Psych rock legends The Black Angels are poised to make a triumphant return with their second album for Partisan Records and first in five years, “Wilderness of Mirrors!” Clocking in at 15 tracks, the new album shows off many excellent sides of the band, both refined over time and developed in the last few years.
The best music reflects a wide-screen view of the world back at us, helping distill the universal into something far more personal. Since forming in Austin in 2004, The Black Angels have become standard-bearers for modern psych-rock that does exactly that, which is one of many reasons why the group’s new album, “Wilderness of Mirrors”, feels so aptly named. In the five years since the band’s prior album, “Death Song“, and the two-plus years spent working on “Wilderness of Mirrors”, pandemics, political tumult and the ongoing devastation of the environment have provided ample fodder for the Black Angels’ signature sonic approach.
“Wilderness of Mirrors!” expertly refines the Black Angels’ psychedelic rock attack alongside a host of intriguing sounds and textures. There are classic blasts of fuzzed-out guitars meant to simultaneously perk up the ears and jumpstart the mind, alongside melancholy, acoustic guitar-driven newfound experiments. Mellotron, strings, and other keyboards also play a more prominent role on “Wilderness ofMirrors” than ever before.
Even amidst these new experimentations, The Black Angels remain masterfully true to psych-rock forebears such as Syd Barrett, Roky Erickson, Arthur Lee and the members of the Velvet Underground, all of whom are namechecked on album highlight “The River.” “The Velvet Underground song ‘I’ll Be Your Mirror’ – that’s what every Black Angels album has been about,” says vocalist/bassist Alex Maas. “You can’t work out your struggles unless you bring them to the forefront and think about them. If we can all think about them, maybe we can help save ourselves.”
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For the better part of a decade, Los Angles’s scrappy rock n’ roll mystics Death Valley Girls have used their music as a means of tapping into a communal cosmic energy. On albums like “Glow In The Dark” (2016), “Darkness Rains” (2018), and “Under the Spell of Joy” (2020) the band challenged the soul-crushing banality of modern society and celebrated “true magical infinite potential” through a collage of scorching proto-punk riffs, earworm melodies, far-out lyrics, and lysergic auxiliary instrumentation.
But on their latest album Islands in the Sky, Death Valley Girls’ songwriting mastermind Bonnie Bloomgarden uses the band’s anthemic revelries as a guidebook to spiritual healing and a roadmap for future incarnations of the self. And while these may be the loftiest aims of Death Valley Girls to date, the resulting music is also by far their most infectious and celebratory
La Luz has always been a band with a vision. Their discography is a study in balancing both heavenly and haunting sounds for a lush style of rock music that’s all their own. On their self-titled fourth album, La Luz fearlessly launch themselves into a new realm of emotional intimacy with a collection of songs steeped in the mysteries of the natural world and the magic of human chemistry that has found manifestation in the musical ESP between guitarist and songwriter Shana Cleveland, bassist Lena Simon, and keyboardist Alice Sandahl. To help shape La Luz, the band found a kindred spirit in producer Adrian Younge.
Primarily known for working with hip-hop, soul, and jazz acts, Younge saw in La Luz a musical kinship that transcended genre. “We both create music with the same attitude, and that’s what I love about them,” he says. “They are never afraid to be risky and their style is captivating. I don’t work with many bands, but I love taking chances on people that share the same vision. We both love to be ourselves, and it was an honor to work with them.” The album was recorded at Linear Labs Studio in Los Angeles.
Dublin four-piece Sprints have spent the past 12 months accelerating. The band enjoyed an exceptional year, laden with highlights – foremost of which include signing for revered label City Slang, and recording their debut album ‘Letter To Self’.
Out now, the release of the record is a key moment for the group. Karla Chubb (singer-guitarist), ColmO’Reilly (guitar), Jack Callan (drums), and Sam McCann (bass), to look back on their rise. What follows is an engaging conversation around what promises to be a critically acclaimed album.
Spints‘ debut album “Letter to Self” embodies their substantial evolution over the past 3 years. Transforming pain into truth, passion into purpose and perseverance into strength, the Dublin four-piece have steadily grown in stature, releasing two acclaimed EPs and building a fearsome live reputation.
“Letter to Self” is the sound of Sprints consolidating and levelling up. Exhibiting their most vulnerable moments and imbuing their visceral garage-punk with a palpable sense of catharsis that we can all benefit from.
Inspired by Savages, their sound matured into energetic and abrasive garage-punk, synthesising influences ranging from early Pixies, Bauhaus, Siouxsie Sioux, IDLES and LCD Soundsystem.
Singer, guitarist and lead-songwriter Karla Chubb tackles her inner turmoil head-on, and uses her platform to address inequality and issues close to hear heart, like the campaign for ‘Repeal The 8th’, and women’s ongoing fight for bodily autonomy, struggles with self acceptance, identity, mental health struggles, sexuality and catholic guilt.
For their debut album the band set about transforming so-called “negative energy” into an opportunity for communal catharsis and healing. Karla Chubb explains sums up message that lies at the very heart of the album: “No matter what you’re born into, or have experienced, there’s a way to emerge from this and be happy within yourself.”
They’re probably one of the best groups in Ireland at the moment. They’re so political. They’re really on the ball, they really stick up for what they believe in and then they’re so down to earth to top it all – you’re like, where’s the downside?
Edinburgh duo Quiet Houses have shared new single ‘What My Heart Is For’. The group made their introduction in 2021, sharing bold debut EP ‘Big Town’ to warm acclaim. Since then the duo – Jamie Stewart and Hannah Elliott – have dug deeper, working on fresh ideas, and taking their music in some unexpected directions.
Fuzzy electronics meets assured dream pop, ‘What My Heart Is For’ is a moment of maturity. Reminiscent of Beach House in places, they also yearn for the melodic directness of London Grammar,
Amid all this, the sense of openness is very Scottish, very Celtic – there’s a drone backing, while the half-whispered vocal yearns for something “just across the water…”
Jamie Stewart and Hannah Elliott comment:
“’What My Heart is For’ is a song about the ridiculousness of having dreams and pursuing them. It’s about wanting something desperately even when you’re not sure what it is you want or why you want it.”
American band Wilco have shared a cover of David Bowie‘s ‘Space Oddity’ to celebrate what would have been the late star’s 77th birthday.
The live recording of the cover is the first taster of a new compilation album from live performance radio station Mountain Stage. The album, ‘Live On Mountain Stage: Outlaws and Outliers’, will be released in full on April 19th via Oh Boy Records, and also feature Margo Price, John Prine, Jason Isbell and more.
“Striving to reach the heights of his freedom and talent is a wise goal for any band. We thank Mountain Stage for letting us give this song another home on Earth.” “As a gratefully, if not begrudgingly, Earth-bound band, it’s always an honour and a challenge to tackle any of David Bowie’s space-soaring arrangements”
The album will feature a collection of live performances from various artists captured during MountainStage tapings over the years, including Rhiannon Giddens, Margo Price, John Prine, Jason Isbell, Indigo Girls, Tyler Childers, and Birds of Chicago featuring Allison Russell among many others. On January 8th, we are sharing the first track from the compilation, a cover of “Space Oddity” by Wilco, released in honour of David Bowie’s birthday.
Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein talk about how the “heartbreak” of Roe v Wade influenced their new song, as well as how their new album ‘Little Rope’ helped them through turbulent times, Sleater-Kinney spoke about their latest single ‘Untidy Creature’ from their latest LP ‘Little Rope’ – along with the grief and tragedy that shaped it.
Back in October, the Washington alt-rock icons announced their 11th studio LP ‘Little Rope’, which is set for release on January 19th, and shared the lead single ‘Hell‘ followed by ‘Say It Like You Mean It’. Now, they’ve kicked off 2024 with ‘Untidy Creature’ – featuring that signature blend big riffs alongside Tucker’s wailing vocals.
“And it feels like we were broken / And I’m holding the pieces so tight / And you can try to tell me I’m nothing / And I don’t have the wings to fly,” Tucker howls during the chorus, describing a relationship in turmoil.
“The song is meant to be like a personal story about feeling trapped and are unable to move forward,” explained Tucker. “It’s about a relationship that sometimes feels like that so, it’s meant to be the very core personal moment where you are feeling that constriction.”
Back in June 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade – a five-decade-old decision that guaranteed a woman’s right to obtain an abortion. Tucker explained how the duo were inspired by the move as it marked “a real blow to women feeling like they’re in control of their own bodies, health and their own safety”.
“One of the things we want to do as songwriters is to try and tell a personal story and use that story to kind of reflect what’s going on in the larger world,” she said. “That bit of heartbreak is reflected in the song and the way that I think women are being viewed as not good enough to make those decisions for ourselves. I was trying to mirror that personal and that larger political story at once in the song.”
‘Untidy Creature’ is the final track on ‘Little Rope’, chosen for its balance of anguish and liberation. “There’s a lot of meaning without words, a lot that’s being evoked and conveyed without the lyrics, and it just felt like, at the end of these 10 tracks that deal with themes of loss and rage and urgency and we just wanted it to break into something that transcended just the every day there,” said Brownstein. Due to the track’s essential and fundamentally Sleater-Kinney sound big riffs and Tucker’s vivacious singing, it almost didn’t make it onto the album.
“The things that were familiar about it made us doubt whether we were pushing the narrative pushing our song writing forward enough, but because the other songs ended up differentiating themselves and being distinct from this, it ended up having a rightful place on the album,” explained Brownstein.
She added: “Sometimes things that come easy we can be doubtful of or skeptical of, at this stage in our careers, because we think, ‘Oh, maybe it was easy because we’ve done this before’. I think despite ‘Untidy Creature’ conjuring some very essential Sleater-Kinney ingredients, it also sounds unlike other songs we’ve done.”
In autumn of 2022, Brownstein received a call from Tucker, who had been contacted by American embassy in Italy – desperately trying to inform her that her mother and stepfather had been killed in a car crash while on holiday in the country.Centred around grief, personal loss and the state of the world, ‘Little Rope’ provided a vessel for the two to mourn and meditate.
Whether it be how America has “acquiesced to a culture of violence for our children” (which loosely influenced the lead single ‘Hell’) or calling for a ceasefire in the Israel/Gaza conflict along with peace and Palestinian liberation during their live show in November, devastating world events continue to impact the politics of the duo’s work.
Sleater-Kinney describe their music as a place of escapism, a creation of their own special space with its own language and key. “It is a job and it is work but it’s our world under our domain,” said Tucker. “It’s a place that we can go to where we feel like we’re in charge and that feels like a relief when we go there.”
The band used the creation of the album during these turbulent times as a means to wrestle with both the light and dark aspects of their lives. They were able to transform their emotions into a collection of 10 tracks that were “catchy and had melodies that you could sing along to,” transporting them into something that is “not necessarily joy, but it has something that glimmers within it.”
Brownstein added: “This is not a sombre record, there is a lot of life in this record. There’s a vibrancy to it. Because the stakes felt very high, we wanted to be careful with each moment. Being able to work on music during personal or more sort of globally trying times, is a way of asking questions.”
She continued: “Music is wonderful in the way that it doesn’t necessarily provide a definitive answer, but lets you sit in that mystery and uncertainty. That’s a really special place to be. It’s ultimately the thing we have to come to terms with, all of that not knowing.
“We just try to embrace all of that liminal space and not take it for granted. I felt very fortunate to have the shape of Sleater-Kinney to posit me in time and place during a moment where I was very confounded and disoriented, very lost.”
‘Little Rope’ is set for release on January 19th via Loma Vista Recordings.
The indie legends started to tease a collaboration at the end of 2023, and opened the New Year on fiery form. Joint single ‘Just Another Rainbow’ is out now, and it’s causing a ruckus, Officially announced last month after months of teasing – with Gallagher hailing their upcoming record as “the best record since [The Beatles’] ‘Revolver’” – the first taster of the project from the former Oasis frontman and StoneRoses guitarist arrived last week It’s glorious, gargantuan, and so confident it borders on ridiculous. There is also nothing else like it in music right now. The sound of the early 1990s with a contemporary twist.
‘Just Another Rainbow’ isn’t quite fan-service, but the duo are certainly playing to their strengths: Liam’s vocals are full ‘Mind Games’-era Lennon, and Squire’s skills as a guitarist are given room to shine on a song that’s in a more familiar territory for the latter than the former. It’s a pleasure to hear Squire back on record at all, in fact.”
With more music promised from the pair and the ‘Definitely Maybe’ shows in the summer, Liam Gallagher is having his cake and eating it in 2024, balancing new material with sating the nostalgia for the days that made his name. And who are we mere mortals to argue with that?
Out now, ‘Just Another Rainbow’ has been remixed by Looking Glass Alice. Set to gain its inaugural radio play on Soho Radio via the redoubtable James Endeacott, this take on the song taps into its primitive groove, ushering the indie legends back out on the dancefloor.
Looking Glass Alice is a two-piece project informed by multiple waves of psychedelia, and that is certainly evident here – the beatific glow of ’67 is merged with some distinctly 90s aspects in the production, recalling that post-baggy swathe of trip hop leaning remixes.
