rescuing musical virtue in distress.
Music is a time machine, it's as simple as that. Just the opening refrain of one of your favourite songs can transport you back to a time and place, evokes memories and faces, sounds and sights, both smile-inducing and bittersweet, whistful, joyous and reflective. And that is what is being celebrated in this latest release... Continue Reading →
In the crowded world of pop, indie-pop, singer-songwriters and chart bound music, you have to make your songs stand out. You don't have to go as far as hopping genres, going off on tangents or leaping small buildings…sonically speaking, but you have to make sure that your song offers the audience something that it isn't... Continue Reading →
I always find it hard to categorize Echoglass's music. Not because it is particularly way out nor genre-hopping but because any label that I apply never comes remotely close to doing it justice. Pop seems too transient and lightweight a word to really capture what is going on and indie too hipster and faddish, though... Continue Reading →
There is something wonderfully understated about this latest track from Trey Connor, something about the structure and delivery which lets the light get in, leaves it airy and accessible, not to mention sassy, slightly soulful and soothing. There is also something great in the way that We'll Be Alright builds from balladic pop, at first... Continue Reading →
Dublin indie-pop artist Cat Dowling presents her new single ‘Animals’ with a brilliant animated video by Marc Corrigan. This is a song of movement, sensuality, wildness, love and freedom. A song about that beautiful part inside the human make-up that can't ever and should never be tamed. The new 11-track long-player from this Kilkenny-born artist, also titled ‘Animals’, will be released via Forever... Continue Reading →
Blending some nostalgic, almost West Coast, retro singer-songwriter vibes with ultra-modern indie-pop poise, Damon Mitchell seems to have worked out just where the magic point between familiarity and freshness lies, where comfort zones give way to a more adventurous spirit, where the what was, meets the what next! And that is a powerful place from... Continue Reading →
If the job of a single released ahead of an album is to build interest and intrigue for the full-length sonic delights to follow, then Entwined should expect a heft Christmas bonus from its employers. Opening with the ethereal drift of the enigmatically and existentially titled Nothing is But What is Not, we revisit the... Continue Reading →
Ahead of a four-track ep to follow, Trey Connor has released Aloof, an infectious and effective piece of indie-pop. Not only is it an addictive slice of contemporary music, but it also has some wonderful hidden depths. Aloof, and indeed the rest of the e.p. that it features on, tackles the very real and always... Continue Reading →
Using music to change the world seems like a lofty goal but it is one that Pandu Hutomo takes one stage further on this latest album. To be honest, it is something that he does on every release but let's just focus on this one for now. Rather than trying to change the world that... Continue Reading →
Although I am an advocate of music that is looking for a place in the future, which is forward-thinking and going somewhere, there is also plenty of room for music that tugs at some more nostalgic heartstrings. I'm not talking about the plunderers and plagiarists, copy-cats and sonic con artists who just repackage past glories... Continue Reading →
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 →
