Gary Numan keeps his patience, Maita get down and stay down, Fink stay warm in the shadows, We Were Promised Jetpacks hope for the best but prepare for the worse, Keuning introduces three new would-be killers — but there’s plenty more life left it your Thursday Roundup. See for yourself:
41 | Gary Numan | Now and Forever
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Gary Numan’s recent singles have offered a glimpse into the thought-provoking environmental concept behind his album Intruder, which will be released on May 21. Now Numan presents Now And Forever, the final preview. It presents a subtle change of tone to the tracks that have preceded it. Its spare industrial opening marches like a funeral procession for a fatally wounded world, but its comparatively luminous synths and warm female backing vocals establish a mood of hope rather than pure despair. That ambience also resonates in the lyrics, which are viewed from the perspective of a world which has purged the population that plagued it. There’s regret for what has happened, but there’s the possibility for redemption at some point in the distant future: “Until it’s your time, I’ll wait here for you, forever.”
42 | Maita | Bag Of Hammers
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Portland’s Maita share the ninth track from Kill Rock Stars 30th anniversary covers series. As the first band Kill Rock Stars worked with upon Slim Moon’s return as label president, Maita commemorating the label’s anniversary draws a bridge between history and present. Bag of Hammers originally appeared on Thao & the Get Down Stay Down’s 2008 album We Brave Bee Stings and All. Maria of Maita states, “Bag of Hammers has been with me since the beginning of my journey into performing and songwriting. I recall myself, shaky and 18, watching Thao crackle to life on a Youtube video, in awe of her electricity. It has been a continuous pleasure to circle Thao’s albums and performances over the years and was a natural choice to return to one of the songs that helped push me out the door in the first place.”
43 | Fink | Warm Shadow (IIUII)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Fink’s next album IIUII (It Isn’t Until It Is) is scheduled for Aug. 20, and today he released the preview single Warm Shadow (IIUII). It reimagines one of Fink’s best-loved songs. IIUII is essentially a re-imagining, a reminiscence and a unique take on the “best-of” format, with the band re-recording key Fink tracks from 2006-16. “Warm Shadow was for years the perfect set opener — driving, percussive but vibey at the same time. It allowed us all to get our eye in for the show and to start the night right. It’s one of those tracks we can play in our sleep, and one of the few tracks that just never gets tired. If anything, we love it more the longer we play it. And at festivals it would regularly exceed 10 minutes once we got it going!”
44 | We Were Promised Jetpacks | If It Happens
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Scottish rock mainstay We Were Promised Jetpacks share the single If It Happens. The new track signifies a change in musical direction for the band. If It Happens is all at once grand yet restrained — sonically reflective of its lyrical examination of the bigger picture of life and how that can be boiled down to a simple phrase: If it happens, it happens. Singer Adam Thompson explains: “I feel that If It Happens expresses a lot about what I had been trying to get across to myself. It was all part of my new mindset of trying to be more positive about what I have and not always thinking about what I don’t. It’s about embracing the idea of happiness, doing what you can to encourage it and generally be a lot more ‘c’est la vie’ about everything. If it happens, it happens; if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. What can you do?”
45-47 | Keuning | Bad Instincts + Ends of The Earth + No One Is Calling You A Liar
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Killers’ founding member and guitarist Dave Keuning is back with three new songs off of his upcoming sophomore solo album A Mild Case of Everything. The 16-track album was written throughout 2020 and recorded by Dave in his San Diego home studio. Because of the wealth of material he’s written, Dave has released three new tracks to reintroduce himself: Ends Of The Earth, Bad Instincts and No One Is Calling You A Liar. A Mild Case of Everything will be released June 25. “I think it is my best work,” Dave reflected. “I felt more comfortable as a singer this time and also had a lot of fun with the guitar. I also took some chances on some short songs, long songs and did whatever I felt like. Don’t Poke the Bear is a nine-minute song I wrote in the middle of the night and just kept adding parts to it until 5 in the morning. I tried to have fun but I also have moments lyrically I am proud of.”
48 | Sarah Walk | Secrets
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Singer-songwriter Sarah Walk has announced her enchanting Simply EP, out June 24 — a collection of stripped-back versions of singles from last year’s Another Me album as well as two new tracks (including Secrets). The new EP comes on the heels of her collaboration with Meshell Ndegeocello and Abe Rounds for a cover of Prince’s Nothing Compares 2 U and her last album produced by Leo Abrahams that explores her experience as a queer woman with themes of vulnerability, toxic relationships and patriarchal entitlement.”
49 | Mark Rubin: Jew of Oklahoma | My Resting Place
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “My Resting Place is the latest single from Mark Rubin: Jew of Oklahoma’s forthcoming album The Triumph of Assimilation, due out June 1. Bad Livers’ Danny Barnes plays banjo on this track. “My Resting Place is an old-time bluegrass number inspired by the lyricism of Harlan Howard, the drive of Jimmy Martin and yet based on the Yiddish poem Mayn Rue Platz by Morris Rosenfeld. Rosenfeld was known as the poet laureate of the slum and the sweatshops, and it was written to commentate the victims of the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City in 1911. My Bad Livers bandmate and acknowledged banjo master Danny Barnes comes in to help set the dark mood to match the lyric.”
50 | Andy Keels | Lie Baby
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Lie Baby is the lead single from singer-songwriter Andy Keels’ debut EP. With a constant desire and energy to create, Andy headed to Germano Studios in New York with Grammy-winning engineer and producer Dave Rowland to refine his back catalogue of sounds. Over the years, he has also amassed an array of live experience, touring the U.K. with the likes of Westlife, McFly, Blue and Sugababes. Andy’s debut project is a natural cumulation of his craft — an expressive and deeply personal body of work.”
51 | Kellie Loder | So High
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “There is something truly extraordinary about Juno nominee Kellie Loder. It can be found in poignant and timely lyrics set against magical melodies. Loder’s new piano ballad So High pulls the listener even closer through an honest, vulnerable delivery that makes one feel the song is about them. So High is the beginning of more songs to come that have a stripped-down feel. Up until this point, the majority of Loder’s recordings have had a larger pop sound, but So High finds a sound that is more organic and minimalistic — putting the focus more on the song as opposed to a big production.”
52 | Bedrooms | In Yer Pocket
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Dublin quartet Bedrooms return with the second single from their debut EP Afterglow, recorded with revered songwriter and producer Bill Ryder-Jones. Bedrooms forge a sound that brings together dream-pop, shoegaze, and a distinct slowcore sensibility, under the influence of artists like Alex G, Codeine, Cocteau Twins, Duster and Galaxie 500. In Yer Pocket is a sincere, heartfelt portrayal of intimacy, the band again showing their talent for slow and purposeful builds with stunning payoffs. Singer-guitarist Dev McGarry comments: “We wrote the track with the intention of keeping it pretty light and airy and didn’t really want to over complicate anything when it came to the recording. If there is a Bedrooms ‘sound,’ In Yer Pocket is probably the closest thing we have to it.”
53 | Children Of Zeus | No Love Song
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Mancunion duo Children of Zeus release No Love Song, the lead single from their sophomore album Balance, due out June 4. For No Love Song, Children of Zeus turned once again to Grammy-winning producer Beat Butcha. The Children of Zeus sound is now fully grown. It’s time to bring balance into the universe. This is unashamedly big people music to be played out of big speakers. The definitive sound of U.K. street soul in 2021. The story continues.”
54 | Richie Quake | Never See You
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Brooklyn retro-pop hitmaker Richie Quake returns with Never See You. Produced by Richie himself, the track is laid-back pop with a psychedelica tint. Dreamy guitars and grooving drums are the backdrop to echoing synths and arpeggiating rises. The vocals float in beautiful falsetto, repeating the catchy hook of relationships gone awry. It builds with electric piano and bass additions, swirling forward in a reverb-soaked crescendo.”
55 | Jamie Wooding | Same Old Reasons
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Rising pop singer-songwriter Jamie Wooding drops the incredibly powerful and catchy Same Old Reasons. Written by Wooding and produced by Sugar House, the track begins with layered echoed guitars and expansive synths. Led by the strong vocals, the chorus builds with thumping bass and live drums, completed by a high electronic arpeggio that acts in partnership with the catchy hook. “For me in relationships, when they don’t work out regardless of who ends it, the reasons are always the same,” explains Jamie. “It’s about realising that you’re not right for everyone and that’s OK … It gives you the motivation to pick yourself up and move forward and onto better days.”
56 | No Lore | With Little Light
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Music from paintings — with poetry. No Lore are unlike any other indie alt-pop duo. It all started when Manila visual artist Tita Halaman decided to make music out of her paintings and poetry with her brother Jerald. As an artist, she wants to elevate her audience’s experience by expounding the message of her paintings through the art of words and sound. No Lore’s goal is to release a new song with a painting every month, and to publish a book out of it. The band name comes from the concept of having no formal studies in visual art, music, and poetry. Both Tita and Jerald are self-taught and everything is DIY, from ideation to audio and video production.”
57 | The Oogars | Waiting All Day
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Northern Rivers’ all-female psych rock quartet The Oogars are back with another release — the title track from their forthcoming EP (out June 4th). The track encompasses all that we’ve come to adore about the group, yet freshened with a new story told by a different vocalist. Once again the band display their impressive lyricism and skill for juxtaposing upbeat instrumentation with powerful meaning — “it’s about reaching that point where you feel like you have nothing more to give and you are calling on something greater. It’s the darkness before things eventually begin to lighten, the stagnancy before the flow.”
