BEEHIVE CANDY

Soft Science - Undone / I Don't Know Why I Love You. Background -  Dream-gaze syndicate Soft Science have announced a new double A-side single 'Undone / I Don't Know Why I Love You', to be released via Test Pattern Records. This includes 'Undone', the first single off their forthcoming third album 'Maps', and a blissful sanguine cover of the classic House of Love track 'I Don't Know Why I Love You'. This single finds the band flirting in grand waters between My Bloody Valentine on 'Undone' and The Primitives on 'I Don't Know Why I Love You', offering the listener a distinctive mix of sweetness and fury. ‘Undone’ is essentially about loving someone through good times and bad. It is about accepting that although there will always be hard times in life, it makes things easier to go through tough days with people you love. For me, those times make me love them more. That  unwavering love can be like a light,” explains Sof...

Almanac Mountain - Jane. Background - Almanac Mountain is the ever-evolving experimental pop project of New England songwriter/composer Chris Cote. Whereas his 2016 full-length Cryptoseismology represented an assertive move towards more challenging conceptual work, his latest, an EP titled Black Collar Vices is a shift towards more straightforward songwriting and pop structure. However, this shift is not a full-bore retreat from the inventiveness of previous releases, but a more economical distillation of Chris’s core compositional approach. Collaborator Brian James acted as co-producer for the EP and also penned the chamber pop ballad “Perfect For Company” which closes Black Collar Vices. In crafting the sound for Black Collar Vices, Chris revisited the chorus and delay heavy acoustic guitar and vocal treatment that characterized the sound of Almanac Mountain’s first EP, 2010’s When In Nature. BANDCAMP , FACEBOOK . The musical production on 'Jane' is crisp and clear  prov...

Saltwater Sun - The Wire. Background - Hand In Hive signees Saltwater Sun return with tenacious new offering The Wire, reaffirming their irresistible blend of guitar pop on a whole new level. Marshalled by frontwoman Jen Stearnes’ gritty yet infectious vocals, the Reading quintet’s first release of 2018 boasts stratospheric hooks, explosive guitars and delicious harmonies, elevating them right back alongside their indie peers. Having spent the last 18 months working on new material after drawing widespread acclaim from the online community and BBC Introducing, the five-piece are now gearing up for a hectic year with a slew of festival dates and releases in the pipeline. Discussing their forthcoming single, the band stated: “Recently I think we’ve found ourselves part of a society divided by misinformation and distrust. The Wire is taking a look at the turbulent times we live in; the world’s never been so connected, yet it’s very easy to feel detached”. Produced by Alex Loring, Sal...

Flower Face - April To Death. Background - Flower Face is Ruby Mckinnon, a 19-year-old songwriter from Ontario, Canada, whose voice stretches far beyond her years. Taking her musical cues from an eclectic range of influences, her sound sits somewhere between Conor Oberst, Big Thief and The National. ‘April To Death’, taken from new album Baby Teeth, sounds upbeat yet deals with the disillusion that comes with being a human being, and the various methods we use to cope with life, in Ruby’s words “whether that be drugs or dropping out of school or meaningless encounters. It's kind of a cynical take on all the things we do to make life a bit less painful, they feel so passionate and important at the time, but really they're pretty empty.” Having played piano from the age of 5 and picked up the guitar to record her songs at 15, Flower Face has forged her way as an independent artist for years, amassing 125K+ streams on recent single ‘Honey and Milk’ with no label support or ma...

Tonota 80 - Could Do Better. Background - With a moniker taken from a vaporising device featured in the 1970's sci-fi novel 'A Whirlpool Of Stars, UK punk-rock trio 'Tonota 80' transmit news that their new album 'Killer Sands And Beating Hearts' will be released via UK/US label Engineer Records on 23rd March 2018. Originally becoming acquainted through a chance meeting in their local record store; the Maidstone/Kent based musicians David Bloomfield (Vox/Guitar), Richard Pronger (Bass/Vox) and John Edwards (Drums) met again several years later and hatched 'Tonota 80' upon the UK music scene.  Despite the band being firmly routed in old school British punk reverie, the 3 piece bring in subtle influences from an myriad of genres. Citing the likes of Husker Du, Dinosaur Jr, Swervedriver and Radio Birdman as some of their most influential peers - Tonota 80 are encased with a penchant for brash guitar riffs, colossal melodic hooks and 60's inspire...

The Claudettes - Don't Stay with Me / Pull Closer To Me. Background - An old upright piano, a snarling electric bass, Phil Spector-ized booming drums and seductive Cool School vocals get into a punk-blues brawl at the studio of Grammy-winning Black Keys producer Mark Neill. On their head-spinning new album, The Claudettes summon vaudeville blues, ’60s soul and Cramps-like psychobilly. Behold Dance Scandal at the Gymnasium!, the band’s third full-length for Yellow Dog Records and first to feature their touring lineup of piano, drums, “Bass VI” guitar and three singers. Pianist/songwriter Johnny Iguana airs grievances about the numbing and divisive effects of an Internet-dominated world all across these songs. “Nobody knows how to talk to each other these days,” begins the song “Give It All Up for Good,” while “Bill Played Saxophone” follows American political nemeses through periods of smoldering bitterness and revenge fantasies. “Death and Traffic” begs for stories of saved live...

Rich Girls - Wayne. Background - Garage/art rock trio Rich Girls share their new track, "Wayne," the second single off their forthcoming debut full-length release, Black City. The album was recorded by Travis Harrison at Serious Business, Brooklyn and Sean Beresford at Blighty Sound, San Francisco. It was mastered by John Greenham at Infrasonic. Black City is due out April 6th via Tricycle Records. Rich Girls return with a heady new pop sound and nine songs that pull their minimal garage into ambitious new territory. Songwriter Luisa Black unveils a new sonic toolkit, adding vintage synths, dark marimbas and ambitious melodies to the trademark Rich Girls verbed-out sound. The songs are awash in contrasts, veering between aggresssion and tenderness with lyrics about insurrection (“In the Street”), a power ballad about post-addiction love (“Wayne”) and the band’s biggest departure yet, a slurry synth-driven track set to a motorik beat (“Hit”). Black channels the zeitgeist ...

Team Picture - (I Want Your) Life Hack. Background - Leeds-based six-piece, Team Picture have just shared their new single ‘(I Want Your) Life Hack’ released through Big Dumb Music Ltd. In line with sharing the new single the band have announced details of their Matt Peel-produced (previously Autobahn, Pulled Apart By Horses, Eagulls) 7-track mini-album ‘Recital’ (via Big Dumb Music), due for release on June 1, 2018. The band will support the release with a full UK tour throughout May and June, taking in festival dates at The Great Escape and Liverpool Sound City, before headlining The Shacklewell Arms, London on May 31, 2018 and The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds on June 1, 2018 - their largest headline show to date - full dates and ticket links below. Split into two contrasting halves of three songs with a segue track running through the middle, ‘Recital’ is in part attuned to the band’s sagacious take on pop whilst also touching on their temperament for caustic guitar. Released e...

Thyla - I Was Biting. Background - Brighton’s emerging indie juggernauts Thyla launch their sprawling new single I Was Biting, capitalising on an exhilarating start to 2018 that’s seen them tipped for major success at both press and radio. Spotlighted alongside Pale Waves, Nilüfer Yanya and Sorry in NME’s 100 Essential Acts for 2018, the post-punk outfit have since finished their first ever UK tour supporting Inheaven, drawing rave reviews and attracting plenty of fanfare across the country. Named by Huw Stephens (Radio 1) as one of his Alternative Tips for 2018, the four-piece undeniably live up to these expectations in this intense new offering. Lead by frontwoman Millie Duthie’s soaring vocals, the band’s limitless potential is exemplified once more in a collection of sky-scraping hooks and gripping guitars bursting with fury. Discussing the single, the quartet stated: “I Was Biting is about dystopian aspects of modern society and a discontent for it. We talk about a unanimous ...