Charlie Houston sings words about things, Hildegard cover both sides, Rave The Reqviem share their pain, Oxygyn show mercy — but the rest of today’s Midweek Roundup gives no quarter. Brace yourself:
17 | Charlie Houston | Things
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Each song from 20-year-old artist Charlie Houston is an emotional time capsule with introspective yet relatable storytelling. The genre-bending artist’s debut I Hate Spring EP comes out April 23. Today, she reveals the single and video for Things. The new song looks inward, reflecting on her youthful insecurities and unrequited affection with honest and raw vulnerability. “It’s sort of about becoming so infatuated with someone that you begin to lose sight of who you are,” says Houston. “Also comparing yourself to the kind of person you think they want, and trying to become that.”
18 | Hildegard | Jour 2
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Two halves of a chant — or a prayer — intertwine, exposing the tension between fear and hope, a constant and perhaps necessary conflict of the self. The result is the exhilarating and alchemical debut single from Hildegard, a new project from experimental singer-songwriter Helena Deland and multi-instrumentalist and producer Ouri (Ourielle Auvé). Jour 2 is accompanied by a sprawling music video, further opening a window into the two polymath artists’ innate creative connection. Hildegard describe Jour 2 as “a psychedelic mantra that labours to reconcile the dissociated self by contrasting eeriness and softness.”
19 | Rave The Reqviem | Phantom Pain
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Rave The Reqviem from Sweden launched a video for Phantom Pain from the album Stigmata Itch which was released in December. “Phantom Pain is a groovy mid-tempo industrial metal track with heavy riffs, catchy hooks, and a bombastic symphonic breakdown. The lyrics deal with the destructive nature of relationships and the self-criticism that follows. How is it possible that your loved ones stay by your side despite all of your flaws?”
20 | Oxygyn | Mercy
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Maltese electro-pop outfit Oxygyn have just shared the video for Mercy. It continues from 2020’s Wicked White Lies, a portrayal of how society deals with social issues in which individuals are made vulnerable, as frontman Kurt Abela details: “We become angered by a social cause when it first emerges, but we are quick to break it down within our own minds and forget. Instead, we focus on our own personal issues, and are not able to overcome them. This video acts as a wake-up call to society that the social issues hinted at throughout the video are still present and need their due attention.”
21 | Tia Gostelow | Two Lovers
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Tia Gostelow turned heads in 2018 with her debut record Thick Skin. Her second album Chrysalis is out now, as is her single and video for Two Lovers. She says it “is about two people fighting their hardest for a relationship through rough times … We wanted to show couples from all walks of life in different scenes, everyone’s story is so different and we wanted to highlight that. It felt really nice to showcase other stories within a music video instead of it being mostly about me.”
22 | Perfume Genius | Describe (A. G. Cook Remix)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Perfume Genius reveals A. G. Cook’s remix of his single Describe. The track is taken off the forthcoming Immediately Remixes album which is set for release digitally on March 12. “I’m very honored to have all these incredible musicians rework these songs. I felt personally remixed listening to their versions, hearing the spirit of my song completely transformed was very magical. Each one feels like a little portal to a fucked up shared world.”
23 | Tower Defense | Manifest Destiny
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Tower Defense just released the video for Manifest Destiny. Thanks to the video prowess of drummer Jereme Frey, the lead track from In The City gets an official video featuring bassist Sarah Shepherd hurdling through Nashville. It’s a highly stylized and fun video that comes with a twinge of a reality calling back to the floods and heavy weather that have hit the city over the years.”
24 | Dennis Ellsworth | Bound By Love
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Dennis Ellsworth’s new album The Grass Is Always Greener on the Other Side is out today. “This is a condensed musical history of my life,” said Ellsworth of the moving focus track Bound By Love. “It stretches from the 1970s up to today, and uses my photographic memory to tie things together, reflecting on how time spent driving in my mother’s car as a kid shaped a lot of my musical life,” he said. The Grass Is Always Greener on the Other Side is the second installment in Ellsworth’s Bound By Love Series, which shares 32 new songs across three albums and three EPs.”
25 | Scarred | Petrichor
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Luxembourg death-metal group Scarred have just revealed an animated video for a new track from their self-titled album released last January. Titled Petrichor, the video was produced by Animyou. The followup to their second album Gaia-Medea also marked the debut of new singer Yann Dalscheid.”
26 | Corrado Rustici | Night Of The Jackal
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Corrado Rustici, the renowned guitarist and producer, has released the instrumental solo album Interfulgent. A founding member of celebrated ’70s prog act Cervello, as well as the jazz-rock group Nova alongside his brother Danilo, Corrado has performed and recorded with the likes of Phil Collins, Allan Holdsworth, Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis through his illustrious 40-year career, which has also seen him become one of Italy’s most successful producers.”
27 | Nervus | Between The Lines (ft. Erik Garlington)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “U.K. band Nervus share their new single Between The Lines, featuring Erik Garlington. The track appears on the collaborative album Sunday, Someday out March 26. Sunday, Someday was conceived by a group of like-minded friends and musicians from the U.K., Pennsylvania, and Los Angeles who began meeting virtually every Sunday after the tour they were supposed to go on together was canceled due to the pandemic. The group includes alt/punk band Nervus (U.K.), pop/rock trio Potty Mouth (L.A.), indie/folk/punk songwriter Koji (PA), singer/songwriter Solstice Rey (PA), multimedia artist Full on Mone’t (PA), as well as crew members who would have been on the tour.”
28 | Elizabeth & the Catapult | Thirsty
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Brooklyn mainstay Elizabeth and the Catapult will release Sincerely, E this Friday. Today, singer-songwriter Elizabeth Ziman shares the quirky video for Thirsty, starring Betty Boop. Elizabeth said, “I purposefully paired the words worthy and thirsty — seemingly loaded with shame about having those feelings — but ending with empowerment on top, seductively whispering my angsty, carnal desires in refrain: ‘I’m still thirsty, I’m still thirsty, I’m still thirsty…’ ”
29 | Exanimis | Throne of Thorns
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “French symphonic death-metal band Exanimis have just unleashed a lyric video for a song from their debut album Marionnettiste, due out this Friday. The album offers up nine tracks that masterfully blend the brutality and technical proficiency of death-metal bands like Fleshgod Apocalypse, Septic Flesh and Obscura, the melodies and progressive textures of Dream Theater, Opeth and Devin Townsend with symphonic arrangements and sinister ambiences inspired by great names of film and video game soundtracks like Danny Elfman, Howard Shore and Nobuo Uematsu.”
30 | Demons | Play Acting Virtue
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Demons, the heavy, experimental project of longtime Mae guitarist Zach Gehring is back with a new song, Play Acting Virtue, offering fans a taste of the band’s album Privation, set for release on April 30. “This song was one of the earlier ones written for Privation. I was listening to a lot of Converge, and I still hear the influence applied through our filter. The music was written on an acoustic. It was a block headed riff that came alive when Drew built the drum part. He achieved the perfect balance of chaos and drive. Lyrically, I was caught up on this promise that truth somehow brings freedom, or truth liberates you. I think that can often have the opposite impact. I think the truth is often treated as a sort of shallow poetic device, or an ephemeral enlightenment. But it’s an obligation that never fully subsides.”
31 | Bernice | Lone Swan
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Bernice will release their new LP Eau de Bonjourno soon. Today, they share another new track from the album, Lone Swan. “When we think of swans, we think of them coupled, distant, on water — beautiful, peaceful, sailing,” says songwriter Robin Dann. “We know them as aggressive, hissing, dominating, at odds with our world. Lone Swan feels conflict, curiosity, and longing. On a deserted road, city street, snowy mountain, suburban pool, forest, nightclub, airplane, crop circle, cloud — she absorbs as much as she releases. She doesn’t quite fit in anywhere she lands, wonders what is real, and her longing for connection carry her forward one webbed foot at a time.”
32 | Christopher Nielsen | Trouble Maker
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Our Voyage Home is a lively collection of 13 instrumental songs that reflect musical ideas from over a 40-year journey of Christopher Nielsen while in and out of the music business. Combining his skillful musician ship with compelling arrangements and crafty compositions, this collection will lift you up and be a perfect accompaniment for any road trip. Chris’s style lends well to visualization and this collection is complemented by several artsy videos, including this one for Trouble Maker.”
