The Fat Angel Sings

Eliza Shaddad returns with remarkable new album ‘The Woman You Want‘ due for release on 16th July 2021. Critically acclaimed Sudanese-Scottish artist Eliza Shaddad returns to the fore with the release of exquisite new album The Woman You Want. Raised across seven countries, Eliza Shaddad is the daughter of a Sudanese astrophysicist and a Scottish diplomat. A multi-linguist with a philosophy degree, Eliza studied jazz at London’s Guildhall before self- producing her first EP, recorded with Clean Bandit’s Jack Patterson. Eliza has released three EPs and one LP

Produced by BJ Jackson (Childcare/To Kill A King), mixed by Grammy Award winner Sam Okell (PJ Harvey/Celeste/Graham Coxon), mastered by Tim Rowkins (Rina Sawayama) and featuring guest appearances from the likes of Micheal Jablonka (Michael Kiwanuka) on guitar, ‘The Woman You Want’ is a journey that celebrates the full spread of Eliza’s musical range and writing prowess.

Sprawling from the introspective folk-influenced sounds of ‘Blossom’, to the sharp post-grunge strums of ‘Fine & Peachy’, to the achingly beautiful string-laden soundscapes of ‘In The Morning (Grandmother Song)’, Eliza’s raw riff-driven cinematic trademark sound is at the forefront throughout.

Lead single ‘Heaven’ is a call to hope and a plea to keep going. Written whilst Eliza was visiting family in hospital and then later in the first UK lockdown, the single and the video are a poignant reminder that life can get better and it’s worth holding on to. This theme is threaded through much of the album – Eliza Shaddad explains. “I was wrestling with the idea of wanting to be a better human, a better woman, a better wife, better friend, better daughter while writing and recording… and not really feeling capable of it… so I was asking myself all these questions – and as a result the record, and even the title ‘The Woman You Want’ is me trying to find a way out of that – and a direct challenge to what we expect of ourselves.”

More than anything, ‘The Woman You Want’ is Shaddad’s melding of the myriad, kaleidoscopic influences that make this such a vivid listening experience. It’s a reconciliation of culture, identity, the traditional and the brand new; the culmination of a year’s work and a moving portrait of a truly unique artist. 

Released July 16th, 2021

All songs written by Eliza Shaddad
Except Waiting Game; written by Eliza Shaddad and Ben Christophers.

Following a trip to Japan for two packed-out Tokyo shows at the start of 2020, Swimming Tapes suddenly found themselves, like most bands, unable to write and perform together. This stifling of creative output and collaboration drove Lou Price to start putting songs together himself; something he had done in partnership with his band-mates and best-friends for many years.

The result of this isolation is “Parkside Grooming” – a collection of indie-pop songs which see Price wear his heart on his sleeve, allowing himself to push past barriers and become far more personal with his song writing. Across the EP, he touches on the breakdown of his parents’ marriage when he was a child “Caroline”, anger and confusion about the government response to the pandemic “Figure It Out” / “Hit Me Up” and the financial stresses and strains of living in London as a musician “Hang Tight”.

Lou Price – Parkside Grooming released through Hand In Hive Records.

Released July 16th, 2021

Written, produced and recorded by Lou Price
All instruments played by Lou Price
Drum overdubs by Paddy Baird
Backing vocals by Will Blackaby + Zoe Mead

If this isn’t the catchiest song since, I dunno “Crazy” or “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” then I don’t know what would be. All I know is that I wish this song was 24 hours long and had 2000 verses. This has got to be the greatest debut single in years. I can’t decide what I like the most…. the hilarious filthy lyrics, the cold detached vocal style, the great bass line, the “excuse me – what” hook, the guitar freak-out… I love everything about this song. If the rest of the material is anywhere near as good as this then they’re going to be massive.

Already feeling a strong “Song of the Summer” vibe about this one. My summer anyway!

So far Wet Leg’s Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers have only released one song, via the Domino label, and this is it. There’s little information about them, other than what appears on the Domino Recording’s

Amidst a night of hazy scenes in their native Isle of Wight, Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers found themselves at the summit of a Ferris wheel.

They decided to start a band. The band is called Wet Leg. Arming themselves with guitars, a penchant for French disco, effervescent imaginations and a shared love of the The Ronettes and Jane Birkin, through to Ty Segall and Bjork, they set about making some recordings of their own.

Is that a Faust sample loaded into their drum machine? Wet Leg will be performing next weekend at the Latitude Festival in Suffolk, England.

Te Whanganui-a-Tara’s French For Rabbits have at last unveiled the title track to their forthcoming new album “The Overflow“, While sounding soothing and centred, the gorgeous dream-pop offering is in fact inspired by personal states of anxiety and near-panic, feelings familiar to many in our music community as Brooke Singer explained…

“Nobody needs to hear about the admin of an indie musician, but I can tell you – it could be a mountain higher than Everest if you let it… At times, I’ve found myself on the edge of burn-out and having panic attacks… I dream of living in a cabin by a river, with a dog and fireplace and a simple life with friends around for dinner. But I’m also filled to the brim with ideas for projects, new songs and new challenges…”

French For Rabbits have also released an enchanting, citrus-tinted video for their new single embodying the delicate balancing act of everyday living — directed, produced by and starring Singer with bandmates John Fitzgerald, Ben Lemi, Penelope Esplin and Hikurangi Schaverien-Kaa.

The Overflow is the title track from French for Rabbits’ forthcoming album which is being released by AAA records, Reckless Yes (UK).

“Always Repeating”, Runnner’s debut for Run For Cover Records, yearns for a sense of place.
The project of the now LA-based songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Noah Weinman, Runnner’s poignant reflections on the isolation and anxiety caused by a sense of rootlessness radiate with wit and charm. While writing the songs that now span “Always Repeating”, he floated between Providence, Los Angeles, and New York. “It’s like I sing about these places yearning to be there, but also knowing full well that what I’m really missing is the people I met and the experiences I had,” Weinman explains. “I get restless and frustrated in my present, and romanticize my past while pushing myself into some different chapter—one that usually starts with me in a dark place and some songs in my journal. These songs end up being the constant for me over the years.” Always Repeating, self-produced and recorded wherever he called home at the time, documents this cycle of looking back and moving forward, of alienation changing to reconciliation.

The 10-track collection is composed of five re-recorded versions of songs that appeared on Runnner’s 2017 debut, “Awash”, and 2020’s “One of One” EP. Although the songs were written over the course of three years, all find Weinman grappling with the same thing: feelings of uncertainty about his life.

After leaving college, his friends, and his beloved life in Ohio, Weinman made the reluctant decision to move back to his hometown of Los Angeles; not because he wanted to, but because he wasn’t sure where else to go. It was an extremely isolating time and that existential dread pervades the music. “I began to feel like all of the people I knew and had met maybe never really existed,” Weinman explains. “I fell out of touch with everyone. It was really lonely. I wrote these songs as a way of reaching out and trying to reconnect. It’s interesting that the feelings I had then overlap with the feelings I’ve had in the past year, where everybody feels distant and far away.”

For Weinman, Runnner is primarily a solo endeavour with an ever-expanding musical community of musicians collaborating on his albums and shows, which at times have been known to feature up to a 7-piece live band (he also has a burgeoning career as a producer, notably working on Skullcrusher’s critically-acclaimed debut EP for Secretly Canadian). Weinman completed Always Repeating last fall in Western Massachusetts and Woodstock using a mobile studio set-up. He played the majority of the instruments himself, including guitar, bass, trumpet, banjo, piano and synth. The goal was to create the perfect balance of intimate and melancholy song writing through the lens of hi-fi/lo-fi dynamics, inspired by his favourite artists like Bon Iver, the Microphones, and Julien Baker. “I want it to feel honest and homemade and a little rough around the edges, but where the roughness doesn’t preclude somebody from engaging with the song,” Weinman explains. “Like you’re in the room listening to it all be made. I tried to preserve some artifacts of the process to help it feel present.”

The songs draw from personal emotions and experiences—with Weinman usually more interested in posing questions than in always providing answers—and are sometimes inspired by the works of writers such as Angela Pelster, Max Porter and Donald Barthelme. “Awash” embodies the feeling of being lost and adrift through its aching melody and acoustic riffs, while the pulsating “Urgent Care” uses humour and light-heartedness to touch on Weinman’s very real anxiety.

The relatable album opener, “Monochrome,” resonates as he tries fruitlessly to recall mundane and insignificant moments from his past. While the songs are about feeling alone, they also offer the hand of connection. “The act of writing songs and the time being alone making songs has been a way for me to work through those feelings,” Weinman says. “I write songs hoping for connection: if someone else feels less alone from listening to my music then I might also feel less alone.” He is looking towards the future, but he also knows that the songs on “Always Repeating” probably haven’t finished playing themselves out–and they probably never will.

Always Repeating ultimately tells the start of Weinman’s journey as Runnner, and his cyclical feelings of being connected and then disconnected from the world over and over again. This collection of songs reflects a constant, honest search for attachment and a sense of place–and a vulnerability that empathizes with listeners who may face that same challenge.

“When I first left college I was uncertain and afraid, and I knew I had changes ahead of me, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to make them,” he recalls. “I was just circling in my own anxiety and indecision, and now I’m back to recording those same songs again, in a world that is in many ways more uncertain than it was then. Me struggling with loneliness and anxiety is true for all of the music I write. And pandemic or not, these songs would still feel relevant. I went through it then, I’m going through it now, and I’ll probably go through it again in a few years.”

“Always Repeating”, Runnner’s debut for Run For Cover Records, yearns for a sense of place. The project of the now LA-based songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Noah Weinman, Runnner’s poignant reflections on the isolation and anxiety caused by a sense of rootlessness radiate with wit and charm.

Morly has shared a new song called ‘Wasted’. It’s the third offering from the singer-songwriter’s forthcoming debut LP “‘Til I Start Speaking“, which is out August 20 via Cascine/Sweat Entertaiment, following previous singles ‘Dance to You’ and ‘Twain Harte’. “It’s one of those songs that felt like it was already written,” Katy Morley said in a press release.
Read more:

Morly, moniker of Minneapolis-bred, London-based visual artist and singer-songwriter, Katy Morley, creates stirring downtempo tracks that explore the transient space between joy and melancholy. Her strange and beautiful world is informed by her choral background, a penchant for minimalism and a love of dance.

Performed by Katy Morley — vocals and guitar Marcus Foster — piano and bv’s Max Whipple — bass Rhys Hastings — drums

Released July 14th, 2021

Bad Bad Hats are an indie rock trio from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Known for bringing a joyful, exuberant presence to their live shows, touring with The Beths, Margaret Glaspy, The Front Bottoms, Hippo Campus, and Third Eye Blind, the group took specific care to bring their fun-loving spirit to their third LP, “Walkman”.

Kerry (guitar/vocals), Chris (bass), and Con (drums) let their collective hair down on “Walkman”, bringing raucous and explosive riffs alongside witty lyrics. Though you might not notice from their indie rock exterior, Bad Bad Hats draws a heavy influence from classic pop song writing that shines through in their hooky choruses and strong melodic sensibilities.

For this release the band set out to push their capabilities as a trio. Subtle changes in process helped the band achieve this goal, such as shifting Chris from a wider multi-instrumental role to allow him to prioritize his bass playing, having Kerry record the bulk of the guitars instead. “You can hear all of our musical voices a lot better on this record.”

A carefully crafted studio sound brings the record to life, injecting it with an energetic voice that is unique to Bad Bad Hats. Walkman is the group’s fourth time working with producer Brett Bullion, including their previous two LPs, Psychic Reader and Lightning Round, and the Wide Right EP. Bullion and the band use the studio as an instrument, resulting in their most polished work to date.

GRAMMY® Award-nominated artists Tycho and Benjamin Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie/ The Postal Service have announced the release of a landmark new collaboration. “Only Love” is available now via Mom + Pop Music/Ninja Tune; an official visualiser – designed by Tycho mastermind Scott Hansen.

“Only Love” stands as a powerful anthem from both artists, meticulously fusing Tycho’s transcendent production and signature arrangements with Gibbard’s cathartic, deeply humanist lyricism. The first new major electronic collaboration for Gibbard since his RIAA platinum certified work in The Postal Service more than a decade ago, the track began its life after Death Cab for Cutie invited Hansen to remix their 2015 single, “The Ghosts of Beverly Hills.” Though Hansen is famously selective about commissioned remixes, he fully connected with the song’s lyrical melody and Gibbard’s distinctive vocals.

“I had been a fan of Ben’s work for a long time when, in 2016, I had the chance to do a remix for Death Cab for Cutie’s track ‘The Ghosts of Beverly Drive,’” says Hansen. “Ben’s voice was a very inspiring element to work with from a production standpoint, I felt it really meshed well with the kinds of sounds and instrumentation I gravitate towards. ‘Only Love’ started life as an instrumental, but something was missing. I sent a rough demo to Ben and he recorded some vocals over it. The first time I heard the rough vocals the whole song suddenly made sense and the arrangement flowed out of that. After my early experimentations with vocals on Weather this felt like a great opportunity to put everything I had learned during that process into practice. It was certainly an honour to be able to work with such an iconic voice.”

“In 2014 while reading This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate by Naomi Klein, I came across a quote from Montanan goat rancher and environmentalist Alexis Bonogofsky that moved me immensely,” says Gibbard. “Speaking about the fight to protect public lands in southeastern Montana from the mining company Arch Coal, she said: ‘(The) connection to this place and the love people have for it, that’s what Arch Coal doesn’t get. They underestimate that. They don’t understand it so they disregard it. And that’s what in the end will save that place. It’s not the hatred for the coal companies, or anger, but love will save this place.’

“When Scott sent me the music for ‘Only Love,’ it seemed perfect for this statement. Since reading Alexis’s words I’ve carried them as a universal truth; that the only way we preserve the people, places or things we care for is with love, not hatred. This is often easier said than done, of course. But I find myself coming back to her statement as if it were a mantra.”

“I grew up hiking and camping on public lands here in Washington State and my love for them has only increased since becoming a mountain / ultra / trail runner. They were in the forefront of my mind while working on this song.” 

released July 13th, 2021

‘Only Love’, out now on Mom + Pop Music

I couldn’t be more thrilled to announce the next release…Skeletal Family “Singles Plus 1983-1985” 2XLP out now! If you’re unfamiliar, Skeletal Family are a killer goth/deathrock band who have many great songs that have become staples of goth nights everywhere. This compilation has never had a vinyl release until now. We released it for RSD Drop 2 so grab from your local indie shop. The Graveface Record Club variant might be my fav thing ever. 

I love the Skeletal family in a way I can’t explain. It’s not as if they’re that good, but in other ways they are brilliant. Anne-Marie, Stan and Trotwood (plus various drummers, ending with Martin I think) had it all yet never quite got there. These songs take you back to those carefree early 80’s days when “goth” was the coming thing. But they were better than that. There’s a naked beauty in “Trees” that marks them out as different, and She Cries Alone is a masterpiece. It could only happen in Keighley, and they came so close but not close enough. Anne Marie went on to Ghost Dance,

Graveface Records is a small independent label with a focus on all things hand-made, hand-assembled & unique.