Idles open their grounds to the public, Khruangbin have a ball, Deema serves up hash browns, Jack the Radio see colourful creatures, Hannah Georgas shares her dreams and more in a top-notch Tuesday Roundup. If you can’t find something to like here, you’re just not trying.
TRACKS OF THE DAY
1 | Idles | Grounds
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Following Brutalism (2017) and Joy as an Act of Resistance (2018), two releases that garnered global critical acclaim, Idles return with their highly anticipated third album Ultra Mono. Sonically constructed to capture the feeling of a hip-hop record (including production contribution from Kenny Beats), the album doubles down on the vitriolic sneer and blunt social commentary of their past work. Not far beneath the surface of their self-admitted sloganeering lies a deeply complex and brutally relevant album that chews up clichés and spits them out as high art for the masses. This is momentary acceptance of the self. This is Ultra Mono. Of the single Grounds, Joe Talbot said, “We wanted to write a song that embodied self-belief, and gave us self-belief — a counter-punch to all the doubt we build up from all the noise we so easily let in. We wanted to make the sound of our own hearts’ marching band, armed with a jack hammer and a smile. We wanted to make the sound of our engine starting. So we did.”
2 | Khruangbin | Pelota
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Khruangbin — the trio of Laura Lee Ochoa (bass), Mark Speer (guitar), and Donald “DJ” Johnson (drums) — present new single Pelota, alongside its accompanying video, directed by Hugo Rodrigues Rodriguez, written by Alvaro Sotomayor and produced by Glassworks Creative Studio. The track is off of their highly anticipated new album Mordechai, out June 26. “A Texan band with a Thai name singing a song in Spanish, loosely based on a Japanese movie,” says Khruangbin of the track, which opens with a flurry of guitar and Ochoa, Speer, and Johnson’s sun-tinged unison vocals.”
3 | Deema | Hash Brown Feat. David Armada
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Deema delivers one of his most exciting singles yet on party-bound bass-quake Hash Brown feat. David Armada, from his July 3 debut EP Chew Your Food. “Hash Brown is the real banger on my Chew Your Food EP so of course we needed bangers and mash for the video … and a balaclava,” says Deema. Watch the South London rappers cook it up in the bold and surreal accompanying video produced and directed by Greedy Goons.”
ALSO ON THE PLAYLIST
4 | Jack The Radio | Creatures
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Raleigh, NC roots-rockers Jack the Radio are premiering their fantastical animated music video for Creatures. Featuring soul singer Tamisha Waden, it’s the title track off their upcoming album Creatures, out July 10, and provides a teaser for the companion comic book, Jack The Radio: Creatures Anthology, out June 24. “The artwork for the video was plucked right from the pages of the comic book that’s based on the album,” says singer / songwriter / artist George Hage. “The song is based off the classic story of A Christmas Carol, and the video, like the tale, captures Jack on his journey of self-discovery as he is faced with his past, present, and future. The song is about finding peace and balance in the world and Jack’s quest for that balance.”
5 | Hannah Georgas | Dreams
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Acclaimed indie-pop songstress Hannah Georgas announces her new LP All That Emotion will be released on Sept. 4. Of newly released single Dreams, Georgas writes, “In my past, I have let my insecurities play into relationships and have pushed people away because I have felt like I’m not deserving of love. This song explores the idea of breaking down those barriers of insecurity and being more open.” Finalized well-before this unprecedented year of upheaval, All That Emotion features deeply personal songs about reckoning with the past. Yet the record’s warm, enveloping sound and lyrical themes of change and resilience fittingly calm and comfort human hearts frayed by these trying times. “I have been thinking about what this album represents to me and it is resilience,” says Hannah. “It’s about finding hope and a way out the other side of tough situations. The hardships we go through make us grow into stronger people. The album is about healing, self-reflection and getting up again at the end of the day.”
6 | Sons of Butcher | Speaking Moistly
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Sons of Butcher, Canada’s most formidable “mock rock” band, has a new collection of music out, aptly named Lockdown In Steeltown, themed around the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the first release from the band in four years, and it comes right after the announcement that Sons of Butcher will be creating a third season of their show themselves with the entire original team. Sons of Butcher wrote the EP in the spring, right when quarantine measures were enforced around the world, and it goes through some of the experiences that the Sons would likely be facing during that time. Sons of Butcher explain the EP and the single Speaking Moistly: “This EP is a look into the lives of these cartoon rockers as they’re forced to lockdown in place in their hometown of Steeltown. Each character is coping in their own way and has their own song to express it. Speaking Moistly is a cover song, a heavy’d up version of the internet meme classic based on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s ‘speaking moistly’ speech. This song is fast, energetic, and informative as Ricky outlines the specifics about next phase etiquette.”
7 | NeroArgento | Shed My Skin
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Before releasing the new album Circles in September, award-winning Italian vocalist/multi-instrumentalist NeroArgento is sharing the new music video for the full-length’s second single Shed My Skin, featuring Brandon Ashley (The Dark) along with backing vocals and lyrics by Caitlin Stokes (Corlyx). Circles is NeroArgento’s fifth studio album and it takes a step back to the original “industrial” roots as well as a step forward into a more mature and experimental sound.”
8 | Gorgatron | Usurpation
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Pathogenic Automation is the impending new full-length from Fargo, N.D.-based death/grind unit Gorgatron. Set for release this August and rooted in the old-school stylings of death and thrash, the nine-track Pathogenic Automation was recorded by the band, mixed and mastered by guitarist Neal Stein, and spews forth a 41-minute maelstrom of sonic brutality punctuated by a variety of introspective themes. In advance of its release, today the band is pleased to unveil their video for second single, Usurpation. Elaborates guitarist Paul Johnson, “Let’s just start off by saying this song is a smorgasbord of riffs. The verse and chorus riffs contrast each other in this song. To me, the verse seems to have a bit of an East Coast death metal flavor to it while the chorus seems more frantic and odd, with the timing and note selection. It’s also fun doing the sick backup vocals on that part.”
9 | Dead Register | Live in Lafayette
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Here’s a live set from Atlanta, Georgia-based post-rock/avant doom trio Dead Register. Filmed in November of last year, the set features two previously released tracks as well as a brand-new song and sees release as the band begins construction on their next full-length recording, due out next year. The band offers, “Dead Register dropped into The Freetown Boom Boom Room in Lafayette, La., during our Fall 2019 tour. It was a historically frigid November evening for the southern town, rendering the club and most of the area quiet and empty. We approached the evening like a live radio performance, playing privately for the fine staff, the opening band, and the promoter. It was a very cozy and unforgettable night that we’re happy to share with you now.”
10 | Daniel Blumberg | On&On
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Daniel Blumberg has announced details of new album On&On, a nine-track song cycle that confirms the London musician and visual artist as a unique creative force, and pushes the art of song into expansive new territories. On&On, set for release on Aug. 28, is a consolidation of the deconstructed song aesthetic he has developed, operating at the intersection between conventional song structures and free improvisation. Title track On&On appears four times across the arc of the record as if coming in and out of focus, an infinite song that encapsulates the paradox of the circle, existing in a liminal space between perpetual motion and stasis, as Daniel sings: ‘On and on and on and on and on…’ ”
11 | Azure Emote | Curse Of Life
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Azure Emote is the brainchild of vocalist Mike Hrubovcak, joined by guitarist Ryan Moll. The powerful new video for Curse Of Life was directed and filmed by Nader Sadek, who offers, “For years I’d been hoping that Mike — through our many collaborations starting as far back as 2012 — would ask me to make a video for his highly experimental and intense musical adventure. I got super lucky and got the call. Listening to the song and seeing Mike’s artwork for the album got me tripping and gave me permission to get very weird with it. The song’s eclectic nature and orchestration are mind boggling and so inspiring! I had the opportunity to shoot all over the world all the way from the US, Portugal, and Egypt. I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity and the journey it took me on! Making it was such an intense experience.”
12 | Twisted Pine | Don’t Come Over Tonight
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Twisted Pine — once a straightforward, Boston-based bluegrass act — has been hard at work; busily evolving into a wider version of a string band; boundary jumpers akin to outfits like Punch Brothers, Nickel Creek and Crooked Still. Their influences certainly don’t stop there — Twisted Pine’s collective instrumental and songwriting skills should also be listed in the same echelon of contemporaries like Vulfpeck, Hiatus Kaiyote or Lake Street Dive. On Aug. 14, their new album Right Now will hit shelves and streaming services. Today, they share a music video for the album’s first single, Don’t Come Over Tonight.”
13 | Kris Delmhorst | Wind’s Gonna Find A Way
THE PRESS RELEASE: “You don’t have to believe in anything mystical to feel the molecules around you shift just a little when you listen to Kris Delmhorst. Her songs shapeshift like breath turning to mist on a cold, clear night; the inner made visible. With Long Day in the Milky Way, her eighth album out Aug. 14, Delmhorst takes a surefooted stride forward. Lush with layered vocals and immersive instrumentation, it finds the gifted lyricist at the height of her craft and working with a strong sense of purpose. “No shame in the long game, look around and see that time is all we got,” she sings in Wind’s Gonna Find a Way, the album-opener out today full of subtle swagger, as background vocals and strings coalesce into a weather system all their own — sinuous cloud formations and bright glints of sunlight. In its tagline, the song recommends adopting the persistence of the wind: “Keep on pushing and you’ll find a way through.”
14 | Night Laser | Street King
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Night Laser release their first video single Street King feat. Gerre (Tankard) from the new album Power To Power! “This is pretty much the most thrashing piece we’ve ever done. When we had the aftershow party with Gerre at Summer Breeze, we were hoping that he might contribute vocals and voilá! This is a blast! 150 seconds of true feelings, right in your face! “Musically, this is a wicked blend of 80s heavy metal and modern hard rock. A pinch of power metal or a touch of thrash here and there and you’ve got us.”
15 | Hands Like Houses | Space
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Australian rock favorites Hands Like Houses are officially lifting the lid on their new single and video Space. Vocalist Trenton Woodley explains that Space captures a particularly mentally and spatially suffocating time for the band experience while recording. Trenton personally found himself going through the motions, grappling with exhaustion, trying to push ahead ahead and ultimately feeling as though he was coming up short of others’ expectations. Lyrically and sonically, the track captures a literal cry for the breathing space he needed. “I think the song really captures that pressure we felt having to refine our raw ideas and work through our differences in taste and personality while recording,” he says. “It’s strange that that sense of emotional claustrophobia has fast-forwarded to this literal one with COVID-19. Since we tracked it, I haven’t actually read the lyrics written down until now and there’s a strange sense of deja vu, like I wrote them yesterday, with full knowledge of everything that’s happened in the last few months.”
16 | The Beths | Out Of Sight
THE PRESS RELEASE: “The Beths share Out of Sight, a new single from their highly-anticipated sophomore album, Jump Rope Gazers, out July 10. Out of Sight is tender and shoegazing. It reckons with the distance that drives people apart and how those who love each other inevitably fail each other. The best way to repair that failure, in The Beths’ view, is with abundant and unconditional love, no matter how far it has to travel. Elizabeth Stokes says, “The band playing on Out Of Sight is more fragile than we usually allow ourselves to be. We are trying to listen more deeply and be more open ended, it was confronting to do and sometimes even frustrating. But it came out great, Ben’s bass playing especially is beautifully melodic and gives the song a unique texture.”
17 | Bellsavvy | Queen Of My Mind
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Bellsavvy is a pop singer/songwriter with a strong attitude and musical identity. Based in London and raised in Brazil, the artist knows how to combine her latin roots and European influences to create a unique sound unlike any other. Queen of My Mind is her uplifting and self-empowering anthem about overcoming these inner battles, realising who you are, accepting it and understanding it, in order to truly be at one with yourself. She confides, “Queen of My Mind is a very personal, deep and emotional song. I wrote it about three years ago after a mental breakdown I had at the very end of my modeling career. I want others to feel the power we have when we love ourselves. Self-esteem, self-love and self-acceptance are the most powerful things we can have in us. It changes everything.”
18 | Layla Kaylif | As I Am
THE PRESS RELEASE: “British singer-songwriter Layla Kaylif releases her new single As I Am. The latest track to emerge from Layla’s upcoming album Lovers Don’t Meet (out Aug. 7) is lush and mellifluous of sound, and arrives with an affecting video fit for our times. Rooted in a timeless Americana sound, As I Am is rich with cooing harmonies, yawning pedal steels and sleepy acoustic arrangements. Though shaded with melancholy by Layla’s moving and emotive vocal, As I Am is very much a love song straight and true. Inspired by the works of Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani, Layla reaches deep within to summon lyrics that will touch the heart and nourish the soul. “The song lyrically speaks for itself.” Layla says. “Broken as I am can you really love me?”
https://youtu.be/4Oy0XQsVWnE
19 | Stench Of Profit | No Place To Hide
THE PRESS RELEASE: “The 2019 EP Human Discount offered a tantalising glimpse of what Italian grinders Stench Of Profit had to offer. Now, at long last, they have returned with their full length debut album, No Place To Hide, a blistering tour de force of breathtaking power and intensity. This is grindcore at its spine shattering, brain melting best, with aggression and attitude dialled up to the max! Despite the outrageous speed and imposing presence, each track on No Place To Hide is a finely crafted song, not merely an explosion of noise. You will remember these songs as they pin you back in your seat, you will remember the riffs, the hooks, the choruses even as they detonate inside your brain like a megaton payload of napalm. The chances of 2020 delivering another grindcore album that can stand next to No Place To Hide are negligible — it is that good. The countdown to extinction has begun and June 23 will unleash this devastating weapon of mass destruction upon the world. This is the soundtrack to Armageddon, the most devastating album you will hear all year — this is Stench Of Profit and there is no place to hide.”
20 | Colter Wall | Western Swing & Waltzes
THE PRESS RELEASE: “The music industry is no stranger to cowboys — but it’s been a long while since any with an authentic affinity for the North American West came along and carried around a love for heroes like Ramblin’ Jack Elliot and Ian Tyson. Enter 24-year-old Colter Wall, whose dusty baritone voice and deep well of stories are almost single-handedly carrying traditional western music into the future. Wall’s approach is that of a preservationist, pure as the prairie wind, and is on full display on his new self-produced album Western Swing & Waltzes and Other Punchy Songs. Available Aug. 28, Wall’s 10-track ode to the themes and labors of western life picks up where his last album left off, with a reverence for his “working cowboy kin” and a whole mess of cowboy songs.”
21 | Her Songs | Lost A Little
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Her Songs is a global female collective of producers, musicians, songwriters and artists, consisting of London-based Dane Marie Dahlstrom, Brooklyn-based Colombian Dani Murcia, New Zealand-based Emily C Browning, French Londoner The Naked Eye and London-based Emmavie. Today they’re releasing new single Lost A Little, as well as announcing a new EP, Toronto Vol. 2. Lost A Little is a hopeful, soulful and uplifting R&B-tinged pop cut showcasing each member of the collective’s dynamic array of talents. “After finally reuniting together in Toronto, we felt so reflective on the entire year since the previous Her Songs retreat in LA and Lost A Little turned into a summery, feel-good wanderlust tune about travelling the world just to meet up again,” noted Emily C Browning on the new single.”
22 | Moscow Apartment | New Girl
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Moscow Apartment creates lush, folk imbued indie rock that is interwoven with the timeless and perceptive writing of singer-songwriters Brighid Fry and Pascale Padilla. The harmonious teenage duo are slated to release their sophomore EP, Better Daughter, on July 10. Today, Moscow Apartment unveils the EP’s latest single New Girl. Misogyny and catcalling served as the impetus behind New Girl. “There was one week where we were catcalled probably 10 times; we felt fed up and wanted to write a song about men not respecting women’s boundaries, especially in public. We started working on the song during one of a couple sessions at Kevin Drew’s house. He has been a huge supporter of our music, and was awesome, giving suggestions and ideas but not wanting to take any credit because he’s such a great guy. He’s super supportive of young artists — especially young women — and wants to help us stay true to ourselves and our sound.”
23 | Dan Penn | Living on Mercy
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Legendary songwriter/producer/artist Dan Penn’s first new solo album in 26 years, since 1994’s Do Right Man? The new album is titled Living on Mercy, due out Aug. 28. Penn, of course, wrote such classics as Cry Like A Baby, Do Right Woman, Do Right Man, I’m Your Puppet, Dark End of the Street and many more. He produced The Box Tops’ #1 hit The Letter, written by his friend and longtime associate Wayne Carson, who co-wrote the song below. “That’s what we’re all doin’,” says Penn. “It ain’t just me, it’s everybody livin’ on mercy. That’s all we got. We couldn’t make it on our own, but we do have God’s mercy. You take that away I couldn’t breathe. We may not think about it much, but this song asks you to think about it.”
BANDCAMP FIND OF THE DAY
24 | Minyo Crusaders | Cumbia del Monte Fuji
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Tokyo-based 10-piece and wild Japanese folk-song fusionists, Minyo Crusaders join forces with Colombian cumbia radicals Frente Cumbiero on Minyo Cumbiero, a collaborative release that fuses ancient Japanese folk songs with heavyweight Colombian styles. Recorded across two days in Bogota in August 2019 Minyo Cumbiero includes versions of an ancient Japanese rap tune, modern cumbia standard and 1980s’ Chinese computer game theme-song and captures a thrilling exchange between two radical and triumphant groups. Japan and Colombia may be cultural opposites on different sides of the world, yet the countries are bursting at the seams musically and on this EP both groups stridently drive their respective music cultures and histories in exciting new directions with powerhouse horn sections, rippling dub basslines and rampant Afro-Latin polyrhythms creating carnival grooves.”
25 | Jack Gardiner | SkyBluePink (feat. Owane)
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Jack Gardiner (born August 26, 1993) is a rising professional musician/guitarist based in Liverpool, U.K. and Zermatt, Switzerland. His new album Escapades arrives July 3. Here’s the first track, SkyBluePink (feat. Owane).”
26 | En Minor | Blue
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Philip H. Anselmo’s En Minor will release its long-awaited debut full-length When The Cold Truth Has Worn Its Miserable Welcome Out, on Sept. 4. An experimental and eclectic musical endeavor that finds Anselmo exploring a softer, graver vocal style, En Minor is an honest and deliberate change of pace delivering brooding tales of pain, regret, and sorrow. At once ugly and beautiful, En Minor features the collective talents of Stephen Taylor, Kevin Bond, Jimmy Bower, Calvin and Joiner Dover, and Steve Bernal (former first cellist in the Temple Symphony Orchestra). In advance of its release, here’s the first single, Blue. Elaborates Anselmo, “We picked Blue to release first because it features the whole band, as some songs don’t have percussion. Also, the title of the record, When The Cold Truth Has Worn Its Miserable Welcome Out, is from a line in the song. Very fitting and haunting.”
27 | Michaela Anne | Good Times
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Following the success of Desert Dove, Michaela Anne releases a new single, Good Times. While recorded pre-Covid during the same sessions as Desert Dove, the message of Good Times is apropos for the current times. “Hope and optimism are two things I have to work hard to keep,” says Anne. “I often write songs as reminders or affirmations for myself and for the people I love. Good Times is a prime example of that. Trying to remember the blue sky is always there behind the clouds.”
28 | Sleepy Gaucho | Watchin’ Paint Dry
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Sleepy Gaucho’s discerning brand of Panamerican-influenced folk music floats somewhat aimlessly in a realm of it’s own. Born in Wisconsin while also growing up some time in Argentina, the young multi-instrumentalist’s music can at times be melancholic, at others ethereal, but always agreeable. His seven track debut record Another Time, while initially recorded in Madison, WI, was eventually finished after the songwriter happened to find himself drifting around an East London neighborhood for a few months. Since returning to his hometown of Milwaukee, Sleepy Gaucho began the creative process for his next project. Straying away from the last record’s approach, he recruited the likes of veterans such as Patrick Sansone of Wilco and fellow talent ranging from local friends and Nashville session musicians for his sophomore album Morning Light.”
