1976 makes a day of it, Lxvuri greets a new dawn, Thomas Cole shares his vision, Jennifer Elster tries to convince you, Caroline take a flying leap — and that will bring your Wednesday Roundup in for a landing. Buh-bye:
34 | 1976 | 3
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “This Friday sees the release of the instrumental solo debut album of Danish musician and composer Jacob Krogholt, under the name of 1976. Today, the artist offers the track 3 through a time-lapse video created by photographer Martin Goltermann, while the track itself features the wordless vocals of singers Carsten Bentzen, Lill Rastad Bjørst and Morten Grønnegaard. 1976 is named for the year its creator Krogholt was born. Since then, his musical output has been varied, touching upon indie-rock, punk blues, progressive heavy metal, and death metal in bands such Rising, Anti Ritual, Bjørst, The Corporation, Summons and Cyanotic. Common for these musical manifestations, yet differing in genre, has always been Krogholt’s focus on songwriting, melody, intricate arrangements and musicianship with the guitar and its potential as an essential component.”
35 | Lvxuri | Aurora Dawn
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Lvxuri is the new project of Sera Timms of Black Mare, Ides Of Gemini and Black Math Horseman — and it sounds a bit different than what you might expect. Up until now, Timms’ work has been dark, heavy, existential and atmospheric. Lvxuri is fronted by a glamorous, buxom, cigar smoking chanteuse called Aurora Dawn. Today Lvxuri shares the official video for Aurora Dawn. She says: “The song Aurora Dawn is basically Aurora Dawn’s ‘coming out’ party. It’s the announcement of the Dawn of a new era, in which polarities are eclipsed by the union of opposites. She is also he, victim is also voyeur, the prostitute is also the patriarch. She has arrived on Earth to marry Heaven and Hell … or perhaps Heaven and Vegas. Why not let the angels pole dance? Isn’t this what we humans actually want … to feel both sacred and sensual?”
36 | Thomas Cole | Execute The Vision
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “New York electronic pop musician Thomas Cole captivates with his anthemic release Execute The Vision. To get the endorphins surging instantly, Cole and his producer Electropoint unleash one of the most stand-out gems this year. Fusing modern hooks with nostalgic feel- good, they hit the ball out of the park! Furthermore, the beat is compelling, and the positive flow is challenging to refuse. Finding influence in Lady Gaga and The Weeknd, Thomas takes a hint, but he stands out securely with unique flair, and his vocals smash down the industry gates with harmonically rich tones and fearless wordplay. Speaking about the release, Thomas said: “Execute the Vision is a dedication to the idea of turning all the many visions, ideas, and dreams we have for ourselves into reality. Not just dreaming ‘someday’ but taking action.”
37 | Jennifer Elster | C’mon Now Baby
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Sophisticated, raw and experimental artist Jennifer Elster is a singular and original voice from the underground N.Y.C. art scene who has worked with the likes of David Bowie and Yoko Ono. Today Elster released her first single and video, C’mon Now Baby. Elster wrote, performed and recorded the track, along with directing the video. The first in a series of singles from her upcoming collection of love and experimental songs. “C’mon Now Baby came to me clearly as a path forward through the troubled terrain,” states Jennifer. “An unflinching acknowledgement of what is in front of us — a warning, combined with an invitation of sorts. It kind of says everything.”
38 | Caroline | Skydiving Onto The Library Roof
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “London band Caroline are sharing the track and self-directed video Skydiving Onto The Library Roof. Caroline began in early 2017, evolving out of weekly improvisation sessions. Band members brought together their shared influences, including Midwestern emo, Appalachian folk, minimalist classical and various forms of electronic music, slowly expanding their on-stage membership as the songs developed. Skydiving Onto The Library Roof represents a new development in Caroline’s songwriting process. “We’ve always been interested in patterns and repetition and that definitely features in a big way, although rather than there being a minimalistic, mechanical precision to the repetition, each one is unique,” they explain. “The essence of the song — the broken loop — came early in the process and everything else seemed to naturally evolve out of it, as if the other parts were already contained within the broken loop and just needed to be unpacked.”
39 | Johnny Lloyd & Nathan Coen | Without You In My Life
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Rare Beasts, out on May 21, is a new film written, directed by and starring Billie Piper. Long-time writing partners Johnny Lloyd and Nathan Coen have composed the soundtrack. Lloyd says: “Rare Beasts, we started about three years ago now, Billie sent us the script and we came up with several different concepts at first. It was very much driven by romance and there’s a splash of French Riviera in there … I wanted it to be diverse, it’s a very unusual record as a whole. As a collection of songs I definitely think it’s the best thing that me and Nathan have done.”
40 | Quivers | Chinese Medicine
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Australian band Quivers release Chinese Medicine, the third single from their upcoming album Golden Doubt. Chinese Medicine combines a narrative and a musing on escapism, over layered jangly guitars, subtle synth, and chanted harmonies in the song’s finale. The lyrics meditate on loneliness: how it can be encompassing yet fleeting. Singer Sam Nicholson: “This song has a narrative but it is really about the feeling you get when you are running away from things and find other people doing the same. You go chasing something overseas, in my case a distraction from thinking about my brother we lost in a free-diving accident. You’ll never find what you look for but you will find something. The song is held together by the threads of a story, fast and bittersweet 6 and 12-string guitars, a synth that sounds like a video game, and then before you know it the bottom falls out. You are left in an open clearing, with just a piano and friends singing ‘La la la la la la loneliness, don’t go getting used to it.’ ”
41 | John R. Miller | Shenandoah Shakedown
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Emerging singer-songwriter and guitarist John R. Miller announced his debut solo album Depreciated will be released July 16. Miller also debuted the track Shenandoah Shakedown, a four-minute epic with psychedelic-influenced vignettes. Miller stated, “At some point or another we all confuse attachment for love, and probably stay in a relationship long past its expiration date. In this song the narrator dwells, in hallucinatory fragments, on one such relationship after its end, framed by the imposing-yet-comforting presence of the Shenandoah River.”
42 | Bill and the Belles | Sobbin’ the Blues
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Happy Again isn’t exactly happy. But the delightfully deadpan new album from roots mainstays Bill and the Belles is full of life, humor, and tongue-in-cheek explorations of love and loss. Out May 21, Happy Again marks a new chapter for the group by featuring 11 songs penned by founding member Kris Truelsen. There’s no dancing around it: this album is about his divorce. But the group has a knack for saying sad things with a bit of an ironic smirk, pairing painful topics with a sense of release and relief. “One of the darkest times of my life turned out to be one of the most creative,” says Truelsen. “I realized, ‘My life is chaos. I need to write about this shit.’ ”
43 | Great Lake Swimmers | I Became Awake (Live at the Redeemer, 4/14/2007)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Last Friday, Great Lake Swimmers released their new LP Live At The Redeemer 2007. It was recorded right at the end of the band’s Canadian spring tour of 2007, just days before the group continued on to embark on a full European tour to support the newly released album Ongiara. Today, the band share a lyric video for the live performance of I Became Awake, the last song on Ongiara and the last song performed at the Church of the Redeemer. “It has a dreamy, ethereal quality that was intensified by Bob Egan’s passionate pedal steel playing,” says songwriter Tony Dekker. “It also features backing vocals by Basia Bulat and violin by Owen Pallett, and the seven-piece group on this song really transcends the sum of its parts. The acoustics of the church were also a major part of the sound on this track.”
44 | Carolina East | Monster
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “ Newfoundland and Labrador-bred songstress Carolina East proudly wears an eclectic tapestry of musical influences, from soul to country to pop. Drenched in emotion and fuelled by Carolina’s powerful vocals, her debut album Soaked in Whisky is due out this summer. Her latest single Monster is an emotional ballad about the trials and challenges of being in the wrong relationship and knowing when to get out.”
45 | Brodka | Hey Man
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Polish alt-pop superstar Brodka has shared Hey Man, a track from her forthcoming album Brut. The serrated, heavily processed guitar sounds of Hey Man slice through Brodka’s Karen O-like drawl and howl as she dominates her lover. The accompanying video is an erotic spy story set in the city of Brut. Brodka plays her alterego Lola, who sets on the trail of an influential man. The video is a tribute to the classics of spy cinema and the aesthetics of the ’90s; rapid action, sex and intrigue. Brodka says, “Hey Man is about role reversal. It is the woman who dominates, conquers and seduces as opposed to a strong but submissive man. The whole thing is full of erotic associations and rock ’n’ roll fun”.
46 | Ina Wroldsen | Fires
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Award-winning artist and songwriter Ina Wroldsen is a straight-talking, uncensored, funny, honest and fiercely independent role model. On her new single Fires, she tackles motherhood in that same emotionally unfiltered manner and relates her feelings of it as a double-edged sword. “A child is this amazing gift, but they’re only on loan,” she sighs. “We spend their childhood in preparation… preparing them for life, and preparing ourselves for the day they will leave us.” Taken from her upcoming EP Matters of the Mind (release date: May 28), Fires pulls at the heartstrings without being melodramatic or overwhelmingly sappy. Written during a songwriting session in Los Angeles, she pondered on that day when her son will grow up and leave her. She explains, “I make sure I have enough firewood so he can see my flame wherever in the world he finds himself. I need for him to know that there is warmth, acceptance and safety at home with the people who love him the best.”
47 | Beginners | Can’t Get Enough
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Beginners share the single Can’t Get Enough, along with a video directed by Nicol Biesek and Dri Sommer. The new song from Sam Barbera, the creative force behind Beginners (and also member of the band L.A. Exes), is the latest testament to her incredible acumen for high-energy genre-bending pop. “The main character is being carried around by all these dancers who are flipping her around beautifully,” explains Barbera, “and that perfectly expresses that feeling of obsession and addiction.” But she wanted to avoid imagery that might lean towards the darker side of such a theme. “Can’t Get Enough is not a negative interpretation of being addicted to something/someone, but rather the phase when you’re high on it and craving more and it’s all consuming. In a sexy, exciting way that leaves you out of control.”
48 | Mia Baron | Hide And Seek
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Focused and fearless, 13-year-old Mia Baron is a force to be reckoned with. The young songwriter has already won several singing competitions in her short life. Mia’s debut single Hide and Seek is a moody pop track telling the story of feeling unseen and invisible. The playful title of the track is juxtaposed with dark lyrics and sparse production.”
49 | The Age Of Truth | Salome
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Casting kinships from the heaviest rock and metal around, self-proclaimed brothers-in-arms The Age of Truth return this summer with their studio album Resolute. Upon the release of their 2017 debut Threshold, the band were not only defined by their adventurous ideas, but also their conviction and togetherness as a hard rocking unit. “Together we’ve constantly tried to evolve our song writing, instrumentation and the sound we wanted to capture,” explains bassist William Miller. “This album has been a real journey for us and almost three years in the making. We’ve held ourselves to exacting standards every step of the way.”
50 | Gaspard Augé | Hey!
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Gaspard Augé, best known as one half of Justice, the duo that united rock and rave in the mid-2000s, has announced an impending debut solo album Escapades, alongside the release of his new single Hey! Escapades, set for a June 25 release, seals his reputation as a master of maximalism, an electronic auteur whose imaginary soundtracks are a refreshing jolt out of reality. There are some elements that are spiritually in tune with Justice — the crunch on whirr of the synths, the cinematic enormity of it all — but Escapades sounds like a UFO landing from another galaxy; a baroque masterpiece that reimagines European classical music for the 21st century.”
