As a singer, five solo LPs plus recordings with Meat Loaf, The Clash, Ian Hunter & Mick Ronson. Acting includes film and stage productions of “Hair,” TV series “Night Court,” and more.
Working with everybody Ellen Foley released a trilogy of albums in the late ‘70s/early ‘80s that achieved a cultish renown, but then she moved on to theater, TV, and film work. She re-emerged as a recording artist with 2013’s spare, rootsy “About Time”, buoyed by songwriter Paul Foglino. Overdue follow-up “Fighting Words” finds Foglino’s tunes reigniting Foley’s rock ‘n’ roll fire, and her ageless, bigger-than-life pipes are more than up to the task. Being backed by the cream of NYC rock stalwarts doesn’t hurt either.
released August 6th, 2021
Players: Guitar: Slim Simon, Paul Foglino, Michael Jung, Stephen B. Antonakos Bass: C.P. Roth, Mark Ettinger, Paul Foglino, J.C. Chmiel Keyboards: C.P. Roth, Mark Ettinger Drums: Steve Goulding, C.P. Roth Vocals: Ula Hedwig, Rachelle Garniez, Karla DeVito (duet on I’m Just Happy To Be Here)
Flat White Moon’ is the eighth studio album from indie veterans Field Music. Commenced before 2020’s ‘Making A New World’ had even been released, the Brewis brothers called on the music they loved as kids for the primary sonic influences, using the upbeat disposition of those classic rock sounds as a counterpoint to the bleak, highly personal nature of many of the album’s themes. It’s fair to assert that Field Music don’t make bad albums, but it’s still worth highlighting the considerable quality of their latest, ‘Flat White Moon’. Shimmering opening track ‘Orion From The Street’ features cascading piano lines which array themselves in the soundstage before you, wider percussive aspects framing a sensory carnival. The detail is taken very seriously indeed and it’s noticeable just how alive the bass and acoustic guitar sound across the whole record.
As musicians, brothers David and Peter Brewis are able to pay homage to these records in their own way, blending the influence of their parents’ sophisti-pop and Brit-funk records into the slightly anachronistic sounds they’ve experimented with over the past few decades as Field Music.
‘Not When You’re In Love’ comes on like ‘I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun’ before frenetic percussion makes full use of the stereo spectrum. The Brewis brothers’ consistently inventive capacity for building an angular musical landscape is remarkable and the clear, near silent vinyl Optimal cut that I’ve played often this year is a joy to experience.
With their latest collection, “Flat White Moon“, arriving this Friday, Peter Brewis took the time to discuss some of these influences with us. “David and me were lucky that our parents were the perfect age to grow up alongside the explosion of popular music from the early ’60s onwards,” he shares. “Our mam especially, being a youth worker, kept up with mainstream UK contemporary pop music pretty much ’til the end of the century. The records that she bought and played throughout our childhood were pretty much dismissed by me and David when we went ‘alternative’ and sought out our own musical choices—then when we rediscovered them it was a little surprising how much of it has become part of our musical makeup.
Hopefully you’ve been with The Coral since their celebrated, self-titled, mercury prize-nominated debut in 2002, are a lapsed fan or have never heard of them before, ‘Coral Island’ which is the 10th body of work from the legendary Merseyside band – is a joy for the ears & soul….& the dinked edition is another pretty special offering too. Three years on from 2018’s unconvincing ‘Move Through The Dawn’, The Coral have returned with possibly their finest release to date. ‘Coral Island’ is loosely themed around different seasons in a seaside location, songs woven together by spoken language excerpts from a work of fiction entitled ‘Over Coral Island’, written by the band’s keyboard player, Nick Power. Such stitching is atmospheric but don’t go thinking this is some impenetrable concept album.
The Coral have come a long way in their 25 years together from a ragtag group of Merseyside teens hopped up on old Deram Records sides into one of most astute acts in modern UK rock. Now as men in the throes of middle age, they’ve turned around and delivered some of the most English Britpop since Blur’s The Great Escape.
The wheels rattle into the thrilling unknown on the Coral’s first ever double-album, which finds the unsurpassed, metamorphic gonzo-pop five-piece remaining wilfully & delightfully idiosyncratic. still heavily influenced by the classic song-writing of love, the Beatles & the Byrds, the psych-folk popsters remain inventive as they weave spoken word & cinematic instrumental interludes amongst the glorious melding of their retro melodies, guitar twang, 60s psychedelia & folk-rock influences.
Squinting into the neon-lit penny arcades & draining an after hours glass with the displaced & dispossessed once the power is pulled, The Coral’s latest caper concerns listeners with the light, shade, thrills & profound melancholy of coastal palaces packed with fun & fright.
Recorded in a sense of barely-controlled, copy & paste chaos at Parr Street studios in Liverpool, ‘Coral Island’ was written & performed by the multi-instrumentalist & multi-talented line-up of James Skelly, IanSkelly, Nick Power,Paul Duffy & Paul Molloy plus a special guest.
Few of their peers from the 00s indie boom are so hale and hearty; 20 years into their career, the Merseyside band made their most ambitious album, and one of their best. It’s a double concept album about a seaside resort, and captures those towns’ blend of buckets-and-spades buoyancy and out-of-season malaise; gorgeous harmonies flow through jangling psych-pop and touches of northern soul, though there’s also creepy rockabilly emanating from the ghost train and ballads for lonely fishermen at the end of the pier.
The 2LP set, pressed at Takt in Poland and silent other than a couple of slightly noisy run-in grooves, sounds fulsome and maintains decent separation during the jubilant jangle of ebullient highlights ‘Change Your Mind’ and ‘Take Me Back To The Summertime’. There are nods to the frenetic psych of their early output alongside more melancholic mid-paced treats like ‘Strange Illusions’. James Skelly’s voice only seems to be improving with age and such is the quality of the song writing that a double album at this stage in their career is most welcome.
Sometimes “Dinked” is about bringing new music to new fans. sometimes it’s about bringing old music to new fans. sometimes it’s about bringing old fans to new music. sometimes it’s about rekindling an old love. The band’s album ‘Coral Island’ released on 30th April 2021.
Loney dear is the singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Emil Svanängen’s idiosyncratic musical project where classic song-writing meets complex productions – both wide open and uplifting as well as sensitive and heart breaking…While Emil Svanängen’s stage moniker as Loney dear may not quite be a household name, those who have encountered him in the past rarely forget his work. A run of gorgeous records during the Noughties – ‘Citadel Band’, ‘Sologne’, ‘Loney, Noir’ and, most notably, ‘Dear John’ – ensured he was one of those artists you heard playing in your local indie store and ended up buying as a result.
Recorded by Svanángen with producer Emanuel Lundgren in a mythical studio on western Södermalm in Stockholm, ‘A Lantern and A Bell’ is Loney dear’s second album for Real World, following 2017’s self-titled release. Maritime themes permeate across ‘A Lantern and A Bell’ – the album arrives bearing artwork depicting the international nautical flag for distress and Emil’s voice is frequently bolstered by diffused water sounds at dark low frequencies and the calls of sea birds. For those who know their Loney dear, the constant references to sea and ships are hardly something new. “All that is an important part of my inner life, maybe a romantic dream of adventure, but also a phobia, a danger I cannot help but be drawn to,” says Emil; “Near where I live, freighters pass by every day and the sounds of their engines get into my head. And further into the music.”
Speaking about Emil’s new record – on which he has consulted as a sounding board, Real World label founder Peter Gabriel says; “Sad soulful melodies that create space in your head that fill with memories dreams and tenderness. I am very proud that we are working with such a gifted songwriter. When you’re isolating, what better than to be wrapped up in these beautiful imaginative constructions – the work of a master.” ‘Mute / All Things Pass’ and ‘Trifles’ both explore tone and intensity to great effect while the plangent tip-toe tune of ‘Go Easy On Me Now’ is accompanied by a staggeringly direct vocal performance that must be heard. Any format will suffice for such magnificent music, but the vinyl has been done very well indeed considering the beautiful nature of the recording. With each listen, I think I love this album a little more. Everyone I’ve recommended it to has said something similar,
This really is excellent, his voice sounds like magic and these are all beautifully crafted songs.
The Anchoress‘ (aka Welsh multi-instrumentalist Catherine Anne Davies) second album has rightly been lauded by critics and is truly a joy from start to finish. “The Art of Losing‘s” strength is largely down to a collection of superb songs, and there are so many of them!. The synth-driven title track’s deliberate juxtaposition of a poppy “do-do-do-do-do” refrain against lyrics like “do you want the marks to prove that you do matter more than he says” is just one example of intricate craft and unrestrained artistry at play. The self-production is entirely fitting for such an honest record and the attention to detail is well-served across an excellent Optimal double vinyl pressing. There’s 14 tracks in total, but actually four of these are short piano interludes (with two top-and-tailing the record) so that leaves us with ten ‘proper’ songs, which I’m sure you would agree is a perfect for an album.
‘Let It Hurt’ is a melodic, mournful, mid-paced piano-led number and the pace never lets up on ‘Show Your Face’ which is a pulsing, driving track with crunching guitars. On ‘The Exchange’, James Dean Bradfield duets (returning the favour of 2018, when The Anchoress delivered guest vocals on ‘Dylan &Caitlin’ on the Manic Street Preachers’ Resistance is Futile). ‘Unravel’ boasts ‘Running Up That Hill’-style drums and the truly remarkable ‘5am’ which would only be spoilt by a precis of its message here. Seek it out, take in the meticulous sleeve notes and just listen. It is just piano, voice and strings; it’s achingly sad and beautiful. The title track brings together everything that is good about The Art of Losing in four minutes and six seconds.
The overriding theme here is of loss; the lyrics are heartfelt and Catherine’s voice and delivery really sucks you in. The songs manage to pull off the rare feat of sounding both satisfyingly ‘classic’, structurally – in rock/pop terms – but also edgy and dark, with enough angles in the production/arrangements to keep the listener engaged.
Even if this collection of songs wasn’t more than the sum of its parts, it would still be superb, but when brought together and thoughtfully sequenced, with those interludes, the magic happens. It’s a truly exceptional album.
There was a smart looking 3CD deluxe at the time of release, which included all sorts of bonus tracks. Sadly, I missed out on that (argh!), but a new, expanded single CD, with five bonus acoustic tracks, is released in March .
There are albums, for which the first listen is a curious mix of emotions. Spacious, delicate and precise recordings can simultaneously wow one’s heart and make the brain flutter. The realisation that it is a keeper can be rapidly offset by a fear that the vinyl edition might not be much cop. After the less-than-stellar pressing afforded their 2014 delight, ‘Familiars’, the return of The Antlers was cause for such mixed emotions.
2011’s ‘Burst Apart’ is an album that everyone should own, offering a soulful, jazzy indie-Prince approach that still sounds sublime and suited the analogue realm perfectly. 2017’s ‘Impermanence’, a solo effort from beleaguered frontman Peter Silberman, was the product of him reframing his song writing in light of debilitating tinnitus and revelled in the notion of quiet.
As a result, The Antlers’ ‘Gold To Green’ is similarly muted at points, although the lineage from ‘Familiars’ remains logical. The beautiful gatefold sleeve follows the colour scheme dictated by the record’s title and houses an excellent cut via Optimal. The lulling, enveloping build towards the end of ‘Volunteer’ will make you long for an overgrown field in which to mooch or laze, while the title track possesses the languid slinkiness that so impressed a decade ago. The standout is, arguably, ‘Solstice’ which chimes serenely despite a “wo-ah-woah” chorus that feels ever so slightly beset with anguish. Transgressive have delivered a pleasingly affordable, near-silent pressing that does justice to this mesmerising album.
The Antlers are a very special band indeed. “Solstice” by The Antlers from the album ‘Green To Gold’, available now
I heard about O’Rourke’s new album in a piece about Paul Weller. “Arrivals” features O’Rourke’s first new material in two years and brings us the most emotionally raw and affecting album of his career. Produced by Paul Weller at Black Barn Studios, Surrey, the sound is stripped back to Declan’s soulful and resonant voice, the virtuosic acoustic guitar playing for which he’s renowned and only the occasional sparse arrangement of strings and late-night drums bringing colour and light to the LP’s 10 songs. Weller, a fan of Declan’s song writing for some years, also adds his multi-instrumental abilities, including a beautiful piano accompaniment, to the closing track. With Weller is in the producer’s chair and this seemed to suggest it might be worth sampling. Not long into ‘In Painters’ Light’, the album’s opening track, I was hooked and it soon felt like there was a logical link between this and Weller’s 2018 pastoral delight, ‘True Meanings’. “Arrivals” features O’Rourke’s first new material in two years and brings us the most emotionally raw and affecting album of his career.
While this record is exactly the sort of thing that pithy ‘also released’ review round-ups tag singer-songwriter and move on, there’s much more to it than O’Rourke’s weathered voice and acoustic guitar. Not that those two ingredients aren’t excellent, but when lyrics add “Johnny cooks a steak from Lidls on a Friday night” and “when you live by the weather every wind has a tail” it ensures you don’t treat ‘Arrivals’ as background music.
Sympathetic but understated strings mix with delicate organ parts as O’Rourke paints landscapes, toys with narratives and gets under the listener’s skin. Fans of the late, great Gavin Clark could find an echo of his masterful communication in these skilfully arranged tracks. A slow-burning delight, Give it time and attention and you may find yourself similarly smitten.
Produced by Jack Shirley (Deafhaven, Joyce Manor, Whirr, Jeff Rosenstock). Pardoner is a force to be reckoned with; melding slacker rock attitude with pummelling hardcore for a visceral sound not unlike a trip to the dentist’s office and a novacaine high. “Came Down Different” features some of their most pop moments yet, even occasionally ditching the foreman shouting for genuine hooks.
The band even has their own visual language, with record sleeves, tour posters, and t-shirts adorned with Flanigan’s distinct, psychedelic drawings. Pardoner has been a fixture of the San Francisco DIY scene for years, and released their debut album on Father/ DaughterRecords in 2016. Since then, they have done noticable West Coast touring, having played gigs with Emily Yacina, Moaning, Momma, Pllush, Shamir, and Versing, amongst others. I love this album! , For a second I thought you guys were going to break up, and I’m so glad you didn’t.
The past few years have been full of reasons to fall apart, and Bay Area rockers Pardoner very nearly went that way. Max Freeland (vocals, guitar), Trey Flanigan (vocals, guitar) and River van den Berghe (drums) bonded over Yo La Tengo and Polvo in the San Francisco State University dorms, formed Pardoner, and released a pair of warm and fuzzy guitar-rock records, 2017’s “Uncontrollable Salvation” (via Father/Daughter) and 2019’s “Playin’ on a Cloud“. But when Freeland lived out many Americans’ Tr*mp-era fantasies by relocating to Vancouver (home of Pardoner’s friends and peers Dumb) that same year, it appeared the band was also on its way out.
Fortunately for us, Pardoner wobbled, but didn’t fall, adding an old friend in Colin Burris (bass), and reuniting in San Francisco to record “Came Down Different“—their forthcoming third album and Bar/None Records debut, came out May in a two-day spree with veteran hardcore producer Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Jeff Rosenstock). The results, thus far, have jumped right out of our headphones, including the sardonic slacker rock of lead single “Donna Said” and the Parquet Courts-esque shredder “Spike,” which we hailed as one of March’s best tracks. The third and final single ahead of the band’s new record, “Bunny’s Taxi.”
Pardoner makes music fit for these singular times: Right around the corner is a sunny, vaccinated summer, full of explosive celebration, but by no means free of simmering rage. “Donna Said” melded rock of the noise and jangle varieties while documenting the draining demands of the music-industry rat race (“When you got feelings and guitar / You wanna trade it for cash”), while “Spike” moved a mile a minute to reflect its anti-exploitative sentiments (“Step up on some grapes / They want wine / They want twice the results / In half of the time”). These are songs about being cash-strapped, anonymous and squeezed dry by society (just like those grapes), but somehow having the last laugh all the same.
“Bunny’s Taxi” keeps an eye on that same everyday dehumanization, but takes more of a big-picture view of such everyone-for-themselves struggles, mocking the thoughtlessness of following your bliss wherever. “C’mon and do what you want / If it makes you feel good, how could it be wrong? / C’mon and do what you want to,” Freeland urges over shrieking guitars, going on to drone, “I threw my cares off the cliff / I didn’t care who I hit / The tourists shouted in French / But it’s all Greek to me.” Elsewhere, Pardoner reference their hometown antihero Dirty Harry, deliver wrist-shattering drums and red-hot riffs that land somewhere between shoegaze and surf-rock, and conjure a truly harrowing metaphor for life (and “leisure”) under late capitalism on a dying planet: “If you need me / I’m watching TV in the oven with a gun to the back of my head, fuck.”
“Wary + Strange”, the breakout album from Tennessee artist Amythyst Kiah, isn’t just a great country album: it’s a great album in all aspects, that’s not afraid to speak truth to power. If the arrangements are a faithful rendering of American roots tradition—Appalachian instruments, cyclical construction, warm vocals with a touch of timbre—her lyrics function in the exact opposite, deconstructing country tropes to expose deep-seated biases and uncomfortable truths. The Grammy-nominated “Black Myself” exhumes the racist skeletons in country music’s closet, “Wild Turkey” develops country’s thematic obsession with booze into a devastating reflection on suicide, and “Fancy Drones” decries the dehumanization of modern technology.
By “Soapbox (Reprise),” she’s tamed her demons, bared her soul, and shattered our preconceptions of roots music—not as a means of entertainment, but rather a defiant act of self-preservation. “You can keep your sophistry/ Save my brain from atrophy,” Kiah sings, “I have my own hand that feeds/ I don’t need what you think.” As listeners, we’re just lucky to bear witness.
The Fat Angel Sings 