Surma has just shared 'Wanna Be Basquiat' a fascinating soundtrack accompanied by a creative and original collage animation by Joao Pombeiro, this is both clever and refreshingly different. === We Featured Mappe Of twice last month and today we have a third song entitled 'Volcae' which once again is beautiful as the Avant-garde folk artist continues to thoroughly impress. === Ahead of their self titled album release later this month Chadwick Stokes & The Pintos have released a third song from the collection with 'Blanket On The Moon', a refined, gentle and melodic piece.
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Surma - Wanna Be Basquiat.
"Wanna Be Basquiat", a song by Surma and a collage animation by Joao Pombeiro
Débora Umbelino is 24 years old and its known by its artistic name “Surma”. She was born in a small town near Leiria, Portugal and started having some musical adventures soon. While studying in the high school she won a band contest ZUS! with her first band “Backwater and the Screaming Fantasy”. Lately she started her solo project and soon started touring and having attention from the national media.
She attended a jazz course in Hot Club Lisbon, specialized in double bass and vocals. Later started an audio-visual post-production course in Restart. The release of her first album “Antwerpen” earned the immediate attention of the media and great national festivals.
In the last two years she had 200 shows through 16 different cities around the world. From the North-American South By South West to the NYC Indie Week, from the Dutch Eurosonic Noorderslaag to the French MaMa Festival, from the Icelandic Iceland Airwaves to the Brazilian SIM São Paulo, from the Austrian Waves Vienna to the German Das Fest and from the Spanish ARN to the Slovenian Ment. Her album was edited in several European countries, nominated for best independent album by IMPALA (Independent Music Companies Association) and got featured in high reputation media companies such as BBC, Musikexpress or NPR.
Also, in this two years Surma played in small and large venues and festivals such as NOS Alive, Vodafone Paredes de Coura, Bons Sons, Super Bock Super Rock and NOS Primavera Sound. Collaborated with several artists and other musical projects such as “Concerts for Babies” and wrote some songs for the soundtrack of a Portuguese movie ”SNU”.
In the end of 2019 Surma is releasing a EP where she revisits her first songs written as a solo artist and prepares a second album with new songs.
Canadian Avant-garde folk artist, Mappe Of - a moniker for Tom Meikle - is today sharing the video for his new single, ‘Volcae’. Trailing the mesmerising sounds of both ‘Faesulae’ and ‘Unkno’, this the latest track to be taken from the artist’s sophomore album, ‘The Isle Of Ailynn’ which is out now via Paper Bag Records.
Recorded at Bathouse Studio, Ontario (operated by the multi-award-winning Canadian band, The Tragically Hip) with longtime collaborator Will Crann and engineer Nyles Spencer (Broken Social Scene, Gord Downie), The Isle of Ailynn documents a fantasy world through nine different landscapes that draw parallels between a mythological space and everyday conflicts, troubles and fears within our lives. Sonically working in a similar space as Radiohead’s ‘Pyramid Song’, ‘Volcae’ presents a recurring lyrical motif - “I was born in magma” - under a spell of violins and haunting electronics. Repeated in such a fashion, the phrase appears as something of a slogan for the post-9/11 generation.
Meikle says this of the new single: "Volcae is the dark crux of the record, set in a village under the black mountains of the Isle. Amidst a fog of overarching tension, as the powers that be use the village as a scapegoat for their wrongdoing, lies a story about a father's suffering. After the loss of his wife to mental health issues and raising a daughter into terrifying circumstances beyond her control, he finds himself questioning nature at its core."
The Isle of Ailynn looks to follow-on from the Toronto-based artist’s critically acclaimed 2017 debut, A Northern Star, A Perfect Stone (tipped by Stereogum, NPR, Consequence of Sound and Paste) marking a more focused theme and progressive understanding of genre and songwriting. Meikle’s debut release would find him on tour with the likes of Martha Wainwright and Bahamas whilst amassing over five-million streams on DSPs. UK dates are set to follow the new release in early 2020, these to be announced shortly.
Chadwick Stokes & The Pintos - Blanket On The Moon.
Chadwick Stokes has announced his self-titled record with his band The Pintos that tackles personal and political territory in ways that feel intimate and urgent. Set for release November 15, 2019, Chadwick Stokes and The Pintos brings the complications of history into conversation with the turbulent yet—from Stokes’ perspective—hopeful present. “We’re living in a crazy time, a very upsetting time,” says Stokes. “If we’re not protesting, there’s a problem.” Having tested many of these songs on the road over the years of touring, Chadwick Stokes (frontman of popular indie rock band Dispatch) has created an almost timeless quality to these refined and reimagined studio versions.
The writing in Chadwick Stokes and The Pintos notes intense struggles—personal, ethical, political, or cultural—that have always galvanized Stokes as a listener and artist. Along with the announcement, Stokes has released the first two tracks “Joan of Arc” and “Chaska”. Written about the famed teenager from her first vision to her execution for wearing men’s clothing, “Joan of Arc” is a timely feminist anthem that sears with hope and empowerment. “Chaska” is a story of mistaken identity wrapped up in the largest mass execution on United States' soil.
Other tracks on the album include “What’s It Going To Take,” “Love and War,” and “Blanket on the Moon” which discuss relevant issues such as the gun violence epidemic, PTSD, and America’s current immigration policies. Other tracks like “Sand From San Francisco,” “Hit the Bell With Your Elbow,” and “Lost and Found” discuss disconnected relationships and the power of choice.
Talkboy make their sixth Beehive Candy appearance with 'Hollow Spheres' and once again the Leeds sextet impress, this time with an emotive indie rocker. ===Matthew Paul Butler shares 'Mockingbird' a highly impassioned new folk song that is majestic, powerful and quite intoxicating. === Sunset Sons have released a lyric video for 'Superman' which is a splendid rock anthem and precedes a UK and European tour and new album. === From Mush we have 'Eat The Etiquette' where the vocals are just plain out there, the music somewhere between indie rock and punk, with hooks flying in all directions.
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Talkboy - Hollow Spheres.
Shifting between epic moments of joyful indie pop, interspersed with emotional and engaging songwriting, Leeds sextet Talkboy demonstrate their glittering potential in debut EP Over & Under, set for release 1st November via Come Play With Me / LAB Records.
Emerging in late 2018 with euphoric debut cut Mother, the fledgling six-piece have since become one of Yorkshire’s hottest indie prospects, releasing a series of irresistible anthems including the addictive Someone Else For You and melodic Wasting Time, both of which feature on the band’s upcoming EP.
With the influences of contemporaries Alvvays and The Big Moon nestled deep within their blissful sound and earning vast praise throughout the online community, the group announce the arrival of Over & Under with their rawest piece of songwriting to date in the form of latest single Hollow Spheres.
Detailing the track, they explained: “Hollow Spheres means an awful lot to us. Basically, it’s the idea that, although it really does feel very bad now, you have to try to understand it won’t be like this forever. It’s inevitable that something will change and one day you will feel something different. Admittedly, it is way easier said than done. Just as a little footnote, if you’re struggling to picture a Hollow Sphere though, imagine a Kinder Surprise without the surprise and I think you’re on the right track”.
With a full summer of festival appearances (The Great Escape, Live At Leeds, Y Not) under their belts, including a raucous slot on the BBC Introducing stage at Reading & Leeds Festivals, Talkboy continue to impress on the live circuit and will heading out on the road throughout November supporting the likes of Honeyblood, Declan Welsh and The Howl & The Hum.
Talkboy’s debut EP Over & Under dropped 1st November via Come Play With Me* / LAB Records and will be available on all digital platforms, with a physical release (featuring bonus acoustic tracks) to follow 29th November.
Matthew Paul Butler’s Hymns For The Dying have found refuge with Epifo Music, who will release the album on Friday, November 15th, 2019.
Navigating the realm of neo-folk / indie-soul, Butler’s songs are driven by a diesel-fume bar band on overdrive and a voice that wavers somewhere between a hug and a left hook. Hymns For The Dying is the culmination of years of displacement, rebuilding, and multiple attempts to settle down.
Butler grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire) -- his parents were Christian missionaries. Matthew found himself often in church meetings, in houses of other missionaries, and in the woods with other children. His family was forced to leave Zaire when the military revolted. The family attempted to return six months later, but another uprising forced them out of the country.
To Matthew, Hymns For The Dying are not documentations but interpretations of life events, and through these interpretations a place where people can be together in strength or vulnerability. Matthew’s Hymns are fierce-yet-graceful, with a looming tension that at any moment, a fragile artifact will be knocked over, like life itself, irreparably.
Hymns For The Dying was recorded by sound engineer Daniel Hodges in various homes around Charlotte, North Carolina. Not unlike Townes Van Zandt’s recording history, several attempts had been made to record Hymns For The Dying over the years, with master tapes having been lost or destroyed, and new bands needing to be pieced together.
Sunset Sons’ new album ‘Blood Rush Déjà Vu’, produced by Catherine Marks (Foals, Wolf Alice) and featuring Zane Lowe ‘World First’ single, ‘Heroes’ arrives now ahead of a UK & European headline tour including London’s Electric Brixton on November 28, 2019. To celebrate the release of ‘Blood Rush Déjà Vu’, Sunset Sons are also airing the new lyric video for latest single ‘Superman’.
Sunset Sons made a huge impact with their 2016 debut album ‘Very Rarely Say Die’. Tipped in the BBC’s Sound Poll, the British/Australian band progressed to score airplay from Radio 1, Radio X and Absolute Radio. Meanwhile, live shows included a sold-out headline date at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire as well as huge tours as guests to Imagine Dragons and Nothing But Thieves.
Now, Sunset Sons are poised to return in style with the release of their second album ‘Blood Rush Déjà Vu’. It’s a record which captures the magnetic energy of the band’s raucous live shows while evolving their sound. It’s a streamlined modern rock record which amplifies their power, full of strident anthems which are built to resonate as they echo out at festivals the world over.
The story of the creation of ‘Blood Rush Déjà Vu’ started with the end of the band’s own first chapter. Guitarist Robin Windram left to spend time with his young family, which forced a change in Sunset Sons’ dynamic. So instead of jamming new song ideas in a rehearsal space, the band - completed by Rory Williams (vocals/keys) and Pete Harper (bass) - started writing in Rory’s home studio, with each of them contributing guitar parts. After six months, jokes Laidlaw, they had “forty songs which sounded like forty different bands.” But they identified the direction they wanted to take when they penned ‘The River’, the title-track from last year’s EP. Their musical interests are diverse, but they shared a love of some essential traits: songs which are direct, rich with melody and that express a distinct meaning.
The band began recording near Hossegor, working again with producer Catherine Marks (Wolf Alice, Foals, The Amazons), and sessions complemented by wall-of-guitars provided by new touring member Henry Eastham, and long-term collaborator Robin Howl. As for that album title? It’s a lyric which features in the track ‘Take Control’ and expresses a sense of familiarity that simultaneously carries a spark of excitement. It’s something that Laidlaw feels when he steps into his local beach bar, Coolin à la Plage: the site of many memorable nights out as well as the first ever Sunset Sons show, a little over five years ago.
‘The induction party comes to an end with transfixed crowds splintering through desire paths re-emerging to the cold familiar pavement. Fresh from re-orientation, discarded all routines, a third-dimension flow state, go forth and send the ladder down, peel back the tunnel, dimensionally challenged 2D suckers. This is the next step! ‘3D Routine’’
‘3D Routine’ has arrived. Following on from their ‘Induction Party E.P’, Leeds based Mush are circulating their own sonic mythology, blurring the lines between abstract surrealism, existentialism and social commentary. Like its predecessor ‘3D Routine’ is a sensory overload of clattering, hooky, guitar work. However, this time space emerges between the onslaughts and in this respite, room is found for new emotional depth. More expansive than ever before, ‘3D Routine’ manages to maintain the rawness of a classic debut but it’s experimentation and variety portray a band unlikely to rest on their ‘guitar
band’ chops.
First single, ‘Eat the Etiquette,’ described by Hyndman as a “a bit of a stream of consciousness type rant”, takes aim at the use of ‘common sense’ as societal weapon; the “sick laughing track of malicious intent” making a mockery of progressive ideas, while “manufactured sense” helps maintain the underlying and iniquitous structures of wealth and power. It’s out now in all the usual places.
Songwriter Dan Hyndman explains the genesis of the band as being “fairly boiler plate” a combination of friends old and new converging in Leeds post-uni to form a band predominantly united in their mutual affection for the Pavement back catalogue. Finally settling on a lineup of Nick Grant (bass), Tyson (guitar) and Phil Porter (drums) the band’s progression has taken them far beyond this original vision.
Having garnered local attention in the early days for their unhinged and often calamitous live shows in Leeds, it was the unlikely radio hit ‘Alternative Facts’, (clocking in at an uncompromising ten minutes) that brought the Mush to the attention of a wider audience. The song, one of the last releases for the legendary Too Pure Singles Club saw early support from Marc Riley and others on BBC 6 Music with them playing multiple sessions, and the follow up single, ‘Gig Economy’ hopping onto the 6 Music playlist. Roaming further afield from their hometown, Mush spent the first half of 2019 heading out around the UK, earning a reputation for their intense live performances, supporting the likes of Girl Band, The Lovely Eggs, Yak, Shame and Stereolab, as well as releasing the ‘Induction Party’ EP to great acclaim. At the tail end of summer of 2019 Mush headed to Leeds’ Green Mount Studio and with Andy Savours (Dream Wife, Our Girl, My Bloody Valentine) manning the mixing desk, their debut LP, ‘3D Routine’ was born.
Back in July we shared 'Ladidadida' by Union Duke and they return with their latest release 'Atlas Of Love' where the mixture of rock, roots and refined modern country, comes across with ease and style. === Lynne Hanson has released 'True Blue Moon' a gorgeously natural slice of warm Americana. === London-based singer-songwriter, Winnie Raeder, shares her new single 'She' which is a beautiful song, her vocals exude emotion, the production is excellent. === Ausecuma Beats are a delight with their international musical flavour's shining brightly through 'Aida' a song that demands body movement however good or bad your sense of rhythm is.
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Union Duke - Atlas Of Love.
Some songs come along which seem so perfect, it makes you doubt they haven’t existed forever. Atlas of Love is the latest release from Union Duke, a band who have cemented themselves in both North America and Europe as a band can skip effortlessly between pop, folk and country and leave fans of each enraptured.
“Atlas of Love is an ode to everyone who feels like they’re the burden in their relationship. It’s a song for those who haven’t quite figured out the nature of their love, much less themselves."
Based in Toronto, Canada, Union Duke comprise Matt, Ethan, Jim, Will and Rob, genuine friends who take influence from the gems of their parents’ record collections and injecting an extra dose of rock n roll attitude, whilst staying to the traditional roots. Five singers; five songwriters; countless reasons for them to be your new favourite band. With three albums, countless festival stages, and hundreds of thousands of kilometres in the rear-view, the band is excited to be touring new music and winning new fans everywhere they go. In the two years since their last record Golden Days, Union Duke has been steadily travelling and unravelling across the country, and they’re ready to share the lessons they’ve learned with a slate of new music. Atlas of Love is the third of four new songs of love, distance, heartache and revelry which will be finding their way into your ears, eyes and hearts.
Following their previous singles, Ladidadida and 1,2,3, both of which received radio play across Europe and North America, Atlas of Love is the latest glimpse at one of Canada’s best kept musical secrets.
Primed with a mix of gritty ballads and roots-tinged guitar, Lynne Hanson follows an award-winning year as one half of The LYNNeS with new single True Blue Moon (out now) taken from her upcoming new solo album ‘Just Words’ set for release in 2020.
Lynne's deep bluesy croon is pure and full of fortitude; too tough for folk and too blues influenced for country; her 'porch music with a little red dirt' can turn on a dime from a sunshine, blue sky ballad to a full-on thunderstorm of gritty Americana swamp from one song to the next. This hard-living style of music has drawn comparisons to Lucinda Williams, with a touch of Gillian Welch thrown in.
Lynne's seventh studio album, Just Words, produced by Jim Bryson features several fellow established Canadian musicians including Kevin Breit, Catherine MacLellan and Justin Rutledge. Lynne describes the record as more than a break-up album - “I still love a good heartbreak song, but I think the world is desperately in need of more kindness, more tolerance, less aggression, and more compassion”
The album addresses issues such as verbal bullying (Just Words); a desire to be more accepting of one another (Clean Slate) and wanting to rise above and find peace (Higher Ground). The first single True Blue Moon, is an infectious, uptempo, tongue-in-cheek response to the Jacques Brel classic 'Ne Me Quitte Pas', about the perils of falling for a poet and just how rare it is to find true love.
London-based singer-songwriter, Winnie Raeder, is sharing her new single, ’She’.
The new track follows the acclaimed EP, ‘From Here’ that was released earlier this year - it also lands just ahead of UK tour dates with Charlie Cunningham, European spots opening for Tamino and a show at Eurosonic 2020. If that wasn’t enough, she’s also set to headline London’s Courtyard Theatre on November 27 - her third headline in the capital this year following two previous sell-out performances.
Speaking about ’She’, a song written with friends, Josh Record and Jacob Attwooll that strikes a similar temperament to that of Julien Baker and Haley Heynderickx, Winnie says: "We started playing around with some chords and started with the title ‘She’ before we had written any of the rest of the lyrics. It felt really interesting to pair a traditional folk sound with a song written for and sung by a woman. We kept the language poetic and romantic and the song almost wrote itself."
‘A song written for a woman and sung by a woman’, Raeder remarks how the song ‘almost wrote itself and arrived without any overthinking’. Reminiscent of the traditional folk poetry akin to Leonard Cohen or Bob Dylan, ‘She’ is punctuated with the contemporary production we’re accustomed to hearing from a Raeder release.
'Aida', the first single from nine-piece afrobeat ensemble, Ausecuma Beats, is a celebration of love between two people that sees no divide. The song, sung by Gambian-born Yusupha Ngum and recorded live with the band in Melbourne, speaks of a love that grows as new lessons are learned.
Ausecuma Beats will release their full debut EP on November 22, ahead of performances at Melbourne Music Week +Strawberry Fields later this year.
(Nov 29 - Dec 1 @ Strawberry Fields - Nov 21 @ Melbourne Music Week).
Ausecuma Beats was imagined to celebrate diversity in music, and express rhythm as the core of their shared musicality. The nine-strong ensemble hail from Australia, Senegal, Cuba and Mali (AU-SE-CU-MA). They promote unity, recognised through the power in diversity with shared vision. Their individual stories are unique, each treading their own path, each with commitment, strength and focus to catalyse the unique sounds of Ausecuma Beats.
Ausecuma Beats comprises 4 percussionists enhanced by melodic overtones from guitar, kora and sax, offering the Melbourne music scene a unique and exciting musical experience.
Mona Visa have just released their debut song 'Peter Pan' and the brother and sister duo have created a stand out and quite stunning piece. === Chicago post punk band Daymaker have a brand new album 'Let The Sun Fall' comprising of ten tracks, this is natural hook filled and uncompromising material. ===Hurtsfall have shared 'Calling Out' where alt rock and Gothic infused vocals come together wonderfully on this seven minutes of aural bliss. === Seazoo return to Beehive Candy for a third time with 'Heading Out' a bright indie rock song that packs charm and vibrancy. === It's the third appearance this year here from HunBjørn this time with a video for 'Keep Breathing' a synthy and dramatic electro pop song. === We have the latest single from Jaguar Moon entitled 'Bird Song' and we have also included 'Ostrich' both taken from their fabulous alt pop debut E.P. === Brooklyn based trio Wilsen have a new video for 'Ruiner' the title track from next February's new album release, the bands multi genre sound teasing us ahead of the full batch of material.
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Mona Visa - Peter Pan.
Brother and sister Jake and Ashleigh might appear to be the archetypal Australian dream: carefree lives under constant Gold Coast sunshine – sadly, the sunshine has regularly turned to darkness. A life often leading to substance addiction, destitution and chaotic relationships threatened to engulf both their lives before fate intervened and their subsequent rebirth as one of dream-pop’s most exciting talents.
Peter Pan is their debut release, a magnetic whirlpool of imagery, glistening guitars and Ashleigh’s achingly gorgeous vocals. Mona Visa are life affirming and vital in every sense.
Ash is an independent fine artist and fashion curator, Jake a full-time musician. Both are very close and spend every possible breath and second spare working together on their own music with all their energy poured directly into the music. Ashleigh is more the eccentric, anarchic, artist type, whereas Jake is grounded and softer.
Merging their combined experiences, warts and all, and retreating to the seclusion of the Australian bush, their tracks build to molten crescendos, emotionally gut-wrenching and endlessly rewarding. Peter Pan was recorded with ARIA award winning producer Govinda Doyle (Angus & Julia Stone; Big Jet Plane)
Let the Sun Fall by Daymaker is a long gestating collection of songs by the Chicago post-punk band that serves as a celebration of life and a call-to-action.
The album artfully delivers an explosive collage of sound and performances to honor and process the rage and action required in today’s America. Focus tracks "MPC" and "Blood Pressure" function to stir feelings of solidarity to create a more equitable world, while the tracks "Sun Song" and "Mask On" build up the messages of self-love and justice. As a whole, Let the Sun Fall is as much about accepting love as it is about turning our attention outward - to a world that requires holistic action.
Recorded at the Chicago based studio JAMDEK by engineer and producer Doug Malone, the band collaboratively re-shaped their sound into something more grungy and vital that retains the energy and excitement of Daymaker's live performances. The cover photography, which was captured on film without the use of Photoshop, depicts vocalist, Erin Delaney, lying paralyzed surrounded by fruit and dust that appears to be lifted all around her. The image speaks to a moment of stillness among chaos, which is often exactly what music can offer us - affirmation and encouragement while moving through madness.
Daymaker often performs in the Chicago and mid-west region with other notable acts such as Mykele Deville, Deeper, Rich Jones, Blacker Face, Malci, and Ono, among others. Let the Sun Fall comes out November 1st on Diversion Records.
Your new obsession starts here! Hailing from Robin Hood's hometown of Nottingham, Hurtsfall have been steadily building a following, and a reputation for putting on a serious live show!
A post-punk band, with gothic overtones and synth-pop sensibilities; Hurtsfall are unique. Playing (mostly) original material but recalling the essence of your favourites you can be sure to be inspired...
Having already played with Strange Circuits (the first act signed to the legendary industrial label, Wax Trax! Records) you get the feeling Hurtsfall are just getting started.
Established in late 2017, a group of experienced musicians decided to form a new band. Hurtsfall then began searching for a vocalist to complete the line-up. After an exhaustive and lengthy audition process found Sam in January 2018. The rest as they say is history.
Quirky and masterful in equal measure, Welsh noise-pop experts Seazoo share effervescent new cut Heading Out, the second offering from the band’s upcoming sophomore album set for release in spring 2020.
Following on from swaggering lead single Throw It Up, the indie outfit’s trademark positivity and unbridled charisma shines through once more in their playful new effort, tapping further into the ideas likely to be explored throughout their second full-length record.
Detailing the upcoming release, frontman Ben Trow stated: “I wanted the album to explore positive things, something I’d never really done before. Honestly, I couldn’t make this one simpler – a sketch of that feeling when you’re about to meet someone that you like very much. Nerves, excitement, yyeeeah!”
Upcoming Danish electro-pop artist HunBjørn’s 3rd single, Keep Breathing is a catchy electro pop song, carried by dreamy vocals, wrapped in a crisp synth production. Typical of HunBjørn she mixes the soft and vulnerable with a more raw and direct approach – her way of embracing the double-sided aspects in life.
Keep Breathing is a heartfelt encouragement to stand by who you are. It’s inspired by the current tendency to display perfect lives on social media platforms and the direct negative impact it has, especially on young girls and boys’ self image and self esteem. It’s a call to pause for a minute and breathe.
“I think everybody compares themselves to others, but if it gets out of hand, If you’re afraid of actually doing things that you love, things that makes you happy, it’s really time to take a deep breath and reconnect with yourself.
Personally, I love meeting people, that have the guts to show who they really are and be vulnerable. I remind myself of that when I’m on stage, or in the process of releasing music. It can be scary to put yourself out there, but it’s also rewarding. To me it’s cool to be courageous enough to share real thoughts and real emotions and not just the glossy picture.”
The video for the single reflects this modern battle with ourselves. We see a girl walking around in a house, trying on clothes, maybe it's hers - maybe it's not... The further we get into the story it shows that something is wrong with her. She's battling something or someone we don't know... At one point we see her or someone else's feet lying on the floor. Is she dead or did she kill someone?...
In the end she chokes herself or the person that she was. Trying to become someone else. It’s all about standing up for your own ways and beliefs and not being afraid of doing whatever it is that you love.
The track comes from HunBjørn’s spellbinding new EP ‘Next Summer’ which has helped her steadily grow a solid fan base all over the world with her reflective songs, beautiful videos and a unique way of interacting with her fans on a personal level. She has received positive press from media in Denmark and airplay on Danish Radio P3 as well as Amazing Radio, Radio Hoxton, Shoreditch Radio, The Soundlab amongst others.
Jaguar Moon are a new project from Denmark’s Bjarke Bendtsen. They’re releasing their latest single ‘Bird Song’, taken from the alternative pop group’s spellbinding debut EP.
Bjarke tells us the new track is about “setting free the ones you love,” a task that is easier said than done. With minimalistic drum loops and guitar textures akin to Spiritualized and early Pixies, the song represents the spectre of sadness that sits on your shoulders after a thorny separation.
He continues “It might be the hardest thing in this world to do. When you take a step back from the relationship and view it subjectively, you're amazed what a hideous creature you’ve created – warping your perception of reality.”
As a collective, Jaguar Moon build on the skeletal versions of Bjarke’s songs, with layers of vintage reverbs and tremolo guitars creating something akin to Phosphorescent and The Shins.
Wilsen, the Brooklyn-based trio of Tamsin Wilson (guitar/vocals), Johnny Simon Jr. (guitar) and Drew Arndt (bass), will release their new album Ruiner on February 21 via Secret City Records / Dalliance Recordings. Today, they shared the album's title track along with an accompanying video directed by Stephen Michael Simon.
"'Ruiner' is about meeting your various inner selves and a promise to be better," explains Tamsin Wilson. "It was written after a moment of self-sabotage and I wanted to address the inner monster who was responsible."
The album was produced by Andrew Sarlo, who has been praised for his production work on Big Thief's entire catalog and Bon Iver's i,i, and mastered by Sarah Register who has worked with artists as diverse as Ariana Grande, Protomartyr and U.S. Girls.
Ruiner dissolves both the heavy reverb and ethereal moments found on their first recording by instead letting the band’s essentials – drums, bass, guitar, and vocals – have center stage. In the album’s opening moments, you might hear a knotted wash of guitars and Wilson softly humming, for a very brief moment returning you to their dreamscape but sharply, a driving rock rhythm comes into focus and so too does a revitalized band. While Wilsen have retained elements of their fragility, on Ruiner they use bolder sounds and play with gritty textures and jarring grooves.
"Making this record was somewhat of a coming of age process," Wilson explains. "We're getting older and becoming more deliberate, less precious, less measured. Overthinking less and trusting instincts more."
For Tamsin Wilson, she’s also moving towards self-acceptance. “I have an inherent shyness," she says. "I'm acknowledging and finding a way with it as I get older." Throughout the record, she comes to terms with her many sides, including her introversion and her inner, self-sabotaging monster to which the album title refers. On "Feeling Fancy," with her distinctively hushed vocals overpowering the track’s clamorous instrumentals, Wilson offers listeners a powerful, and celebratory, declaration that "Quiet’s not a fault to weed out."
Ruiner is the follow-up to Wilsen's critically-acclaimed debut album I Go Missing In My Sleep, which UPROXX called "2017's finest folk debut." Stereogum proclaimed, "Wilson is capable of drawing blood with swift lyrical jabs that strike chords you didn’t see coming," while NPR Music said, "[Wilson is] a major revelation: a singer whose moody, calmly dreamy voice would sound amazing in just about any genre or context."
