Toronto’s Tallies have been perfecting their own shimmery, jangly take on ’80s and ’90s dream-pop”
Tallies have been honing their shimmering brand of dreampop for the last five years, drawing from a very specific place and time — I put it at England from 1987 to 1991 — when 4AD and Creation were the among the coolest labels around, and dorm rooms walls were decorated with posters of The Smiths, Cocteau Twins, The Cure, and The Stone Roses.
Tallies proudly still have those posters on their walls and they aren’t shy about those influences (see below), but they’ve grown as songwriters, performers and arrangers, and use these shimmering sonic touchstones to their own means. Their just-released second album “Patina” is terrific, and you can listen to that below.
Tallies singer Sarah Cogan says the influences behind the album, which include The Sugarcubes, Saint Etienne, Ride, Cocteau Twins, The Sundays and more. released October 20, 2022 Sarah Cogan voice Dylan Frankland guitar Michael Peter Olsen cello Written by Sarah Cogan, Dylan Frankland, Cian O’Neill
Courtney Barnett‘s massive summer continues with the announcement of a new compilation, to accompany her traveling Here and There festival. “Here And There: B-Sides, Live Tracks + Demos” features artists joining Courtney on the road this summer, and will be released on a limited run of 600 cassette tapes, with all funds raised benefiting the National Network of Abortion Funds and Advocates for Youth.
Artists featured on “Here And There” include Julia Jacklin, Bedouine, The Beths, Faye Webster, Sleater-Kinney, Caroline Rose, Hana Vu, and Courtney herself. She’s shared her contribution, a demo of “If I Don’t Hear From You Tonight” off her most recent album “Things Take Time, Take Time”.
Dream shoegazer Winter (aka Samara Winter) has announced a new LP, “What Kind of Blue Are You?”, due October 14th via Bar/None Records. (It’s her first since 2020’s Endless Space.) The album was recorded and produced by Winter herself in collaboration with producer Joo Joo Ashworth at Studio 22 in Los Angeles, of which she says, “I felt like I was making music in a dark cave with an old friend and no one else existed.” She continues, “I feel like I’ve come full circle, making an album that my 22-year-old self who just started Winter would love. It’s my inner shadow girl, revealing herself in all her brokenness, despair and beauty.”
Winter has also shared new single “Atonement.” It’s infectiously cool and slightly grungy, with an awesome feature by HatchieHarriette Pilbeam and Joe Agius. “Every time I hear this song a new version of the story plays out in my head – an escape, a mystery, a forbidden love,” Winter Says. “By the time it reaches full climax there is a big reveal – the secret is out, the we discover who committed the crime, the two lovers find each other.” Check out the retro, Matrix-looking music video for “atonement” below, plus the artwork and tracklist for “What Kind of Blue Are You?”.
Winter are to join Hatchie as a bandmate and opening act on a tour of Australia, and she’ll play a host of just-announced North American dates with Peel Dream Magazine.
Palma Violets are sadly no more, but three of the band’s members have been joined by members of TheBig Moon to form their new project, Gently Tender. This means they’ll sound instantly familiar, even though their slower brand indie rock might not be. Our new single ‘True Colours (Sometime I’ll Get Through)’ is out today. We shot the video in the historic Chislehurst caves just outside south east London . It was like being In another universe for a day far below the surface blistering heat of London .
“True colours (Sometime I’ll Get Through)” is a song that on the surface seems like a conversation between two people in a relationship. It’s actually based on a conversation between myself and unwanted emotions – like feelings of anxiety and depression. This is a theme in quite a few songs on the record – but on this song I’m studying and welcoming thoughts as if they are a long lost friend. Showing interest in the feelings and showing them I’m willing to be patient with them. Once you welcome them in, they’re less of a threat. This is how I’ve learned to manage these emotions throughout my life. Sam
The extremely limited debut EP on So Young records from NYC’s Been Stellar. Been Stellar is what you get when you leave the youth alone in a metropolis; they grow up. They make noise. Their songs are formed and lived somewhere on Broadway, on Hester, on 34th, in Union Square, on the bridge, in the gutter, and under your shoe. The trivial street scenes lip sticked by well-loved decades are fully recognized in Been Stellar’s hail of guitar tones and insistent lyrical earnesty. Crackly, bright and distorted – stories of violence, love, and a new, un-glamorous, New York City.
NYC rockers Been Stellar take Larry Clark’s iconic cult movie as the basis for a scuzzy slacker anthem that opts out of trying to make sense of the world and, instead, embraces the chaos.
Following the release of mega single ‘Manhattan Youth’ last month, Been Stellar share their debut, self-titled EP this Friday.
The Brooklyn five-piece have been generating some serious heat in the UK and have just wrapped up their first UK headline tour, gathering what might go down in history as the coolest looking bunch of people ever recorded in one room for their headline show at The Windmill. They hit the road again in November, supporting Just Mustard around North America.
“Leader of the Pack” out now! It’s a classic angry betrayal song. I’m glad I wrote this when I was still a teenager, otherwise I would have probably calmed down before it came out of me. If you’re anything like us, you’ll have had that sensationally catchy riff from ‘Leader Of The Pack’ soundtracking everything from your morning Cheerios to your evening teeth clean for the last two weeks.
Just to make sure it’s firmly wedged in there, and have a watch of the lads rocking out in the track’s new video. Wunderhorse is the alias of British musician Jacob Slater, who fronted the Dead Pretties, a London band who arrived in a haze of hedonism and hype, bowing out before the dust had time to settle.
Blink and you’d have missed them. time-stamped yet timeless. if there’s any justice, he’ll soon be played out live in sticky basement rooms up and down the country, limbs everywhere, sweat dripping from the walls. an absolute mess, but what a beautiful one.
“Leader of the Pack / Butterflies” 7″ vinyl available now on the official store alongside CD/Vinyl & merch bundles of the debut album Cub, out September 16th.
Debut album ‘Cub’ comes out on September 16th. It’s been a long time coming and I’m looking forward to getting the songs out into the world.
Arny Margret proudly announced the release of her debut album,‘They Only Talk About The Weather’ , out October 21st. The gorgeous new single ‘sníglar’ is out now. With poetic proficiency and a knack for composing melodies that bury themselves deep into the subconscious, Arny writes of loneliness and existentialism with stark relatability. Musically she draws inspiration from folk and blues roots, utilising a less-is-more approach to convey openness, choosing to rely mostly on the delicate strumming of acoustics and her dulcet voice.
Arny Margret has spent the last year making waves, not only in her Icelandic hometown but across Europe and the US, touring extensively, supporting Leif Vollebekk, playing Reykjavik Calling, Iceland Airwaves and more. She released her anticipated debut EP to critical acclaim in February and now she’s proudly announced the release of her debut album, ‘They Only Talk About The Weather’ out October 21st.
‘They Only Talk About The Weather’ is an album of acute emotional exploration. It’s Arny’s coming-of-age journey, from writing in school, staring out of dorm room windows, being on the road, to today. With poetic proficiency and a knack for composing melodies that bury themselves deep into the subconscious, Arny writes of loneliness and existentialism with stark relatability. There’s a quiet confidence that comes from these tracks; crystal clear in their conception, completely honest, and masterfully arranged. She walks us through her relationships growing up and her realisations about other people as well as herself. We listen as she unpacks herself to a backdrop of vividly painted natural landscapes.
The album’s relationship with weather is noteworthy. Examining her surroundings is how Arny puts to words her feelings. The sparsely populated and confined Westfjord peninsula in north-western Iceland is its own character here, and the bitter but playful snow colours her deeply personal prose across the whole LP.
In this sense, “They Only Talk About The Weather” can be a warming comfort to those who need it most as ice forms outside and nights fall earlier in the evening. She tells us; “I like to use the weather, in one of my songs I even make it a person, I sing “I am blinded by the light of winter, but it comes and goes away, I don’t like her very much, you can’t depend on anything she’ll say”. Musically she draws inspiration from folk and blues roots, utilising a less-is-more approach to convey openness, choosing to rely mostly on the delicate strumming of acoustics and her dulcet voice. On two tracks, ‘Cold Aired Breeze’ and ‘Ties’, Arny plays with a full band for the first time on record, adding layers of shuffling drums, soaring lap steel and synth padding to emphasise impact. Elsewhere on the album minor flourishes reveal themselves constantly, rewarding repeat listens.
Taken from new album ‘they only talk about the weather’ out on October 21st One Little Independent Records
Indigo Sparke returns with her magnetic second full-length album “Hysteria“, recorded with producer Aaron Dessner (The National, Taylor Swift). It’s a huge and beautiful sweeping work, one that possesses a rare, reflective power. From the first few notes, in the first song, “Blue“, something chilling and captivating pierces straight into the listener’s chest. With harmonies reminiscent of the voices in our heads, she examines love, loss, grief, a newly realized rage, her history, dreams, and the emotional weather patterns surrounding those sensations: her words tell the stories, and the sounds act them out. It’s a diary built for big stages. “Hysteria” arrives just a year after her striking, minimalist debut, “Echo“. Here though, Sparke offers an expansive body of work—it’s a simultaneously nostalgic yet clear and complex collection that expands her sound and outlook.
While the world that Sparke inhabits is a rich tapestry of sound that pulls the listener into circular spaces of seemingly never ending minimalistic textures and harmonic suspensions, what’s most clearly on display is her voice and her song forms. Deceptively simple structures wind like labyrinths in a whirlwind of lyrical expression and vocal pageantry calling to mind the early works of PJ Harvey, Meredith Monk, and the like. These compositions are a warm invitation into her world.
Indigo Sparke – “Pressure In My Chest” From the album “Hysteria”, due out October 7th 2022, via SacredBones Records
The Big Pink have ended a six-year silence by unveiling a pair of new singles that picked up exactly where the group left off with “Empire Underground”EP, a continuation of the unique blend of heavy shoegaze, gothic pop, and Animal Collective–esque neo-psych (especially well-represented in Robbie Furze’s vocals recalling those of Panda Bear) established on their breakthrough 2009 album “A Brief History of Love”. they’re announcing that “No Angels” and “Love Spins” will appear on their third LP—and first in 10 years—titled “The Love That’s Ours“, which is out September 30 via Project Melody Music.
“Getting to this point has been one of the craziest journeys in my life,” Furze explained in a press statement. “I truly thought this day would never come. I got so lost, so confused, went down so many rabbit holes, at times running completely blind, so much so that I nearly lost everything that was ever important to me, everything I ever truly loved. This record symbolizes so much, it’s my flag on top of the summit. It shows that I finally understand what is truly important.”
Along with the news comes another new single called “Rage,” which despite its name is a softer sample of what’s to come than the rousing “Love Spins.” Co-written with Ryn Weaver after meeting the songwriter at a party and immediately forging a creative bond, the single is a level-headed look at the mutual rage both artists feel when facing the confusion of the modern world.
“She effortlessly comes up with these beautiful melodies, they just spill out of her, and her lyric writing is out of this world,” Furze shared of Weaver. “I would just sit there trying to keep up with this whirlwind of creativity. We would work long, long sessions, sometimes 12 to 18 hours, and she wouldn’t let us stop until the track was done. ‘Rage’ came from one of those sessions.”
“The Love That’s Ours” arrives September 30th via Project Melody Music.
Foals take a fresh, thrilling new direction on with their latest album “Life Is Yours”. Halfway through Foals’ jubilant new album, “Life Is Yours”, curling guitars combine with tumbling drums for the 36-second interlude “Summer Sky” and majestically, the British rock trio graze the sun. Unlike Icarus, however, the Yannis Philippakis–fronted band doesn’t fall to Earth, but rather melds one of the finest rock records of the summer. Thematically, it’s escapist, transportive and in rapture at life’s endless possibilities. It’s a record that’s perfectly in tune with the prevailing atmosphere of this moment in time – a life-affirming celebration as the world is reunited.
Foals have been around now for over 15 years, having released six previous albums, but they have perhaps not sounded as liberated and fun as they do on “Life Is Yours”. Boosted by Philippakis’s mighty vocal warble, the band which is currently rounded out by guitarist Jimmy Smith and drummer Jack Bevan celebrate life with a new record and consequently exude pure joy. Along with Philippakis, Bevan and Smith have been commanding listeners’ attention for almost 20 years, their previous album “Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost” from 2019 released as two parts and landing them a Mercury Prize nomination
“I actually met Yannis for an internet classified ad,” Bevan says “I posted an ad saying I was looking for a band because I had been in a few others, but they had sort of broken up. I posted this ad saying, ‘Drummer who likes Don Caballero, Boards of Canada, and Aphex Twin looking for someone to play with.’ This was long enough ago that Yannis responded to the ad and sent me a handmade tape cassette with all of his favourite musical influences.”
Philippakis, down to his dark eyes and thick beard, is certainly one of the most compelling frontmen out of the UK for a long-time fans of the band flocking to see perform for well over a decade now, the singer not only has a fiery timbre but a fierce persona. On stage, bent over his electric guitar and threshing on the strings, he emerges as a gentle beast. On record, he wears his emotions on his sleeve and lets the listener in. “Life is yours / Break away,” he sings on the opening title track off “Life Is Yours”, getting even the grouchiest listener to dance. “Life is yours / Your life awaits,” he then shouts and, in a fashion similar to that of David Byrne on Talking Heads’ iconic “Once in a Lifetime,” he jolts listeners awake.
Foals shows why they’re also infectiously joyful. On the album standout, “Crest of the Wave,” over winding guitars, Philippakis sings, “I promise I need ya,” and no matter the addressee, the “ya” he pleads with is really anyone’s lover and conveys the record’s broader theme of indestructible romance.
The deceptively sunny “2am” even sounds like an ode to the titular wee hour, that time late in the night when seemingly anything—maybe even sudden romance—can happen. As Philippakis sings, “I lost myself again,”
‘Life Is Yours’ immediately establishes its tone with the bright beam of optimism provided by its title track, its ambience and exuberance showing no sign of slowing down as it is followed by the two recent singles. There’s a unity to the sound, whether Foals are bouncing into the Balearic beats of ‘Looking High’, experimenting with West African guitar grooves on ‘Flutter’, or simply savouring the prospect of playing live together again within the dance dynamics of ‘The Sound’.
It’s also a consistently transportive experience, at times conjuring images of the Pacific Northwest or St. Lucia, at others directly set in the peppy nostalgia of the recent past. It all comes full circle with ‘Wild Green’, which simultaneously celebrates the rebirth of summer with an existential tinge that all beautiful moments are inevitably fleeting.
The Fat Angel Sings 