Ali Sperry - LUIANNA - Josie Bello - The Hourglass Effect

Ali Sperry - In Your Dreams.

Of "In Your Dreams," co-written with friend and fellow artist Carey Ott, Ali says: "As artists, one’s own authenticity and unique perspective is our greatest asset and in some ways, it feels like it’s all we really have. Our ability to look at something and respond as ourselves and reflect back in our own authentic way is crucial. 

The goal is to create art that is un-self-conscious, that is our own truth, and not trying to be something we think might be trendy or popular or 'cool.' 'Don’t worry, don’t be sorry, say it' is the repeating mantra of this song and it is what I have endeavored to do throughout this record, and as I move forward through my life."

The album features collaborations with some of Nashville's finest: Allison Russell, Kyshona, Natalie Schlabs, Jill Andrews, and more. At a time of desperately missing making music in a room with other people, Ali and her husband, producer Jamie Dick, made a virtual room in which to gather friends to contribute their voices and ideas. When daily life was often feeling like Groundhog Day, working on this record gave Ali a creative purpose.

It's not a record about the pandemic, but it was very much informed by the stillness of life at that time. The concurrence between our new quieter, slower daily pace with the intense political atmosphere of 2021, including the racial reckoning that was taking place in our country and the echoes of the #metoo movement still active in the public discourse, spilled into a batch of beautifully executed, Laurel Canyon-esque songs about mortality, our place in the universe, how we treat one another and ourselves, and what we are passing along to the next generation.

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LUIANNA - Lying To Me.

Alt-pop newcomer LUIANNA kicks off 2022 with the release of her celestial new single Lying To Me, released on 4th February 2022.

Taken from her upcoming debut EP Skiá, Lying To Me is a brooding slice of atmospheric electronica oozing with sonically dark twists and turns throughout. Written weeks before LUIANNA found out her partner was having an affair, the single has become a powerfully emotive and highly relatable premonition for what was to come.

LUIANNA elaborates, “the song told me it was happening. I didn’t know until I wrote it and when I went to see him, it all fell into place. I love how songwriting can do this, predict. I put this down to the subconscious knowing what you have not yet understood; being in a space writing freely channels into the subconscious.”

LUIANNA - aka Jasmine Luianna Emslie - was born in London, brought up in South Wales and has since spent the past fifteen years between Bristol and Berlin. Her upcoming EP was recorded in The Famous Gold Watch Studio in Berlin. With Skiá, LUIANNA hopes to captive listeners further with her unique blend of intimate electro-pop.

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Josie Bello - Resilience.

Resilience is Josie Bello’s third full-length studio album.  Resilience is a collection of nine tracks of new original material covering a multitude of subjects and moods —revealing a more introspective side to Josie’s lyrics.  The music is a mix of Americana styles encompassing Folk, Country and Rock. In addition to Josie’s lead vocals, accordion and keys, the players feature Mike Nugent on guitar, bass and dojo and Shawn Murray on drums. Jim Small’s emotive harmonica and Richie Guerrero and Sean Dolan on percussion add texture and depth to the sound on a number of the tracks.

Josie’s first two albums, Have Purpose Live Long (2020) and Can’t Go Home (2018), were met with positive reviews both in the U.S. and in Europe, and extensive radio play and chart placements. The album Have Purpose Live Long ranked #17 on the Folk Alliance International  Radio Chart (Aug 2020) while Josie ranked #24 on their Top Artist List that same month.  Josie was named on the Euro-Americana Radio Chart in the “ones to watch” category (Aug 2020) and her album Have Purpose Live Long continues to place on the RMR (Roots Music Report) Top 50 Folk Radio Chart over one year since it’s release— making it to the Top 5 Folk Album Chart 28 times!  Josie’s first album, Can’t Go Home,  placed on the “RMR Best of 2019 Charts”— #29 NYS RMR Album Chart,  #36 Roots Rock Album Chart and #68 Rock Chart. Her first album Can’t Go Home broke in to the top 200 on the Americana Music Radio Chart.

Josie’s music has been reviewed and written about in the following print and online publications: Americana Highways,  NYS Music, FATEA Records UK, Midwest Record, The Bandcamp Diaries, Americana UK, The Rocking Magpie, INK 19, Cheers To The Vikings, The Sound Cafe, Take Effect Reviews and Rootstime Belgium. Two of Josie’s tracks were picked up by Aldora Britain Records (ABR) for compilation albums: Not The America Of My Dreams on the ABR compilation album Remember (2020) and Happy Independence Day on the ABR compilation album Candy Cane (2021).  Both albums are available for sale on Bandcamp.

 

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The Hourglass Effect - But Anyways.

“But Anyways” is self written by artist and songwriter Drew Brashear, produced by multi-instrumentalist Dave Hardman and vocalist Erin Fox-Clough. But Anyways is the outcome of a peak covid-time jam session in their efforts to stay creative and push through the negative situation worldwide, which was then arranged and turned into the first track of the self-titled album.

The Hourglass Effect came about from a serendipitous meeting in a parking lot.

Spotting flame-haired singer Erin clutching a guitar heading to a recording studio, songwriter Drew struck up conversation. It just so happened that Dave was her music teacher at the studio, and together, the three bonded over their shared vision for Drew’s songs.

As soon as Drew heard Erin sing, he began to write with her passionate, arresting voice in mind.

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The Selenites - Handsome and the Humbles - Jana Pochop - Niagara Moon - Debora Rusch

The Selenites - I Won't Go.

Blinded by love, people make mistakes that are difficult to explain logically, however our passion and devotion to things we love is what makes us human. Occasionally it’s good to forget about our very rational mind. For that reason The Selelnites created their latest single  “I Won`t Go" as a hymn of praise to the gut feeling and matters of the heart.

"The Selenites" - Sebastian Pichler (vocals, guitar), Thomas Berndl (drums) and Paul Hangler (backing vocals, upright bass) - are a three headed Rock'n'Roll band from Austria, who are dedicated to infect the world with their unique style of Rock'n'Roll. They play and interpret Rock'n'Roll as well as the different genres of Rockabilly (50s, 60s, Neo) in their own and new way, mixing it with elements of Surf and even Garage. 

After their founding in 2018 the band already released their first album „Moon Madness“ in August 2020 and are now back with new material. From guitar, upright bass, drums and an inimitable voice they created a mix that catches you and is second to none in the Rock'n'Roll world. Just like their former album the new song was created on an authentic live recording in the studio, an analog mix and was refined with a tape master - well just like back in the old days.

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Handsome and the Humbles - 400 Cigarettes (E.P).

In his day job, the gig that pays the bills until his band — Handsome and the Humbles — gets the recognition (and the payday) it so richly deserves, Josh Smith spends his days listening.

He’s a physical therapist assistant, and that merry twinkle in his eyes and ever-present smile puts his patients at ease. As he encourages them and puts them through the routines that bring their frail and wounded bodies back to health, they open up to the East Tennessee boy, and in turn, he gives them his mind and his imagination as well as his hands.

“It gets you thinking about things,” he says. “Hearing about people who have been through a lot more than I have makes me think, ‘How would I handle that? Am I as good as this person?’ I’m a lucky guy — I’ve got a great family and great friends, and I wonder sometimes what my life would be if I had to go through what they have.”

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Jana Pochop - Maps.

"Since I have been a full-on freelancer for over a decade, I think I have reached a point of success in that I get to dictate my days and no two days are alike." says Jana Pochop, a self-proclaimed nerd with a penchant for pop songs, wandering and slow drip coffee. Joining the ranks of fellow do-it-yourself Texan Troubadours such as Susan Gibson, Jeff Plankenhorn and Terri Hendrix, Jana has long since mastered the art of creating your own destiny and teaching other songwriters the importance of the pivot. Case in point, the completion of her newest record, 'The Astronaut', during a worldwide pandemic that sent us all to our knees.

A project born in 2019, shelved due to the hectic (pre-covid) life of a traveling musician, waiting to truly start then finish the album turned out to be serendipitous. As the world shut down, the creators opened up - both indelible acts of survival. New ways to collaborate were placed on the proverbial table and Jana, along with Producer Daniel Barrett, took this opportunity, masked up and ran - straight to Congress House Studio in Austin. With Mark Hallman now on board to engineer the rolling process, Pochop recorded her vocals and guitar parts in just two days, which speaks to the creative, resilient force that she aims to keep well-fed.

Jana hails from the culturally rich Albuquerque, NM, where she earned a degree in History from the University of New Mexico, all the while cutting her teeth at coffee shops, street corners, and folk festivals. She says it was at the University where she learned how to learn…a skill that she uses constantly while maneuvering the ever-changing music business. Jana honed her performance chops at gigging and opening slots, and in 2006, moved to Austin to close the gap in her pursuit of a career in music. Jana immersed herself in the Texas music scene, playing clubs, house concerts, and anywhere that would have her. In 2019, the opportunity to have a residency at the legendary Threadgill's presented itself, and Jana shared the stage with a new guest each Wednesday for her Midweek Modern Troubadours Series. She also joined Kiya Heartwood’s band on electric guitar and toured Ireland, the U.K., playing Fringe Festivals in Edinburgh and The Isle of Wight.

Jana Pochop · The Astronaut - Jana Pochop

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Niagara Moon - Bad Vibes.

 Niagara Moon debut single is "Bad Vibes".  The track is "a parody of paranoia. A satire of superstition. “Bad Vibes” explores how fear can lead to consuming misinformation. Current events being what they are, there’s a lot to get spooked over. And certain circles of the internet can make things feel even worse…" confides Niagara Moon.

Reminiscent of Beach Boys meets Thom York with a Willy Wonka lens, "Bad Vibes" takes the listener on an unexpected sonic journey.

Currently based in Massachusetts USA, Niagara Moon formed during a three-year period of living and studying in Kyoto, Japan. The name itself inspired by a 70's Japanese pop artist, the NM ethos is that of finding calm, balance, and room for self-expression in a world of close-mindedness, over-activity and malaise. A whimsical forest to escape to in solitude, and let the mind wander to new and exciting places.

In the past few years of accruing a modest following through online videos, a weekly Niagara Moon Podcast (featuring many guest artists), and livestreams, I've been able to holistically develop my branding, look, and fan avatar to better reach the most engaged audience - writers, vinyl collectors/Beatles and ELO diehards, art & film school students, etc.

More on the upcoming new album Good Dreams: While the world fell into discord and confusion, Niagara Moon calmly and comfortably sussed out the situation from afar - injecting his wry observations into songs that assure the listener "the world may not be ok, but you can be."

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Debora Rusch - Do You Remember.

With her last single 'Grey' Debora Rusch has already achieved a lot and landed in the playlists of numerous radios all over Europe.

Now the Jonerin releases her originally planned summer song in the middle of winter! Why actually? Where subdued mood, cold and colorlessness prevail, music should cheer up. Where there are fewer adventures and opportunities to experience, is to be smoldered in memories.

On February 04, 2022, her second single «Do You Remember» brings warmth straight home. From gray to colorful, from melancholy to the most inspiring times. Let's dive into poppy soul feeling with cheeky reggea flavor and let ourselves be carried away by the supporting trumpet sounds. Get out of the daily grind and dive into your own stories.

Recognize that every moment we experience in the now is already given in the next second of the past. ...So we better consciously make it a precious memory....

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Ellen Arthur Blyth - Dana Gavanski - Many Voices Speak

Ellen Arthur Blyth - Young Ones.

Ellen Arthur Blyth is a Dublin based singer songwriter. Her unique, soulful sound blends classic artists such as Billie Holiday and Peggy Lee with contemporary hints of Katie Melua and Lana Del Ray. Honing her craft over the years Ellen is excited to unveil her debut album ‘Nine’ in 2022. Leading up to the album release is her new single ‘Young Ones’. With a seductive vocal line and jazz-infused instrumentation, the new offering is a tantalizing tease of what we can expect more of from Ellen Arthur Blyth.

“It's less about falling in love and more about choosing to stay in love, trying to find magic and playfulness with someone in the mundane of the everyday. It's striving to be someone’s safe place in a world that can seem overwhelming at times. Love is a choice and so it’s important how we frame it.” Ellen shares.

The track was recorded as part of her upcoming debut album ‘Nine’ in Hell Fire Studios, Dublin and produced by Alex Borwick, head engineer at the famed Grouse Lodge studios in Ireland.

The impressive sound walks a tightrope of consonance and dissonance, nostalgia and joy, resulting in a finely poised drama of soft, lilting melody and haunting wistfulness. The vocal, at once resonant, is at times achingly honest and captivates from beginning to end. With the plethora of talent behind it, ‘Nine’ does not sing like the debut album it is, but instead stands as an accomplished piece, unapologetic, stylish, and yet encapsulating the fears and aspirations of a nine-year old girl tottering about in her sister’s high heels whilst belting out numbers into her hairbrush.

 

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Photo - Clementine Schneidermann

Dana Gavanski - Indigo Highway.

There’s something mesmerizing about the fingertips of Dana Gavanski. Conducting each note with a light gracefulness, they appear to dance whilst aiding their owner in expressing the stories behind each of her lighter-than-air tones. Stories which, on her new album When It Comes – out April 29 via Flemish Eye (and Full Time Hobby outside of North America)  – may never have been heard if not for healing ‘lost’ vocal cords and a lesson in taking the rough with the smooth.

“In many ways this record feels like it is my first,” Dana tells. “When I could use my voice, I had to focus so there is an urgency and greater emotional trajectory than before… it’s very connected to vocal presence, which extended into an existential questioning of my connection to music. It felt like a battle at times, which I frequently lost.”

Arriving where introversion and extroversion meet, When It Comes is Dana’s most vulnerable record to date. A Canadian-Serbian artist unafraid of extremes, she seamlessly blends her love of music from the 50s-70s with mythology. Led by instinct in its purest form, Dana’s latest chapter is an ode to the voice as an instrument – its power, and how intricately it can deliver words to tug at, and tie knots in, every heartstring. “Words can be taken quite literally, but to me, a lot of the time, they are pivots. They point in a direction but don’t necessarily stay there,” she says.

The follow-up to her 2020 debut Yesterday Is Gone was started in Montreal, ended in Belgrade, recorded back in London at Total Refreshment Centre, and then mixed by Mike Lindsay (Tunng, Lump). It offers something altogether more atmospheric and widescreen, as heard in the idiosyncratic carnival arpeggio grooves of the first single "Indigo Highway."

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Photo - Julia Mard

Many Voices Speak - Seat For Sadness.

Many Voices Speak has announced her return with second album 'Gestures', released on 29th April via Strangers Candy. Many Voices Speak, the project of Swedish musician Matilda Mård, has always found its power in its ability to capture an eternity in an expression. Mård’s elegant, yearning dream-pop makes the world seem to slow down around it, where time stretches out, and you can get lost in the deep pools of memory and emotion. After the success of her 2018 debut 'Tank Town,' her new album 'Gestures' showcases her growth as a songwriter, one more comfortable in her own skin.

The first single taken from the new record is 'Seat for Sadness'. “The verse of this song kind of came to me all at once. Then it took quite a long time until I got the rest of the song out of me", Matilda recalls, "I lived in Berlin at the time and rented a piano room at a music school, and most of the hours spent in there I was searching for the rest of the song. It wasn’t until me and Petter Nygårdh had started recording the album back home in Sweden, that I came up with the melody that would become the chorus. The new chorus pushed us in a new direction by making the whole song require something more. We had only brought a small part of the home studio to a country house to escape the noise from the neighbour’s renovation, but we found an acoustic guitar in that house that ended up being an important part of Seat For Sadness, and later on an important part of the album as a whole.”

Working with longtime producer Petter Nygårdh, the writing process, and how Mård thinks about it, grew into something new on 'Gestures'. She wrote the early versions of the songs on piano, as she always has. But before, she thought as a singer-songwriter, determined to make the songs stand up on their own, in their stripped-back version. Here, she wrote them merely as beginnings, aware of the possibility to evolve them into something more. “I want to capture these things that I can’t really put my finger on”, says Mård. “The lyrics have become more important for me. I’ve put a lot of trust in the text this time. I could explore this darker and more cinematic sound, I didn’t just think about writing a pop song”. That step made for an album that presents a more mature, developed vision of Many Voices Speak.

As well as an artist, the album has seen Mård grow as a person through writing it. Each song represents an issue she has struggled with - they tell a story of unspectacular, but deeply meaningful, transformation. Mård says “What unites the songs is a need for inner change, to handle the things in life that can’t be changed. I’m creating strategies for myself - new ways of thinking, so I can live with certain things. The title comes from that. I’ve figured out that gestures are important because they’re proof of love, and that’s the only power we have against death and separation”. It’s a theme that’s very personal to Mård, but one that resonates with a lot of people – something that could be said about Many Voices Speak itself. The stargazing mood of Gestures makes for an album that’s powerfully moving, one that creates a space apart from the noise of the world around it – a little retreat for Mård, and her listeners, to call their own.

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Andrew Ryan - Jody and the Jerms - Ghosts Of Torrez

Andrew Ryan - Midwest Kids.

Andrew Ryan announces the release of his Americana single, “Midwest Kids,” out today. The single is off the album, A Tiny Death, due out April 1 on Delete Yourself. “Midwest Kids”  revolves around the growing pains of figuring out who you are or where you belong, even within yourself.

“Midwest Kids” serves as a guide to navigating life, the good or the bad, from childhood through adulthood. Ryan says, “Being a father, I’m starting to see my daughter try to navigate the same waters that we all swim through.” The single is an open letter to Ryan’s daughter, who moved from being a kid to becoming a pre-teen when he wrote the song.

After spending so much time on the road, Ryan found a kindred spirit in William Least Heat-Moon’s book Blue Highways. In fact, on his upcoming album, he wrote the song “Heat Moon” about the fellow traveler. The book chronicles Heat-Moon’s journey across back highways (blue highways), where he encounters a diverse group of people along the way while discovering more about himself in the process. Ryan says, “I find inspiration in everything I experience, the people I meet, the places I’ve been, and the difficulties that life presents. I credit a lot of it to touring and being on the road.”

“Midwest Kids,” the first single set for release, revolves around the growing pains of trying to figure out who you are or where you belong, even within yourself. Ryan says, “Being a father, I’m starting to see my daughter try to navigate the same waters that we all swim through.” “All My Life” follows the struggle of trying to do the right thing or understanding if what you’re doing at the time is the right thing or not.

Jay Burgess (The Pollies), Alden Hedges (American Aquarium), Daniel Wolff (Dead Horses), and  Will Walden (StaG) were just a few of the friends and artists who contributed to the album. It was all recorded from everyone’s home or home studio, except for some backing vocals recorded at Native Sound in St. Louis, Missouri.

Andrew Ryan · Midwest Kids

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Jody and the Jerms - Heavenly.

True to its title, it’s a track of divine indie-pop that finds the Oxford-via-Wales band harking back to the genre’s golden era. For a track written in hell-on-earth (i.e. a traffic jam going over Henley Bridge as the band made their way to the studio one day), “Heavenly” defies all expectations with its saintly vocals, shimmering guitars and sunkissed melodies.

A bittersweet love song that will play a serenade on your heart strings, “Heavenly” is all “about the perils of falling for someone head-over-heels and how that plays out” says Jody.

Written and recorded on the same day in October of last year, the song is a beam of warmly fuzzy guitar pop laced with all the promises of new romance and new beginnings around the corner, yet spun with the reclusive cautiousness familiar to any indie kid finding their way.

Earning a dedicated fan in the late broadcaster Janice Long, the new single was aired for the very first time when Jody & The Jerms were invited into what would be the DJ’s last ever live session on 20th December 2021, shortly before her passing.

“Heavenly” is the lead single and opening track of Jody & The Jerms’ upcoming second album, ‘Flicker’ which they also announce today. Confirmed for release on 4th March 2022 via their own JATJ imprint, ‘Flicker’ arrives less than 18 months after the surprise hit of their lockdown-released debut ‘Deeper’ (released Autumn 2020).

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Ghosts Of Torrez - The Legend of Billy The Whale.

Ghosts Of Torrez released their first single (The Return) during the second lockdown in 2021 to critical acclaim and the follow up ‘Closer’ following later in that year. In 2022 the band will release their debut LP and have already started taking their cinematic style, psychedelic, electro-folk to the live arena (more live dates TBC).

Their new single ‘The Wailing’ is due to be released on the 11/02/2022 on all streaming services, followed by a limited free, Flex-Disc release in early March

‘The Wailing’ is accompanied by a Manga style video, “The Legend of Billy The Whale” (The Wailing/Whaling – who doesn’t love a play on words), which depicts the desperation of a broken, Captain Ahab type figure, vengefully taking on the beast he holds responsible for the death of his loved ones.

Taking their lead from bands such as Explosions in the Sky, Joy Division, Sigur Ros and Mogwai, GOT build their songs from soft, slow beginnings into cinematic style wonders.

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