The Foxies feel their Oates, High Priestess form a circle, Hey, Chels give it away now, Logan Ledger gets over it, Rozette bites and more in today’s Roundup. Scroll way down to hear a new track from a young buck with the colourful name of Iggy Pop. I think he has potential.
VIDEO OF THE DAY
1 | The Foxies | Anti Socialite
THE PRESS RELEASE: “The Foxies have built their uniquely feral brand of rock ‘n’ roll out of thrashing punk energy and the hypnotic pageantry of electronic pop. Today, the Nashville-based power trio released their new single Anti Socialite, an anthem for social exhaustion that will appear on their upcoming EP Growing Up Is Dead, due out May 29. The music video for the single features the legendary John Oates as a high school gym teacher who stakes a claim for the castaways of a world gone social media mad. On Anti Socialite, distorted guitars, pounding drums, and scintillating splashes of synth serve as the backdrop for lead singer Julia Lauren Bullock’s songbird vocals. “It’s the anthem to what everybody battles with all the time,” says Bullock. “I get FOMO real bad, but now I’m finally okay with doing my own damn thing. It’s the anthem of being like, ‘I don’t give a fuck what anybody else is doing. I’m happy right here by myself, and I’ll throw a party with my imaginary friends. You’re more than welcome to come!’”
ALSO ON THE PLAYLIST
2 | High Priestess | Casting The Circle
THE PRESS RELEASE: “L.A.’s very own psychedelic heavy trio High Priestess share their brand new video Casting The Circle, taken from their new album out now. Says bassist and vocalist Marianna Fiel: “Casting the Circle is the opening of a portal that bridges the gap between performer and audience into a unison blend of light and darkness. Since as a band we currently not able to play shows, we hope this video fills up the quarantine needs for occult b-movies and live performances.” The video was filmed and directed by Paris and Sharon of Vibralinx Film & Photo.”
3 | Hey, Chels | You’ve Got You Now
THE PRESS RELEASE: “San Diego’s Hey, Chels will release their debut full-length Everything Goes digitally for FREE on May 1. The band says, “Our reasoning is that we don’t feel right asking for money right now with the current state of everything. If you feel like helping the band out, share us with a friend, add us to a playlist, share us on your socials, we would very much appreciate it.” Hey, Chels is what you get when you spend 10 years of your life working for a degree you’ll never pay off. It’s realizing the whole world is terrible, while also serving as a reassuring pat on the cheek that everything is going to be ok. It’s a warm summer day and a cold winter night. Hey, Chels is a four-piece rock n roll band from San Diego fronted by Jax Mendez and featuring Stephanie Presz on drums, Kevin White on guitar, and Ricky Schmidt on bass.”
https://youtu.be/NRqJwiuW32w\
4 | Logan Ledger | (I’m Gonna Get over This) Some Day
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Rising Bay Area singer-songwriter Logan Ledger has released the official music video for (I’m Gonna Get over This) Some Day — a track appearing on his latest album, Logan Ledger, released earlier this month. The video was directed by Logan’s friend and colleague, Bella Mazzola and features him psychedelically distorted, quartered, reflected, and infused with mandalas. “I was very fortunate to work with my friend Bella Mazzola on this video,” Ledger enthuses. “She got far out with the concept and the visuals which, of course, I was pretty stoked about.” In my opinion it’s quite an enjoyable and mesmerizing watch as it is set in nature and the different kaleidoscope distortions really catch a viewer’s eye.”
5 | Rozette | Bite
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Rozette has been sharing her big, powerful and technically masterful voice across North America for the past decade. Rozette’s upcoming EP combines and unleashes her #sorrynotsorry, empowering, feminist spirit like none of her previous work. Rozette’s new single Bite is an empowering, quirky pop track highlighting her soulful vocals.”
6 | Sizzy Rocket | Smells Like Sex (Art Video)
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Sizzy Rocket is releasing a powerful new visual, Smells Like Sex (Art Video). The lo-fi, DIY video builds on the empowered, unapologetic, hypersexual world that Sizzy invites us to embrace on Smells Like Sex. “I have been thinking a lot about sexuality and my identity, how much I define myself by it and how empowered and inspired I am in my ownership of it. The urge to fuck is one of the most humanizing feelings, and one of my favorites — it fuels my creativity and the evolution of my artistry and it’s a big part of the romance I’m so inspired by in relationships with my muses. And yet somehow, no matter how eloquent I am, I’m still patronized. I find myself constantly policed, mostly by men, mostly putting me in my place for “disrespecting myself” and being a “bad example” for girls. Or it’s the opposite and I’m creeped on and unnecessarily encouraged or shamed for being not enough — skinny/pretty/whatever. Sometimes it can feel claustrophobic, like I’m trapped in the explicit nature of my work. It’s hard not to absorb the scrutiny and feel insecure.”
7 | Sofia Bolt | All She Wants
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Sofia Bolt (a.k.a. Amélie Rousseaux) shares a new single, All She Wants; the second standalone single since the release of her debut album, Waves, in 2019. All She Wants was recorded live at Electro-Vox Studios in Los Angeles, a song written for listeners to move to. The video was created by animator Jenna Caravello. “I always wanted to write music for people to dance to at my shows,” says Rousseaux. Her songwriting was influenced by harmonies and guitar riffs found in 1970s jazz-funk records. “My goal was to play around with tension and release while keeping a forward momentum. I listened to a lot of The Meters, Cymande, Roy Ayers while working on All She Wants.”
8 | Howling | Bind
THE PRESS RELEASE: “RY X and Frank Wiedemann reunite as Howling to present Colure, the sophomore full-length record from their joint musical enterprise. RY X, solo alternative artist and member of The Acid, and Frank, one half of Âme, bring fans a bigger, sharper follow-up to their debut, Sacred Ground. On Colure, the Berlin-based Wiedemann and Los Angeles-based RY X conjure transcendent creations out of their contrasting musical backgrounds and environments. The album is assuredly dualistic: electronic and acoustic sounds sit comfortably side-by-side, and big melodic hooks are laced into hypnotic club productions.”
9 | Haley Blais | Too Good
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Vancouver-based breakout artist Haley Blais releases her debut single Too Good. Blais shares, “Too Good was a 30 second song, basically still in utero, before Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore of Tennis heard it and dug their claws in. The words ‘Kate Bush inspired drums’ were uttered and – I could be remembering this wrong – I saw two halos appear above their heads. They saw potential in an unfinished, underdog song and HOT DOG I’m excited for you to hear it.” The charmingly candid honesty of Blais’ online presence filters into the collection of catchy bedroom-pop tunes on Below the Salt, where dreamy atmospheres are punctuated with witty observations and confessions. Her much anticipated debut LP is scheduled for Aug. 25.”
10 | Abigail Lapell | Down By the Water
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Celebrated songwriter Abigail Lapell is sharing the new action-packed video for Down By The Water, from her latest album, Getaway, which recently won a Canadian Folk Music Award for Best English Songwriter. Working together with director Michael Clowater (Radke Films), the video finds itself taking inspirations from Spike Jonze and Jonathan Glazer, juxtaposing hard hitting scenes, which pay homage to films like Raging Bull, with the somber and haunting energy of Lapell’s song. “I didn’t know anything about boxing, and got prepared by training with a coach for two weeks and watching films like Million Dollar Baby”, say Lapell. “The woman playing my opponent, Sierra, is a great athlete and was really fun and inspiring to work with. It was amazing to work with such a great crew and team. Michael had a really strong vision and somehow pulled it all off in the end. Shout out to my lady boxing posse, including the woman who owns Atlas Gym, in Toronto where we filmed, Lauren my body double, and friends who made cameo appearances in the background. I’m so excited to share the finished product.”
11 | Deradoorian | Monk’s Robes
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Los Angeles-based art pop artist Angel Deradoorian has shared the video for her new song Monk’s Robes from the upcoming album Find The Sun. Monk’s Robes follows a monk who journeys to a mountain top in hopes of being one with God. When he arrives, his God turns his worldview on its head, exposing his ignorance as he questions his understanding of the world and his desires to be free. All the more prescient in today’s circumstances, it is a song about accepting the futility of attempting to escape your reality, finding peace in acceptance and working with what you have to make something beautiful. “I’ve heard so many people say ‘I want to escape to the mountain and live alone because life is so fucking painful sometimes,’” Deradoorian says. “And that’s not really the way to do it either. You need to be isolated, you need to learn about yourself, but you can’t really stay there. You also need to integrate. You need to do both.”
12 | Seven Spies | Chameleon
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Formed in London by childhood friends, Seven Spies are a three-piece band looking to infiltrate the ears of the world. Consisting of David Blomiley (vocals, guitar, piano), Olly Brown (drums, backing vocals) and an ever-rotating bassist taking form of old band members and musical friends, you can expect to witness a healthy dose of melodic riffs and anthemic choruses. Their debut single Chameleon narrates the different faces, personas and behaviour we put on to negotiate our daily lives in different situations and the pressure people place on themselves to hide their struggles and internal demons to the outside world. Sonically the chorus shows a defiance against these pressures, external and internal, saying in the end they won’t overwhelm or control who or how we want to be. Blomiley confides, “The subject of the songs seems to be stuff that has been bubbling away inside of me for a while that I need to get out. I find song writing massively therapeutic in a way.”
13 | Az Izz | Gettin’ It
THE PRESS RELEASE: “It’s a welcome return to the hip hop fold for rapper and producer Az Izz from the legendary New Jersey group The Outsidaz, known for their early work with Wu-Tang, The Fugees and D12 and who counted Pace Won and Rah Digga among their numbers. His new album Dopeliss is out July 3, and the first single taken from it released today. The self produced Gettin’ It features East Orange luminary Drift, and over the funked up percussive beat the pair trade claims for what’s theirs while also bringing a little extra traditional rap beef to the table, in this case a historic tussle with Royce da 5’9″. The accompanying video was also released today, shot in the back yards of Brick City.”
14 | Skullcrusher | Places/Plans
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Skullcrusher is the project of LA-based songwriter Helen Ballentine. Today, she announces her debut, self-titled EP, out June 26, and presents its lead single/video, Places/Plans. While nannying on the side to make ends meet, she wrote Places/Plans, her first song for Skullcrusher, a little over a year ago. Places/Plans floats with soft guitar and Ballentine’s hypnotic voice, inviting the listener into the depths of her personal, intense solitude. “I thought a lot about my self-worth during this period of uncertainty,” says Ballentine. “Places/Plans attempts to communicate the beauty and vulnerability of being alone and what it means to let someone else in to see that. It feels like the thematic core of the EP. It is a song for being alone in your room, lying on the floor with a book and the window open, but also for letting someone in to lie with you.”
15 | Luka Kuplowsky | There’s A Rugged Road
THE PRESS RELEASE: “With Luka Kuplowsky’s new EP, Judee Justin Arthur Mary, out this Friday, the Toronto songwriter is sharing another track from the EP, his cover of Judee Sill’s There’s A Rugged Road. “The first time I played with Thom Gill and Josh Cole it was at the Holy Oak Cafe playing this song,” says Kuplowsky. “Judee’s perfect song offered a musical space to converse with two artists who are now deeply inspirational collaborators. The song itself is incredibly visual and offers a rich harmonic path. We decided to tread softly and soulfully.” Kuplowsky says of the EP: “Judee Justin Arthur Mary is a collection of songs by artists that are deeply meaningful to me. It is a true pleasure to briefly live inside the songs of Arthur Russell, Judee Sill, Justin Haynes, and Mary Margaret O’Hara. Our tribute to them is to find our own centre and footing through their gifts of words and music. Here are some half-remembered takes on some of the deepest songwriters I know.”
16 | Mirabelle | Betty
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Montreal singer-songwriter Mirabelle is sharing her new single Betty, from her upcoming album Late Bloomer, out on May 29. Betty just might be the backbone of Laurence Hélie’s upcoming album. It’s the first new song she wrote, the spark in the void that was two years or so ago — before everything that led to Late Bloomer, before she realized that she had found a new sound and called it Mirabelle. “I’ve always been super impressed with strong, confident, bold, woman musicians,” Helie says. “I guess there’s a little bit of that in my wanting to make music. To be out there, fearless, like them.” Like its early incarnation, the finished version of Betty came instinctively, brought to life in the studio along with guitarist, bassist and co-producer Warren C. Spicer (Plants and Animals), drummer Matthew Woodley (Plants and Animals) and Christophe Lamarche-Ledoux (Organ Mood, Chocolat) on synthesizers. The ’90s alternative sounds of Hélie’s youth mesh with trip hop and the modern pop approach that colours all of Late Bloomer.”
17 | Caleb Landry Jones | I Dig Your Dog
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Actor and musician Caleb Landry Jones releases a new single, I Dig Your Dog, from his forthcoming album, The Mother Stone, out May 1. “Everybody digs their dog most,” says Jones. “We made the intro around what we had in the studio that screamed. The little conganitas got things moving. I remember really looking forward to tracking the part, just after but not before the next to last. It’s always been my favorite part, it’s always been my favorite part, it’s always been my favorite part to play.”
18 | Dirty Streets | Walk A Mile In My Shoes
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Scan the press on soul-groove outfit Dirty Streets and you’ll see numerous references to rock, soul, and dirty-blooze touchstones like the Faces, Humble Pie, Otis Redding, CCR and more. Spin Dirty Streets’ records and you’ll hear all of those echoes, plus others — some jazz timing, some acoustic balladry. But by and large, what you’ll hear is a raw, rowdy blend of Motown, Stax and rock — the pure American blood-beat moving through the heart of Memphis groove. Their July 31 album Rough and Tumble includes eight positively explosive takes from three of the Memphis trio’s previous studio albums, and also features two meaty, revved-up covers by the great Joe South — including Walk A Mile In My Shoes.”
19 | VickiKristinaBarcelona | Cold Cold Ground
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Rachelle Garniez, Amanda Homi and Terry Radigan are three gifted singers, songwriters, storytellers, and multi-instrumentalists with their own distinct styles. Together, as VickiKristinaBarcelona, they create something unique and magical through imaginative interpretations of Tom Waits songs. The trio shares this joyful music on their first album, Pawn Shop Radio, which arrives on May 29 — and on their new cover of Cold Cold Ground. “Cold Cold Ground is most definitely all about the groove. The beautiful lazy Calypso lilt of the original demands no less,” said Garniez. Homi adds, “We decided to move in the direction of an homage to 1960’s Girl Groups; a hybrid of The Ronettes’ Be My Baby and The Marvelettes’ Please Mister Postman, with a nod to British Invasion riffs on guitar and banjo. As each verse has a distinct personality, it was a natural for us to choose as a group song.”
20 | Iggy Pop | Family Affair
THE PRESS RELEASE: “To all Poptimists! “[this track] made me feel good and it was good company and I hoped I could put it out and it would be good company for someone else too.”
21 | ELM | Kingsnake
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Italian noise rock unit ELM will release their album The Wait on June 12. A raging display of manic urgency, the 11-track analog recording was captured by Paride Lanciani at Oxygen Recording Studios in Verzuolo, Cuneo, Italy in a week of retreat during the hottest summer ever. “We realized full-on aggression was not enough to convey the overall mood we were in with this record,” relays the band. “It was necessary to basically stretch out every element of our music to an absurd level where all is transfigured and reduced to a new sonic result: shinier, sharper, and cleaner. In an attempt to create a more uncomfortable overall mood, we cut off every unnecessary element to build up the required tension.”
