Robert Ellis drinks up, Editors smoke out, Carnifex share their visions, L Con believes and more in today’s Roundup. Is it me, or does Emergence just seem like Stranger Things with fewer kids?
1 | Robert Ellis | Topo Chico
THE PRESS RELEASE: “The video was directed by Erica Silverman and was shot at the legendary honky tonk The Broken Spoke, in Ellis’ adopted hometown of Austin, TX. Ellis offered, “I’m obsessed with Topo Chico. Absolutely obsessed. Lots of Texans are. I don’t think I’ve drank a drop of still water in 5 years. I woke up at my place in Austin one morning…a little hung over. My partner asked if she could grab me something to drink. In the time it took her to get back from the kitchen, I had basically written the whole tune. It’s a jingle for my favorite drink. Like Sangria Wine by Jerry Jeff Walker, but for modern Texan weirdos like me who just can’t put down the bubble water.”
2 | Editors | Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors Acoustic
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Following the announcement of their best of album Black Gold, Editors have given fans a first taste of the deluxe version’s second disc, Distance: The Acoustic Recordings, with a gorgeous new version of Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors. Replacing Chris Urbanowicz’s energetic lead guitar with soft acoustic strumming, gentle piano and melancholy strings, the Distance version is a hauntingly beautiful ballad that retains the emotional intensity at the core of the original, with Tom Smith’s inimitable vocals soaring above the sensuous arrangement.”
3 | Carnifex | Visions Of The End
THE PRESS RELEASE: “San Diego-based metal outfit Carnifex have released the music video for Visions Of The End right in time for the Halloween season. Scott Ian Lewis comments, “We’ve been playing Visions Of The End all summer and it was time to call in our friends at Muted Widows to bring the song to life visually. The song is sick and twisted and so is the video. Put it on replay!”
4 | L Con | Believe
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Lisa Conway aka L Con will soon release her brand-new EP, entitled Whatever. Featuring collaborations with Casey MQ (Zaki Ibrahim, TiKa the Creator), Pursuit Grooves (Planningtorock and the Knife), Geordie Gordon (US Girls), and Evan Gordon (Islands), and string arrangements by Mika Posen (Agnes Obel, Timber Timbre); the 4 track EP showcases L Con’s progression as an artist since her last critically acclaimed album, Insecurities In Being.”
5 | Open The Nile | Borealis
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Open The Nile, a four-piece technical and experimental metal band from New York City, will release The Meridian on March 13. Open The Nile transforms European progressive atmospheres through a lens of American heaviness. The band’s sound is not limited by the metal genre but also absorbs and combines elements of intense guttural/growling with melodic catchy singing, booming polyrhythms, cutting dynamical driving guitars, intricate low-end bass, and science-fiction-inspired abstract orchestral arrangements.”
https://youtu.be/6R8W7Ru7Uv4
6 | Floating Points | Anasickmodular
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Sam Shepherd aka Floating Points recently announced his new album Crush will be released on Oct. 18. He has followed up with a new track Anasickmodular. Partially recorded live, the track captures that powerful moment when Shepherd is improvising on stage and everything clicks, the rush of joy that comes in that moment as it’s followed blindly and wildly into chaotic breaks and twisted synths. The last track to be shared before the album’s release this month, this instantaneous spirit is a huge part of what makes Crush so thrilling.”
7 | Chorus Grant | No Word for the Word
THE PRESS RELEASE: “The music video sees singer-songwriter Chorus Grant tumbling down a mental staircase portraying the intellectual overload of an anxious mind. This is also reflected in the lyrics of No Word for the Word where Chorus Grant sings about getting out of his head and into his body by accepting that not all things should be picked apart and investigated on an intellectual level.”
8 | Madgrrl | Fractal
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Madgrrl makes a powerful New Noise debut via her frenzied hard dance anthem Fractal. Since arriving on the scene in late 2018, Madgrrl has taken her exploration of hardstyle electronic music all the way to EDC Las Vegas and beyond. Fractal takes a trippier, more experimental direction on hard dance music, and it’s just another step towards what’s supposed to be a #MAD 2020 for the young producer.”
9 | Wolf Den | So Close
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Wolf Den is a new music collective who found that they were stronger as a pack. So Close, engineered by Mike Tompa and written and produced by the entire collective – including Algonquin singer-songwriter Mya Gomez – combines lover’s rock reggae, dub sound effects, an electric guitar reminiscent of The Police, and a compelling rap break from Troy Junker in the third verse, to create a thoroughly relaxed and engaging vibe. While pop singer Thea May spends the verses of the song shimmying up to some steamy pleasures, “funk soul ‘n’ roll” man Julian Taylor fills the choruses in a more emotionally yearning state.”
10 | Jesper Lindell | Stormy Waters
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Jesper Lindell’s enticing debut album Everyday Dreams is a clever mixture of rock, folk, blues and soul, performed by a 26 year old musician in love with classic pop, Stax-Volt R&B, and that old time rock & roll. Hailing from a small town near Stockholm in Sweden, and gifted with an amazing soulful voice, guitarist/pianist/songwriter Jesper delivers an intimate album that could have been recorded in the late sixties. This is modern classic rock music, and hearts full of soul will fall in love.”
11 | Rorcal | A sea of false smiles hiding murder jealousy and revenge
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Swiss doom/drone/black-metal alchemists Rorcal will be back on fall with an ambitious and inhabited fifth album. Entitled Muladona and integrally based on the novel of the same name published in 2016 by the writer Eric Stener Carlson, this new work evolves through shorter, less progressive titles. The undeniable black metal influences are here joined by drone / doom incursions that give this new creation a much more narrative aspect and thus helps to capture the horrifying essence of the novel.”
12 | Raynes | Lemon Drop
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Raynes is a transatlantic trio made up of two Americans and a Brit. Now based in Los Angeles, Mat Charley and Joe Berger, both born and raised in North Dakota, met UK native Mark Race through Instagram. Raynes’ debut single Lemon Drop showcases their distinct amalgamation of influences. Lemon Drop describes chasing fame in Los Angeles and the tension between the sweet and the sour that comes with that. The trio confide, “It’s pretty fatalistic, but very tongue in cheek, as none of us are really planning on getting hooked on drugs or the adoration of fans or any of the other pitfalls that our parents and Hollywood itself warned us about.”
