If you’ve been frequenting this site over the past five years or so, you’ve likely come across a handful of posts featuring the Melbourne, Australia-based indie folk/indie rock act Husky. Initially formed as a quartet featuring founding members and primary songwriters Husky Gawenda (vocals, guitar) and Gideon Preiss (keys, vocals) with Tweedie (bass, vocals) and Luke Collins (drums) filling out the band’s original lineup, the band quickly received national acclaim after winning Triple J’s Unearthed Contest and playing at The Push Over Festival, one of Australia’s biggest music festivals. Adding to a growing profile, the band opened for severally internationally known touring acts including Devendra Banhart,Noah and the Whale, The Shins, and Gotye.
As the story goes, the band’s remarkably self-assured and gorgeously lush full-length debut Forever So was released globally through Sub Pop Records but it was actually recorded in a lovingly DIY fashion with old recording gear in an abandoned bungalow near Husky Gwenda’s house. The band’s sophomore effort Ruckers Hill further cemented the act’s reputation for incredibly crafted songs that possessed elements of folk, pop and indie rock, along with some gorgeous melodies and rather anthemic hooks; however with up until the release of “Late Night Store” late last year, the band revealed a change in thematic and sonic direction that was influenced by a massive lineup change that left the band’s founding duo as its sole members — and from the year that Gawenda and Preiss spent living in Berlin. Whereas the material off their first two albums was melody- driven, “Late Night Store” was much more hook-driven and featured the band employing the use of synths, keys and electric guitar in what may arguably one of the more rousingly anthemic songs they’ve released. Thematically, the song captured the wild array of sensations and emotions most commonly felt when you’re far away from home — in particular, awe, reinvention, danger, of being in the words of Paul Salopek “a traveler, a man from far away” — while evoking the sensation of wandering around all hours of the day and night from jet lag, excitement, boredom and loneliness from hotel room to cafe, from cafe to bar, from bar to nightclub, observing everyone and everything around you; the strange and profound bond you have with others, who are like you, far away from home and are wandering around with the exact same thoughts and feelings reverberating in their heads.
“Ghost,” the second and latest single off the band’s third full-length effort Punchbuzz, slated for a June 2, 2017 continues in a similar vein as its preceding single as it features shimmering arpeggio synths, a propulsive bass line, thundering drumming and a rousingly anthemic hook — and while being an ambitious and contemporary, indie rock-leaning take on the sound that won them international attention, both singles manage to be among the most personal songwriting of Gawenda’s career. Interestingly, as Gwenda explained to the folks at Clash, “‘Ghost’ is about a process of coming to terms with this half-asleep, half-awake, somewhere between the haunted past and the sunlit possibility of tomorrow, mid-air, mid-dream state. Put simply, I was searching for a way to get free. Free of the past. Free of the future. Free of myself. Whatever that means.” And as a result, the song possesses an urgent yearning for something that’s not quite there in front of you while hinting at the regrets, mistakes and experiences that accumulate to create a messy, lived-in life.
Perhaps best known as the frontwoman of Melbourne, Australia-based electro pop act Tantrums, Jess McInally has spent the better part of the past decade as a touring and session musician with stints in Jess Cornelius’ recording project Teeth and Tongue and Jess Ribiero’s backing band; but towards the end of 2015, some of her dearest friends had encouraged McInally that it was time for her to write her own material and front another band. “I’m a songwriter and it took me so long to realize that,” McInally said in press notes. “I need to be writing, because that’s how I feel good.” Using a loaner guitar from her friend Dan Kelly, McInally began writing the material that would comprise What The Fuck Was I Thinking, the debut EP for her newest project, Jade Imagine.
After recording a series of demos in her bedroom, McInally sent them to Dave Mudie, Courtney Barnett’s drummer, and as the story goes, not only did Mudie dig the material he received, he then recorded some drum tracks and helped to steer some pre-production of material. Encouraged by the development, McInally began recruiting a rotating series of backing band members and collaborations that primarily includes Liam “Snowy” Halliwell (bass), best known for his work with The Ocean Party and Ciggie Witch; Tim Harvey (production, guitar), best known for his work with Emma Louise and Real Feelings; and Jen Sholakis (drums), best known for her work with East Brunswick All Girls Choir and Jen Cloher, and the newly formed band spent the next six months recording the EP at Mudie’s house and DIY-based sessions in McInally’s bedroom. As McInally says of the recording sessions, “Whenever I record with Tim [Harvey], we have a little session beforehand and listen to songs from other bands and talk about what sounds we want. It’s all very measured with him. For instance, on the drums for ‘Walkin’ Around,’ Fleetwood Mac was a reference, but so was NEU! and that definitely doesn’t come through. With Dave [Mudie], it’s more like ‘lets throw some things at the wall and see what sticks’ in a good way.” And while reportedly drawing from mid 60s California beach and psych pop, The Church, T-Rex, Fleetwood Mac, The Triffids, and The Go-Betweens, What The Fuck Was I Thinking’s latest single “Walkin’ Around,” sonically reminds me renowned fellow countrymen Husky and Starsailor while nodding a bit at The Verve.
Directed by Clancy Walker, the recently released music video for “Walkin’ Around” reminds me quite a bit of the video for The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” as the video follows a focused Jade McInally walking around Melbourne with an intense and determined sense of purpose; in fact, she’s so purposeful, that she’s practically mowing people down on the sidewalk until towards the end, she finally meets up with her bandmates, who join her for the rest of their walk.
Currently comprised of Sheila Bosco (drums), Brian Lucas (bass), Kelly Ann Nelson (vocals, wooden flute), Jeffrey Alexander (guitar, wooden sax), Arjun Mendiratta (violin), Laura Naukkarinen (vocals) and Michael Whitaker (flute, sax), the San Francisco, CA/Oakland, CA-based septet Dire Wolves have developed a reputation for crating deeply hypnotic folk-leaning indie rock — and for being incredibly prolific, as they’ve released 12 full-length albums since their formation 2008.
The Bay Area-based band’s forthcoming, 13th release Excursions to Cloudland will reportedly further cement the band’s reputation for crafting hypotonic, trance-inducing music — but on the album’s second and latest single, the expansive and slow-burning “Cerebration Day,” the single while slowly building up steam, manages to evoke the sensation of spinning without getting too dizzy; it also simultaneously manages to be ethereal yet grounded within the earthly realm, celebratory but with a bit of menace just under the surface.
Live Concert Review: Xylouris White with Marissa Anderson at National Sawdust
November 11, 2016
Those who know me the best know that I lead an insanely full life. I commute back and forth between my apartment in Queens and my full-time day job as an Acquisitions Editor at a downtown Manhattan-based book publisher, run this site on the side as a mostly full-time effort, participate in a radio segment that airs Fridays on Norway’s P4 Radio and on occasion I even have time for a social life. And if I had a 40-hour day, I’d probably squeeze in even more that I’d need to do or would like to do! As you can imagine, with all of those various and competing obligations it can be difficult to spend some time to actually sit down and write in a way that I’d like; but as a wise man once rhymed “the hustle don’t sleep.”
Last month, I was at one of Williamsburg’s newest and most intimate venues, National Sawdust to catch the highly-acclaimed duo Xylouris White along with the incredibly talented Northern California-born, Portland, OR-based guitarist Marisa Anderson. Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past month or two, you may recall that Xylouris White is comprised of Comprised of Melbourne, Australia-born, New York-based drummer Jim White, who’s best known as a member of the internationally acclaimed instrumental rock act Dirty Three and for collaborating with an incredible list of equally renowned artists including PJ Harvey, Nina Nastasia, Cat Power, Bill Callahan a.k.a. Smog and others; and beloved Crete-born vocalist and laouto player Giorgos Xylouris, best known as the frontman of Xylouris Ensemble and the son of legendary vocalist and lyra player Psarantonis Xylouris. The duo’s collaboration together can trace its origins back to the early 90s when the renowned Cretan vocalist and laouto player was touring through Australia in the early 90s. At the time, White was a member of Melbourne, Australia-based avant garde rock band Venom P. Stinger, when he met and befriended the younger Xylouris. When White along with bandmates Warren Ellis (violin and bass) and Mick Turner (guitar and bass) formed The Dirty Three, Giorgios Xylouris would collaborate with the band whenever he and his Ensemble were in town. Interestingly enough, the members of The Dirty Three have publicly cited Psarantonis and Giorgios Xylouris as being major influences on their sound and approach.
Although White and Xylouris have known each other for more than 20 years, it wasn’t until 2013 when they decided that should collaborate together, and it was accelerated when White played with both Psarandonis and Giorgios Xylouris at an All Tomrorow’s Parties Festival, curated by Nick Cave. Unsurprisingly, the duo’s long-held mutual admiration has deeply influenced how they write and perform music – and in some way, it sounds as though the duo is dancing, as at any given point they could be accompanying or leading each other and at any given moment and their live sound reflects that same mischievous fluidity while drawing simultaneously from both contemporary and ancient folk; in fact, during their National Sawdust, Giorgios Xylouris sang the lyrics of a song based around a 14th century love poem in his native Greek and the although the majority of the audience didn’t understand the words, we could understand the ache and longing within the song, punctuated by White’s jazz-like drumming. Several other ballads throughout their set evoked the imagery of herders and farmers singing around campfires with friends and family, before passing on the instrument to the next person.
While watching the duo playing “Black Peak” off their recently released Black Peak album, the stomping and rollicking song took on an improvisational and jazz-like feel as you can see both musicians practically having a non-verbal conversation with each other – in which at any given point White or Xylouris will say to the other “now, it’s your turn.” “Hey Musicians,” took on a wildly, mischievous, almost danceable feel; in fact, off to the corner of the room, I saw a few people dancing and stomping about with a joyous ecstasy while the rest of the crowd was enraptured by the old pros, doing their thing with an effortlessly cool, self-assuredness while walking a tightrope between an elegantly simple beauty and a muscular forcefulness.
Northern California-born, songwriter and composer Marissa Anderson is a classically trained guitarist, who dropped out of college at 19 to walk across the country and eventually settle in Portland, OR, where she’s currently based. Interestingly, Anderson is a classically trained guitarist, who has honed her skills playing in country, jazz and circus bands, collaborating with Beth Ditto, Sharon Van Etten, Circus Des Yeux and others, and has written the scores to a number of short films. With the release of her first solo efforts – namely, her 2009 debut The Golden Hour, 2011’s Mercury and 2013’s Traditional and Public Domain Songs Anderson has developed a reputation for a sound that channels the entire history of guitar-based music and stretches the boundaries of tradition, as many of her compositions are not only based upon the landscape of American music but attempt to re-imagine them as her work possesses elements of minimalism, electronic music, drone, 20th Century Classical Music, blues, jazz, gospel, country, folk and Americana – often simultaneously.
Anderson’s latest effort Into the Light has Anderson leaving the Appalachian folk and Delta blues that first won her attention from the likes of Billboard, Rolling Stone, NPR,Spin Magazine, Pitchfork and Wire among others – with Into The Light landing on Spin Magazine’s best of 2016 and her split LP with Tashi Dorji being named one of the best experimental records of 2015 by Pitchfork and The Out Door. Anderson’s latest effort Into the Light, has the composer and songwriting leaving Appalachia and the Delta Blues – with the album’s ten compositions written as though they were the soundtrack of an imaginary sci-fi/western in which she tells the story of a lost visitor wandering the Sonoran Desert. And as a result, the material on the album is naturally cinematic and anachronistic in a similar fashion to the night’s headliner – in the sense that the material manages to feel both contemporary and yet timeless.
Adding to a growing national and international profile, Anderson has made appearances at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Sweden’s Gagnef Festival, Fano Free Folk Festival, Le Guess Who and the Festival of Endless Gratitude, as well as opening for the renowned duo Xylouris White during their brief East Coast tour, a tour which also included a stop at National Sawdust last month. Accompanying herself with only her guitar, Anderson’s set further cemented her reputation for material that went across both the breadth and length of American music – briefly touching upon early Delta blues, folk, murder ballads and country but a with a uniquely earthy and post-modernist take, while being deeply contemplative. She’s been known to perform a version of “House Carpenter,” a title given to most American derivatives of the British folk song “Demon Lover,” a song roughly about a woman, who takes up a lover, has an affair and leaves her husband and kid – only to discover that she’s fallen in love with a demon/Satan; however, Anderson’s rendition, as she explained before she played it was meant to consider the woman’s perspective, which not only humanizes the song’s main character, but manages to be pensive and lonely in a similar fashion to “Make Sure My Grave Is Kept Clean.” Interestingly, Anderson has frequently played a medley of both songs – and it shouldn’t be surprising as the narrators of both songs wind up dead and in some way plead for forgiveness, understanding, empathy through the years.
The material off Into the Light manages to evoke natural phenomenon – a song inspired by Anderson’s time in the desert, observing harshly swirling and howling winds can make you picture people huddling in from dust storms or sitting around a fire, just listening and thinking. It was a song that possessed an elegant and deceptive simplicity. And the entire time the crowd was enraptured by this woman playing instrumental compositions that could burrow deep into the earth, yearn and arch themselves heavenward or just focus on the simple joys of being happy and existing in a particular place in time. Simply put it was a fascinating night of old pros capturing a crowd and taking them in challenging, new sonic and thematic directions.
Featuring The Bronx, NY-born, New Orleans, LA-based founding member, creative mastermind and frontperson Alynda Segarra and her bandmates Yosi Perlstein, David Jamison, and Caitlin Gray, Hurray for the Riff Raff first came to prominence after they had been featured in an article in The Times based around the HBO TV series Treme with their single “Daniela” being listed in the paper’s playlist of essential songs by contemporary artists from New Orleans — and for a sound that drew from folk, country, bluegrass and Americana paired with lyrics that approached traditional Americana themes in an unconventional way. After releasing a series of EPs and two full-length albums — one was self released through the band’s label, the other released through a small, indie label, the band’s third full-length effort, Small Town Heroes was released through ATO Records, marking that album as their major label debut. And unsurprisingly, the band’s national and international profile grew exponentially.
The New Orleans-based band’s highly anticipated follow-up to Small Town Heroes, The Navigator was produced by Paul Butler, known for his work with Michael Kiwanuka, St. Paul and The Broken Bones and Devendra Banhart. Slated for a March 10, 2017 release through ATO Records, The Navigator is reportedly both a thematic and sonic departure for the band — thematically, the album tells a deeply interwoven, cinematic story about a wandering soul named Navita, who finds herself at the crossroads of personal identity and ancestral weight, traveling across a perpetually burning city in search of her true self, while addressing many of the urgent, sociopolitical issues of our increasingly uncertain and dangerous times. But perhaps more important, while all of Hurray for the Riff Raff’s material drew from Segarra’s experience, the new album holds a much deeper, personal weight drawing from the many uneasy questions, answers and compromises that come about as a minority in the world — with the most important being “what does it mean to be prideful of your heritage in a world and society that frequently asks you to not be too proud?”
Sonically, as you’ll hear from The Navigator’s percussive first single “Rican Beach,” the album finds the band delving deeper into Latin rhythms and styles — in particular salsa, boogaloo and bomba, giving the single one of the tightest and most dance floor-friendly grooves they’ve ever written. But at the core of the song are lyrics that capture a frightening sense of uncertainty, subtly asking “well, who will protect me or my neighbors, who will speak for us if the authorities begin to round us up?” while simultaneously being a call to resist, to “live your life as a form of protest,” as the great Saul Williams once said.
As Segarra explains of both the single and of the album’s material “This is dedicated to the water protectors of Standing Rock – thank you for your bravery and giving us hope. Also, to the people of Peñuelas, Puerto Rico, who are demanding an end to the AES dumping of coal ash which leads to water contamination – we are with you.
All over the world, the are heroes, who despite suffering generations of oppression, are protecting the land the future of our humanity. Rican Beach is a fictional place, but it was written with my ancestors in mind. It’s time to call on yours and to always remember: this land was made for you and me.”
As the story goes, after spending several months the material, which would comprise their 2012 full-length debut Forever So, which Sub Pop Records would later release, the members of the band spent time researching and leaning how to soundproof rooms YouTube videos and other sources, found a bunch of old recording gear and set off to an abandoned bungalow that was located at the back of lead vocalist Husky Gawenda’s house to record their debut album. Interestingly, while Forever So came about from a lovingly DIY set up, the gorgeously lush material possessed the uncanny self-assuredness of old pros paired with Gawenda’s dreamy falsetto singing deeply introspective and thoughtful lyrics. As a critic, I’d argue that the band’s ability to sound both unlike anyone else while nodding at folk and 70s AM rock was what captured attention internationally across the blogosphere, including this site; in fact, I wrote about several singles off the album and the album itself landed at number 11 on this site’s Best of 2012 list.
Since then, the band has become something of a mainstay here as I wrote about several singles off Forever So’s follow-up, Ruckers Hill, an effort that further cemented the then-quartet’s burgeoning reputation for incredibly crafted songs that paired Gawenda’s introspective lyrics with uncommonly gorgeous melodies and anthemic hooks. However, some time has passed since I’ve last written about them. As it turns out, the band not only has gone through a massive lineup change from a quartet down to a duo featuring the band’s founding members Gawenda and Preiss, the duo of Gawenda and Preiss spent last year in Berlin. Upon their return to their homeland, the duo inspired by their experiences overseas began writing the material that will comprise their forthcoming third full-length album, slated for release sometime next year — and that material includes the duo’s latest single, “Late Night Store.” Interestingly, the new single reveals a change in direction thematically and sonically for the band. Whereas their previously released material was more acoustic and melody- driven, “Late Night Store” is subtly atmospheric and much more hook-driven with keys and electric guitar being prominent while thematically, the song captures the sense of danger, adventure, reinvention and loneliness that comes from being far away from home — and in some way, evoking wandering around day and night from café, to bar to club, observing everything, meeting eclectic people, falling in love and being lost and found, and lost and found yet again. And although about the duo’s time in Berlin, the song may remind some of the blur of activity and people that’s New York.
As Lucy McCallum of Third Ray Productions, the recently released video’s direct explains in press notes “‘Late Night Store’ feels to me to be about disconnection between inner and outer experience. The lyrics tell a loose story of a messy night out punctuated by moments of lucid internal revelations that are at times existential, then immediately personal and cryptic.
“I wanted to capture this feeling of disassociation by compiling found archival footage that was intimate and nostalgic with images that were more grandiose and universal. I tied the two themes together with abstracted overlays that contain both natural and artificial lights, particularly contrasting stars with fireworks; a kind of spectacular and tacky human imitation of cosmic magic that feels both beautiful and sad to me and gives the video a hazy and hypnotic feel. Hopefully there is a sense of subliminal narratives running concurrently through the video that can’t necessarily be pinpointed. The clips were all chosen carefully and they each mean something to me in relation to the song, but I definitely wanted to keep it a little messy and dreamlike so that viewers can interpret the images for themselves. ”
It’s been over a year since I’ve last written about him and his work but he’s been playing a number of shows across town — including a December 7, 2016 set at The Slipper Room, which benefits Barc, a no-kill shelter. In any case, his latest single “Black Beauty” is a thoughtful and gorgeously hushed single featuring strummed guitar, twinkling percussion, bursts of accordion and a cinematic sweep paired with Bay Uno’s earnest and thoughtful crooning in a song that evokes the swooning sensation of being swept up in profound love and of finding oneself through a connection with nature. And much like his previously released singles there’s a sense of childlike awe and wonder that’s infectious — and should remind the listener of their own forgotten inner child.
The recently released video was shot on a grainy Instagram-like filter and shows the singer/songwriter riding a beautiful black horse, with whom he seems to have a profound connection, and of being in nature. And much like the song it possesses a simple and understated beauty.
East Sussex, UK-born, London, UK-based singer/songwriter Natalie Bouloudis can trace the origins of her music career to her childhood. She learned jazz clarinet and guitar as a child, began (secretly) writing her own songs when she was 7, and played in number of jazz bands. Having lived in London for the better part of the past decade, Bouloudis decided to release some of her music publicly three years ago under the moniker Aurora Harbinger. And with her first publicly released material, the East Essex-born, London, UK-based singer/songwriter began playing in a number of local venues and it allowed her to build up a fanbase that enabled her to successful crowd fund her debut EP, which was produced by Robert Strauss.
Initially derived from a short story that Bouloudis wrote while shirking her duties as an arts and culture guide copywriter, her latest single “Burning Pier” set in a fictionalized amalgamation of the burnt-out piers of Brighton, Hastings and Eastbourne and is essentially a meditation on how disasters can evoke nostalgia and make us question our post-disaster future in a new light in a way that will remind some listeners of Kate Bush, PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, Melanie Di Biasio and others — but with a slightly jazzy, folk-leaning take on pop as the East Essex, UK-born, London, UK-based effortlessly soulful and gorgeous vocals with a sinuous bass line, a twisting and turning melody based around shimmering and twinkling guitar and piano. Recorded in a live take with minimal overdubs — the only overdubs being drummer Hannah Stacey’s Rhodes piano playing — the song manages to feel both thoughtfully composed and improvised, capturing the simpatico of a bunch of musicians playing and creating a moody and pensive song.
Jackson Dyer is an Sydney, Australia-born, Berlin, Germany-based singer/songwriter and is part of a growing number of Australians who have relocated to the Germany city for a creative and personal renewal and to advance their careers; in fact, since Dyer relocated to Berlin three years ago, he has opened for Grammy-nominated acts and countrymen Hiatus Kaiyote and Hozier, and has extensively toured throughout the European Union with Berlin, Germany-based indie folk act Mighty Oaks and Jamie Cullum. Adding to a growing profile, the Sydney, Australia-born, Berlin, Germany-based singer/songwriter has played at several European festivals.
Dyer’s third EP, Compartments was released earlier this year to critical praise, as the effort thematically and lyrically may arguably be one of the most personal efforts he’s released to date. And as Dyer explains in press notes, “Compartments is an EP of self-reflection that I wrote at a time when I faced a lot of uncertainty and questions about my place in the world. Far away from home, often spending long hours in my studio on the industrial outskirts of Berlin, it was a period of introspection when I experimented with production and songwriting. In this space, I wrestled with many of my misgivings about the music industry, the nature of humanity and my own personal motivations. The title Compartments refers to the lyrics in “Pariahs,” which is about how close many people live to each other in cities and apartment blocks, but still lead very enclosed lives, unwilling to engage with even their neighbours. Ironically, I spent a long time in my own ‘compartment’ writing these songs and it wasn’t until I collaborated with others that they really came alive.”
Compartments’ second and latest single is EP opening track “The Absolute” and sonically speaking the track nods at the work of renowned Swedish singer/songwriter Jose Gonzalez and his work both as a solo artist and with Junip, as the song has Dyer pairing bluesy guitar chords played through generous amounts of reverb, swirling electronics, glitchy and stuttering drum programming with his soulful vocals to create a song that’s deeply introspective and achingly earnest; in fact, the song captures and evokes a narrator, who feels profoundly lost and alone and wrestling with the sort of existential questions that don’t have an easy answer. And while capturing someone at perhaps one of their darkest periods, the song manages to possess a resoluteness that suggests while many answers won’t come quickly, the song’s narrator will move forward and many of life’s most difficult questions will resolve themselves accordingly.
Benjamin’s Brother is a fairly mysterious British electro folk/electro pop act comprised of a producer and songwriter, who writes and records under the moniker of Benjamin’s Brother and a rotating cast of collaborators and friends who pair haunting and ambient productions with songs that lyrically focus on death, desire and pain, among other subjects. The act’s latest single “Room 505” is an eerily sparse production featuring contemplative piano chords, plaintive, falsetto vocals, stuttering drum programming and brief burst of mournful horns. Sonically, the song reminds me of BRAIDS’ impressive Flourish//Perish but with an aching yearning at its core.
The recently released video features a dancer performing in sparsely arranged room with her doppleganger — but is it all an delusional within her head? Interestingly, the video manages to suggest the internal struggle between our real, internal self and the self we project out toward the world.
Kadhja Bonet is a Los Angeles, CA-based singer/songwriter and classically trained multi-instrumentalist — she plays guitar, flute, violin and viola — who has at the start of her recording career has been both private and mysterious, insisting that her audience convene with her on imaginative and musical planes instead of through associations with any particular scene, venue or sound. And in fact, “Nobody Other,” the first single off her forthcoming full-length debut The Visitor sounds as though it were quietly released in the late 60s or early 1970s as Bonet accompanies her stunningly gorgeous vocals with gently strummed guitar, an ethereal flute line along with soaring organs in a sweet love song that evokes walking hand-in-hand with a lover through a fall leaf strewn park and waking from a pleasant dream while nodding at folk, psych folk and jazz. Sonically, the song features an uncommonly unfussy and unadorned production that puts the focus on an elegantly simple arrangement and Bonet’s gorgeous vocals.
Comprised of Darius Byrne (vocals), Brian Ireland (beats, production) and Andrew Eyles (bass), Adult Future is a Toronto, ON-based trio, whose forthcoming full-length effort In The News draws from the contemporary feeling of disconnect and alienation that many of us feel so very deeply. As the members of the band mention in press notes, “the band wanted to make a record that emphasized the singular stories that we all have and share as human beings. All of the songs on this record were inspired by personal stories and were utilized as a method to reconcile those feelings of estrangement. It was an attempt to bridge those feelings of isolation that seemingly contradicts a shared environment where people are literally living on top of each other. Drug abuse, mental and physical illness, violence and love — all of these things impact us individually, but when seen as an amalgamation == is the totality of human history.”
In The News‘ first single “The Leaf House” doesn’t shy away from the fact that we live in dangerous and fearful times but at its core, is a love song — an urgent call for love in the face of a world that seems hopeless and insane; while suggesting as the Buddhists would suggest that opening oneself up to love when things are at their most precarious is an act of true bravery and the most important weapon we have in such fucked up times. Sonically speaking, the Canadian trio pair a looped strummed acoustic guitar line, boom bap beats, twinkling synths and plaintive vocals — and in some way, the song reminds me quite a bit of Jose Gonzalez and his work with Junip but with a desperate and forceful urgency.
Boston-based indie folk duo Tall Heights recently released footage from their City Winery “One On One” Cellar Session, which featured a re-arranged cover of St. Vincent’s “Year of the Tiger” to accommodate cello, acoustic guitar and drum machine — and the end result is a somewhat straightforward yet twangy and rootsy cover that retains the song’s moody irony.
This year may arguably be one of the biggest years to date for Oh, Pep! as their much-anticipated full-length debut Stadium Cake is slated for release next month through Dualtone Records. Recorded and produced by renowned Canadian producer Daniel Ledwell in Echo Lake, Nova Scotia last August, the album reportedly has the duo expanding upon the songwriting approach and sound that first won them national and international attention — namely the duo’s ability to subtly mesh lightness and darkness within their material. The album’s first single “Doctor Doctor” has the band pairing stuttering cascades of synths, propulsive boom bap drums with Hally and Emmerich’s ethereal and sultry vocals singing lyrics focusing on a narrator that is not only suffering through self-doubt and indecision but someone who from their own foolishness has found themselves forced to make one of the most difficult life-altering decisions of their entire life — in the case of the video, the song’s narrator discovers that she’s pregnant. And her decision not only impacts her life but the life of her partner — although to be fair, the bulk of impact will be on her. Of course the video reflects the palpable sense of tension within the song as you’ll see the fear and uncertainty on the faces of both of the video’s central pair.
Queue, an indie rock quintet with members split between Philadelphia and Washington, DC is comprised of five college friends — Olivia Price, Tyler Ringland, Aida Mekonnen, Dan Snelling and Steve Vannelli — who were all originally in other bands, and decided that they needed to write music together. Interestingly, the decision to work together coincided with graduation and adult responsibilities, which eventually forced the members of the band to write and collaborate via the Internet. After about a year writing and recording demos, the members of the Philadelphia and Washington, DC-based quintet convinced at Degraw Sound Studios in Brooklyn to record the material that would comprise the band’s forthcoming self-titled EP, slated for a late June release.
With the release of “Falling Into Skies,” the first single off their self-titled EP, the indie rock quintet quickly received praise across the blogosphere, and as soon as you hear “More,” the second and latest single off the forthcoming EP, you’ll see why: the quintet pairs a gorgeous and melancholy melody with folky, strummed guitar chords, shimmering synths, propulsive drum programming and percussion and swirling electronics in a n ethereal yet buoyant song that effortlessly meshes electro pop with singer/songwriter folk; in fact, as the band’s Olivia Price noted to the folks at Consequence of Sound, lyrically the song captures the inner monologue of a narrator, who is in the middle of a crippling identity crisis as they desire something much better and not only has the narrator need to accept that actually getting that something better can actually require a ton of effort, they also have to accept that sometimes all of that effort can be for naught. And as a result, the song conveys a bitter and uneasy jumble of emotions.
