The Fat Angel Sings

One of the most successful British bands of the last 3 decades, Blur are back with their first new album in over 8 years: “The Ballad of Darren”. The album was produced by James Ford and recorded in Studio 13, London and Devon, and is the sound of a band at the very top of their game. 

“The Ballad of Darren” is the band’s ninth studio album, their first since the chart-topping “The Magic Whip” in 2015, with artwork featuring an image by British photographer Martin Parr.  

New album, “The Ballad of Darren”, out 21st July 2023.

“I Was Trying to Describe You to Someone” is Wednesday’s second full-length album & first as a full band. The Asheville, NC quintet (guitarist/vocalist Karly Hartzman, lead guitarist Daniel Gorham, pedal steel guitarist Xandy Chelmis, bassist Margo Schultz & drummer Alan Miller) maximizes the dark dissonance of a three guitar attack to highlight the emotionality of Hartzman’s bell-clear vocals & wisps of half-recalled memories & literary references that make up her lyrics. “I Was Trying to Describe You to Someone’s” eight songs meld elements of shoegaze, grunge, indie pop & southern American culture into a uniquely personal style of modern rock music that resonates with power & tenderness.

Wednesday began as a recording collaboration between Hartzman & Daniel during the winter of 2017, while both students at the University of North Carolina Asheville. While living on campus, the duo recorded a whimsical synth-pop LP entitled “Yep, Definitely”, influenced heavily by the album Reading, Writing and Arithmetic by English alternative rock group The Sundays (the inspiration for Wednesday’s own band name). The duo recruited Chelmis & Miller (along with original bassist Julien Melissas) to play a party at Karly’s sister’s house, & the full band had an instant chemistry that won over the small crowd. With the immediate support of Asheville’s underground music scene, Wednesday quickly became a local staple, appearing often at the band’s favorite Asheville venue, The Mothlight.

Schultz replaced Melissas on bass in time for Wednesday’s first tour, & the new line-up recorded a collaborative EP with fellow Ashevillian MJ Lenderman, 2018’s “How Do You Let Love into the Heart That Isn’t Split Wide Open”. The EP began Wednesday’s progression into darker instrumentation & lyrics, which continued on 2019’s Wednesday EP. After graduating from UNCA, Hartzman began writing the songs that would become Wednesday’s second full-length release, “I Was Trying to Describe You to Someone“. With the band contributing arrangements, the new songs placed more emphasis on the noise & dissonance of Chelmis’s lap steel & Gorham’s lead guitar.

The ever-darkening & deepening of Wednesdays’ sound on “I Was Trying to Describe You to Someone” owes a debt of influence to The Swirlies, Arthur Russell, Red House Painters, Tenniscoats, Ana Roxanne, Acetone, & their continued collaboration with MJ Lenderman (who lends backing vocals to the songs “Billboard” & “November”).

“I Was Trying to Describe You to Someone” was recorded at Hartzman’s home with engineering assistance from her roommate Colin Miller. The depth & clarity of the recordings balance the distorted volume of Wednesday’s live performances with the intimacy of Hartzman’s voice. Her words hold the center of the chaos, unobscured by the power of the band.

Hartzman describes her lyrics as “attempts to access old personal memories & do them justice through prose, with inspiration from the writings of Richard Brautigan, Flannery O’Connor, David Berman & Tom Robbins, & movies like Steel Magnolias.”

Our new single ‘Dust’ is out now across streaming platforms. It’s the first from our imminent 7-track EP ‘My Eyes, Brother!’, out in May on Nice Swan Records.

The music video for ‘Dust’ is the fault of Nomore Films, directed by Kyle McCarthy and Reuben Davies – please spin it until you’ve found all the hidden messages and absorbed the subtle sweetness of each shot.

we’ll see you on the road to commiserate for the next twelve days – tickets still available.

Opus Kink were formed in Brighton, England in 2018. Their blend of punk, jazz, sickly folk and rough country music is a unique prospect in the current musical landscape; their brass-led, darkly charged repertoire has garnered a growing cult reputation in Britain and overseas, largely due to a penchant for hectic, unpredictable live shows full of experimentation and grim theatre. A slew of lauded singles and an extended play in their formative period has laid the foundation for their latest EP, ‘My Eyes, Brother!’, which sees the group exploring yet harsher and more multi-faceted ground.

A very limited run of 150 red 12” vinyl copies of ‘My Eyes, Brother!’ is available now. When the red is gone it’s gone is gone is gone.

Brighton sextet Opus Kink release debut EP ‘Til The Stream Runs Dry via Nice Swan Records (Sports Team, Pip Blom, Fur, English Teacher). Partnering up with the cult indie label for their first extended release, the enigmatic collective – comprised of Angus Rogers, Sam Abbo, Fin Abbo, Jed Morgans, Jazz Pope and Jack Banjo Courtney – lend a blend a dizzying array of influences in their ever-evolving enigmatic style, producing an experimental patchwork of explosive material that’s consistently earned widespread plaudits since bursting onto the scene. With EP lead singles ‘I Love You, Baby’, ‘The Unrepentant Soldier’ and ‘Dog Stay Down’ attracting praise from all corners of the press landscape (NME, DIY, So Young, Dork, Clash, Gigwise), not to mention countless BBC 6 Music (Steve Lamacq, Lauran Laverne) spins, the six-piece are clearly primed for a busy summer. Having already ticked off live dates alongside label-mates Malady and Mandrake Handshake, in addition to a sold-out headliner at London’s legendary 100 Club last month, the band have a slew of festival appearances lined up in the months to come, as well as shows with Feet and Bull.

Detailing their EP, Opus Kink stated: “You may begin by dipping one stained and rancid toe, but you know that once those waters have been tasted there’s only one way to go – into the stream, away down the valley like flotsam and windfall. Here lie six songs of bad love, ill winds, possession, stagnation and earthly delights”.

Part experimental indie and part ‘70s soft rock, Califone’s first new record in three years finds creative force Tim Rutili reaching new levels of harmony, fragility, and confidence. Whether detailing aging goths retaining their identity through year-long spooky decorations (“Halloween”), an imagined conversation with an inbred monarch (“Habsburg Jaw”), or the conflicts between identity and technology (“Ox-Eye”), “Villagers” nine tracks spread out and luxuriates in the messy darkness of modern life. Like sitting in awe on the porch swing at the end of the world, Califone’s latest marvels at the edge of the universe spreading into the darkness of infinity.

Califone is an acclaimed musical project centered around Tim Rutili and a regular and rotating list of contributors. Formed out of the Chicago band Red Red Meat, they’ve been exploring the tension between experimental noise, acoustic texture, technology, humanity, cinematic images and microscopic poetry since 1998 with over a dozen albums of sleeper hits and enduring classics

released May 19th, 2023

Blur have announced their first new material in eight years. The Britpop legends – comprised of Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree – have shared the details of their ninth studio album “The Ballad of Darren“, which is set for release on 21st July 2023.

Speaking about the title “The Narcissist”, frontman Damon Albarn said: “I think the whole nature of being in a band… especially talking about yourself, having photographs taken… that’s all about yourself.

“Obviously there are deep practitioners of narcissism in the entertainment world, but it also applies to people like Putin, you know? It’s one of those kind of troubling aspects of modern life. There’s definitely mediations on modernity in the record for sure.”

Of the album title, Albarn says: “Darren is many people. It is directly one person. But do we want to spoil who Darren is yet? There’s a picture of Darren in the album. Not on the front cover. It was going to be but then we put it on the inner sleeve because it’s not the sort of attention Darren will want.”

On returning with new material, Albarn referenced the band’s forthcoming shows at Wembley Stadium, noting: ““What’s the point of doing all of this unless there’s something that represents in some way how we all feel now?” He claimed the album’s “purpose” was to reflect the band’s generation, but said: “I think also it has enough of the modern world in it to kind of be relatable to people younger as well.”

Bassist Alex James added: “The fact that we’ve made a record is a surprise to me… [but] looking back it’s what we actually do.”

The record, which is the follow’s 2015’s “The Magic Whip“, 

In June, the Australian trio Cable Ties are releasing a new album, “All Her Plans”, their follow-up to 2020’s “Far Enough”. They’re shared two singles from it so far, “Perfect Client” and “Time For You,” and today they’re back with another track, “Change.”

“Change’ contrasts the traumatization of victim/survivors by the so-called justice system with the solidarity and hope I have found talking to mothers, friends and strangers who have connected with the songs I’ve screamed into the abyss,” the band’s Jenny McKechnie said in a statement, continuing:

The lyrics reflect a collection of experiences I’ve had over the last decade, particularly relating to being a woman who plays loud angry, feminist music. Playing this type of music has allowed me to have deeply moving conversations with people who connect to the experiences I describe. I treasure these conversations. They are the thing that keeps me going when I feel like there’s no point to my silly little songs in my silly little band. I recorded the vocal take for this song very shortly after Roe v Wade was overturned, so I was extremely fired up and dejected, but wanted to remind myself why we keep going.

Cable Ties are Shauna Boyle, Nick Brown and Jenny McKechnie

“All Her Plans” is out 6/23 via Merge Records.

Wye Oak is an Indie Folk duo from the US (Maryland) who has been releasing music since 2007. With seven LPs, and a healthy does of EPs and singles, Wye Oak has consistently provided entertainment throughout the 15 years of their existence.

On June 23rd, Wye Oak will release their next as a collection of singles that have been released after the last album, as well as three brand new tracks. The set, released via Merge Records, will be called “Every Day Like The Last: Collected Singles 2019-2023“. The new set will contain nine tracks in all. A new song is in release as a single (heard below).

The nine songs on “Every Day Like the Last”, which were recorded in Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack’s current home state of North Carolina and Virginia at venues that include Stack’s backyard studio, compiles the singles Wye Oak has released since 2019’s glowing “Fortune” and includes three new songs. While it wasn’t conceived the way an album traditionally is, these songs coalesce because of the way they examine and grapple with ambiguities, which is reflected by the dual meaning of the title and its attendant track, a pensive, suspended-in-midair track that contemplates the importance of human connection.

“Every Day Like The Last” will be issued on CD, DD, and two forms of vinyl LP that include standard black, and a black and natural swirl color limited edition. The inner sleeve of the LPs will be printed with lyrics. Each LP set will include DD rights. The CD will be housed in a four-panel wallet, adding in a mini-poster foldout with printed lyrics. 

Graham Nash has announced the Sixty Years of Songs and Stories 2023 U.S. tour, marking the 60th anniversary of his first single release with the Hollies. He’ll also release a new album titled “Now” in May..

“Now“, the aptly titled new studio album from legendary artist Graham Nash, is a stunning collection that stays true to his near six-decade mission: Observing the human experience through the lens of a Northern boy and contributing a wealth of songs to the soundtrack of our lives. The new songs on Now are worthy additions to the canon of a two-time inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The new songs range from the intensely political rallying cry of Stand Up and the scorching indictment of MAGA in Golden Idols to the bitterly ironic Stars and Stripes. As Nash says, “just tell me the truth, stop lying and stop trying to create division between people all over the world, just tell me the truth. The stars and stripes are waving, but they’re waving goodbye to the truth.”

“Now”, which does not yet have a firm release date, will mark Nash’s first studio album since 2016’s “This Path Tonight”. In May, the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young alum recently released “Graham Nash: Live”, which features him playing his first two solo LPs, “Songs for Beginners” and “Wild Tales”, in their entireties.

Nash also recently announced that he has curated a new compilation album featuring him and estranged former bandmate David Crosby singing vocal harmonies with several of their musical contemporaries. “It starts with us singing on [Stephen Stills’ 1970 solo hit] ‘Love the One You’re With,’ then on Jackson Browne’s [1972 hit] ‘Doctor My Eyes’ and James Taylor’s [1975 hit] ‘Mexico,'” Nash commented on the album, which does not yet have a title or release date. “It finishes off with me and David singing ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ with Carole King [in 1993] at the Universal Amphitheatre [in Los Angeles].”

Graham Nash said that a song on his upcoming album addresses his sadness over what Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young didn’t manage to achieve together.

“Now” arrives on May 19th and includes the track “I Watched It All Come Down,” which refers to “the rock ’n’ roll parade” and how he “watched it fall” and also how he’d “seen it grow.”

“It was about my emotional feelings toward Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young,” Nash told Variety in a new interview. “I reached incredible heights musically with them, and the opposite has been true with them, too – saddened that we didn’t make more music.” He noted that “we do, though, know that the music we did make is the most important part of our relationship. So this is about the thrill of having made music with David [Crosby], Stephen [Stills] and Neil [Young]. I wish it could have continued.”

He also discussed his feelings about Crosby’s January death, after having recently revealed that they had settled their differences and started talking regularly just before his passing. “I’d like to only think of the good times, now. I’ll remember the great music that we made, the fun times that we had,” he said.

Asked to pick a memory of his longtime bandmate, Nash replied: “We were hiking in Hawaii with our friend and tour manager Mac Holbert, and Mac slipped, fell and shattered his kneecap. I watched David carry Mac for almost a mile to get back to a place where he could be medically treated. I always thought that such a moment showed off what a big heart that David had.”

Nash added that plans were underway to pay a proper tribute to Crosby. “Right now, Jan D., David’s wife of many many years, is on the program of figuring out a date for a memorial for David,” he said. “She knows that I am on the road right now and she knows when this tour will finish, so hopefully she’ll choose a date that I’ll be able to attend. It’s all in Jan D.’s hands.”

“Melbourne’s The Murlocs will release their new studio album “Calm Ya Farm” on ATO Records. Spiked with their signature breed of sharply crafted garage-punk — and with lead vocalist, guitarist & harmonica triple threat Ambrose Kenny-Smith’s surrealist musings on the ever-turbulent world around him — the collection ultimately twists country-rock convention into a free-flowing album fully in touch with the frenetic energy of modern life. As the band’s most collaborative work, “Calm Ya Farm” unfolds in more elaborate and sophisticated arrangements and achieves new sonic depths largely by creating space for all five members to pursue their most eccentric impulses. “With this record we tried to steer away from all the distortion and dirt and grit, or at least let the grit come off a bit more clean-sounding,” says Kenny-Smith, who also plays with bassist Cook Craig in the globally beloved psych-rock powerhouse King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard.”

The Murlocs had visions of creating a quintessential country-rock record when they begin recording their 7th LP – a collection of sublimely mellowed-out songs inspired by iconic albums like “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” and “Exile on Main St” – but the record soon took on its own unruly character. Spiked with The Murlocs’ signature breed of sharply crafted garage-punk “Calm Ya Farm” twists country-rock convention into a free-flowing album fully in touch with the frenetic energy of modern life. 

While their sister band King Gizzard & The Lizard continue to pump out new albums, The Murlocs (led by Ambrose Kenny-Smith) drop a fully immersive and diverse set of songs that give us a take on Aussie psych soul with a countrified dabble. “Calm Ya Farm” reaches its peak as “Queen Pinky” begins with some odd sounds but moves quickly into a 70’s soul-tinged burner via, electric guitar, strings, piano.

Music written by Shortal and Kenny-Smith. Cal Shortal: Guitar, Synth. Ambrose Kenny-Smith: Vocals. Cook Craig: Bass. Matt Blach: Drums, Percussion, BVs. Tim Karmouche: Piano / BVs