Nick Waterhouse has a case of the Santa Ana blues, Triptides drop it like it it’s hot, Malacoda get cinematic on your ass, The Blips take it home — and take us home as we head into the final episode of your Thursday Roundup trilogy. Scroll down for the coolest Gordon Lightfoot cover you’ll hear today. Or even this week.
37 | Nick Waterhouse | B. Santa Ana, 1986
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Nick Waterhouse takes the color blue as his hue of choice as he takes a spiritual look to the past on new album Promenade Blue, due out April 9. Today, he shares the swaggering, powerhouse single B. Santa Ana (1986). Waterhouse says: “I’ve spent a great deal of my time wandering through the world, and being mistaken for coming from somewhere else. Certain people seem better at branding themselves based on a sort of … spectacular regional mythos. And what I have observed in regards to my own pedigree is what I could only describe as a lifelong superficial conception of the Californian identity. I got to thinking: What’s a regional identity anyways? Especially in this digitally flattened era. How funny, I thought, would it be to turn this little droll talking blues I had been demoing into an off-handed delivered ‘anthem’ chorus (uh, I don’t mind)? How Californian?”
38 | Triptides | Let It Go
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “With a sound oscillating between psychedelic folk-pop and space rock, L.A. outfit Triptides’ album Alter Echoes channels both The Byrds at their most hallucinogenic and Pink Floyd at their most cosmically composed — while creating something immediate and new. With Alter Echoes they pull away from the pack, thanks to the quality of their songwriting, performance and production. Triptides is led by multi-instrumentalist Glenn Brigman, and with drummer Brendan Peleo-Lazar and bassist/guitarist Stephen Burns. Alter Echoes will be released on March 19. Let It Go is their new single.”
39 | Malacoda | Deadlights
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Malacoda have shared the video for Deadlights, from their upcoming EP Crawling Chaos. Their sound combines music described as dark, foreboding and with lyrics to enjoy as well as unsettle. Malacoda’s Lucas Di Mascio adds: “The song is based on the movie, It’s one of the better horror movie remakes that’s come out recently. We really tried to capture the emotion from the film with this one.”
https://youtu.be/ZGsPou0ZP_g
40 | The Blips | Walking Home
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “What happens when five frontmen form a band? Probably disaster. Or, possibly, collaborative beauty. In the case of Alabama’s The Blips, it’s the latter. The group formed after Will Stewart sent a few curious text messages inviting a group of friends and collaborators to convene and write some tunes together. Their self-titled debut album, out April 9, sounds less like a casual experiment than a band that has been playing together for years. They’ve even got a song called Wild Thing II.”
41 | Amelie Patterson | Everything, Nothing.
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Bow Valley songwriter Amelie Patterson is a pop music workhorse with hooks to spare. Her new single, the dazzling alt-pop Everything, Nothing. is about love “and how it’s uniquely your own experience, but its also a ubiquitous force around the planet.” In this global pandemic, we all need a reason to celebrate love. “I wrote this song while reflecting on what an all encompassing force love is. I was exploring ideas of how the microcosm reflects the macrocosm. The lyrics reference the Earth’s gravitational pull on the moon and vice versa. The moon’s gravitational pull is the primary reason for tides. Each of us are giving love in our own unique way, but we are all doing so on a global scale.”
42 | Blind Faith | Closer
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Blind Faith are the AOR & melodic neoclassical metal project of an amazing guitar shredder from Costa Rica — Allan “Kalay” Murillo Guzman (ex-guitar player of Wings of Destiny) — and the versatile and renowned singer Anton Darusso (frontman of Wings of Destiny, Oxidize and many more). Today they released the video for Closer.”
43 | Lipstick Jodi | Going Insane
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Karli Morehouse, the songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of Lipstick Jodi, is a force to be reckoned with. Karli announced the return of her Grand Rapids trio last month with the ferocious do/SAY. Today, Morehouse continues to scorch the earth with the followup Going Insane. Morehouse stated, “At the time I started writing Going Insane, I was at one of the most stable points in my life. I found myself surrounded by well meaning friends, had a decent day job, was working out consistently for the first time in my life, and had gotten engaged to someone I had been seeing consistently for two years. All things I had spent my early 20s wanting, but was instead cycling through self-destructive behavior surrounded by people who weren’t looking out for anyone’s best interest, including mine.”
44 | James Holvay | Working On It
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “After four decades out of the music limelight, singer-songwriter-guitarist James Holvay makes his return with a vital five-song slab of authentic Chicago-style soul music: Sweet Soul Song, set for release on April 16. The collection is a vibrant tip of the hat to the music Holvay witnessed and then played in during its 1960s flowering, when such hometown stars as Curtis Mayfield, Major Lance and Gene Chandler ruled the R&B roost in America.”
45 | Charles James Livingstone | Midnight Moon
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Co. Monaghan singer-songwriter Charles James Livingstone is releasing his debut single as a solo artist after Covid made performing and writing in his band Lowlight Gathering unfeasible for the last year. Midnight Moon is steeped in all the right elements. From a slow smooth intro and beginning, into uplifting and anthemic chorus. Charles describes Midnight Moon as a story with a metaphorical meaning of escapism. The lyrics talk of a couple trying to escape the daytime light and all its trappings, as the night is where they find peace and solace.”
46 | Shadecrown | The Awakening
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Finnish melodic death/doom band Shadecrown have released The Awakening, the first single from their upcoming third studio album Solitarian, set to be released later this year. Songwriter Saku Tammelin comments: “The Awakening is a song about shame, repressed memories and the dark side of human nature. I think all of us have a dark side … it is just stronger in some people than others.”
47 | Iskwē | Sweet Tuesday
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Iskwē | ᐃᐢᑫᐧᐤ is, among many other things, an artist — a creator and communicator of music and of movement, of pictures, poetry and prose. And through it all, she’s a teller of stories that have impacted our past and will inform our future. Iskwē’s new album The Stars invites us into an emotional and soulful experience, featuring entirely new arrangements of six songs with Iskwē accompanied by a trio of piano, cello and violin.”
48+49 | PVA | Talks (DJ Dairy + Squid’s Ink Remixes)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “PVA return with two new remixes of their single Talks. The remixes come from black midi’s DJ Dairy and Squid’s Ink, and follow the band’s debut EP Toner. DJ Dairy says, “This remix was super fun to make and a great relief from the boredom and stress of the first lockdown last April, the original bangs absolutely and hopefully this does it justice!” Squid’s Laurie Nankivell also commented: “We started this just before the U.K. went into its first lockdown and as a result our creative process became scattered from one house to two computers. This remix is representative of that alongside a pining for the lack of a good boogy we were about to endure!”
50 | Sunday State | Sundown
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Sunday State recently announced their debut LP and today they are back with a cover of Gordon Lightfoot’s AM gold classic Sundown. The track also features Scott McCaughey and Jenny Conlee. The band, which features Steve Turner from Mudhoney on guitar, will release their self-titled album on April 2.”
51 | Der Zoologe von Berlin & Fields of Næcluda | White Clouds
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “French progressive-rock/ambient-metal trio Fields of Naecluda teamed up with French electro visal poetry project Der Zoologe von Berlin for a collaborative song White Clouds. It comes a few weeks after the release of Fields’ live record Half Live, and while the guys are working hard on their next studio album.”
52 | Metronomy | Picking Up For You
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Metronomy’s career-changing album The English Riviera is turning 10 years old. To celebrate, the band are re-issuing the album with six previously unreleased bonus tracks available for fans to stream and buy on April 30. The To mark the announcement, the Joseph Mount-fronted indie pop collective have shared previously unheard bonus track Picking Up For You.”
53 | Panteon | Nobody
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Berlin singer-songwriter Yvonne Ambrée writes, records and produces all of her music under her moniker Panteon. Ushering in her debut album with a string of singles throughout the year, her latest release Nobody is another beautiful offering from the artist — exploring the importance of self-love. “Nobody is about practising self-love and kindness. Nobody will ever care and know as much about your life and what feels like the right thing to do except you”, Yvonne offers. “It also talks about ambitions and how you learn to accept more than just one reality as time moves on — finding some peace with whatever evolves.”
54 | New Morning Blues | A Face In The Mirror
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Ethereal, emotional and unconventional, New Morning Bluesare here to captivate you. Comprising Joanna Backovic and Ian de Sylva, the duo weave compelling tales through a fusion of folk, country and indie, with a lush soundscape that ranges from the celestial to the cinematic. Their debut single A Face In The Mirror is exemplary of the haunting, heartfelt beauty of NMB’s work. The track is taken from their upcoming album London, set for release on June 5. Ian remarks: “I dreamt I was watching a country and western movie with a compelling soundtrack, so I tried to replicate that when I woke up!”
55 | Nick Batterham | Turbulence
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Accomplished Melbourne composer and songwriter Nick Batterham is excited to reveal the second taste of his forthcoming solo album Lovebirds (April 23) with the stunning new track Turbulence. The release follows from Nick’s recently lifted single No Perfect Man, switching out its predecessor’s hauntingly subdued sounds for a cacophony of rock elements, overlaid with the same melancholic sentiments Nick has come to be known for. As Nick says: “An attempt to be gracious in defeat, a farewell blessing to a runaway lover. May everywhere you fly from here be safe and smooth, high up above my turbulence … The song has gained new meaning since we can’t fly anywhere anymore.”
