Slow Fiction • 2023

 slowfictionband.com

David Kitt • Balances • 2023

http://www.davidkitt.com/

A long history of supporting and then playing with acclaimed rock group Tindersticks lead to Kitt officially joining the group in 2010, and in 2017 he released ‘From Night to Night’, his debut album under the alias New Jackson. Throughout his expansive career, Kitt has attracted praise from the likes of NME, Louder Than War, The Irish Times, The Guardian, Golden Plec, Pitchfork and more. He’s DJed at some of the world’s most celebrated clubs and festivals, including Berlin’s Berghain and the forward-thinking Belfast festival AVA. As a remixer, he’s also provided memorable edits for major pop and dance artists including The XX, Mano Le Tough and S**t Robot.

Of the AA-side release, Kitt says: “I decided to release ‘till the end/balances’ as a double a-side digital single because they come together on the album and they feel thematically and musically connected. They’re both abstract songs that explore commitment, memory, the miracle of endless love and the transformative powers of awe and wonder. They both feature Katie Kim on vocals, her vocals on till the end really transformed the song and made it one of my favourite pieces of music that I’ve ever been involved in. Thanks Katie!”

PACKS • Brown Eyes • 2023

https://packstheband.com/

"Take the Cake is the sound of classic indie rock, as delivered by a promising new voice."

Bandcamp

"Madeline Link sings with her jaw half-clenched half the time, as calculatedly laconic as Steven Malkmus...a witty and intriguing lyricist and Take The Cake has plenty of risky moments."

FADER

"A force to be reckoned with; PACKS are reinventing the slacker soundtrack." 

So Young

"Scruffy and bright lo-fi indie rock...joyously off-the-cuff."

NYLON

Podcast #5 • Ryan Hamilton

I had the great pleasure of chatting with indie rocker Ryan Hamilton (Smile Smile, People on Vacation) from his home studio in Stephenville Texas. Our heartfelt conversation kept coming back to how independent musicians are having a brutal post-Covid time surviving financially through their craft. Ryan has a new record coming out in April entitled Haunted by the Holy Ghost, and I recommend you buy it! Go to his show and buy a T or a vinyl. If we don't support these artists they disappear and we are left with Taylor Swift as our only option (and I LOVE TS).  Thanks for listening. ❤️ 

Featured Track

Podcast #5 

Fixtures • Jimmy Needs the Money • 2023

https://bobointegral.bandcamp.com/?mc_cid=2039b2cde6&mc_eid=18fd3d5c6d

To record the album, Lachlan enlisted help from friends Anila Hasnain (Partner Look) and Dom Kearton (Skydeck), on Bass and Guitar respectively. The producing of the album was split up between sessions with Liam Halliwell (The Ocean Party, Snowy Band), Liam Parsons and Stefan Blair (Good Morning), Dainis Lacey (Cool Sounds) and Tori Holleman (Douglas Fur, Retiree). For each session the engineers became quasi members of the band, playing singing and arranging collaboratively.

Furnishings is Lachlan's most diverse album to date. From the lo-fi keyboard musings of 'Bookshelf' to the 80s infused pop of 'You' and back to the jangling guitars of 'Lose' it is an album that twists and turns but still has all the songwriting hallmarks of a Lachlan Denton album. The album also accompanies Lachlan's first Furniture collection, which will be on display in Melbourne to accompany the launch of the record."

Soukou • bloodline • 2023

http://www.abadgeoffriendship.com/

Oozing with a soul-tinged splendour, SOUKOU’s powerfully emotive vocals are at the forefront throughout. Subtle synth-infused soundscapes slide in effortlessly underneath R&B-infused sensibilities, creating something truly mesmerising as a result. Talking about the single, SOUKOU explains, “this song is about generative trauma. It's about my grandparent, my parents and me. Its about healing and letting go of the stuff that doesn’t belong to you; about freeing yourself”.

Luna • Full Performance (Live on KEXP) • 2023

Songs:

Thank You For Sending Me An Angel

Chinatown

Pup Tent

23 Minutes In Brussels

VARSITY • Cowboy Killer • 2023

You're the real thing

Big boots and diamond rings

Hypnotical legs

You said what up babe

You pulled up right

The only cowboy for miles

800 degrees

In your mirror ball gaze

You used to say

On the open road today

There are no shortcuts or heartaches

Me, Charles • White Pearl • 2023

Body image is a recurring theme across the record. The EP’s title refers to the way we generally accept the word ‘fine’ as a replacement for good, when often that is far from the case. It’s also a reference to the overly high expectations Stooke puts on himself, in part due to the body dysmorphia and resultant disordered eating he has struggled with for many years. The EP’s artwork is a truly defiant image,  where Stooke’s naked form is displayed unflinchingly on the cover. “I’m really lucky and grateful to be able to reappropriate these usually painful areas of my life in such a constructive way”, he says of the experience. 

Murray A. Lightburn • "Once Upon A Time In Montréal" • 2023

www.murraylightburn.com

Once Upon A Time In Montreal was produced by Howard Bilerman (Leonard Cohen, The Weather Station, Godspeed You! Black Emperor), who Lightburn worked with on Hear Me Out. The album features Dears drummer Jeff Luciani along with a number of talented, local jazz players, including Frank Lozano, who delivers a soaring sax solo on the title track, which for Murray conjured the ghost of his father, who—after abandoning music when he became a born-again Christian—had picked up his sax again in the 2000s to play on two Dears songs. As soon as Lozano finished, “I knew it was a 400-foot home run,” says Lightburn. "I knew it was something that would hold. I knew also at that moment how much my dad would love this record. Even if he never told me, I know that it would be on repeat in his car if he was still with us and driving around. That was my motivation—to make something I know he would love. It’s not indie rock, you know?”

Podcast #4 • Anna McClellan

I caught up with indie superstar Anna McClellan from her pad in Omaha Nebraska, unfortunately she was just getting over Covid, but was in  enough shape to chat anyway! What a trooper. Anna has been making piano driven records for close to a decade and we are all better off because of it; honest, pure songwriting from a genuine soul. We chatted about her songwriting process, her many collaborators and her up and coming record. She's a 💎 Her latest release, "I Saw First Light" is top notch songwriting.

Featured Track

Episode #4

Red Telephone • Waiting For Your Good Days • 2023

 

“Very nicely layered. Has a bit of early 80s melodrama; a sort of Pet Shop Boys croon and a Krautrock halo.”

– Steve Lamacq, BBC 6 Music

“Something brilliantly dark about this, with their synth psych noir with a pulse. Real potential to go big.”

- Chris Hawkins, BBC 6 Music

“Great Welsh psych!”

– Amy Lame, BBC 6 Music

"It's a stunning sounding single from Red Telephone, my artist of the week”

– Huw Stephens, BBC Radio Wales

Hailing from Cardiff, Red Telephone’s richly layered alt-rock could have emanated from a club in Blade Runner's dystopian LA - combining angular guitars, Krautrock-inspired rhythms and New Wave-tinged synths with infectious pop sensibilities. Drawing on post punk and synth pop influences, the band has been catching the attention of DJs across BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 1, Absolute Radio and Radio X; with comparisons to the likes of MGMT, Super Furry Animals, Mitski and Berlin-era Bowie being drawn.

The Parlor • Serpentine • 2023

"Serpentine" comes via The Parlor, the New York-based collaboration of Eric Krans and Jen O’Connor. The project's name derives from a room in the 19th century farmhouse where they live, farm, and create. They have previously been featured by Pitchfork, CoS, PopMatters, etc.

NEWSKI feat Matthew Caws • "Chemicals" • 2023

A revival of 90’s alternative, Wisconsin's off-kilter rock outfit NEWSKI enlists a friend/musical influence on every track for their new LP Friend Rock, out April 7th. The first single of the forthcoming record features one of NEWSKI's biggest musical influences, Matthew Caws of Nada Surf, for call-and-answer lead vocals.

'Chemicals' is a hard-driving indie-pop smasher that illuminates how love can be the strongest vice. The VHS style video time-travels NEWSKI into the past, where he punches Hitler, partying at Woodstock, joining the band Queen, and getting tracked by the CIA in the JFK debacle.

https://newskimusic.com/

Gregory Uhlmann • "Again and Again" • 2023

"Again and Again" is a song inspired by Low and Cate le Bon. The video, directed by Sam Congdon, depicts Uhlmann and his adorable extraterrestrial companion on a trek through increasingly surreal dimensions, only to discover that they are caught in an endless loop of time and space. A wonderful match for Uhlmann's song about memory and time.

Oracle Sisters • Hot Summer • 2023

“Hot Summer” sees the band incorporate novel brass and woodwind elements into their signature pastoral arrangements, brought about by a chance encounter with a saxophonist on a summer’s evening. The breezy, earworm of a track invokes a sense of halcyon nostalgia, gently rising to a crescendo and a big brass flourish to underpin its bittersweet nature. The video, directed by Jade de Brito Lopes, sees the band slip into playfully eccentric animal costumes, causing general havoc to the streets of Paris. Speaking on the track the band adds: “This song wrote itself in Greece, nonplussed or too complicated in its demeanour, it’s a monologue told to yourself, under your breath out on a clandestine stroll.”

Adventurous and unique..there’s no hiding the ambition and ability in their songwriting - 

★★★★” - NME

“The undisputed riders of the heart” - So Young

“With one listen, you’ll probably fall in love with the melodic mastery apparent in each finely crafted track” - V Magazine

“Wondrous trio Oracle Sisters offer haunting European perspectives through their distinct brand of astral indie rock” - Clash

PET NEEDS • Ibiza in Winter • 2023

Filmed when the band took a recent out-of-season trip to Ibiza, the new video unfurls as a somewhat desolate tour of the usually buzzing party island. A track about frontman Johnny “trying to remain creative, positive and to look after himself after a downward spiral”, “Ibiza In Winter” sees Pet Needs take things to a “much deeper, more personal” level. 

https://petneedsband.com/live-dates

https://petneedsband.com/

Pickle Darling • King Of Joy • 2023

If I’m gonna learn something today

I think I will be someone new

Ok, I think I’m ready, don’t you blink

Brushed off and I’m tangled on a comb

Caught between the teeth and down the sink

You turn the tap on, down I go

And in your dreams we talk the weekend through, yea we talk

Sometimes I feel like an elderly man, I cross the road with your hand held 

And I can do anything as long as it’s in the plan

I wish you had a friendlier face, then I could take your complaints

dEUS • How To Replace It • 2023

Pitch-shifted timpani drums heralding the return of a band who’ve made a virtue out of defying convention. “Arresting,” says singer Tom Barman of the idea; spoken word delivery, a searing guitar line, and a trumpet phrase – the latter punctuating a cacophonous crescendo, the band deciding to “just go fucking apeshit” – add to the sense of eclecticism.

https://www.deus.be/

Jad Fair & Kramer • "true love will find you in the end" • 2023

https://shimmy-disc.com/products/i-killed-the-monster-the-songs-of-daniel-johnston

This "Various Artists" compilation of songs by Daniel Johnston filters the Texas genius's snow-globe sad-pop confections through the mercurial lens of indie rock and anti-folk. Daniel's painfully honest lyrics and gently ecstatic melodies easily lend themselves to the interpretations of others, whether it's the genius collaborations of Danielson & Sufjan Stevens ("Worried Shoes") or Jad Fair & Kramer ("True Love Will Find You in the End"), the honest-to-goodness real-life realities of Kimya Dawson ("Follow That Dream") or Jeffrey Lewis ("Adventures of God As a Young Boy"), or the proto-psychedelic pop of R. Stevie Moore ("Cathy Kline") and home-grown Shimmy-Disc artist Lumberob, or Kramer himself with the definitive version of the song he considers Daniel's very best, "Bloody Rainbow".

The Petals • Regeneration / Chorus Of Birds • 2023

In the first single, "Regeneration," the dynamics of the album are clearly outlined. Starting witha guitar-centric, indie-rock sound, the song uses violins, cellos, and other instrumentation toprovide a stunning background for the song's other half. The second single, "Chorus Of Birds,"engages our imaginations with descriptive lyrics and an intimate tone. Detailing the search forcomfort and familiarity while adding to the thematic thread that weaves its way through eachpart of the latest album from The Petals -IndigoArmor

Second Body • Fata Morgana • 2023

Indie pop five-piece band, Second Body, album release show. 

Supported by spooky electro downtempo quartet A Ghost Story. 

Tectonic drums; soul-churning harmonies; sad, yet triumphant lyrics; gauzy keyboards; and strange contrapuntal guitars. A carnival of music, riven with lush texture.

https://ursamtl.com/events/second-body/

Tennis • One Night with the Valet • 2023

“New Tennis music is always cause for celebration, but even more so when their latest offering sounds like a bonus cut from the Drive soundtrack ... Make no mistake: 'Let's Make a Mistake Tonight' is a serve (tennis pun intended).” - MTV News

"'Let’s Make A Mistake Tonight' is a great dose of their memorable, glittering sound that’s heavily influenced by the ’70s." - UPROXX

“Tennis turns to smooth, 70s-inflected soft pop on this beautiful, pint-sized ballad, a lackadaisical early-morning mood.” - PAPER

“Indie duo Tennis is coming back for our hearts... 'One Night With the Valet' teems with those ‘80s synth-pop flairs that we know and love them for, but is mellowed down to create more emotional resonance. What a way to reenter the game.” - V Magazine

"The 10 meticulously crafted pop songs on this album come across light and breezy,

but Tennis rewards a close listen by juxtaposing its smooth sounds

with biting lyrics and clever instrumental detail."

– Associated Press

CM Talkington • "Milk Of Kindness" 🔥🐝🔥 • 2023

"'Milk of Kindness' is a gentle acoustic guitar and jaw harp number at times recalling a Southwestern Cat Stevens that’s as healing as a trip to the apothecary"
- FLOOD Magazine

Ryan Hamilton • Haunted by the Holy Ghost • 2023

Ryan will be joining ifitbeyourwill Podcast Feb 25th… Looking forward!

Ryanhamiltonmusic.com

Hailed by Spin Magazine as one of the ‘35 Best Lesser Known Artists of the Last 35 Years’, the Fort Worth, Texas-based musician released his first solo album, ‘Hell of a Day’, back in 2015. Prior to this, Hamilton had experienced success across North America and Canada with former band Smile Smile.

Get tickets to the live stream event here: stageit.com/RyanHamilton/110442

Rona Mac • Sense • 2023

 

“‘Sense’ is a smoky and reflective effort, stripping back Mac’s songwriting to its plaintive resonant core.”

Under the Radar

[On ‘Sense’] “One of those voices and one of those songs that when I heard it just stopped me. Whatever I was doing, I just stopped and had to listen to her.”

BBC Radio Ulster - The Late Show

“Rona Mac's album Sheelah...it's certainly one of the finest albums I've heard...and I would definitely make an argument for it being one of the finest albums to have come out of Wales.”

BBC Radio Wales

“An album written produced mixed and mastered by an outstanding artist in her caravan... meet Rona Mac...an outstanding solo performance. Such a tuuuuuune, Rona!”

BBC Radio 6 Music

https://www.ronamacmusic.com/

Moreish Idols • Nocturnal Creatures • 2023

South London's Moreish Idols arrived fully-formed last year with the absurdist smarts of "Speedboat" and the contorted thrill of "Hangar", two highlights from a debut EP for Speedy Wunderground, Float, that saw international support from the likes of Stereogum, The FADER, NME, BBC 6 Music and more.

They return today with "Nocturnal Creatures", a woozy slice of arch indie-pop that shows an already tight songwriting team growing only stronger. Melodic, measured and another step away from the expected, a running theme for the genre-hopping five-piece so far, it's the first taster from a series of fruitful new sessions with producer Dan Carey and paired to a video self-directed by the band, with more material to follow across the year.

Characteristically cryptic the band say on the themes of their new single: "nocturnal creatures can teach us to be more observant, in case they dig up your treasure and bury their bones."

Philip Selway • Strange Dance • 2023

Philip Selway releases his much-anticipated new album, Strange Dance, on February 24 via Bella Union. Having previously shared videos for the singles “Check For Signs Of Life” and “Picking Up Pieces”, Selway today shares the atmospheric title track from the album. Commenting on the track Selway says: “Strange Dance had a very long gestation as a song. In its original form, it was the first piece from the album to be written, over 20 years ago. It was also the last song to be completed on the album, with the lyric taking shape in the final recording session. The strange dance I write about refers to the contortions we all perform as we try to balance seemingly irreconcilable elements of our lives, and the relationships that help us navigate this uncertainty.”

Podcast #3 • Fortunato Durutti Marinetti • Jan 2023

Welcome to podcast number 3 from if it be your will. Today, I caught up with Daniel Colussi of Fortunato Durutti Marinetti from his home in Toronto. We had a great conversation about the effects of Covid on the music scene, writing process, the Winnipeg music scene, and one man's musical journey over time, to name only a few of the topics we dove into. Enjoy.

Featured Track

 Episode #3

Sunny War • "No Reason" • 2023

“Everybody is a beast just trying their hardest to be good. That’s what it is to be human. You’re not really good or bad. You’re just trying to stay in the middle of those two things all the time, and you’re probably doing a shitty job of it. That’s ok, because we’re all just monsters.”

Alberta Cross • Between You And Me • 2023

Swedish-born lead singer and guitarist Petter Ericson Stakee comments, “‘Between You and Me' took a minute to finish and it went through a lot of changes along the way, especially lyrically. I started writing it in Berlin with my artist friend Martin Craft but it was left feeling unfinished, until Luke Potashnick and I started to work on the new Alberta Cross record at Wool Hall, we got it to where it felt close and eventually finished. Lyrically it feels like it's about escapism...wanting or seeking to be away from the noise and when you are away in transit, you get the time to reflect on everything at home. I love where the production ended up. Luke brought it to the right place.”

Sunnsetter • Always Talk, Never Speak • 2023

Multi-instrumentalist, composer, and mixing engineer Andrew McLeod has been releasing music under the name Sunnsetter since 2014. Based in rural Norfolk County, Ontario, they’ve always been a DIY artist, single handedly fusing together every element of their music. And while the creation is entirely them, the music itself draws from various genres; ambient, singer-songwriter, shoegaze, post-rock, slowcore and moves nimbly between them. McLeod wants each song to be distinct. "One of my biggest fears as an artist is to make an album of songs that sound exactly the same," he said.

"Led by a soft and layered guitar soundscape woven together by quiet yet impactful vocals, the track which captures McLeod’s own struggles with accepting who you are and being proud of it, carries a relatable message wrapped up in a comforting instrumentation."
- EARMILK

"'Float In Circles' is a fittingly buoyant and dreamy diversion for McLeod, tinged with plush layered synth melodies, shoegaze guitars, and expansive production. The track is an especially strong showcase for McLeod’s talents as a producer and composer, showing off his penchant for cinematic soundscapes."
- Under the Radar

The Bug Club • 'Only In Love' • 2023

If you’re still trying to figure out what The Bug Club are all about, imagine Jonathan Richman bought a really big amp & a time machine and found himself somewhere on a Nuggets compilation. Or perhaps Ray Davis buddied up with Sterling Morrison, got really into The Minutemen and agreed that songs need not be longer than two minutes. Then, maybe, you’re almost where the Welsh three-piece are coming from. To showcase their songcraft and electric live show, the band have been on non-stop tours of the UK and mainland Europe, with many more spring dates scheduled. They will make their North American debut later this year. Be on the lookout for this indie powerhouse, pick up your color vinyl at fine record stores across North America, and get into the Welsh-wave that is The Bug Club.