Over the past few years, A Swayze & The Ghosts have certainly built themselves a solid fanbase based on their live shows and some catchy as hell singles.
There’s been rave reviews from BIGSOUND and The Great Escape Festival Appearances, and they’ve also earned themselves the attention of some big names, like director Edgar Wright, Ivy League and Rough Trade Records, and of course, there’s the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater soundtrack.
Now, five years after forming, it’s finally time for the group’s debut album.
Dubbed Paid Salvation – by frontman Andrew Swayze, guitarist Hendrik Wipprecht, bass player Ben Simms and drummer Zackary Blain – the album tackles everything from ecocide to social media addiction to religion, with no punches pulled. “Funnily enough, we’d actually recorded a record – a full length – when we first started playing together, back when we were a three-piece. And it was really bad. We were just super high and drunk the entire time, and it turned out to be rubbish. We ended up toughing it out, and then re-evaluating what it meant to be in a band I think, and we took things seriously from then on.”
“When you’re talking about sensitive subjects in a subjective manner, you’ve got to be sensitive to people and, you know, I respect the people’s opinion – I don’t just hold my opinion above everybody else’s – and I like to know what I’m talking about if I’m going to talk about it, so all of that is taken into account while writing tracks, like, ‘Ok, this line may come across offensive to the wrong person,’ or like, ‘You know, this might not be what I’m trying to say.’ I never really get nervous about releasing a track because I’ve definitely thought about it a lot.”
“We’re a live band and we thought that we’ve got to try and capture that energy and conviction on our record so we did that, and then I did my vocals separately. Pretty much everything was tracked within those few days, but it just took about another six months for me to finish my vocals because we tracked it all in Melbourne, and we all live in Tassie. We all worked full-time at that point, we had to sneak in whenever we could to get my vocals done. I’d just go up for a couple days at a time and then come home and go back the next weekend. It was a slow process, but a quality process, and I think we kind of discovered ourselves as a band, even more so. I think we sort of just reaffirmed who we want to be as a band and how we want to sound recorded.”
‘Cancer’ is the brand new single from A. Swayze & the Ghosts, lifted from their debut album “Paid Salvation” – out Friday 18 September.
Flowerkid has today announced his first move to obtain global recognition. The 19-year-old Sydney artist came to prominence with his track “BoyWith The Winfields And The Wild Heart” and “Late Night Therapy” and has now earned attention from across the globe.
Flowerkid (aka Flynn Sant) will be managed by Wonderlick in Australia in partnership with Best Friends Music’s Danny Rukasin (co-manager for Billie Eilish and FINNEAS) for North America.
“Flowerkid’s music is incredibly raw, honest and unique and he has a clear vision for how he wants his music to impact people and to help incite change,” said Wonderlick’s Stu MacQueen.
“It’s very exciting and inspiring to be involved in this project, and now with the addition of the brilliant Danny Rukasin, we have finally completed the amazing international label and management team. We look forward to flowerkid sharing this compelling music with the world very soon.”
“When I first heard flowerkid’s music, a recommended listen from Jason Kramer at KCRW, I was immediately blown away by how special and gripping of a voice he has, and the stories he is telling from a song writing perspective,” added Rukasin. “I am proud to be able to help develop and present this incredible artist to the North American market and to be collaborating with such a world class management and label team to help showcase this artist and his art to the world.” In addition to management, flowerkid has also announced label deals with Warner Music Australia for Australia & New Zealand (with A&R by Marcus Thaine), Atlantic for the US and Parlophone in the UK.
“When I first heard flowerkid’s music, a recommended listen from Jason Kramer at KCRW, I was immediately blown away by how special and gripping of a voice he has, and the stories he is telling from a song writing perspective,” added Rukasin. “I am proud to be able to help develop and present this incredible artist to the North American market and to be collaborating with such a world class management and label team to help showcase this artist and his art to the world.” In addition to management, flowerkid has also announced label deals with Warner Music Australia for Australia & New Zealand (with A&R by Marcus Thaine), Atlantic for the US and Parlophone in the UK.
The song, ‘Late Night Therapy’ is written, composed and sung by flowerkid,
Flowerkid featured in the acts to keep an eye on in 2020
To our minds at least, A.O. Gerber has been one of the break-out artists of 2020. The Los Angeles-based songwriter released her debut album, Another Place To Need, back in May on Hand In Hive, drawing acclaim from the likes of NPR, Gold Flake Paint and The Line Of Best Fit. The result of three years of recording, the album’s release should have brought with it a host of exciting tour dates, instead A.O. has found herself balancing a full-time job, while debating the importance of sharing music in a turbulent world. With that in mind, today marks the release of A.O’s new stripped back EP, Another Other Place, featuring three re-workings of tracks from her debut album, previewed earlier this week by the wonderful Bleeders (stripped).
While these recordings are new, the inspiration behind them actually dates back to when the tracks were first written, as A.O. explains, “there was a spooky quality to the original demo of “Strangers” that I loved and I almost released it that way initially“. Inspired by the sound of that demo, A.O. sought to capture the same quality in Bleeders, a track that, “came from very dark moments in my life“. While the album version of Bleeders stands out for it’s processed beat and wobbly synth bed, here A.O. seems to channel a different world. Her voice is raw and crackling, the only adornment coming from the reverberating piano, sounding like she’s alone in some cavernous hall, almost absent mindedly plucking out chords as her minds runs circles, trying to make sense of it all, “blue eyes tearing their way through my heart all your true lies I sentence myself, it’s the darkest part of your holy grip on me”. Peeling back the layers of the track seems to somehow get down it’s very core, the troubled tenderness, the quiet longing, the perfect escapism, it’s really rather magical.
Another Other Place is out today via Hand In Hive.
For nearly three decades under the Mountain Goats moniker, John Darnielle has been honing his craft as a songwriter and story-teller, shifting from those early direct-to-boombox recordings to elaborate concept albums about Professional Wrestling and Dungeons & Dragons, and generally finding a way to do whatever he wants. His latest project manifests in the new album, Getting Into Knives, “the perfect album for the millions of us who have spent many idle hours contemplating whether we ought to be honest with ourselves and just get massively into knives”. The album was laid to tape in the legendary Sam Phillips Recordings studio, an attempt to capture the spirit of the touring show that has blossomed with their current four-piece band.
The album will arrive on Merge at the end of next month, and this week they’ve shared the latest single from it, Get Famous.
While anyone who has even cast a flitting eye in the direction of The Mountain Goats’ music will probably realise, the thought of actually getting famous has never been top of their to-do-list. Instead here the idea is presented like acid in John’s mouth, spitting out his words at fame hungry stars, “light up the sky like a comet, make yourself want to vomit, shine like a cursed star, show everybody exactly who you are”. He even throws in a reference to Wesley Willis, the cult singer-songwriter, diagnosed with schizophrenia who was in some ways the antithesis of fame itself, to the point he was noted for greeting his fans with a headbutt. Like most of the best moments of The Mountain Goats, the playful lyricism is combined with some genuinely fabulous music, here they seem to channel the spirit of The Swampers or the Spacebomb House Band, combining virtuoso musical talent with a sense of undeniable fun, from the howling organ to the bright brass flourishes, surely destined for choreographed performances once you’re allowed enough people on a stage at one time. A band who know exactly what they’re doing and are at the top of their game, The Mountain Goats might never have sounded better, let’s just hope for their sake they don’t get famous because of it.
The day I wrote this song I knew the wait to share it would be excruciating AND IT HAS BEEN but today! is! the! day! across all platforms right now! Get Famous!. John Darnielle has written almost 600 songs now, and some of them are very sad, dealing with hard drugs and tragic ends, hurting yourself and others, sicknesses of both body and brain, off-brand alcohols. They are told in beautiful, unnerving, specific detail because he is a very good writer, and also some of them are just true stories about his own life.
“That kinetic rush of the record’s creation can be felt in first single ‘As Many Candles as Possible,’ which features Al Green’s organist Charles Hodges.” – Brooklyn Vegan
“The track opens with a bristling twist of guitars and rumbling drums before settling into a steady groove. A distorted crunch underpins the primarily acoustic proceedings, helping the song build to a pitch-perfect freakout, featuring Al Green’s organist Charles Hodges.” – Rolling Stone
“The album news arrives with the release of dark, squally lead single “As Many Candles As Possible,” which features Al Green organist Charles Hodges and builds to a churning catharsis.” – Indy Week
“Recorded across a single week in Memphis, the album trades between piano-driven intimacy and stormy bombast, the latter of which is on display in its lead single, ‘As Many Candles As Possible.’ Featuring Al Green’s organist Charles Hodges, the dark and swampy track reflects the Deep South milieu in which it was recorded.” – A.V. Club
Limited Edition salmon vinyl, tapes, and pins are almost sold out,
RECORDED AT Sam Phillips Recording, Memphis, Tennessee March 1–6th, 2020
John Darnielle: vocals, guitars, piano
Peter Hughes: electric and upright bass
Matt Douglas: keyboards, woodwinds, guitars, accordion, backing vocals
Jon Wurster: drums and percussion
JOINED FOR THE OCCASION BY
Bram Gielen: piano, guitars, keyboards
Chris Boerner: guitars
Charles Hodges: Hammond B-3
Sam Shoup: Mellotron
Tom Clary: horns
Reba Russell: backing vocals
Susan Marshall: backing vocals
Emma Kupa currently fronts Mammoth Penguins, and The Hayman Kupa Band alongside Darren Hayman. She initially made her name with Standard Fare, who called it a day at the peak of their success in 2013. Kupa’s insightful warmth, eye for lyrical detail and powerful, idiosyncratic voice has made her a firm favourite amongst fans and critics alike.
Following successes fronting Mammoth Penguins and the sorely missed Standard Fare, Emma Kupa releases her first full length solo album “It Will Come Easier” on 18th September:
“The hope in the title is important to me – it is something I try to hold onto when things feel difficult”.
It Will Come Easier delves through the trials and tribulations of attempting to navigate the crossroads of your early thirties. Head on and raw, Kupa leads us through her tender reflections on relationship regrets, the torment and pressure to succeed, and the dichotomy of now finding herself inclined to choose logic over impulse – “does her smile light up your heart, or do you just want to get under her shirt?” she asks on Does It Feel New.
Her most personal collection of songs to date, they pick up from the intimate family portraits of Kupa’s debut solo EP, Home Cinema:
“The album explores aspects of love, escapism and fidelity, but there’s also a thread about accepting feelings of hopelessness when you don’t quite meet the many pressures of life’s expectations”.
In spite of the harsh directness of its subject matter, It Will Come Easier has an audible freshness and a spring in its step. The optimistic jaunt of Nothing At All defies the futility in being unable to influence a particularly toxic situation. I Keep An Eye out is a follow up to Home Cinema’s Half Sister, written for the eponymous sibling that doesn’t know of Kupa.
Written and recorded over a period of time, Kupa felt she needed to give these 10 tracks some emotional space before making them public. Joined by bandmates from both Mammoth Penguins and Suggested Friends (Mark Boxall and Faith Taylor, respectively), alongside Laura Ankles, Joe Bear, Rory McVicar and Carmela Pietrangelo, the instrumentation is more diverse than in previous Kupa bands. From the sparse, evocative strings of Hey Love and the simple piano backing of unexpected wedding drama in Crying Behind The Marquee, through to the grinding synths of CP Reprise, textural flourishes abound, belying Kupa’s background fronting noisy three-piece indie-pop outfits.
“It Will Come Easier” is a mesmerising journey through early adulthood, poignant and expertly detailed.
“It Will Come Easier” is released on 18th September on Fika Recordings (UK/Europe) and Palo Santo (USA).
The album is preceded by a trio of digital singles: Nothing At All (June 5th), Hey Love (July 10th) and Nawlins (August 14th).
It seems every time guitar music is at risk of getting stale, somebody comes along to give it a much-needed shot in the arm. Innovators like Hendrix, Tony Iommi, The Edge, and Tom Morello have all challenged and reshaped what it means to be a guitarist. And in 2020, it looks as though CLT DRP’s Scott Reynolds is doing his bit to push the envelope.
While that may sound like hyperbole, the Brighton-based trio’s new album “Without The Eyes” is offers a refreshingly different take on the punk formula – coupling aggression with electronic soundscapes and danceable beats, electro-punk seems to be the label most settle on, though it doesn’t paint the full picture.
Loaded with atmospheric dissonance, electro glitches, and almost dubstep-style drops many will be surprised to hear that CLT DRP’s sound is composed solely of guitar, drums and vocals – in a way that reminds you of the ear-defying experience of listening to Rage Against The Machine for the first time and wondering just how they do it.
And just like arch sonic innovator Tom Morello, a lot of the inspiration for Reynolds’ playing comes from outside influences. “When it comes to the music I make, I’m really just trying to make electronic music on the guitar,” he says. “I had been playing guitar since I was seven and I liked a lot of the usual stuff you’d call guitar music, like Guns N’ Roses and Metallica but there was always something about electronic music that just did something for me that standard guitar music didn’t.”
Though he’s an accomplished guitarist with a solid grounding in country, having studied the likes of Albert Lee and Brent Mason, Reynolds has definitely employed a rip-it-up-and-start-again approach to his own style; taking more inspiration from the likes of The Prodigy than contemporary guitar bands.
“It’s just how I see song writing I guess. Some people are really focused on melody and harmony, and focusing on keys. And it’s not like I’m totally neglecting that, but it’s not my focus. My focus is on rhythm, and the sound. But mainly sound.” he says.
“Queens of the Stone Age were like the only band I listened to for ages. But I’ve had this weird thing with them, because I was such a big fan and that sound has become so recycled now, that I just do everything in my power to not sound like Queens of the Stone Age.”
The sound Reynolds was going for in the initial stages of the band was “a combination of Meshuggah and electro house” and while he says he may have failed at that, alongside vocalist Annie Dorrett and drummer Daphne Koskeridou he has crafted something really distinct.
They are heavy and often abrasive, but at the same time incredibly melodic, and at the heart of everything there is an unmistakable groove with beats that change on a dime. They are challenging and uncompromising but also a hell of a lot of fun, which separates them from a lot of their peers.
Meeting at the British and Irish Institute of Modern Music (BIMM) in Brighton in 2017, there was an instant connection the moment the three started playing together.
“We literally wrote a song straight away. Daphne is incredible. The chemistry is amazing, I can just play her a riff and she’ll just find the right groove. And Annie has been amazing at putting these incredible melodies over the top of whatever noise I’ve brought in.”
How Reynolds makes his noise is an interesting process aided by several key tools. Firstly, as there is no bass player in CLT DRP, to get that big low-end sound he is running through a Hartke HA3500 bass head and two 4×10 bass cabs, as well as a Laney GH100L head with a 4×12 custom cab.
Secondly – and perhaps most importantly – is his pedals, of which he counts the Boss SL-20 Slicer and the Strymon Mobius Ring Modulation among his favourites.
“The Mobius was a bit of a game-changer in a lot of ways because there are so many ways you can change the texture of your sound. I can’t really put it into words about just what I love about it so much. I wanted a filter for drops and I remember seeing a really good YouTube demo and I remember thinking the filter just sounded great on it, but it’s just kept giving. It was – and still is – an infinite source of inspiration for different textures.”
A huge fan of stacking, Reynolds’ sound has largely been shaped by how his pedals interact with each other. While he is regularly running his Slicer, Mobius, Boss DD7 and Boss OD-20 alongside each other, he found the Wampler Ego Compressor was actually crucial to the performance of everything.
“I didn’t realise how much it changes the sound of other pedals until I started using it. So when I use it alongside the Mobius, it drastically changes how the ring mod sounds. If you dial back the gain before going into a delay, for example, then it is much more effective than just having it turned full on, so I think that’s basically what the compressor does for me. I didn’t realise how affecting it was until I took it away one day.”
Ultimately it’s Reynold’s distinct use of effects that define the CLT DRP sound and him as a player right now. Traditional guitar playing is just not on his mind. “I’m not really a guitarist in that sense, that stuff takes a back seat in a lot of ways,” he says.
“I’ve had this guitar (Epiphone Les Paul Standard) since I was about 11. If I had the money, I’d love to get a Gibson SG or something, but I don’t yearn for it like I do pedals. For me, spending $300 on a pedal can do a lot more for me than spending $1,200 on a nice new guitar.”
While it may not be for traditionalists, Reynolds’ approach has yielded interesting results and CLT DRP is a stunning example of what guitar music is capable of being today.
El Tee writes honest songs about the perennial push-and-pull of holding space for yourself and giving it up for others. Listeners are swept up in stories delivered via introspective lyrics embedded in warm and nostalgic tones of instrumentation. El Tee’s songs saunter through intimate moments, and then drive hard and fast straight into the pit of your heart – all within the same few minutes.
The singer-songwriter – real name Lauren Tarver – explained the track’s origins in a statement. She noted that the song is “a very descriptive narrative” of a personal experience she had while travelling in New Zealand. Tarver also described the song as “emotional, to say the least” in a post to her Instagram.
‘Everything Is Fine’ joins two previously released singles on the album’s ten-song tracklist: ‘How I Like It’ in August last year, followed by ‘Keep Walking’ in March. “I went on a road trip with a friend, and was so full of anxiety the whole time,” she said. “It was bottled up and I couldn’t shake it. I literally felt trapped by the mountains of NZ.”
An American expat, Tarver recorded the album in her adopted hometown of Melbourne in 2019. Andrew McEwan engineered and mixed the album in addition to playing drums.
Melbourne-based singer-songwriter El Tee has announced her debut studio album, ‘Everything Is Fine’, days after premiering the record’s title track. Melbourne community radio station 3RRR premiered the single on Monday (May 11). The song’s accompanying music video the following day. Dan Cahill directed the video, having also worked on El Tee’s video for ‘Keep Walking’.
Debut album ‘Everything Is Fine’ out September 18th, 2020
Released September 18th, 2020
The Band:
Guitar (rhythm) by Lauren Tarver
Guitar (lead) by Tim Scott
Drums by Andrew McEwan
Bass and BVs by Mimi Gilbert
Written by Lauren Tarver
Local Natives have returned with a brand new single entitled “Statues In The Garden (Arras)” with release via an animated music video by Jamie K Wolfe. The Los Angeles indie-rock quintet Local Natives have returned with their first piece of new music since 2019 today, sharing the dreamy “Statues in The Garden (Arras)”.
Released today, the single is an eclectic showcase of the group’s varied talents, featuring shimmering guitars and dreamy melodies, with its swirling, intricate arrangement helping to frame the depiction of someone reconciling changes in themselves with a world that is also constantly changing. A powerful example of stellar the slick indie-rock produced by Local Natives, the track’s “Arras” subtitle refers to the French town where the group first laid down a demo of the song.
Alongside the track, Local Natives have also released a mesmerisingly-psychedelic music video for the single. Teaming up with renowned artist and animator Jamie K Wolfe (King Krule, The Rolling Stones), the accompanying video is a masterclass of bold visuals and surreal imagery, pushing Wolfe’s vividly mind-bending aesthetic to its limits.
The track feels like an expansion of the sound formed on last year’s Violet Street with an expansive guitar solo playing it out. “Arras” is a reference to the town in France where the song was first demoed.
Enjoy the video for “Statues In The Garden (Arras)” below.
Local Natives released their fourth studio album, Violet Street, in April of 2019. Not content to take it easy, the group have shared a handful of new tunes since, including “Nova”, taken from the recording sessions of their last record, and “Dark Days”, a reimagined version of their 2016 track featuring the talents of Sylvan Esso vocalist Amelia Meath.
While it remains to be seen when Local Natives will be annoucing the details of album number five, “Statues in The Garden (Arras)” serves as the first taste of new music from the group, and provides listeners with a sneak peek as to what the band’s new era just might sound like.
Local Natives’ “Statues in The Garden (Arras)” is out now viaLoma Vista Recordings.
“Bile and Bone” is the new album from songwriter al Riggs and guitar annihilator Lauren Francis.
Two years in the making, and in between countless side-projects, singles, side-albums, and a premiere at Hopscotch Music Festival 2019, Al and Lauren recorded this nine-song album in two different New York apartments, an apartment in Durham, a house on the other side of Durham, and additional recording in yet another house on yet another side of Durham.
Produced by Francis and mixed/mastered by Alli Rogers (recently an engineer on Bon Iver’s “i,i”), Bile and Bone is a culmination of familiar themes and tropes in Riggs’ songwriting (horror movie monsters, queer politics, puns) taffy-pulled into a widescreen format by Francis’ production and arrangement. Swaths of strings and electric piano are cut through by chunky acoustic guitar that sometimes teeters on the intrusive. Flirtations with soft rock (“Werewolf”) motorik pop (“Boyfriend Jacket”) and Eno-esque ambient balladry (“Apex Twin”) sit snugly against the ghosts of Fahey (“Dying Bedmaker Variations”) and the dust-clogged remnants of a pawnshop (“Love Is An Old Bullet”).
The title track is a shuffling climax of held-back fury, summarizing the overall air of the album with volatile lyricism (“I should not be in a place/where I am on my knees each night/praying for my leaders/to be shot down on sight”) with classic pop harmonies provided by Rook Grubbs (Vaughn Aed).
The end result is a patchwork of beauty with claw marks. Possibly cat, possibly wolf-person, definitely lovely.
“At the very end of the opening track, a sound is heard, a warped deviation, and you might, for a moment, think that it was Satan. Not the Satan our parents’ parents rejected in recordings, but rather a new, much improved Satan 2.0, leading by example of sensitivity and risky business, no longer mutually exclusive. Do not fear it. Give in and go forth and enjoy.”
-Adam Schatz (Landlady, expert on Satans)
“It is their best and most compelling record yet, Riggs singing songs about self-realization during a moment that badly wants to beat you into preordered shapes, delivered with both tenderness and intensity over matching acoustic picking. A work of clarity and reckoning, it is the album that Riggs has been building toward for this busy past half-decade.”
Released September 18th, 2020
BIle and Bone is an album by Al Riggs and Lauren Francis
All words by al Riggs
All music by Al Riggs andLauren Francis
Kelsey here. I’m sure 2020 has been monumental for everyone and I wanted to reach out and tell each of you how loved and missed you all are ! While it breaks my heart not to be able to share music with you in person I feel that it’s more important than ever for music to be made! That being said, so much is happening in the world of Wild Child and I can’t wait to share it all!
First! I made a solo record and it’s about to drop on October 16TH! Three singles have been released already and the title track “Bitch” comes out on 10/1/20 !!
So far the music has done really well and taken on a life of its own. My song “Highroad” was on NPR listed as one of the 9 songs public radio couldn’t stop playing! I’ll include a link to that and the quarantine music video I made of people dancing to my other single “Making Love” .
I am so excited to share this music with the Wild Child family. You guys are the only reason I continue doing what I do and make as much music as my heart will allow, and your support over the years makes me feel like I might explode with love and gratitude. I hope that the Sir Woman EP “Bitch” makes you feel as powerful/beautiful/capable as it made me feel while I was making the record! Please give it a listen and share!! It has my actual heart and soul in it as my gift to all of you.
We lost a couple of heroes recently. Here’s a tribute to one of them. Just The 2 Of Us by Bill Withers
Alexander has been releasing his solo music as well under the moniker CoCoZandi and it’s also Insanely good. Y’all make sure to check that out as well! Also.. We will begin writing the 5th Wild Child record this fall and will be booking some very special online shows to premier some of the new tunes we are working on! The Wild Child family will just keep growing as long as you guys are here for the ride!
Sending you and yours all the love and light in the world. Stay at home if you can, wash you hands, wear a mask, All love, Kelsey
The Fat Angel Sings 