Denver singer/songwriter/shoegazer Isadora Eden’s history includes living in New Orleans and New York City where underground music scenes the likes of the late, great Sidewalk Cafe shaped her talent for forlorn, connectable music. The soft elocution in her young, muted alto reflects her well-traveled soul; one who’s stories we believe regardless of how few words they contain or how many years they took to accrue.
selected guitar and vocal only versions of songs from EP “All Night”
main vocals, harmonies, guitar, music, lyrics: Isadora Eden
It’s been a pretty fruitful year for Salem, all things considered. Not many bands have managed to put out two EPs and even play a couple of live shows in the last 6 months, but with hard work and excellent timing, Salem have managed to pull off both.
“Salem II” is the second offering from the project of Creeper frontman Will Gould and long-time collaborator Matt Reynolds, giving us more high-energy bubblegum goth that feels like a year-round Halloween party.
This release puts a darker spin on their self-titled debut EP. Where the first EP had tongue-in-cheek moments with tracks like ‘Eyesore’, Salem II has more bite, without compromising on that bright theatricality that flows throughout.
Opening up with the clever ‘William, It Was Really Something’ – a witty play on The Smiths’ ‘William, It Was Really Nothing’ – Salem pay respect to their melancholy influences without restraining themselves by trying to copy their sound.
We know by now, from the roaring success of Creeper’s “Sex, Death & The Infinite Void” (as well as Salem’s first record), that Will Gould can do no wrong in his song writing. “Salem II” is no exception to his bulletproof track record, delivering glorious melodrama in its lyrics, massive choruses and uninhibited vocals. The pounding drum intro of ‘Draculads’ holds on to the momentum beautifully. This love song about a vampire is exactly as camp as you would want it to be. Like the opening track, it fluctuates between high-speed guitars and sudden changes of pace that make the EP dynamic.
‘Keep The Thorns’ is where we really get into to Salem’s darker edge. While their previous songs have told tales of passionate love affairs, this song looks at the fallout. ‘Keep The Thorns’ is angrier than what we’ve heard from Salem before, with bold declarations of “see you in hell”. ‘Sweet Tooth’ follows the same path and here, vocals steal the spotlight. It comes as no surprise that Gould’s magically over-the-top vocals can deliver these emotional outbursts with true conviction.
In a time where rock music is more often revisiting the muted melancholia of ‘80s post-punk, Salem’s take on nostalgia is refreshing. While they celebrate the era and its aesthetic, they are not tempted into copying its sound, instead injecting their influences with energy and feel-good drama. If you like your rock music on the more muted, traditionally gloomy side, it’s possible that Salem II might be a bit much. But it’s hard to imagine anyone who isn’t charmed by the EP’s luxurious lyrics and infectious energy.
Following the release of Creeper’s brilliant second album Sex, Death & The Infinite Void at the end of July 2020, frontman Will Gould hit back with more new music when he unveiled his brand-new project Salem alongside Matt Reynolds (Howard’s Alias, Skylar, Drawings). “It was a labour of love for us,” explains the musician of the release. “We’re releasing when a lot of kids are stuck inside, or if they’re not, their life isn’t quite the same. It’s a way to soundtrack this very difficult time. The power of punk rock is that it helps you forget about the monotony of every day. And life has never been as monotonous as it is now.”
Salem II EP arrives 7th May via Roadrunner Records.
Wavves have announced their new album, “Hideaway”. The follow-up to “You’re Welcome” which arrives July 16th via Fat Possom Records. Nathan Williams, Stephen Pope, and Alex Gates worked with producer Dave Sitek on the album. The record includes “Sinking Feeling”Wavves returns to share the first new music from the band since 2017. “Sinking Feeling” finds the band revitalized, turning existential dread into an infectious three-minute pop-punk cut in the way only Wavves can.
as well as a new song called “Help Is On the Way.” Hear it below.
Nathan Williams and Wavves left Fat Possum for Warner to release 2013’s “Afraid of Heights” and 2015’s V. Williams self-released You’re Welcome via Ghost Ramp in 2017. Last year, Wavves re-issued their breakout sophomore album “King Of the Beach” on vinyl to celebrate its 10th-year anniversary.
Wavves’ new single ‘Help is on the Way’ is off their upcoming album ‘Hideaway’ due out on July 16th on Fat Possum Records.
Conor O’Brien presents Villagers’ fifth studio album “Fever Dreams”. Escapism is a very necessary pursuit right now, and Fever Dreams follows it to mesmerising effect. It works like all the best records – it becomes a mode of transport; it picks you up from where you are and sets you down elsewhere. Written over the course of two years, the main bodies of the songs were recorded in a series of full-band studio sessions in late 2019 and early 2020. Over the course of the long, slow pandemic days, O’Brien refined them in his tiny home studio in Dublin, and the album was then mixed by David Wrench (Frank Ocean, The xx, FKA Twigs). O’Brien says on the gestation of Fever Dreams: “I had an urge to write something that was as generous to the listener as it was to myself. Sometimes the most delirious states can produce the most ecstatic, euphoric and escapist dreams.”
Conor O’Brien has announced that his fifth studio album Fever Dreamswill be released on Domino Recordings on August 20th this year. The first single is inspired by a trip to the brilliant Another Love Story festival in County Meath.
“I had an urge to write something that was as generous to the listener as it was to myself. Sometimes the most delirious states can produce the most ecstatic, euphoric and escapist dreams.” Director Daniel Brereton says of the video “The whole process was pretty collaborative with Conor. I think we both imagined a floatiness to the video, and obviously the title conjures up a lot of imagery and ideas, ‘The first day of the rest of your life’. What does that look like? How does that feel? We were very lucky to shoot on film and have great casting and styling. Shooting during a pandemic is not easy, so I feel fortunate that we got to make it happen.”
Villagers – “The First Day”, from forthcoming album ‘Fever Dreams’ out 20th August 2021 on Domino Record Co.
It was late March of 2020 when Deeper released their sophomore album, “Auto-Pain”, an LP that drew universal acclaim, earning praise from outlets like VICE, Stereogum, BrooklynVegan, Paste and CLASH who called the album “a majestic step forward” for the band. The band was preparing for a full year of touring, coming off of a European run with Twin Peaks and a triumphant NYC release show at Rough Trade, with plans for headlining tours in North America and Europe, but those plans were suddenly derailed when the pandemic began.
These set backs did not dim the enthusiasm generated by Auto-Pain, nor did it dampen the band’s tireless work ethic, and today, following right behind their successful livestream from the Chicago Cultural Centre in March, Deeper are announcing the upcoming “Auto-Pain: Deluxe Edition”on Fire Talk Records.
The new 2-disc version of the LP reframes the liminal spaces of the Chicago quartet’s searingly-nuanced album about grief and resilience into a densely-layered perspective of emotional maximalism, fearless in its vulnerability, and includes remixes two stripped-back demos and live versions from the band’s Chicago Cultural Center performance, and remixes from fellow ascending artists Working Men’s Club, Fire-Toolz,PVA, and their Chicago peer NNAMDI, whose remix of “4U” the band are sharing today to mark the announce.
Deeper’s Auto Pain: Deluxe Edition reframes the liminal spaces of the Chicago quartet’s searingly-nuanced sophomore effort about grief and resilience into a densely-layered perspective of emotional maximalism fearless in its vulnerability. The deluxe edition includes remixes from fellow ascending artists Working Men’s Club, PVA, NNAMDI and more as well as two stripped-back demos and live versions from the band’s performance at the Chicago Cultural Center in March 2021. While the original version delivered a masterclass in razor-sharp post punk, the expanded record gives a glimpse into a lens of a year full of adversity and the growth and perspective that draws these songs together to pack a powerful, personal punch. Auto Pain: Deluxe Edition is out September 3rd on Fire Talk Records.
From Deeper’s “Auto-Pain” Deluxe out in September on Fire Talk.
Indie folk-rockers Mountain Goats led by founder and singer-songwriter John Darnielle are to release a new album: “Dark In Here” – 20th LP (it’s their third album release in 18 months,
Peter Hughes (The Goat’s multi-instrumentalist): One of the words that John (Darnielle) used when we were talking about the direction for ‘Dark in Here‘ was “wild,” which I liked a lot. Not wild in the sense of abandon—these aren’t those kind of songs. But wild in the sense of something undomesticated, untamable. Wild like the immutability of nature, the way it will take back any piece of untended space as its own…. Wild like the whale; like a powerful animal. Or a virus—the beast that awakes, emerges from a forest, and stops the world. You can fight the calamity all you want, but either way, it’s going to demand your surrender.
At last it can be told: the story of how, when the Mountain Goats got together in early March, 2020, it was to make not one album, but two “Getting Into Knives” and this one, “Dark in Here”. That’s how many keepers the band’s superhumanly prolific frontman, John Darnielle, had come up with since they’d recorded “In League With Dragons” in Nashville back in 2018.
From Peter Hughes of the Mountain Goats: One of the words that John used when we were talking about the direction for Dark in Here was “wild,” which I liked a lot. Not wild in the sense of abandon—these aren’t those kind of songs. But wild in the sense of something undomesticated, untamable. Wild like the immutability of nature, the way it will take back any piece of untended space as its own, whether amidst the AutoZones and Chick-fil-A’s of Muscle Shoals [home of FAME Studios, where the album was recorded] or among the ruins of a scientific outpost on the Kola Peninsula. Wild like the whale; like a powerful animal. Or a virus—the beast that awakes, emerges from a forest, and stops the world. You can fight the calamity all you want, but either way, it’s going to demand your surrender.
Dark in Hereis the band’s third album in just over a year, following April 2020’s Songs for Pierre Chuvin (which was recorded on a boombox and featured only Darnielle) and October 2020’s “Getting Into Knives”. Dark in Herewas recorded in the week in between recording Songs for Pierre Chuvin and Getting Into Knives,at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. It’s a studio that Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Gregg Allman, Bobby “Blue” Bland, and other legends have recorded at. “Mobile” features some Muscle Shoals legends as well, with Spooner Oldham (Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Linda Ronstadt) on electric piano and Will McFarlane (Bonnie Raitt, Tammy Wynette) on lead guitar.
Out: 25th June via Merge Records“Mobile” by the Mountain Goats from their new album ‘Dark In Here’ .
It’s no secret we love Ruby Fields. Whether she’s taking over the Australian “triple j Breakfast” hosting duties, releasing a banger-heavy EP, or being an all-round legend, there just isn’t much better than Ruby Fields. Fields’ hometown is Cronulla in southern Sydney. She began songwriting when she was 11 and busking on the streets when she was 13. Fields spent several years learning how to build guitars and repair music equipment from her friend’s father. She grew up listening to bands such as AC/DC, Fleetwood Mac, and Guns N’ Roses.
Ruby Fields revealed that she will be taking over Breakfast hosting duties all of next week, ensuring that listeners wake up with her dulcet tones and trademark sense of humour.
“A few people told Ben and Liam they’d like me to take over on triple j for a week while the boys visit Perth’s capital city, Bali,” Ruby explained on social media.
So, why would Ruby Fields get the gig? Well, in addition to not only scoring one of the highest charting Aussie tracks, she’s also set herself apart as one of the funniest people out there.
Snarly new single ‘Sucker’, out on Nothing Fancy Records, is chaotic and endearingly vengeful, Leonard flicking the v as she sings “So long, so long, sucker” over blistering, garage-infused guitars. It follows their debut EP ‘Love Thing’ which saw Lauren Lavern, Steve Lamacq and tastemaker blogs come aboard the Mumble bandwagon.
“This one is just a super fun track we threw together. It’s about feeling confident and free and moving on (or at least trying to). It’s about throwing the baggage off your shoulders and strutting away…but also accepting that it’s not that easy”, says Leonard.
Mumble Tide is an entirely self-constructed world. They produce, make their own videos and make their own artwork. ‘Sucker’ is the party bag on entry, now go off and release your inner child. Bedroom pop duo from Bristol. Kinda country, kinda synthy, kinda moody
Tyler Dozier, the Austin, Texas-based singer/songwriter behind Lady Dan, makes music laden with “Melancholic cowboy vibes”, to borrow a descriptor lifted from her sister. Melancholic Cowboy in Austin, TX,
It’s a wonderful springtime for rebirths, and this debut album from Tyler Dozier, a golden blend of sleepy, honeyed country and slackerish indie rock, celebrates two. First, the southern singer-songwriter’s outgrowing of a strict religious upbringing in Alabama, and second, her emancipation from a controlling relationship. Christ and creeps are dismissed in intertwining ways on the melancholy, heavy-strummed No Home: “I got a new skin/ I’m no longer a slave to all of your patriarchal sins.”
“Intro To Loss/No Home” is the second installment to Lady Dan’s upcoming album
In the main, though, Dozier steps lightly through her complicated evolution: her wry delivery has something of the Liz Phair about it in the likes of Paradox, with its woozily, shoegaze-tinged pedal steel, and the shuffly, sardonic “Misandrist To Most” while the gorgeously regretful Plagiarist’s Blues sinks its melodic hooks deep with a classic country couplet: “I don’t wanna write my own songs, I wanna sing everybody else’s/ Yet there’s no one who feels quite the way I do”. There are hints of more exotic influences, too, in the sunlit bossa nova rhythm of Better Off Alone, with its flourishes of loungey sax, and Drink Your Sorrows, a handclap-laced trip into darker corners that adds interesting shadows to “I Am the Prophet’s” beautiful blasphemy.
Lady Dan – “I Am the Prophet” the title track to Lady Dan’s upcoming album out on April 23rd through Earth recordings Libraries. Debut album “I Am The Prophet”. Limited red and clear wine spill vinyl design.
This Stunning show from Rory Gallagher mid-1974 US TOUR After the break-up of his former band Taste in 1970, Rory Gallagher toured under his own name, hiring former Deep Joy bass player Gerry McAvoy to play on Gallagher’s self-titled debut album, Rory Gallagher. It was the beginning of a twenty-year musical relationship between Gallagher and McAvoy; the other band member was drummer Wilgar Campbell. The 1970s were Gallagher’s most prolific period. He produced ten albums during the decade, including two live albums, “Live in Europe” and “Irish Tour ’74” November 1971 saw the release of the album “Deuce”. In the same year he was voted Melody Maker’s International Top Guitarist of the Year, ahead of Eric Clapton.
However, despite a number of his albums from this period reaching the UK Albums Chart, Gallagher did not attain major star status. Gallagher played and recorded what he said was “in me all the time, and not just something I turn on …”. Though he sold over thirty million albums worldwide, it was his marathon live performances that won him greatest acclaim. During the heightened periods of political unrest in Northern Ireland, as other artists were warned not to tour, Gallagher was resolute about touring Ireland at least once a year during his career, winning him the dedication of thousands of fans, and in the process, a role model for other aspiring young Irish musicians.
In July 1974, Gallagher released his sixth solo album overall, and his second concert album, Irish Tour 74. Recorded at Belfast Ulster Hall, Dublin Carlton Cinema and Cork City Hall using Ronnie Lane’s Mobile Studio, during his January 74 tour of Ireland, the album went on to sell over 2million copies worldwide. On the back of his new record, Gallagher went out on tour, and on 4th August he performed in Houston, Texas, at the city’s Liberty Hall.
Putting on one of the tour’s very finest shows, the entire proceedings were recorded for live FM radio broadcast, transmitted state-wide and synched too across the US. Up until now this superb concert has remained in the vault however, but with the release of this new CD that all changes, as it features the full recording made that mid-summer evening more than 45 years ago.
Tracklist: 1. Messin With The Kid 7:28 2. Cradle Rock 6:51 3. Just A Little Bit 9:45 4. Early in The Morning 8:41 5. Tattoo d Lady 5:45 6. Hands off 7:24 7. Pistol Slapper Blues 3:10 8. Too Much Alcohol 5:02 9. A Million Miles Away 9:16 10. Bullfrog Blues 13:02
The Fat Angel Sings 