Tag: Fleetwood Mac

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Earlier this month I wrote about the sibling indie rock quartet  Stonefield. Healing from Darraweit Guim, a small rural town in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, the sibling quartet featuring Amy (drums, lead vocals), Hannah (guitar), Sarah (keys) and Holly Findlay (bass) can trace the origins of the band and their music careers to when they began playing together at a rather young age — ranging from the youngest being seven and the oldest being 15. The band’s first song “Foreign Lover” was recorded by the band’s eldest member, Amy Findlay for a school project — and was then reportedly entered in Triple J’s national, unsigned band competition for youngsters Unearthed High as an afterthought; however, the Findlay Sisters wound up winning the contest, and within an incredibly short period of time, they had two singles receiving regular airplay and an invitation to play at the Glastonbury Festival.

Since then, the members of the sibling quartet have released two EPs and their self-titled, full-length debut and with a growing international profile have toured extensively,  including at some of the world’s largest festivals. Adding to a growing profile, the Australian indie rock quartet  has opened for a variety of renowned acts including Fleetwood Mac, Meat Puppets — and a Stateside tour with fellow countrymen King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard earlier this year.

Stonefield’s sophomore full-length effort As Above So Below was released earlier this month through Rebel Union Recordings/Mushroom Records and the album’s first single “Changes” was a dreamy and swirling bit of psych rock featuring a propulsive, motorik-like groove and some impressive guitar work, played though massive amount of effects pedals. And while nodding at The Mallard’s Finding Meaning in Deference and The Fire Tapes’ Phantoms, the track reveals a cool-self assuredness that belies their relative youth and some ambitious songwriting. The Australian sibling quartet’s latest single “Sister” is featured both on the “Changes”/”Sister” 7 inch and on their recently released album, and the single is a doom-laden, power chord dirge that sounds as though it were influenced by Black Sabbath and stoner rock. And much like “Changes,” “Sister” reveals some ambitious songwriting by a band, who seems poised to kick ass and take names — right this very second.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Hailing from Darraweit Guim, a small rural town in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, Stonefield is comprised of siblings Amy (drums, lead vocals), Hannah (guitar), Sarah (keys) and Holly Findlay (bass), who can trace the origins of the band and their music careers to when they began playing together at a rather young age — ranging from the youngest being seven and the oldest being 15. And interestingly enough, the quartet’s rise to both national and international attention started when the band’s first song “Foreign Lover” was recorded by the band’s eldest member, Amy Findlay, for a school project — and then was reportedly entered in Triple J’s national, unsigned band competition for youngsters Unearthed High as an afterthought. The sibling quartet wound up winning the contest and within an incredibly short period of time, they had two singles receiving regular airplay and an invitation to play at the Glastonbury Festival.

Since then, the members of the sibling quartet have released two EPs and their self-titled, full-length debut and with a growing international profile have toured extensively,  including at some of the world’s largest festivals. Adding to a growing profile, the Australia band has opened for a variety of renowned acts including Fleetwood Mac, Meat Puppets — and a recent Stateside tour with fellow countrymen King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard.

Stonefield’s sophomore full-length effort As Above So Below is slated for release on Friday through Rebel Union Recordings/Mushroom Records and the album’s first single “Changes” is a dreamy and swirling bit of psych rock consisting of a motorik-like groove propelling the song forward and some impressive guitar work, played through massive amounts of effects pedals — and in some way, the song reminds me a bit of The Mallard’s Finding Meaning in Deference and The Fire Tapes’ Phantoms as the members of the Australian quartet play with a cool, self-assuredness that belies their relative youth — while revealing some ambitious songwriting.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of founding members Victor Martinez and Nick Mariotti, along with Steven Doman, the Los Angeles, CA-based indie rock trio Paloma can trace its origins to when  both its founding members started the band in a small, bedroom studio deconstructing ideas over and over and over again while the duo had been balancing the need to make ends meet while expressing their irrepressible need to be creative; however the band’s sound and aesthetic didn’t coalesce until they recruited Steven Doman to fully flesh out their sound.  And with the band’s forthcoming debut EP Luna, the band’s sound draws a bit from the classic Southern California sound, as well as a variety of renowned artists including Beach House, Daft Punk, The Weeknd, Tame Impala, Pond, Gum, Dumbo Gets Mad, Fleetwood Mac, Michael Jackson, The Beatles, and Earth Wind and Fire — although with “Touch,” the EP’s latest single finds the band pairing a propulsive and sinuous groove, a brooding New Wave-like moodiness and achingly plaintive vocals, creating a sound that reminds me a bit of Hands‘ dreamy and excellent 2012 EP, Massive Context and Milagres‘ impressionistic 2011 debut Glowing Mouth. In a similar fashion to those albums, the song manages to be emotionally ambivalent and confused, capturing the vacillating thoughts and emotions of its narrator.

As the members of the band explain about their new single, the song is about a diamond in the rough, a somewhat tramp-like sort, who doesn’t quite know how to believe in themselves until he meets a princess – – for him, at least — that did believe in him. When they both turn to real life, there’s a part of him that’s banking on the idea that in some ay they’re only halfway through the film, that the story isn’t finished yet. And as a result, the song possesses an unresolved tension.

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Nostalgia-filled Visuals for Geowulf’s “Don’t Talk About You”

Splitting their time between London, UK, Gothenburg, Sweden and Berlin, Germany the Noosa, Australia-born duo Star Kendrick and Toma Benjamin can trace the origins of their musical project Geowulf to Benjamin and Kendrick’s long-time friendship, a friendship that started when they were both in their teens; however, Kendrick and Benjamin’s musical collaboration began in earnest, when Kendrick, whose parents were also professional musicians, began seriously pursuing music a few years ago and listed her friend to flesh out the sound of her earliest demos.

With the release of their debut single “Saltwater” the duo quickly received attention across the blogosphere and elsewhere as the single reached over 1 million Spotify streams, reached the Hype Machine‘s top ten and peaked at #4 on the Spotify US viral charts. Building upon the buzz of their debut single, the Australian-born, Europe-based duo’s latest single manages to subtly expand upon the sound that first caught the attention of the blogosphere and elsewhere as Kendrick’s ethereal and hauntingly gorgeous vocals are paired with lushly shimmering and jangling guitar chords in a song that evokes 70s AM rock. And while some have said that the duo’s sound channels Fleetwood Mac, I also hear a subtle nod towards Mazzy Star as the song possesses a lovelorn ache. As Star Kendrick explains in press notes “This song went through a geographical and creative metamorphosis over almost two years. We originally wrote it in Copenhagen, demo’ed it in Stockholm and then revisited it recently when Toma and I were both in London. I guess the song speaks for itself but ultimately it falls in the good ol’ ‘wanting-something-that-ain’t-good-for-you’ vein …”

The recently released music video was shot while the duo was in Berlin with grainy VHS-style filters manages to capture the summery yet nostalgic feel at the core of the song.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Starting her career as a member of Laveer, an act that split up in 2013,  the Brighton, UK-based singer/songwriter and electro pop artist Aimee Herbert-Smith spent the past couple of years focusing on her personal life — getting married, having children and dealing with tragic loss. Naturally, those experiences inspired her to reconsider her entire creative process. “I felt the need to start writing and recording in a different way to how I had done before. Somehow, going solo at this point seemed fitting with the content of the songs – more vulnerable and anxiety driven,” Herbert-Smith explains in press notes about her new songwriting and creative approach.

Herbert-Smith’s debut single under the Mere Child moniker, “Not Good Enough” was released earlier this year and received praise from the likes of blogs such as Gigslutz, I Heart Moosiq and Bitter Sweet Symphonies and was included in Spotify Australia’s “This Week Sounds Like . . .” playlist, thanks in part to a sound that nods to Cocteau Twins, Mirage-era Fleetwood Mac, early 80s Stevie Nicks and others. Her second and latest single “Jot of Joy” will further cement her burgeoning reputation for writing anthemic pop that manages to possess a visceral earnestness with slick, radio and club-friendly, cinematic production — in this case, Herbert-Smith’s yearning vocals are paired with enormous, tweeter and woofer rattling beats, strummed guitar, layers of cascading synths and swirling electronics, and anthemic, larger-than-life hook — all while possessing a swooning Romanticism at its core.

 

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

Splitting their time between London, UK, Gothenburg, Sweden and Berlin, Germany the Noosa, Australia-born duo Star Kendrick and Toma Benjamin can trace the origins of their musical project Geowulf to a friendship that started when both Kendrick and Benjamin were in their teens; however, the duo’s musical collaboration began when Kendrick, whose parents were also professional musicians, began seriously pursuing music three years ago and enlisted her friend to flesh out the sound of her early demos.

With the release of the debut single “Saltwater” earlier this year, the duo quickly received attention across the blogosphere and elsewhere — the single reached over 1 million Spotify streams, reached the Hype Machine‘s top ten and peaked at #4 on the Spotify US viral charts. And building upon the buzz that “Saltwater” received, the Australian-born duo’s latest single “Don’t Talk About You” subtly expands upon the sound that first caught the blogosphere’s attention as Kendrick’s ethereal and hauntingly gorgeous vocals are paired with lushly shimmering and jangling guitar chords and a 70s AM rock vibe. Now, while some have said that the duo’s sound evokes Fleetwood Mac, to my ears I also hear quite a bit of Mazzy Star; but at the core of the song is a lovelorn ache — and the sort of ache over something that the song’s narrator recognizes will be awful for her but wants anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Scavenger Hunt’s “Stranger Things” and 80s Pop Inspired Sounds and Visuals for “Never Enough”

If you’ve been frequenting this site, you may recall that I wrote about “River Runs Dry,” a single off the duo’s soon to be released Shapes and Outlines EP — and that particular single found the band managing to mesh anthemic and swooning 80s-inspired synth pop with a slick, contemporary production with Lamoureaux’s sultry pop-star belter vocals. The EP’s latest single “Never Enough” is a mid-tempo bit of anthemic synth pop that sounds as though it were inspired by the likes of contemporary acts like St. Lucia and others, thanks in part to the use of chiming percussion that emphasizes the song’s hook, sinuous bass line, some Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar. Of course, I think the single will help to further cement the duo’s burgeoning reputation for crafting slick, anthemic and radio friendly electro pop with an heartfelt and swooning earnestness.

The recently released music video draws influence from both the hit Netflix show Stranger Things and from MTV-era pop videos but with an equally slick production and visual value.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Renowned British-born Singer/Songwriter Miten’s Elegantly Simple Cover of a Beloved Beatles Tune

Miten’s recently released Temple At Midnight is his first solo English language work in over a decade and in many ways the album finds him returning to his musical roots while writing deeply personal material inspired and influenced by his own journey to renewal, faith and love. And interestingly, the album’s latest single is an elegantly simple cover of The Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood” in which Miten’s soulful and wizened vocals are paired with a sparse arrangement that has Miten accompanying himself with guitar, a bit of piano here and there, a mournful string arrangement and some backing vocals from his partner and collaborator Deva Premal. And while radiating a quiet assuredness and tranquility, Miten’s cover also possesses the same wistfulness of the original.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Introducing the Classic Soul Channeling Sound of Nottingham UK’s Georgie

Influenced by Fleetwood Mac, Carole King, Janis Joplin, The Pretenders, Crosby Stills and Nash, Carly Simon, The Mamas and the Papas and First Aid Kit, Georgie is a 21 year-old, up-and-coming, Nottingham, UK-based singer/songwriter, who caught the attention of the folks at Spacebomb Records — the label home of Natalie Prass and Julien Baker — for a vocal style that sounds straight out of the mid 1960s and for a lyrical bent that belies her years. Her debut single “Company of Thieves” pairs her husky and soulful vocals with a wah-wah pedaled guitar, a strutting horn arrangement, a sinuous bass line, a steady backbeat and an infectious hook in a carefully crafted song that will remind most listeners of Amy Winehouse, Nancy Sinatra and others.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Bonnie Whitmore (vocals, bass) is a Denton, TX-born, Austin, TX-based singer/songwriter, who can trace the origins of her musical career to when she started playing in her family’s band, Daddy and the Divas. Shortly after that, a teenaged Whitmore picked up gigs playing in several Dallas-Ft. Worth area bands; however, her first professional band The Brent Mitchell Band lead to studio work with an impressive array of artists including Susan Gibson, Shelley King, Mando Saenz, Justin Townes Earle, Hayes Carll, Colin Gilmore and Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Aaron Lee Tasjan and Sunny Sweeney. As a solo artist, Whitmore’s work is influenced by Tom Petty, Bonnie Raitt, Fleetwood Mac, Roy Orbison and The Replacements while drawing from deeply personal experiences — although her her third and latest album Fuck With Sad Girls, which features a backing band comprised of Scott Davis (guitar), who has worked with Band of Heathens and Hayes Carll; Craig Bagby (drums), who has worked with Sherman Colin Herman; and Jared Hall (keys), who has worked with Velvet Underground and Colin Gilmore, the album thematically focuses on the social and cultural stigmas placed on “imperfect” women.

 

Fuck With Sad Girls‘ latest single is “Fighter,” and the gorgeous song has Whitemore, Davis, Bagby and Hall pairing twinkling keys, accordion, lap steel guitar, gentle pads of percussion and Whitmore’s expressive and plaintive vocals in a song that manages to be psychologically revealing, vulnerable and honest as the song’s narrator admits to living a full, complicated and messy life, a life full of joy, mistakes, regrets, difficult and uneasy decisions and compromises, and throughout the song’s narrator reveals herself to be a resilient, modern woman — the sort of woman you’d likely known and encountered in your own life.

 

 

 

 

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Single Review by William Ruben Helms
With the release of their first singles “Lost” and “Dreamers,” which were featured in ad campaigns for Estee Lauder, Virgin Mobile and Hollister and made an appearance in the major motion picture Bad Moms, Los Angeles-based electro pop duo Scavenger Hunt, comprised of singer/songwriter Jill Lamoureux and producer, multi-instrumentalist Dan Mufson quickly rose to national attention for a sound that’s deeply influenced by Fleetwood Mac, 80s-era Stevie Nicks, Annie Lennox, Sade, Robyn, 80s and 90s pop and R&B — while to my ears sounding much like Yaz and New Order. And adding to a growing national profile, the duo have toured with the likes of Haerts, Dragonette, Shura and Capital Cities. (In fact, I caught them open for Haerts at Brooklyn Bowl several years ago.)
“River Runs Dry,” the first single off the duo’s forthcoming EP manages to mesh 80s pop sentiment with slick and contemporary production that features propulsive drum programming, subtle use of xylophone that pop out of the ether and undulating synths paired with Lamoureaux’s sultry, pop star/pop belter vocals and an infectious and anthemic hook to craft a breezy, radio-friendly, dance-floor track that packs in quite a bit of swooning, aching emotion.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Subtly Old-Timey Country of Blackheart Honeymoon’s “Mountains Speak”

Currently comprised of Ian Prebo (vocals, acoustic guitar), Wesley Amundsen (bass) Steve Andrea (guitar) Adrienne Marie Pollock (vocals, keys) Dusty Hayes (drums, vocals), the Seattle, WA-based quintet, Blackheart Honeymoon can trace their origins to when founding members […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: We Came As Strangers’ Hauntingly Gorgeous New Single “Eyedom”

Comprised of  Justin Sandercoe (guitar), Tim Harries (bass), Ellem (vocals), and Owen Thomas (production), the members of We Came As Strangers began collaborating together as an experimental pop, side project from the members various professional endeavors. As Sandercoe […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of  Justin Sandercoe (guitar), Tim Harries (bass), Ellem (vocals), and Owen Thomas (production). the members of We Came As Strangers began collaborating together as an experimental pop, side project from the members various professional endeavors. […]