Sun June - Palberta - SLUGS

Sun June have shared 'Bad Girl' and the song has been getting plenty of attention over the past two days since it's release. Accompanied with a video this gently melodic and dreamy song still packs plenty of emotion and is an excellent foretaste for their upcoming album 'Somewhere'. ===== Palberta return for a fourth time on Beehive Candy with the final pre-release song 'The Way That You Do' ahead of the album 'Palberta5000' due on January 22nd. As always their vocals and harmonies are exquisite and juxtapose a somewhat quirky musical backdrop wonderfully. ===== From SLUGS we have 'Super Sane' and the four piece alt rock outfit out of Los Angeles really do impress. This is fine and original track, the music arrangement is notable as are the refined vocals.

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Sun June - Bad Girl.

Austin, Texas' Sun June have shared a stunning video for their new single "Bad Girl," the latest from their upcoming new album Somewhere. Of the song and video, Sun June's Laura Colwell says "Bad Girl is about a deep manic drive to regress into the person I used to be - back when being bad was cool and being cool was everything. 

I was given a lot of freedom as a teenager and always took advantage of it. After I lost a good friend in high school, my fear of death was overwhelming. The song reflects on how that fear combined with my own thrill-seeking affected my decisions since. It cycles through self-destructive choices I've made in relationships to avoid responsibility, and how my fear of loss has lead me down some dumb paths. The tone is sad and resigned, but also self-righteous somehow.

There's something pushing and pulling between the lyrics and the beat, so we thought a dance video might draw out some internal tension. We filmed around Lockhart, TX, where we recorded the album, because there are so many farms and fields out there that are unchanged despite the area's growth. We took some inspiration from films like "Blood Simple" and "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," which were also shot in rural towns just outside of Austin. Basically, we tried to channel Frances McDormand, Willie Nelson, and Haim (if Haim were an only child)."

Somewhere showcases a gentle but eminently pronounced maturation of Sun June's sound, a record full of quiet revelation, eleven songs that bristle with love and longing. It finds a band at the height of their collective potency, a marked stride forward that is able to transport the listener into a fascinating new landscape, one that lies somewhere between the town and the city, between the head and the heart; neither here nor there, but certainly somewhere.

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Palberta - The Way That You Do.

Palberta's upcoming LP Palberta5000 is due out in a little over a month on January 22nd, 2021 via Wharf Cat Records, and so far has seen high praise on a level unmatched in the band's already celebrated career. After being announced with a deep-dive feature on Stereogum that explored the more expansive and pop-forward style on this new release from a band long-heralded as one of the most idiosyncratic bands in the East Coast DIY scene, the album's early singles have earned comparisons to ESG and Delta 5 in The New York Times, being described as "everything great about Palberta" on NPR's All Songs Considered, and garnering glowing coverage from spots like Pitchfork, NYLON, Paste, Consequence of Sound and BrooklynVegan among many others.

The band are returning with a final pre-release single entitled "The Way That You Do," accompanied by a video directed by band member Ani Ivry-Block. For a band that have always projected an anarchic energy and historically been associated with a punk-adjacent DIY scene (if never quite being what could be called a punk band themselves) the track explores a gentler tone than has been typical for the band, as it focues on the penchant for harmony arrangements that often sets them apart from their contemporaries, but links these vocal forward sections together with a fanciful, and deceptively complex guitar and bass interplay that only Palberta could have created.

"In 'The Way That You Do' we essentially repeat the same phrase over and over with the exception of Ani's passionate 'I been lyyyyying," Palberta's Lily Konigsberg explains. "I've never really thought about the meaning behind the lyrics, but when I think about them now it seems like someone accusing another of deception and trickery. Also the harmonies are sick. It’s our waltz!”

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SLUGS - Super Sane.

SLUGS is a 4 piece alt rock outfit out of Los Angeles comprised of singer, songwriter and guitarist Marissa Longstreet, Sarsten Noice (bass/vocals), Josh Beavers (lead guitar) and Dash Hutton (drums). 

Their influences range from Linda Perhacs with their melodic harmonies and tenderness to Thee Oh Sees with their high energy, spitfire performances.

Their latest single “Super Sane” features high voltage expression along with a calmer wash, showcasing restrained strums of electric guitar which is both divinely gripping and atmospheric. 

The delicate lower harmonies are so haunting, while the intimate vocals are gentle and totally skeletal in their honesty. Somewhat warm and somewhat cold, the overall feel is wonderfully juxtaposed with feelings of healing and acceptance. The minimalist sound is also vividly complex in its dynamics and meticulously placed elements.

SLUGS · Super Sane

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Sun June - Randell Bramblett - Flor and the Sea

Sun June share a new music video for 'Karen O' along with announcing their new album 'Somewhere' due next February. Karen O is a seductive, dreamy indie rock song with plenty of atmosphere. ===== Randell Bramblett has a forty year musical career and has worked with a good number of rock and blues finest artists. With a new album due next month he gives us a stylish yet natural rocker in the form of 'Rocket To Nowhere' to mull over ahead of the release. ===== Flor and the Sea recently shared a video for 'A Candid Lie' and it's a sumptuous indie, electro song that is gorgeously arranged.

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Sun June - Karen O.

Austin indie-pop 5-piece Sun June have announced their new album Somewhere with a music video for "Karen O." The album will be released February 5, 2021 via Keeled Scales and Run For Cover.

Somewhere is Sun June at their most decadent, a richly diverse album which sees them exploring bright new corners with full hearts and wide eyes. Embracing a more pop-oriented sound the album consists of eleven beautiful new songs and is deliberately more collaborative and fully arranged: Laura played guitar for the first time; band members swapped instruments, and producer Danny Reisch helped flesh out layers of synth and percussion that provides a sweeping undercurrent to the whole thing.

They've called this album their 'prom' record; a sincere, alive-in-the-moment snapshot of the heady rush of love. "The prom idea started as a mood for us to arrange and shape the music to, which we hadn't done before," the band explains. " Prom isn't all rosy and perfect. The songs show you the crying in the bathroom, the fear of dancing, the joy of a kiss - all the highs and all the lows."

“ 'Karen O' is one of the only songs we've written that takes place over the course of a single night, and we hope we captured what it feels like when you're completely worn out but can't bring yourself to go home and go to sleep. It's about the kind of night you let heartache swallow you whole, and you find yourself heading straight toward the things you should be running away from. The actual Karen O is a hero of ours of course, and in the song, she spurs on a lonely night of reflection about what could be versus what can't. It covers some of our favorite topics-love, performance, regret, and hereditary drinking problems-and explores how we sometimes choose to heighten grief rather than reduce it. It also features a voicemail mailbox, which is unfortunate.

We shot the video out on a Texas Hill Country ranch with a spotlight ranchers use to check on cattle at night (very Texas of us). We thought the stage lights and disco ball helped draw out the connection between feeling an emotion and performing it, both for yourself and others. We got lucky and happened to shoot during a lightning storm, so we went full melodrama with it." 

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Randell Bramblett - Rocket To Nowhere.

Randall Bramblett will release Pine Needle Fire on November 13th, 2020 via New West Records. The 12-song set was produced by Bramblett and Gerry Hansen and is the follow up to his acclaimed 2017 album Juke Joint At The Edge Of The World. In addition to his solo work over the course of his illustrious 40-plus-year career, Bramblett has recorded, performed and composed alongside rock luminaries like Gregg Allman, Bonnie Raitt, Steve Winwood, The Band’s Levon Helm, Widespread Panic, Marc Cohn, and more. With Pine Needle Fire, he recognizes a thread throughout its songs. Bramblett says it is “about time passing, or at least grappling with the realization that you don’t have an infinite amount of time left like you think you do when you’re young. 

So there’s the mortality part of it. And then another part has to do with our current situation in this country. I grew up protesting in the ‘60s and ‘70s, so I’ve always felt connected to politics. Now I’m really hung up on it. And you look around and there’s a lot of people that are kind of desperate for change and for justice...or maybe they’re just desperate. They’re trying to hang on in this world. I’m one of them. Most of us are, to some degree.” These everyday people populate Pine Needle Fire, in which Bramblett provides a clear-eyed and engagingly detailed study of lives ordinary and unconventional, loves resilient and vanished and moments that have passed and are also yet to come.

Bramblett previously shared the album track “I’ve Got Faith In You,” calling the song “... genuine and trustworthy, a pierce of sunlight through those dark clouds we seem to be encountering all too often these days." “I’ve Got Faith In You” comes complete with something of a musical bonus: a slide-guitar melody performed on Duane Allman’s famous 1961/1962 Gibson SG. It’s the same one heard on the Allman Brothers’ legendary At Fillmore East and particularly famous for being the instrument played on the live recording of “Statesboro Blues.” 

Bramblett said, “Pine Needle Fire is filled with people on their different journeys through life…experiencing loss, getting up before dawn to go to work, knowing time is running out, remembering lost love, hearing the wolf at the door and feeling lucky to be alive. Jason Slatton and I wrote ‘I’ve Got Faith in You’ several years ago. I thought it fit in nicely on the record as a voice of encouragement and support. We were able to borrow Duane Allman’s original Gibson SG for that session and my old friend, Tommy Talton, used it to play a beautiful slide guitar solo. Since Tommy knew Duane when they were both living in Macon, GA, using that guitar created a circle of sound and memory for us all. It helped capture the feeling of longing and hope that we needed to complete the record.”

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Flor and the Sea - A Candid Lie.

About Candid Lie - The video’s festival setting is a familiar and bittersweet sight to all music lovers in a time of global anxiety. Two masked characters (later revealed to be band members Marc Aretz and Chaem) cavort in the crowd, intercut with performance footage of Flor and the Sea onstage. It’s a contrast that highlights their tinderbox potential, realised sonically through their exemplary future pop sound on this standout track. The new wave atmospherics, vibrant and fluid guitar fills and unforgettable refrains reveal a band who have written the atmospheric foot stomper they set out to write. Produced at their Munich studio with the help of Dieter Dolezel and mixed by Moritz Enders at the hit-making Tritonus Studio in Berlin, Flor and the Sea have created a masterly indie pop anthem that radiates the joys of summer, freedom and untrammelled optimism.

About Kings & Queens - The songs of Flor and the Sea’s debut EP Kings & Queens invite their listeners to surrender themselves to the stream of music: to dream, to dance and to defy the world’s insistent tumult for a moment. Rich in stylistic fusion, pop elements meld with electronica references throughout their songwriting, inviting a host of esoteric influences from dubstep to synth pop to trap to join them. It’s a melting pot of style that recalls the work of Flume, Miike Snow or Alt-J. Co-produced by composer Dieter Dolezel and mixed by Moritz Enders (Casper, Kraftclub), the songs are a multidimensional exploration of sound. From the lilting, mythology-evoking arpeggios of ‘Arcadia’ to the propulsive electro ambience of ‘Dark Minds’, and the bleak dystopian piano keys chiming throughout ‘Reconnect’, Kings & Queens reveals a restless group with a unique musical chemistry, one not keen on travelling the same musical road twice.

Munich-based indie/electropop duo Flor and the Sea was originally founded in 2015 as a five-piece project. With the release of debut singles ‘Hold Your Breath’ and ‘Shed No Tear’, as well as bigger live gigs at Digital/Analog Festival and the Muffat Winterfest among others, the band generated a lot of buzz in short time and was featured as ‘Band of the Week’ by the Suddeutsche Zeitung/SZ Junge Leute in early 2017. After the band split up later that year, Marc Aretz (guitar/synth) and Chaem (vox) decided to keep Flor and the Sea alive as a duo. They redesigned their sound from scratch, incorporating influences from bands like Alt J, Radiohead and Portishead. The singles ‘Dark Minds’ and ‘Reconnect’ were birthed from the rubble and led to widespread acclaim, receiving regular airplay on radio stations like Ego-FM, Bayern 3, M94.5 and BR Puls, and landing positive reviews on international blogs like Composer's Toolbox and York Calling. Capping it all, the duo performed live on Radio Fritz ‘Live on Air’ for the first time. Alongside the production of their debut EP Kings & Queens, Flor and The Sea also resumed live performances in 2019 and put together an elaborate new program with their own light show, visuals, masks, and the support of additional live musicians. A first taste of this show was presented at renowned festivals Theatron Musiksommer and Sound of Munich Now in 2019.

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Tallie Gabriel - The Arthur Brothers - Sun June - Kristen Beckwith

Tallie Gabriel's new E.P 'Little Death' is a really fine collection of truly beautiful songs with captivating vocals and a consistently refined musical backdrop. === It's been sometime since we last featured The Arthur Brothers however they return with the magnificent nine and a half minute Neo-psych song 'Sun Gun' . === Austin band Sun June share their latest track 'Singing' which is described as their Groundhog song, it's also melodic and hook filled. === Kristen Beckwith shares 'Magic Years' and it's a good example of what to anticipate on her forthcoming album 'A True Story' where the Salt Lake City based artist delivers some gorgeous singer songwriter material.
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Tallie Gabriel - Little Death (E.P).

Ethereal singer/songwriter and cellist Tallie Gabriel has unveiled her debut solo E.P. Little Death, a collection of tender hopeful and heartbroken stories written in the aftermath of and reflection on a breakup, featuring singles “Story,” “Hummingbird,” “Laundry,” and cover of “Who Knows Where the Time Goes.”

The 5 song EP explores Tallie Gabriel’s incredible poetry, musicianship, and vulnerability as it goes through the stages of allowing yourself to fall for someone, the disappointment of that relationship not quite working as you'd hoped, the loss of self that comes with betrayal, the confusing heartbreak of a one-time-fling that doesn't last, and finally, a giving over to the understanding that nothing is permanent and all things in life, especially love, ebb and flow like the tides.

“The name ‘Little Death’ comes from an idea my mother told me when I called her once, wildly heartbroken: a breakup the closest thing to the death of a loved one that humans experience. Someone is in your world, and then they're not, or at the very least, a new version of them is. The relationship you shared has died, so it's no wonder that we mourn lost loves so deeply,” says Gabriel. “It's also a cheeky play on the French phrase petit mort... I'll let you look up what that means."

“Little Death” was written by Tallie Gabriel, produced, mixed, and masted by Julian Giaimo and features Tallie Gabriel on cello, Halsey Harkins and Julian Giamo on keys, and Catherine Hardy and Halsey Harkins on background vocals.

Tallie Gabriel’s work is born out of moments of tender vulnerability. Her music is steeped in warmth and affectionate intimacy—exactly how she likes her heart best. Her poetic lyrics and thoughtful storytelling combined with her lilting voice have drawn comparisons to the likes of Regina Spektor, Ingrid Michaelson, and Sufjan Stevens. She draws inspiration from a variety of indie singer-songwriter and folk predecessors, as well as incorporating the influence of the trad Irish, Bal-musette, and classical motifs that attracted her to the cello and music composition when she was younger. Gabriel is 1/4 of the folk group Cardboard Rocketship.



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The Arthur Brothers - Sun Gun.

The Arthur Brothers; is a London based artistic alliance centered around brothers Matt and Danny Arthur and the producer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist J. C. Wright.

With an eclectic batch of singles over the last two years, The Arthur Brothers have demonstrated that there are no boundaries in terms of what to expect from their musical creations. With accolades from radio and press globally, throw in two award winning animated videos, and it’s clear to see that The Arthur Brothers are showing a unique ingenuity and imaginative ambition that doesn’t come around often.

‘Sun Gun’, The Arthur Brothers latest single from their upcoming debut album Nine, is the final phase of a journey that began 9 orbits ago, when the talented brothers Arthur met producer J. C. Wright and they collectively embarked upon a mission, an expedition, an exploration, a compulsion even…. an undertaking that can only be described as...’art for art’s sake’. Recorded in a dilapidated old warehouse in North London - now known as the ClearLight SoundCave - with broken windows, cracked concrete, parquet flooring and a cavernous sounding art-deco stairwell which features heavily in the tonality and ambience of the album. A DIY approach that ultimately flourished into a majestic sonic proclamation.

‘Sun Gun’ is a song about the future. But also a song about the past… from the future’s perspective. A dys/utopian narrative. A rescue mission. An uplifting space romp. A portent of potentiality and a premonition of probability for the ever expanding, avaricious human race. ‘Sun Gun’ is a song of hope, a song of love… a light to lift the darkness.

A 9mins30 sweeping epic journey – ‘Sun Gun’ is a timeless neo-psych, shimmering, summer’s day intergalactic cruise, surfing on waves of vocal harmonies and cascading guitars. From ‘Sun Machine’ to ‘Sun King’, sun salutations to sun salvation. A fitting last song for the creative enterprise that is The Arthur Brothers Nine, ‘Sun Gun’ acts as a statement of intent. A song to launch The Arthur Brothers into space and back again. ‘Destination we've arrived’.

The accompanying ‘Sun Gun’ video, playfully edited by Greg Vegas, offers a captivating version of the song’s journey by incorporating archival film footage of 1974 USSR films Teenagers in the Universe and Moscow-Cassiopeia by Maxim Gorky studios, interspersed with textures by UK visual artist Anastasia Beltyukova aka Tribambuka.

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Sun June - Singing.

Austin band Sun June have released a new single & video today for "Singing" and announced they've signed to Run For Cover Records.

Laura Colwell says: " 'Singing' is our groundhog day song. It's about being stuck in an old argument with your partner, wishing you both saw the world the same way. The video expands on that idea by cycling through various mundane ruts we can get caught in.

We also explore around our Austin neighborhood, where they're tearing stuff down and building stuff up."

Sun June's new album is due early 2021 via Run For Cover and Keeled Scales.

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Kristen Beckwith - Magic Years.

Kristen is a singer-songwriter based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. Inspired by artists of all genres, music became Kristen’s passion at a young age.

In 2018 she made the choice to pursue music full time and by early 2019 released her first single, “Free”. Driven by authentic lyrics and melodies, Kristen’s music is emotional and thought-provoking. She is an advocate in the topic of mental health.

After two and a half years working day in and day out, Kristen is beyond thrilled to be releasing her debut album, “A True Story” October 2nd, 2020. In an interview with KSL Kristen said, “I want to touch hearts and move people the way music moves me”.

Kristen Beckwith · Magic Years

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