Loupe - Sara Lew - Bo Milli

Loupe - Do You Ever Wonder What Comes Next? (Album).

Amsterdam indie rock quartet Loupe share their hotly anticipated debut album Do You Ever Wonder What Comes Next? - released June 16th via Excelsior Records. The band are also set to tour the UK later this year with indie-rock breakouts Lovejoy.

Recorded with producer Arne van Petegem (Moss, Styrofoam) and mixed by Beau Sorenson (Death Cab For Cutie, Sparklehorse), the album showcases the bands rich and intricate soundscapes as well as their effortlessly gliding lead vocals, catchy melodies and captivating, story telling lyricism. Atmospheric yet punchy - packing musical depth and beauty, the 13-track release showcases the band's ability to create truly spellbinding music.

The band’s singer and lyricist Julia (vocalist) explores themes of young adulthood, life in the big city and human relationships over a weave of rousing harmonies, free-flowing rhythms and expressive vocals. Besides Julia, the band consists of Jasmine guitar, Lana bass and Annemarie van der Born drums.

Do You Ever Wonder What Comes Next? is an exploration of growing up in the modern age, both within the songwriting and through collaborations with artists from other disciplines. The vibrant collage-like album artwork created by Ukrainian graphic designer Karaska shows the band standing on top of a building, as colors and images spread around them.

According to Julia, much of the material revolves around finding something to hold on to amidst the heat of the hustle and bustle, and adjusting to a new busy environment full of impulses. “For me it was all a kind of transition, with 'on the one hand 'the new life and all the cool things that come with it. And on the other hand, the uncertainty of being alone in the big city and the adult world.”

Loupe · Do You Ever Wonder What Comes Next?

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Sara Lew - Shady Light.

Sara Lew’s new single ‘Shady Light’ is set to shine on the earth’s surface with its release on June 16th, 2023, as a precursor to her upcoming album ‘LOUD’, which she is getting ready to release in autumn 2023. ‘Shady Light’ is the second single to come from the new album, following 'Out of Nowhere', which picked up a lot of playlist additions around the world, as well as and airplay on Amazing Radio and Louder Than War Radio and a video premiere with Vents Magazine.

‘Shady Light’ is a real indie ballad. It's about standing together in a relationship, constantly learning from each other, and sharing with each other and continuing to do so even though life is rushing by with different goals and ambitions.

On the song, Sara explains, “It’s about standing together in a relationship even in a heavy storm when everything else is falling apart around you. It’s about daring to experiment and be vulnerable and stand on new land together. And though there still must be food on the table and the family must endure, to have the ability to seek refuge together in the very close moments, in love, in moments and special spaces of timeless being, where everything else is suspended.”

“I wrote the song after a long summer holiday where there was finally some peace, after a long and intense period.", She adds.

Sara Lew's upcoming album “LOUD” is all based around the development of life. It’s about when young people become adults and experience personal confrontations with the past, in which family stories of shame and taboo culture arise from the subconscious. It explores how to rein in anger and grief, to keep your head above water and be a role model for your own children when life all falls apart and how to protect love and togetherness when everyday life rolls on. Essentially, it’s an album about living in the present moment with love for life's stories, memories, moments of happiness but also life’s unforeseen, manifold trip wires.

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Bo Milli - Making Friends.

Bergen, Norway-based indie-rock rising star Bo Milli has returned with her new single "Making Friends" ahead of a busy schedule of festivals this summer. The new single follows a string of standalone tracks released across the past 12 months which has seen her tipped as one the next breakout musicians to come out of Norway.

Re-creating the chaos and indiscipline of nights out in Bergen, "Making Friends" tracks the expectations, contradictions and drama of nocturnal social interactions through a haze of tumultuous indie-rock.

Co-produced by Odd Martin (Sigrid, Sløtface) and Magnus Skylstad (AURORA), "Making Friends" opens with a rumbling bass line, with Bo Milli recalling precise moments of discourse amidst the cold Bergen night life: "I've been wondering when it will get under my skin / I bet you're waiting for it to kick in".

Speaking more on the inspiration behind "Making Friends", Bo Milli said: "The song is about a yearning to connect with people and have some sort of meaningful experience motivating a night out. It's about a shallow but euphoric feeling after a certain amount of drinks that every stranger in the room is my friend, all the while I've lost track of the friends I actually wanted to get to know better."

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Charlotte Carpenter - Louie & The Wolf Gang - Sara Lew - Fake A Smile - Zito - MOONRiiVR

Charlotte Carpenter - Spinning Plates.

Spinning Plates is the first track taken from East Midland’s singer-songwriter Charlotte Carpenter’s debut album due late 2023. “There’s a lot to unpack in this song” explains Charlotte, “from societal pressures on the roles you are meant to fulfill as a woman, alongside the struggle of keeping up a relentless positivity to being a musician – and how impossible it is to ever get the balance between the two.”

Born out of being overwhelmed, anxious, and it fight or flight mode, this inner turmoil acted like lighter fluid on the song which Charlotte describes as “Erupting out of nowhere and finished in one day,” with its thundering bluesy edges and burning refrain “I can’t find a way out, a way out, a way out.” Spinning Plates is a defiant return with a background story offering a stark reminder of the prevailing sexism and exploitative power structures with the music industry.

Following a successful run of early EPs, championed by BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 2 and Virgin Radio, with tastemakers like The Line of Best Fit through to rock bible Classic Rock praising Charlotte’s raw, soulful songwriting with comparisons to the likes of Cream, Cat Power, Bonnie Riatt and PJ Harvey, Charlotte set out to make her debut album. The following years saw a period of stagnation, frustration and crippling self-doubt caused by a domineering, autocratic producer.

The experience is told in Charlotte’s new album, one she re-wrote and re-recorded after parting ways with the producer, regaining confidence and excelling in the expansive creative freedom previously denied to her. The result as we see on first single Spinning Plates is not only a warning tale but a powerful cry of defiance and strength.

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Louie & The Wolf Gang - Betty.

Worldwide airplay, a rapidly growing fan base, and performances at renowned festivals and relevant clubs: Louie & The Wolf Gang from Baden/Switzerland have gained attention in the rockabilly-scene and beyond.

After gaining wordwide airplay the trio now release «Betty» as their new single on Friday, May 19. The band will celebrate this new track with two concerts on the weekend, as start of several upcoming live-shows in Switzerland and Germany:

'Betty' tells the story of a romantic ride in a Cadillac that abruptly ends somewhere in the middle of nowhere. It has become a favorite among the live audience. Once again, Louie & The Wolf Gang demonstrate in this song their ability to combine danceable rockabilly in the style of Stray Cats, rockin' country reminiscent of Buck Owens and Johnny Cash, with modern neo-rockabilly in the style of Restless.

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Sara Lew - Out of Nowhere.

From her long-awaited forthcoming new album “LOUD”, “Out of Nowhere” is about deep love for the people you are close to and connected with. It is about deep cohesion and the relationships we can have together and with each other and it is about losing them. It is about sadness and powerlessness and it's about having to stand on your own two feet and to learn to feel again and carry the beauty we have from each other with us further, even when life doesn't last forever.

In a similar way, Sara Lew's upcoming album “LOUD” is all based around the development of life. It’s about when young people become adults and experience personal confrontations with the past, in which family stories of shame and taboo culture arise from the subconscious. It explores how to rein in anger and grief, to keep your head above water and be a role model for your own children when life all falls apart and how to protect love and togetherness when everyday life rolls on. Essentially, it’s an album about living in the present moment with love for life's stories, memories, moments of happiness but also life’s unforeseen, manifold trip wires.

On the album Sara Lew's musical embrace is intimate, present and raw, with guitar sequences that scratch the enamel of the heart and hit the diaphragm. Sara writes heartbreaking, melodic songs about the trembling complexities of human life and unfolds her own Nordic brand of melancholic, melodic rock. Her style is a hybrid of singer-songwriter, alternative rock, jazzy improv and indie lo-fi which can hook the listener in from many different angles.

On “Out of Nowhere” the music is played and arranged by Sara Lew (vocals and guitars), Anders Filipsen (keyboards/synth) and Jeppe Gram (drums). The track was recorded by, and in collaboration with, sound and studio engineers Troels Bech Jessen and Casper Nyvang Rask. It was produced by Sara Lew, and mixed-produced by Nis Bysted (Iceage & Choir of Young Believers), with mastering by Emil Thomsen.

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Fake A Smile - Don't Stop.

Having gained acclaim from areas such as The Line Of Best Fit, 10 Magazine, Fashionably Early and more on sunbleached debut single Prom Dress, rising Bouremouth based trio Fake A Smile once again stand out from the pack with attention grabbing second single, Don’t Stop. Taken from their upcoming debut EP Shoot Me To The Moon, the track sees them connect again with Mercury Award winning producer Gianluca Buccellati ( Arlo Parks,Biig Piig) on a grit-pop offering showcasing a more sombre tone than their summer ready debut. Speaking on the track, the band state:

"Don’t Stop" delves into the less breezy and more dark, grittier sound of our record collection. Topically current, the single channels new fangled cross-atlantic inspirations from the likes of early Verve and BRMC to the early aughts scenes of 'meet me in the bathroom'.

While working at a hotel in central London, members Jamie and Luca met producer and songwriter Gianluca Buccellati (Arlo Parks, Lana Del Rey, Biig Piig) by chance while he stayed at the hotel to attend and ultimately win the Mercury Prize in 2021. The band introduced themselves, igniting a kinship that resulted in the trio quitting their jobs and flying themselves out to Los Angeles to create their debut EP.

“Straight off the plane from LA, wearing a baggy Hawaiian shirt and cork hat, Gianluca walked through the doors off a bustling Tower Bridge Road into the hotel lobby, where behind the desk, Luca and I saw him walk in, sticking out like a sore thumb against the London commuters,” as frontman Jamie Kravos puts it.

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Zito - Please Don't Leave Me.

Emerging singer-songwriter Zito returns with her supplicating new single and video, “Please Don’t Leave Me” via FAMA Collective. Inspired by real life, “Please Don’t Leave Me” is a bluesy rock-fueled heartbreak ballad that mirrors the agony of the title’s plea. The story offers a glimpse into the critical moment of a relationship’s demise, sprinkled with lingering memories, thoughts of what could have been, pain, and the uncertainty of unspoken words which have been haunting Zito ever since. Diving deep into Zito’s roots, written in isolation in the Pennsylvania countryside, and recorded with close friends, the self-produced track draws from every authentic resource possible to say what wasn’t said then.

Speaking on the single, Zito shares: “The chorus to ‘PDL’ was one of those melodies that honestly comes to you in the moment, as the dust settles and you process what’s going on. The chorus was the plea repeating in my head. I worked on this song for ages, wrote multiple bridges and outros, and actually have a few different versions in storage. But I sang it to myself on long drives or sitting in airports until it was settled enough in my mind to record, produce, and be able to capture its message. She adds, “By that point, producing it was easy because I’d played it in my head thousands of times over. And when I had to record vocals, I revisited those old wounds, sang it out, and got it out of my system. It was incredibly rewarding.”

The accompanying visual brings to life the track’s emotion as a revolving reel of her travels across the US depicts a reminiscent memory, becoming the foreground to the lyrics all while eliciting a nostalgic feel. “I want the visual to feel like those glimpses of memory you flip through in your mind when you’re really haunted by something in the past that you can’t return to. It’s pretty fascinating how many memories we accumulate in our lives and how some of them are so sweet in the moment but end up being so sad to look back on.”

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MOONRiiVR - Blonde Hair Now.

MOONRiiVR is a brand new band from Toronto, by familiar musicians Gavin Gardiner (frontperson of JUNO-nominated indie-folk band The Wooden Sky) and “Champagne'' James Robertson (guitarist for Lindi Ortega and Dwayne Gretzky).

Listening to their debut album, aptly titled Vol. 1, is like entering an unfamiliar room down a long hallway, closing the door quietly behind you, and finding oneself lost in a different world, one where you’re not sure whether you’re looking forward, backward, or perhaps even into a mirror.

Their first single, “Blonde Hair Now” is a celebration of the small moments in our days that make up our lives – a beautiful homage to the gravity of the simple everyday decisions that shape our world. It invites listeners to imagine a world where you’re dancing in the RCA studios with the ghost of a young Elvis Presley or fast asleep between Richie Valens and Buddy Holly in the backseat of that ill-fated flight.

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Sara Lew - Genuine Leather - Astari Nite

We don't often link to Spotify however as it's my only source for Sara Lew and her fabulous new single 'Sunday Morning' from the album of the same name, I feel rather obliged to as her music is just so good!

We have a couple of tracks from Genuine Leather's new '2011-2019 Demos, Singles and Live' collection, the band sharing a fine mixture of songs along those lines, as the two we have selected should demonstrate.

Astari Nite return to Beehive Candy for a sixth feature, the bands atmospheric mixture of Gothic and post punk vibes are present as ever, as is their consistent ability to write great new music.
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Sara Lew - Sunday Morning.

Sara Lew has just released her new album ‘Sunday Morning’ and the title track from it is her new single an epic electro-indie exploration inspired by a visit to Scotland. Sara Lewis Sørensen, who recently expanded her artist name from Lew to Sara Lew, now presents her new album Sunday Morning. Centred around Sara’s expressive vocals and intense melodies, ‘Sunday Morning’ is released on May 24th via Copenhagen-based label HUN SOLO Records.

The eight songs on Sunday Morning take the listener through existential human considerations, all wrapped up in beautifully lyrical sounds and dreamy rock electronica melodies.

The title song ‘Sunday Morning’ describes an encounter with the nature of Scotland, and its exemplification of calm and durability. Sara says: ”Sunday Morning is a story based on a special experience I had when I was visiting The Outer Hebrides in Scotland with my family. The scenery was magnificent.

We lived in a house surrounded by endless mountains full of mystery and surrounded by the Atlantic that daily shifted between the ebb and the flood in the most beautiful way. At ebb the seabed emerged as the finest light sandy beach. I went for a walk out on the sand and suddenly I stood in the middle of a rainbow. The song is based on this experience and describes images from this nature around me. And from there also a line of thoughts built on a relation to and history with another human who had finally found peace and new life.”

On ‘Leave The Shed’ Sara encourages a close friend to dare to step into the unknown and away from the safety net surrounding her. Singles ‘You Said’ and ‘Does Anybody Listen’ show her skill at building the relationship between relevant text and impressive musicality, an ability born of years of song writing experience.

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Genuine Leather - Top Of My Heart / Feel It.

Genuine Leather is the brainchild of Texas-based Chris Galis whose been a fixture in the burgeoning Austin scene since 2009. His previous project, Gorgeous Hands, was championed by local press and developed a minor following before the members disbanded to pursue other opportunities. But there was no turning back for Galis. His brain was switched on with visions of distorted, Beatle-esque seventh chords and sweet 70’s California rock.

Genuine Leather was formed by Galis in an attempt to exorcise these creative impulses. The self-produced debut single, “The Viper,” immediately got picked up by the Austin blogosphere, with glowing reviews in The Deli Austin and Pop Press International. Offers for gigs and house shows followed, catching Galis off guard as he had not anticipated forming a live act. To accommodate a live show that would properly reflect the recordings, Galis enlisted 5 of his most trusted compandres to share the banner of Genuine Leather and away they went.

The majority of the band now lives in the same neighborhood in East Austin. Since their inception, they’ve released 2 EP’s, 3 LP’s and tons of B-Sides, all of which have been deconstructed, pulled from and added to comprise the latest release, 2011-2019 Demos, Singles and Live - releasing digitally and on cassette May 24th. The retrospective collection showcases the dynamic trajectory of the band, from ramshackle sessions, recorded while Galis and co. played hookie from work, to newer, more refined material that conjures up the work of Spoon, Mac Demarco and Nick Lowe.


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Astari Nite - As If You Were Dead.

Astari Nite presents new single and video "As If You Were Dead", the emotive track is the first to be released from their upcoming EP. Filling our hearts and minds with emotional resonance, Astari Nite is gearing up to deliver their latest single "As If You Were Dead". The mesmerizing track is the first to be released from their forthcoming EP, due out February 2020.

Moving and thought-provoking, "As If You Were Dead" communicates the complexity of loss and death, merging the downbeat tempo, and sorrowful lyrics with a dissonant yet soaring melody. The mournful subject matter is enough to bring any listener to tears, but the track brims with hope and a forlorn optimism:

"Memories of you is better this way/To feel what was then when it was yesterday" sings lead singer Mychael. "Knowing that you can never speak to someone ever again is the hardest part when dealing with death. Never hearing that person speak or seeing them smile in front of you again, sure makes for a gloomy day. Nevertheless, one can only mourn for so long. In time, happiness will come in waves yet again and the memories just might stay a bit longer."  - Mychael

The single, mastered by Jackknife Sounds owner and Actors frontman Jason Corbett, will be released on Danse Macabre Records. 


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