-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HUSSY, the moniker of Sophie Nicole Ellison, has been tucked away in South East London creating her trademark alt-pop sound, perfectly encapsulated in newest offering, ‘YLMD’. The multi-instrumentalist moved from North East England to London and has been playing drums for various bands and working as a studio engineer. During this time, she started writing for HUSSY, her avant-garde dream pop project.
Having only released three singles since October 2019, she has quickly worked up a reputation as one of the most exciting new alt-pop acts around. Like (Sandy) Alex G, Jay Som, Ty Segall, Sophie plays, produces and layers all of the instrumentation entirely herself. Gathering support at DIY, So Young, The Line of Best Fit and Clash, she recently supported FEELS and Lala Lala, whilst also being invited back to The New Colossus Festival in New York for 2020 after playing this March.
A pivotal release for HUSSY, ‘YLMD’ is the first track to have spent longer in the studio than Sophie’s bedroom with a particular focus on production: “I really wanted to up what I’ve been doing sonically. Before now I’d been recording nearly everything at home but went to a proper studio to redo some elements from the original home demo.” As a talented musician, being a multi-instrumentalist became a kind of superpower: “The whole process became a reaffirmation of how/ why I make music the way I do. Playing everything myself enables me to immerse myself in the creative process and in the end became a form of self-empowerment, something I wanted to prove to myself I could continue to do”
Although the message of ‘YLMD’ is moody, musically it feels “dramatic and fun, inspired by new wave ballads with some conflicting noise underneath.” Sophie explains “I could almost say at this stage it has become a love letter to self-empowerment and things going wrong. You can guess once you hear the lyrics, YLMD stands for You Let Me Down. I wrote it a few years ago and feels like it’s almost taken on a new meaning for me now than when I wrote it. Originally it was the frustration over seeing loved one’s self-destruction. Ultimately though, it’s a journey of reflection and self-empowerment.”
Emerging as a completely independent artist, HUSSY’s steady rise seems shrouded in strength and she puts it best herself: “This song has become a reminder of how important trusting yourself is to me."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fresh from a creative slumber, Sydney bedroom-pop act Lannigan have dreamt up a single for the tender hearts and those lost in love with Where Do We Go From Here.
The silky guitars and pillowy synths in Where Do We Go From Here are the perfect support as Lannigan explores the feeling of uncertainty experienced in a relationship when you’re not sure whether staying or going is the right thing to do. His calm but sonorous voice leaves you staring into the ceiling, exhaling, relaxing into the songs charmingly therapeutic vibe.
Lannigan is the studio project of singer-songwriter Ben Roach. The project started in 2015, when Ben started working closely with producer and high school friend Luke Payne. The initial stages of the project were made up of mainly love songs played and written on acoustic guitar. However, after years of writing and recording music together, their partnership has developed and the sound of Lannigan has matured immensely with their debut single High attracting positive reviews from Eastside 89.7FM and was even added to Good Intent’s Weekly Playlists.
Majority of the track was recorded at Parliament Studios in Leichardt, Sydney. The mellow maturity of the song’s production belies the extent of the how fully the sentiment sits within the confusion and yearning of young love, Where Do We Go From Here has a low-key approach to a good groove and but a rousing sense of song. All things considered, Lannigan know exactly what they’re doing.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From playing on the streets of Boston to now performing in venues across the globe, the duo of Paul Wright and Tim Harrington, together known as TALL HEIGHTS, have built a career from the ground up, diligently as a relentless touring act. It’s been a journey of consistent evolution for the longtime best friends – everything from instrumentation to production to the size of their band has changed throughout the years, hand-in-hand with an ever-growing audience of listeners. Yet with all of this change, there remains a distinct DNA that courses through the entirety of Tall Heights’ music. The potency of their sound cannot be credited to harmony alone, but rather a unique union of two distinct voices that makes the music inarguably their own.
Tall Heights’ story begins just outside of Boston in Sturbridge, MA, where Paul became close friends with Tim’s elder brother. Two years Tim’s senior, Paul grew up in a family of classically-trained musicians, taking up the cello at a young age, while Tim, the middle brother of three boys, grew up in a household largely devoid of music. While Paul was a consistent fixture in Tim’s life, it wasn’t until high school, when they both took up playing the guitar, that the two began working on music together. Paul recalls, “This kid who had been my best friend’s little brother, not someone I had ever felt connected to, was suddenly my best bud with a shared dream.” Tim echoes the statement, describing himself as the “eternal little brother” and musing on the disparate beginnings that eventually evolved into the musical partnership it is today.
Flash forward to 2018 and the twosome continue on their biggest winning streak yet; with 130 million streams under their belt and touring alongside the likes of Ben Folds, CAKE, Judah & the Lion and Colony House, they now gear up for their sophomore album Pretty Colors For Your Actions. Co-produced by Oliver Hill and Steve Wall (both of whom worked with the group on their 2016 LP Neptune), the 11-track album is a sonic universe where man-made instrumentation meets grandiose, contemporary production. Stepping back from the production-heavy, synthetic palette of Neptune, (itself a reaction in part to the acoustic instrumentation of 2015’s Man of Stone), Pretty Colors For Your Actions was recorded with a live band in-studio, creating what Tim describes as, “something much more alive and tactile,” than their previous work.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Smoke Fairies have released ‘Elevator’, the lead single and the latest to be teased from their upcoming new album ‘Darkness Brings The Wonders Home’ (out January 31st 2020). ‘Elevator’ finds Smoke Fairies at their most fierce and riff-heavy.
Talking about the origins of the song, Katherine Blamire explains “Someone said to me ‘I never say goodbye in elevators’ and then the doors rolled shut and I whizzed off upwards. The exchange spurred this song - there is no way of knowing what is going on in someone else’s mind and sometimes it just feels like you’re kind of lost, like being in an elevator stuck between floors, trying to figure them out”.
“The song is set in Hollywood. How many weird exchanges, miscommunications and career breaks and falls must have taken place inside of Hollywood elevators?”
In support of the release of ‘Darkness Brings The Wonders Home’, Smoke Fairies will play an 8 date UK tour, their first full headline tour in the UK in 5 years. It follows a sold-out single launch show played in London last month in association with Rough Trade to celebrate the release of a limited edition 7” picture disc of tracks “Out Of The Woods” and “Disconnect” (which sold out on pre-order and landed the band at #3 in the UK Vinyl Singles chart).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LA-based singer-songwriter Albon creates folk inspired indie rock falling somewhere between the dreamy lineage of The Beach Boys, Grizzly Bear, (Sandy) Alex G and the whimsical soundtrack to Disney’s 1953 rendition of Peter Pan.
Albon, originally from Chicago, has clearly taken in what California's Pacific Coast Highway has to offer, as his new EP Dream Weaver/Bee Keeper shines with motifs dealing with loss, exploration, and a general sense of wanderlust. The music is perfect for those long drives where you zone out and effortlessly seem to have a deep emotional journey play out in your mind. Furthermore, it’s interesting that Albon cites Peter Pan as a defining influence, as his material is indelibly linked to the nostalgia of his youth and the darkness and power associated with attaining your childhood dreams.
Alexander B. Lappin aka Albon, began making music in his Northern Chicago suburban bedroom at the age of 12. Initially, he played his dad’s nylon string guitar upside down. Lappin quotes, that playing the guitar upside down was most likely caused by his learning disabilities which included symptoms similar to ADHD. Currently, Albon’s style of writing is informed by “upside down mind” as he tends to write songs backwards, starting with the end and working his way to the beginning of the song. Lappin’s public musical career has been somewhat limited due to his perfectionist qualities, as he has a library of over 150 plus finished songs, but has only released 14. Plublossums (2014), was Albons first attempt at creating a cohesive body of work, as he wrote, engineered, and recorded everything on the record. The album was eventually picked up by LA tape label Hellhole Supermarket.
Clearly, leaps and bounds have been made as Albon’s new EP, Dream Weaver/Be Keeper, embraces space when necessary yet allows for bursts of dense sonic compositions to enlighten the listeners experience, driven by sincerity, exploration, and heavy pop hooks. The songs are embellished by myriad of orchestral instruments and interesting pop production techniques such as pitch shifted vocals and soaring harmonies. The EP was recorded at Tropico Beauty, a studio created by LA’s native Hartunian brothers which opened one year ago, but has none the less hosted acts such as Devendra Banhart, Alex Bleaker (Real Estate), and Florist amongst many other reputable artists. Dream Weaver/ Bee Keeper was tracked with the help of artist’s Cameron Wisch (Porches), Alexander Babbit (LAG), and Sasha Smith.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A few weeks after the official release of their new album 'Transgenic', Swiss psych-rock alchemists Dirty Sound Magnet just unveiled a brand new official music video for the song "Social Media Girl", available right now on YouTube.
Dirty Sound Magnet is a psychedelic rock power trio from Fribourg, Switzerland. To members Stavros Dzodzosz (guitar, lead vocals), Marco Mottolini (bass, backing vocals) and Maxime Cosandey (drums, backing vocals), their collective means so much more.
Dirty Sound Magnet is a lifelong pursuit built on a feverish, border-line-religious passion for music and a common set of guiding values and beliefs.
The three state it plainly: “there is no plan B”. Their dedication is unconditional, unequivocal, and unavoidable. Not one of the members has been engaged in any side projects since the band’s formation a decade ago; Dirty Sound Magnet offers them a musical framework without any boundaries to their creative expression.
The band’s DNA can be traced back to the ancestral ‘Golden Age of Rock’ (60s, 70s), but it would be incorrect to think that DSM is...“retro”. The musicians are inspired by contemporary artists and modern production techniques, pushing the boundaries as they see fit. The results are personal, unique and original.
Simply put: the Dirty Sound Magnet experience is a mystical journey back to the future…
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Glasgow/Edinburgh based band ‘John Edge & The Kings of Nowhere’ have just released the first single ‘It Calls’ from our upcoming album. The song could be described as euphoric folk-rock. Their debut album ‘Only Fear Dies’ will be released at the end of January with a tour to follow.
John Edge & The Kings of Nowhere provide an energetic live show with songs about love, truth, death, and the miraculous fragility of life. The Edinburgh and Glasgow based group are genre defying, yet perhaps best described as euphoric folk-rock.
The band carry an abundance of raw power, melodious songs, huge dynamics, and all is fused together and driven by Edge’s enchanting lyrics and totality on stage. Everything they have to offer is poured out in their performance; passion is abundantly clear. Each of the members hail from the Scottish Highlands and the dramatic landscape of their upbringing can be heard in their songs.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jennah Barry, who hails from Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, is sharing her new single, 'Pink Grey Blue'. The new music arrives in tandem with the details of her second album, 'Holiday' which is due for release via Forward Music Group on March 27, 2020.
Produced by Colin Nealis (prev. Andy Shauf, Aidan Knight, and musician in Foxwarren), 'Pink Grey Blue' follows on the heels of the CBC-tipped first single, 'The Real Moon'. Once again detailing Barry's knack for intricate guitar-playing, the new single further outlines her compelling way with narrative whilst tackling the important topic of body dysmorphia – writing from the perspective of her own mind, instructing her eyes to view her body with love and care.
Jennah, who's beguiling vocals lead for comparisons to Bedouine and Natalie Prass, previously built audiences across Canada and Europe with her 2012 debut album Young Men before having to halt her career in 2015 with emergency vocal surgery – a frustrating time for Barry that partly inspired the new record. Following the release of the new album, Jennah will tour the UK in the spring (dates tbc) following previous dates opening for the likes of Ron Sexsmith, Jenn Grant and Rose Cousins.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
