yelping vocals, but compared to their debut it vastly expands the scope of what they can do with it. The album will be out March 24th on all platforms, CD and a limited gatefold double vinyl.
New single 'It Goes' is out today and arrives ahead of the bands debut UK shows that will be held in London at the Cavendish Arms on February 17 and at the Shacklewell Arms on February 18.
About It Goes: Building a song slowly, starting off simple, sculpting it the way you want and gradually drawing in the detail until you’re left with something raw and real is a skill that very few bands master. But it's one that Swedish duo Mary Anne’s Polar Rig showcase on their new single, the sprawling, grandiose and pretty art-rock of “It Goes”.
“It Goes” has a curious shapeshifting quality to it, like sunlight shining through a rainstorm, casting glittering patterns on the water. The musical dexterity they display here doesn't take away from the fact that it’s a song that’s full of heart and soul, with an emotional intensity that almost bursts out of it. MAPR throw everything they have at this one, like cooks tossing it all into the pot, and turn it into a hazy dreamworld, one that’s heavy and strange, but also deeply affecting and moving.
“‘It Goes’ just happened to be written right after I’d learned that really cool American Football riff”, says singer and guitarist Malin Hofvander, “and listened a lot to Lucy Dacus”. Guitarist Harald Ingvarsson says: “The song is built around the rhythm of a very unstable analog square wave modulation circuit. Add a veteran symphonic percussionist, a double bass player and some harsh tape noise. It’s that really cool MAPR riff”.
Landmarks, as a record is a work of art in a world that no longer values "album projects" but wants quick and easy to digest song snippets and singles. Helene Cronin and Matt King spent a year and a half crafting it and the hard work shows.
Landmarks is the follow-up to Helene's 2019 critically acclaimed debut Old Ghosts & Lost Causes. While it has a similar vulnerability, it's heavier in terms of feel, topics and production. It includes her signature "life wisdom" songs. It asks questions, but gives few straightforward answers. Helene doesn't like to spoon-feed listeners. If the album feels more grown-up in content, it's because she's grown as an artist, stepping confidently into a role that requires her to be fearless about what she writes and sings about.
Matt and Helene began recording in June 2021. Listening to the tracks in the days following the studio sessions, it was obvious that these songs had weight and muscle. A few are tender, intimate ballads. But overall, the layers of instrumentation, the effects, the powerful drums, Byron House's bass, Kenny Vaughan's guitar work and Bobby Terry's atmospheric steel, acoustic guitar, mandolin and banjo riffs stepped these recordings up a few notches in terms of depth and energy. One song on the album "Just a Woman" even got a complete re-do a year after the first tracking session. In June 2022, the crew went back in the studio and re-recorded the song, with a new ending re-written by Helene and her co-writer Lisa Carver. Then a powerhouse quartet of women, including Wendy Moten from "The Voice" came in to sing the gospel-tinged BGVs that make the song soar in triumph.
Some might notice a stronger more powerful tone to Helene's singing on this outing. She's always thought of herself as a quiet singer, but with Matt King's encouragement, she seems to sing from a more authoritative place. It's likely that this batch of songs demanded it. In addition to a bigger voice, there are fatter, more complex, background vocals, layers of harmonies on songs that hint at the influence of ELO, Queen, Blue Oyster Cult and Sgt Pepper. The guitars rock with a retro-70s feel in places, jangling like something you might hear from the Byrds. No two songs on this record are at all alike! Working on this, their second project, it's obvious that Helene and Matt are finding a strength together. There is mutual respect between them and they bring out the best in each other, starting with careful song selection to balance the project and extending to the hard work, and fun, in the studio creatively crafting these 12 songs.
It's something that we can easily lose sight of, but WA indie-pop songwriting duo The Money War are here to remind us all of an important truth with their beautifully special new song, 'Somebody Loves You', released yesterday.
The Money War is the musical and romantic partnership of Carmen Pepper and Dylan Ollivierre. Making music together since 2016, the BMG/Mirror Publishing-signed pair have toured with none other than Meg Mac, Dope Lemon, Holy Holy and were handpicked by Neil Finn to open for his shows. In addition to playing local festival FOTSUN, they've also crossed the seas for the eponymous SXSW, BIGSOUND and Southbound Festival. They've received a stack of nominations along the way, most notably having debut album 'Home' up for the Australian Music Prize.
With two albums, and three EP's under their belts after the release of 'Blood' EP in 2021, Pepper and Ollivierre continue to add their ever-growing catalogue of music. They now share the important message found on 'Somebody Loves You'.
The track's uplifting melody melts with sincerity from the very first taste. Generously encompassing the undeniable force of love, 'Somebody Loves You' is yet another gem that affirms their knack for songwriting, with the Midas touch afforded by the chemistry of their pairing. It's an instant classic that will leave listeners floating into the ether, or perhaps into the arms of somebody that loves them.
'Triongl Dyfed' (The Dyfed Triangle), was the name for the area of west Wales in which there were multiple UFO sightings in the 1970s and 1980s. The central concept of the song is an imagined conspiracy theory that the Meibion Glyndwr holiday cottage arson attacks were carried out by aliens.
Mostly sung from the point of view of the extra-terrestrials – the song borrows from ‘Mae Gen i Het Tri Chornel’ an old welsh nursery rhyme, quotes 70s rockers Edward H Dafis’ hit ‘Mae’n Braf Cael Byw Mewn Tŷ Haf’ (‘It’s nice to live in a holiday home’) and name-checks the legendary singer and actor Bryn Fôn, who was falsely arrested on suspicion of being a member of Meibion Glyndwr, as well as Owain Glyndŵr himself. Both Edward H and Bryn Fôn were extremely accommodating in allowing the band to reference them – Owain Glyndŵr’s silence on the matter is deafening.
As with the whole album, it was recorded in Tŷ Drwg Studios, Grangetown with Frank Naughton and features appearances from Llŷr Parri on drums and Harri Rees on clarinet with everything else performed by Bethan and Ynyr.
"We believe that the second home crisis in Wales is completely out of hand we believe that government should intervene to prevent house prices from rising so dramatically and to allow young people who grew up in the area to buy an affordable home where they live" said the band.
In case the lyrics get misconstrued; Rogue Jones are categorically not suggesting that burning second homes is the right thing to do - this is a song about aliens coming down from outer space to burn holiday homes.
The Beirut-born now London-based singer-songwriter, Nadine Khouri is today sharing her new single, "Keep On Pushing The Walls" – the track emerges as the second to be lifted from Khouri's new album, Another Life which has found support so far from BBC 6 Music and Uncut. The new album, out November 18 via French label, Tailtres was recorded in London and Bristol with longtime collaborator, John Parish (PJ Harvey, Dry Cleaning) and follows her critically-acclaimed debut, The Salted Air which found praise from MOJO, Uncut, Clash, Drowned in Sound, Brooklyn Vegan and many more upon release.
On Another Life, Khouri and Parish take a minimalistic approach to both vocals and music alike: there is a serene, dreamlike quality to the songs, suffused with otherworldly, beatific textures. The soul-inflected “Keep On Pushing These Walls”, set to a stripped-down drum machine and Mellotron saxophones, is a joyous tribute to the late Canadian singer-songwriter Lhasa, who passed away in 2010 aged just 37.
“I wrote Keep On Pushing These Walls in tribute to the late, great Lhasa de Sela,” explains Nadine. “I'd seen Leslie Feist, Melissa Laveaux and others pay tribute to her life and work at the Barbican in London and came home and wrote this song. More generally, it's about songs written by another that open us up to ourselves, to each other and to the world.
“Lhasa was a one-of-a-kind artist, whose music has accompanied me all throughout my life,” she continues. “People often talk about her as an extraordinary singer or performer, but she was equally a brilliant songwriter and storyteller. I often wonder what Lhasa would make of the world today. Her humility, openness and quest for authenticity always inspire me. Her music was expansive, beyond language and genre - she sang from and for the soul.”
The Hooten Hallers forthcoming album Back In Business Again is due out September 9, 2022 and heres the first taste! For the past fifteen years, The Hooten Hallers have been crisscrossing the country as inveterate road warriors, bringing their peculiar vision of Americana–a fiery rock and roll fever dream birthed in Missouri’s fertile musical heartland.
They’ve put so many miles into the road that they’ve burned through multiple tour vans and left twisted metal and frayed rubber strewn across the road behind them. With their aptly named new album, Back In Business Again, the trio roar back on to the international stage with ten incendiary new original songs drawn from their many travels and inspired by the hardships that all touring musicians have faced throughout a seemingly never-ending pandemic.
There’s hope in these new songs, but tinges of madness too, driven by the raw drumming of Andy Rehm, the infernal growl and swirling guitars of John Randall, and the low rolling baritone and bass saxophones of Kellie Everett.
The Hooten Hallers have always been musical colliders, smashing together everything from pre-war jazz to Chicago blues with jaunts around New Orleans and garage rock explorations with hints of anti-racist punk and Oi!. It’s Morphine meets ZZ Top along St. Louis’ Mississippi waterfront. Produced by bassist Dominic Davis (Jack White, Greensky Bluegrass), Back In Business Again takes a match to The Hooten Hallers’ fuse and explodes the renegade power trio to the edge and back again, one vigorous, swinging, perfectly peculiar song at a time.
Marking the Summer Solstice yesterday, “Look For The Light” is the radiant new single release by Pearl Diver. The lead single and title-track of what will be the Oxford trio’s debut EP (released 15 July), it's a stately piece of lysergic rock that nods to the classic works of Radiohead, Pink Floyd and The Beatles.
As drifting and dreamy, as it is ethereal and elatory, “Look For The Light” pairs lucid arrangements with lyrics that celebrate the transcendent nature of the human soul and the flame that flickers within all of us.
Written by lead singer and guitarist Matt Sage whilst on retreat in a hut overlooking the North Cornish sea; mesmerised by his shimmering surroundings and at one with the natural world, he found himself in a consummate state of being. As he explains: “I was in a pretty deep and peaceful space within myself, in this beautiful setting, and I wanted to try and capture something of that feeling, and to express the simple truth that we all come from Love.”
An expression of the blissful feelings he felt at that moment, the sunshine-gilded words and melodies of “Look For The Light” fell naturally into place. Just as the Summer solstice opposes winter, day opposes night; the resultant Pearl Diver release finds a band creating a beacon of light and catharsis capable of counteracting the encroaching darkness of recent times.
“It feels to me to be a necessary antidote to all the pain and suffering and woes that we create in the world, out of our separation and forgetting what it is that we really are.” says Matt. “If we can connect to the Peace that is our essential nature, we are more readily able to cherish that in ourselves, and in each other. I am hoping that this very simple song might serve as a healing reminder of that.”
Chiming with the themes explored within the song, “Look For The Light” arrives with an affecting DIY video shot by Matt during the first lockdown. Simply filmed in his local park in Oxford, it offers a unique document of that surreal period where the balance between mother nature and humanity felt like it was shifting in her favour once more.
Englynion Angylion (The Poetry of Angels) is an euphoric call to arms with a message of empowerment, liberation and rebellion. It’s Rogue Jones "getting in touch with their inner witch and embracing nature”.
This, the bands first single taken from their sophomore album, started life as a Fiona Apple / Kate Bush brooding piano-led verse before being dragged to The Loft in 70s New York by the ghost of David Mancuso. Like the music that Mancuso loved and played, Englynion Angylion is ‘soulful, rhythmic and impart words of hope and redemption.'
Rogue Jones (Bethan Mai and Ynyr Morgan Ifan) returned to their second creative home of Ty Drwg Studios with longtime producer Frank Naughton to work on the foundations of Englynion Angylion. Llŷr Pari ‘The Melin y Coed Metronome’ was on drums and mixing, Elen Ifan on cello, Mari Morgan on disco violin, recorded in Caernarfon by Gruff Ab Arwel.
The Guardian called Rogue Jones "a charmingly quirky band who deserve a cult following". By the evidence of Englynion Angylion, Rogue Jones are overflowing with charm and wider recognition won’t be far behind. As the band explained, Englynion Angylion "is our attempt at making straight-up 1970s orchestral disco but like everything we do, it comes out a little stranger. Country people trying to make big city music" and succeeding in bringing nature's rainbow palette with them to lighten the darkest of urban streets.
