Adam Hattaway & The Haunters are steeped in the sound of American rock n' roll from the 60s and 70s. They update classic motifs for modern audiences and "Keep Walking" is a testament to that. In an endearing performance video, leader Adam Hattaway tells a tale of longing through raw, emotive vocals, engulfed by twangy guitars and classic Americana riffs. The warm strings of a fiddle is brought by musician Flora Knight. This track, along with the rest of their upcoming double album 'Rooster' due out November 19th, was entirely recorded on a 4-track tape in true classic rock style, highlighting the gritty DIY nature of the music.
Sunny melancholy in a major key. That is the sound of 'Elephant', a band that was born in the year in which a virus almost knocked out the music business. The lockdown forced all musicians to reconsider their way of life, and ‘Calling’ is Elephant’s fitting and resilient response:
“Sure, I’ll work as hard as I can in this life. For a house, a car, a kid and a wife. But I’ll try to build something, out on my own, that can’t be torn down, after I’m gone”
Early 2021, Elephant impressed with their debut EP, with subtle grooves and sobering lyrics. It was picked up by pop journalist Leo Blokhuis (“Something special is happening in Rotterdam” ), several songs were added to the playlist of Amazing Radio (UK/US) and ‘Midnight in Manhattan’ peaked at the 12th position of the ‘verrukkelijke 15’ chart of Dutch national radio.
Of course Billy Bragg is singing about resilience on his latest album: in one form or another, he’s been exploring that idea all along. The Million Things That Never Happened is Bragg’s first solo LP since 2013, and a million things have definitely happened since then, including a worldwide surge in political nativism, Black Lives Matter and a growing awareness of police brutality, and a global pandemic. In other words, there has been plenty to test the resilience of a singer and songwriter with Bragg’s outlook. Although time has softened the sharp edges that characterized Bragg as a young man, and the sound of his music has evolved, he has never strayed far from the themes that inspire him. They’re apparent on the new album in “Mid-Century Modern,” where he acknowledges that even his own views remain a work in progress. Admitting that you don’t have all the answers is an act of deference from a guy whose songs have been rallying cries for equality and justice for close to 40 years, but Bragg is self-assured enough to open himself up to new perspectives. —Eric R. Danton
Dee, oh Dee, For a moment I couldn’t see thee Disappear through the glass But never fear, it’ll pass Red was the pillow Under skull white sheets Dead as a minnow Washed right up by a bloodthirsty sea Oh well forget the mirror Forget the touch That was always too much That was never enough to survive Breathing in the morning With cocaine’s wooden stare She snorted up all the wild honey And said please don’t tell all your friends that we’re here For now we’ll be forgotten As we glide through the air By the chin on our hairs Like the skin on a pair of red eyes...
Quinn Christopherson has been hard at work since bursting onto the scene in 2019 when he won NPR’s Tiny Desk competition. Since then he has toured the US with Courtney Barnett, Lucy Dacus, Shura, Portugal The Man and more and is now readying his highly anticipated debut album.
But before the album is released, Quinn is giving us the I Am Bubblegum EP, produced by Bullion (Westerman, Sampha, Nilüfer Yanya), the founder of Deek Recordings, a thoughtful and emotionally intuitive collection of songs. Through storytelling and gorgeous sonic arrangements, Quinn shows why he is tapped to be one of the breakout stars of 2022.
Along with announcing the EP and the news of his label home of Play It Again Sam, he is also dropping new music in the form of the song “Bubblegum”, accompanied by a music video directed by frequent creative collaborator Emma Sheffer.
Quinn tells us “Bubblegum is about evolving and growing as a person. It should be celebrated to not know who you are. So often we're pressured to nail down and define our identity, as if it’s something finite. However, who I am isn’t written in stone waiting for me to unearth it. Things change and that’s the point. Bubblegum chronicles some of my evolution as a person.”
Anticipation around the songwriter has been earned with his previously released singles "Erase Me," and "Raedeen." In his music, Quinn addresses his childhood and his role as a transgender indigenous person navigating Alaska's social landscape through his music.
"I’m not at all sure of where this one came from. The pandemic? Yet another failed collaboration (the most recent one of so very many, after three decades of working alone)? Repeated estrangements from my daughter, each new one lasting longer than the previous one? Or is it the cumulative weights of all three? We give up on Love when we imagine that Love has given up on us, or purposefully failed us, or forsaken us in its cruelty. As humans, Tears are our most common and most blinding recourse. The sound of them falling rings like a mote of fire around a bell;
Described by Brooklyn Vegan as "An ethereal dose of twangy, breathy, late-night dreampop," Sugarplum Fairies are only just giving us a taste of their upcoming collection. Altar Songs 1998-2021 (due out December 2021) is a snapshot of Sugarplum Fairies’ evolution from its 1998 origins as a Vienna-raised/California-based husband and wife duo, which - after a personal and creative breakup in 2013 - resulted in the moniker for a rotating artistic collective spearheaded by vocalist/songwriter Silvia Ryder.
"“Sandy Says” is a perfect preview of the album. The dreamy, ethereal new tune serves as a stunning collaboration between Sugarplum Fairies frontwoman Sylvia Ryder and Girl Skin’s Sid Simons." – Indie88
"Singer-songwriter Silvia Ryder produces a hazy and intimate noise, subtle enough that you can capture it from afar...In the veins of Beach House, The Velvet Underground, and Mazzy Star, the simmered-down track mimics an act of easing into a deep sleep at a birthday party." –The Alternative
"You would’ve thought you stepped straight into the past with this track. “Heart Hell” presents Silvia Ryder’s vocals as bluesy as Nico and emphatic as Hope Sandoval." – EARMILK
"‘Black’ is essentially a story about a friend of ours who went through a break up that completely crushed him. They weren’t together anymore, but it seemed like his life was more dominated by them than ever. The title plays on the mourning aspect of someone post-relationship, going through the different stages of accepting that something is never coming back.
Rising Cork trio Rowan are sharing their new single "Youth And Youthhood." The new cut follows on from the band’s recently released EP Everybody Talks, which shot the band on to the scene in their native Ireland and beyond.
‘Youth and Youthhood’ is a wistful ode to “the trials and tribulations of navigating life as a teenager,” explain the band, adding, “The song reminisces on the fickle nature of young relationships and the baptism of fire that is your first house party. The transition into adulthood can be a scary unknown territory, contrasted by the complex golden days of yore.”
There’s a rootsy shamble to the band’s latest single, adjoined by meandering guitar lines and a general guilelessness to frontman Dylan Howe’s endearing tales of innocent adolescence.
They used to be a “Brooklyn band”. They got married, moved to the Vermont woods, and built a studio in a two-hundred-year-old barn that they named ‘Freelandia’. They grow marijuana, like country and American indie rock, and they are never going back again.
Appearing from that haze of love and hash with an ounce of creative clarity that’s ripe for public consumption, the couple are pleased to present: “Lemon Trees”.
“McHone's unapologetic temperament shines through her lyrics and she matches it with flawless performances on vocals, guitar and harmonica.” —NPR
“There’s a delightful sense of traditionalism within the melodies of Carousel, but [McHone] never feels bound to it either.” —Rolling Stone
The past year and a half shifted everyone's lives dramatically. I’ve been off the road and off the stage, and for the most part in seclusion since I flew home in the middle of a tour on March 12th, 2020. Although sequestered, I’ve been lucky enough to use this time to explore new creative ground and cultivate new creative relationships. I am excited now to begin sharing the results and honored that the wonderful folks at Merge Records have signed on to help me spread the word! The first song is “Hawks Don’t Share,” performed with Daniel Romano and David Nardi. It was mixed by Kenneth Roy Meehan and mastered by Kristian Montano. The accompanying video celebrates collective creativity and affirms that we are all, in our own way, artists; that life itself is a work of art. A big bouquet of thanks is due to the Camera Varda crew who embodied these characters for me and helped bring this vision to life. Cheers to the joining of forces!
The new EP features two cover versions sandwiching a crystalline reworking of ‘Are You Ready’ (from Days Go By) by Pete ‘Sonic Boom’ Kember. The former Spacemen 3 man also produced the title track, which is an incredible, ornate reworking of The Grateful Dead’s ‘Althea’, from their 1980 album, Go to Heaven.
"Recalls the heyday of '80s college radio when jangly bands filled playlists."
- Brooklyn Vegan
"Slack Times has a knack for delivering explosive jangle pop that brings the Rickenbacker sound full front center."
- Glide
Slack Times is a jangle pop recording project from Birmingham, AL. Chris McCauley (Holy Youth, Bad Hops, The Blips), Stuart Norman (Holy Youth, Bad Hops, Dommel Mosel), and Will Stewart (solo songwriter, Timber, The Blips) began writing songs on Chris’ back porch in the late summer/fall of 2020, drawing on shared influences such as The Feelies, Yo La Tengo, and early R.E.M.
It’s a California sound that evokes a Polaroid kind of day: colorful, and bright, and timeless, while welcomingly hazy at the edges. There’s an ease to it, the feeling of lying in the sand and not having to go anywhere; meandering piano, some oohh-la-la harmonies, and some horns, for good measure.
"He plays instruments in a way that makes them feel less like strings and wood and wires, and more like stop-motion scenes witnessed through the rear-view mirror of life's highway." - NPR Music
"...an exceedingly catchy bit of psych pop magic." - Under the Radar
"As hopeful as it is devastating, a plaintive cry for guidance that simmers with the knowledge that we grow in the not-knowing." - Consequence of Sound
