Psymon Spin go ahead and jump, Danny Elfman sends his apologies, Sleaford Mods nudge Amy along, Black Country, New Road make tracks — and the party is just getting started in an All-Video Monday Roundup. I know you like to watch.
ON REPEAT
1 | Psymon Spine | Jumprope
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Psymon Spine shared their new single and music video Jumprope. The track features vocalist Sabine Holler delivering clever commentary on city life (which can be demanding and constant, not unlike jumproping) over a driving beat and funk-inspired bassline that calls to mind LCD Soundsystem and Talking Heads. Holler explains how the Jennifer Medin-directed video came about: “Due to Covid restrictions, I’ve been staying in Germany (where I lived before coming to New York) while the rest of the band is in the states. We asked Jen to come up with an idea for a music video that would connect us between continents. Jen joined the rest of the band in Montauk, where they were staying at our friend’s beach house, working on new music. Meanwhile in Berlin, I had my two (also very talented) friends Alicia Perez and Maria Arespacochaga film and direct me doing my parts per Jen’s overall vision. We thought the brutalist German architecture, along with my angular dance/exercise moves, would be a funny contrast to the soft fall colors of Montauk where the boys were at the time.”
2 | Danny Elfman | Sorry
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Composer and musician Danny Elfman has released Sorry, a palpitating new track with tinges of industrial and prog rock influences. Animated by Jesse Kanda, the song’s intricately animated video was originally created as a visual for Elfman’s live performance of the song for the now postponed Coachella 2020. “Sorry was the first song I’ve written for myself in a long time,” Elfman explained. “It began as an obsessive choral-chant instrumental work, which at the time I called ‘alien orchestral chamber punk’ and evolved slowly into a song. I was surprised by the amount of rage I’d been storing inside myself which came bursting out as soon as I applied my voice.”
3 | Sleaford Mods | Nudge It (ft. Amy Taylor)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Sleaford Mods have released the single Nudge It (ft. Amy Taylor from Amyl and the Sniffers). It comes ahead of the Friday release of their sixth album Spare Ribs. Jason Williamson says: “Imagine you’ve got limited options, unsure how you’re getting by that week, looking out the window of the damp flat you don’t want to live in, and seeing a bunch of posers having a photo shoot because ‘cool architecture bro, we feel your pain.’ Reduced circumstance isn’t a pantomime. If you haven’t lived within its confines don’t use it to enamour your ideas. It confuses the platform for those that truly live it and more often than not buries creative breakthroughs because the arena is polluted by the view of their world through someone else’s privileged lens. So beware the eager networkers, don’t settle for the 20p pay-out, nudge it, pop the posers. And don’t apologise for the fucker either.”
4 | Black Country, New Road | Track X
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Black Country, New Road return with their single Track X, the latest to be taken from their debut album For The First Time, out on Feb. A distinct change of pace from their previous output, the pensive new track is built around gentle cyclical guitar, bass and sax motifs, the instrumentation is intermittently interposed by discordant staccato strings before morphing into softer more melodic lines alongside mellifluous synth and cooing backing vocals. Frontman Isaac Wood says: “Track X is a song we first worked on in 2018 but one that never made it out into our live performances. We decided to resurrect it during the recording of For The First Time and assemble it in the studio. The story is old but a good one and worth telling. We believe that people will enjoy singing along.”
5 | Chaos E.T. Sexual | Tomorrow, Prudence
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “France’s most subversive post-noise / industrial / avant-garde merchants Chaos E.T. Sexual share a cold and disruptive video for Tomorrow, Prudence. Dealing with the dread of exile and forced migrations, the song is taken from their new album Only Human Crust. Thomas Humbert (guitar, vocals) explains: “The song title mixes the names of two ships: Tomorrow is the hospital ship that characters desperately try to join in the movie Les Fils de l’Homme, and Prudence is a Doctors Without Borders ship used to rescue people in the Mediterranean Sea. The lyrics are about modern societies outsiders, in particular people running away from their home country and trying to escape by crossing the Mediterranean Sea.”
6 | Gary Numan | Intruder
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The iconic Gary Numan is set to release his album Intruder on May 21. Its title track and lead single were unveiled today with an official video. Numan explains: “Intruder looks at climate change from the planet’s point of view. If Earth could speak, and feel things the way we do, what would it say? How would it feel? The songs, for the most part, attempt to be that voice, or at least try to express what I believe the earth must feel at the moment. The planet sees us as its children now grown into callous selfishness, with a total disregard for it’s well being. It feels betrayed, hurt and ravaged. Disillusioned and heartbroken it is now fighting back. Essentially, it considers human kind to be a virus attacking the planet. Climate change is the undeniable sign of the Earth saying enough is enough, and finally doing what it needs to do to get rid of us, and explaining why it feels it has to do it.”
7 | The Barettas | Touché
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Hamilton rock duo The Barettas have returned with a new single Touché. The track is an upbeat pump-up song that’s been paired with a performance video.”
8 | Thunder Horse | Let Them Bleed
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Texas heavy mongers Thunder Horse announce the release of their album Chosen One on March 12, and share their rocking video for Let Them Bleed. The sound of San Antonio’s Thunder Horse doesn’t quite fit into one box, but they are built thick with doom, psych, occult, and classic rock and blues influences. The band comment: “Let Them Bleed is an anthem for these tumultuous times. Filled with angst, frustration, and bitterness against the entire American political system, regardless of ideology, Let Them Bleed lays it on the table. It’s us against them, not us against each other! Love your brother and sister … we have to have each others’ backs. Things are going to get better if we stick together. Cheers from Texas!”
ALSO ON THE PLAYLIST
9 | Pictures On Silence | The So-Called Life
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “A few weeks after sharing Cut Off From The World, from his upcoming self-titled EP, Pictures On Silence — aka post-rock/ambient one-man-band Fred Bressan (ex-PigBearMan) — just unveiled the track The So-Called Life. It will feature on his self-titled EP coming out at the end of January.”
10 | Amy Speace | There Used To Be Horses Here
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Looking back on a 12-month span between her son’s first birthday and the loss of her father, award-winning singer and songwriter Amy Speace culled 11 new songs directly from her depth of personal experiences — childhood memories, coming of age in New York City, and losing a parent while learning to become one — to create her album There Used to Be Horses Here, out April 30. Today, she premiered a video for the first single and title track. Speace laments, “During the last week of my father’s life, I drove [the road on the way to her parent’s house, past a farm she’d grown to love] and the farm had been sold, gutted for condos, and the horses were gone. I wrote this song very quickly after he died, the loss of both the horses, my childhood, my parents’ house, and most acutely, my father all tied to the images in this song.”
11 | Ariel Posen | What Are We Doing Here
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Ariel Posen’s music occupies the space between genres. It’s a rootsy sound that nods to his influences — heartland rock, electrified Americana, blue-eyed soul, R&B, Beatles-inspired pop — while still moving forward, pushing Posen into territory uniquely his own. He turns a new corner with Headway, a solo album that finds the songwriter taking stock of his personal and musical progress. Today, he shares the first taste What Are We Doing Here, a song about “what goes on in my head at the beginning stages of a relationship. While everything is going great, and it feels good, and you’re completely and utterly happy, you can’t help but still question it and wonder if this is something that is going to last forever? Some people can just enjoy being in the moment, and while I find that I have done that, the other side of my brain can’t help but jump the gun so to speak and keep looking ahead. This song is all those thoughts and feelings in one.”
12 | Disout | Blindness
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Poland’s Disout announced the release of their upcoming album Mien on Feb. 8. Mien features nine tracks with heavy riffs, powerful drums, atmospheric guitars and unique vocals from singer Darek. Today, Disout also premiered their single Blindness. The band comment: “This album is unique for us and contains 100% of our emotions. After a long relationship with each other we decided to collect some of the songs we have written over the years and make Mien something unique.”
13 | Kiwi Jr. | Waiting in Line
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Kiwi Jr. share the for Waiting in Line, a new offering from Cooler Returns, their forthcoming album. The video was directed by Laura-Lynn Petrick and captures a day in the life of the band in their homebase of Toronto. Says singer Jeremy Gaudet: “We like the candid and casual approach of director Laura-Lynn’s previous videos, including Weyes Blood, Jessica Pratt, Michael Rault, Twist, and she was excited by our idea to wander around downtown Toronto while it was something of a ghost town.”
14 | Frànçois & The Atlas Mountains | Holly Golightly
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Frànçois & The Atlas Mountains welcome 2021 with the single Holly Golightly. Named after the main character in Truman Capote’s Breakfast At Tiffany’s, it touches on the album’s key themes of romance and relationships in metropolitan cities, while the accompanying visualizer features illustrations of Audrey Hepburn’s Holly portrayal. Holly Golightly is from the forthcoming album Banane Bleue, out on Feb. 26. Frànçois says: “Taken from the point of view of a writer fascinated by an endearing neighbouring friend, the narrator keeps his passion silent and writes letters instead (“crashing into the stationary”). The song was written on a cheap acoustic guitar very much like the one Audrey Hepburn uses to sing Moon River in the film adaptation of the novella. Renaud Letang mixed this song with Jonathan Richman in mind. I now imagine Jonathan walking arm in arm with Holly in downtown Manhattan. This song would be a great soundtrack to their breakfast.”
15 | Wreck-Defy | Scumlord
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Wreck-Defy share the lyric video for the single Scumlord, from the album Powers That Be. The crushing album from Canada’s thrash metal machine features guitarist Matt Hanchuck alongside former Annihilator singer Aaron Randall, former Testament bass player Greg Christian and former Malevolent Creation drummer Alex Marquez.”
16 | Str4ta | Rhythm In Your Mind
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Gilles Peterson and Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick — aka Str4ta — share Rhythm In Your Mind and announce their forthcoming album Aspects, a bold nine-track excursion through jazz, funk and pop channelling the loose, protean energy of the early-’80s Brit-funk scene. “The idea of the project was to capture that raw, moment-to-moment sound,” Maunick says. In its early days, the Brit-funk sound — and the London jazz-funk milieu it grew out of — was rooted in raucous live shows, rivalling those of the punk bands in that same period. Recalling his role in the process, Peterson says he was the one making sure things didn’t get too polished. “I was there at the back, telling them, no, leave it like that, cut it there, or just use that first take.”
17 | Detritus | Bright Black
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Detritus return with their first new album in decades: Myths. The music world has changed since Detritus emerged onto the Bristol music scene in 1989, stunning audiences with their resolutely positive approach and high-energy shows. What hasn’t changed, despite the passage of time, is Detritus’ ability to create remarkable, progressively minded thrash metal. If anything the band have emerged from their lengthy hiatus stronger than ever before, with Myths combining the best of their two previous albums and striding ahead. This is no nostalgia trip, no flawed attempt to recreate the past. This is new and exciting music from a band who still have so much left to say. On Feb. 19, Myths will be revealed in all its glory and a new generation of metal fans will have the chance to experience the unique power of Detritus.”
18 | Boudicca | Party Like The World Is Ending
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Singer / songwriter / rapper / producer / director / activist Boudicca is a confrontational and provocative artist with a strong passion for the environment and young people in need. Her EP Cautionary Tale drops April 30. Boudicca says “Party Like The World Is Ending is my way of expressing that the future is and will always be unknown. I find it so inspirational that school children and young activists around the world are demonstrating for climate justice. The contrasting tones in the music portray both the feeling of anxiety and desire to just live in the present moment. I believe change is possible, so I aim to spread a message of hope rather than creating yet more fear. Kids are scared enough as it is. I tried to write a timeless chorus you can’t help but sing along to, no matter who you are. Whether we have one day or 100 years left on this planet, it’s important to remind each other to Party Like The World Is Ending.”
19 | Hell-Born | Blakk Metal
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Following on from Axis Of Decay, the crushing first single from their comeback album Natas Liah, Hell-Born have unveiled another new track and an accompanying lyric video. Blakk Metal, featuring contributions from Behemoth’s Nergal, is a snarling, anthemic tribute to the old Black/Death Metal scene, a reaffirmation of Hell-Born’s dedication to the dark. Since their infernal birth in 1996 Hell-Born have stood for uncompromising, savage extreme metal with a dark and defiant message — and Natas Liah, to be unleashed on Jan. 26, is their most vehement statement of defiance.”
20 | Jeremy Pinnell | Joey
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Jeremy Pinnell’s cover of Concrete Blonde’s Joey will be released this Wednesday. This standalone single comes in advance of Jeremy’s third studio album Goodbye L.A., dropping later this year. After over 300 tour dates in the previous three years, Jeremy was sitting at home last summer, and, because of the pandemic, realized he was going to be there for much longer than he was hoping. Refusing to allow the downtime to kill his love for his art, he purchased some basic recording equipment with the intention of doing some home recordings. This particular Wednesday back in July, with whatever was going on inside him, he went down to his basement and recorded this cover of Joey to his phone.”
21 | Ex en Provence | Counting Down The Suns
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Indie-pop duo Ex en Provence share a verité-style video for Counting Down The Suns shot entirely on the streets of Berlin. Channeling ’90s nostalgia, Counting Down The Suns provides a stark, timely message, laced with storming indie-pop power. They say: ”Counting Down the Suns, written in a summer of revolution and devastation is a song for hope and change. Sometimes, our fear of what lies ahead can be what drives us. We have to let go of things, parts or aspects of ourselves to readjust to a new climate. The story follows two men on a surreal and slapstick journey through Berlin with an abandoned fridge. As well as an obvious reflection on global warming and the state of our planet. It’s also an ode to the things we hold dear and the struggles we face when the weight of the world is on our shoulders.”
22 | Melanie Masson | Seasons
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Melanie Masson shot to the British public’s attention with her powerhouse vocals and heart rending performances of Janis Joplin’s Cry Baby. This is her unique interpretation of the Future Islands hit Seasons. She once again teamed with renowned record producer Tristan Longworth, using all live musicians and instruments to give a live and authentic classic feel. This track is another stomping Northern Soul-inspired track: Inspirational, uplifting, thought provoking and with a shed full of soul. Another showcase for her power dynamic voice, authentic, powerful and passionate.”
