Losers aren’t snoozers, Darla Jade shares her problems, Trezr plays it straight, Jerry Folk and Fengsel are making progress, Thee More Shallows are ready to boogie — and since this is my last post for the day, so am I. See you on the flip side.
103 | Losers | Wake Up
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Genre-defying Berlin band Losers have unveiled their exhilarating single Wake Up, from the band’s upcoming EP01, out on June 28. Multi-instrumentalist Tom Bellamy says Wake Up is about the realization that to make positive changes and feel true joy, you have to experience pain and hardship and break through the fear of the unknown. “Wake Up was one of the first tracks we wrote when we landed in Berlin in 2014. We travelled as light as possible but we brought with us a lot of emotional baggage. As time passed, lyrically and emotionally the song didn’t make sense to the band anymore, so it was time for a reset. After the dust had settled, we revisited ‘Wake Up’ and it literally became the wakeup call. It was a crazy journey, but it was incredibly rewarding.”
104 | Darla Jade | Problems
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Darla Jade is fast becoming a name on everyone’s lips. Her single Problems, from her forthcoming debut EP, showcases Darla’s unique songwriting and vocal abilities. Jade says: “Problems is a track that is a really personal one for me and I think this is why it was a quick one to write. Simon Pereria & I wrote it in October time in 2020 and we just wrote the whole thing on a splice loop. I then pulled in Rhys Fletcher to do the production, as I just really love everything he produces!”
105 | Trezr | Sober
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Making their return with another exquisitely addictive single that expertly combines their immaculate sound, beautiful melodies and stunning vocals, Dallas pop collective Trezr are set to take over playlists worldwide with Sober. Lead vocalist Trey explains: “The writing process for Sober was fairly easy. At the time I was in a long-term relationship that slowly started to devolve into distance and dissonance. We both had our share of fights and problems, but we were still in love, until one day when it was just one of us hanging onto the relationship and the other thought it might just be the time to end it. This song is about that turning point where you start asking, ‘What went wrong? What drove us to this metaphorical cliff in our relationship, and is there anything that could be done to fix things and go back to how we were?’ ”
106 | Jerry Folk x Fengsel | On My Way (ft. Bearson)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Jerry Folk has just released his latest single On My Way (ft. Bearson) with his side project Fengsel. After releasing numerous EPs, the artist has decided to release his first full-length and take his sound in a new direction. Jerry Folk is well-known for his remixes of Billie Eilish and Charlie Puth, among others; however, he’s also produced for multiple artists, toured the U.S. several times, opened for Odesza and played Coachella. He tells us about the single: “Bearson and I sat in the studio one day and tried to make something ‘medieval-sounding.’ I put together a quick beat and Jakob (Bearson) freestyled some vocals over the track. We ended up making the whole song in an hour or so.”
107 | Thee More Shallows | Boogie Woogie
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Three-piece experimental indie-rock band Thee More Shallows released three albums and a few EPs back in the early ’00s before disbanding. Now, frontman Dee Kesler is working under the Thee More Shallows moniker with some previous bandmembers and new musicians. New album Dad Jams is the first Thee More Shallows offering in 14 years. It comes out May 28. With the fourth and final advance single, Thee More Shallows have saved their best for last. Boogie Woogie is a shapeshifting electro nerd-pop banger that builds around a restrained synth groove that surprises and delights a la Foster The People and The Temper Trap. Dee said, “This might be my favourite track on Dad Jams. It toes the line between the cynicism and fatigue you experience in the middle of your life, and the hard-won, solid lessons you learn: the ones that prop you up and stand in for wisdom.”
108 | Jizzy Pearl’s Love/Hate | Soul Mama
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Jizzy Pearl’s Love/Hate present the first single off their new release. Soul Mama is a rockin’-sockin’, hard-hitting rock anthem in the tradition of AC/DC and Led Zeppelin. It comes from Pearl’s upcoming sixth solo record, Hell, CA, due for release in 2022. He is known for his work in Love/Hate, L.A. Guns and Ratt. The spirit of the Sunset Strip is still well and truly alive and rockin’ and so is Jizzy Pearl’s Love/Hate.”
109 | Callie Reiff | What Ifs (ft. Louella)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “New York artist, producer and model Callie Reiff is revealing her new single What Ifs (ft. Louella). The 21-year-old multi-hyphenate is transcending the limits of the dance music scene, pushing herself as a songwriter and musician while still staying true to her DJ/producer roots. What Ifs takes listeners on a spontaneous journey by contrasting playful bass-heavy production with Australian singer-songwriter Louella’s emotive vocals. “The song is an emotional journey through the ups and downs with someone or even just with yourself,” Callie writes. “The past year has been tough for everyone and we have all been ‘surviving on the what ifs’ and grappling with not knowing how things will pan out.”
110 | C Trip A | Jermajesty
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Jermajesty is the latest single from Philadelphia’s C Trip A. Jermajesty is a postively uplifting blissed out trap single drenched with the drip. It is basically about what’s going on in the world today. People glorify all the wrong things in this world. There’s a lot of positive things you can glorify, instead of you walking around like you tough and hard, posing to be something you ain’t.”
111 | James Barker Band | Over All Over Again
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “James Barker Band release the new single Over All Over Again. “In the end, Over All Over Again just felt like the right song at the right time,” Barker says. “There’s a kind of blueness to it from the darkness of the chords and melody, but the tempo keeps it clear of any gloomy territory. I love the lyrics because there’s a little bit of that ‘I know this is going to hurt like hell tomorrow, but it’s going to be good tonight’ thing, done in a clever way that makes it a quintessential, heartbreaking country song.”
112 | Acoustic Syndicate | Bertha
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “With their latest single, Acoustic Syndicate deliver Bertha, a down-home rendering of a 50-year-old Grateful Dead classic that ties together yesterday and today in a modest yet self-assured way. “Berth’ is one of the quintessential feel-good, toe-tapping Grateful Dead songs that tells somewhat of a hard-edged story while helping us dance and boogie our blues away,” says Bryon McMurry, Acoustic Syndicate’s banjo player. “The song still can bring a tear to my eye to this day, depending on the mood I’m in, and Fitz’s vocal is — in my opinion — tailor-made for the song. I saw my first Dead show in 1983 and continued as much as I could until Jerry’s death. I still feel the same emotion to Bertha whether hearing the Dead perform it or when we are on stage performing it ourselves.”
113+114 | Amanda Platt & The Honeycutters | Burn + Another Winter Gone
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Back with the next instalment of their project The Devil/The Deep Blue Sea — a monthly series of paired singles — Amanda Anne Platt and The Honeycutters offer Burn and Another Winter Gone. Burn “kind of wrote itself,” notes Platt. “I had some ideas in my head after a late night drive through downtown Asheville — not necessarily about a sex worker, just the way it felt to be out after the buses stopped running and most of the tourists were asleep or passed out. Somehow it turned itself into a song about a person, or a relationship, or a house, that is disintegrating slowly and needs to either be repaired or burned to the ground … Another Winter Gone’ is a newer song. It was written in response to one of the first songs I ever wrote, Marie. The latter is a song about a woman who can’t settle down; I wrote it when I was — 21? 22? — and I felt a strong connection to that character (though I wrote it from the perspective of a partner she was leaving behind). In Spring of 2020 I found myself sitting on the front porch of the house I had recently bought with my husband, our six month old daughter sleeping inside, and I felt moved to revisit Marie.”
115+116 | Monolink | Harlem River + Falling
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “With the worldwide release of his second studio album Under Darkening Skies just weeks away, German singer-songwriter, electronic music producer and multi-instrumentalist Steffen Linck (aka Monolink) unveils two more tracks from the impending long player: Harlem River and Falling. Igniting the double-sided cut with the spellbinding Harlem River, Monolink shares his cover of Kevin Morby’s iconic 2013 single, delivering a sophisticated blend of warped synth leads and trippy vocal refrains, all brought together underneath a veil of chugging four-four rhythms and slick, organic instrumentation. “I was out in nature one day, listening to it on my headphones and realized that it would translate perfectly into the soundscapes I like to work with. That’s how the idea was born.”
117 | Violette | Stop
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Fans can have a glimpse of what’s to come for Violette with her new synth-pop track Stop, the first single off her forthcoming debut EP, In her beauty lies my death and my life, which is set for release on August 13. Violette says: “It started as an experiment, just making different sounds with my rings tapping a wine glass and random guitar noises. It was through this song that we figured out what the EP was going to be about, both sonically, lyrically, and narratively. “I wanted to be able to put my diary out there without being so explicit and really tell different stories and put you in different places and different moods without having it explicitly say ‘This is the situation,’ but to kinda paint more of a picture and put you in a world.”
118+119 | Oliver Koletzki | Copal + Cryptozoology
THE EDITED PRESS RELEAESE: “Oliver Koletzki debuts his upcoming album Made Of Wood, with two intricate singles, Copal and Cryptozoology. Each carries the hallmarks of his idiosyncratic style, blending together precise and balanced electronic production with organic elements for a hybrid sound. Copal opens the pack with an emphasis on its string and vocal sections, which layer atop one another for a mysterious feel. Cryptozoology with Walter Scalzone leans into the shadows, anchoring itself on its ground-shaking bassline and hypnotic hand-drum rhythms.”
