Nature TV - Helen America - Chrysalism - TJ Roberts - Meanlife

Nature TV return just four weeks after their first appearance here with 'Only One'. Last time we described the Brighton band as "high class indie" and there is no change there with this refined piece. === Taken from her brand new 'Red Sun' album released today by Helen America we share the first song in the collection entitled 'Thelxiepeia'. This is just a small glimpse of things, the musical styles vary greatly, her vocals adding consistent order, the lyrics often demanding your attention. === Chrysalism has a new video for 'I'll kill you, Tomokazu Miura!' this lo-fi and gently soulful song is beautiful. === TJ Roberts has a new single comprising of 'The Party' and 'Midnight Stores' the first is a laid back and engaging track, the latter rocks a whole lot more. === From Meanlife we have the fabulous song 'Ready2Spark' with wonderful dual vocals and an indie meets country vibe.
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Nature TV - Only One.

Drifting onto the landscape with sparkling lead single She Wants To See You Cry earlier this autumn, Brighton dreamers Nature TV share sumptuous new cut Only One, the second offering from forthcoming EP Emotion Sickness, out 29th November via Heist or Hit (Her’s, Pizzagirl, Honey Moon).

Fresh from a stellar support run throughout the UK with resident do-woppers Trudy and the Romance, the indie quartet are certainly making quite an impression on the live circuit, having already opened for the likes of Swimming Tapes and lined up an EP launch show in their adopted hometown early next month.

With a slew of acclaim across the tastemaker community (The Line Of Best Fit, DIY, Dork, Clash, Gigwise) greeting their latest release, it’s clear Nature TV are carving their place amongst Brighton’s emerging indie elite, and with a wealth of new material ready to drop in 2020, their rise is set to gather pace.

Detailing their upcoming release, frontman Guy Bangham revealed: “As winter draws in, door-to-door heartbreak salesmen Nature TV come knocking. This time they arrive clutching a scented candle, a pack of tissues and the perfect soundtrack to your long, lonely winter nights. Only One sets the mood for wallowing in your failed love life. You’re welcome”.

Nature TV’s Only One is released 6th November via Heist or Hit and will be available on all digital platforms. Nature TV is Guy Bangham (vocals, guitar), Josh Eriskin (bass), Solo Major (lead guitar/production), Zal Jones (drums)

Live Dates:
11 Nov – The Old Blue Last, London
22 Nov – St Paul’s, Worthing (supporting The Bluetones)
04 Dec – Rialto Theatre, Brighton (EP release party)
22 Jan – The Victoria, London (supporting Bokito).

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Helen America - Thelxiepeia.

Helen America’s new album of wild imaginings and elegiac protest songs, Red Sun, may be the most astonishing full-length you’ve heard in some time.Its vast expanse of styles and textures, the heights and depths of the poetic and provocative lyrical imagery, and the incredible expressiveness of the vocals harken back to classic albums of the golden LP era and evoke a deep spiritual reckoning in each track.

Red Sun comes out perfectly during autumn 2019, its beautiful folk-hauntology rapturously apt for the season. As when the boundaries weaken between the worlds of the living and the dead, the lines blur here between grief and ecstasy, human and animal, sweetness and grit. Bending genres with amply nodular imagery about spiritual joys and vexations, body horror, and dark nights of the soul, the Seattle-based artist creates fantastic string-and-feedback-fueled freak-pop with highly poetic lyrics, as unique and timeless as song cycles by Judee Sill, Jeff Mangum, Joanna Newsom, John Vanderslice, or Phil Elverum.

America herself is a fan of those serious crafters of, as she puts it, “cerebral and literary and high-concept music but also raw, emotive, and definitely on the acoustic/people-playing-instruments-in-a-room side of the spectrum.” This describes her own science fiction-inspired and Greek-mythology laced anthems and soundscapes, which have a way of creeping under your mind and affecting the substrate of your dreams. Nothing is spare about these songs, though, which make use of a broad palette of sound and feature performances from richly talented players of the Seattle folk-punk milieu such as Kaia Chessen on cello, Scott Adams on accordion, and even the artist’s father, Roger Parson, on bagpipes.

Mai-Li Pittard (of The Debaucherantes) makes a guest appearance with a haunting, passionate violin performance on “There Is No Love”. Multi-instrumentalists Mitchell Wayne Hysjulien and Christy Mooers (known for similar work in Landlord’s Daughter) flesh out the majority of percussion and strings on the album, with Mooers’ distinctive upright bass complimenting distorted guitar chords and acoustic chamber arrangements alike. The album was mixed by Moe Provencher at the Duplex, and the Zen demigod of mastering himself, Steve Turnidge, added his alchemy at UltraViolet Studios. It is a lush, sumptuous buffet of profound and descriptive sound for her vignettes of alternate realities and deeper truths.

All the songs are written, produced, and recorded by America, and the album features a full-color booklet of her delightful and disturbing apocalyptic monster artwork, evoking the bizarre circumstances and relationships extrapolated in her magickal song craft. A multi-media artist of intrepid renown in the underground, from music to comics to gallery art, she has tied them all together in this chimeric debut. With vividly political art-songs and deeply personal dissections of self, Red Sunis visually arresting and a gorgeous listening experience, a portal to a strange and compelling world.

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Chrysalism - I'll kill you, Tomokazu Miura!

North London’s Chrysalism crafts Lo-fi romantic songs set in a vintage, futuristic world - combining low-key RnB inflected indie-balladry with an eye for aesthetic taken from co-ownership of a visual arts collective.

New single 'I'll Kill You, Tomokazu Miura!’ opens with submerged drums, before suitably velvety synths provide a drifting bed for sombrely crooned vocals, it’s night-time music for the broken hearted. The track climaxes with the lead hook of the chorus, a breathless high note backed up by the emergence of glistening guitars provided by Axel Oksby from Jakob Ogawa’s band.

AKA Michal Vojtech, he embraces everyday melodrama – as evidenced by a domestically poetic description of the inspiration behind the track: “My gal would kill me if I told you what this song is about. It’s me at 2 a.m. in the back streets of Hong Kong. And her being stuck to her bed in one of the skyscraper apartments, looking out of the window in the humid city air.

Listening to distant cars honk.  Feeling comfortably sad between all the traffic and people walking. It’s about a movie I watched that night when I came back to the apartment. The quote ‘I’ll kill you, Tomokazu Miura!” got stuck in my head then.” Alongside this there’s a playful twinkle to the themes he chooses to riff on, and creates vignettes out of. As evidenced by previous singles taking on Elon Musk stealing his girlfriend away to Mars, or the wistful travails of a lonely Monday Nite DJ.

A London transplant from Prague, he moved here to pursue music, visual arts and writing. This led to the foundation of visual-arts collective - Peakaboo Luv - with whom he has created video collages for his own tracks and others, as well as shot live videos for the likes of (sandy) Alex G and Elvis Depressedly, and hosted underground fashion shows and art exhibitions that descend into wild parties.

This cross-arts and collective approach to his home-crafted tunes results in something at once unique and recognisable. ‘I’ll Kill You, Tomokazu Miura!’ by Chrysalism is out on this week and was produced by Patrick Fitzroy of London band Heavy Heart.


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TJ Roberts - The Party / Midnight Stores.

Midnight Stores’ is the sound of your very own Lynchian acid trip in the middle of a corner shop. It’s a bubble-gum horror of junk shop organ and South Wales’ least convincing Roky Erikson impersonator.

‘The Party’ is unashamedly hip-to-be-square, It drags the listener through the trials of the woefully ignorant, unknowingly privileged experience of university house parties.

Finding influence in the equally outspoken art-school and lounge stylings of Roxy Music, Steely Dan and real-life Springfielder Mac Demarco, The Party is a band and live favourite. Candidly uncool and flagrantly honest.

The double A single will be released 15 November on Libertino Records.


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Meanlife - Ready2Spark.

Meanlife have a new single and video, for "Ready 2 Spark". The band tell us: "It's our first new song since we put out our debut album Bad Vibes In The Womb this August".

Meanlife's attempt to write a new classic, this indie-country guitar-pop bop is our first duet, featuring backup vocals by Toronto songwriter Sara May from Falcon Jane. It's also our first song to use pedal steel, inspired by Bob Dylan and The Band, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and Hank Williams.

Finally where do you go for an impartial appraisal "Love this. Great song, happy lyrics, love the swing beat, topped off with a fab video. A winner!" - Jackson's mom.


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Paul Mosley and the Red Meat Orchestra - Angus Munro - CHICKN - The Hanging Stars

We recently featured a couple of songs from the new 'People Are Idiots' album by Paul Mosley and the Red Meat Orchestra and now we have a video for another track from this very good collection entitled 'The 1970's.' === Angus Munro impresses in a big way with the acoustic Piano Version of 'Equaliza' where his vocals are simply stunning. === CHICKN made their first appearance here around three months ago and return with a video for 'She'll Be Apples' where the Athens five piece band share a gorgeous psych rocker. === The Hanging Stars have released a video for '(I've Seen) The Summer in Her Eyes'. The song is described as "two and a half minutes of garage pastoralism", which pretty much nails it!
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Paul Mosley and the Red Meat Orchestra - The 1970's.

A new video by Paul Mosley and The Red Meat Orchestra for The 1970's has just been unveiled..

The track features Rough Trade Records artist and BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winner Josienne Clarke on backing vocals.

It comes from Mosley’s new album ‘You’re Going To Die!’ (out now) which is an album about grief yet filtered through a kaleidoscopic beautiful theatrical pop writing lens.

Shot by Alec Bowman, the video re-enacts the family drives Paul used to go on as a child in the 1970’s. The track reminds me slightly of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds with a Martyn P. Casey-esque bass motif and wistful spooky synths driving things forward.


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Angus Munro - Equaliza (Acoustic Piano Version).

“Equaliza" - The stunning third single release by Angus Munro, out on Counsellor Records 8th November 2019. “This is therapy rock!” Wrote Gavin Docherty in the Scottish Daily Express. He was reviewing the track “Equaliza” on Angus Munro’s debut EP “Mirror Man”, now the third single release by the Scottish based chamber pop-stair.  Gavin adds “but a haunting new ballad about Citalopram - one of the most prescribed uppers in the United States with more than 26 million prescriptions - has got to be a first.  The singer-songwriter is Angus Munro, 31, a breaking indie balladeer …!”.

Like many other young people dealing with mental health issues Angus spoke of his experience - When I was diagnosed with severe depression by my therapist, I was given a list of tasks and roles to tackle in order to overcome it. Exercises, repetitive writing analysis and meditation alongside many others were a chore to undertake. I would get more frustrated with the lack of results I seemed to not be generating. Around this time, I was also going through a rough break up of a relationship.

It was only when I was prescribed antidepressants that I felt myself balance out and see things more clearly. This was a revelation to me and a real turning point on the road to good mental health. However, taking a pill for a toxic relationship was something that remained a fantasy. Likening my dependency for medication to that of being with the person I felt I needed the most led to Equaliza being formed. A tragic love-song lamenting the necessity of antidepressants to that of the need to be with the person I loved.

Equaliza, to me is one of my most personal songs and despite the difficult time-period in which it was written, it remains a time-capsule of the man I once was, and a reminder of how far you have come. Upcoming gig: 15th November 2019: Tooth & Claw, Inverness.


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CHICKN - She'll Be Apples.

CHICKN have made a video for "She'll Be Apples", from their recently released new album, Bel Esprit. Shot in Athens and it was directed by Alex Brack. "She'll Be Apples" is a psychedelic tinged pop tune that surfaces with shoeagaze attentions, while disguised by the waters of love and ambiguities that ooze from the depths.

Athens-based five-piece CHICKN follows up to last year's WOWSERS sees the Greek outfit exploring a variety of different styles. From art-rock to synth-pop and beyond, Bel Esprit will generously provide you with all the touchy – feeliness you'll ever need. Formed back in 2012, the band started gigging extensively without any discography, media coverage or particular reason building a strong word of mouth among the city's live audience.

Consisting of Angelos Krallis, Pantelis Karasevdas, Chris Bkrs, Axios Zafeirakos, and Don Stavrinos, their music is made up of improvisation, and as well as their tendency to embrace the unexpected. They have developed a large body of artists that they work with and as a result their liquid line-up gets temporarily solidified by their current expressive needs.

There is so much to digest in this album. It's lush, chaotic and colourful. Bel Esprit is a nine track album which contains an equal amount of gender-bender acid pop nuggets.  Weird accessible yet complex and challenging. Get ready to dive into the wonderfully absurdist world of CHICKN!


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The Hanging Stars - (I've Seen) The Summer in Her Eyes.

The Hanging Stars are delighted to announce their new album A New Kind Of Sky, due out on 21 February 2020. The first single,  “(I’ve Seen) The Summer in Her Eyes” was released yesterday. The song is about lost love and self doubt channeled through two and a half minutes of garage pastoralism. The track is summed up by one of the last lines; “here grew a flower out of a ground made out of stone. Its petals were scattered. Out on the breeze they die.” The song was written by the band’s bass player Sam Ferman and is the first time he has lent lead vocals to a Hanging Stars single.

A New Kind Of Sky is the band’s third studio album and was mostly recorded live at Echozoo in Eastbourne with Dave Lynch. Carrying on their exploration of transatlantic psychedelic folk and cosmic country, the new material blends twelve-string, harmony-laden lullabies with soft rock anthems to create a kaleidoscopic poncho for these times.

The Hanging Stars comprise songwriter, singer and guitarist Richard Olson Sam Ferman on bass, Paulie Cobra on drums, Patrick Ralla on guitars, keys and vocals, and renowned pedal steel player Joe Harvey-Whyte.

The Hanging Stars released their debut album Over the Silvery Lake in 2016, which received plaudits from broadsheets such as The Times and The Guardian. They picked up a good amount of support at 6 Music and “The House on the Hill” scored a much-coveted 10/10 by John Robb on Steve Lamacq’s Roundtable. Their second album Songs For Somewhere Else in 2017 to critical acclaim from the likes of Uncut (Revelations article), Shindig (several features and 4* review) as well as The Quietus and The Line Of Best Fit, plus radio support from Gideon Coe and Bob Harris (they performed an Under the Apple Tree Session for Bob Harris in January 2019).

Whilst playing their own successful sold-out headline dates, the band have also been invited to share the stage with Teenage Fanclub, The Clientele, Wolf People, The Long Ryders and GospelbeacH, as well as playing festivals such as Liverpool’s International Festival of Psychedelia, Red Rooster, Ramblin' Roots, UK Americana Festival and The Long Road Home.

A New Kind Of Sky is the sound of a band who have found their voice. Eclectic yet cohesive, expansive yet intimate, universal yet personal, the ten-songs shimmer with brilliance and furthers The Hanging Stars’ shining legacy.


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The Golden Age of TV - LIFE - Fruition - Rebekah Rolland - Flora Hibberd

The Golden Age of TV have just released a new single 'Caught In Doors' ahead of their self titled debut E.P. We featured them back in early 2018 and the new release is more than welcome as the bands distinct and oh so likable musical construction really stands out. ===  LIFE have released a video for their fabulous album track 'Excites Me' a song that does just that, excites and rocks as well. === We have a video from Fruition for 'Wild As The Night' a beautiful and touching song that is melodic, as both the vocals and musical arrangement shine brightly. === Rebekah Rolland shares two songs on 'Mary / Louise' where the Arizona musician and songwriter is a delight to listen to, her lyrics, vocal delivery and music are somewhere special on the Americana spectrum. === We had the pleasure of featuring Flora Hibberd a couple of times earlier this year and are really pleased to share 'As Long as There is Night' taken from her new E.P, as once again her folk music is just so engaging.
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The Golden Age of TV - Caught In Doors.

Leeds art-rock quintet The Golden Age of TV return with eerie-toned and spiky new single ‘Caught In Doors’, the first taste of their upcoming self-titled debut EP.

Making a name for themselves over the last couple of years with incisive, off-kilter guitar lead gems, the five-piece are stepping it up a level in intensity. Frantic drums and guitars usher in vocalist Bea Fletcher’s imperious, hushed vocals. It’s an exercise in sustain and release, the temperature rising throughout, pushing and pulling, before a chaotic reprise. Sound wise, it occupies a similar space to bands like Orchards, The Big Moon, Sports Team or Bombay Bicycle Club.

It’s thematically very relatable. Being trapped in an unwelcome situation can lead to frustration, listlessness or friction if left unattended, which is what the tightly-wound tune is trying to express – Bea elaborates: “‘Caught In Doors’ is the feeling of being stuck in one place, struggling to move. Financially, socially, in a career - whatever it is, it's about the need to switch up your routine or change your image. In the chorus, seeing my hair "collecting in piles" metaphors that build up of an itch for change.”

Over just a few releases the band have managed to impress numerous key tastemakers and steadily build a following. Huw Stephens at BBC Radio 1 is a fan, to go alongside support from 6 Music, BBC Introducing and Amazing Radio. Press wise, early takes have come from DIY, Clash and The 405, with the buzzy blogosphere also propelling them to indie attention.

The live side too has seen exciting opportunities for the group. They’ve performed at Reading and Leeds, Live at Leeds and Liverpool Sound City festivals. ‘Caught In Doors’ was produced at Greenmount studios by Lee Smith and Jamie Lockhart (Alex Clare, The Cribs, Submotion Orchestra, Pulled Apart By Horses), and is out now.

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LIFE - Excites Me.

Following the release of their critically acclaimed second album ‘A Picture Of Good Health’, a recent A-listing on BBC 6 Music for ‘Hollow Thing’, a blistering BBC Radio 1 Maida Vale session for Jack Saunders and a packed out album launch in a Camden kebab shop, Hull outfit LIFE have shared a new video for album track 'Excites Me'.

The animated, stop-motion video was directed by Manchester/York based artist Callum Scott-Dyson who says, "For 'Excites Me', we really wanted to do something manic and full of energy to match the pace of the track, while also develop a loose narrative that echoed some of the ideas in the song and lyrics. What started out as a more vague thing based around wanting to escape boring situations and explode with pent up rage, became a bit of a character piece about a man stuck in a boring job with lots of mundane things going on, who has to do something crazy to escape this life. Then the narrative gets crazier and crazier as his inner demon comes out and he grows into a rage filled monster."

Speaking about the single, frontman Mez Green, said "Sometimes music hits you like a shot of pure adrenaline, like electricity in your blood stream, like a never ending firework. Sometimes music heals you. Sometimes music excites you. Music excites me. Let it excite you."


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Fruition - Wild As The Night.

Portland-based roots-rockers Fruition new record Wild as the Night releases Nov. 8th. This 7-song collection of new music showcases their honest song-crafting skills and individual musical talents in a blend that could only be forged from years of playing together. The record conveys the emotions of our darkest, and sometimes weakest, moments.

The eclectic, after-hours vibe of Wild as the Night comes naturally to the Portland, Oregon-based band, composed of Jay Cobb Anderson (electric guitar, vocals), Kellen Asebroek (piano, acoustic guitar, vocals), Jeff Leonard (bass), Mimi Naja (mandolin, electric guitar, vocals) and Tyler Thompson (drums).

The album’s first single, “Wild as the Night,” provides perhaps the album’s most beautiful moment, with vocals from Naja evoking the midnight grief from letting go of a relationship.

Wild as the Night opens with the rollicking and pulsating “Forget About You,” setting the tone of the record as a whole; commiserating in sorrows and lifting spirits. “Sweet Hereafter” follows the album’s self-titled first single with an entrancing drum and piano loop that could be equally at home on a James Blake record. The organic beat gives way to thick repeating harmonies, leaving the listener wanting more after a subtle fade to silence. The album picks back up, tempo-wise, with a quick rock and roll study in city living with “Raining In The City” before it dives back into more classic Fruition territory with a campfire celebration of the Oregon Coast in “Manzanita Moonlight.” “Don’t Give Up On Me”’s seductive groove dips back into the commiseration with the final verse lamenting, “All the world is just empty without somebody to love.”

Recorded at Silo Sound Studio in Denver, Wild as the Night captures the band’s mindset in the midst of relentless touring. “We were exhausted, but musically firing on all cylinders,” says Thompson, who shares production credit with the band on the new project. “It’s extremely diverse Americana, with a focus on great songwriting and harmonies. We weren’t going for a particular sound, just something that’s honest to our live sound along with a few tricks we learned from our last producer, Tucker Martine.”

With a renewed focus on harnessing the energy of the live experience, Wild as the Night allows listeners to get a glimpse of these longtime friends doing what they do best on stage, whether they’re opening for the Wood Brothers, Greensky Bluegrass, and Jack Johnson, or playing at festivals like Telluride Bluegrass, Bonnaroo, and DelFest.


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Rebekah Rolland - Mary / Louise.

Arizona musician and songwriter Rebekah Rolland is proud to release Mary/Louise. Written and Produced by Rolland and co-produced and engineered by her long-time musical collaborator, Matt Rolland, her second set of studio recordings released November 1 via Tucson boutique independent label, Sky Island Records.

Rolland steps into a new season with Mary/Louise, bookend to her 2018 debut solo release and prelude to upcoming collaborative songwriting project with longtime partner and bandmate, Matt Rolland. Rolland and Rolland co-produced the pair of songs that feature Rebekah on vocals and piano, and Matt on fiddle, acoustic guitar, and electric guitar. Rounding out the recordings are Thøger Tetens Lund of the acclaimed Tucson desert rock band, Giant Sand, on upright bass, and Josh Carruthers on drums and percussion.

On writing Mary/Louise: “I remember passing between two rooms of my grandma’s house through a very narrow hallway. The first was the kitchen and dining room, where her whole life was concentrated into one small, low-ceilinged, and shadowy space. The other was the great room on the other side of the house with a whole wall of windows and a grand piano in one corner and a player stand in a sunny alcove.

This room sat empty and still most of the time, but we gathered there when everyone was in town. I think my grandma spent most of her life in this way—passing from a dark and secluded place into a lighter one, where the view was long and weight of the walls around her evaporated. Mary / Louise came out of an old picture of my mom and her sister in front of the house, and of my own memories of passing through those rooms and hallways. It means so much to share it now and I hope it finds you where the sky is high and the day is close.” -Rebekah.



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Flora Hibberd - As Long as There is Night.

Born in East London but currently residing in Paris, Flora Hibberd has been described as ‘intelligent and measured…there is a profound intuition in her work’ and her songs as ‘deeply rooted in the timeless lyricism of Dylan and Cohen.’ With influences as diverse as Nick Cave, Joan Baez and Jacques Brel, she moves effortlessly between acoustic folk traditions and the bruised indie of PJ Harvey, Jason Molina and Cat Power. Her powerfully emotive voice, evocative melodies and poetic lyrics combine beautifully to give her songs a deeply haunting and unforgettable quality.

Flora’s first two singles ‘The Absentee’ and ‘In Violence’ released in earlier 2019, were bold statements of intent and announced her as a powerful newcomer. The songs’ complex, dark melodic and lyrical beauty have left a longing for what The Absentee EP will offer. The EP packages the singles with two new gems, ‘As Long As There Is Night’ and ‘The Healing’ that will not disappoint.

About The Absentee EP, Flora states ‘The songs of this EP emerged over months and years, and were refined in bars, apartments and on the streets. The Absentee was written fifty metres below the English Channel, three years ago. In Violence was written in 2017 in the garden of the Musée Rodin. Their influences are too many to name; random encounters with poetry, art, music and language in all its forms have bled into my writing in ways of which I am often unaware. They are about real people and real events. But they are also about impossible people, and impossible events. My hope is that they find you here, on the blurred edge between reality and dreams, in the half-awake place where the familiar merges with the unknown. ‘

With this EP and in collaboration with producer J. C. Wright, bringing his 'spectacular’ arrangements and atmospheric brushstrokes, Flora Hibberd is laying down an impressive artistic foundation. The Absentee EP is out now, on ClearLight Records / Declared Goods.

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LIA - Deva St. John - Steve Buscemi's Dreamy Eyes

We have the brand new E.P from LIA entitled 'Vasilia'. Her striking vocals, at times intricate musical backdrops and more often personal yet highly relatable lyrics, are at the least beautiful and occasionally simply incredible. === From Deva St. John we have 'The Information Age' which opens with synths, Morse code and drums and explodes into action with energised vocals, as this feisty alt rock song grabs hold of our ears. === Steve Buscemi's Dreamy Eyes returns for a fourth appearance here with 'Moon' the second single we have the pleasure of sharing ahead of a new album due next year, from this gorgeous indie pop/rock band.

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LIA - Vasilia (E.P).

LIA has just released her new EP called 'Vasilia'. Here are LIA's thoughts on the latest E.P.

"I wrote this EP as I was coming into myself. It was a period of my life when I learned how to love myself and what it meant to show myself respect. The root of this EP grew from the word resilience; Resilience in my mental health, as a woman and in my relationships. Upon building the lyrics and the universe of this project, pieces of inspiration found their way to me. I wrote Out of Control based on the story of Hansel and Gretel. I wrote Milk & Light from the story of Vasilisa The Beautiful. I wrote Kissel Shore from the folk tale about the land of Milky Rivers and Kissel Shores that I discovered through the photographer Uldus Bakhtiozina".

As a child, I was surrounded by story. One in particular was from a computer game called Baba Yaga. More recently, I decided to read the actual tale behind the character and I fell upon Vasilisa The Beautiful. I felt like her story was an accurate homage to my lived experience emerging from my teens into my early twenties. Trapped by Baba Yaga, Vasilisa has to trust in herself and the universe to face seemingly impossible high-stakes tasks to gain her freedom.

She prevails and Baba Yaga sees that the universe is on her side so she’s too pure to kill. I realized I was the one trapping myself. I was accepting relationships that didn’t make me feel good, binge-drinking and not trusting that I was capable enough to achieve the goals I wanted. I was battling depression and anxiety. I felt isolated and helpless. I had to start showing myself love. This EP is the mental diary of my transition into loving and respecting myself. These are the lessons I learned living the tale of Vasilia."


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Deva St. John - The Information Age.

 “I wrote ‘The Information Age’ after spending way too long comparing myself to other people. I was beginning to feel my self worth deteriorate with every passing post; watching people I love allow misinformation to cloud their judgement, while knowing the media I’m consuming is probably just as manipulative; seeing the growth and decay of important news due to a lack of any public attention span; watching entire gigs through an audience member’s phone screen. It’s become so easy to distract ourselves. I wanted to remind people that a hive mind isn’t the answer, especially when your Queen Bee is a sewer rat.”

‘The Information Age’ is a sarcastic salute to the often oppressive nature of social media, and how it distracts and divides us as quickly as it informs and connects. Channelling the grit and bratty energy of spiritual forbears like Patti Smith, early PJ Harvey and Juliette and the Licks ‘The Information Age’ captures the claustrophobia of low self-esteem. In a world where our self-worth is being buffeted daily by a relentless barrage of content, the song examines the consequences of our internet addictions on our personal wellbeing. In the clash of its drums, the protean guitar lines and in Deva St. John’s angsty lo-fi vocals, she restores a sense of what it means to be human under the dehumanising glow of the LCD screens all around us. ‘The Information Age’ was recorded with Clem Cherry at London’s Eastcote Studios and mastered with John Davis at Metropolis.

Born in London to American parents and raised in Berkshire, Deva St. John’s sound is a bridge between the soundscapes of British and American pop culture. A peerless vocalist and authentic lyricist, her boozy lo-fi alt-rock production and gnarly vocals reveal an artist who channels her sensitivities into songs that peer under the veneer of modern life to express something fundamentally timeless, a yearning dissatisfaction; rock n’ roll in its purest form. ‘The Information Age’ will be Deva St. John’s third single since her debut release ‘Afterlife’ in October 2018. In the year since, Deva exploded onto the London gig circuit, spending the summer refining her performing nous in front of a steady growing audience. Having most recently performed for Sofar Sounds at the end of August, with a Youth Music award nomination to look forward to this month, and a headline BBC Introducing show in November, Deva St. John is one of the country’s surest rising stars, and she won’t slow down for a minute.

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Steve Buscemi's Dreamy Eyes - Moon.

Behind the odd name Steve Buscemi’s Dreamy Eyes you’ll find one of the most promising new bands on the blooming Swedish indie scene. The quartet returned this summer with the new single Change of Heart, their first in 19 months and first taste of their forthcoming debut album that is expected to be released early 2020. Now comes yet another shimmering slice of what's to come with the catchy single Moon, out now via Rama Lama Records.

Steve Buscemi's Dreamy Eyes on the song:
"Moon is a song about new beginnings. For us, that beginning was getting back together in the rehearsal space after a 6 month hiatus to write new material. Furthermore, it's a song about rekindling the spark in the things you are passionate about, but also a celebration of our relationship as a band, the things we've been through, and the things we look forward to continue experience together."

The band formed in 2015 after bassist/vocalist Tilde Hansen tweeted out "Does anyone/anybody know someone who wants to play in a band together with a bassist and a singer (Siri) that haven’t played in a band for a year and are dying of boredom?", which Elias Mahfoud (guitar/vocals) responded to. Elias then reached out to Edvin Arleskär (drums) whom he had met through an Arctic Monkeys forum, thus making Steve Buscemi's Dreamy Eyes complete.

Debut track Desire was released early 2016 and has since then been followed by three more singles, receiving attention from both Sweden’s biggest music sites and influential international sources such as DIY, Billboard and Amazing Radio. In February 2017 Closer, featuring Rama Lama Records label mates Melby's Matilda Wiezell, made it to the top 10 on the Spotify US Viral chart and Dreaming of You followed the success shortly after being praised as "one of those rare ”wow” moment" by The Revue.

The band made their festival debut at Umeå Open playing alongside some of Sweden's biggest artists such as Amanda Bergman, Solen, Säkert! and more, Swedish magazine HYMN hailed the show as "the festival's most energetic". Debut EP Four Waters with four brand new tracks was released on November 24th 2017, being described as “an illustration of the sonic genius of the little band with the great name, who in less than a year continue to leave us speechless with their music”.


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