Every day, I am sent somewhere between a dozen and a hundred new songs and videos. But even at that rate, I miss out on countless numbers — including some gems. So every few weeks, I download several hundred recent singles from one of my favourite pirate sites and blast through them, looking for winners that would otherwise have fallen through the cracks. Here are some goodies I dug out of the latest batch. You’ve got everything from rock and pop to metal and jazz. Stay tuned for more. Because there’s always more.
1 | 4 Zimmer Küche Bad | Mein Radio
THE PRESS RELEASE: “My Radio is an ode to radio and the healing power of music. Even though the song and video were created before the Corona crisis, it is particularly topical right now. On the one hand, music helps us to survive times of crisis like this. On the other hand, the radio helps the bands and everyone else by providing us with new music and important and sometimes less important information, while also making the loneliness that occurs in quarantine more bearable. Cheers to the radio! We hope you will continue to broadcast for a long time. To make sure that happens, turn on your radio every day.”
2 | Alfie Templeman | Happiness In Liquid Form
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Alfie Templeman is 17 years old and is from the U.K. He records most of his songs by himself in his bedroom. He loves colourful stuff. He’s also trying to like cucumber more.”
3 | Andreya Triana | Hard Place
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Andreya Triana is an experimental and self-taught singer and songwriter originally hailing from South East London. Her husky voice is reminiscent of predecessors Lauryn Hill and Cassandra Wilson. Her music is of the moody soul variety more popular with her fellow 21st century European artists than their American counterparts.”
4 | Anne Mette Iversen Quartet+1 | Cluster
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Danish bassist and composer Anne Mette Iversen shares her time between NYC and Berlin. She has 11 albums out as a leader and toured extensively in Europe and the US. Cluster was “recorded with my longest-running group the Anne Mette Iversen Quartet with the addition of our +1; featuring the fantastic John Ellis, Danny Grissett, Otis Brown III and Peter Dahlgren. Probably the most happy and relaxed album we have made together to this date.”
5 | Asylums | A Perfect Life In A Perfect World
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Asylums have had an incredible 12 months. In the privacy of a world-class studio with legendary recording engineer and sound alchemist Steve Albini, Asylums are currently putting the finishing touches to their forthcoming third album and are uniquely primed for 2020. Originally described as “Blur if they were raised in Seattle and signed to Sub Pop,” the development of Asylums has taken them into a new sonic space — a combination of anger, pop earworms and razor sharp lyricism.”
6 | Azita | Shooting Birds Out of the Sky
THE PRESS RELEASE: “A languorous r’n’b groove couching a pessimistic plaint — but this time, it’s our relationship to everything that’s on the rocks. The history we see with pride and nostalgia now apears to be broken shit scattered about. Tomorrow looks unpromising too. Icy backing vox in the swooping style of Minnie & Mariah cinch the dystopian ennui in the chorus.”
7 | Bad Moves | Party With the Kids Who Wanna Party With You
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Bad Moves will release their new album Untenable on May 29. “The title, Untenable, is a nod to the overwhelming feeling of unsustainability that permeates life right now, whether at work, at home, or on the planet. There’s a melodic sweetness there, too, though. And a fair bit of hope. Uncertain times are also an opportunity for change.” Bad Moves is Emma Cleveland, David Combs, Katie Park and Daoud Tyler-Ameen. Formed in 2015, the band has performed throughout the U.S. and U.K., holding its own alongside Jeff Rosenstock and The Hold Steady. Once we can all stand in a room together again, they intend to tour.”
8 | Baths | Mikaela Corridor
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Baths is the intricate electronic pop project of Los Angeles-area producer Will Wiesenfeld. Growing up in California’s San Fernando Valley, Wiesenfeld taught himself guitar, contrabass, and viola and developed a quirky, layered production style, mixing sounds like clicking pens and running water with electronics and live instruments. His first project — which he began while still in his teens — was [Post-Foetus], but he soon began crafting ambient compositions under the name Geotic, and eventually added the Baths moniker to the fold.”
9 | Beach Scvm | Forever Sunday
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Beach Scvm is a pop surf group from Toulouse. Their music is characterized by fast riffs and solar melodies, catchy voices accompanied by “woo”, lyrics that chant summer, beach days and skate sessions.”
10 | Becca Mancari | Hunter
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Hunter was born from a true story reflecting back on a person from my childhood in church who, later in my life, would send me frequent letters in the mail telling me to ‘repent’ and that I was a ‘nasty woman’ for the way I dressed and for the things I sang about. I received one of these letters the morning I planned to go into the studio with Zac Farro, and in that moment I sat down and wrote most of the lyrics, finishing the song in the studio that day. It is a song written from two people’s perspectives: one of course being the Hunter figure and the other from me, saying ‘you will never stop me.’ “
11 | Bloodbather | Disappear
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Broward County, Florida-based metal band Bloodbather have shared the new song Disappear. “It’s a repercussion, a response,” the band explains. “When someone reveals who they truly are and proves themselves unfit, unreliable, and undeserving, the only answer can be true emasculation.” Armed with a take-no-prisoners approach and a bruiser of a song in the form of Disappear, Bloodbather are clearly on the verge of becoming one of heavy metal’s next big things. The band will most certainly appeal to fans of Code Orange, Knocked Loose, and Vein.”
12 | Boyo | Skip
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Where Have All My Friends Gone? The new album by Boyo, the LA-based multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Robert Tilden, reflects the sentiments of loss, isolation and confusion Tilden experienced while a 2017 health scare turned his world upside down. Tilden and his groovy, psych-drenched pop soundscapes were primed for a national breakout when he began experiencing unexplained seizures. He spent a year under the care of specialists who experimented with different powerful medications for an undiagnosed brain condition, leaving his career — and health — in question. In 2018, Tilden was diagnosed with an acute form of frontal lobe epilepsy, was prescribed the right daily regimen of pills and has been free of seizures ever since.”
13 | Brandon Ratcliff | Living for the City (Uncovered)
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Brandon Ratcliff is a 25-year-old singer-songwriter and artist from Cotton Valley, Louisiana. Son of Suzanne Cox of the legendary Cox Family, he was surrounded by music and began to hone his craft from a very young age. In the process of finding great co-writing partners, he befriended Pete Good (producer and co-writer) and AJ Babcock (co-writer) who would go on to become his closest friends outside of the studio. Together, they honed Ratcliff’s musical talent drawing from country, R&B and classic rock to Ratcliff’s personal inspirations such as Stevie Wonder and John Mayer. Eventually, Grammy-award winning producer Shane McAnally teamed up with them, and the result is a bold, fresh look at the seasons of relationships delivered by an artist with a clear point of view and a distinctive sound.”
14 | Crawlers | Placebo
THE PRESS RELEASE: “They walk amongst us and in plain sight. Not all heroes sling guitars with sweat-drenched, dyed fringes, yet Crawlers do exactly that as they commit wholeheartedly to the fight against musical tedium, creeping into society barely seen if only to save it. The fearless four-piece from Liverpool have caught fire, with the flames fed by the oxygen of heavy riffage, the abandon of youth and a sense of conviction that, if the world can be changed, then it’s the outsiders who will cross that finish line first. Rocket-fuelled, multi-coloured lead singer, Holly Minto steps from the pages of the aural comic book Crawlers illustrate with every three-minute riot, describing the alternative in vocals sweeping from caustic to honey sweet, and breathless blasts of trumpet. With heavy boots and heavily-painted eyelids, Minto is backed up by an undefeatable army of three more, powered-up misfits in the shape of Amy Woodall on guitar, Ben McKeown on drums and Liv Kettle on bass.”
