Audiobooks take their doll for a stroll, Lucy & La Mer are all ooh la la today, Justin Courtney Pierre is winging it, Hank May tunes into NBC — but don’t you touch that dial; your Monday Roundup is just getting started. Was it just me, or was that the best Eurovision final in years?
1 | Audiobooks | The Doll
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “David Wrench and Evangeline Ling — aka Audiobooks — announced their sophomore album Astro Tough is due for release on Oct 1. Today they share opening track and first single The Doll, accompanied by a clip directed by Paul Kelly. Based on a childhood memory infused with ambiguity and open to interpretation, The Doll is a bereavement curve set to music and deals with the stages of grief from loss and denial to acceptance. “I had the idea for The Doll video while out for a walk,” Wrench explains. “I was watching a child walk confidently, checking their surroundings, taking it all in. I started to recall how the world used to look as a child. I was lucky to grow up in the countryside and to be able to walk alone in nature … It struck me that a video based on a child exploring these empty spaces and finding something that had been lost would make a really fitting film for our track The Doll.”
2 | Lucy & La Mer | Ooh La La
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Lucy & La Mer’s new single Ooh La La embodies the artist’s message of self-empowerment and self-acceptance. Lucy LaForge, the artist behind the name Lucy & La Mer, is known for the positivity in her songs, as well as her mental health advocacy within the LGBTQ community. Her music is a blend of pop empowerment with lyrical stylings mirroring her storytelling folk music upbringing. Ooh La La is her second single of 2021, following her playful love story track Rollercoaster.”
3 | Justin Courtney Pierre | Firehawk
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Justin Courtney Pierre’s upcoming EP The Price of Salt, produced by Thomas Rehbein, will be released on July 9. Today, you can listen to the first track from the EP — Firehawk, which channels classic ‘90s influences like Fugazi, Jawbox, The Jesus & Mary Chain and The Flaming Lips. The Price of Salt follows the EP An Anthropologist on Mars, which was released in March.”
4 | Hank May | NBC
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “NBC is the new single from emerging L.A. artist Hank May. “NBC is an elegy for the music of my childhood, specifically ‘90s alternative rock,” says May. “I was inspired by YouTube comment sections and my own turbulent marriage to the guitar.” The track is from his forthcoming LP One More Taste of the Good Stuff, out Oct. 15. It features contributions from long-time collaborators and friends including bassist Patrick Taylor, drummer Mark Gardener and keyboardist Max Foreman.”
5 | Wendy Gonzales | Greater Expectations (with Rose Elinor Dougall)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Wesley Gonzalez and Rose Elinor Dougall share their new collaboration Greater Expectations. Throughout the course of Gonzalez’s beloved 2020 album Appalling Human, he cast his songwriting net over issues of the self, social anxiety and psychotherapy, largely looking inward. As the first music begins to emerge ahead of an as-yet-untitled new album, with Greater Expectations, he and Dougall work together in building on the introductions he began making to various morally dubious characters, charting tales from the city that sneer at the insincere and mock the hypocritical. He comments: “Greater Expectations was co-written with the brilliant Rose Elinor Dougall in the summer of 2019, I believe it came from discussing the hypocrisy of flawed people on Instagram being public-facing self-help charlatans. We wanted to write something that expresses something positive whilst also managing to be somewhat sneering towards social media’s vacuous status-seeking which can feel like looking into the window of a yuppy showroom.”
6 | Jonny Kosmo | Last Call
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Jonny Kosmo is sharing his new single Last Call, from his upcoming album Pastry, due out June 4. Jonny says: “This tune was composed mostly of samples from other songs I had recorded, which was a new process I was trying on with this record. I like the idea of themes and pieces folding in on themselves. In this process I have found there to be lots of happy accidents. Ideas I wouldn’t have thought of appear with the slip of my finger. It is very fun that way! The trumpet parts and parlor piano were all chopped using a sampler and then blasted into the groove.”
7 | Brad Carl | Unsupervised
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In 1989, Brad Carl purchased an analog four-track recorder with high school graduation money. In the mid-’90s, he began recording and writing songs with the studio band Orphus. Their 15-plus-year music catalog consists of more than 75 songs that are impossible to group under one style or genre. In 2020, Carl began a digital-age solo career and released the album The Orphus Years: 1996-2010. Unsupervised is the first single from his forthcoming album later this year. While listening/watching this song/video, one might assume it was written in response to Covid. But it was actually written in 2018 and 2019. “I’ve never been a political person. I don’t claim a party or president. But I have been accused of choosing sides and I guess I can understand why: It’s because I want to be left alone. I don’t need to be told what to do or how to live my life. Or how to spend my money or how to raise my kid. That’s not me being political. It’s called being an individual.”
8 | The Hollywood Stars | Make It To The Party
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Hot on the heels of their recent singles King Of The Night Time World (Live) and Escape (Live), L.A. rock icons The Hollywood Stars are back with Make It To The Party. What began as a song about a rocker wanting his girlfriend to meet him at a party against the wishes of her disapproving mother has evolved into an anthem of the world opening up again after the hardship of 2020. The Hollywood Stars want to see the world “make it to the party” once again! Lead guitarist Ruben De Fuentes‘ message is simple: “I have finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel and it’s the ending of this pandemic! It is time to reopen our beautiful planet and have fun.’’
9 | Crossing Eternity | The Demons From My Shadow
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Crossing Eternity have released a new single and video called The Demons From My Shadow. The new single is part of the new album of the same name, to be released at the end of summer.”
10 | 10,000 Years | Gargantuan Forest
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Less than a year after their self-titled debut EP, 10,000 Years are back with their first full length effort, aptly titled II. Picking up right where the EP left off, II continues the story of the ill-fated Albatross mission and its exploration of time and space through a skullcrushing mixture of stoner-rock, doom & sludge metal. In this Absurd (1981) video 10,000 Years enter a Forest Of Fear (1980) as they access The Beyond (1981) and enter a Bloodbath (1971) with The Boogey Man (1980), otherwise known as the Espbeast. The Espbeast stalks and haunts the bodies and minds of the characters in this C-grade homage to the horror movies of yesteryear. The characters Fight For Your Life (1976) through insane Nightmares In a Damaged Brain (1981). If they survive the Axe (1977) they may still end up in an Inferno (1980) and risk being Eaten Alive (1976). All the same risks face the viewer, so don’t watch with the lights out, don’t watch by yourself and Don’t Go In The Woods Alone (1981). Because after all, isn’t there an Espbeast in all of us?”
https://youtu.be/NgmS44TsEts
11 | Honey | Forever Fire
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “On Friday, Honey will release their album Forever Fire. To get you amped up for this powerhouse of an album, the band released a video for the title track. The Philadelphia thrash-metal group fronted by Jay Laughlin play it fast and heavy in the vein of early Sepultura and the beloved Powertrip. The video for Forever Fire is made up of behind-the-scenes footage from the recording sessions for the album.”
12 | Prayers Of Sanity | Hide Your Hate
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Portuguese thrash-metal trio Prayers of Sanity have just revealed a video for Hide Your Hate, off the band’s fourth album Doctrine of Misanthropy, set for release on June 16. With more than 10 years of experience, Prayers of Sanity are best known for their fast and old-school thrash-metal attack, proving that ’80s thrash metal is alive and kicking.”
13 | Mad Symphony | The Next Door
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Mad Symphony have released their debut self-titled album, along with the video for the track The Next Door. David Groves said: “The Next Door is a song about trying to make the right choices in life for ourselves and how those choices don’t always work out the way that we had hoped for or planned. Game shows such as The Price is Right and Let’s Make A Deal were the perfect backdrops to dramatize this lyrical theme in a compelling and often comical way. The Next Door is a song that perfectly encapsulates all the elements that make up Mad Symphony: Soaring harmonies and melodies are woven through interesting and ever-changing rhythms. Chunky guitar riffs blend with the bass and keyboards in a cacophony of instrumentation. Mostly though, we just wanted to see our lead guitarist get decapitated by an angry rabbit.”
14 | Shade Of Sorrow | Fabricated Hope
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Finnish melodic death solo project Shade Of Sorrow see daylight with their second video! Fabricated Hope combines the rawness of the Nordic nature into the beauty of the melancholy that is in the DNA of the Finnish people. The video underlines the warrior and DIY mentality of the creator Mika Juhani Kankainen: Physical and mental strength powered by determination and talent.”
