Selwyn Birchwood unfurls his freak flag, Black River Delta shake things up, Motorjesus raise the dead, Teen Creeps have a falling out — and your week is just getting started with this somewhat bluesy Monday Roundup. Congratulations to Tigers On Opium for delivering the Song Title Of The Day — and come to think of it, that band name ain’t so bad either.
1 | Selwyn Birchwood | Freaks Come Out At Night
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Groundbreaking young blues visionary Selwyn Birchwood debuts his video for Freaks Come Out At Night. The track is featured on his third album Living In A Burning House, set for release on Jan. 29. The rising singer, songwriter, guitar and lap steel player says, “Freaks Come Out At Night was written for, about, and filmed on-site at the last “real” Jook Joint in Florida: Bradfordville Blues Club. This song and music video capture the magic that happens at every show we play there. The song projects the rawness of the music, the sweatiness of the dance floor, the heat of the bonfire, and the greasiness of the fried catfish! The freaks definitely come out at night! And I wouldn’t have it any other way!”
2 | Black River Delta | Shakin’
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Black River Delta are a blues-rock band from Bollnäs, Sweden. The foursome have released two studio albums — Devil on the Loose (2016) and Vol. II (2018), and are poised to drop their latest heavy-hitting full-length Shakin’ this spring. The band’s gritty sound draws from blues legends like Robert Johnson, the raw style of R. L. Burnside and modern artists as The Black Keys, Gary Clark Jr. and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Their ability to combine age-old blues with modern rock has taking them on several tours across Europe and North America, and has caught the attention of artists like blues legend Joe Bonamassa, who invited the band to perform on his annual cruise festival.”
3 | Motorjesus | Dead Rising
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Motorjesus play a high-octane mixture of classic heavy metal and dirty hard rock. The band have been active on the German live scene since the early 2000s and hav toured with Motörhead, Anthrax, Prong and many more. They have just unleashed their impressive single Dead Rising, taken from their upcoming album Hellbreaker, to be released April 9.”
4 | Teen Creeps | Fall Out
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Belgian indie rockers Teen Creeps drop their sophomore album Forever in a few days. But first they’ve released the video for Fall Out. It’s a catchy punk banger that could please fans of Cloud Nothings, Yuck, No Age and Bob Mould. “It’s probably the most energetic and straightforward song on Forever,” guitarist Joram De Bock enthuses. He also made the accompanying video himself. “I brought a disposable camera with me to the studio. Those photos are used in the artwork for the album. Inspired by how the designers cut the pictures up, I did the same for this video. Just cutting up the pictures and rearranging them in funny and unexpected ways. Then I made a stop-motion video out of it on my phone. Didn’t know if that would work, but I’m happy it did.”
5 | Willie Jones | American Dream
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Today, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Willie Jones shares his poignant, powerful American Dream. Penned by Jones, Josh Logan and Jason Afable — who also produced the track with Alex “Lex” Goodwin — American Dream is a patriotic protest against the racial injustice that continues to plague the world. “When I saw the final edit, I knew this was my most important statement to date as an artist,” said Jones. “It’s going to make people think and also understand how I see our country, our collective past, and futures. It was captured perfectly: the emotion, the creative use of anime, the message being relatable to so many. I felt relieved and inspired.”
6 | Lumière | Freud.Est.Mort
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Lumière presents Freud.Est.Mort, the second single from his debut album to be released later this year. It is accompanied by a video directed by David Bourbonnais and inspired by the Dadaist short film Le Ballet Mécanique, in which the lyrics of the song are projected on a plexiglass screen through a cloud of smoke. “That song came out of the blue. For a long time, I’d been trying to write lyrics for a guitar riff I came up with, but it was never to my liking. One evening on my way home, feeling a little out of it after a chilling at the skatepark, I felt like provoking things, explains the artist. In a desire to let go of my stubbornness in order to transform this riff into a song of my own, there was a kind of detachment from the part of me that constantly judges whether it’s good or not. Words just placed themselves upon the music and within three minutes the song existed.”
7 | Charlie Nieland | Tightrope
THE PRESS RELEASE: “N.Y.C. producer and indie veteran Charlie Nieland presents Tightrope, an exciting new offering that brings him one step closer to the release of his Divisions LP. The brilliant video was directed by visionary B.A Miale. Says Nieland: “Tightrope was written in response to the novel Little Liar by Julia Gray. Reading it brought out for me the similarities of wishing and lying, crossing our fingers for each, and how we can tumble down into our loneliness without seeing the color that surrounds us. The lyrics … jumped out of the air for me and when I picked up the guitar, the music came just as instantly, like the song was waiting for me to find it. It really felt like a gift, with elements of classic British pop crisscrossed with post-punk and shoegaze; ELO meets Psychedelic Furs.”
8 | 1st Base Runner | All Thoughts
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Today marks the release of Austin electronic indie solo artist 1st Base Runner’s debut single All Thoughts, from his incoming album Seven Years of Silence, out April 8. 1st Base Runner’s outsider vision is colored liberally with the melancholy, gothic and avant-garde. Tim Husmann works with the meticulousness of a Reznor or slow play masters Godspeed You! Black Emperor, wrapping each of his astral post-punk pieces in airy layers of cosmic synthesis. All Thoughts hits at the essence of gothic pop, brooding crooning over a danceable beat and an infectious melody. “It was something that had to be made,” he says. “I had tried to suppress the concepts and ideas explored in the 8 tracks for several years. It is my willingness to be vulnerable and laid bare before others in an attempt to glimpse some fundamental truths about what it means to be here and to be present. It is an exploration of expectations and shortcomings and how they in turn will make us all the more uniquely human. No one gets out with clean hands, not on this ride, and not in this lifetime.”
https://youtu.be/DnGJiRXPuYU
9 | Pierre Kwenders & Clément Bazin | Sentiment (Pedro Da Linha Remix)
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Pierre Kwenders and Clément Bazin present a video for the Pedro Da Linha remix of Sentiment, originally released as the first single off their collaborative October EP Classe Tendresse. With Sentiment, Afro-Canadian singer songwriter Kwenders declares his love for Africa and pays tribute to all the big cities that make the Mother Continent shine. Portuguese DJ Pedro da Linha’s remix gives a new life to the song, thanks to the singular and unmistakable sounds that define his work. Wishing to translate the unique cultural melting pot of the Lisbon suburbs with his beats, the producer finds himself at the vanguard of the electronic music revolution of the Portuguese capital.”
10 | Candy Opera | Tell Me When The Lights Turn Green
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Liverpool’s rejuvenated songsmiths Candy Opera present their single Tell Me When The Lights Turn Green. A carefully crafted, country-esque ballad that perfectly expresses Candy Opera’s new sound for 2021, reflecting on all our yearnings with openness and candour, this song has all the sensibilities of a classic ballad. This is the second single from their recent album The Patron Saint of Heartache, their first collection of new material in nearly three decades. “The song is about trying to find a pathway through life and the realisation that the waters will always be muddied but, with determination and desire, the human spirit can pull through and flourish,” says singer-songwriter Paul Malone. “We all chipped in on filming the video… a big challenge in the pandemic! The water scene is a depiction of change from the old Candy Opera to the new… a kind of baptism or rebirth representing where we are now as a band.”
11 | Bloodbound | When Fate Is Calling
THE PRESS RELEASE: “When Swedish power metal band Bloodbound surfaced in 2005 with their debut album Nosferatu, it was an album that celebrated the band’s admiration for metal icons like Iron Maiden, Helloween and Judas Priest, recorded on a small budget with no visions of grandeur behind it. With eight studio albums, a live record and an EP under their belts since then, Bloodbound return in 2021 with album #9, Creatures Of The Dark Realm, and a renewed drive to take the band even further. When Fate Is Calling comes as a powerful and majestic song that takes listeners into a modern power metal world that has been created very precisely and with ultimate artistic perfection.”
12 | Youngdumblovers | Dice
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Youngdumblovers are a mixture of established artists & relative unknowns. Think crisp, wintry production/warm acoustic flourishes and searching lyrics packaged up in the stark aesthetic of south-east suburbia. For now, the identities of the bandmembers are being kept secret, but each new track they release is to be accompanied by a photo essay and a lyric sheet. They’re a multi-instrumentalist, multi-creative collective. The track Dice is an interesting one and it just premiered.”
13 | David Olney & Anana Kaye | My Favourite Goodbye
THE PRESS RELEASE: “March 26 marks the release of the final studio album by the late David Olney, beloved folk songwriter’s songwriter, in collaboration with Anana Kaye, a young Eastern European powerhouse taking Americana by storm. Whispers and Sighs is a masterpiece, a parting gift from an imagination of genius. This collaboration grabs you from the first listen and doesn’t let go. Perfect music for a long night drive, for sitting in the dark with a single candle, for dreamers old and young, a soundtrack for our nightmares and dreams. Said Olney of My Favourite Goodbye: “Someone you knew from the past appears to you in a dream and it all comes back — the longing and the loss. You are walking down a street and you think you see her, but then you realize it can’t be her, and it all comes back, the silence and the sorrow. Now you are like a soldier condemned to die. Do you want a blindfold?”
14 | Metalite | A Virtual World
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Metalite have released their single A Virtual World, the title track from their upcoming album due for release March 26. Trendsetting, epic and of the highest quality, influenced by the concept of bands like Within Temptation, Amaranthe and Delain, the band from Stockholm reinvent classic melodic metal, unleashing a storm of power, monumentality and zeitgeist that you cannot escape. Guitarist Edwin Premberg states: “We see ourselves as a modern band that works differently than most of the melodic metal bands out there.” Judge for yourself.”
15 | Revolution Of Two | Pretending To Live
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Italian modern deathcore trio Revolution Of Two have released the single Pretending To Live, featuring Uriel Olvera, the bassist of Mexico’s Blinded By Hate. For this release, they did a special anime music video which underlines the imagery and visual style adopted by the band. The lyrics are about reflections on the unconscious, dreams, desires and fears. The band say: “This is a huge step for the band; this song is an approach to new sounds and style of composition. We never experienced to arrange and compose a song like this. We tried to underline through the lyrics we wrote the theme of the errors.”
16 | Møme & Ricky Ducati | I Know
THE PRESS RELEASE: “After announcing their debut album Flashback FM, Paris-L.A. duo Møme & Ricky Ducati drop their symbolic, powerful hit I Know, with their outer-space 3D selves try to meet again in the official video. They explain: “The vibe behind the track I Know is wanting to connect with someone and knowing they want that connection as well. It’s being conscious without even interacting of the dynamic and energies, like a dialogue without words. In the last months we were able to tie our concept together between videos and place ourselves as characters in the Flashback FM universe.”
17 | GoldFord | Walk With Me
THE PRESS RELEASE: “At a time when people are separated by lockdown, divisive politics and culture wars, L.A. singer-songwriter GoldFord’s Walk With Me is emerging as a powerful anthem of togetherness. Regardless of our current situation, it’s a potent reminder that a little togetherness can be invaluable as we wait for these times to pass. “I wrote Walk With Me just as the world was coming undone,” says GoldFord. “If I could talk to myself right now, all that I would want to hear is that it’s going to be OK. It was one of those rare moments where you caught the emotion and the song wrote itself.”
18 | Strippers Union | We Are The Underworld
THE PRESS RELEASE: “In 2006, Strippers Union, fronted by Rob Baker (The Tragically Hip) and Craig Northey (Odds) released their debut LP Strippers Union Local 518, following up with The Deuce five years later. Now, they’re ready to share their third LP The Undertaking, a double LP recorded at The Bathouse Studio with drummer Pat Steward and bassist Doug Elliott. Disc 1 of the double LP will be released on Feb. 5 and Disc 2 will arrive March 12. Today they share the first track, We Are The Underworld. Baker says: “We were musing on the idea that the majority of beings live behind-the-scene lives with no perceived power or glory, often unaware of the power they actually hold, individually and collectively — especially as ‘we’. The ingenuity required to survive is more amazing than the trivial exploits of the powerful. The real power waits and it’s beautiful when it shows itself. ‘We’re the dirt that starts the pearl’.”
19 | Enemy Awake | Cryonation
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Swedish melodic death metallers Enemy Awake will release their second album Fallen World on Feb. 14. You can hear their first single Cryonation now. Fallen World was produced in collaboration with Tomas Skogsberg from Sunlight Studio.”
20 | On War | Definition
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Thrash/death metallers On War just released a new single entitled Definition, taken from their debut release End and Means.”
21 | Erica Knox | Running Inside Of My Brain
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Singer-songwriter Erica Knox is set to showcase herself in 2021 with music you won’t be able to forget. From upbeat excitement to mellow nostalgia, her intimate lyrics tackle themes of love, life, and identity. Produced by Kadeema’s Tal Vaisman, Knox’s new single Running Inside Of My Brain came from a relationship that shouldn’t have worked out from the very beginning. From start to finish, there were so many red flags and obvious signs that were ignored. It’s not worth losing yourself to be with someone else, no matter how good the ending could be.”
22 | Franki Pineapple | Evil Love
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Franki Pineapple is back with a new single, Evil Love. Franki has already crammed more into her life than countless blockbusters in her hometown of Hollywood, and Evil Love is a reflection of these experiences — good, bad and ugly: “I wrote Evil Love solo with my acoustic guitar (in 2008) and it became my anthem. I’ve performed it all over Los Angeles, in NYC, Nashville and various cities. It was my signature song for years; inspired by a seemingly endless romantic entanglement with an older man, which led me down the rabbit hole into the deepest, darkest obsession you could ever imagine. It was a living nightmare that ended up being one of the most beautiful and fruitful experiences of my life. Evil Love has evolved over the years. It has come to symbolize so much more than a painful love affair. The song is not frozen in time.”
23 | Tigers On Opium | I May Sound Like A Drunk, But I Feel Like A Matador
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Tigers On Opium are a Portland stoner-rock band formed out of a magical mix of scene veterans jamming and sheer happenstance. From their origins in 2015, ideas germinated for three years as the band crafted the perfect lineup, but since then the band has been hard at it. They have produced a stoner-rock sound that hints at a love for psychedelics and hip hop, as well as a passion for literature and philosophy. This has given the band a unique aesthetic of great art that stays classy with a nice touch of grit. It sets them a head and shoulder above their peers and gives them a sound to call their own. With eyes on the prize, Tigers On Opium seek to win the hearts of heavy rock fans across the globe one show at a time. Look for their 503-420-6669 EP on Jan. 22.”
24 | Almost Sex | Rest Up
THE PRESS RELEASE: “We’re Almost Sex, a Brooklyn duo, and Rest Up is a stripped acoustic performance with a toe-tapping guitar and sweet storyline. At the beginning of December, we packed up a few drums and guitars and hid out in an old building in Warren’s hometown. No drum samples, no editing, no vocal effects other than the room’s high ceilings. The un-rushed acoustics and minimal production fit the song’s message perfectly, a story of advice from one generation to another, from parent to child: be happy with yourself and love will find you.”
