Far Caspian - Sons of Bill

Far Caspian - Let's Go Outside.

Background - Leeds quartet Far Caspian unveil new single Let’s Go Outside, the second track taken from their forthcoming debut EP, out via UK label Dance To The Radio. Following on from the majestic Holding On, which turned heads when it drifted into the online sphere’s consciousness, Let’s Go Outside reaffirms the band’s knack for hazy, infectious dream-pop.

Whilst Far Caspian have been based in Leeds since formation, frontman and guitarist Joel Johnston has only recently moved over to England from his native Ireland. This upheaval provides the basis of Let’s Go Outside’s themes.

“Although it's a pretty upbeat instrumental, the lyrics touch on depression and feeling far from something you could call home,” he states, “The whole EP is loosely based on my experiences of moving to England and feeling a disconnect to living in a new city for the first time.”

Referencing this dichotomy between themes and music with the playful self-nominated tag of ‘melanjolly’, Far Caspian’s wistful sound calls to mind the likes of Local Natives, Real Estate, Grizzly Bear or Band of Horses. However where those bands’ textures lean on the symphonic side, the lo-fi origins of the project in Johnston’s university halls, before Nath Sayers (guitar), Alessio Scozzaro (bass) and Jof Cabedo (drums) came in to complete the line-up, lends Far Caspian’s sound a comforting, insular edge.

However there’s a simpler catalyst too for the upbeat elements of the song: “We recorded and mixed the track, along with the rest of the EP in our basement. When we were doing 'Let's Go Outside' there was a crazy snow storm going on, I think it was about 1 degree in that room. That's probably why it's a bit faster than the rest of the tracks.” TWITTER.

'Let's Go Outside' is rapidly gaining some much deserved attention ahead of the bands debut EP. Far Caspian manage to mix hook laden dream pop with an upbeat feel. This is both refreshing and relaxing, with the bonus of having a level of energy that gives the song that little extra "something" to make it stand out.

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Sons of Bill - Sweeter, Sadder, Farther.

Background - Central Virginia’s band of brothers Sons of Bill release their new album 'Oh God Ma'am' on 29 June on Loose. Now, with just a few days left before the record is out, the band have shared album opener 'Sweeter, Sadder Farther Away'.

'Oh God Ma’am', Sons of Bill's latest LP is the band’s most coherent artistic statement to date-- subtle, risky, and sonically ambitious.  Recorded both in Seattle with west coast indie legend Phil Ek (Shins, Fleet Foxes) and in Nashville with Sean Sullivan (Sturgill Simpson) and mixed by Peter Katis (The National, Interpol) the album shows the Wilson brothers moving beyond the galvanic americana-rock comfort zone of previous efforts, for a more elegant and restrained sound-- a darker, and more complexly layered rock record that manages to be the band’s most emotionally intimate and sonically expansive.  

Insistent, dancey rhythms and dreamy, hook-filled, pyrotechnics abound, creating a deceptively anthemic mood around songs that are in and of themselves intensely introverted.

'Oh God Ma’am' is a coming-of-age record for an over-stimulated age-- equal parts post-adolescent anxiety and old-soul humility-- literate, gorgeous, and darkly contemplative. WEBSITE.

Sons of Bill will tour the UK and Europe in August:
Mon 13th - The Hope, Brighton (UK)        
Tues 14th - Omeara, London (UK)            
Weds 15th - Tunnels, Bristol (UK)              
Thurs 16th - Brudenell, Leeds (UK)              
Fri 17th - Broadcast, Glasgow (UK)         
Sat 18th - Soup Kitchen, Manchester (UK)      
Sun 19th - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham (UK)
Tues 21 Aug - Blue Shell, Cologne (DE)
Weds 22 Aug - Milia Club, Munich (DE)
Thurs 23 Aug - Musik & Frieden, Berlin (DE)
Fri 24 Aug - Stage Club, Hamburg (DE)
Sat 25 Aug - Once In a Blue Moon Festival, Amsterdam (NL).

Our third feature for Sons Of Bill in less than a couple of months tends to suggest we are already pretty keen on the bands album 'Oh God Ma’am' due out this coming Friday. So hot on the heels of 'Easier' and 'Firebird '85' we now have the latest song share 'Sweeter, Sadder, Farther'. The song exists somewhere between alt rock and something a little deeper and personal, it's also immersed in emotional feeling, and really does emphasis that this band are comfortable, outside of their comfort zone, if you get my point.

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Telete - Sons of Bill - Treetop Flyers

Telete - Like Honey.

Background - Following shows with Julia Jacklin, Rainbow Chan, Totally Mild, Hatchie and high praise for their deeply affecting sound, akin to "being mown down in a field of violets", Perth chamber/dream pop duo Telete (Teh-leh-tee) announce the wide release of 'Spectator', their surprise debut EP on Friday 22 June. Their new single 'Like Honey', delivering "what it says on the tin" (Nat Tencic, triple j) is out now.

Drawing inspiration from acts such as Broadcast, Julia Holter and Beach House, Perth’s Telete (Mai Barnes & Hayley Ayres) weave strings, synth lines and canned percussion together to build warm-hued compositions that simmer underneath intimate vocals.

Telete's "dramatic and delicate" heartrending version of a lullaby (Declan Byrne), 'Like Honey' has already oozed its way onto playlists for triple j Home and Hosed, triple j Unearthed, Triple R's Out On The Patio, RTRFM's Out To Lunch and more. Plush with thick synths and strings, the track swirls brightly in waltz time around a comforting, centrifugal sadness.

"I wrote [Like Honey] after an awful breakup last year, and I remember bawling my eyes out as I scribbled down the words. But every time I sang them, they hurt less. There’s a strange comfort in saying an uncomfortable truth out loud: you take something you’ve internalised, a feeling that you carry in your stomach and chest and heart, and you push it all the way back out." - Mai Barnes. BANDCAMP.

'Like Honey' is a gorgeous mixture of chamber and dream pop that is sensitive and engaging, allowing beautiful atmospheric soundscapes to emerge. It's one of eight tracks on the new EP, and I have to say, there is not one track that fails to charm and dig some deep musical hooks in. Telete have something very special going on here, one that is well worth checking out.

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Sons of Bill - Firebird '85.

Background - Central Virginia’s band of brothers, Sons of Bill, have announced the release of their new album 'Oh God Ma'am' on 29 June on Loose.

Following the release of singles 'Believer/Pretender' and 'Easier', they have now unveiled new track 'Firebird '85'. "I guess the song is technically “about” a construction worker having a strange redemptive daydream about getting off work. Or maybe he's dead? Still not sure", James tells Uncut Magazine, "I just like the idea of ordinary people, living out their ordinary lives, lost in some grand, cosmic drama inside their own head. It’s how all of our lives are. Just another feel-good song about the inner void."

'Oh God Ma’am', Sons of Bill's latest LP is the band’s most coherent artistic statement to date-- subtle, risky, and sonically ambitious.  Recorded both in Seattle with west coast indie legend Phil Ek (Shins, Fleet Foxes) and in Nashville with Sean Sullivan (Sturgill Simpson) and mixed by Peter Katis (The National, Interpol) the album shows the Wilson brothers moving beyond the galvanic Americana-rock comfort zone of previous efforts, for a more elegant and restrained sound-- a darker, and more complexly layered rock record that manages to be the band’s most emotionally intimate and sonically expansive.  Insistent, dancey rhythms and dreamy, hook-filled, pyrotechnics abound, creating a deceptively anthemic mood around songs that are in and of themselves intensely introverted.

'Oh God Ma’am' is a coming-of-age record for an over-stimulated age-- equal parts post-adolescent anxiety and old-soul humility-- literate, gorgeous, and darkly contemplative. WEBSITE.

Sons of Bill will tour the UK and Europe in August:
Mon 13th - The Hope, Brighton (UK)        
Tues 14th - Omeara, London (UK)            
Weds 15th - Tunnels, Bristol (UK)              
Thurs 16th - Brudenell, Leeds (UK)              
Fri 17th - Broadcast, Glasgow (UK)         
Sat 18th - Soup Kitchen, Manchester (UK)      
Sun 19th - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham (UK)
Tues 21 Aug - Blue Shell, Cologne (DE)
Weds 22 Aug - Milia Club, Munich (DE)
Thurs 23 Aug - Musik & Frieden, Berlin (DE)
Fri 24 Aug - Stage Club, Hamburg (DE)
Sat 25 Aug - Once In a Blue Moon Festival, Amsterdam (NL).

Less than a month since Sons Of Bill first graced our pages we now have the follow up track 'Firebird '85'. The Americana qualities are again notable, albeit this time the band take a more country rock direction, doing so with refinement and plenty of heart.

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Treetop Flyers - Needle.

Background - London soulful country rock outfit Treetop Flyers return with their eponymous third album, due out on 24 August via Loose. Weaving blissful 60s tinged West Coast Americana with a British rock’n’roll swagger, the album oozes with soulfulness, thanks to singer Reid Morrison’s rich, warm vocals, stunning close harmonies and the atmospheric warble of a Mellotron.

The band shared video for the taster track "Needle" (directed by long-time band collaborator Sam Ford) via Clash, who called it; "a bold, vivid return, one that finds Treetop Flyers pushing themselves further and further". The song is based round a looped section at the end of a record about not wanting a moment to end. As Reid explains; “I had just got out the shower and I was listening to an old Ted Hawkins record. I lost track of what I was doing and heard this noise, I couldn't work out what it was but it sounded like the best drum sound I'd ever heard… with the old school hiss and everything. I thought my flatmates were playing a tune or something. I then remembered I had put the record on and the record had reached the end but had this perfect loop.”

The band was originally formed by Reid Morrison, Laurie Sherman and Sam Beer, who met whilst playing in other projects as part of the West London folk scene. Although their name, Treetop Flyers, will always be linked to the Stephen Stills song, they settled on it as they all felt like outsiders but have stuck together ever since through line-up and life changes. They have most recently been joined by Rupert Shreeve on drums, who has added another dimension to their style and took the songs in uncharted directions that were previously out of reach. On the new record they are also joined by saxophonist Geoff Thomas Widdowson from Loose label mates Danny and The Champions Of The World.

Treetop Flyers follows the band’s two previous critically acclaimed albums, their debut The Mountain Moves from 2013, which was praised by The Guardian who wrote that it; “effortlessly captures the spirit of late-1960s west coast pop-rock: the Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young,” as well as Q, who wrote that they; “share with Midlake custody of a brood of Buckingham/Nicks-era Fleetwood Mac licks, likewise the Mac’s mood of unrequited yearning.” Their second album Palomino, from 2016 was praised by Uncut, who called it; “a fittingly great-sounding record, with the band magically tight and melodically assured as they play songs bathed in an evocative ’70s West Coast glow, while drawing on influences including outlaw country, soul and Nigerian psych.” WEBSITE.

It's always pleasing to see country rock music spread it's wings beyond North America, and with 'Needle' the Treetop Flyers not only do that, they do so with grace, style and plenty of natural feeling. This is one very special song, the soulful vibes are everywhere, I am mightily impressed!


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The Jack Cades - Mike Legere - Sons of Bill

The Jack Cades - Music For Children (Album).

Background - Introducing the debut album "Music For Children" from The Jack Cades–a “supergroup” of sorts hailing from the UK. Specializing in 60’s era garage/psych/rhythm & blues, with a gob of snotty punk thrown in for good measure, the band kicked things off in late 2017 when lead guitarist/vocalist Mike Whittaker and his wife, rhythm guitarist/vocalist Elsa Whittaker, decided to record some tracks at Matthew “Mole” Lambert‘s notorious State Records Studios in Folkestone, Kent.

With Mike, Elsa and Mole already veterans of numerous projects like Thee Vicars, The Baron Four, The Missing Souls, and The Embrooks–to name a just few–these early recording sessions seemed loaded with heaps of promise. The band invited bassist John Gibbs (The Masonics, The Wildebeests) to participate, and with Mole on drums, the quartet laid down the tracks that would become their debut mini-LP Music For Children, due out this coming May 18th on Dirty Water Records. While the group’s busy musical schedules initially made it hard to imagine they would have time for this new venture, their work together sounded too good to shelve, and Dirty Water Records reports they have since added bassist Alexandra of Speedball JR to their ranks.

"Music For Children" finds the band showing off their vintage garage sound; but it’s also laced with that kind of rambunctious punk edge that will stop you dead in your tracks. Must be something in the water, or that ocean air, but the recordings coming out of Lambert’s State Records Studios sound like a time capsule straight from the mid-60’s–and this Music For Children cut is no exception. Shambolic and raw in the best of ways, the guitar interplay here between the Whittakers makes for that kind of wild ride that always sounds like it might jump the tracks in a fiery crash. With Mole’s galloping drumming helping to set a frenetic pace, and shout-along choruses from the group threatening to break the mics, “Music For Children" is an infectious introduction to The Jack Cades sure to have you coming back for another fix. FACEBOOK.

Those sixties garage rock vibes are there from the opening moments of the first track 'Big Fish' as The Jack Cades embark on a glorious selection of songs that make up 'Music For Children'. It's an album where new music creates instant memories of times gone by, raw energy meets the odd hint of punk attitude and the bands vibrancy is addictive and just feels so good.


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Mike Legere - Yourself.

Background from Mike Legere - When I’m not playing with bands like Century Thief and Places Erupt, I tend to write lyrically surreal indie-folk. I’ve been lucky enough to tour Ontario, Quebec and Eastern Canada, while recording/producing several records.

“Yourself” is the first single off my debut solo album, Ourselves in Public, set for release on June 8th. It’s a song that compares our social identity to who we are when we are alone – a song that describes a resistance to the identity forged by the expectations of family, friends and strangers, and the loneliness of standing in opposition.

Ourselves in Public was recorded in a variety of spaces throughout Toronto, Montreal and Paris; several studios, apartments (some with broken windows), closets, rehearsal spaces, on an awning during a rainstorm, public squares, restaurants and subway cars. Let me know if you’d like to hear a private, advance stream before it drops next month. This month will see me embark on my first solo tour, preceding Ourselves in Public’s June 8th release. TWITTER.

'Yourself' opens with some melodic guitar that is quickly followed by Mike Legere's distinct and pleasing vocals. The song sits somewhere between indie rock and folk, with no shortage of play me again hooks! I have chosen the clean version, it's up to you if you want something, shall we say "a little stronger".

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Sons of Bill - Easier (feat. Molly Parden).

Background - Virginia-based band of brothers Sons of Bill have shared a new track, "Easier," from their forthcoming album Oh God Ma’am. "It’s a love song, and I’m so glad Molly Parden agreed to make it a duet with me. Her voice adds a haunting depth to every song she touches," writes singer/guitarist James Wilson. Reflecting on the song's inspiration, Wilson writes "there’s a strange unspoken malaise with my generation - ironic and sad... but I think it’s important to try and sing about love and hope in some genuine way now more than ever. We have to remind each other in some way that it’s going to get easier, even if we know in our heart of hearts that that may not be true."

"Easier" follows the group's lead single "Believer / Pretender," an opening salvo that encapsulates the approach the group takes on their latest record - blending their lyrical Americana roots with a polished, driving set of songs punctuated by crystalline guitar riffs and tasteful synth flourishes.

Oh God Ma'am is the followup to their 2015 album Love and Logic, which Q magazine called "a glorious sour mash of every great Americana trope of the last 50 years-- think Dylan, R.E.M, Wilco, -- Blended with top notes of Husker Du, Big Star, and The Replacements... A family affair welcoming one and all." Recorded both in Seattle with west coast indie legend Phil Ek (Shins, Fleet Foxes) and in Nashville with Sean Sullivan (Sturgill Simpson) and mixed by Peter Katis (The National, Interpol) Oh God Ma'am moves beyond the galvanic americana-rock comfort zone of previous efforts, for a more elegant and restrained sound-- a darker, and more complexly layered rock record that manages to be the band’s most emotionally intimate and sonically expansive. WEBSITE.

Opening with a gentle and somewhat dreamy vibe 'Easier' slowly adds some musical layers. The vocals and gorgeous harmonies are centre stage throughout, as this captivating Americana piece quickly touches the heart.

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