Bill Fay sprinkles salt, Too Free hit the ATM, Caroline Rose has the feels, Sam Miller makes time and more in today’s Roundup. You load 16 songs and whaddaya get? Another day older and deeper in debt.
SONG OF THE DAY
1 | Bill Fay | Salt Of The Earth
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Bill Fay has released Salt Of The Earth, a new single from Countless Branches, his new album out Jan. 17. Featuring a serene Fay at his most hopeful – retaining the awestruck, inquisitive feel of his early songs – the song is accompanied by a Miles Johnson-edited video that includes the first footage of Fay performing since his 2012 Later… with Jools Holland appearance. While still reluctant to play live or make public appearances, Fay’s resolve and his purity shine through the work and make him a special artist, finding his wider world from that corner of the room – and long may he continue to do so.”
ALSO ON THE PLAYLIST
2 | Too Free | ATM
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Too Free — the Washington, D.C. based trio of Awad Bilal, Carson Cox, and Don Godwin — announced Love in High Demand, their debut album out Feb. 21. In conjunction , they shared a video for lead single ATM. The song examines the duality of attention. Too much can go to one’s head, corrupting a sense of common ground and innate empathy of the human experience, but on the flip side, the effects of too little unlock desperate feelings inside of us, rendering our morality obsolete. ATM is about that beautiful, healthy middle ground where it’s okay to desire being noticed, and was consciously written for marginalized people who don’t always have the platform of being seen. The track is an homage to the group’s shared love of ballroom music and the everlasting courtship between the dancer and the music.”
3 | Caroline Rose | Feel The Way I Want
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Caroline Rose announces Superstar, out March 6. The followup to 2018’s acclaimed Loner, Superstar is a bigger, badder, glitter-filled cinematic pop record. It’s an underdog story, and one not far off from Rose’s real life. After years of struggle to release what would ultimately become Loner, Rose found herself in the midst of a new widespread audience, one both intrigued and perplexed about how and where to place her. This feeling of otherness, combined with a developed set of studio skills and a challenge to “make something from nothing,” marked the beginning of Superstar — the story of a shamelessly odd hero, or rather anti-hero, on a quest to become a someone. The goal of lead single Feel The Way I Want is to “have people, including myself, not know whether to love or hate this person. They’re kind of like a walking eye roll who’s easy to dismiss, but at the same time you admire their determination. It’s the Kanye effect.” The accompanying video, directed by Rose, was made on an iPhone over the course of an 11-day road trip from Hollywood, California to Hollywood, Florida.”
4 | Sam Miller | By The Time
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Sam Miller is a man of unique talents. A rare musical soul who thrives in our modern day of synthesizers and microchips, but who would be equally content playing Bach fugues in a cathedral filled with orangutans. His musical output is driven by curiosity and exploration, noticeably lacking the self-aggrandizing spirit of so much pop music. With his most recent album, In One Place at a Time, Miller slyly sings the voice of your inner thoughts. No paradox is safe. He reflects on regret, lost opportunities, and love, but does not dwell on any one idea too long. Soon enough he is pointing out the pointlessness of such fixations. “By the time that I made it, I’d gone too far,” he laments. Keep moving. The moment is passing. You are still in it.”
5 | Divergency | Slay Your Fear
THE PRESS RELEASE: “A few weeks after the official release of its debut full-length album Cassandre, Swiss metalcore outfit Divergency just unveiled a brand new music video for the song Slay Your Fear. Founded in 2015 around the area of Morges, Switzerland, Divergency quickly played its first gigs before releasing a first EP called The Frame Of Mind (2016). A bunch of live dates later in Switzerland and after some line-up changings, the band got back in studio to record a two-songs single entitled The Order and released in 2018 before embarking for an East-European tour. Then, the band began the work on its debut full-length effort.”
6 | Georgia | 24 Hours
THE PRESS RELEASE: “For Georgia, 2019 was a hugely triumphant year: Her past three singles shot to the top of the UK radio charts, she played a debut set at Glastonbury Festival, and in October, she toured the US for the first time ever before returning home to the UK, where she performed on the late night TV show Later…With Jools Holland. Ahead of the release of her new album, Seeking Thrills, this Friday, Georgia shares a new single, 24 Hours, and an accompanying video directed by Joseph Connor. Arguably her most pop-friendly track to date, 24 Hours is inspired by Georgia’s experience of the party scene in Berlin, capturing the euphoria and the thrill of a heady night in the dance music capital of Europe.”
7 | Bombay Bicycle Club | I Can Hardly Speak
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Mercury Prize-nominated and UK chart-topping indie quartet Bombay Bicycle Club announced North American tour dates in support of Everything Else Has Gone Wrong, their first new album in 6 years. The band also shared the lyric video for new single I Can Hardly Speak.”
8 | Blood Eagle | Wall Of Hate
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Denmark-based death metal band Blood Eagle unleashed their album To Ride in Blood & Bathe in Greed unto the world on Nov. 22. Today, the band release the video visualizer for Wall Of Hate. The band comments, “What time is it? It’s grind ‘o clock! This song is about one of the biggest political controversies of all time. A true monumental failure for humanity. Wall of Hate is a portrait of a xenophobic, warmongering presidential candidate, spreading fear and terror – which by no means deserves a mention. In the famous words of Barney Greenway ‘Make love, not war’ – we support that and hereby spread the grinding gospel.”
9 | Jeff Swanson & Case-fitter | Gaussian
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Chicago-based guitarist/composer Jeff Swanson continues to focus the energies of his ambitious Case-fitter project on his second recording as a leader, Fathoms. Available Feb. 28, Swanson’s 10 original compositions enchant listeners with their unique voice and textural approach. Fathoms creates a fresh boundless sound that seamlessly incorporates the worlds of jazz, rock, electronic music and chamber ensembles. The first track on Fathoms is a tribute to close friend and collaborator, Juan Pastor. Gaussian takes influence from Peruvian Festejo rhythms while maintaining Swanson’s compositional storytelling and heavily electric sound. The listener is taken on a journey as the odd phrasing and sway of the beginning melodies transition into an open section where the composer enters into a fiery dialog of back and forth with the rhythm section.”
10 | Leotrix | Newdance
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Rising Australian producer Leotrix takes his unyielding bass-driven sound from the gutter via the jolting banger Newdance. Presenting an unstoppable combination of unique sound design, jaw dropping melodies and a “no holds barred” approach to drops, 20 year old Leotrix is rapidly becoming one of bass music’s most talked about up-and-comers.”
11 | Wild Nothing | Foyer
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Wild Nothing – the project of Richmond, VA-based Jack Tatum – will release his new EP, Laughing Gas, on Jan. 31, and today presents Foyer, the propulsive, synth-funk lead single. Laughing Gas is the third EP from Wild Nothing, and follows his recently released album, Live From Brooklyn Steel. Tatum delves deeper into the territory where he thrives: namely, the synth and sophisti-pop of the 1980s. Working within a more mechanical and synthetic framework than his previous releases, Wild Nothing continues to delicately toe the line between the organic and the unnatural. These are still pop songs, but there’s an underlying sense of uneasiness that threads the music together.”
12 | Anders Manga | Rosaries & Requiems
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Darkwave virtuoso Anders Manga announced his seventh studio album Andromeda. After spending last year focused on his Gothic Metal band Bloody Hammers and releasing a new album, Anders returns back to his Darkwave and Post-Punk roots with his new album. Anders provides some insight into his new album and it’s concept: “Overall it’s a dark wave album as long time listeners would generally expect but there’s also some genre fluid moments. Andromeda to me is surreal concept album. In my mind it lives in a weird post-nuke movie from the 70s or 80s. I also used quite a bit of an Alesis Andromeda synth on the album so that also influenced the title. I’m currently looking into 2020 tour dates and excited to play some of Andromeda, and of course a few classics live this year. The first single Rosaries and Requiems is out now.”
13 | Tremendous | Like Dreamers Do (Unplugged)
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Birmingham UK glam rock act Tremendous will release their debut album Relentless in early 2020. The album and the track Like Dreamers Do are dedicated to frontman Mark Dudzinski’s original manager and friend, the late Adrian Millar. He was the manager of the U.K. band The Babys and known for his work with Black Sabbath.”
14 | David Dondero | Thought I Was A Hurricane
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Thought I Was A Hurricane is the latest single from David Dondero’s forthcoming LP, The Filter Bubble Blues, due Jan. 17. The track itself is a bit of a respite from the rest of the sociopolitically charged LP. Written after escaping a hurricane, only to find himself holed up in a hotel full of Scorpions fans, this is classic Dondero – biting, humorous, and poignant. Dondero describes the track… “Thought I Was A Hurricane is a pop rock song of self deprecation, written after escaping a hurricane in Carolina and going down to Tampa to wait out the storm in the Autumn of 2018. I ended up at a hotel full of Scorpions fans. I didn’t go to the show but I wrote this song instead. The song gives a nod to the late John Hope, one of the greatest meteorologists to ever live – The original weather channel hurricane update man.”
15 | Green and Glass | Gabriel
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Green and Glass are an avant-pop group from Brooklyn led by harpist and vocalist Lucia Stavros, and flanked by multi-instrumentalist Sam Decker, trumpeter Andrew McGovern, drummer David Flaherty, and bassist Ryan Dugre. On Feb. 14, the band will release their self-titled debut album. The band shares: “Gabriel is about a figure that follows you around, absorbing some of what the world throws at you, like a hobbled guardian angel. Slightly mysterious, and always in the peripheral, it depicts an avatar of the mundane and profound. A pastoral epic, with perhaps the broadest scope of any song on the record, Gabriel finds its center in the interwoven guitar and harp ostinato which serves as the base for layers and layers of sound, all moving toward the joyous final chorus which is equally bright and heavy.”
16 | Mohawk Bends | See What You Do To Me
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Formed in February 2018, Mohawk Bends comprises four Austin-based musicians: Alex La Fuente, Colin Clay, Chris Michael and Jonathan More. The quartet has quickly become a local crowd favorite, developing a loyal fan base after putting on their first few performances together as a band two years ago. Employing a dynamic intentional approach, Mohawk Bends delivers a refreshing, honest, and compelling sound that offers intoxicating anticipation. The band never fail to disappoint—their songs are just as infectious as you’d hope. Their new single See What You Do To Me is an anthemic hit that sees them pushing the boundaries of their own creativity.”
