Wild Ones - Space4Lease - Solvents - Intergalactic Lovers - Embers - Imitating Aeroplanes - Doralice

Wild Ones - Standing in the Back at Your Show.

Background - Portland, OR's Wild Ones are sharing the second single off their forthcoming album, Mirror Touch, due October 6th via Topshelf Records. "Standing in the Back at Your Show is about young love when it's completely inappropriate and unwieldy.," explains vocalist Danielle Sullivan. "It began as a story about my husband and I, who is also a musician, and morphed into a semi fictional tale of its own."

Mirror Touch, the band’s latest record releasing in October 2017 via Topshelf Records, explores spaces of isolation, loneliness and how it feels when the line between self and other becomes blurred. The record title refers to the condition "Mirror Touch Synesthesia" and the physiological experience of empathy. How can you know yourself, when in public you become everyone else? 

The songs explore the quest to maintain artistic self-integrity in an industry that seeks to homogenize. Solitary in their process of collaboration, Himes and Vicario produce the music, while Sullivan crafts lyrics and melodies, their attempt at self-preservation against the ever-changing expectations of what music should or should not be. Combining their style of upbeat melodies with a backdrop of darker lyrical themes, an inquiry into their artistic process ultimately reflects a balance between earnest head nods to their favorite sounds with a fierce loyalty to their own sense of self. Website here, Facebook here.

Our second feature for Wild Ones following on from the first single 'Paresthesia' this time we have 'Standing in the Back at Your Show'. This is a slower paced song, however the melody is once again notable alongside the beautiful vocals and finely arranged music.

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Space4Lease - I Tried Calling.

Background - Just like the cyclical themes and dreamy harmonies found in many of their songs, Space4Lease have come back around with another stellar single, “I Tried Calling” which was released last Friday.

Intensely personal, the track provides a close scrutiny of the patterned, often repetitive and all-consuming nature of love and relationships. “I Tried Calling” comes as the fifth single from the band, all being released on a new EP Drifting out September 22, 2017; additionally Space4Lease just announced a U.S. tour this fall in support (dates below).

Singer Grayson Hamm provides his insight on the new single, “[I Tried Calling] tells you a story of love and a continuous cycle of emotion – the ups and downs of maintaining a relationship, sometimes even after it’s over. This song is probably the most personal track of the five we have released this summer and I believe it puts an exclamation point on the entire project as a whole.”

He shares that the song was originally written on guitar and came together in the course of a day. “The emotions were there, but it was just a matter of expressing them in the proper way with the right style lyrically. Brandon, Walt and I were up late one night wielding acoustics while sitting on our back porch when I played them the song for the first time. As they played along to me, the song resonated so well with us in a meaningful and emotional sense that it just all came together. We didn’t overthink or spend a lot of time working this song out – the way we played it that first night was the format it kept.”

“I Tried Calling” and other recent singles can be found on the band’s Bandcamp (here) and all major digital platforms now. They will be formally released as a cohesive EP Drifting on September 22, 2017. Website here, Facebook here.

The vocals standout from the start on 'I Tried Calling' a slowly developing alt rocker, where the musicianship and production are of high quality. The subtle melody and constant flow of hooks makes this track stand out.


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Solvents - Lips Like a Juggalo.

Background - A message from Jarrrod Bramson, on behalf of the band: "I was on tour in Salt Lake City Utah about ten years ago. I was walking alone. It was hot and I was hungover. From around a corner, these two clowns appeared and were walking towards me. 

I was literally in shock. They were ten times as shocking than any punks I'd ever seen. They walked past me and paid me no mind. I couldn't get them out of my head. What were those kids? 

Around this time my roommate and I started obsessing and sending each other videos of the gathering and all sorts of Juggalo stuff. We were hell bent on figuring out all we could about this fascinating and misunderstood subculture.

In 2015, I tried to write a song called "Teenage Juggalo." I couldn't make it fit right and after awhile, "Lips Like a Juggalo" just kinda popped out of my mouth. Also: Keep yr eyes/ears open for our next record, Memory Shreds, due out someday.

The background to 'Lips Like a Juggalo' is intriguing enough. Thankfully the vibrant indie rock song does justice to the story & the video adds some additional interpretation.


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Intergalactic Lovers - River.

Background - Intergalactic Lovers returned with their third album ‘Exhale’ last Friday. ‘Exhale’ is a collection of sky-wide alt-rock songs with melodic pull that echoes the best of PJ Harvey or Cat Power. Elemental singer/songwriter Lara Chedraoui is the emotional center of the band. Hailing from Belgium, they are one of the biggest bands in that country having achieved Gold Status and being awarded ‘Best Breakthrough Band’ at their Music Industry Awards. Now signed to a strong independent they are taking their music international with success at home that equates to someone like Wolf Alice or Honey Blood in the UK. Their new record was produced by the world renowned Gill Norton, the legendary studio man behind amazing albums for The Pixies and Echo & The Bunnymen.

Their forthcoming album ‘Exhale’ is a response to watching their nearest and dearest burn out in many ways. Even the name expresses their exasperation of a time when the chaos of life caused pain to those the love. Lead singer Lara Chedraoui explains the frustration of not knowing how to help.

“This album is an angry reaction to the constant battle of how conformity can ruin peoples state of mind. Perfection is not everything. Exhale is about not knowing how to save everyone; loved ones and those effected by all the horrible things happening in the world.”

The fragility of the album echoes over thunderous guitar riffs keeping the classic band set up together for a modern take on epic rock and roll. Chedraoui’s voice delves from delicate to seductive through out the album. Leading with single ‘Between The Lines’ other strong single contenders include ‘Ego Wars’ a rousing depiction of a faltering relationship and ‘Fears’ an anthem that sounds tailor made for arenas. First album ‘Greetings and Salutations’ received critical acclaim across Europe leading to a signing at Warner Music and to their second album release “Little Heavy Burdens”. Website here, Facebook here.

The music video carries a story with a twist and the song 'River' needed to be strong and catchy to remain relevant. In fact it's a fabulous track that might be described as melodic alt rock that truly resonates.


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Embers - Until The Dawn (Live).

Background - Manchester ‘Neu Cinematic’ four-piece Embers have announced the release of new single Until The Dawn through AWAL. The band have also announced two live dates at London’s Tooting Tram & Social on 3rd November and a hometown show in Manchester on 4th November at Soup Kitchen.

Inspired by the cinematic, including composer John Murphy and artists such as Radiohead, Run The Jewels and Sigur Ros, Embers merge their influences together to create a sound filled with grandeur and urgency.

Following previous singles The Bitten Tongue and the double A-side release of Signs/Unbound earlier this year, Until The Dawn perfectly evokes Embers striking and unique sound. Potent and moving, the track builds in intensity both vocally and musically throughout to a powerful chorus.

The live video, which is the first part of two live performances filmed at Manchester’s spectacular Albert Hall, gives an insight into the scale of the band’s sound and how captivating their live performance really is. Embers say; “We knew with this release we had to do something that could show the scale of songs we were putting together. We wanted to create something immersive, bold and ambitious - something that captured who we are, the live band behind it all.” “Until the Dawn is that feeling of leaving nothing behind. The darkest hour, the silver lining."

Embers are George Agan, Will Clutton, Dan Houghton and Steven McInerney. Facebook here.

Well regulars might know my passion for live music. Despite the lack of an audience 'Until The Dawn' has everything a monumental performance needs. The song is both memorable and carries an extra level of energy that only live music can provide.


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Imitating Aeroplanes - H.I.T.S.

Background - Norwegian duo Imitating Aeroplanes have released their third single 'H.I.T.S.' - a psychedelic, proggy trip through expansive alternative indie-pop. On paper, it’s an impressive pairing, but this is one partnership more destined — than designed. Imitating Aeroplanes is the new project of Tord Øverland Knudsen (The Wombats) and Marius Drogsås Hagen (Team Me) – a collective output tallying five albums, multi-million sales and streams, repeat Billboard charts, international play-listing and widespread acclaim, including a Norwegian Grammy Award and multiple NME / MTV Award nominations.

The duo's forthcoming debut album ‘Planet Language’ was entirely self-produced, with recording alternating between Marius’ home studio and Oslo’s Metronomicon and Stable Studios. Its analogue approach and vintage mantra is seemingly at odds with the more interstellar nature of tracks like newly released single ‘H.I.T.S.’ – which according to Tord is, “the most futuristic sounding song sonically” on the album.

An acronym for Head In The Sand - Tord explained a little about the new single: "‘H.I.T.S.’ is probably the most straight-up track on the album. It’s not at all metaphorical as a concept, it’s about avoiding confrontation and just burying your head in the sand."

Marius and Tord have been playing and writing music together since childhood, recording their first demos to cassette circa ’96. The pair grew up in small Norwegian town Elverum before embarking respective international careers, with their latest planetary pursuit landing in Tokyo – the cultural heartland of forthcoming album Planet Language. Facebook here.

Synthy and flowing 'H.I.T.S.' takes indie pop into more expansive territories and does so with style and plenty of energy.

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Doralice - Vespertina.

Background - Bay area acoustic, gypsy jazz duo, Doralice, has just released their single "Vespertina." Performing cinematic chamber pieces inspired by film scores and modern acoustic music, Doralice, incorporates elements of both Americana, gypsy, Spanish & tango music. 

The group, consisting of Rima Ash on violin and Yates Brown on guitar, has performed alongside indie, folk, post-rock, metal & noise bands as often as chamber, jazz, and world artists, in settings ranging from punk clubs to classical house concerts. 

Their 2013 debut album became the #1 acoustic album on Bandcamp, and a subsequent EP and video of reinterpretations of classical metal went viral on Youtube in 2015.

The band has recently completed their second full length, which was recorded by Scott Evans (Kowloon Walled City), mixed by Ian Pellicci (Deerhoof, Haushcka, Dodos, Book of Knots), mastered by Bob Weston (Shellac, Mission of Burma), and featuring guests including Sam Bass (Les Claypool, Mr. Bungle). Website here, Facebook here.

I have said it before & here goes again, there are just not enough instrumental only singles released. 'Vespertina' is a fine display of musical dexterity, where the instruments can and do deliver passion, feeling and emotion.

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Jupe Jupe - Kelsey Kerrigan - Wild Ones - Robots With Rayguns - Loyal Lobos

Jupe Jupe - Faith In What You Hear.

Background - Jupe Jupe creates dark and danceable pop music layered with crooning vocals, atmospheric synths, shivering guitars, and driving beats. 

The Seattle quartet offers a collection of melancholy, hook-laden textures in its latest release, Lonely Creatures—10 hauntingly striking songs about isolation, fate, internal struggle, and technology gone awry. Each tune draws inspiration from electropop, post-punk, and ghostly Americana.

The band spent over two years crafting each song on Lonely Creatures before joining producer Matt Bayles at Red Room Recording in Seattle, Washington. A former member of Minus the Bear, Bayles has produced and mixed a number of seminal albums by Botch, Mastodon, Murder City Devils, Minus the Bear, Russian Circles, These Arms are Snakes, The Blood Brothers, and many more.

Since forming in 2010, Jupe Jupe has released three original full-length albums: Invaders, Reduction in Drag, and Crooked Kisses. The group also teamed up with a variety of renowned artists/producers for the remix album, Cut Up Kisses (featuring Lusine, Mike Simonetti, Rick G. Nelson, Erik Blood, Head Like a Kite, and more).Website here, Facebook here.

The first of ten tracks on the 'Lonely Creatures album is 'Faith In What You Hear'. It typifies the bands core sound, however there is some more stripped back material alongside a couple of more intense and darker sounding pieces. Overall though, this is a pleasing and hook filled collection of songs, delivered with some very fine musicianship.

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Kelsey Kerrigan - Driving Around.

Background - At a very young age, singer-songwriter and producer Kerrigan would escape to a creative dimension to dissect recordings, and, later, write songs. Few outside her private sphere knew her promise as a songwriter, singer, and producer. It would take chance meetings with music icons Glyn Johns (The Eagles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Clash) and Ryan Adams for Kerrigan and her family to understand the depth of her gifts and vision. Now, Kerrigan emerges with a masterful debut of romantic post-punk. 

Kerrigan’s path revealed itself after high school. When it came time for college, the debate at home came down to Kerrigan wanting to attend a two-year production program at Los Angeles Recording School, but her father preferring she be more cautious and enroll in a traditional college. The stalemate ended with a visit from legendary producers David Anderle (Frank Zappa, The Doors, Love) and Glyn Johns. Upon hearing Kerrigan’s music, they were flabbergasted and Glyn Johns gushed, “Don’t let anyone touch your music!” Kerrigan earned her right to attend to LARS. 

Her fate would shift even more when Johns invited her to the famed Sunset Sound Recorders. There she met Ryan Adams, who on the spot, asked Kerrigan to perform some of her music. She fumbled a bit, but he sensed her raw talent and would informally mentor her for the next two years. “He really believed in me,” Kerrigan says. “I would send him really rough recordings, and he took it seriously and told me to keep going. It inspired me to dive fully into songwriting.”

The opportunity to possibly record her album would come at an inopportune time. “One day, Ryan texted me while I was in class. He said: ‘My friend Johnny is here in the studio only for a few hours. You have to come now,’” she recalls. “I just got up and left class. When I got there, Ryan said: ‘If there is anybody who should produce you, it’s this guy,’ and then he got up and left.” 

Ryan was spot on. Johnny T. Yerington and Gus Oberg assembled a cadre of perfectly cast musicians, and all studio personnel studied Kerrigan’s playlists of new wave, post-punk, goth and punk.  The resulting album is a stunner. Thematically, the album has a dark humor and emotionality. “When I am inspired to write, it’s often about being interested in someone I can’t be with, fated love. There is torment there because I can’t be honest either because I don’t want to hurt somebody or I don’t want to get hurt,” she confides. “The songs are where I can always put my honesty.” 

The album is a lean, no-filler release brimming with an invigorating pop sensibility thoughtfully complemented by quick-wittedness and sincerity. The elementally elegant, “Good Times” recalls almost a Morrissey-esque quandary where the good times are heartbreaking, but still the good times never felt and sounded so good. The winsome beauty of “So What” grapples with a friend’s suicide. The piano ballad “A Good Reason” with simple stateliness frames Kerrigan’s singing, allowing the expressive dynamics of her voice to gloriously course through the song unencumbered. The shivery beauty of “Haunted House” vibes symphonic goth with layers of spidery counter melodies. Website here.

'Driving Around' is a fabulous song where the band are stunning and Kelsey Kerrigan's  melodic vocals beautifully matched. On the strength of this one very catchy track, the album is a must hear.

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Wild Ones - Paresthesia.

Background - Portland, OR band Wild Ones has announced their new album, Mirror Touch, out October 6th, 2017 via Topshelf Records. Vocalist Danielle Sullivan says of the first single, "Paresthesia refers to a time in my life when anxiety was ruling my mind. I was withdrawing from friends, wasn't leaving my house, and had stopped engaging with the world outside. The song explores strained love in the context of manifested fear."

Wild Ones delve into the bliss and burden that musicians are tasked with today: create work that captures your spirit, but do it without selling your soul. Self-produced and recorded, they walk the line of DIY oddity and polished pop sheen. Hailing from Portland, Oregon, the band combines the talents of lead vocalist Danielle Sullivan, keyboardist Thomas Himes, drummer Seve Sheldon, guitarist Nick Vicario and bassist Max Stein. Growing up on Cocteau Twins and En Vogue, their sound is a mash of R&B synths, muted guitar, and somber vocal melodies. After 7 years together, they've hit their stride in creating work that poses questions about art and authenticity.

Mirror Touch, the band’s latest record releasing in October 2017 via Topshelf Records, explores spaces of isolation, loneliness and how it feels when the line between self and other becomes blurred. The record title refers to the condition "Mirror Touch Synesthesia" and the physiological experience of empathy. How can you know yourself, when in public you become everyone else? The songs explore the quest to maintain artistic self-integrity in an industry that seeks to homogenize. Solitary in their process of collaboration, Himes and Vicario produce the music, while Sullivan crafts lyrics and melodies, their attempt at self-preservation against the ever-changing expectations of what music should or should not be. Combining their style of upbeat melodies with a backdrop of darker lyrical themes, an inquiry into their artistic process ultimately reflects a balance between earnest head nods to their favorite sounds with a fierce loyalty to their own sense of self. Website here, Facebook here.

Opening with a textured synth sound 'Paresthesia' quickly develops into a sprightly upbeat track. The vocals add the melody as they seemingly dance above the soundtrack, on this very engaging song.

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Robots With Rayguns - Memories (feat Carl Gershon).

Background - Phoenix, AZ-based Synthwave impresario Lucas Patrick Smith, aka Robots with Rayguns, crafts the kind of sunbaked retro pop that perfectly suites West Coast 80’s iconography. Blending modern dance elements like EDM, breakbeat and house with tastefully chopped and pitched vocals, RWR has established a unique tongue-in-cheek electropop aesthetic that’s connected with both new music junkies and the retro revivalists who frequent arcade bars and yearn for classic 80’s vibes, cars and movies.

RWR was one of the first artists to leverage his music by crafting un-official remixes for marquee artists. His debut release, Electro Isn’t Dead, hit in 2010 and its infectious single “Sugarbaby” became popular in the hypem blogosphere with mentions from MTV and Indie Shuffle. The songs fate was sealed via an endorsement tweet from none other than Taylor Swift who also solicited one of RWR hot pink tees. Lucas followed up his debut with official remixes for other synthpop acts like Frankmusik and Color Theory, collaborations with upstarts such as TT The Artist (Diplo, Bauer) and unconventional distribution bundles with BitTorrent and Groupees.

As the time came to record a new album, Lucas felt a slight change in pace was in order… literally. His fifth full length LP, Slow Jams (due out September 2017), is entirely composed of slow to mid-tempo, blistering ballad tracks. A collection of sparkling, synth imbued, mellow vibes that manages to come across as both sexy and bittersweet. Slow Jams with be released digitally and on cassette – a format that Smith asserts “lends to the experience of popping it in and listening to it in its entirety.” Website here, Facebook here.

We are soon into a rich array of sweeping synth's on 'Memories' providing a perfect backdrop for some notable and compelling vocals. The song smoothly flows along, dropping a considerable number of hooks as it builds into a more powerful piece.

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Loyal Lobos - The Fall.

Background - Heartbreak breeds many things, few of which could be filed under the “good stuff” column- tears, Oreo addictions, questionable hookups, impulsive bangs. And yet, sometimes a heartbreak, and the relationship that preceeded it, can signify a shift, a pivot, some change in the fundamental direction of a life. Perhaps hearts don’t break after all; perhaps they just change directions.  

Such was the case with Loyal Lobos, the nom de musique of Bogotá native Andrea Silva. An entanglement with a Nashville man frayed, then snapped. Silva was left heartbroken, but in the midst of her sadness, inspiration struck. She set aside her previous musical projects and dove headfirst into guitar-driven folk music. In the ruins of a relationship, Loyal Lobos was born.

The seeds of Loyal Lobos were planted in Silva’s childhood in Colombia. Years spent steeped in her parents jazz records imparted a flair for melody. Growing up in a culture that prized machismo and conventional female beauty fostered a desire to empower women. A series of childhood performances gave her the confidence to perform. And finally, a the decision to attend music school in the US cemented it all.

Loyal Lobos’ music lives in the liminal space between folk, rock and country. Abandoning the synth-pop leanings of her earlier music for something more , Silva’s output as Loyal Lobos finds her stripping everything away. Armed with a guitar and a sinuous voice (and some occasional backup), Loyal Lobos presents delicately transcribed missives from Silva’s most internal worlds. She deliberately orients her songs, she tells me, in a place of sadness, of yearning, of emotional semi-darkness. “There’s such beauty in sadness,” she tells me. “People forget that. There has to be darkness for there to also be light.” Taking the confessional lyricism of singer-songwriters like Elliot Smith, and infusing it with her penchant for haunting melodies, Loyal Lobos sets out to create a synthesis of music and lyrics, and ultimately chart the unexplored recess of human feeling.

In September, Silva will release The Fall, a warm, intricate collection of melancholic folk songs, and her debut EP. The Fall focuses, naturally, on heartbreak, an experience Silva points out is both universal and deeply specific. The title track and debut single showcases both the vibrancy of Silva's voice and her capability for nuance. It's a song that makes loss seem like an appropriate object of nostalgia, that makes that heartbroken hair decision seem less awful and more like something to treasured. After all, as The Fall and Loyal Lobos remind us, heartbreaks aren't all bad. Sometimes they're pivot points- moments in which we change the course of what we're doing in search of something great, in which our destinies become malleable enough to change them. Facebook here.

'The Fall' is already proving popular, which is well deserved. This is a powerful and beautiful song where the rapid tempo works so well with Andrea Silva's appealing and dreamy vocals.

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