L.A. Witch get their motors running, Hey, King! head out on the highway, Bear serve up two for the show, Arion just want you gone — and things are just getting started in your Monday Roundup. In the mood for an eight-minute ska tribute by The Mighty Mighty BossToneS, featuring cameos by a couple of dozen stars? You’ve come to the right place.
1 | L.A. Witch | Motorcycle Boy
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “L.A. Witch roar into 2021 with an incredible video for Motorcycle Boy, from of their recent album Play With Fire. Says bandmember Sade Sanchez: “The song is inspired by Moto Boys like Mickey Rourke, Marlon Brando and Steve McQueen, so of course we took a lot of inspiration from our favorite biker movies like The Wild One, Rumble Fish, On Any Sunday, Easy Rider, Hells Angeles ’69 and The Girl on a Motorcycle … I got to feature my bike that I’d been rebuilding during the pandemic. It was nice to shoot a video where you get to do two of your favorite things: Riding motorcycles and play guitar.”
2 | Hey, King! | Beautiful
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Songwriter, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist Natalie London and her partner, vocalist and percussionist Taylor Plecity, approach music with a childlike curiosity and adventurous spirit — fitting for a band whose name comes from a Where the Wild Things Are line. Today the duo are announcing their self-titled debut album, which will be released on April 2. Produced by Ben Harper, the record is a dazzling 11-track collection that matches the overwhelming emotional intensity of the band’s live show. “If there’s ever been a year where people want to break free, this last year was it,” says London. “Both in the music video and in the song itself, we tried to convey that feeling of stripping away all the monotony, the disappointments, worry, and rage we all have and just get the f*ck out.” Plecity adds, “Especially during COVID, none of us know what our lives will be like even six months from now, so all that matters is to find adventure where you can and love the people (or animals) you’re lucky enough to love right now.”
3+4 | Bear | Kuma + Gutter
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Bear share some live performance footage from the Belgian progressive metal/hardcore collective’s set as part of the Hellgium Festival livestream last summer. They say, “The Hellgium livestream we did back in July ended up being our only show of 2020 and was the only opportunity we’ve had to perform new songs from Propaganda live so far. We’re grateful for all the positive reactions we’ve received as a result. We very much hope 2021 is the year we will get to properly tour this album and spread the Propaganda. Fingers crossed.”
5 | Arion | Out Of My Life
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Finnish metal shooting stars Arion continue to deliver: After lauching their Bloodline single (which features a guest appearance by Battle Beats vocalist Noora Louhimo) in December, the band follow up with their new single/video Out Of My Life. It’s the second single from their upcoming album Vultures Die Alone, to be released on April 9. Producer Matias Kupiainen (Stratovarius) and mixing engineer Adam “Nolly” Getgood (Periphery) did an amazing job in making the manifold talents of Arion shine. Vultures Die Alone is the exceptional album by a young band which already has the experience and quality to reign supreme.”
6 | Raine Hamilton | Brave Land
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “It’s about the beauty of being alive and the courage that can take,” singer-songwriter Raine Hamilton says of her new song Brave Land. It’s the first single and title track of her upcoming project, a concept album about courage, connection, and wisdom, inspired by the dramatic mountainous landscape she encountered while touring, and how that echoes so many of our human connections. For both the single and album, Hamilton worked with longtime collaborators Quintin Bart on double bass, and Natanielle Felicitas on cello. The three musicians have been co-composing arrangements and recording since fall 2019, interrupted in March by the pandemic and completed over the summer. The new album will be released slowly over the course of a year, along with the stories of the songs and other super-secret content.”
7 | Raz | One Time for Your Mind
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Raz has spent nearly a decade perfecting his songwriting and creating a unique sound that represents his experiences, personal growth and spirituality. His mixture of hip-hop and stadium rock creates an intimate world where emotion and his message are front and centre in every song. Raz’s newest single One Time for Your Mind captures a mood of frustration and feeling in the verses, contrasted by an explosion of relief, release and freedom in the choruses. This rollercoaster of emotions is how Raz has felt for years while fighting against expectations and societal norms — fighting to find himself and live a fulfilling life.”
8 | Nelson Beer | Orlando
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Enigmatic Swiss electronic composer Nelson Beer has released Orlando, lifted from the forthcoming EP of the same name this spring. Orlando is a disarmingly, exquisite composition, delving into the darker, more abstract realms of electronic music. Beer explains: “Orlando marks the continuity of my research around the question of identity politics. Here the role of the composer and the performer in the contemporary socio-cultural context is questioned. I am looking for an artistic manoeuvre that, without excluding it, is critical of the global industry and suggests that it endangers human rights in its persistence. Orlando — the sound and the character — as in Virginia Woolf’s eponymous work, becomes a piece of evidence to the chaotic world order.”
9 | Daniel Docherty | Only Time Can Help Us
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Glasgow singer/songwriter Daniel Docherty shares an animated video for Only Time Can Help Us from the EP of the same name due this January. Daniel explains: “Only Time Can Help Us is a song I am so proud to share! It’s the title track of my third EP, and I feel incredibly lucky that there is such an amazing video being released for this song!”
10 | The Mighty Mighty BossToneS | The Final Parade
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Mighty Mighty BossToneS share their new track The Final Parade. The track heralds the ups and downs of the band’s journey, the history of ska, and features vocal cameos and guest appearances from many ska-punk luminaries. At nearly eight minutes, the track has been referred as The Ska Summit by Tim Armstrong, who co-produced the track with fellow Grammy winner Ted Hutt. “It’s a love letter to ska music and the people that make ska music and it’s a whole lot of fun,” says vocalist Dicky Barrett. The features on the track include Tim Armstrong (Rancid), Aimee Interrupter & The Interrupters, Stranger Cole, Angelo Moore (Fishbone), Jake Burns (Stiff Little Fingers), Jay Navarro (Suicide Machines), Chris DeMakes, Pete Wesilewski, Roger Lima (Less Than Jake), Jimmy G (Murphy’s Law), Toby Morse, Rusty Pistachio (H2O), John Feldman (Goldfinger), Laila Khan (Sonic Boom Six), Robert Hingley (Toasters), Dan Vitale (Bim Skala Bim), Dave McWane (Big D and The Kids Table), Sirae Richardson, Erin Mackenzie, Brie McWane (The Doped Up Dollys), Jesse Wagner (Aggrolites), Karina Denike (The Dance Hall Crashers), Christian Jaccobs (The Aquabats), Jon Pebsworth (Buck O Nine), Peter Porker (The Porkers), Steve Jackson (The Pietasters), Felipe Galvan (Los Skanarles), Jet Baker (Buster Shuffle), Fumio Ito (Kemuri), Glen “The Kid” Marhevka (Big Bad Voodoo Daddy), and Roddy Radiation (The Specials).”
11 | Twitch Of The Death Nerve | The Wages Of Faith
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Twitch Of The Death Nerve left an ugly scar on the pox-ridden face of 2020 with the uncontrollable fury of their second album, A Resting Place For The Wrathful. The sonic blasts of outrage and violence that made up that terrifying record blazed a path through the underground metal media, collecting glowing reviews like fearful hostages and hacking their way into numerous end of year lists. Now Twitch Of The Death Nerve are back, implementing a tactical approach of ‘no fucking mercy’, ready to kick them when they’re down with Beset By False Prophets. It combines four brand new tracks of incomparable, inhuman menace with Twitch Of The Death Nerve’s complete live set from the Xxxapada Na Tromba festival in Lisbon, Portugal in January 2020. There is a streamlined, shellshock-inducing power to The Wages Of Faith.”
12 | Belau | Luz (ft. Sexto Sentido)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Belau bring back the summer with a new single Belau are one of the most promising electronica newcomers around the European music scene. In three years, they had almost 200 live performances in 23 countries. The debut LP The Odyssey won the Hungarian Grammy in best electronic music album category. After their long-awaited sophomore album Colourwave, they release a spiritual song featured Sexto Sentido which is a smooth blend of traditional Afro-Cuban music and modern electronica. Belau’s new song Luz featuring Sexto Sentido is a blend of electronica and traditional Afro-Cuban music.”
13 | Onism | The Sound Of Us
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Onism is a darkwave music project that was created by Lupe and Luna on February 2020, as the attempt of two people to express the realization that we, as human beings, are finite. Lupe and Luna were born in Athens, Greece. They are both trained singers and vocal coaches and they also play the piano. Onism’s debut release is the Leyes EP, which contains four songs created and recorded by Lupe and Luna.”
14 | M00nst3p | Giving Up
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Left-of-center pop artist M00nst3p wrestles with fears of disillusionment and abandonment in his new single Giving Up. The track was completely self-produced, mixed and mastered, and is the second single from his upcoming EP I Cannot Live With Myself. As a lifelong sufferer of social anxiety, M00nst3p is well suited in many ways to our current world of social distancing. “I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with isolation,” he reflects. “I desperately need it at times for my mental health, but I’m still human and I still need to connect. True isolation can do ugly things to a person, a community, and a society.” M00nst3p believes in music’s power to connect us to each other’s emotions and experiences across physical, linguistic and cultural borders.”
15 | Bartees Strange | The Pearl
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Judee Sill was David Geffen’s first signing to his Asylum label; however, she never found the mainstream success that other Asylum acts achieved. The California singer/songwriter only put out two proper albums (her 1971 eponymous debut and 1973’s Heart Food). Sadly, Sill, who was a longtime drug abuser, died from an overdose at age 35 in 1979. Out March 12, producer Lorenzo Wolff’s Down Where the Valleys Are Low: Another Otherworld for Judee Sill reinterprets seven songs by the legendary singer/songwriter. Assisted by a circle of singers and musicians associated with his East Williamsburg studio, Wolff replaces the soft rock, semi-classical, ethereal sounds of Sill’s original recordings with what he calls “dirtier, more earthbound elements.” Bartees Strange’s version of The Pearl is the first preview.”
16 | Black Water Cobra | Guy Like Me
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “BlackWater Cobra were formed in Mississauga in 2019 by four guys who love to work hard and play a hell of a lot harder. Driven by Jack Daniel’s, strong bud, and muscle, the four-piece have hit the ground running with their debut single Guy Like Me, showcasing the band’s in-your-face country that incorporates both ’70s arena rock and southern fuzz.”
17 | Astari Nite | All Else is a Curse
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Miami goth-rock artists Astari Nite release their song All Else is a Curse. After listening to artists such as ABBA, David Bowie and Yazoo, vocalist Mychael reflected upon voices that we may never hear again. Inspired by this, Astari Nite started to write their next album. Mychael provides more details: “As melancholy as I may appear, I am carelessly smiling deep inside. The more I dwell on who or what moment in time this song is about, I like to believe that sadness is an artform and as cliché as it may sound, it meant everything to me.”
18 | Varro Vivyd | Fool’s Gold
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Varro Vivyds is a Santa Cruz native who creatively captures her emotions and writes them in such a way where the audience will feel like they’re experiencing them too. Her melody work will have her songs playing in your head during the day, and keeping you up at night. Vivyd shares: “Fool’s Gold was the first song I wrote after a six-year hiatus due to struggling with active addiction. It’s a beautifully written breakup song about my first clean relationship, and first clean breakup. Fool’s Gold is extremely relatable, and when you listen, it feels as if it was written for you personally.”
19 | Naipia | Bluestown
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Hailing from Brighton and Hove in the U.K., Naipia combine indie, rock and pop genres, leaving audiences with addictive hooks and melodies etched into their minds. Naipia have created a lot of noise in the U.K. and beyond with their recently released singles Lonely and Tightropes. Now they’ve released their next single Bluestown and it might just be their best track yet!”
20 | Tolu Makay | N17
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Afro-Irish singer-songstress Tolü Makay has released a spine-tingling rendition of N17. Following the release of her stunning debut EP Being, Tolü steps away from her signature R&B/soul fusion to provide this high quality rendition of the Galway classic by Saw Doctors. Dedicated to the Irish across the world who weren’t able to make it home for Christmas, the singer-songstress’ buttery vocals float over RTÉ Concert Orchestra’s breathtaking backdrop.”
21 | David Gauther | All By Myself (Lockdown)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “I am a 19-year-old producer and singer-songwriter. Ever since I was seven years old I have always loved music and was always fascinated by “big time” musicians/artists and how they could even make a living out of it. I started writing music when I was 12 years old and I have loved it ever since! I focus on trying to make my music about events in my life and less serious things. My most recent song All By Myself is about the Ontario lockdown and how it’s hard that I can’t go out and see my girlfriend.”
