The Fat Angel Sings

“Wish On The Bone’ is Why Bonnie’s sophomore LP and debut for Fire Talk. It’s untethered from any landscape or genre, propelled by this freedom and resulting in Why Bonnie’s most catchy, hopeful body of work to-date. Ranging from twangy country infused rock jams to more intimate and lo-fi arrangements, ‘Wish on the Bone’ is wide-eyed and waiting. It’s a coming of age film in which the protagonist rejects the forces that have tried, and failed, to shape her into something other than herself. It leaves you with a hard-fought sense of hope, which is among songwriter Blair Howerton’s greatest gifts.

The best Why Bonnie song yet, “Rhyme or Reason” has a tonal weight that rests on that of Blair Howerton’s long, complicated relationship with spirituality, something she explored on “90 “in November“, too (including the story of Genesis 19 on “Lot’s Wife”; “Looked like we had just won, but you’ll turn all to salt if you ever look back”).

“The disappearing warmth of love, like Halley’s Comet, I’ve only heard of it,” she sings. “I’ve never seen its streak, but I have heard it comes fast and you’ll miss it if you blink.” Those lines, like many in the Why Bonnie catalog, were inspired through Howerton’s grief of losing her brother Bristol (whom the band’s first EP was dedicated to in 2018) to drug addiction in 26. “I don’t want to harden through grief; I want to stay curious and stay hopeful,” Howerton said earlier this year. “All of these things that I love, I’m eventually going to lose one day. 

There’s no reason not to love them. It’s all the more reason to love them, because it’s a really powerful thing to love someone who’s gone and to piece the world back together yourself.” With that context, the “Just tell me when and I’ll be waitin’” refrain in “Rhyme or Reason” is about 10 pounds heavier.

From Why Bonnie’s sophomore album ‘Wish On The Bone’ out August 30th on Fire Talk.

Sunflower Bean are taking complete control for their new EP “Shake“—their first self-produced and self-recorded record ever. The title track reaches back into the New York trio’s DIY roots for a gutsy rocker that displays the maturity of a studio-adept band blended with the grit of their raw, unpolished past. “Happy couples make me sick,” vocalist/bassist Julia Cumming and guitarist/vocalist Nick Kivlen groan out over fuzzy riffage and pummeling percussion from Olive Faber. “Shake” is a glorious grunge nostalgia trip with an electric Sunflower Bean twist. 

releases September 27, 2024

Written by Nick Kivlen, Julia Cumming, and Olive Faber (Sunflower Bean)

This week, Spirit Of The Beehive dropped two new singles from their forthcoming album, “You’ll Have To Lose Something” “Something’s Ending” and “I’ve Been Evil.” The former is more of interlude than a full-bodied song, though the “they pulled another one out of the river, it looked like you” couplet will stick with you long after the track is over. “I’ve Been Evil.” however, is just as disarming, disorienting and tortured. “A splinter buried a hole, a cavity you can’t control,”

Zach Schwartz sings. 

“Someone is scratching at your skin, begging the house to buy you in.” Rivka Ravede’s backing harmony slowly corners Schwartz’s vocal, as a brutality shows its teeth in-between the beats of Spirit Of The Beehive rock ‘n’ roll. “I’ve Been Evil.” is like softness rupturing into a bruise.

The guitars are metallic, the percussion sounds like a hiccup. Listening to “I’ve Been Evil.” is like staring at an eclipse without glasses; there’s a straightforward romanticism coupled with violence. A co-worker brings a gun to work. You keep scratching your wound. There’s a mortgage being taken out on your mouth. You’re precious about things that weren’t yours to begin with. 

Zack Schwartz: Lead Vocals, Guitar, Drums, Keys, Samples Corey Wichlin: Lead Vocals, Guitar, Bass Guitar, Keys, Samples Rivka Ravede: Lead Vocals

The second single from Peel Dream Magazine’s forthcoming album “Rose Main Reading Room”, “Wish You Well” is just as intoxicating as “Lie in the Gutter” was earlier this summer. It’s as soothing as a balm, but its lyrics gnaw at something far more mournful—climbing social ladders and the “eat or be eaten” mentality thrown onto us by capitalism. “Netherworld destroyer, leave it at the foyer,” Olivia Bubaka Black sings. “I was sent to bore you, obviously. Get yourself a piece, a brand new kill to feast.” Multi-instrumentalist Ian Gibbs fill the Peel Dream Magazine sound palette with gauzy, cosmic electronica that meanders like a krautrock opera, while Joe Stevens and Black repeart “I wish, I wish, I wish you were well” over and over until it becomes a hypnosis trick. “Wish You Well” is lush and commanding, offering you a conscious lullaby that has two feet in the door of unrest always

,“Rose Main Reading Room“, is out September 4th via Topshelf Records!

Accompanying the announcement of her second studio album “Everybody Needs A Hero”, “The Hit” is a delicate yet intoxicating piece of indie rock. Orla Gartland finds herself so intertwined with her best friend that it feels supernatural: “It’s some kinda magic / Some voodoo doll shit / You get the cut and I feel the sting” she sings in communion with pulsating drums and a lush acoustic guitar. The confessional nature of Gartland’s songwriting feels extra conversational here, and, subsequently, uniquely authentic. “The Hit” is yet another indication that Gartland is presently at the top of her game.

Once again I am incredibly proud to be releasing this album via my own label, New Friends as an independent artist every risk you take is a trust fall back into your audience and man do I love you all for catching me every time

Released on: 2024-07-24

The fourth studio album by Soft Play (Aka Slaves) is a career-high that holds a sense of love and appreciation for the bond at the front and centre of the band.

The album is the band’s first back as a duo since releasing side projects, baby dave and larry pink the human. recorded over a year between the Tunbridge wells forum, Laurie’s garden studio, on tour, and finished at the libertine’s studio, the songs on ‘Heavy Jelly’ paint specific snapshots of the world around the band and amps up their sound and presence to something bolder and brighter than ever.

“For a good few years, it looked shaky as to whether U.K. duo Soft Play’s Isaac Holman and Laurie Vincent would ever be able to find their way forward to this moment. To say a lot has happened in the intervening years is an understatement: their friendship faltered, their creativity halted, they were rocked by grief and mental health issues, and when they did emerge, it was with side projects: Laurie’s Larry Pink The Human and Isaac’s Baby Dave. Step by step, however — via time, conversation, therapy and a positive new band identity — they got back on track. The result is “Heavy Jelly”, a product of the pair’s new sense of love and appreciation for their singular bond, which is both held front and centre and the defining inspiration behind what is clearly a new career high. Named after a Jiu-Jitsu instructor who told Laurie to act like ‘Heavy Jelly’ by means of explaining how much resistance to give in a demonstration, the turn of phrase also mirrors the duo’s worldview, “life is heavy, but it’s also funny.”

“Heavy Jelly” is out July 19th.

On the latest single from Hinds’ forthcoming album “Viva Hinds”, the Madrid based garage rock duo take unsparing yet surprisingly empathetic aim at a “local superstar” who’s lonely at the top. “Your mom and dad are paying all your bills / None of your friends will tell you how they really feel” Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote sing, reminding the star of their scene that they got what they wanted. The bright, syncopated chorus is deliciously bratty and snarky without sacrificing Hinds’ signature warmth and down-to-earth goofiness.

It’s a kiss-off to a clout-chaser who put their ego before their friendships and is now reaping all the rewards and the losses. Listening to a Hinds song often feels like a gossip session with your best friends that devolves into manic cry-laughing, and “Superstar” is yet another perfect encapsulation of their charm and effervescence.

Dummy is a rock band from Los Angeles comprised of Alex Ewell, Emma Maatman, Nathan O’Dell, and Joe Trainor. Their debut full-length “Mandatory Enjoyment” (Trouble in Mind) arrived in late 2021, becoming one of the year’s sleeper hits and garnering praise from Pitchfork, Stereogum, and more. Coming out of lockdown, the band spent two years touring in support of the record, and it is this transformational experience that pulses through “Free Energy”, the exhilarating follow-up to “Mandatory Enjoyment”.

The second entry from Los Angeles-based quartet Dummy’s new album “Free Energy” is a slippery, groove-infused propulsion through their avant-pop sound. “Nine Clean Nails” is driven by throbbing guitar riffs from Nathan O’Dell and Joe Trainor throughout, while Emma Maatman’s vocals effortlessly ride the crest of the melodic wave. “Unrelenting time / Left to my own devices / On a Saturday night / Expect another apathetic sigh,” Maatman sings, evoking the nihilism of the vaguely referenced, Trent Reznor-led group Nine Inch Nails with none of the ‘90s rockers’ industrial electronica.

Dummy only rely on influences from their own past, reviving their krautrock sound for this new single—deviating from the bubbly, fuzzed-out futurism of “Free Energy’s” lead single “Nullspace,” showcasing a confidence in the diversity emerging from their new sound.

From the new album “Free Energy” out September 6th, 2024 via Trouble In Mind Records

Jules Buckley brings together a selection of artists to join the BBC Symphony Orchestra for a unique celebration of Nick Drake, one of the great poets of the folk-rock movement who died half a century ago aged just 26.

There has never been an artist quite like Nick Drake, one of the great poets of the folk-rock movement. Fifty years on from his death at the age of just 26, the British singer-songwriter has found a new, cross-generational audience – many of them beguiled by his fragility and fatalism, his music’s mingling of the outwardly simple and the inwardly complex. For this tribute Prom, Jules Buckley brings together a selection of artists to join the BBC Symphony Orchestra for a unique celebration, with songs including ‘River Man’, ‘Cello Song’, ‘Time Has Told Me’ and ‘Northern Sky’.

This Proms concert was dedicated to the songs on the three albums that Nick Drake recorded in his short life.  It was a fitting tribute to the legacy of his music, 50 years on from his death and a recognition of his now widely recognised status as a major songwriter, something that eluded him during his lifetime.  It was also a brilliant example of how a series of songs originally recorded in small groups can be arranged for a large orchestral project.

Drake’s albums were well received critically, but were not successful commercially, and he died in relative obscurity. Since then he has become recognised by a huge multigenerational fan base, and many musicians now interpret his songs.   

Certain of his songs have been taken up by jazz musicians, notably Brad Mehldau who has recorded “River Man” and “Things Behind The Sun”.  Also, Nick Smart, head of jazz at the Royal Academy, has led a group featuring vocalist Christine Tobin performing arrangements of Drake’s songs.  The group played Birmingham, and, as I recall, the mood of the music was quite dark, especially on “Black Eyed Dog”, the song about depression.

By contrast, the arrangements for the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the interpretations by the guest artists often created a warmer joyful atmosphere, albeit with an underlying melancholy and with occasional moves into the darker songs from the “Pink Moon” album. Interestingly, “Black Eyed Dog” was not performed.  

The vocalists were Olivia Chaney, Marika Hackman, Scott Matthews, BC Camplight, The Unthanks plus Drake’s sister Gabrielle Drake.  In the first set each performed two songs, producing distinctive interpretations of the various songs.  Olivia Chaney’s versions of “Hazey Jane 1” and “At The Chime of the City Clock”, Marika Hackman’s version of “River Man” and The Unthanks’ interpretation of a song by Drake’s mother Molly Drake, “What A Song Can Do For You” all stood out.  For this latter song, The Unthanks were joined by Gabrielle Drake who declaimed a poem by Molly Drake. 

In the second set The Unthanks returned with Gabrielle Drake, this time performing Molly Drake’s “Set Me Free” and another of Molly Drake’s poems.  In this set it was the two male singers that stood out, Scott Matthews performing “Northern Sky” and “From The Morning”, and BC Camplight performing “Place To Be” and “Saturday Sun”.

The BBC Symphony Orchestra was conducted by Jules Buckley, the orchestra’s Creative Artist in Association.  Jules arranged “River Man” other arrangements were by Sam Gale, Jochen Neuffer, Tom Trapp, Kate St. John, Adrian Mcnally/Peter Riley and Simon Dobson.

To be released on October 25th the revered alternative/indie band will release its 10th proper full-length album, “The Night The Zombies Came”. For the new album recording sessions, the band returned to work with producer Tom Dalgety, who drummer David Lovering refers to as “a fifth Pixie” after producing 2016’s “Head Carrier”, 2019’s “Beneath the Eyrie” and 2022’s “Doggerel”.

Early on in the recording process at Guilford Sound studio in Vermont, the band noticed the new songs were dividing into two camps: what they came to call the “Dust Bowl Songs” – country-tinged, balladesque numbers such as ‘Primrose’ and ‘Mercy Me,’ and on the other side, the album’s furious punk numbers such as ‘You’re So Impatient’ and ‘Oyster Beds.’ Only ‘Jane (The Night the Zombies Came)’ keeps its feet in both camps — reminiscent of early ‘60s Phil Spector, the band hitting the sweet spot between mushy and abrasive, it’s a track that Black Francis allegedly likened to being chased by a swarm of bees.

The band’s first record since 2022’s “Doggerel” and the first with new bassist Emma Richardson (Band of Skulls) in the mix.

Pixies are Guitars, Vocals: Charles Thompson Background Vocals, Guitars: Joey Santiago Drums, Percussion, Background Vocals: David Lovering Background Vocals, Bass Guitar: Emma Richardson