Every now and then, I download a few hundred recent singles from one of my favourite pirate sites and scroll through the tracks looking for buried treasures. Here are some goodies I dug out of the latest batch:
Deeper | This Heat
THE PRESS RELEASE: “What do you do when pain blots out joy? How do you learn to take care of yourself? What happens when the things you think are helping end up doing the most harm? Auto-Pain is the sophomore album from Deeper, a record that finds the band embracing open space, using synths to create shadows where bricks of guitars once would’ve blocked out the sun. The group — singer and guitarist Nic Gohl, bassist Drew McBride, and drummer Shiraz Bhatti — were all graduates of Chicago’s rich DIY scene who came together around their love of Wire, Devo, Gang of Four, and Television. While the new record is still within the Great Lakes post-punk tradition of their debut, the album isn’t as insular as its predecessor; it’s less interested in pile-driving and more willing to dwell in liminal spaces. Guitars enter the picture precisely, locked bass grooves propel things forward. Drummer Bhatti, who is half-Pakistani and half-Native American, embraced the drumming patterns he’d heard growing up at pow-wows, channeling the anxieties of his heritage into his playing and keeping the group grounded when they switch into all-out percussive attack. The result is an album both more nuanced and catchy.”
Discodor | The Arrangement
THE PRESS RELEASE: “The juke box styled 7 housed in generic in-house sleeve, comes accompanied by all manner of inserts, a label coaster, bespoke spider adaptor and autographs, scarcely before we’ve played the blighter, we are experiencing dizzy fits. This time of asking, a four-track serving from duo Discodor (Pierre Duplan and Lee Skelly) their debut outing no less, with The Arrangement leading the parade. A super chilled smoker invested with the coolest lounge lilts you’ll hear all year, both measured and mercurial and just a tease trippy as it slinkily moves with suave sophistication amid a sultry sound environ where sit at one side are Le SuperHomrd and to the other, a Cobra era Stereolab here in cahoots with Beautify Junkyards.”
Ghostpoet | Concrete Pony
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Two-time Mercury Prize nominee Ghostpoet (aka Obaro Ejimiwe) follows up 2017’s acclaimed Dark Days + Canapés with a record which couldn’t feel more prescient, a dystopian snapshot of the universal unease and anxiety we feel as we enter into this new decade, an uncertain future distilled across these 10 vital tracks. The bluesy, gritty Concrete Pony is the perfect entry point to the record – in Obaro’s own words; “It’s a snapshot of where we’re at as a society I feel, we seem to have everything and nothing at all. Infinite possibilities and choices galore but we seem set in stone, frozen in place, oblivious to the storm clouds in the distance…” The video, shot by Thomas James, acts as a brilliant companion piece. With its distinctly Lynchian feel, surreal, foreboding and beautifully cinematic, it is a must watch. Recorded in London and written, arranged and produced by Ghostpoet, I Grow Tired But Dare Not Fall Asleep incorporates a myriad of sounds and styles but is anchored by the more alt-rock sonics presented across his last two records.”
Hailu Mergia | Abichu Nega Nega
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Hailu Mergia’s new album Yene Mircha (“my choice” in Amharic) departs from the fiery acoustic trio jazz of 2018’s Lala Belu, his first recording in over 15 years. That album clarified Mergia as a living legend making vital contemporary music. It was hailed by international press. Mergia is in no way stuck in nostalgia for the “golden age” of 1970s Ethiopian music. He enters a new field of sound with expanded instrumentation and a focus on Mergia’s own compositions and arrangements. His DC-based trio is the highly stable nucleus. They’ve burned a path across three continents playing this hard-to-categorize approach to jazz, funk, and a rainbow of Ethipoian styles at more than 40 shows last year.”
Hazel English | Off My Mind
THE PRESS RELEASE: ” With her debut full-length album, Wake Up!, Hazel English has traded the hazy, reverb drenched production styles prevalent in her earlier work for sounds synonymous with classic pop records from the late 60’s. Production isn’t the only dramatic change, however. A move from San Francisco to Los Angeles to explore a collaborative relationship with producer Justin Raisen (Sky Ferreira, Charli XCX, Angel Olsen) proved to bring a fine tuned sense of pop craftsmanship to the songs that would become Wake Up!“
Herizen | Troublemaker
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Herizen Fawn Guardiola is a Cuban Jamaican Singer/ songwriter and actor originally from Miami. She was the lead of Baz Luhrmann’s groundbreaking series The Get Down for Netflix. Herizen played Mylene Cruz, a shining, tenacious girl with a voice from God who dreams of disco stardom from the confines of her family’s fiercely religious church walls. She was Luhrmann’s latest leading lady following Claire Danes (Romeo + Juliet), Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge) and Carey Mulligan (The Great Gatsby).”
j ember | Lower Than Low
THE PRESS RELEASE: There isn’t one. Unless you count Toronto singier-songwriter Joseph Chusid’s Spotify page, which simply says: “email me and i will write you a story.” Go for it and let me know how it turns out. Me, I’d ask him to write another song as good as this one.
Jordan Mackampa | Magic
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Jordan Mackampa’s Magic is the love-drunk sing and dance along moment that we’ve all been searching for. As with all the songs from Mackampa’s forthcoming album, Magic embraces musical styles beyond his former singer-songwriter repertoire. And so, Magic is an instant lift thanks to those moreish swathes of boss nova and samba rhythms, as well as the Congolese-British artist’s well-rounded soul vocals. This is a song for celebration; this is a song for love. Produced by Dani Castelar (Paolo Nutini). Magic, precedes the release of Jordan’s debut album Foreigner on March 13. Speaking on the track, Jordan quotes: “This is a bossa nova/samba/ infused feel good kinda track about when you can’t get someone off your mind. You’ve had one taste and you want more!”
