Holly Abraham - The Wild State - John Southworth - Alf Hale

'Refine In Fire' by Holly Abraham exudes atmosphere as the acoustic guitar and soft layers of electronic sounds combine to make a sophisticated backdrop for her beautiful vocals. We featured 'Air Runs Out' by The Wild State just over a month ago, and 'Youth' is a contrasting follow up, the bands musicianship is striking and the vocals add real character. John Southworth shares a memorable song where the simple key changes, understated musical arrangement and his personal and tender vocals are just splendid. We have two of the eleven songs that make up 'The Rainy Season' album due out in May, between them they give a good flavour of what to expect within this very fine collection of songs.

Holly Abraham - Refined In Fire.

Refined in Fire is the 2nd single and the captivating title track of Holly Abraham’s forthcoming debut EP. Haunting vocals accompanied by melancholic acoustic guitar, and intricate electronic details create an atmospheric track that maintains both vulnerability and power.

Regarding the single, Abraham says: “Refined In Fire is inspired by a difficult season a group of friends and I went through a few years ago. It’s a reminder that though we never desire painful life experiences, they are necessary for growth and change to occur in us as people. Though it can be raw and messy, it is always worth the gold found on the other side - we just have to remember to look for it.

Holly Abraham is a mellow indie folk singer/songwriter originally from Wales, now based in Bristol. Combining deep, soulful lyrics with raw, misty vocal tones, Holly creates mesmerising melodies which will leave listeners both captivated and enamoured.

After spending the first half of 2018 on a soul-searching trip to Australia and Cambodia, Holly solidified her ambient sound and developed her identity as a solo artist. Inspired by musicians such as Novo Amor and Of Monsters and Men, Abraham began working closely alongside Norwegian producer and lead singer of indie-pop band Firewoodisland - Stian Vedoy. Together they produced Abraham’s debut single “Shore”, which picked up love from BBC Introducing in the West, Indie playlist-curators like Alex Rainbird Music and Indie Folk Central and have accumulated over 18.000 streams on Spotify in only 3 months.


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The Wild State - Youth.

With the release of their powerful debut single 'Air Runs Out' last month, enigmatic new Brighton band The Wild State were instantly earmarked as ones to watch, garnering high praise and comparisons to likes of The War On Drugs and Bon Iver. Today they have shared their follow up track, 'Youth'; a beautiful, melancholic and orchestral ode to juvenescent love.

Speaking about the track, the band's drummer and one of two lead vocalists Oliver Spalding explains "The whole song is viewed from the perspective of someone looking back on their youth, and the intense, desperate and very real love that comes with naivety. Those feelings we experience when reminiscing are rose tinted and dreamlike and that's exactly what we wanted to re create in music".

The Wild State began making music together whilst studying songwriting together at BIMM, and worked in earnest to create their beauteous debut album. From the strength of their initial demos, the band signed a publishing deal with IAMSOUND Music and have now returned from recording their forthcoming debut LP 'Light Along The Waves' in Connecticut, with legendary producer Peter Katis (The National, Interpol, Kurt Vile).

The two singles released thus far are an epic and emotionally rich introduction to the British band, who are already garnering excitement industry wide for their impeccable live show.

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John Southworth - I Loved My Girl.

John Southworth is an archaeologist of love, sifting through relics and artefacts, the compost of this world’s memory, revealing stories that feel caught in slow motion, in mid-air, no beginnings or endings. Everything has always existed in this chaotic present; once distant stars now the altars of Tin Pan-Schubert Alley. Today, the prolific artist shares 'I Loved My Girl', the beautiful first single from his new album, Miracle in the Night.

Out 3rd May on Tin Angel Records (Nicholas Krgovich, Crack Cloud, Trembling Bells), the songs of Miracle in the Night read like a stoic’s recital of an untraceable lieder. Carefully, each is a gradual, unfurling cadence. You may recognise his long-time band ‘The South Seas’ - gentle and steady, calm and restrained, playing just before dawn, a solstice cabaret in a megalithic tower. The endless red curtains from the Lynch dimension rise and fall around you.

Talking about the album, Southworth said: "The songs exist in a kind of inner dimension I like to regularly visit, outside the bubble and the babble. They only really work at night. And only can be really sung in the still of the night. Each a kind of nocturnal prayer. Each containing a little miracle. A little spell. Designed to get you across the almighty swinging bridge, from here to eternity!"

In this world, John Southworth lives in Toronto with his family, teaches the art of song, appears in films and wanders the parks looking for clues. This is his 12th full-length release, arriving on the hooves of 2016’s Small Town Water Tower, which crosshatched a glam-pop ooze into the rigorous comparative mythology of 2014’s epic Niagara. Similarly rich with symbol and folklore and pristine melodies, Miracle in the Night offers us a delicacy of fantasy, focusing our attention into a state of constant revelation, alive in song.

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Alf Hale - My Lover's Arms / Naive (from The Rainy Season Album).

"The Rainy Season" is the second full length album from singer/songwriter Alf Hale which is due for release May 10th.

Having spent almost a decade in the wilderness, Singer / Songwriter Alf Hale had a spectacular return to the music scene with his EP 'Misanthrope' which chronicled his remarkable journey from the depths of alcoholism to his eventual redemption.

This was swiftly followed up by his debut album 'City on a Hill' which saw Alf, accompanied by fiddle player Jade Morris, channel the dark underbelly of Southern American Country, Folk and Blues infused with his unmistakable English charm.

Hoping to build on the success of his first two releases comes "The Rainy Season", which sees Alf yet again take on a new musical direction. Unlike City On a Hill, a more stripped back affair, The Rainy Season saw Alf take to the studio with a full band in tow delivering a fuller, darker sound. 


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Sister John - Threatmantics - Shapes On Tape - The Wild State - The Limiñanas - Trudy and the Romance - Yacht Punk

Sister John may be drawing some interesting comparisons however the new single has plenty of individuality and the video is fabulous. The new single from Threatmantics is refreshingly original with distinct vocals and a superb musical arrangement. We featured Shapes on Tape three times last year and the new song is another hook fuelled affair to enjoy. The Wild State offer a breezy and infectious indie rocker that doubles as a massive tease for their forthcoming album. The Limiñanas exude psych that is addictive, intriguing and atmospheric. Although we have to go back to 2017 for our last taste of Trudy and The Romance, the new song is yet another delicious "mutant 50's pop" song demonstrating the bands modern take on retro sounds superbly. We finish up today with Yacht Punk where some beautiful guitar sounds and refined rock vocals make this song hard to resist.

Sister John - I'm The One.

Sister John formed in somewhat serendipitous circumstances, having all met whilst singing in The Parsonage Choir; from there Amanda McKeown cajoled the others into helping her perform her songs at a one off event and they immediately recognised the intrinsic musical understanding they shared as a group and were soon an inseparable gang.

The first single from the new album, ‘I’m The One’, welcomes comparisons to a post-Nico Velvet Underground and Patti Smith but the overall footprint is unmistakably Sister John’s.‘Lost and Won’ may well be the album’s true masterpiece, a dark sparse sorrowful affair that sees Amanda McKeown's vocals matched with Jonathan Lilley's slide guitar and the harrowing strings of Heather Philipsand Sophie Pragnell.


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Threatmantics - First Things.

Shadow On Your Heart is the third album from maverick Welsh art-rock misfits Threatmantics, recorded in Paris and Cardiff by French producer Anne-Sophie Ouvrier.It is their first album to be released on 12” vinyl, with a limited edition, numbered run of hand printed covers by acclaimed Welsh artist John Abell. 'Shadow On Your Heart' will be released via Ffatbyrg Records on 22.02.19.

Threatmantics attempt to crowbar as much into rock and roll as possible. Veering wildly from heartbroken folk, to balls-out rock, to spine-crushing metal, to good-time pop; barely held together by very fine thread and pretty ribbons, they play music that sounds as much like the band they wish they were as possible. Whether they will survive the pits and troughs remains to be seen, but it’s a special thing to be able to soundtrack your own adventure.


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Shapes On Tape - Goodness Comes In Time.

Shapes on Tape is a Brooklyn-based Brew-Wave/Ultrapop group whose infectious hook-laden three-minute bangers represent a new era where loud guitars and synthesizers can coexist and even party together. A band that once made L Magazine implore U2 to "move over and let Shapes on Tape seize the thrown(sic)," Shapes on Tape asks the question, "What if Walter Mondale had won?"

Genre-hopping producer/multi-instrumentalist/90s groovebox enthusiast Adam Kruckenberg, formerly of Midwest glam legend Vibralux, and guitarist/poet Jason Matuskiewicz, a veteran of beloved Lexington, KY band Candidate, began collaborating in 2014, but they didn't complete their sound, best described as a sonic assault of feels, until they expanded S on T to include drum savant and overall swell guy Justin Heaverin of Noisebody and The Silver Tongues.

Matuskiewicz’s lyrics and straightforward style walk the line between high and low concept with an abrupt 3-chord frankness that never takes itself seriously, while Kruckenberg’s powerful vocals and synthetic re-imaginings take the songs to epic proportions. Combined with Heaverin's unstoppable groove, you could be forgiven for wondering when The Boss had time to do a secret collaboration with Erasure. With the help of Grammy-nominated producer and Hedwig alum Justin Craig, SoT's forthcoming album Legends in The Process is sure to be a supersonic, beer-fueled dreamscape littered with the carcasses of waves and cores.

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The Wild State - Air Runs Out.

The Wild State are an enigmatic new band from Brighton, UK. Following their time studying songwriting together at BIMM, they began to create their ethereal debut album, which occupies a place between The National and Bon Iver. From the strength of their initial demos, the band signed a publishing deal with IAMSOUND Music and have now returned from recording their forthcoming debut LP 'Light Along The Waves' in Connecticut, with legendary producer Peter Katis (The National, Interpol, Kurt Vile). The first single from this unique and beautiful offering, 'Air Runs Out’, will be released on 1st February via US label Beverly Martel.

'Air Runs Out' is an epic and emotionally rich introduction to the Brighton band, who are already garnering excitement industry wide for their impeccable live show. The song is written about the break down of a suffocating relationship ("The ground we share is breaking / And the air we breathe is poison"). In singer/lyricist Josh Difford's words, "it's the horrible process of love turning stale and about why we sometimes tolerate it for routine and security".

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The Limiñanas - Trois Bancs.

To mark their live return to the UK in February with a tour which includes a sold-out London headline show at legendary 100 Club on the 13th February, French psych duo The Limiñanas has shared a new video for 'Trois Bancs', a track taken their latest album 'I've Got Trouble In Mind Vol. 2', a collection of rare recordings, 7" singles and unreleased materials, out now on Because Music.

“The ‘Trois Bancs’ (Three Benches) of this song are those from a French school in the 80s. With all the cliques from that period: the mods, the skins, the punks, the rude boys", says Lionel Limiñana, "It’s a trip. We don’t really know what happens to the main character. He’s probably dreaming. He comes across all the other characters of the story through a lysergic prism. He finds himself in a series of familiar situations, in which he meets all the important people in his life. The video by Sylvain Rusque tells that story. He’s done a huge, meticulous and highly dedicated work. I gave him very few information, only certain elements about the story and the people in it. We were very impressed when he showed us the film and so we’re very proud to release it today.”

Director Sylvain Rusque added: "I introduced myself to The Limiñanas and expressed my motivation to collaborate. I showed them some of my work and they really liked it. They told me about the ‘Trois Bancs’ and trusted me. The freedom to create I enjoyed creating this video really reflects their mindset. Additionally, I decided to introduce some references to their career and their last album.”


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Trudy and the Romance - The Original Doo-Wop Spacemen.

Bustin’ out of Liverpool, UK, Trudy and The Romance are ready to woo with the mutant 50s pop and self-declared alligator rock-n-roll of their eagerly-anticipated album Sandman. They preview its first cut, ‘The Original Doo Wop Spacemen.’

The new single drives forth the dreamboat pop of their recent “Junkyard Jazz” EP through its Spector rhythms, whilst incorporating the album’s nods to Jonathan Richman, Louis Prima, Brian Wilson’s wall of sound, film composers Henry Mancini and Bernard Herrmann, and the golden age of Disney. “We directed this like a blockbuster, with characters and a story,” Trudy’s singer Olly explains. “We worked with a pianist, 1940s Disney choir, county pedal steel guitar player, film score violinist and harpist. It’s heart-warming and gently creeps up on you. It’s not tugging but just kind-of-there; Alligator Rock’n’roll!”

Recorded with producer David Pye (Wild Beasts), Sandman draws the listener further into the trio’s colourful world, and follows the latest escapades of its central protagonist, little Johnny, and his inner turmoil. “It’s a coming of age tale about asking for your innocence back. It’s a breakup album and loosely based on the hero’s journey,” Olly says. Rocking and reeling through dreamy harmonies and dazzling guitars it’s everything good pop music should be – catchy, clever and brimming with curiously wonderful characters in Trudy’s inimitable realistic-cartoon narrative.

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Yacht Punk - Indian Summer.

"The video was shot entirely on a vintage Super 8 camera during the summer of 2018. Each roll of film only has 3.5 minutes of footage, so you have to be really precise with the shots, which I wasn't. I wanted to capture an organic feeling of the end of summer and the nostalgia that goes along with it. I let a lot of my friends try it out and shoot whatever they wanted, so it kinda turned into a group project. We shot in Sequoia National Forrest, Venice Beach, and at a mansion a friend was house-sitting in Bel Air. Absolutely no magic mushrooms were involved in the making of this film." 

"Laying on the floor of his unfinished basement studio in Beachwood Canyon, Graham Bockmiller realized it was time to go out on his own. The LA-based band Great White Buffalo had run its course, leaving him unsure what would come next. Graham spent the next year holed up inside his studio by himself; contemplating life, writing, collecting nude calendars of Eastern European women suggestively holding large trophy carp, and experimenting with the raw recording skills he had taught himself. He began exploring new sounds and textures outside of the traditional rock staples of guitar, drums, and bass – testing the limits of his DIY recording chops in search for a more interestng, vibier sound. These songs would later become the beginning of Yacht Punk.


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