rescuing musical virtue in distress.
I always look at the press blurb for any band before I put pen to paper, particularly the bit where it says what the musical touchstones and reference points seem to be. It always pays to know what you are getting into. So when I see The Manic Street Preachers, Gang of Four, Josef K,... Continue Reading →
Music, and perhaps pop music, in particular, has the ability to bring warmth, joy and happiness into the world in a way that few other things are able to. When done properly, a 3-minute blast of upbeat music and optimistic sentiments can be the perfect rallying call, sugar-rush and an act of escapism all wrapped... Continue Reading →
Imagine if you took the idea of a traditional crooner and underpinned the expected swing style with something altogether more contemporary. Imagine if Sinatra was just getting his start and was knocking around with friends who played in indie bands. Imagine if the big sound of the chamber pop era was condensed down into a... Continue Reading →
Swirling about between, and forged out of all of the best bits that the folk and pop genres have to offer, Circle is a disarmingly gorgeous song. It's as simple as that. It blends charming, chiming and understated pop with the authenticity of folk, throws in a few indie vibes, some almost nursery rhyme sonics... Continue Reading →
It was great to hear Sophie Dorsten's collaboration with 3Mind Blight recently, the resulting Reflections seeming to be a musical creation that was so much more than the sum of its very different artists. But it is still great to have her back making the deft and delicate music that is slowly becoming her signature... Continue Reading →
It is safe to say that Arda & The Stolen Moon make pop music. It is also safe to say that it is the sort of pop music which is all too rare these days. In fact, it is pop music that is so busy just being itself and having fun that it probably doesn't... Continue Reading →
We have had lots of music born of the lockdown experience over the last year. Naturally. But now, as the rough shape of what the new normal might look like is beginning to make itself known, our thoughts, also, quite naturally, turn to how we might transition from the isolation of the last year and... Continue Reading →
Any album containing a song titled "Where's Joe Strummer?" has to be worth checking out. Right? Quite right. And although it isn't that track that is under the pen this time, Uncertainty also proves to be a great calling card for STH's latest album. Whilst so many other sites who have written about the track... Continue Reading →
Although Meghan Pulles has used the term emo-positive in the past to describe her music, with this latest single she wanders into territory which might be better termed cosmic country cool. But if it is country then it is wrapped up in a whole host of interesting indie traits and purposeful pop poise. The cosmic... Continue Reading →
Built from futuristic pop smarts surfing over rock waves, Nu Eyes takes a look back at the places and people you used to know with the fresh perspective which is only gained from leaving a place, either physically or mentally. As Matty Marz says, you gotta move on, and having done so it is easy... Continue Reading →
Music can be many different things to many people. It can bring joy or sadness, can be fun and throw-away or deep and meaningful, it can be analytical, it can be hopeful and so on through a vast spectrum of attitudes and emotions. But to those who make the music, it can also be therapeutic,... Continue Reading →
As Lights of the City sets off, those not paying close attention might have Distant Voices marked down as just another gap-year troubadour, a guy with a guitar and a hat worn at a rakish angle, regaling us with his worldly wisdom regarding love, loss, longing and how he plans to make the world a... Continue Reading →
Bristol indie music legend Davey Woodward and The Winter Orphans presents bad Day', the latest single from their 'Love and Optimism' LP. Best known for his bands The Brilliant Corners, The Experimental Pop Band and Karen, they recorded this album 'live' in the studio. A very personal collection, this is Woodward's most emotional performance, putting Davey solidly amongst the best songwriters of... Continue Reading →
Liverpool's rejuvenated songsmiths Candy Opera present their new single 'Tell Me When The Lights Turn Green'. A carefully crafted, country-esque ballad that perfectly expresses Candy Opera’s new sound for 2021, reflecting on all our yearnings with openness and candour, this song has all the sensibilities of a classic ballad. This is the second single from their new album 'The Patron... Continue Reading →
I always find it odd that most punk music I hear just seems to be a harkening back to the music of a previous generation whereas the post-punk sound somehow seems to have moved with the times and surfed over the fad and fashion and still sounds relevant today. Maybe it is the genre's traditions... Continue Reading →
It’s the same old story. You form a band, play some gigs, rub shoulder with the likes of Tom Robinson and The Monochrome Set, have tea and cakes with Slade and party with Paula Yates at the 1987 Brits. You split up, move on with your lives. And then 30 years on a record label... Continue Reading →
Whilst many artists seem to be too focused on creating the next sound and being first to surf the incoming zeitgeist, and others happier to just repackage the sounds of the past, the really smart artists understand that the place to be is somewhere between the two approaches. Artists such as John Lathrop who makes... Continue Reading →
It’s great when a song's musical make-up reflects the message being pushed in its lyrics. So, as James O'Connor reinforces the edge of madness vibe by repeated use of the title as a recurring lyrical motif, he does so over a brooding bassline and simple, relentless beat to drive the idea home. And by the... Continue Reading →
There is something wonderfully early 90’s and alternative about What’s Going On, a certain fragility and a sort of outsider vibe, one which seems plant a flag for creativity over commerciality, but remains a commercially viable option nonetheless. And it is that preference for substance over style, whilst remaining as stylish as hell, which is... Continue Reading →
There is something wonderfully tribal about the back-beat and rumbling bass line of this latest release from Charlie Nieland, the title track of his forthcoming album. The constant hypnotic punctuation, a primeval call to arms, the pulsing of a global sonic heart, both a simple rhythm and a universal dance. And on top of this... Continue Reading →
My first thought when hearing opening salvo These Days Are Ours is that this band had possibly broken into my house, looked through the stack of vinyl leaning against the stereo and made an album which perfectly blended everything which I adore musically. Then I read up a bit on the band's back story, that... Continue Reading →
I love the way that Madeline Rosene can deftly walks both side of the tracks simultaneously. Numb saw her wandering between the heady highs of stardom and the hidden lows of the isolation that it brings, here she does a similarly sure-footed dance between sanity and the breaking point just beyond. Again it is all... Continue Reading →
Anything that comes at you with a jaunty bounce and outsider-indie vibe reminiscent of the mighty Wonder Stuff is more than alright in my book and there is the same sense of fun found driving opening salvo Show Me Everything That You Are. When the band last passed under the pen, with Deep Inside Your... Continue Reading →
When most creative people were bemoaning their lack of freedom, lack of access to their art-spaces and stages, creating a wave of, often, let’s face it uninspired, live-stream shows from their downstairs toilet due to pandemic imposed strictures, at least two people were swimming against the tide of lockdown's lack-lustre reactions. After all if an... Continue Reading →
Up until now, most journalistic pens put to paper regarding Paul Lappin have dwelt on the back-story, the chance meetings, the lucky alignment of factors, the path from rural France to a Swindon recording studio. But the release of this first full length album means that all of that can now take a back seat,... Continue Reading →
Although very much sitting in the pop world, Afterlife, the debut single from Edenhill, is a much smarter musical cookie than such a generic label might at first suggest. It is undeniably infectious, which is the bare minimum requirement for such a record anyway, but it is shot through with musical smarts that lift it... Continue Reading →
If you have ever wondered where power-pop ends and indie rock begins, I reckon it is somewhere between the urgent, staccato verses and the contagious choruses of Lost Cause, not that you can see the join…nor would anyone with any sense care to search for it. Why look a sonic gift-horse in the mouth, especially... Continue Reading →
It’s safe to say that Stay Lunar have found their groove, and it is a good groove. Make that a great groove. Whilst so many of their peers are looking back to that much maligned decade…the 80’s…and finding inspiration in the twee-indie and synth-driven landfill pop which seems only to define it in hindsight or... Continue Reading →
The first spin of a new black watch album always feels like coming home. Those first few guitar strums of Saint Fair Isle Sweater are the crunch of your feet on that familiar drive way and then the door opens and you are warmly greeted by shimmering guitars, the lushness of which beckons you inside and... Continue Reading →
Davey Woodward has done it all, musically speaking. From the brilliant Brilliant Corners' diverse palette of indie, pop, country, rock ’n' roll, post-punk and trade-mark humour through the equally delicious Experimental Pop Band, solo albums and as part of alt-guitar band Karen, there are few genres which he hasn’t wandered through, always putting his own... Continue Reading →