For musicians, songs are like children—the products of careful nurturing, and a deep investment of heart and soul (and, yes, money). And when those songs are finally released to the public, it’s a bit like sending the kids off to college—the moment when you have to let go of your offspring and let them go make friends with the world. And over the past decade, Jon Samuel has been in the fortunate position to perform songs that have made a lot of friends.
Feb 2, 2019
Feb 1, 2019
UV Rays - "Flowerhead" - 2019
"But while the group just be breaking out, their new single 'Flowerhead' indicates that their larger-than-life sound could quickly carry them to enormous heights."
- The 405
Throughout the EP, these seemingly disparate sounds blend together effortlessly. On the celebratory lead single “Flowerhead,” for instance, Warner sings a huge pop chorus about being “comfortable enough with someone that you can be 100% your weirdest self in front of them,” but bookends it between restrained, elegantly winding verses and visceral blasts of staccato guitar and drums. Later, “Existential Dread,” sung by Marchetta-Wood, features intertwined guitar riffs in the vein of Television, courtesy of DeFontaine and guitarist Danny Sullivan; “Boys,” written by the full band, is a euphoric blast of unabashed pop-rock that works as a poignant foil for Warner’s biting commentary.
Asha Jefferies - If You Were My Hero - 2018
"This EP took so long because I decided to value honesty over everything else. The way in which I write is so subliminal and is difficult to seperate myself from. It is dripping in sub-conscious truths. Hearing that shit back through speakers as a teenager can be terrifying. A lot can get swept up and away when you lay tracks down and mark them for what they are in recordings. This two year climbing and building mountain was one of learning how to present myself and my work in its most authentic form, no matter how ugly, scary and real it is. Diving deep into vulnerable waters is murky territories, but it’s the only format in which music matters - to connect."
Allred & Broderick - The Ways - 2019
David Allred and Peter Broderick have shared a haunting a cappella performance of ‘The Ways’, taken from their acclaimed collaborative album ‘Find the Ways’. Shot at Lough Corrib in Galway, the beautiful video is released ahead of their European tour together in February. Talking about the track, Broderick said: “When David first showed me ‘The Ways’, it felt like a song that was so pertinent to the current times, and at the same time like an ancient song that has been around forever. I suppose the message is timeless. I love singing this song with David.”
Jan 30, 2019
Sister John - I'm The One - 2019
The first single from the new album, ‘I’m The One’, welcomes comparisons to a post-Nico Velvet Underground and Patti Smith but the overall footprint is unmistakably Sister John’s.‘Lost and Won’ may well be the album’s true masterpiece, a dark sparse sorrowful affair that sees Amanda McKeown's vocals matched with Jonathan Lilley's slide guitar and the harrowing strings of Heather Philipsand Sophie Pragnell.
No Alarms - Marble Bars - 2019
Through blending the lines between modern indie pop and new wave revival, with the help of producers with Sefi Carmel (Phil Collins, Massive Attack) and for this release Mario Borgatta (Foster the People, Muse, Young the Giant, Death Cab for Cutie), the ensemble have formed their own unique take on modern indie pop, whilst showcasing their early 00’s rock inspirations.
Jan 29, 2019
Yak - This House Has No Living Room ft. J Spaceman
"This is the last song we recorded at RAK and it's definitely my favourite. It sums the whole record up. I guess it's inspired by mortality and memories of loved ones past and present. It also features my good friend John Coxon on piano and harmonica without whom I doubt the band would be where we are today. If it's the last piece of music I ever make I'll be happy."
Jan 28, 2019
FUR - Angel Eyes - 2019
around 4 and a half million YouTube hits later, the band have landed support slots to the likes of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Matt Maltese and more; their listenership is fast-spreading with praise - and even fan art - coming in from all over the world. "I think the one thing we really appreciate is people telling us we have a fanbase in places we never expected”, noted Murray on this. “Indonesia has become a big thing, and when people in Peru say there are whole groups of people out there that love us, that's amazing.”
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"Their penchant for classic, infectious pop melodies is unquestionable ..." -Paste Magazine
"The kind of heavily-accented, rock’n’roll cadence you’d find on a dusted-off record from another era." -The Line of Best Fit
"Awash with jangling guitar-centric melodies and a wistful overall groove, their affair with finding a means to modernize sepia-toned hooks continues..." -PopMatters
"Brimming with notable hooks... utterly bracing and rejuvenating." -The 405
"Nostalgic, Beatles-esque romp..." -DIY Mag
a. harlana - "faces (subway song)" - 2019
Juno Roome could be America’s poster child for “Least Suspicious Egomaniac,” which is hilarious considering he printed 500 f*cked up business cards. He really wanted a much larger font. (Editor’s note: I’m very happy with the cards.) So that between the business cards and the new guitar, he could pull off subtly overcompensating with a hip aesthetic. Juno also powerlifts and subsists off chicken and vegetables, which makes him the nerdiest bro I know. And is honestly sad because he’ll never be truly accepted by nerds, or validated by bros. He is an art bro, a breed all their own.
Snakerattlers - Ooga Booga - 2019
Of the forthcoming album Dan from Snakerattlers said “This album is a culmination of two years of very hard work. We’ve literally put every ounce of energy we have into this record. We’ve heard the test pressings, and I genuinely think we’ve produced the best album in mine and Naomi’s “career” as a songwriting team.”
Jan 26, 2019
CRISTINA QUESADA - Hero - 2019
amidst synthesizers, keyboards and eighties drum machines, we have “Hero”, the first advance Single of her second album “Think I Heard A Rumour”, and a good sample of the focus of the album – disco hits from the end of the 80s and beginning of the nineties, with complex harmonic developments and impossible turns that, according to Moore, “push the choruses even higher”.
Jan 21, 2019
Brand New Friend - I Was An Astronaut - 2019
The quartet - still barely out of their teens & fronted by siblings Taylor & Lauren Johnson - have today released the new video for latest single 'I Was An Astronaut', alongside a brand new track, 'You Make Me want To Grow Up, Sometimes'.
The video for 'I Was An Astronaut' - lifted from their impressive debut album 'Seatbelts For Aeroplanes' - was shot close to their hometown of Castlerock, on Downhill Beach, better known as Dragonstone in Game Of Thrones. Also - rather sweetly - the little boy who stars in the clip is actually Taylor & Lauren's little brother.
JoJo Worthington - STABILIZE - 2018
Each scene in the video is full of chaotic and beautiful colours – representing characteristics of mental illness that can prove to be difficult and inconvenient to deal with, but are not things that we should feel ashamed of. Those of us who do not know these struggles should always be ready to extend an open hand of understanding to those in need.
Jan 17, 2019
Fever High - Avec You - 2019
Blackbook praised the video, saying it “is a pastiche of sensual but thought-provoking images, surely begging to be analyzed for historical artistic references,” and that the song “grooves along with impossibly cool aplomb (shades of early Bananarama).”
Mindy Gledhill - Boo Hoo! - 2018
"Rabbit Hole" was the first track that we happily released in late 2018. The song is uniquely spirited- at once, urgent and ethereal- a perfect musical articulation of a personal fall and rise. Consistent with Mindy’s own struggles, “Rabbit Hole” is dynamically and intimately voiced with the sort of passion, eloquence and wisdom only harnessed by someone who’s been in and out of an existential journey- a baptism by fire, a battle to claim one’s true self.
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Weeknight - "Outside the Pale" - 2018
"Weeknight is a dark-synth [band] out of New York City that play music that's brooding, sensual, and infectious... The [band] manages to extract the elements of 80s goth and new-wave, and re-appropriate them in a context that isn't reliant on nostalgia." -Noisey
2019 TOUR DATES
Fri 2/1 - Baltimore, MD - Joe2
Mon 2/4 - New Haven, CT - Cafe Nine
Tues 2/5 - Boston, MA - Middle East Upstairs
Wed 2/6 - Portland, ME - The Apohadion
Thurs 2/7 - Montreal, QC - Brasserie Beaubien
Fri 2/8 - Toronto, ON - Baby G
Sat 2/9 - Hamilton, ON - This Ain’t Hollywood
Tues 2/12 - Milwaukee, WI - Cactus Club
Wed 2/13 - Chicago, IL - The Hideout
Thurs 2/14 - Cincinnati, OH - MOTR Pub (Free!)
Fri 2/15 - Columbus, OH - Big Room Bar
Sat 2/16 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Tavern
Wed 2/20 - Brooklyn, NY - Alphaville
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