Last April, girl in red’s Maria Ulven released her debut album “if i could make it go quiet”. Now she is celebrating the album’s first trip around the sun, Ulven has shared a video for the upbeat-yet-devastating track “hornylovesickmess” that was directed by Euphoria actress Hunter Schafer.
“‘hornylovesickmess’ is one of my favourites off the album,” Ulven said. “Being able to make a video with Hunter for the album’s anniversary was so cool. We had so many ideas after the first time we hung out and it was cool to be with another creative in that way. It was also fun to be on set with her and get her vibe as a director.”
The visual captures the mental toll of being away from a loved one as Ulven tours the world and attends to her artistic responsibilities. First she’s riding on top of a giant vehicle, the wind whipping around her face. Then, in a flash, she’s riding in a bunkbed on a tour bus. Next, she’s in the back of a black SUV and seeing visions of her lover. Ulven panics and jumps out of the van into the dark city streets. She’s then wafted off the ground by sewer steam as she punishes herself for not making her relationship a priority. It’s a surreal, gripping visual that serves as a reminder to revisit her honest debut.
The debut album “if i could make it go quiet” is out now:
Sylvan Esso has kept busy with their own new label Psychic Hotline, creating a home for releases by the likes of Uwade, Flock of Dimes, and Bon Iver. Today, they’ve returned with new music of their own and their first new recording since 2020’s “Free Love”. The new single “Sunburn,” which was written this past January in Los Angeles, is a frenetic burst of new wave techno with thorny lyrics.
Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn reveal that “Sunburn” is about “eating candy til you’re sick. Riding your bike too fast down a hill. When you’re five years old and don’t want to get out of the water, and by the end you’re shivering and all your fingers are pruny and your lips are turned purple. An undertow that sneaks up unsuspectingly. The painful pulsing pink of swollen eyelids leftover after a day lying in the sun. Plunging forward without time for second-guessing.”
There are a handful of songs that beget a seemingly endless number of covers, from traditional folk songs like “In the Pines” to modern masterpieces like “If It Makes You Happy”—but there are few songwriters whose entire discography has essentially inspired artists of all genres to consistently put their own spin on its robust offerings. Brian Wilson is one of those rare artists (who even covered those songs himself recently), with M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel being the latest in a long, longline of artists reworking the Beach Boy’s tunes to fit their indie-pop mold under their longstanding duet moniker She & Him.
The pair’s forthcoming album “Melt Away: A Tribute to Brian Wilson” is set to arrive on July 22nd, with the first single dropping today in the form of their spirited take on The Beach Boys’ 1967 single “Darlin’.” Arriving with a colourful visual that anachronistically sets the song in the world of 1980s QVC infomercials, the track pays homage to the original’s vocal harmonies while maintaining the ’00s indie-boom sound She & Him have brought into the present. “Zooey and Matt did such mind-blowing versions of our songs,” Wilson commented on the album, per the press release. “The harmonies are beautiful and right on. I love this record!”
“Melt Away”, will see M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel regrouping for the first time in six years. ‘Melt Away: A Tribute to Brian Wilson’, out July 22nd, 2022.
The Up and coming indie rockers from Brighton, led by the alluring singer-songwriter Dana Margolin. Last year they delivered one of the best albums of 2020 with “Every Bad”. Dana Margolin: “I looked through their back catalogue and chose 2 songs to cover that had a big impact on me as a teenager.”
Beginning as Margolin’s sadcore bedroom project, Porridge Radio developed into an idiosyncratic post-punk 4-piece after she moved to Brighton and met her future bandmates. They inelegantly knot together Margolin’s vicious, furious emotional outpourings with beautiful pop melodies. After a series of demos, and the growing legend of their intense live shows, their lofty debut “Rice, Pasta and Other Fillers”came out via Memorials of Distinction in 2016, documenting struggles with life, love and boredom, and showcases the scrapbook absurdism at Porridge Radio’s core.
The band released the second of our two covers for the Sub Pop Singles Club. It’s Wolf Parade’s “You Are A Runner And I Am My Father’s Son“. I remember discovering Wolf Parade’s album “Apologies to theQueen Mary” as a teenager and it blowing my mind. The track “You Are A Runner And I Am My Father’s Son” was always a favourite song from it and I really loved making our own version of it. Feels good to be able to do this! Thank you Sub Pop Records Thanks Sam for playing on it and producing it with me, and Felix Davis for mastering it.
Porridge Radio’s Dana Margolin had this to say about their contribution to the Singles Club Vol. 6: “SubPop are a label I’ve loved for a long time, and when they asked if we wanted to release some songs with them this summer, I looked through their back catalogue and chose two songs to cover that had a big impact on me as a teenager.”
The band’s 2020 Secretly Canadian debut, “Every Bad“, is a culmination of what has been in their head for some time. “Every Bad” arrived full of grand, sweeping ambition – with vocals so urgent that it often feels like it is moved by compulsion rather than choice, with all the rawness of early Karen O, and influences as disparate as Charli XCX and The Cranberries. After receiving wide critical acclaim across the board, “Every Bad” was shortlisted as one of the Hyundai Mercury Prize’s albums of 2020.
21-year-old guitar-pop auteur Jordana Nye, aka Jordana, spends her self-co-produced second album (and studio debut) “Face the Wall” pushing herself to be a better person—”Trying to be what I’m longing to be,” as she sings on “To the Ground.” This requires her to reckon with everything from songwriter’s block (“Like You Used To”) and pot smoke-clouded anxiety attacks (“Pressure Point”) to romantic dysfunction (“Play Fair,” “Catch My Drift”) and her struggles with letting others’ perceptions define her (“I Mean That,” “Get Up”).
Nye is resolute in unpacking these internal conflicts (“Scary truth to acknowledge / But I’ll do it anyway,” she croons on closer “Why”), and she does so over pristine, nimble pop that mines early-2000s nostalgia for meaning (as opposed to a calculated trend-grab): “Face the Wall” is as much about Nye yearning for simpler times as it is her acknowledging her trying present and uncertain future, which is just another facet of her honesty. The record may be a lyrical document of what’s weighing Nye down, but its instrumentation—all of which Nye performed herself—is there to uplift her, as well as the listener, at every turn.
Jordana’s mission is simple: keep trying to be her, even when it’s hard. So it’s no surprise perseverance and self-discovery are central themes on the upcoming record “Face The Wall”, out May 20th on Grand Jury.
Hannah Judge aka Fanclubwallet is fine with not having everything figured out. On her debut album, “You Have Got to Be Kidding Me”, the Ottawa-based musician embraces the transitional phase she found herself in at the beginning of the pandemic after breaking up with her boyfriend, dropping out of university and moving back home to live with her parents. As she navigates shaky ground, let-downs and falling out of love, she does so with shrugged shoulders and casual kitsch. The dizzying drum loops and toy synthesizers elevate her bedroom-pop by giving it an endearing sense of animation. She balances out some of the album’s quirkiness by infusing it with a sense of ennui. It’s as if she’s gotten bored of the constant jokes the universe plays at her expense and is sick of patiently waiting for the punchline.
Through her lyrics, Judge captures the universally relatable feeling of trying to get your life together but not really knowing how, as she confesses to changing her Facebook status to confuse her friends and waking up in someone else’s clothes. Still, it’s all the slightly messy slip-ups and missteps that make “You Have Got to Be Kidding Me” so charming.
Fanclubwallet is a musical project fronted by Hannah Judge. After spending years quietly making music for only her ears to hear and hoarding children’s keyboards, she is finally releasing her own tunes (for the worlds ears to hear)
Hear this rockin single off my upcoming album “You Have Got To Be Kidding Me” out May 20th!!
Following Warren Zevon’s death in 2003, his son, Jordan Zevon, discovered 126 unreleased outtakes and demos in a piano-sized touring case. This discovery would be distilled down to the best of these recordings and eventually released as a 2CD set titled, “Preludes”.
“Preludes” was originally released on CD on May 1st, 2007 for Record Store Day. When the album was released it featured 16 unreleased recordings from Zevon’s personal archives. It also included 6 never before released songs. The release also included a 5-part interview with KGSR’s Jody Denberg from the year 2000. Now, for the first time ever these recordings will be reissued on vinyl.
This release will be pressed for the first time on black vinyl. This double LP set features all of the exclusive bonus tracks as well as a beautiful 20-page perfect bound book, all packaged in a hardbound slipcase.
Camp Trash seemingly burst out of nowhere with their debut EP “Downtiming” at the beginning of 2021, armed with catchy riffs and infectious vocals that ear-wormed their way into your head and wouldn’t let go.
They have only levelled up for their first full length, “The Long Way, The Slow Way”. Crafting songs that somehow feel original but familiar at the same time, Camp Trash blends 90s alternative rock and 2000s emo with pop-punk sensibilities. This LP is going to be the cornerstone of something great- a hallowed cult classic that catapults them into a much larger national audience.
Camp Trash released a new song, ‘Pursuit’, lifted from their forthcoming debut LP “The Long Way, TheSlow Way”. It follows the previously shared tracks ‘Weird Florida’ and ‘Let It Ride’, the latter of which made our Best New Songs list.
“The Long Way, The Slow Way”, the follow-up to last year’s “Downtiming” EP, is set to land on July 1st via Count Your Lucky Stars.
Damien Jurado announces that his new studio album “Reggae Film Star” will be out June 24th on Maraqopa Records digitally and on CD and July 1st on vinyl.
“Day Of The Robot” is the 4th single of “Reggae Film Star”, the forthcoming 18th album by Damien Jurado. This miniature movie in a two and a half minute song is driven by a soulful electric bass groove and a swirling string arrangement.
“Reggae Film Star” is Damien Jurado’s 18th full length studio album and the second on Maraqopa Records. 25 years since his debut album “Waters Ave S”. came out, Jurado is more prolific, driven and creative than ever. The twelve mystical songs on “Reggae Film Star” are gorgeously cinematic and feature a rich production and diverse sonic textures.
“Taped In Front Of A Live Studio Audience” is the single release that accompanies the announcement of “Reggae Film Star”, Damien Jurado’s new album to be released on June 24th 2022 on Maraqopa Records (vinyl street date July 1st). The song is a catchy and snappy pop rock gem with superb melodies that yearn ‘repeat, repeat, repeat’.
Though he’s already put out two full-length albums independently, “DeAnnand Elisabeth“, as well as his “Quiet, Heavy Dreams” EP, “American Heartbreak” be his first official studio album.
Singer/songwriter Zach Bryan releases his long-anticipated album “American Heartbreak” today, via Warner Records. The Oklahoma born and bred country star has been teasing songs from the album for the past several months, each rising higher on social platforms, all culminating with Bryan’s ascent to the prestigious Country Songwriter Chart.
On the story behind “American Heartbreak”, Bryan shares, “I would say true love of anything is supposed to rip your heart out and put it back together all in the same go round. This album to me is all the trials we face day-in and day out and I wrote all the stories on it hoping someone, somewhere might relate or some kid might pick up an instrument and replicate it in an effort to be an artist.”
He further explained, “Some songs are sad, some are happy, some are hopeful, and some are hopeless, all of them mean something different to me and I pray they mean something to someone else. “American Heartbreak” is my effort at trying to explain what being a 26-year-old man in America is like. There’s love, loss, revelry, resentment, and forgiveness all wrapped into one piece of work.
The release of “American Heartbreak” follows Bryan’s milestone of surpassing 1 billion global streams. As previously reported, his recent single “Something in the Orange” The track has amassed over 34.4 million streams to date.
Each of the tracks released to date – “Something In The Orange,” “Highway Boys,” “Late July,” “Open The Gate,” and “From Austin,” have become fan-favourite audience sing-alongs during his spirited live shows. “From Austin” claimed number 1 Country Song on Apple Music, The track was added to numerous flagship streaming playlists on Spotify (All About Country, Hot Country, and Just Good Music); Apple Music (Today’s Country, Country Risers, and Future Hits); and Amazon Music (Fresh Country). On the strength of its deeply personal story, the track has garnered over 37 million global streams.
Song for song, each heartfelt composition encapsulates what makes Bryan’s music so special: a hard-earned authenticity and innate gift for moving song writing. With “American Heartbreak” being his first official studio recorded and produced body of work, the album is sure make a cultural impact to an ardent audience of true believers purely based on the universal appeal of the songs and Bryan’s magnetic live shows.
His recent blistering debut set at Stagecoach Festival was the most talked about event of the weekend and left an indelible impression that will challenge perceptions of modern country music. To date, every show of his first extensive US tour has found him connecting with fans in a Springsteen-esqe communal experience thanks to music and attitude that is simple, undiluted, genuine, and captivating.
The Fat Angel Sings 