The Slowinks want to keep you around, Brett Newski is an ex-ladies man, Steady Rollin faces the inevitable, Kutiman is holding a pair — and there’s no collection plate in the Good Friday instalment of your latest Weekend Roundup. Though I do accept donations (hint, hint):
31 | The Slowinks | Stay With Me Awhile
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “With a sound that combines classic country, jazz and western swing, Montreal’s The Slowinks have charmed their hometown and are poised to do the same to the wider world. Their album Stay With Me Awhile’s haunting title track began life as a demo with French lyrics. Felicity Hamer wrote new lyrics in English to reflect her own experience of trying to hold onto someone she lost, and in the process gave the song an entirely different power. She says, “Just weeks after our return from recording, the pandemic hit Montreal and the song has since taken on even more meaning. This is just one of those songs that feels like a memory — ‘These streets are filled with ghosts, hard to crack a smile. I miss you the most, stay with me awhile.’ ”
32 | Brett Newski | I Should’ve Listened To Ferris Bueller (ft. Steven Page)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “On June 22, Milwaukee songwriter, illustrator and podcaster Brett Newski will release his first book It’s Hard To Be A Person and its accompanying sountrack. Today he present the album’s first singl, I Should’ve Listened to Ferris Bueller (ft Steven Page). Last year, Newski uncovered old notebooks of song ideas from two decades ago while still in high school, including early lyrical ideas for this coming-of-age” tune.”
33 | Steady Rollin | Must I Die Alone
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Steady Rollin emerge in 2021 as they left last year, firing on all pistons and creating music which is truly thrilling! Their first new material is the single Must I Die Alone, taken from the album Stories, expected in summer. A maelstrom of frenzied guitars, churning bass playing and incessant drumming, it’s accompanied by an animated video from Markantony. The song tells the story of a fisherman caught in a storm on the high seas who fears he will never see his loved one ashore again. It’s a typical mix of the inventive songwriting and untamed rock which have been thrilling their fans around the world from their base in Central America!”
34+35 | Kutiman | Coral Blossom + Offshore
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Music for doing things.” That’s the intention Kutiman had for Surface Current’, his forthcoming album of ambient atmospherics and modular experiments. However, its beautiful sounds are deeply calming and refreshing, making this a perfect album to do nothing to, as well. It was composed and recorded at his home in the middle of the Negev Desert, where the solace and tranquility of his surroundings allow him to truly stretch his creativity. Kutiman’s quiet and solitary lifestyle imbue this project with an ethereal yet joyous aura. Today he shares two new videos for Coral Blossom and Offshore.”
36 | Scores | Talk Flood
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Scores’ core members are veteran musicians who first crossed paths while living and performing in Kansas, where they became fast friends then roommates. The three had long talked about creating music together, but it wasn’t until a month-long backpacking trip through Europe that Scores came into existence and the band’s first songs began to take shape. The futuristic funk ofdebut single Talk Flood was largely inspired by the heavy basslines, driving drums, and distorted synthesizers of the music the trio experienced in clubs across Europe. Lyrically the song was written as a direct response to the ongoing problem of police violence and militarization. Singer Charles Calhoun says: “The lyrics were actually started a few years ago in the wake of the Ferguson, Missouri protests. The song is coming out years later, but unfortunately the lyrics feel just as relevant today.”
37 | Mikael Tobias | Rarefied
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Multi-faceted composer Mikael Tobias signals the release of his sophomore album Aperture with the violently beautiful single Rarefied and its accompanying video, blending severe and deconstructed textures in an emulsified audio-visual universe. Through aggressively tensile synths and grand waves of melody, Rarefied takes you from anxiety to ecstasy in four minutes cementing the Copenhagen musician’s most daring and expressive release. The journey is at once abrasive and cathartic, dragging you into a churning orbit and rearranging the elements of body and mind before spitting you back out into the ether.”
38 | Åskog | Tid
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Swedish black metal unit Åskog have unveiled the animated lyric video for the new single Tid. Their debut full-length Varþnaþer will be out on May 12. Åskog say: “Tid (Time) creates a grandiose atmosphere with its driving rhythm and soaring background vocals, also embracing a more traditional verse/chorus structure. The lyrics are more abstract, dealing with the theme of being lost.”
39 | Dim | Start Over Again
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Atlanta’s Dim deliver an energetic and emotional pop-rock sound that feels like a sucker punch to your heart. Singer Matt Mulkey says, “Have you ever been stuck in a circumstance not knowing what the right move is? It sometimes leaves you feeling completely lost or trapped inside your mind … searching for more to life vs. the mundane job or relationship you wish to get out of. You know you need to truly find yourself and move on, and leave behind everything that didn’t serve you but you get stuck wanting to try again, to give things another shot. This is the emotion we tried to capture in Start Over Again.”
https://youtu.be/6VWjAPOXzTk
40 | Cappa | Fatal
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “L.A. pop darling Cappa releases her new single Fatal, from her forthcoming EP later this year. Cappa’s signature combination of atmospheric production, alluring vocals, confident lyricism, and catchy hooks is on full display on Fatal. The song explores a tumultuous relationship that never feels like it’s on solid ground. “It was like a mini therapy session to channel these feelings into a song,” Cappa writes. “I think Fatal can be related to experiences we’ve all been through, whether in relationships or friendships.”
41 | Julian Skiboat | My Room
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “My Room is the new single from multi-instrumentalist artist, singer and producer Julian Skiboat. The charming “sad boy” unleashes a track all about feeling bored, lonely and stagnant. Sonically, though, the chilled-out single highlights bright tropical infused guitars and warm vocals, highlighting a juxtaposition between the theme of the song and how it sounds.”
42 | Courtney Barnett | Don’t Do It (ft. Vagabon)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Courtney Barnett shares her cover of Sharon Van Etten’s Don’t Do It featuring Vagabon on vocals. It is part of Van Etten’s forthcoming epic 10th anniversary expanded reissue epic Ten.”
43 | Aman Jagwani | This Place (ft. Milena Casado)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Cutting right to the heart of the matter through breezy, uplifting musical arrangements, soulful vocals and powerful lyrical themes, composer/producer Aman Jagwani crosses genres with the ease of hopping from cloud to cloud on new single This Place, featuring a flugelhorn solo by Milena Casado and vocals by Anubha Kaul. Jazz enthusiasts will find much to love, while electronic music fans will appreciate the atmospheric synths and smoky downtempo groove. Jagwani says This Place “is about the pursuit of a ‘better place’ in life — this can be an emotional, mental, physical, intellectual or any kind of place that the listener chooses to relate to. The name of this song and the album is a play on the word displace … so the song is essentially telling the listener to adapt and displace from the place they’re in to their better or ideal place.”
44 | Drmagdn | Not Alone (ft. Jeremy O’Shea)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Drmagdn says: “Jeremy O’Shea from Velvet Revolver is a friend I’ve collaborated with before in N.Y.C. and his unbelievable rock voice was perfect to balance out the folktronica vibes of Not Alone. Matt Beck and I have played together for years live and on record in N.Y.C. so he was my Swiss Army Knife on guitars and piano, adding to what I already programmed on the track.”
45 | Pure Obsessions & Red Nights | The Stranglings (Mr. Kitty Remix)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Pure Obsession & Red Nights teamed with L.A. synth-pop/witch-house artist Mr. Kitty. Their new single The Stranglings is a pure synth-pop track with synth-wave vibes.”
