Bones Shake aren’t feeling so hot, Sombra share your concerns, Lovebreakers keep it all in the family, Spill Gold colour outside the lines, Johanna Warren puts a new twist on Teen Spirit and more in your Monday Roundup. Today’s word of the day: Parlous. Thanks for that, Phil Gould.
ON REPEAT
1 | Bones Shake | Unwell
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Bones Shake are a scuzzed-out, fuzz-enthused garage rock trio formed in 2011 in Manchester’s underground. They play everything to the extreme; violent bottle-neck blues riffs, drums kicked, pounded and exploited and squeals of reverb drenched vocals which when combined, will help save your soul. They are back with their new single Unwell, which features a nihilistic view of mental health.”
2 | Sombra | Are You Well?
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Based out of Montreal and led by producer/multi-instrumentalist Matthew Cataldo, Sombra flirt with the borders of genre and style, often shifting moods within the same song. The trio blends chunky, hip-hop inspired electronic beats with alt-rock sensibility; heavily distorted bass riffs with spiralling synth and guitar lines are the foundation on which melodic vocal lines sit. As a followup to the 2018 Sombra EP, the group will release their debut album Free From Interruption on Nov. 27.”
3 | Lovebreakers | Family Man
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “U.K. four-piece Lovebreakers have dropped their new single Family Man. The song will appear on their forthcoming debut LP Primary Colours, out in spring. Jack Perry of Lovebreakers says, “The song tells a short story of someone who has just became a parent. It’s influenced from some close friends of mine who recently started their own families. It’s homage to those guys. It’s that back and forth of, ‘Damn, this sucks, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.’ The verses are the negative side of things and the pre-choruses/choruses are the positive side.”
4 | Spill Gold | Beast Machine Alien
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Amsterdam psych-pop duo Spill Gold have shared a video for Beast Machine Alien, from their debut album Highway Hypnosis due Nov. 23. With an arsenal comprising analogue synthesizers, percussion and an old drum kit, the songwriting traverses a world of Krautrock and cosmic influences as they playfully navigate their way from ’60s-informed synthpop to industrial and stoner-rock tropes, via hallucinated lullabies a la Jefferson Airplane and shape-shifting electronica harmonics. Speaking about the video they say: “Nina was listening to the album for the 20th time to finish it, and was thinking of how to literally visualize the music. She started drumming with some paint and realised that this was a way to do this. What we love about the video performance is that it shows the duality between Rosa and Nina.”
5 | Johanna Warren | Twisted
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “A love letter to ’90s grunge — and a personal psychomagic ritual about polarity, gender, fame and desire — the concept for this video has been haunting me for a couple years now. Back in March I was excitedly driving up the West Coast to shoot Twisted in its spiritual home of Seattle, when the first COVID lockdowns began. It was a tough call, but I decided to cancel the shoot and hop on a last-minute flight to the UK to quarantine with my partner in rural Wales, where I’ve been ever since. It was for sure the right decision, but I was heartbroken to have sacrificed the video. When the question came up, “Is the Twisted video ever going to happen?” we realised there was an opportunity to bring the shoot to the UK and make it ourselves.”
6 | The Deathray Davies | Talking With Friends
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The members of garage-rock outfit The Deathray Davies have used the past 15 years apart wisely and are now back with a new album, aptly titled Time Well Wasted, slated for release in 2021. Following on the heels of the previous single Then You Met Me, they shared another taste of Time Well Wasted in the form of Talking With Friends, set to a video of time-lapse footage.”
ALSO ON THE PLAYLIST
7 | Swarmageddon | Reanimation
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “A couple of weeks after the official release of their debut album Inhuman, French melodic death-metallers Swarmageddon just shared a video illustrating Reanimation. For the record: Swarmageddon is a metal band from Besançon (France) formed by Marion in 2015. Mixing aggressiveness, atmospheres and melody, the music of Swarmageddon explores a universe both dark and epic, at the crossroads of old-school and modern metal.”
8 | Indii G. | Story’s End
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Multi-talented lo-fi rapper Indii G shares his new single Story’s End. The track showcases Indii’s use of songwriting as a personal diary, with vulnerable and relatable storytelling. “This is probably my favorite thing I’ve created in a very long time. The idea of the song was to highlight a certain story that I’ve personally lived multiple times in my life and likely many of my listeners, as well. With the story being boy meets girl, boy and girl get together, boy and girl fall apart, my lyrics attempt to depict all the emotions along the way,” explains the Louisiana native.”
9 | Analog Party | One
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Formed in 2018, young L.A. duo Analog Party have distilled their love for grunge, classic rock, post-punk, and industrial music into their latest single One. It’s reminiscent of bands like Alice in Chains and Deftones — soaring vocal harmonies, viscous heavy guitars, and mammoth drums serve as an immense sonic backdrop to a brooding reflection on how to exist in an increasingly chaotic society. “Although I wrote the song late last year, the lyrics feel even more relevant now. While the verses capture the overwhelming waves of anxiety, fear, and loneliness that stem from being a young person in this currently fucked-up period of history, the chorus captures the dichotomy of hope and hopelessness for the future,” explains vocalist / multi-instrumentalist Animaan Pathak.”
10 | Emperors Night | Driving At Pace
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Toronto band Emperors Night have emerged with their independent debut EP Driving At Pace. Leading off the introductory five-song set from the trio of brothers is the title track. “After such a long time now without performing or being able to share our music via the stage, we’re excited to release our debut EP and put our original music out into the world,” they say. “Each of these five songs is special to us in their own way, and we’re eager to give people the chance to explore them all. Toronto has been so good to us over this strange period in time, and we’re happy to represent the city via the music we have recorded here.”
11 | Charley Crockett | An Evening With Charley Crockett
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Charley Crockett, the young voice of country, presents the local-TV homage An Evening With Charley Crockett. Filmed at Austin’s Sam’s Town Point, a fixture in the eyes of the hill country, the video is modeled after a regional country TV program from the ’60s. It features a trio of Charley video performances of Lily My Dear, Wreck Me and The Man That Time Forgot, along with local advertisements, slapstick bumpers, and a ‘live studio audience’. “It’s an idea I’ve had for years that I just couldn’t quite pull together until releasing Welcome To Hard Times,” says Crockett. “The first time I tried to make this vintage TV show idea happen was about four years ago. Folks told me it would be too expensive and that I wasn’t being realistic. They said that about everything I’ve done so far. It’s worked out pretty good, I’d say.”
12 | Phil Gould | Beautiful Wounds
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Assembling a network of collaborators, ex-Level 42 drummer and songwriter Phil Gould returns with Beautiful Wounds, the first single and title track of his new solo album. With intimate layers of rich, front and centre production, Beautiful Wounds is a reflection on life’s struggles and how the scars we pick up along the way enhance our humanity, rather than detract from it. Says Phil Gould: “Given the parlous state of the world it feels important to remind ourselves of the beauty that comes with our humanity, with all our foibles, our failures, our struggles, our demons and despite (or even because of) the scars we carry from the lives we’ve lived until now. We are all made more beautiful, more human by the wounds we pick up along the way. Often the damage that’s done to us, or we do to ourselves, is the basis of our compassion for others.”
13 | Hiatus | Arrival
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “London British-Iranian producer Hiatus returns to preview his forthcoming LP Distancer with the stunning single Arrival. It follows in the same haunting vein long pursued by Hiatus — real name Cyrus Shahrad — with subtle pulsing beats, detailed production and delicate piano. The track also features a spoken rendition of a poem called The Guest House by the 13th century Persian poet Rumi, words that Cyrus says lend the track a powerful message of hope. “For me, the poem is about how as humans we are subject to thoughts and feelings that seem beyond our control, the result of animal instincts … The poem suggests that there is a world outside of the stories of our lives, and though we can never be entirely free of the behaviours that define us as humans, we can connect with something much larger and find liberation.”
14 | The Mute Group | Rodney O
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Mute Group released Sinister Hand in early 2019 but, as a band, they’ve been creating videos for it since November of 2016. Four years of meticulous creation has now resulted in their latest epic offering for Rodney O. Fans of Aldous Harding will find themselves at home in this mysterious opus as it broadcasts images of strange creatures and vignettes that ask many questions but leave the answers up to you. The Mute Group has always found an intersection of visual and aural expressions and Rodney O concretes that execution beautifully.”
15 | Calexico | Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Calexico has shared their rendition of Happy Xmas (War Is Over) today, originally performed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. The track will be featured on Calexico’s upcoming holiday album Seasonal Shift, out on Dec. 4. “I love this song and I love the universality of the lyrics and the call and response sea of voices,” vocalist / guitarist Joey Burns said. “I decided to start as quiet as possible and find out how loud and massive we could make this song build.”
16 | Beans On Toast | The Album Of The Day
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Before Beans On Toast releases two new albums this December, it’s perhaps only natural that his latest single is in praise of “the album” itself. A celebration of the greatest of music formats and a sweet-natured education of how to enjoy it most, The Album Of The Day is a tender folk song dedicated to time spent playing LPs with his daughter Wren. “We put a classic album on and we listened to it back to front, or front to back you know what I mean, the whole thing in its entirety, there’ll be no rewind no fast forward, exactly as its creator intended.”
17 | Angeles | Celebrate
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “L.A. rockers Angeles and founder Dale George Lytle release of their video for Celebrate, from the band’s latest effort Hell On High Heels. The band stated: “We’re currently working on our next album, which also will be a debut with our new drummer Chris Cato! The album is set to be released in Spring 2021. We’ll reveal more details as the recordings will start, so stay tuned!”
18 | Minefield | Home
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Hot on the heels of their brilliant debut single Alone Together, Minefield — Todd Kerns (Slash ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators) on vocals and bass, Brandon Fields on lead guitar, Jeremy Asbrock (Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley) on guitar and Matt Starr (Mr. Big, Ace Frehley) on drums — have dropped their single Home. It’s hard-driven arena-rock and shows that Minefield are ready for the big stage.”
https://youtu.be/Kjj3m8Zn1xI
19 | T-Rex Marathon | A Prison Just For Us
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Ottawa’s punk/post-hardcore act T-Rex Marathon released their debut album Days Without Incident in October. On the full length, the band wrote a love track to one of their favourite bands, Alexisonfire. Entitled A Prison Just For Us, the song’s structure and feel pay homage to AoF’s track Accidents. The band adds: “This song is a band favourite because it stands apart from the other songs on the album, featuring an emphasis on atmosphere and ambiance rather than punchy energy. This song might sound a little different from the others, but we do think it’s a great song that we think will really resonate with our listeners!”
20 | Dirk Powell | Waterbound
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Renowned producer, songwriter, fiddler and sideman Dirk Powell has released a new recording of his beloved song Waterbound. Recorded in Dirk’s home studio in Louisiana in September, this version includes Mike McGoldrick (flutes), Donald Shaw (accordion) and Rainy Eyes (Norwegian songstress Irena Eide) on harmony vocals. It’s a song close to Powell’s heart, inspired by his fiddle-playing grandfather in Kentucky. Says Dirk: “It’s been 20 years or more since I wrote Waterbound. More than any other I’ve written, it’s a song that seems to resonate across boundaries and means different things to different people … This song is also special to me because it ties to my grandfather JC Hay. He was the one who carved his name on an old barn wall, where I saw it a good 70 years later.”
21 | Jon Mueller | Ignited Hands
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Wisconsin musician Jon Mueller is inquisitive. Open to pushing his experience and his limits, he’s demonstrated the many sides of himself both as a solo performer and as a key member in mind-bending projects like Mind Over Mirrors, Volcano Choir and Death Blues, or by running his shop of curiosities Within Things. On his new four-piece collection Family Secret, the experimental musician maintains a meticulous, sustained tension, re-engaging with a technique he developed as an adolescent — reframing the environs of creation, and naturally altering his perception, through changes in light and space — while also considering the role of family and divorce.”
22 | Eulene | Working On A Train
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Electro-pop songstress Eulene is revealing her latest track Working On A Train. The song is taken from her self-titled EP due Dec. 11. Eulene creates her music by channelling emotional pulls that tinker with concepts and feelings. Eulene tells us: “Working On A Train is a concept song and metaphor for the power of passion, perseverance and stamina to beat the odds that I felt were piling up against me. To keep moving forward, staying true to my passion, which is where my power lives. I hope this song inspires others to keep moving forward, “over steep ways to the stars.”
23 | Loryn Taggart | The River
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Loryn Taggart was raised in the prairies from Hungarian roots and moved to Toronto at 16 to pursue music. Following the success of her recent solo EP Irene, Loryn landed an opening slot on renowned Canadian folksinger Donovan Woods’ tour. Now, Loryn is working on her debut album, set to be released by spring. In the meantime, Loryn has shared a new single The River — an acoustic, nostalgic folk track with orchestral strings and a driving rhythm.”
24 | Grand Cadaver | Fields Of The Undying
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “With their debut EP Madness Comes due on Feb. 12, Grand Caver debut their single Fields of the Undying. Recorded in the summer at Gothenburg’s Welfare Sounds, Madness Comes is the debut EP from Sweden’s deadliest death metal assembly. Featuring guitarists Stefan Lagergren (The Grifted) and Alex Stjernfeldt (Novarupta), drummer Daniel Liljekvist (Disrupted), Pagandom bassist Christian Jansson and vocals from Dark Tranquillity’s Mikael Stanne, the band draws together some of the finest musicians the Swedish metal scene has to offer.”
25 | Mudspitters | Different Hues
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Mudspitters is a rock trifecta epitomizing modern-day frustrations and emotions, delivering deep and intense alt-rock that will haunt your thoughts. “Different Hues is a song exemplifying and expressing self-reflection, confusion and lastly gratitude on being shown a new perspective that opens up the world in an entirely new way … This song was written out of love for someone else but the more I listen to it the more it feels like love for who I’m becoming.”
26 | Genc | Something Blue
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “I am a singer-songwriter from East London. I have always loved songwriting ever since I was a child but had forgotten about it in my teenage years. A rough time in my life a few years ago made me begin writing again. During lockdown, I decided to finally start recording my music with beats I had found on YouTube. My debut project was actually recorded in my room during lockdown, with little experience in vocal recording before (I kind of learnt more as each song went on). My main influences are The Weeknd, Lana Del Rey, Prince, Arctic Monkeys, The Smiths, Jai Paul, Frank Ocean, Summer Walker and Russ.”
