JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Stephen Stills’ 80th birthday.
Tag: folk
New Audio: Copenhagen’s Homesickness Shares Brooding and heartbreaking “Asunder”
Led by Mathe Junge (vocals, guitar), the acclaimed Copenhagen-based experimental chamber folk septet Homesickness has been raised for a “gorgeous and wild” sound that draws from a diverse array of influences including Laurel Canyon folk, British folk, Laughing Stock-era Talk Talk and contemporary experimental avant-garde folk, as well as the tranquility and expansive beauty of nature.
Crafting lush and elaborate arrangements anchored around instrumentation like violin, cello, woodwinds, bells and guitar, the Danish outfit’s material lyrically focuses on deeply personal themes. According to the band’s Junge, the compositions serve as intuitive artistic tools to mirror and stimulate conversations about mental health, spirituality, love and relationships while offering a glimpse into a vulnerable and sometimes almost devotional pursuit of emancipation, where light and love, pain and darkness are unified into a cohesive aesthetic whole.
The Danish folk outfit’s sophomore album Anamnesis is slated for a March 21, 2025 release through Copenhagen-based label Pink Cotton Candy Records. The 10-song album features arrangements that blend spirited ambient flute and string improvisations, ghostly field recordings, vibrant orchestrated folk rock, singer/songwriter folk and avant-garde breakouts. Recorded during the harvest moon of 2023, the album’s material is infused with a sense of cyclical renewal and the natural rhythms of life. According to Junge, the album is more than just a collection of songs, it’s a wish to journey into the heart of our shared humanity and an exploration of the intrinsic and primordial aspects of our being. Ultimately, the album is a call to recognize and embrace the fundamental experiences that bind us together, and to express the kindness and care that naturally flow that recognition.
Anamnesis’ second and latest single “Asunder” is a slow-burning and meditative track that’s one-part chamber pop, one-part cosmic folk, one part-jazz freakout anchored around Junge’s softly whispered plaintive delivery that sonically seems indebted to Nick Drake and contemporaries like Loving.
“Asunder” is a deeply personal song that sees Junge reflecting on the profound impact of the suicides of his stepfather and stepsister with the song capturing the struggle to cope with such massive loss, the burdens of inheritance and more. The song is a heartbreaking farewell, and a reminder of the beauty within the universal experiences of grift and joy that honors the memories and legacies of those who are no longer with us.
Throwback: Happy 79th Birthday, Neil Young!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Neil Young’s 79th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 81st Birthday, Joni Mitchell!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Joni Mitchell’s 81st birthday.
Throwback: Happy Belated 90th Birthday, Leonard Cohen!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms belatedly celebrates the 90th anniversary of the birth of Leonard Cohen.
New Audio: Denver’s Anterra Shares Gorgeous “End of Time”
Anterra is a Denver-based indie folk singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She crafts songs of enchantment and grief, that thematically touch upon perspective, mysticism and self-mythology. Sonically, the Denver-based artist pairs heartbreakingly gorgeous, siren-like vocals with dreamy arrangements.
The Denver-based artist’s released her full-length debut, Things Take Time last month. The album’s latest single “End of Time” is a gorgeous tune featuring strummed acoustic guitar, twinkling harp, a soulful and bluesy guitar solo serving as a lush bed for Anterra’s expressive delivery. The result is a painterly, Mazzy Star-meets-shoegazer take on folk.
New Audio: Camilla Dávilla Shares Mesmerizing “Old Shoe”
Camille Dávilla is an American born producer, multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter, who currently split her time between the UK, Norway and Spain, making her a truly international artist. With the release of her first two albums through Norwegian label Goodbye Records, Dávilla quickly established an eclectic sound and approach inspired by the likes of David Bowie, Syd Barrett, Robyn Hitchcock, Harry Nilsson, Dibidim, Gaby Moreno, Cate Le Bon, C Duncan and Declan McKenna that frequently sees her pairing colorful, trippy whimsy with melancholic beauty and striking songwriting.
Dávilla’s third album, The Local Orchestra can trace its origins back several years ago: She was writing songs furiously with arrangements in mind and happened upon an inspiring and uplifting encounter with longtime David Bowie producer and collaborator Tony Visconti, who said to her, “Why don’t you just try and write all your own arrangements. I’m sure you can do it.”
She began an intensive self-education on arranging. Halfway through and feeling a little overwhelmed, Dávilla reached out to another musical and arranging hero Van Dyke Parks, who rapturously praised her previous album. Before listening to her arrangements, he asked to her a few of the tunes she had been writing, and took a particular liking to one, asking if he could write an arrangement. As most of her childhood soundtrack had been written by Parks, her answer was an obvious — and enthusiastic — yes, and a lunch in Los Angeles saw the pair making plans.
Several months later, Parks sent his arrangement to Dávilla, who at the time was residing in the UK, and she began working with the arrangement with other musicians. By 2020, Dávilla sent the arrangement to Jonathan Baker to conduct and record a string quartet. It was then sent to Norway, where composer and musician Stein Urheim added guitars and percussion and oversaw assembly and mixing with Anders Bjelland.
Over the next few years, confusion followed. Dávilla endured much turbulence: A pandemic lockdown-induced drinking binge led to sobriety — and a relocation from the UK to Spain. But through all of that, she continued her writing and arrangement work, and by last year, Dávilla had written nearly three albums of material; however, this proved daunting when she was trying to assemble what would become her third album.
Dibbidm’s, Grandama‘s and Klanghaus‘ Jeron Gundersen helped her wade through the massive amount of material and cherry-picked songs that should be recorded. They decided that the recording sessions should take place in Norway — in particular, the home studio of acclaimed producer HP Gundersen and his spouse, handball player Cecile Leganger. Coincidentally, Leganger had also bene studying piano and theremin and contributed to the sessions. Several other songs were recorded at Jonas Nielsen’s home in Bergen, Norway, alongside vocal dubs in Jostein Gundersen‘s studio.
The album was mixed in Gundersen’s Panera Studio in Asturias, Spain and mastered by Eric James at North Norfolk, UK-based Philosophers Barn Mastering.
The Local Orchestra‘s latest single “Old Shoe” is a gorgeous and meditative bit of psych folk built around an armament of strummed acoustic guitar, twinkling keys, ethereal backing vocals serving as a lush and mesmerizing bed for Dávilla’s captivating vocal, which expresses wizened regret, remorse and pride within a turn of a phrase.
“Imagine 20 years after Dorothy has found Oz and she’s doing a clear out of her closet, and is about to those ruby red slippers in the bin,” Dávilla says. “If they could walk, what would they say?”
Throwback: Happy 83rd Birthday, Bob Dylan!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Bob Dylan’s 83rd birthday.
New Video: Permanent Moves Teams Up with Jessie Shelton on Gorgeous “Don’t Forget Us”
Formed back in 2016, Brooklyn-based indie electro folk/rock outfit Permanent Moves features two highly acclaimed artists:
Julia Sirna-Frest: Fest is a Brooklyn-based musician, performer and director, who has a number of credits to her name, including [Porto] (WP Theater, The Bushwick Starr); Lunch Bunch (PlayCo, Clubbed Thumb); Seder (Hartford Stage); A Tunnel Year (The Chocolate Factory); The Offending Gesture (Mac Wellman); Comfort Dogs: Live from the Pink House (JACK). She’s a founding member of the Obie Award-winning Half Straddle Company, which has produced a handful of plays including Ghost Rings (TBA/PICA); Ancient Lives (The Kitchen); Seagull (Thinking of you) (The New Ohio, International Tour); In the Pony Palace/Football (The Bushwick Starr, International Tour); Nurses in New England (The Ohio); The Knockout Blow (The Ontological).
Frest is also a founding member and co-frontperson of Doll Parts, Brooklyn’s premiere Dolly Parton cover band and a founding member, songwriter and frontperson of Permanent Moves.
Shane Chapman: Chapman is a Brooklyn-based composer and musician. As a computer, he has written scores for film, theater and podcasts, Silent Forests, Emily Black is a Total Gift (Daaimah Mubashir, Fisher Center), Comfort Dogs (William Burke, JACK) and Cleopatra Boy (A Host of People, National Tours).
As a musician, he has performed and recorded with The Peter Ulrich Collaboration and is the music director of Doll Parts. Chapman is a member of the local rock band Anacortes, with whom he has released two albums. And he’s a co-founder and songwriter with Permanent Moves.
Frest and Chapman’s work together in Permanent Moves has seen them create a unique blend of eclectic arrangements and soaring harmonies inspired by the likes of Neko Case, Sufjan Stevens and Elbow that has seen them perform in a variety of configurations — from a 15 member band down to a duo. Lyrically, their material is often based on found texts.
The pair’s full-length debut, Don’t Forget Us: A Chekhovian Song Cycle was released last week, draws from the work of famed Russian playwright Anton Chekhov features guest spots from Hadestown‘s and 36 Question‘s Jessie Shelton, Karl Blau, Starr Busby and a list of others.
“For the past 7 years we have been working on and performing these songs in a myriad of ways from a 16 person band at Ars Nova to a duo set in a living room in Vancouver, Canada. We have both been drawn to Chekhov’s work because it speaks to the questions we often sit around talking about,” Frest and Chapman explain. “What are the lives not lived? How does one survive the monotony of everyday life? Failure, living up to one’s potential, longing for a bigger life. You know, the hits of the human condition.
“This album feels very ripe for this moment because the past few years has led many people to reassess their lives, to question whether they’ve made the right choices,” the Brooklyn based duo continue. “For us in the performing arts, the entire industry was yanked away and it feels like a chance to ponder our existence, a very Chekhovian thing to do. His work reminds us that life is lived in the in-between moments. Huge things happen in a Chekhov play, people die, love is lost, a gun might go off but the focus is watching the characters muck through it as we all must do. We’re hoping to give people a good soundtrack for their personal mucking. We can all be uplifted by a good horn section, right? As Charles McNulty put it so elegantly: ‘Chekhov’s art doesn’t seek to correct but merely to point out that as we’re dreaming of better days our real lives are quietly unfolding.'”
Don’t Forget Us: A Chekhovian Song Cycle‘s latest single, album title track “Don’t Forget Us” is a gorgeous and anthemic ballad featuring Jessie Shelton’s powerhouse delivery full of longing and ache, and anchored around a lush, folk-meets-country/country-meets-folk arrangement. The duo explain that the song is “emblematic of both the mood and lyrical themes of the album. The song is for anyone who’s ever feared that someday would arrive too soon only to find that you are the same person you’ve always been.”
Shot at Mark Fox‘s studio, the accompanying video features the duo and Shelton performing the song in the artist’s paint and picture-strewn studio.
New Video: Joe Kaplow Shares Bitter and Heartbroken Lament “Rock and Roll”
Joe Kaplow is a New Jersey-born, Santa Cruz, CA-based singer.songwriter and musician. Before his music career got serious he had to make a serious decision: Take over his parents’ thoroughbred fam in New Jersey or pursue music in California and relinquish the family home to sale. And although on occasion, he wonders if he could have made a music career work, if he had stayed on his parents farm, he’s happy where he is.
The New Jersey-born, California-based artist’s work is deeply inspired and informed by his life’s moments — “smelling 4 acres of freshly cut grass, watching the steam from a horse’s breath in the early morning, finally holding the neck of my guitar after holding bridles and worn wooden handles all day,” he says. “And then — smelling 4000 acres of freshly burnt wildfire, watching the steam from the Pacific Ocean’s breath in the early morning, finally holding the neck of my guitar after holding the worn steering wheel of the tour van all day.”
Kaplow’s third album Posh, Poodle, Krystal and Toe is slated for a May 17, 2024 release through Fluff and Gravy Records. Deriving its title, appropriately enough, after his bandmates’ nicknames, the album is more of a cohesive “band” statement than his previously self-recorded material. Most of the album’s tracks were cut over a five-day span, performed live at Enterprise, OR‘s OK Theater with engineer Bart Budwig.
The album’s songs were learned and workshopped on the spot, capturing very honest, energetic “fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants” moments and takes Kaplow’s honest and raw songwriting style and propels it forward with spontaneous collaboration and undeniable rhythm.
Posh, Poodle, Krystal and Toe‘s latest single “Rock and Roll” is a slow-burning and meditative track anchored in the lived-in, bitterly harsh and shitty realties of being a struggling musician/artist/writer/creative featuring a deceptively simple arrangement of strummed and plucked, acoustic twang, easy-going backbeat paired with Kaplow’s achingly plaintive wail. The song seems to ask the question — “when does the struggle to make it work get too overwhelming to continue?” While sounding a bit like a heartbroken S/T-era The Band, the song is inspired by an actual experience while on tour:
“We had a bad show. Overall, it wasn’t a very good tour,” Kaplow explains. “After playing a show to three people in the back corner of some bar in San Diego that was decorated more appropriately for a football game than a concert, our drummer had a breakdown. On the sidewalk outside the venue he began to cry. Then his despair turned to rage, screaming at me how foolish I was for booking this show and booking the tour, how he had to take time off work and lost money, how he spent 2 weeks away from his girlfriend who was now questioning dating a musician, and how he hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep since tour began. I thought to myself, ‘I know, isn’t it great?’ ‘Rock and Roll’ is a song about how it feels to be a touring musician before you get the tour bus. It’s hard. The late Robbie Robertson of The Band said, ‘It’s a goddamn impossible way of life.’ ”
Directed by Ben Judkins and Joe Kaplow, filmed by Ben Judkins and edited by Rob Armenti, the accompanying video for “Rock and Roll” was shot on a grainy Super 8 and follows Kaplow on tour through California. While there are moments of sublime beauty, pride and goofy joy, there’s also a sense of struggle and hard-won experience throughout.
Live Footage: Mary Middlefield Performs “Atlantis”
Mary Middlefield is rising, 22 year-old Lausanne, Switzerland-based classically trained violinist, folk singer/songwriter and guitarist, who has received attention for crafting steam-of-consciousness songs that veer between pop-punk fueled intensity and folk-inspired softness inspired by Elliot Smith, Nick Drake, Jeff Buckley, Claud, Jockstrap and The Japanese House. Thematically, the young Swiss artist’s work sees her wielding high drama, desire and vulnerability as keys to making meaning in a complicated universe, where abuse and love coincide.
The young Swiss artist’s forthcoming EP is reportedly a cathartic release, that will not only allow her to move forward with a clear mind and clean palette but is also music for listeners who are stuck, scorned and lonely. The EP is essentially an invitation for those who are suffering and yearning to scream alongside her.
The EP’s latest single “Atlantis” is a breathtakingly gorgeous and remarkably accessible song built around a sparse arrangement of strummed acoustic guitar and ukelele, shimmering strings, atmospheric synths and a subtle yet supple bass line paired with Middlefield’s yearning and expressive delivery. Recorded at Lausanne-based AKA Studio with Alexis Sudan and Gwen Buord, “Atlantis” as Middlefield explains is a sadistic love ballad that explores the dilemma of being infatuated with a person who offers very little in return.
Originally written as a stripped-down track, Middlefield and Buord rearranged the song’s second part with intricate ukulele arrangements. Then also tweaked the track a bit more, by adding strings and synths and an underwater-like feel to make the song sound dreamier while readily embracing a folk pop sound.
