Author: Editor

New releases – Pet Shimmers, Pillow Queens, World News, Marika Hackman

Pet Shimmers – Live-In Atrocity / Snake Eats a Lady

This week brings two new tracks from Bristol collective Pet Shimmers, offering an insight into what to expect from their forthcoming album Trash Earthers. If this is anything to go by, the album will be elegantly eclectic and well worth a listen. Live-In Atrocity, the smoother of the two, mixes hazy synths and harmonies to create a Diamond Dogs-esque foreboding backdrop to reality. The pace changes significantly on Snake Eats a Lady with punchier guitars and a more frenzied delivery. Prepare to take a journey with unexpected twists and turns at every junction.

Pet Shimmers have live dates planned across the UK in March/April 2021. Trash Earthers is due for release on 2nd October via the band’s own label, PS Records – pre-order here; you can watch the video for Live-In Atrocity below.

Pet Shimmers

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Pillow Queens – In Waiting (album release date 25th September)

Following significant success in Ireland, having played shows with both Pussy Riot and IDLES and caught the ear of the 6 Music playlist, Pillow Queens look set to attract a much wider audience with their pending album release, In Waiting. Their style is hard to define, flitting smoothly from indie rock to an almost country-tipped twang, popping by to nod towards Cerys Matthews and Imelda May along the way. It makes for a very accomplished and cohesive overall feel.

The content of the album is said to address issues including ‘job insecurity, housing crises, income equality, social inequity and strength in unity, self-love, queer love, love for your city and the belief in the power of art’. That’s quite the narrative, achieved whilst maintaining positive, quirky tunes that will engage you from the start. Look out for In Waiting next week, pre-order link here, release date is 25th September. In the meantime, watch the video for latest single Holy Show below.

Pillow Queens

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World News – Job and Money (EP)

Released today, some World News that we can actually enjoy against the perplexity of the actual world news. This 5 track EP, Job and Money, charts the realities of the self-doubt and anxiety that kick in amidst a relationship breakdown, the songs vocalising conflicting emotions and the often obstructed walk back to a better place. Recent single Lend Me Your Brain is rooted in the intricacies of art-pop guitar, the whole EP having a lightly blown 80s’ feel about it. A personal favourite is opening track Give it Time, distinctly reminiscent of The Cars’ Best Friend’s Girl with its choppy riffs and vocals, a song that sticks in your head for all the right reasons.

Mixed by Speedboat, another band on the ones to watch list, Job and Money is available now, listen here.

World News

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Marika Hackman – Realiti

Ahead of her self-produced album Covers, Marika Hackman has released her scaled back version of Grimes’ Realiti. With more emphasis on the vocal than the pulsating beats of the original, it’s a respectful tribute whilst showcasing the subtlety of Marika’s tone.  Speaking of her choices for the album, she says “When it comes to covers, I like to pick songs which I have been listening to obsessively for a while. It gives me a natural understanding of the music, and lets me be more innovative with how I transform it”. With her take on artists as diverse as Alvvays, Beyonce and Radiohead, this looks to be an interesting collection of songs as you’ve never heard or anticipated them before.

Covers is set for release on 13th November via Transgressive / Sub Pop Records, pre-order here and watch the video for Realiti below.

Marika Hackman

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Words by Siobhan
Photos via One Beat PR, Practise Music, Quick Swimmers and Prescription PR
(Pet Shimmers © Gravy Manuellé, Marika Hackman © Luke Booth)

18th September 2020

Hannah Georgas – All That Emotion

The euphonious tones of Hannah Georgas are back on her new album, All That Emotion, released today. For fans of The Beths and Say Sue Me, the Toronto singer-songwriter brings her own take on dreamy, refreshing tunes that, whilst easy on the ear, tackle tales of heartbreak and acceptance.

Track titles including Someone I Don’t Know, Same Mistakes and Cruel give you an indication of the soul searching that has gone into making this record, Pray It Away telling the story of a difficult conversation with her family about same-sex marriage, opening with the line, ‘I’ve been afraid to tell you everything going on in my head’, a feeling that will surely resonate, whatever subject matter the listener has had to navigate.

The album has been beautifully produced by The National’s Aaron Dessner, very much in the spotlight for his recent work with Taylor Swift but making it clear here that he is not restricted by genre. The combination of Georgas and Dessner results in a purity of sound that is both poignant and optimistic. All in all, this is an accomplished collection of songs that hold up individually yet flow seamlessly together.

All That Emotion is released today through Brassland Records / Arts & Crafts and is available to purchase here. Watch the lyric video for latest single Easy below.

Review by Siobhan

4th September 2020

Young Knives – Barbarians

After a seven year absence, Young Knives return with a new album that feels dark, confrontational and a world away from their early troubled meeting with the parents in She’s Attracted To, although the simplistic but heartfelt opening line on Weekends and Bleak Days of ‘Hot Summer, what a bummer’ remains a valid statement of fact in my eyes.

Back in the present day, Barbarians takes much of its inspiration from John Gray’s provocatively nihilistic Straw Dogs, a book that effectively questions the human role in humanity. Taking this standpoint with all that is happening in the world right now, it becomes easier to understand the amplified vigour and aggression of Young Knives’ new sound.

Kicking off with the appropriately named Swarm, things surge straight into a wall of electronic noise and robotic oration. Follow up track Society for Cutting up Men (SCUM) implores, ‘Explain yourself to a live studio audience’, reflecting the need for people to feel seen, heard and validated in today’s society rather than to just do what’s best. Throughout the album, the inflections of psych synths and pounding drum machines ensure that this is a piece of work you need to sit up and pay attention to. There are moments of undeniably PIL-esque rage, in fact ‘Anger is an energy’ might just be the perfect way to describe Barbarians. I get the sense though that this will not end in a butter advert.

Both the title track and recent single Sheep Tick are stand outs, unsettling but arresting in their contention. The album finishes with What I Saw, a fitting close to what, after repeated listens, sounds increasingly like a concept album for the forgotten, dystopian dance-beats for the dissidents. Take a listen and be prepared to hear Young Knives like you never heard them before. 

Barbarians is released on 4th September via Gadzook, you can pre-order the album in various formats with some limited edition options here. Watch the video for Sheep Tick below.

Review by Siobhan 

28th August 2020

New releases – Bandante, Baby Vanga

Bandante – So This is Now (music/video)

When he’s not playing guitar with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, George Vjestica fires some of the many strings from his bow into his always organic project Bandante, in which he records and collaborates with other musicians, artists and film-makers. The latest offering from Bandante is So This is Now, featuring visuals from Timothy Shepard, a contemporary artist who works with film, music, paper and photo montage.

The track is a multi-layered pool of crescendo and decline, a backdrop to modern day living that could conjure up powerful imagery on its own. However, the addition of Shepard’s cut up representation of dystopian protest is equally as compelling. There is talk of further collaboration between the two in the form of a sound and vision installation; based on this piece, it feels like that would be an experience to relish.

Watch the video for So This is Now below.

Bandante

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Baby Vanga – Electric Air (single)

If your genre pick is a fusion of psychedelic jazz and Latin funk, then Baby Vanga should be right up your street. If you just want to watch a video featuring safari suits, 60’s roll-necks and flying cars, you’re also in luck. With their latest single Electric Air, the band bring you kaleidoscopic nods to 5th Dimension’s Age of Aquarius updated with subtle jazz infusions and flute runs to hypnotise your mind into forgetting your troubles. The easy flow of the track belies the combination of instruments and flawless mixing and, as they’ve done all the hard work, you can dust off your flares, sit back and relax to the Baby Vanga soundtrack. The band say, “Electric Air is a brief exploration into the endless journey of finding purpose within actions, yet being aware of the beauty in the actions themselves. Reflecting this is the insecure effect of the odd time enclosed by entwining genres, that’s contrasted by lighthearted melodies and the overall optimism the song tries to illustrate.”

Strap yourselves in and watch the video for Electric Air below.

Baby Vanga

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Both tracks have been added to our Now Listening playlist

Words by Siobhan
Bandante photo © Michael Dent

19th August 2020

New releases – Hallan, Medium Love, Susan

Hallan – Modern England (single)

Released today, Hallan’s latest single Modern England takes an askance look at the paradox of the nation, questioning what’s important as people stumble through life changing events whilst clinging on to social media trends and likes. The band describe the track thus, “With so many strange and vapid trends gripping the nation sometimes you have to take it all in and find some humour beneath the surface. Pugs and face changing apps. What’s that all about? And how could we forget Brexit? It’s a good job we all have our red passports. But then again does anyone in the country have a clue what’s ever going on? Maybe it’ll all blow over if I stick to my microwave dinner and keep my eyes on the screen.” Hallan sit alongside contemporaries like Squid and Shame, both in terms of musical style and observational lyrical content. It’s a real pity that there’s no opportunity to see these new tracks live right now, but don’t let this band pass you by as they seem to be producing consistently quality songs.

Hallan

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Medium Love – Overcoming Shyness (EP)

Releasing their debut EP today, Medium Love proffer four tracks filled with sun-kissed guitar riffs and hazy indie-pop that would ironically be perfect for a sunny day at a festival – alas, we can still only dream. Born from the break up of trippy songsters Big Deal, there are unsurprisingly some similarities in the harmonies but the overall sound feels clearer and more absorbent. With a hint of nostalgia and changes in pace between each of the tracks, Overcoming Shyness is a solid introduction to the band, displaying their ability to capture different moods and emotions in the blink of an eye. Vocalist Kacey Underwood says, “Most of my songs come to me in dreams – they are the soundtrack, sometimes I write about what happened in the dream or how it made me feel, I keep a phone by my bed to spit in all out before it evaporates into dream dust”. Take a listen to some captured dream dust here.

Medium Love

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Susan – Rose (single)

Hypnotic track Rose is the fourth in a series of monthly releases from Susan, an experimental pop artist who is creating an innovative mix of haunting melodies entangled with an ominous electro/guitar cacophony of sound. That may suggest something a bit disturbing but the result is really quite beautiful. Each monthly release will be backed with a visual created by different artists and videographers; this looks like a project that is definitely worth taking some time out to discover and embrace in all its other-worldly charms. Susan says, “Rose is a track written about finding yourself within spaces where self love isn’t acceptable; Eventually pushing you to a place where you experience a higher knowledge of self. It’s about realising your worth through self doubt and depreciation… It needed to invoke the unsettling feeling of not understanding deeply who you are.”

Susan

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Words by Siobhan

7th August 2020

The Psychedelic Furs – Made of Rain

Way back amongst a plethora of snarling punk and poppier new wave outfits, The Psychedelic Furs immediately stood out; so much more than the three chord backdrop of the era and Richard Butler’s gravelly vocal bringing a rich, haunting hook, his brother Tim adding deep bass-tones. The dark undertone of tracks like Sister Europe and President Gas stands up all these years later, the haze of Love My Way embedded as a time stamp of the early 80s.

Several decades later then it seems somehow unlikely that they could be producing an album that can still make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, but here we are with Made of Rain, a collection of songs that sound every bit as valid against today’s oddly dystopian background.

Opening track The Boy who Invented Rock and Roll is a strong starter awash with jagged synths, fading into the gritty couplets of Don’t Believe, an updated version of a sound that is unmistakably The Psychedelic Furs. There’s a lot to take in as the album progresses and its mood swings from the upbeat Come All Ye Faithful to the more anthemic Turn Your Back on Me, that would surely provoke a lighters in the air moment live if only people didn’t just use the flashlight on their phones these days.

All in all, Made of Rain is a very welcome return from a band that could easily have chosen to eat out on past triumphs but instead have put together a whole new dining experience for fans past and present. In many cases a long absence is best left to continue, but kudos to the Butler brothers and their new ensemble, this is a happy reunion and adds some fresh content to the songbook without taking anything away from its beautiful past.

Made Of Rain is released tomorrow, 31st July, on Cooking Vinyl. The album will be available on gatefold double 12” vinyl, CD, cassette and digital download with exclusive and signed items available from the band’s Official Store. Link to pre-order and pending tour dates here; watch the video for Come All Ye Faithful below.

Review by Siobhan
Photo © Matthew Reeves

30th July 2020

Fontaines DC – A Hero’s Death

As a debut album Dogrel more than did its job, a loud, unrepentant punch into the world full of bravado and disquiet, plunging Fontaines DC into mass market idolatry with extensive touring and a saturated fanbase. There are still people shouting about the fact that it hasn’t made this year’s Mercury list despite being on last year’s; a fan favourite for sure.

But make no mistake, Fontaines DC are not here to play puppets to anyone’s expectations, it’s surely no coincidence that the lead track on new album A Hero’s Death contains the repeated refrain ‘I don’t belong to anyone’ and it’s clear from the outset that this album has a whole different sound.

Still the familiarity of the Mark E Smith-esque swagger shines through on recent single Televised Mind and Living in America, but delve into the other songs and you’ll find unexpected hints of Wire, Leonard Cohen and Throbbing Gristle. The angst is still there but it manifests itself through controlled balladry and contemplation, notably mid-album on side by side tracks You Said and Oh Such a Spring.

When you’ve found a winning formula, it’s a bold move to leave it to one side, but the world is a very different place to what it was a year ago and A Hero’s Death feels like a much better fit right now. It’s only a tricky second album if you try to replicate the first one and there’s no danger of that here. Throw your presumptions aside and enjoy the new incarnation.

UK tour dates are planned for May 2021 and the band have just announced outstore performances for Resident in Brighton and Banquet Records in Kingston in November, updated regulations allowing.

A Hero’s Death is out via Partisan Records this Friday 31st July – preorder link here. You can watch its first performance streamed in A Night at Montrose, Dublin on Monday 3rd August; all album purchases from the Fontaines DC store by 9pm on 2nd will receive an access code beforehand. Watch the video for Televised Mind below.

Review by Siobhan

28th July 2020

HENGE – Exo single launch & livestream from Bluedot Festival

Today, inter-galactic rock troupe Henge release their latest single Exo, the lead track from their pending new album ExoKosm, cited as ‘another exploration into the band’s unique interplanetary sound known as Cosmic Dross’. Incorporating the talents of their audience, the animated music video for Exo has been created with art made by their loyal human fanbase, who had the opportunity to submit illustrations in return for a special edition HENGE comic book.

While tour dates are being rescheduled, you can dip into the cosmic world of HENGE tomorrow, 25th July, as they take part in Bluedot Festival’s A Weekend in Outer Space online extravaganza; be sure to park your virtual spaceships in an orderly line.

Photographer Ingrid Turner’s images from previous shows will give you an inkling that this is likely to be no run of the mill Saturday morning…

Video for Exo below

Catch up with HENGE here and check out the full details of Bluedot’s weekender

Photos by Ingrid Turner

24th July 2020