The Fat Angel Sings

Though Parquet Courts just released a new album, “Sympathy For Life” in October, the New York City indie tastemakers still have gas left in the tank. On Tuesday, Parquet Courts debuted a new single, “Watching Strangers Smile”, live on the Ellen Show.

The song actually came from the same recording sessions that birthed Sympathy For Life. The track’s simplistically infectious keyboard hook signals it as a clear relative of the band’s new party-inspired LP, its seventh overall. Though the instrumentation gives off a loose, friendly atmosphere, A. Savage‘s barking vocals suggest the shredded DNA of the New York outfit fans have come to know over the past decade.

“Interestingly enough, this song is the b-side to the ‘Black Widow Spider’ single, which was released only in Japan via Big Love Records,” A. Savage said in a statement. “The music was recorded during the sessions for “Sympathy for Life”, but it was left unfinished. I recorded the vocals on my own to sort of keep from going stir crazy that first lockdown summer. Apologies to my neighbours for the long afternoon spent screaming these vocals in my bedroom.”

The performance on Ellen comes ahead of an impending spring 2022 tour for Parquet Courts, set to begin on February 27th 

Sharon Van Etten has never needed much room to make a grand statement. With four albums diligently released during the last six years, she’s become one of music’s most astute new cartographers of the heart, able to capture emotional trials and triumphs with incisive lines and a voice that loses nothing in the translation and transmission of feelings. Her second record, ‘Epic’, needed only seven tracks to live up to its title. Her subsequent albums, 2012’s ‘Tramp’ and last year’s ‘Are We There’, went longer, but Van Etten managed still to squeeze enormous sentiments into especially small spaces. From start to rising stardom, Van Etten has forever understood the impact of economy.

It should come as no surprise, then, that Van Etten’s latest five-song EP, ‘I Don’t Want to Let You Down’, functions as much more than some between-albums, on-tour stopgap. In only 22 minutes, Van Etten offers documents of surrender and disappointment, admission and longing. The songs are as sophisticated and evolved as anything Van Etten has ever done.

Produced by Van Etten and “Are We There” producing partner Stewart Lerman, the EP features a sterling crew of collaborators: Heather Woods Broderick (keyboards, strings, vocals), Doug Keith (guitar), Zeke Hutchins (drums), Brad Cook (bass), Darren Jesse (drums), Peter Broderick (strings), Stuart Bogie (woodwinds), and The War On Drugs’ Adam Granduciel (guitar) and Dave Hartley (bass).Vinyl with Download.

With an atmospheric, shimmering sounds and the powerful, unearthly vocals of singer/keyboardist Karen Peris, Lancaster, Pennsylvania’s The Innocence Mission — who formed in the ’80s and released their great 12th studio album in 2020 — were compared to The Cocteau Twins when they weren’t being compared to 10,000 Maniacs. They toured with the latter but admit to the influence of the former. “The obvious thing is that we were stunned by the voice of Elizabeth Fraser, and by the sweep and atmosphere of the guitars, of the music played by Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde,” Peris tells us. “It was music that created its own world and was transportive.

But also, it was as if Cocteau Twins brought about a cultural shift in some way, an embracing of music that would be impactful because of the magnitude of its beauty, and that did not need to conform to the music of the times but was its own. That was significant and inspiring to us and to our friends. I think there was a freedom in that, that could be felt by any other person who wanted to make music, in addition to the work ethic that one could hear clearly on their albums, to aspire to.”

The Innocence Mission’s sound mutated, softened and mellowed over the years, eventually finding a fan in Cocteau Twins’ Simon Raymonde who signed them to his label, Bella Union Records.

Ducks Ltd. — formerly Ducks Unlimited — have an unapologetic love of ’80s jangle-pop, and they have done their homework as far as that niche goes. The duo geeks out over underrated Reagan-era acts like Close Lobsters, McCarthy, the Clean, the Bats, and anything else on New Zealand’s Flying Nun roster. But that isn’t to say Tom McGreevy and Evan Lewis are carbon copies — Ducks Ltd. put their own spin on a classic sound, most recently heard on their chiming (and charming) debut album, “Modern Fiction”, which is clearly inspired by classics like the Feelies and the Go-Betweens but also pulls from more modern indie staples such as Real Estate and Beach Fossils. They’re a valuable addition to the canon.

Toronto duo Ducks Ltd are clearly inspired by bookish ’80s UK guitar indie, and while they might agree that shyness is nice, there is nothing wimpy about their debut album. “Modern Fiction” is endlessly hooky janglepop played with gusto, conviction, and wit. They may promise never to break hearts but the same cannot be said of guitar strings.

With standout releases by artists ranging from Jane Inc. to Bernice to PACKS, 2021 has found Toronto’s indie rock underground emerging as one of the most interesting, sonically cohesive music scenes in North America. Ducks Ltd., are a duo comprised of guitarists Evan Lewis and Tom Mcgreevy, play into the musical tropes of their Canadian hometown, while simultaneously paying homage to ‘80s New Zealand punk. Get Bleak, an expanded reissue of the band’s 2019 EP, surges with the sounds of Flying Nun artists like The Bats, The Chills, and The Clean.

Twee song writing is framed by minimal production and laidback melodies. “Gleaming Spires” and the EP’s title track wouldn’t sound out of place in a surfing compilation, but more driving cuts like “Oblivion” and “Anhedonia” show that Ducks Ltd. aren’t hung up on tropical pleasantries. As someone who came of age in the heyday of Captured Tracks’ nostalgia revival, putting on Get Bleak makes me wistful for my youth, but the record never plays like a feigned antiquity

Night Crickets, the trio of David J (Bauhaus, Love & Rockets), Victor DeLorenzo (Violent Femmes) and Darwin Meiners, will release their debut album, “A Free Society“, in a couple weeks time, and here’s a preview track. “Candlestick Park” is lovely homage to The Beatles in a night time psychedelic folk pop style.

“’Candlestick Park’ is based on the story of my teen parents being at the park when the Beatles played their final show in 1966 and me taking my children to see Paul there right before it was torn down in 2014,” says Darwin. “It represents three generations connected by their music. David encouraged me to write about it and was inclined to lend his hand as well. The three of us are massive Beatles fans so what you hear is us each paying homage to the lads for what they mean to us and also recognizing the place that dirty, old park played in so many lives throughout the years.”

Night Crickets, is a trio of David J (Bauhaus, Love & Rockets), Victor DeLorenzo (Violent Femmes) and Darwin Meiners, who will release their debut album, “A Free Society“, through Chirp Music, under exclusive license to Omnivore Recordings Released on: 2022-01-07

Listening to Indigo Sparke’s music can feel like watching a star flicker in the dark country sky: from afar it can seem small and insubstantial, but once you consider the amount of energy that ripples through it, the moment can suddenly feel overwhelming in its intensity. Indigo Sparke brings her deeply personal lived experiences to her music, highlighting the spaces between the polarity of softness and grit. Pulling from her experiences of addiction, of healing, of queerness, of heartbreak, of joy, of connection, of the softness and of the grit alchemizing it all into tenderness through her music, she conjures up a myriad of feelings that is undeniably potent.

Amid the soft glow of finger-picked guitar and delicate touches of piano, the Sydney-based singer-songwriter often uses that kind of cosmic language to relate her own experience on her debut album, “Echo”: “I have pulled apart the cosmos/ Trying to find you inside,” she sings on ‘Carnival’; on ‘Wolf’, she implores, “Come upstairs, let me show you all the parts you haven’t seen/ There’s a hell, there’s a heaven, there’s a universe exploding,” before comparing her lover to the moon. Recorded between Los Angeles, Italy, and New York, the follow-up to 2016’s Nightbloom EP was co-produced by Adrianne Lenker and frequent Big Thief collaborator Andrew Sarlo; the result is a mesmerizing record that’s charged with emotional intimacy without ever losing its poetic, intangible qualities. “Everything is dying,” she tenderly intones against the ghostly echo of an instrumental, “Everything is simple.”

“Castle Demos” is a cassette only exclusive of demo’s from Indigo Sparke’s latest album “Echo”. Indigo’s incredible song writing takes on an entirely new and equally as moving form here.

Indigo Sparke debut album ‘Echo’ co produced by Adrianne Lenker, is a deep and intimate ode to death, decay and the restless feeling of wanting to belong to something greater.

Released February 19th, 2021

Gang of Youths have shared another new song, ‘In the Wake of Your Leave’, taken from their upcoming album “Angel in Realtime”. The track follows previous entries ‘The Angel of 8th Ave.’, ‘Unison’, ‘The Man Himself’ and ‘Tend the Garden’. The album is about the life and legacy of Dave’s father, indigenous identity, death, grief and God. And also the Angel, Islington.

Despite and indeed because of frontman Dave Le’aupepe’s father’s absence, his influence permeates every talking point that the album offers. At times it’s solely focused upon the precise, personal experiences of loss: the dichotomy of intensity and peace that comes as someone passes through their final days; the overwhelming feeling in the wake of their death that life will never be the same, even if the rest of the world at large remains utterly unchanged.

“I wanted to reflect on how I became dependent on grief for solace and inspiration,” frontman Dave Le’aupepe said of the song in a statement. “The cycle from numbness to acceptance to yearning plays a role in my approach to grieving my dad’s death. As a result, most of the time, I feel a bit futile as a person.”

Although the album is eclectic – influences range from American minimalism and contemporary classical, to drawing upon the legacy of Britain’s alternative/indie scenes, from drum ‘n’ bass to the most transcendent moments of Britpop – it’s equally rooted in Le’aupepe’s Samoan heritage, with the majority of tracks featuring samples from David Fanshawe’s recordings of indigenous music from the Polynesian islands and the wider South Pacific. “Angel in Realtime” also features contributions from a cast of talented Pasifika and Māori vocalists and instrumentalists.

Gang of Youths is an Australian indie rock group from Sydney. The band consists of principal songwriter David Le’aupepe, Max Dunn, Jung Kim, Donnie Borzestowski, and Tom Hobden.

we are also fortunate to announce that these songs will be played live for you all, in realtime., on our 2022 world tour. pre-order “Angel in Realtime”. from our official store to get early access to tickets.

“Angel in Realtime” is the follow-up to 2017’s “Go Farther In Lightness“, due for release on February 25th via Warner Records.

Minneapolis duo’s The Cactus Blossoms have enlisted Jenny Lewis for shared vocals on a new track called ‘Everybody’. It’s lifted from their upcoming third album, “One Day”, which is due for release on February 11th. Brothers Jack Torrey and Page Burkum previously previewed the record with the single ‘Hey Baby’. Torrey said in a statement about the new track: “Have you ever heard the saying “everyone is just doing the best they can”? I wanted to put that idea into a song. It started out as a kind of sad one-sided story, but when I heard it in my head as a back and forth between two people and imagined Jenny singing the lines it became something different. I’m so glad she was up for it, because without her I don’t think it would have the hopefulness that I was looking for.”

“Have you ever heard the saying ‘everyone is just doing the best they can’? I wanted to put that idea into a song,” The Cactus Blossoms’ Jack Torrey says of their new single, which features vocals from Jenny Lewis. “It started out as a kind of sad one-sided story, but when I heard it in my head as a back and forth between two people and imagined Jenny singing the lines it became something different. I’m so glad she was up for it, because without her I don’t think it would have the hopefulness that I was looking for.”

“Everybody” (feat. Jenny Lewis) by The Cactus Blossoms, Our new album “One Day will be released on February 11th, 2022! We had a lot of fun making it and can’t wait for you to hear it. You can listen to our new single “Hey Baby” now on your favourite digital channels. Be sure to follow us on those so you hear more new music as it comes out.

Elvis Costello & The Imposters have released another track, ‘Farewell”, which will appear on their forthcoming album “The Boy Named If”.

Elvis Costello and The Imposters new album “The Boy Named If”, features urgent, immediate songs with bright melodies, guitar solos that sting and a quick step to the rhythm.

Costello tell us, ”The full title of this record is ‘The Boy Named If (And Other Children’s Stories).’ ‘IF,’ is a nickname for your imaginary friend; your secret self, the one who knows everything you deny, the one you blame for the shattered crockery and the hearts you break, even your own.”

“Like a lot of good rock and roll songs this began with a drummer down in a basement and a singer howling outside the backdoor,” Costello explained in a statement about ‘Farewell, OK.” It’s a blurred gaze, a drink too much, an accidental punch and a kiss goodnight all in the tumult of a dancehall.”

Produced by Sebastian Krys and Elvis Costello – the album is a collection of thirteen snapshots, “That take us from the last days of a bewildered boyhood to that mortifying moment when you are told to stop acting like a child – which for most men (and perhaps a few gals too) can be any time in the next fifty years,” as Costello put it.

“The Boy Named If” is due to arrive on January 14th. It includes the previously unveiled songs ‘Paint the Red Rose Blue’ and ‘Magnificent Hurt’.

Let’s Eat Grandma have shared a new song called ‘Happy New Year’, the latest offering from their upcoming album “Two Ribbons£. Following the song ‘Hall of Mirrors’ and the title track, the single comes with an accompanying video featuring Let’s Eat Grandma’s Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth playing a tennis match.

“I wrote ‘Happy New Year’ after a breakdown between us that lasted for a long period of time, to communicate to her how important she is to me and how our bond and care for each other goes much deeper than this difficult time,” Walton explained in a statement. “I used the setting of New Year as both an opportunity for reflection, looking back nostalgically through childhood memories that we shared, and to represent the beginning of a fresh chapter for us. I’d been struggling to come to terms with the fact that our relationship had changed, but as the song and time progresses I come to accept that it couldn’t stay the way it was when we were kids forever, and start to view it as a positive thing — because now we have been able to grow into our own individual selves.”

“Two Ribbons”, releases on April 8th via Transgressive Records.