The Fat Angel Sings

As we reach the new moon of September, the North American tour is already five shows old and it’s time for the Dark-Side (Tchad Blake) and In-Side (Hans-Martin Buff) mixes of “Love Can Heal” to be released.
 
‘I was trying to create this sensual palette,’ says Peter, ‘and I think with the work that Buff’s been doing on the immersive mix, you’re getting this sense of being touched in many places and it should be a place just to drift off into. That’s my aim.’
 
In the past Peter has talked a bit about the role that music can play in helping us deal with certain situations that we might face in life and “Love Can Heal”, he hopes, can have a part to play too; ‘I know I bang on about this emotional toolbox and how one of the roles of songs is the potential to change how you feel and change your mood according to what you’re listening to. Hopefully, “Love Can Heal” has its place in this emotional toolbox.’ That role is hinted at strongly in the current live show, where Love Can Heal sits very deliberately, and effectively, next to the song “Darkness” in the set;

“Love Can Heal (Dark-Side Mix)”, released on the new moon of 15th September 2023. Dark-Side Mix by Tchad Blake.
Written and produced by Peter Gabriel, “Love Can Heal” is ‘a dreamy, experiential piece with some abstract imagery,’ says Gabriel, ‘a carpet of sound, a tapestry where things are woven together, but not necessarily supposed to stick out, but just form part of a whole.’ Love Can Heal is a song that has been performed during the recent i/o tour, but actually had its live premiere during Peter Gabriel and Sting’s Rock, Paper, Scissors tour of North America of 2016. ‘Love Can Heal” was written around 2016 and I did start playing it midway through the tour and dedicated it to Jo Cox, who was the British MP brutally murdered by an extremist and someone that I had met at a leadership conference.

I think the song fits right in to the themes of the album in the sense that i/o is about feeling and being connected to everything and in a way, the next evolution of being connected to things is a feeling of love for everything.’” and “Love Can Heal” together in the sense that “Darkness” is about going into the fears that maybe you have to re-open in order to get the air in and get them sterilized. Things that are left in the dark just get fertilized and grow. When exposed to daylight I think they get sorted. If you’ve got a sense of love being offered to you it is like a healing balm that can create an environment in which things can get better. So, in a way, those two songs do belong together.’

Finally, as mentioned at the start, the North American tour is fully underway now. There’s a day off today (Friday) and then Philadelphia, we’re on the way to you next!

Our third album “Strange Disciple” is finally out now. A release day is always a bizarre phenomenon, made more bizarre by the fact that we’re currently sitting in Berlin preparing for the first show of the tour (sold out, baby). We’re endlessly grateful to you all, for the constant support and reminders of why we are doing this.

This is an album about love, first and foremost. It journeys from true and pure love, to unrequited love, to obsession, heartbreak, agony and then to the ecstasy of acceptance. A meditation on how beautiful it is to feel anything at all, all the best and worst of it. We hope it can be there for you through it all.

“Nation of Language have shared another video for their new song “Too Much, Enough,” the latest single from their album “Strange Disciple”. The clip stars Westworld’s Jimmi Simpson as well as Reggie Watts, Kevin Morby, Tomberlin, Moldy Peaches’ Adam Green, LVL UP’s Greg Rutkin, and more.”

From the forthcoming album “Strange Disciple“. Released September 15th

Dire Straits began their run to over the world fame with “Sultans Of Swing”, which, in turn, elevated their 1978 album into the stratosphere of music sales and band popularity. This was later elevated further with their “I want my MTV” call on their brilliant “Money For Nothing” track from their immense “Brothers In Arms” album released in 1985. The band existed for six studio albums, and several Live packages that include “Alchemy” (1984), and “On The Night” (1993). “Alchemy” and “On The Night” are both newly remastered, with neither having been available on vinyl for ages. 

On November 3rd, Dire Straits will revisit not only the two previously mentioned live sets with new remastering, but also have dug deep to provide more live sets to create a large but satisfying collection of live music. For “Alchemy“, and “On The Night“, there will be an expansion of the original albums.

These packages feature four main concerts (or live albums): “Alchemy” (1983), “On The Night” (1993), the “Live at the BBC” compilation from 1995 and “Live from the Rainbow Theatre”, a 1979 gig which is previously unreleased.

“Alchemy” is expanded to 3LPs and includes ‘Love Over Gold’ and the extended versions of ‘Telegraph Road’, ‘Solid Rock’ and ‘Going Home’, with the addition of the full length version of ‘Portobello Belle’ ‘Industrial Disease’ and ‘Twisting By The Pool’ are also new to the set.

“On The Night” is also expanded to include tracks performed during the tour which have never been released, taken from multitrack recordings of shows in Nimes, Rotterdam and Paris. The seven extra tracks are: ‘Tunnel Of Love, ‘Telegraph Road’, ‘Sultans Of Swing’, ‘Two Young Lovers’, ‘When it Comes To You’, ‘I Think I Love You Too Much’ and ‘Fade to Black’.

The “On The Night ‘Encores EP‘ is included as an extra disc in both the vinyl and CD box set. Same four tracks as before, although this new box uses the Black Friday 2021 remastering.

The “Live at the BBC” selection features the same eight tracks on the 1995 release, seven of which are from a July 1978 BBC ‘In Concert’ performance, although “Tunnel of Love” is taken from a January 1981 Old Grey Whistle Test.

Finally, the “Live from the Rainbow Theatre” show from 1979 has been newly mixed by Guy Fletcher and features guest performances from Phil Lynott and Tony de Meur on the last four tracks of the set.

In addition to those two, the previously unreleased “Live at The Rainbow Theatre” (1979) will be added, along with “Encores”, and the “Live at the BBC”, plus a 16-page booklet is included in the set.

Featuring remastered, extended, and unreleased recordings from some of their most coveted live albums and performances. Including “Live At The Rainbow”, “Alchemy”, “On The Night”, “Encores”, “Live At The BBC”, plus artwork prints and exclusive 16-page booklet.

There will be a 12LP Box, DD, and an 8CD Box.

Luluc singer songwriter from Brooklyn, New York are excited to announce their fifth album “Diamonds”, due September 15th via Community Music. The announcement is heralded by the release of the album’s title track alongside a striking black-and-white video, a perfect visual accompaniment to the placid dreaminess of the music.

“The songs speak for themselves, they contain all you will need. It doesn’t feel right to say ‘what they are about,” the band’s Zoë Randell says about the album. “What inspired them is, as always, vast and uncontainable. The personal is of course in there, but only in a detached way, and I use it only to launch or find a way into the possibilities and ideas. I do it that way, so the songs can be for you, whoever the listener is, or may be. Not as some kind of catharsis session for me.

“I/we want to create expansive, deep worlds that go well beyond the sense of author, and creators, to create musical and lyrical spaces that have layers and (hopefully) intrigue. That reward you when you come back, and that you can enjoy in different moods and modes. Loud or soft. It does feel akin to a kind of diamond mining. It requires going into depths, not always or at all easy, and then getting the idea all the way to something that gleams and glints; and offers a sense of music and light, a sense of the richness that is everywhere if you get your perspective just so.”

Through their 14-year creative partnership, the duo of Zoë Randell and Steve Hassett have carved a formidable niche for themselves with their imaginative folk, successively incorporating new elements as disparate as icy synths and warm brass with each new album. After several Sub Pop releases, collaborations with Aaron Dessner, and tours with J Mascis and more, Luluc has reached a new creative peak with “Diamonds”, and it feels very much like their true time in the spotlight has arrived.

“Spare and haunted, with electronic sputters that ominously circle Randell’s singing,

“Luluc’s dream world, like the real one, is still complicated: at times as idyllic as the vision of “blue water and sunshine” in the Carpenters-esque “Dreaming”; at times a claustrophobic nightmare roping you in against your will.” – UNCUT

releases September 15th, 2023

Zoe Randell – voice, guitars
Steve Hassett – voice, guitars, synths, piano, bass, drums & percussion
Stuart Bogie – horns (tracks 1 & 5)
JT Bates – drums (tracks 1, 3 & 5)
Richard Vaudrey – cellos (tracks 4, 6 & 8)
Horn arrangements by Steve Hassett & Stuart Bogie
String arrangements by Steve Hassett & Zoe Randell

All songs written and produced by Zoe Randell and Steve Hassett except As Tears Go By, written by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Andrew Loog Oldham

Maple Glider, aka Melbourne / Naarm-based artist Tori Zietsch, returns with new album “I Get Into Trouble”, the follow-up to her stunning 2021 debut “To Enjoy is the Only Thing”. “I Get Into Trouble” sees Zietsch delve into her Christian childhood, exploring her relationship to her body, consent, shame, and the death of relationships, both romantic and familial. Heartbreaking at times, the songs ultimately paint a hopeful picture, shining a light on new life, new love, and the desire to find peace and connection with these experiences.

While Maple Glider’s delicate brand of sneakily catchy psych-folk has never sounded sharper, the music centers around the lyrics, exploring these deeply personal themes and often serving as a self-catharsis, brought to vivid life by the beauty of Zietsch’s artistry and wry sense of dark humour.

Small-town dream pop band Wild Nothing is set to release their sixth studio album “Hold” next month, and their second single from the album, “Suburban Solutions,” is a shimmering synth soundtrack of subversive suburbia—the counterpart to previous groovy single “Headlights On” (featuring Hatchie). Packed with an unflinching ‘80s pop influence and a biting satire of the beloved decade, Jack Tatum’s comeback after five years of new fatherhood and the return of personal production is off to an impeccable start. The chorus delivers a jingle for a fictitious company, reassuring us to “Take a deep breath, “Suburban Solutions2 has your back.” The single is the perfect merger of nihilism and nostalgia, punctuated with the promise of a colourful album we can’t wait to indulge in.

“Suburban Solutions” by Wild Nothing off new album ‘Hold’ out October 27, 2023.

There’s an argument to be made that no alt-rock outfit is primed to have a more explosive breakout than Truth Club. The Raleigh, North Carolina-based quartet go absolutely dummy on “Uh Oh,” the latest single from their forthcoming sophomore record “Running From the Chase”. It’s drawling, introspective singer/songwriter bliss tinged with extra dimples of shoegaze and sludge. As a successor to “Blue Eternal” and “Exit Cycle,” “Uh Oh” is a perfect third chapter—and perhaps the band’s most shining moment to date. Travis Harrington’s vocals are particularly gauzy, as if Alex G was trying to do his best Slowdive impersonation. But even then, what Truth Club is doing here is unparalleled.

“Uh Oh” quickly has become one of my favourite tracks of the year—and it’s just another reason why the band exists in a space with folks like Wednesday, Squirrel Flower and Indigo De Souza, rock musicians making compelling tunes that are just so damn rewarding and mountain-moving that you can’t quite put an exact finger on why this moment, here in 2023, has been the perfect time to catch lightning in a bottle.

From Truth Club’s “Running From the Chase“, out October 6th, 2023 via Double Double Whammy

The lead single from their forthcoming record “Bananasugarfire”, Philadelphian stalwarts Golden Apples evoke wondrous, left-of-the-dial pop-rock on “Waiting For A Cloud.” It’s a sunsoaked marauding of gold-plated guitars and explosive percussion behind Russell Edling’s bright, relentlessly dreamy vocals. Imagine Yo La Tengo making a Replacements song at Miami Beach and you’ll get Golden Apples’ “Waiting For A Cloud.” It’s relentlessly catchy and lyrically confounding, as Edling spins crisp, warm language into mesmerizing verses. “Sentries of your psyche were seduced and led away,” he sings. “Tomorrow’s urgencies are marking targets from today, a growing chill inside you keeps you hopeless. Unknowing still, you’re racing for the edge.” Golden Apples have been socking under-the-radar dingers since 2017, but “Bananasugarfire” suggests it’s high-time they break out.

If “Waiting For A Cloud” is any indication, we’re right on the money. The Golden Apples sound like a cool band from the College Radio days of the late 80s early 90s or a really happy upbeat version of REM, Teenage Fanclub.

Russell is joined by a handful of other familiar faces from the Philly music scene, including Mimi Gallagher (Nona, Year of Glad, Eight), Melissa Brain (Amanda X), and Matthew Scheuermann (The Sidekicks, Lowercase Roses). Russell, Mimi, and Melissa have also all played together in Dave Tomaine’s Cave People collective.

“Waiting For A Cloud'” by Golden Apples , from the album ‘Bananasugarfire’ out October 27th on Lame-O Records.

The second single from their comeback album “Hard Light”, “A Hitch” was the first song Drop Nineteens wrote together when they reunited. It’s been three decades since the Boston band put out a record, but they don’t miss a beat here. “A Hitch” could have come out on “Delaware” in 1992, yet it feels unequivocally modern and fresh—a testament to just how good Drop Nineteens are.

Vocalist Greg Ackell delivers a woozy sermon, as his beloved bandmates offer a mountain of guitar-driven distortion behind him.

“Hard Light” is every bit the ride that “Delaware” was, diverse in its sounds, with surprises at every turn. Drop Nineteens have brought clarity and cool in 2023 to the genre they helped create. A portrait of a band 30 years later, as talented and dedicated to their craft as ever. To put it more bluntly, they’re at the top of their game.

“Well, there’s somethin’ you should know, and there’s nothing crude about it,” he sings. “Is it too fast or too slow? It was oceans ago, shoveling up the snow like I couldn’t live without it.” It’s good to have Drop Nineteens back; it’s even better that they sound as good as a band who never left.

Following the release of singles “Soft Like A Flower” and “Ready For You” from Cherry Glazerr’s upcoming album “I Don’t Want You Anymore”, the haunting third single, “Sugar,” is sickeningly sweet. After reflecting and maturing during a five-year hiatus, Clementine Creevy returns to her roots of self-production for her fifth album—which she hasn’t explored since her debut, “Haxel Princess” in 2014. “Sugar” details Creevy’s distaste for a lover that she can’t let go of, presented through a raw confession of a tumultuous relationship.

The song creeps along with melodic croons from Creevy and it builds into the morbidly danceable third act—combining the anthemic energy of “Ready For You” and the hypnotic chorus of “Soft Like A Flower.”

Full album out September 29th on Secretly Canadian.