The Fat Angel Sings

Half Happy released their brand new single, “Say This Twice” this week and we are in love with one of their finest moments yet. With the awesome kick of drums and twanging distorted guitars opening the way for Rose’s spoken word it vividly sets the scene of a tale of a relationship that might be falling apart. This speaking/sung dynamic harks back to their previous single, ‘Runaway Girl’ yet depicts this exciting band quickly evolving their shimmery indie pop into new realms.

Rose starts by dishing out honest advice to a friend, which spins into an open-armed chorus. It’s a tale of love turned old. A different take on that relationship song that says all the things we all want our friend to hear. It’s a pre-break-up song.

Blondshell is the mononymous debut LP from Sabrina Teitelbaum as Blondshell and it is – much like everything this week – another magnificent set of songs and deliveries. There is a lot of restraint on the songs, which makes it all the more impactful when she really lets go and screams it out. This record really deserves to be heard far and wide.

Months ago, I thought it was obvious that Sabrina Teitelbaum—better known by her stage name, Blondshell—was going to be a big deal by April. However, I might have undersold Blondshell’s starpower potential at the time, as she just performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon before her self-titled, debut album is even officially out. Her rise to indie stardom has been impressive, and joyous, to watch from afar. Not only is she a no-brainer Best of What’s Next; she’s also a no-brainer future festival headliner, Saturday Night Live musical guest and critical darling. It’s hard to do anything but root for her in every sense of the word, as she exudes a mountain of cool and is malleable enough to fully embrace whatever contemporary indie’s current, or her own eclectic, evolving taste, warrants from her song writing.

‘Salad‘ is a standout, a rollicking tune that rattles with barreling drums, chugging guitars and pianos, and quivering and cathartic vocals that simmer with rage before exploding.  Echoing elements of Sharon Van Etten or The Replacements, but has an infectious sound all of its own and gives a sneak peek into her world. A vengeful fantasy about poisoning a sinister abuser that got off with a slap on the wrist. “Look what you did, you’ll make a killer of a Jewish girl,” she sings confessionally. It’s an earth-shaking, empowering anthem that turns trauma into triumph.

In the past few years, Sabrina Teitelbaum AKA Blondshell has transformed into a songwriter without fear. The hook-filled songs on her self-titled debut are clear-eyed statements of and about digging your way towards confidence, self-possession, and relief. All of this is powered by brilliant, crystalline melodies, and gigantic choruses that are wrapped with shredding guitars.

To accompany her self-titled debut record, Sabrina Teitelbaum, aka Blondshell, has already released the single “Joiner,” a tender, soaring paean of glittering acoustic wonder. “Joiner” is hypnotic, with hooks that stick with you for the long haul. What makes Teitelbaum’s work so compelling is how she is able to inject such poignant, specific imagery atop arrangements fluttering with such a recognizable alchemy and groove. “You’ve been running around L.A. with trash / Sleeping in bars with a gun in your bag / Asking, ‘Can I be someone else?’” she sings with the grandeur of a seasoned veteran who’s mastered a perfect verse. It’s clear that Teitelbaum is fixing to be a powerhouse in indie rock, and, if “Joiner” is any indication, the trajectory of Blondshell knows no ceiling.

The hype behind Blondshell is real. At SXSW last month, she stole the show—so much so that she took home the festival’s Grulke Prize for Developing U.S. Act. With over 1,500 acts in town, all vying for stage time, label notice and new fans, taking home that award has only become a bigger accolade in recent years. It’s no surprise that Blondshell won it, though.

Blondshell was born in New York City and raised across Midtown Manhattan by a single father. Early on, he introduced her to the wisdom of Bob Dylan and his influence helped her develop a childhood obsession with the Rolling Stones. She started writing breakup songs as a kid and, even back then, she thought she had the chops to make it as a real musician. But of course, with childhood dreams came rose-tinted glasses and, by the time Blondshell was old enough to drive, doubt crept in about whether or not she could get her music noticed based on her talent alone. “When I was a kid, I was like, ‘If you’re able to sing, that’s it,’” she tells me over the phone. “I didn’t know enough. Then, when I got older, I was like, ‘Oh, it requires really hard work, a ton of luck and lots of things that are really out of your control.’ It set in that it was definitely not a given and was actually unlikely that I would get to do it as a job.”

Chroma are one of Wales’s best-kept secrets, this fearsome Welsh three-piece have been producing righteous bilingual noise pop for the last few years, powered by visceral riffing, pummeling drums, and Katie Hall’s powerhouse vocal performances. They signed to Alcopop! Records for their debut album “Ask for Angela” this year, and shared the single ‘Don’t Mind Me’ .

Laced with chunky fuzzy bar chords, and twitchy drums, it serves as a platform for Katie’s incendiary vocals that chart her struggles with mental health, magnifying her personal experiences and raging at the unfairness of the mental health system, it’s a universal struggle and offers an “I’ve been there too” lifeline to many who have suffered with their mental health, especially since lockdown. “Oh my head is hazardous!” she exclaims repeatedly, over this most explosive chorus, ‘Don’t Mind Me’ hits hard in more ways than one! 

Australian alt-punk dust have released their fantastic new single ‘Joy (Guilt)’ via Brooklyn based Kanine Records, off their debut EP “et cetera etc”. Skeletal post-punk fired by an irresistible scorched and laconic spoken word delivery from dual-vocalist Gabriel Stove as, ‘Joy ( Guilt )’ gallops across the Australian outback, with echoes of Birthday Party and Fontaines DC, meditating on the themes of mortality, family and social commentary with a hypnotic look inward that reflects the catharsis of aimless driving. Unstoppable.

“The band channel raw, razor-sharp intensity through a broad range of filters – with textural, saxophone-assisted atmospheres and off-kilter rhythms bordering new wave at times. A thrilling first release.

Formed against the backdrop of the pandemic in 2020, the project of Awabakal land/ Newcastle-based dual guitarist-vocalists Gabriel Stove and Justin Teale, bassist Liam Smith, guitarist and saxophonist Adam Ridgway, and drummer Kye Cherry. 

‘Joy (Guilt)’ off the EP “et cetera, etc” out now Via Kanine Records

The eponymous debut EP by London-based dreampop duo deary on Sonic Cathedral. The six-track release is available on several vinyl variants, plus a CD with five additional bonus tracks and remixes.

A carousel of organs, oscillating ethereal vocals, and languid breakbeats, this is ‘Fairground‘ the first sublime and transportive offering from London duo deary released on Sonic Cathedral. A lullaby in technicolour they say it was “an attempt to replicate My Bloody Valentine’s ‘Soon’ but ended up somewhere in between Portishead, Felt Mountain-era Goldfrapp and early Saint Etienne.”

‘Fairground’ was produced by the band and deftly mastered by Slowdive’s Simon Scott. I can also hear the faint traces of the Cocteau Twins Treasure- era as singer Dottie’s sumptuous dream spins amidst the twinkling lights: at once soothing and disorientating, capturing the sensory overload and anxiety of London’s teeming cityscape, standing on the edge of being besotted, taking in the wonder of and wistfulness of it all. Glorious.

This London duo’s debut single hits you right in the early-’90s, laying down Cocteau Twins-style dreampop over a funky drummer beat and baroque touches. A wonderful introduction.

With a Mercury Prize nomination for their acclaimed 2020 album “Spook The Herd” under their belt, Lanterns On The Lake today share a beautifully shot live video of their single ‘Baddies’, filmed socially distanced at The Sage, Gateshead.

Tyneside’s Lanterns on the Lake release their much-anticipated album, “Versions of Us”. This self-produced fifth studio album Its nine songs are existential meditations examining life’s possibilities, facing the hand we’ve been dealt and the question of whether we can change our individual and collective destinies.

Singer and songwriter Hazel Wilde has no doubt that motherhood fundamentally shifted her perspective. “Writing songs requires a certain level of self-indulgence, and songwriters can be prone to dwelling on themselves,” she says. “Motherhood made me aware at having a different stake in the world. I’ve got to believe that there’s a better way and an alternative future to the one we’ve been hurtling towards. I’ve also got to believe that I could be better as a person, too.”


The band also performed ‘When It All Comes True’ for the Mercury Prize BBC feature that aired last week and is available to watch further below.

Although having missed out on the prize, vocalist Hazel Wilde said of being shortlisted: “We’ve always put our hearts into the music we make – but never more so than with this album. We’re especially proud of this one. So to have it recognised in this way means more than I can say. With the tours being cancelled and everything being put on hold it was crushing to think that the record could be forgotten about. Then, right when we thought the story was over for this album, it gets nominated for the Mercury Prize. What a beautiful plot twist.”

“With this brave, political LP, Lanterns On The Lake have found their time… Hazel Wilde’s words are clear, emphatic and beautifully sung… The songs are shimmering and sharply defined; infused with melody and searing musical ideas.” MOJO – 4 stars ****

“It’s reassuring to know that raw beauty can still be found within the groove of vinyl, of which this Newcastle band’s fourth LP provides rich evidence.” Record Collector – 5 stars *****

“A glorious shot of potent romanticism… While the songs are Lanterns’ leanest yet, fusing dream pop melodies with Paul Gregory’s soaring post-rock guitar, it’s Hazel Wilde’s lyrics that quicken the pulse. If we are sleepwalking towards apocalypse, Lanterns On The Lake are here to sing us out in style.” Long Live Vinyl – 9/10

“Succeeds in painting atmospheric images, with elliptical poetry set against dreamy, FX-laden guitars, twinkly pianos and jagged beats… Lanterns On The Lake can be quietly magnificent.” Uncut

“Poised, rising and falling soundscapes… From the yearning Every Atom to the bittersweet Baddies, every track trembles with individual intensity… A Northern powerhouse.” PROG

“Mesmerising… There is an extra urgency and bite on the fourth album from a band that commonly trades in hazy loveliness… It gradually reveals itself to be rather wonderful.” The Sun – 4 stars ****

“A masterpiece… This album is all the proof you needed that their excellence was staring right at you all along, you just failed to truly see it.” Music OMH – 5 stars*****

“Musically elegant, emotionally eloquent, and absolutely vital.” The Line Of Best Fit – 9/10  

Art School Girlfriend crafts a beguiling atmosphere of electronica and dance music, with illuminating synth-textures, dappling trance, and breakbeat-inspired elements, combine into an engrossing, detailed tapestry. Polly Mackey’s songwriting craft and depth is matched by a voice of knowing, longing and experience, yet it has a comfort of a Tracey Thorn, but it is her own voice that wraps itself around you like a warm duvet as she’s dealing with emotional peaks and lows.

Art School Girlfriend, Aka Polly Mackey, released her second album “Soft Landing”, via Fiction Records. The album is self-described as a series of “small euphorias”, it is an album that finds Mackey shifting her sound towards tactile electronics whilst retaining the floating melodies of her debut. 

Lead track “Close To The Clouds”, follows the success of standalone single “A Place To Lie” earlier this year. “Close To The Clouds” is an integral part of “Soft Landing”, with the central refrain providing the album with its title, and the song unfurling into climbing, arpeggiated synths amidst acid-house indebted drums

Surprise! New song “Real Life” is out today. This is one of my favourites from the album, and wouldn’t be what it is without co-prod from Riley MacIntyre, strings from Chloe Kraemer + Alfie Johnson and backing vocals from Marika Hackman.

“Soft Landing” follows Mackey’s 2020 debut album, “Is It Light Where You Are?” an album made in the wake of a tumultuous time and released during one. “Soft Landing” feels like Mackey’s true debut, a record of curiosity and playfulness with songs that sound like they are falling effortlessly into place.

Audiobooks , the London duo of David Wrench and Evangeline Ling, returned with a new EP titled “Gulliver this Year”. It included the previously released single ‘Tryna Tryna Take Control’, as well as a new track, ‘Burnt Pictures’, featuring OneDa. A charming cultural collision, this track marries impish Euro-electro pop with a slanted Talking Heads-like beats, Evangeline’s inventive, surreal, and witty flights of lyrical imagination, this time they are joined by MC OneDa whose freestyle adds a refreshing perspective.

It’s another aural riot from audiobooks who constantly delight and challenge with every release.

Body Type say their new album “Expired Candy” is “filled with hope, love, and danger, dancing with delicious uncertainty.”  Australian girl gang Body Type live up to their promises because “Expired Candy” is a riot of garage punk rock delivered with a sly grin; pointed arrow to the heart.
Forged in lockdown it consumes the chaos of a world swirling with division, break ups and breakdowns, populists and narcissists, and delivers an attitude, crammed with heart, intellect and hooky tunes! Big tunes like life-affirming opener ‘Holding On’ is a soaring, hook-laden track, smeared in hopeful, knowing melodies and sprinkled with jousting, joyous life-affirming choruses, where the protagonist’s longing and messy “monsoon” emotions are kept afloat by friends and aphorisms passed down by family members. Also ‘Weekend’ that’s bittersweet garage-pop jumps head first into a juddering rhythm and sing-along melody that’s almost Broadway-worthy.

‘Miss The World’ is a centrepiece, a razor-sharp garage-pop anthem born of the COVID pandemic, with scurrying Batman-theme-like guitars and pummelling drums, laced with lead vocalist and guitarist, Sophie McComish’s urgent vocals, that are both an insidiously hooky lament and a spitting ball of frustration, swirling with the tumult of isolation, claustrophobia and the absurdity of our society and culture, raging at the “unquestioning compliance and the ascent of tyrants, told through pre-teen anarchists, bichon frises, and a drum beat based on a Gwen Stefani song.” For fans of the Breeders, Courtney Barnett and Sleater-Kinney, “Expired Candy” is quite frankly unstoppable, the ace soundtrack to hanging by our fingernails and doing it anyway.

‘Miss The World’ single taken from forthcoming album ‘Expired Candy’ (Out June 2nd) now via Poison City Records

Declan McKenna has shared a cover of ABBA’s ‘Slipping Through My Fingers’, McKenna has done an acoustic cover of the song which appeared on ABBA’s 1981 album track, ‘The Visitors’. Due to high demand after a clip of the cover went viral on TikTok, McKenna has now released the full version of the track.

Sharing the song, McKenna joked: “Tomorrow my Christmas number one drops, He continued: “‘Slipping Through My Fingers (Declan’s version) out at midnight,” before adding: “it’s out and if it’s not Christmas number one I’m deleting.”

After an outpouring of requests from fans online, English singer-songwriter Declan McKenna has shared a full studio version of the cover song.

Earlier this year, a recorded segment of McKenna singing the track during a livestream performance went viral on TikTok. The clip shows the 24-year-old talent singing the song’s chorus and playing acoustic guitar, quickly drawing comparisons to a young Paul McCartney. 

The unexpected interest in McKenna’s off-the-cuff cover caught the alt-pop artist by surprise. His choice to record and release the track for fans while in the midst of promoting his upcoming third album, “What Happened to the Beach?, is an unorthodox one. Still, McKenna is approaching the unpredicted, algorithm-driven success of his cover with a sense of humour. 

“My full cover of slipping through my fingers is out now on all streaming platforms, I put a whole 2 and a half hours into recording and mixing this thing so please stream it as much as humanly possible