The Nude Party - D’Ambrosia - Smaller Hearts - The Rishis - The National Honor Society

The Nude Party - Ride On.

The Nude Party returns with Rides On via New West Records. The 13-song set was produced by The Nude Party and mixed by Sam Cohen (Kevin Morby). Rides On is the anticipated follow up to their 2020 LP Midnight Manor which debuted at #1 on the Alternative New Artists Album chart. Met with critical acclaim, American Songwriter said in their 4/5 Star review, “The sextet’s combination, some may say collision, of blues, swamp, and twang are once again dragged into the garage, dusted with Todd Rundgren’s pop dust and energized with a ragged but right bluster.” No Depression said “Rides On is The Nude Party’s steadiest collection yet, thoughtful and wide-ranging, cohesive and tight” while Glide Magazine exclaimed “The Nude Party deliver their strongest work to date with the free-flowing Rides On.”

Rides On, the band confidently says, is their best record. It’s also the most homegrown and the most organic record they have created to date. Unlike their first two albums, they decided to produce Rides On themselves. Tired of paying for studio time and being rushed, they used the funds they’d saved and spent a year building a studio space out of a barn in upstate NY. When the band met the Tampa-based engineer Matthew Horner, they discovered they had the opposite problems: Matthew had a collection of incredible gear with no studio and The Nude Party had a great new studio with no gear. 

So they invited him to move his equipment up to the Catskills to record an album together. They methodically worked at their own pace. Out were the sessions lasting a strict handful of days. In were impromptu writing moments and picking every sound as they went along. The relaxed atmosphere of the sessions, and arriving with only loosely structured material, allowed the band to thrive in the studio. It also unleashed a diverse sonic texture compared to their previous releases. The lack of pressure allowed them to record over 20 songs, including some that dabbled in electro-pop and stripped-down country before settling on the final 13 tracks.

The band recently released the video for the album’s title track, the singular “Ride On.” Shot entirely on Kodak 16mm film, the “Ride On” video was filmed at their barn in upstate NY. Sonically, the song is reminiscent of Sticky Fingers-era Stones, but its lyrics are mini-vignettes where Magee sings about persevering through adversity. Five of their songs are also featured in the new season of the Netflix hit series Outer Banks, including the brand new song “Sold Out of Love.”

 
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D’Ambrosia - Sweet Maybe

D’Ambrosia returns with “Sweet Maybe,” an upbeat new song of love in limbo. “‘Sweet Maybe’ is meant to convey the experience of a reluctance to commit, in our current culture of dating apps, casual hook-ups and on-again off-again relationships,” said vocalist Kim D’Ambrogi (she/her). “This song is from the perspective of the recipient of that ‘sweet maybe,’ with the tenuous balance between the hope and frustration of what that word represents. It can be enough to keep us holding on but not enough to feel fulfilled.”

“Makin’ it easy / Then watchin’ me yearn,” sings D’Ambrogi, in smoke-sculpted vocals located where country conventions meet classic rock; reflecting on the moment when ‘maybe’ begins tipping the scales: ‘together or apart?’.

Coupling a rocky edge with a tongue-and-cheek, yet vulnerable narrative, the single alludes to the experience of floating between a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ by that fateful little hook of a word, ‘Maybe.’

 

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Smaller Hearts - Belts and Braces.

Halifax duo Smaller Hearts began as a game. Kristina Parlee and Ron Bates tore up pieces of paper, and on each they wrote a word that could describe a song: slow, fast, quiet, loud, odd time signature, with or without certain instruments, et cetera. Through three albums, these “instructions” distilled into a catchy synth-pop laced with just enough experimentation and discord to keep things interesting.

“Belts and Braces” is about coming to the realization that too much careful planning can actually be counterproductive. There’s an intentional urgency in the bass line; the keyboard part sounds like an alarm, to mirror the anxiety of overthinking. Then, the song comes to a decisive and confident conclusion.

This is the second single in advance of their fourth LP, Rock and Roll Was Here To Stay, which will be released on April 21 via Noyes Records. Embracing nostalgia even as it refutes it, the harmonies soar while synthesizers collide with guitar feedback. Smaller Hearts continue to evolve with a set of songs that are better than ever.

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The Rishis - Holiday.

The Rishis splits time between Athens and Atlanta, Georgia and features Max Schneider (son of Robert Schneider and Hilarie Brastet of the Apples in stereo / High Water Marks) as well John Fernandes (Circulatory System / Olivia Tremor Control).The main songwriters in the Rishis are Sofie Lute and Ranjan Avasthi. August Moon is a healing album. If feeling stressed put this album on and put on the headphones and seriously let it wash over you. RIYL: Vashti Bunyan, Devandra Banhart, and Sybille Baier.

The Rishis duo of Ranjan Avasthi and Sofie Lute hail from Athens/Atlanta, and Tacoma. They are set to release their new album, August Moon, on April 20th, 2023, via Cloud Recordings. Though the duo has been together for nearly a decade, August Moon is their long-awaited debut. The rishis are also the newest band to proudly bear the Elephant 6 logo, with many active members of the E6 collective rotating through the band's roster.

Musically speaking, August Moon is an album of gentle, lush, psychedelic songs with a hint of hazy, folk-rock. It isn't hard to imagine the rishis wandering around the subcontinent playing their songs with their friends, and everyone having a grand old time high on some lovely tea. It's hard to avoid singing along to songs like "Holiday" and "Jetstream", thanks to their catchy melodies. But August Moon isn't all folk-rock; "Holi" and "Just Between You and Me" are moody rockers that give Avasthi's songwriting muscle and make for delightful listening. Also worth noting is the Lute-sung "Make Me Love You", a country-rock ballad that will make your eyes shine. And let's not forget the closing song, "Uttar Pradesh", a tribute to Avasthi's Indian ancestral roots.

Crashingthrough · The Rishis - Holiday (August Moon)

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The National Honor Society - As She Slips Away.

Like the rest of the world, Seattle indiepop band The National Honor Society found themselves facing the problem of isolation. Pre-pandemic, they recorded their debut album, 2020s To All The Glory We Never Had, which was well-received. So what to do for the follow-up, when the world is forced into isolation?

"This was a new process for everyone in the band as it was the first time any of us had recorded an album remotely," says frontman Coulter Leslie. "Having always historically gone to studios, there was the fear that maybe that unique studio magic or energy wouldn't be there, but what we found was that the unlimited time we had to record our parts really allowed us to explore ideas and to go in different directions that we might have, had the clock had been ticking. So I think that's why you'll hear a little more adventure in this record as compared to our first."

Thus was born To All The Distance Between Us, released April 10th via Shelflife/Discos de Kirlian/Subjangle Records, an album that carries on the band’s formula of dreamy pop and rock. Fans who fell in love with their gentle, Ocean Blue-style melodies will be happy to hear songs such as "As She Slips Away" and "Remember The Good Times," both gentle numbers that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on their debut album.

But the real reward comes from the results of the aforementioned experimenting. "Control" is a frenetic rocker with an XTC-minded urgency that wouldn’t sound out of place on current modern rock radio. "It’s Killing Me" gives Franz Ferdinand a run for their money, while "The Trigger" is a driving shoegaze inspired rocker that is relentless in its beat. Then there’s lead single "In Your Eyes," which is supple and lush in its harmonies and its gentle melody, a fine love song perfectly fit for the spring crush mixtape you know you want to make.

nhs · As She Slips Away

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Charlie Fittler - The Nude Party - Ellie Turner - Marek Kubula

Charlie Fittler - Dying Breed.

There is a saying that you have to live it to sell it, and if that is true, then Charlie Fittler, is the real deal. He has lived his entire 19 years on his family's fifth- generation Merino sheep property in the New South Wales Northern Tablelands outside of Armidale. This is the heartland, and country life runs in his veins.

That true country experience is laid front and centre on the lead and titled track lifted from his forthcoming EP – “Dying Breed”. “I wrote this song with my older brother Tom at home in 2021”, says Charlie. “I wanted to write a song that had a different arrangement but still had that traditional country rock vibe. The song is about imperfect people that sometimes aren't always what they seem”.

Both the single and EP are produced by Bill Chambers who – thanks to his traditional roots and outlaw ways - is the perfect fit as producer for the young artist. “Bill is a no-bs person, yet when he gives you advice about songwriting, recording or anything in general, he takes his time and is incredibly accommodating, and you shut up and listen”.

Chambers assembled a stellar A-team of musicians for the EP including Jeff McCormack (Bass), Rod Motbey (Electric Guitars), Glen Wilson (Drums), Mick Albeck (Fiddle) and Michael Sparrow (Harmonies) – joining Chambers (Slide Guitars, Mandolin, Dobro, Steel Guitar, Harmonies) and Fittler (Guitars) to round out the mighty studio band. Jeff McCormack mixed and mastered the track adding that further touch of Australian Country Music magic dust. The EP, “Dying Breed”, is earmarked for release on Friday 12th May 2023 and according to Charlie, he’s excited to unleash it to the world.

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The Nude Party - Hard Times (All Around).

The Nude Party returns with Rides On March 10th via New West Records. The 13-song set was produced by The Nude Party and mixed by Sam Cohen (Kevin Morby). Rides On is the anticipated follow up to their 2020 LP Midnight Manor which debuted at #1 on the Alternative New Artists Album chart. Met with critical acclaim, in their 4 out of 5 Star review, Mojo Magazine said they “...thrillingly embrace the moment… Top Class” while The Line of Best Fit said, “The band started with a really strong debut album, but Midnight Manor somehow takes this to new heights. You'll hear the Stones, you'll hear Lou Reed, you'll even hear a bit of Alice Cooper in there - and you’ll come away having connected with a new, intensely fulfilling sense of cool.” All songs included on Rides On were written by the band with the exception of “Somebody Tryin’ to Hoodoo Me,” by Dr. John.

Rides On, the band confidently says, is their best record. It’s also the most homegrown and the most organic record they have created to date. Unlike their first two albums, they decided to produce Rides On themselves. Tired of paying for studio time and being rushed, they used the funds they’d saved and spent a year building a studio space out of a barn in upstate NY. When the band met the Tampa-based engineer Matthew Horner, they discovered they had the opposite problems: Matthew had a collection of incredible gear with no studio and The Nude Party had a great new studio with no gear. So they invited him to move his equipment up to the Catskills to record an album together. Tired of paying for studio time and being rushed, The Nude Party methodically worked at their own pace. Out were the sessions lasting a strict handful of days. In were impromptu writing moments and picking every sound as they went along. The relaxed atmosphere of the sessions, and arriving with only loosely structured material, allowed the band to thrive in the studio. It also unleashed a diverse sonic texture compared to their previous releases. The lack of pressure allowed them to record over 20 songs, including some that dabbled in electro-pop and stripped-down country before settling on the final 13 songs.

Now The Nude Party release the second track from the album, “Hard Times (All Around).” Frontman Patton Magee said, “'Hard Times' started as a tune that Don demoed on piano. He showed it to me while I was driving down to Brooklyn from upstate, listening to early Bob Dylan demos. There’s an old American folk tune called '(Hard Times) Down on Penny’s Farm' by the Bentley Brothers in 1929. In 1965, Bob Dylan rewrote it as “Hard Times in New York Town,” changing most of the lyrics. I was listening to Don’s piano and thinking about that. Thinking about the folks in the country, and our friends in the city. Thinking about hurricanes and the Supreme Court. How much we are at the mercy of big movements we can’t control. How life gets hard on every one of us, with no exceptions. And feeling something heavy, but ultimately brotherly about all that.”

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Ellie Turner - One More Day.

Like any good folk songwriter before her, Ellie Turner hones in on the twists and turns of her journey—not so much her destination—to tell the collective story of her debut album, When The Trouble’s All Done. And Turner’s path has taken quite a few twists and turns. Originally from Dallas, Texas, Turner has always been creative, although her passion was initially channeled into visual art and design. “I was all set to attend Savannah College of Art and Design,” she explains, “but a last-minute conviction of spirit led me elsewhere. I ended up at The University of Arkansas on a total whim where I studied Economics, and more importantly, where I fell in love with folk music. It filled me up like nothing else ever had. I couldn’t get enough… I think that was probably when I first started to understand the power folk music had to stop time.”

After a few years working as an analyst for Southwest Airlines, she “finally mustered up the courage to leave my corporate gig for something more creative,” although she still didn’t pursue music. It would take one more year and a brief stint at the interior design company The Citizenry before she finally gained the confidence to say yes to the thing she truly loved. “I was at breakfast with my Dad on a Saturday morning when I made the decision to quit my job, sell my house, and move to Nashville. It was July of 2018, I was 26 years old, and I felt so behind,” Turner says. Fast forward to current day where Turner is on the cusp of releasing her first album, surrounded by friends and community and a steadfast dedication to crafting folk songs able to “stop time”—Turner’s songs do seem to exist on their own metaphysical planes, as meditations of sorts.

The first track from When The Trouble’s All Done is “One More Day.” The last song written for the album, “One More Day” features Turner’s signature soft yet piercing vocals, which feel like a secret told to a best friend, floating atop a lightly-grooving bed of acoustic guitars and upright bass. Album producer, and fellow recording artist, Jack Schneider sings the low harmony on the song’s refrain: “Just one more day until tomorrow / One more day you’re on my mind.”

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Marek Kubula - Satellite/Ramjam.

Marek Kubala, describes himself as an indie/lo-fi artist based in East London. His superb new E.P was released last Friday on shoegaze/post-punk label Shore Dive Records (UK). Comprising of two new tracks and two club mixes, (including slow psychedelic house maestro Mytron - Multi Culti, Les Yeux Orange, Razor N Tape), this is an impressive array of creativity and refined imagination.

Hailing from Huddersfield (UK), Marek Kubala has received critical acclaim with previous releases in the past 18 months, including on Outpost and EMI Publishing (KPM), and featured on BBC Introducing, Mystic Sons, CLOUT, Americana UK, Amazing Radio, and elsewhere.

Most recently, Marek's last single 'Fault Lines' appeared on episode 1 of BBC2 comedy show 'Cheaters' (Clerkenwell Films), broadcast in February 2022, sharing the soundtrack with the likes of Metronomy , Jungle and Biig Piig. Marek's debut EP 'Awhile', fused the progressive electronics of Air with the acoustic subtleties of Elliot Smith and Nick Drake. The followup single 'Fault Lines' marked a change in direction, with Marek adopting a more upbeat lo-fi indie sound with quirky electronics thrown in.

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The Nude Party - Samana

The Nude Party give us a taste of their next album 'Midnight Manor' through 'Lonely Heather' and the accompanying video, see and listen for yourself as the band serve up some feisty, indeed full on two minute plus rock. === And then we have the gorgeous new song from Samana who share the pristine and breathtaking track 'Passing Me By'.
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The Nude Party - Lonely Heather.

The Nude Party are set to return with their sophomore album, Midnight Manor, on October 2nd via New West Records. The 12-song set was recorded live-to-tape over six days at the Outlier Inn in upstate New York and mixed by John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr., Kurt Vile). Midnight Manor is the follow up to their critically acclaimed self-titled debut which Rolling Stone heralded as “equal parts ‘I’m Waiting for the Man’ Velvet Underground and Exile on Main Street Stones.”

Their debut found the band hitting stages across the globe, appearing at massive festivals like Lollapalooza, All Points East, Splendour In The Grass, Great Escape, Newport Folk Festival, and Bonnaroo where many publications named them one of the best of the festival. They also supported major artists like Jack White and the Arctic Monkeys—both of whom became full-blown fans and vocal supporters of the band.

Today, The Nude Party have shared the video for the song “Lonely Heather” via DIY Magazine. Frontman Patton Magee said, “The video is inspired by Ralph Bakshi’s New York street animation style, in movies like American Pop, Streetfight, and Heavy Traffic. During the peak of the pandemic, our photographer friends Bryan Derballa and George Etheredge took a series of incredible photographs around New York City.

We used those deserted street corners and venue shots as the backdrop for the rotoscope animation. Then filmed all the action on a green screen in our barn during quarantine in April. Brooklyn-based director and animator Parker Worthington painstakingly put together all the footage and photographs into this weird dream version of New York.” Of the song, Magee said “Heather is the constant object of unwanted affection, the solitary queen of rejection. She follows the scent of her whims and can’t be bothered by the desires of anyone."

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Samana - Passing Me By.

'Passing Me By' is Samana's first release since their BBC 6Music, BBC Introducing and Radio X championed single 'Harvest'.

The Wales-based duo self-produced, recorded and mixed Passing Me By whilst holed-up in a remote part of France while the world was locked down earlier in the year.

Accompanied by a stunning video, also captured from the time spent in France, they explained that "Passing Me By was the product of a one off, improvised vocal and acoustic guitar take, laid to 1/4 inch tape. It is a response to the immediate present, guided by the subconscious; to the velocity of time passing in fragments of visions and feeling."

The new track is out this week and signals the first of a series of new releases from the band who have just received support from the Arts Council Of Wales.

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