Tuesday, 13 October 2020

Lauren Hulbert - Speaker Face

Lauren Hulbert returns to Beehive Candy just a month after we were first introduced to her. The new single 'Honeydew' is another beautiful, arresting and melodic song.

Speaker Face have released their album 'Crescent' this week. We have already shared two songs from the collection and are really impressed with the remaining tracks including the new single 'Call Me Out' which once again emphasizes the bands genre defying yet gorgeous music. 

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Lauren Hulbert - Honeydew.

Lauren Hulbert has just released “Honeydew”. The light-hearted, sweet melodic journey expresses the joy and magic of opening up to pure love. Twinkling synths draw the imagination into full bloom while jingle bells shower the listener into euphoria. The single is off her upcoming EP, Superbloom, due out October 30.

Hulbert wrote the song while living with her ex-boyfriend in Ecuador. They had rented an apartment in Quito with an incredible view down a mountain valley. After traveling together for months, she says, “I think I was happy to be in one place, making a temporary home, in our own space, with a nice, friendly neighbor and a little bodega at the end of our alleyway. It was a really cute spot. We got to make a little life for ourselves. We had a lot of hope for our future together and I remember that feeling really good.” The song reflects that feeling of hope and starting each day fresh: “Honeydew first light of dawn. Start anew. A day is born. Honey, do you love me? Like the dew wash over me and I will bloom for you.”

Superbloom was inspired not only by the sound of the EP itself but also by Hulbert blooming back to life; following a dangerous foot injury while on a surf trip in Indonesia, she was practically immobile for six months and it was unclear if she’d ever be able to walk again. While the music for this EP didn’t come from the injury, it was a very dark time for her – life, as she knew it, had ended, and her artistic momentum was devastatingly quelled. Fortunately, over a year later, she has healed and credits the experience as terrifying but ultimately beneficial – one that allowed her to reassess her life, align with what’s important and has made her all the more grateful for health and opportunity – and to be performing and sharing her music again.

The Oakland, California singer-songwriter has lived worldwide- from East Coast to West Coast, and Thailand to Ecuador. Her dreamy vocals have been leaving audiences breathless for years, enchanting listeners with her warm, winsome, highly personal combination of folk, alternative country-rock, and atmospheric semi-acoustic pop. The singer has a diversified palate: while she is currently a folk-pop artist, she began competing in Bach and classical festivals as a kid. She can switch back and forth between her classically trained piano skills or self-taught guitar expertise easily. Her favorite lyrical subject is the human condition; she finds inspiration in every feeling, emotion, and situation to create lyrically dense and bona fide tracks. It’s important for Lauren to vocalize and visualize her experiences and hardships into muses to build connections and heal others.



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Speaker Face - Crescent (Album).

The self-produced, genre-less album Crescent is out this week and Speaker Face have this to say about the album and the latest single. "We believe that electronic music can meld with folk and singer/songwriter music to enhance and transform it".

They continue - The record's newest single, "Call Me Out," is about patience and providing space for someone while they work through their feelings. Listen, learn, and give someone as much support as you are able. The jagged beats and nostalgic chord progression further the feel of disjointedness, while maintaining a touching and mesmerizing groove.

Lose yourself in the trancy loop of "Call Me Out" while meditating on the intimate feeling of caring for someone so deeply that you are willing to walk alongside them through their dark times. Celebrate the strength of compassion and understanding.

Our last album was an exploration of electronic music, and with Crescent, we maintained the idea of no rules while stripping away any nonsense and focusing on simplicity. There's space for the instruments to exhale, space for the beat to permeate, space for the voice to feel free.

For you to be transported and muse about a past love, a failed relationship, a joyful moment, jumping into the water from a cliff, or sitting by a campfire… that is all we could hope for.



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Sunday, 11 October 2020

Misty Coast - Anna Krantz - Loaver

Misty Coast have a new video for their wonderful song 'In a Million Years' where the familiar vocals of Linn Frøkedal once again shine against a rich musical backdrop. ==== Anna Krantz has shared 'Blessed Are The Free' along with a video, the song is fast flowing and melodic with hints of Americana. ==== Loaver returns to Beehive Candy with 'Apart' the final single to be taken from her October 30th, debut album 'Fern', and from we've heard so far promises to be a very creative and mixed genre collection.

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Misty Coast - In a Million Years.

Misty Coast have released a new video for ‘In A Million Years’

The video tells a sort of four-dimensional sci-fi story that takes place in a common apartment. We see three women interacting in the same spaces without crossing each other's path. Are they all different personalities of the same human being? 

Like an intergalactic Kim Deal, vocalist Linn Frøkedal’s reverb and distortion laden vocals are layered over a heavenly backdrop of fuzz, drawing in the listener like a piece of debris into a black hole.

“the song represents a recurring theme on the album, and it lingers in thoughts about whether we should choose to ignore the reality outside of what we experience as our world - or if we should dare to seek a larger, perhaps unpleasant truth." 


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Anna Krantz - Blessed Are The Free.

“Wake up to life in colour, don’t you want it” - Anna Krantz

‘Blessed Are The Free’ is the second song in Krantz’s “New moon new tune” series of releases. Co-written with Jessica Sharman (co-writer of Ward Thomas’s #1 song, Cartwheels) “Blessed Are The free” is an uplifting and relatable offering and follows “We Could Be High” which recently featured on RTE Radio 1’s recommends playlist.

At a time when the world was in a state of uncertainty and relative stillness, Krantz began to reflect on the concept of freedom:

“I wasn’t allowed to fly to London and see my family or show my masked smile to a stranger. I wasn’t allowed to go out for a meal with my boyfriend or grab a coffee with a girlfriend. I wasn’t even allowed to be in the same room with Jessica to write the song. Like everyone else, so much of my freedom had been removed. Yet I felt free in my spirit and happy in my heart. This me made wonder what freedom actually means and how it can be accessed from within as opposed to without.”

After sharing past stories and new insights, Sharman and Krantz created this catchy, uptempo number. Her yearning voice soars high above the track’s bouncy shuffle, creating a whirlwind of emotions set to rouse the heart and fortify the soul.

The self-produced track was played by a number of Krantz’s favourite Nashville musicians and was Mixed by Craig Alvin who mixed and engineered Kacey Musgrave’s multi Grammy winning album, Golden Hour. The perfectly crafted sincere single sets the bar high again with a timeless quality of song writing and a satisfying freshness for the ever- shifting 2020 landscape.


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Loaver - Apart.

Malmö, Sweden, based singer-songwriter Linnea Hall started her solo project Loaver with a desire to be able to showcase all sides of her experiences and inspirations. On October 30th, debut album 'Fern' is released via Rama Lama Records. 'Apart' is the last single taken from the album and is out now.

Linnea Hall on Apart: "Apart was originally written for the Opera Festival in Brescia, Italy, in 2018. The song plays with an excerpt from Arrigo Boito’s Mephistopheles, why "he" in the end alludes to the rapture or, if one so wishes, the evil in us. Otherwise, the song is mostly a bundle of questions or reflections of the loneliness we share."

In 2019, she put out her self-titled debut EP on Birds Records. The music – experimental, smooth and dark pop at its finest – was written and recorded in Italy during 2017, in close collaboration with artists such as Giovanni Ferrario (PJ Harvey, John Parish etc.), who produced the tracks, and Emanuele Maniscalco. Through the six tracks we were drawn between the uttermost boundaries of emotions – love, hate, dreams, doubt, chaos and naivety. The new record is once again recorded in Italy but this time in collaboration with Emanuele Maniscalco and Carlo Poddighe.

Early 2020, Loaver returned with new single 'Drömmeri (om döden)' on Rama Lama Records (Melby, Chez Ali, Julia Rakel, Steve Buscemi's Dreamy Eyes). The single, a pendant to Debussy's Reverie, is a memoriam to Linnea's grandmother that was released on her death day. This was the first taste of the upcoming album that's packed with highly unique and instantly memorable tracks, like the slow burner 'Bloom With Me', the shapeshifting 'Forget All About' and captivating 'Apart'.

The debut LP 'Fern' sees Loaver develop her creative pop and experiments with trip hop, singer-songwriter, dream pop, jazz and bedroom pop elements that together with Hall's splendid vocals and personal lyrics create a hauntingly beautiful soundscape.


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Saturday, 10 October 2020

Jeen - Slow Weather - Girlhood - Wild Pink

Jeen already has a notable legacy in music having started out age sixteen and her brand new song 'Idols' simply demonstrates just how fresh and gorgeous her musical capabilities are. ==== Slow Weather have just shared 'Great White Male' which has all the hallmarks of a timeless UK indie pop song with that extra gritty edge. ==== Girlhood have released 'It Might Take A Woman' where a number of genres come together beautifully and some wonderfully catchy moments cry out for another listen. ==== Wild Pink have a new video and song entitled 'The Shining But Tropical' and it's quickly gaining a whole lot of attention down to the superb nature of this addictive piece.

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Jeen - Idols.

Jeen started in the music industry busking on Queen West in Toronto at 16. It was there she and her band were scooped up by the Jeff Healey team, and were managed by them for the half decade that followed.

After two subsequent solo albums, Jeen was invited to share lead singing/song writing duties on Brendan Canning’s (of Broken Social Scene) Cookie Duster album, When Flying Was Easy.

She then dropped her last name and self produced three more solo albums in succession (Tourist, Modern Life, Gift Shop) which garnered regular radio rotation and much deserved attention from the likes of NPR, Billboard and Buzznet to name a few. Her songs have been used extensively in ad campaigns alongside many TV/film placements (MTV, Google, MasterCard, Molson, etc).

Jeen’s latest offering may be her strongest to date. Self-titled and slated for October 9, 2020, Jeen will release a 12-song LP co-produced by herself and Ian Blurton (Change of Heart, C’mon, Future Now). Recorded at Pro Gold in Toronto in 2019, this album features Ian Blurton on lead guitar, Stephan Szczesniak on drums, Ben O’Brien/Brendan Canning on bass, Jeff Heisholt on synths and a cameo by Kevin Fox on strings. Jeen is currently recording her next album. 


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Slow Weather - Great White Male.

In a time where everyone is looking back at the sounds that defined the blog-age the UK indiepop outfit Slow Weather find this perfect blend of Grandaddy, Gomez, and Badly Drawn Boy and let loose one of the most twisted little earworm potential pop-hits of October titled "Great White Male" off their upcoming EP 'Clean Living' on the Last Night From Glasgow. The track debuted earlier today at the Recoup.

Slow Weather is the new project from renowned producer and Catholic Action front man Chris McCrory and LNFG’s Annie Booth.

Annie and Chris first met when Annie was providing feature vocals on a Wojtek the Bear track. A big fan of his recording style, Annie then went into the studio with Chris to work on her Spectral EP. The process was extremely fun and organic, leading to talk of writing together for a new project.

After they penned their first song together in four hours, the two knew they’d stumbled across something exciting. The Clean Living EP, due for release later in 2020, was recorded mainly at Hermitage Works Studios in London, with the finishing touches added at Chris‘s home.

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Girlhood - It Might Take A Woman.

The new single from Girlhood is 'It Might Take a Woman', which is out now. It's the final single to be taken in advance of the band's debut LP which is out October 23 via Team Talk Records.

This new single finds the pair switching the pace again from the slow-burning groove of Queendom finding a sound the brings with it arresting rhythms and 90s house feel; thematically it looks to celebrate and embrace femaleness and what it means to singer in the group, Tessa Cavanna. 

To recap quickly, the band drew praise for previous material from the likes of Loud & Quiet, The yourselves at Best Fit, Wonderland, Complex, Clash and more for their Neo-soul, R&B and electronic sound – the pair, made up of Christian Pinchbeck and Tessa Cavanna, racked up quite the gig list with dates opening for Poliça and performing festival sets at Iceland Airwaves, Visions and Latitude.

The band has given their take on the sounds of late 90s/early 00s – Fugees, Avalanches and Neneh Cherry all come to mind – with particular favourites of mine such as ’The Love I Need’ earning support from Huw Stephens on his R1 Introducing show and Lauren Laverne. A key theme that runs through the record is Tessa Cavanna's exploration of womanhood and what it means in all its different forms, it’s a record of “transparency and honesty” and the "need to be loved, heard and understood.”

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Wild Pink - The Shining But Tropical.

Wild Pink are announcing their new album A Billion Little Lights, alongside their new single and video for "The Shining But Tropical", starring newly-minted Emmy-winner Annie Murphy (Schitt's Creek). The follow up to 2018's breakthrough Yolk In The Fur, which earned an 8.1 from Pitchfork, and garnered high praise from outlets like Stereogum, FADER, NPR, Paste and Uproxx, the album is the band's first record with Toronto-based label Royal Mountain Records, and will be released on February 19th, 2021.

Of the track, Wild Pink's leader John Ross explains: "It was inspired by Carl Sagan’s “Cosmos” as well as “If I Needed You” by Townes Van Zandt, this song is named for a grim retirement home in Florida. It’s about somebody who was born sheltered realizing how large the world is and how unimportant they are. Julia Steiner’s vocal contributions brought the song to fruition, and it was a lot of fun to make. We spent a lot of time focusing on the drums and percussion, using a phone recording of some cicadas in a quieter part towards the end of the song, and I really like all the stuff Dan came up with like the Agogo bells and Rototoms."

Annie Murphy explains a bit more about the video and the setting: "My family has a cabin in the middle of nowhere in rural Ontario that they use as a hunting camp every October. The previous owner was a woman named Mrs. Clark who lived there with her husband and sons in the 1940's. Though she had them as company, they all worked outside of the house, and most of the time she was very much alone, with no electricity and no running water. After many years of isolation and many long, dark winters, she walked into the woods one afternoon and killed herself.

My uncles, who I think would consider themselves "tough guys", have all had at least one strange and spooky encounter in their time at the hunting camp. Would they fully admit to seeing or hearing Mrs. Clark's ghost? No. But I would on their behalf.

This is a video loosely based on Mrs. Clark's story. When the crew set up the camera's for the first shot in the cabin, the monitor screen just showed static. Mike [McLaughlin, director of photography] was truly baffled and insisted he'd never seen this happen before. That's when my Uncle Pat stepped in and called up the stairs "Hi Mrs. Clark. It's me, Patrick. We're here to make a little film about you. It's respectful and nice and is telling your story, so we hope you don't mind". Five seconds later, the monitor started working. Thanks Mrs. Clark, I hope you like what we made!"

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Friday, 9 October 2020

Emma Miller - Thrillhouse - SOUP! (feat Meredith Adelaide - Meisha & The Spanks

Emma Miller just released a soothing and gently flowing singer-songwriter track called 'Sail Away'. ==== Back in March we featured 'Lesser' from Thrillhouse and they are back with 'If It's Important' which is a catchy fast moving and rhythmic song. ==== SOUP! share 'All To Myself' featuring Meredith Adelaide and between them they have created an original and vibrant modern pop track. ==== Miesha & The Spanks new song 'Wanna Feel Good' is a potent garage rocker that fires hooks in all directions.

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Emma Miller - Sail Away.

Following the release of her folk-tinged single “Honey”, Scottish artist Emma Miller returns with her introspective new track “Sail Away” - further demonstrating her inquisitive nature as a songwriter.

Experimenting with soft electronics and shimmering harmonies, “Sail Away” is a beautiful offering from the young artist. The delicate soundscape allows Emma’s powerful lyricism to take centre-stage, her warm vocals lapping gently against rumbling synth patterns and soft percussion.

“I wrote ‘Sail Away’ on a quiet evening at the end of 2018 when I was reflecting on what had been a fairly tumultuous year”, Emma explains. “I wanted to write the song from the perspective of what  a friend might say to me, rather than the critical inner voice we can slip into when we’re  feeling particularly inadequate. I hope when people listen, they’ll be comforted in the  knowledge that they’re doing just fine and no matter where you are in life, it’s ok to take  the road less travelled.”

Releasing music since 2017, Emma has taken a noticeable step back over the past 2 years. Instead, as she quietly watched and supported her peers to  find success in their own musical projects, she chose to diligently focus on her songwriting and began working on a body of music she could be proud of.

Like many artists and songwriters who’ve found themselves jaded by the music industry, it  wasn’t until Emma let go of the idea that music had to pay the bills that she fell head over  heels in love with it. Today, amongst other things, (such as roaming the Scottish hillsides and looking after her dog, Gracie) Emma is pursuing a Diploma in Counselling Psychology, supporting people in the quest to navigate their mental health.


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Thrillhouse - If It's Important.

Brighton's alt-indie band Thrillhouse return with their latest single If It's Important, a love letter to those that help you through the shit times and to anyone that pushes you to achieve your dreams however foolish they may seem.


Out today October 9th, If It's Important follows a string of self-produced releases snagging spots on Spotify's 'Hot New Bands', KEXP, XFM's John Kennedy and Amazing Radio. Steadily carving out a space for themselves in the alt-indie scene the Brighton trio are building momentum in anticipation of their debut album Enter Spacebar, due for release mid-2021.

Thrillhouse are purveyors of sincerity cushioned in good humour. The lyrics convey a sense of personal struggle that is joyfully balanced with melodic and layered production, pushed forward by driving beats and ecstatic hooks. Check out their vid for previous single, Lesser.

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SOUP! - All To Myself (feat. Meredith Adelaide).

London based Italo-British experimental duo SOUP! have teamed up with American singer and multimedia artist Meredith Adelaide for a transcending, metaphysical Pop gem. 

SOUP! and Meredith make a game-changing pairing, with SOUP! breaking rules and boundaries within the paradigms of Pop, and Meredith bringing their thoughtful honest lyrics and dreamy vocals. 

Meredith and the band met through the Rattle Collective, an international music network based in London and L.A., which allowed many artists to connect and cooperate during lockdown. Meredith recalls: “I’ve been trying to work with Gigi at The Rattle since I joined the Los Angeles crew. He started SOUP! as a way to not overthink creation and asked me if I’d be down to add vocals to a song. 

It happened during the pandemic. It was a time of transition when I was asking myself a lot of hard questions about what I actually wanted in and for my world”. The result is the single ‘All To Myself’, born out of a remote collaboration transcending physical borders. The new single maintains the essential ingredients of SOUP!’s debut ‘All The People’ - with their abstractionist approach, dystopian soundscapes and a symbiotic performance between the human and the machine.

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Miesha & The Spanks - Wanna Feel Good.

Miesha & The Spanks are a high octane garage rock duo from Calgary AB, made up of rock n roll matriarch Miesha Louie and her partner in crime, the hardest hitting Sean Hamilton on drums. Together they draw inspiration from classics like The Runaways, L7, and The Buzzcocks to create some modern noise that’s catchy enough to raise a fist and sing along.

Noise Journal describes them as “a filthy rocket of pure jet-fuel up the nostril, with surf rock sensibilities, a grunge groove and hair metal swagger,” while Canadian Beats called their last album “reminiscent of Queens of the Stone Age meets The Animals – a certain coolness about it, making it impossible to forget.”

They’ve made a name for themselves as a band who is here to stay. Since Miesha created The Spanks in 2008, she’s opened every door, and taken advantage of each opportunity that’s come her way. Tour after tour down Canadian highway to play every small town and big city, with as many drummers as are up to the task, until landing someone crazy enough to stick around.

Their 2018 release Girls Girls Girls was produced by Danny Farrant of UK Punk Legends The Buzzcocks. The album reached #1 on Earshot!’s National Loud charts, and had singles hit #7 on CBC 3’s R3-30, and #1 on the Indigenous Music Countdown. It was even given attention from Rodney Bingenheimer’s Sirius XM show Rodney On The Rock.

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Emily B - aibai & vinny - Echo Valley - Alice Phoebe Lou

Emily B - Got To Get Your Own. Got To Get Your Own is an beautiful song that's hard to place in any one specific genre, it's a bit ...