Cardinal Fuzz Records and Centripetal Force Records bring you this nine song journey sees the band exploring new directions that are more meditative in nature, a welcome development in light of the current state of world affairs. The song “Mythic Salon” certainly demonstrates such intent, as well as growth. “ARC”, the band’s first release since last year’s Ape on Sunday, was recorded at guitarist Anthony Taibi’s 3D Light Studios in Humboldt County, California. The song writing this time around took on more of an inward process, both musically and thematically. This shift allowed for more spontaneity and improvisation than their previous efforts. This was especially true when it came to translating musical passages that had already become part of the band’s live repertoire. ARC is not a concept album per se, but its focus on such an omnipresent icon certainly leaves the listener a variety of avenues for interpretation, making this the most daring and unique album in the White Manna discography.
TRAAMS have always wrestled with category. Part motorik drum beats, part discordant guitars, pop melodies and hypnotic bass lines. All are present here. With a collection of three new tracks they have expanded further. Collaborating with friends and new instrumentation, each track is different from the last. But all sound like the inimitable TRAAMS.
Written and recorded over a brief hiatus, ‘The Greyhound’, a near ten minute kaleidoscope of sounds, sees the band expanding further than ever. Recorded in Brighton with Theo Verney, and featuring Lewis Evans (Black Country, New Road) on Saxophone, the track builds from the offset into a hypnotic, driving, post rock blow out. Themes of repetition, life cycles, pursuing ones path, growth & education, fulfillment and closure.
Tomberlin, the Los Angeles via Lousiville, KY artist, has announced a new EP titled “Projections” with a Busy Philipps-directed video for its lead single “Wasted.” The EP, which was produced by Alex G (Alex Giannascoli) and his bandmate Sam Acchione, continues the arc of her critically acclaimed 2018 debut, At Weddings. The rich vocal harmonies and guitar lines that made At Weddings so riveting still provide the EP’s foundation, but new percussive backing and instrumental flourishes open the path forward for Tomberlin.
What hides in the fog that keeps people apart, and what does it take to cut through it? These questions hang heavily over Sarah Beth Tomberlin’s music, whose hushed and intimate tones orbit answers as much as they savour the unanswerable. To be in relation to another human being is to engage with a deep mystery: We are all fundamentally alone, siloed into confusing bodies, and yet occasionally we find someone who lets us feel as if we weren’t. Tomberlin, the Louisville native who recently relocated to Los Angeles, delights in articulating and amplifying that mystery, picking out its details and marveling at its scale. In singing her aloneness she soothes it, and extends a hand to others reckoning with their own solitude–a paradox that warms her spectral songs.
Tomberlin’s new Projections EP continues the arc of her critically acclaimed 2018 debut At Weddings, weaving new collaborators and new techniques into her signature dusky milieu. Since the LP’s release, Tomberlin has toured with Pedro the Lion, Andy Shauf, American Football, and Alex G, played a Tiny Desk concert for NPR, and given a riveting performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! The five-song EP, capped with a cover of Casiotone for the Painfully Alone’s stunning “Natural Light,” reflects this period of intensive growth and self-discovery. “I wrote these songs while getting to know myself outside of people’s perceived notions of who I was,” says Tomberlin. “I just started being like, What am I interested in? What do I want out of relationships and friendships? What am I looking for that I don’t have in myself already?”
The rich vocal harmonies and guitar lines that made At Weddings so riveting still provide the EP’s foundation, but new percussive backing and instrumental flourishes open the path forward for Tomberlin. After touring the US with Alex G and playing new songs for the band in their shared green room, Tomberlin reached out to Alex Giannascoli and bandmate Sam Acchione to produce the EP’s four original tracks. She recorded her new songs in Giannascoli’s Philadelphia apartment alongside Acchione and frequent collaborator Molly Germer. The fleshed out sound lends a sense of urgency to tracks like “Wasted,” an uptempo romp across the kind of thorny relationship that withholds as much as it gives, and “Sin,” a song that applies reclaimed Christian imagery to an unorthodox romantic partnership. “I don’t mind sinning if it’s with you,” Tomberlin sings against washes of violin and brushed cymbals. “Say a prayer/Lay your hands on me/I just wanna be clean.”
“I wrote ‘Sin’ while living at my parents’ home and exploring my queerness, but afraid to make it too obvious,” Tomberlin says. “It’s definitely using imagery that gets used against queer people, but making a joke out of it. That’s a thing with queer people. We all use humour to deflect our pain.”
Tomberlin’s ability to pan across the general disaster of human relationality and then zoom in on an effervescent moment of pure intimacy is one of her greatest strengths as a songwriter. Queer people get shuttered under the label of sin by the wider world, and yet despite that brand they steal moments of love and healing for themselves. Love is, generally speaking, a wellspring of pain and dysfunction, but look at the moments where it works. “It’s all sacrifice and violence, the history of love,” Tomberlin sings on EP opener “Hours,” “But remember when we stayed up/And took turns playing songs?” The camera zooms in, and magic alights on the people who suddenly take up the whole frame.
You can refuse the mystery of how people manage to be among each other, or you can delight in what it offers, no matter how fleeting. Tomberlin opts for delight every time. Hers are songs for people who, despite the turmoil of the world at large, despite the weight of its sadness, unshield themselves and fall into wonder.
New EP out October 16th. Produced by Alex G and bandmate Sam Acchione.
“£Projections” comes out digitally on October 16th, with a picture disc vinyl pressing following on November 13th. You can pre-order the limited run picture disc today at the Saddle Creek Records Store.
Among the artists whose home is the South and whose work attempts to reclaim their ownership in its legacy is blues-schooled musician and poet Adia Victoria. In her new single “South Gotta Change,” produced by T Bone Burnett, Victoria stands up in the face of the cultural forces that keep hatred and injustice ingrained in Southern heritage and demands better.
Produced by T-Bone Burnett, “South Gotta Change” combines folk and rock influences to propel Adia Victoria’s hopes for the future of the South. The song was inspired by the loss of Congressman John Lewis this year, as his messages and accomplishments were a guiding light to many. “South Gotta Change” is a prayer, an affirmation, and a battle cry all at once,” Victoria said of the song. “It is a promise to engage in the kind of “good trouble” John Lewis understood necessary to form a more perfect union. No other place embodies the American experiment with the precision of the South. It is home to both unspeakable horror and unshakable faith. It is up to us, those who are blessed enough to be Southern, to take up the mantle Brother Lewis left us. As the old saying goes, “As the South goes, so goes the nation.”
Above, see the music video for the song. The footage includes Victoria and bandmate Mason Hickman working on the song in the studio as well as scenes shot from a car window driving through the countryside and around small towns. There’s footage from around the Tennessee State Capitol as well.
After the song is over, there’s a clip of the Capitol building, over which you can hear Victoria speaking with someone who’s questioning what she’s doing there.
We are incredibly, Incredibly pleased to announce to you this morning, our new single, “Impossible Weight” is out. I could not be prouder to present this song that means the world to me— and features one of my favourite artists in the world, Sharon Van Etten. It was such an absolute pleasure to work with someone that has been a true inspiration to me and specifically while writing and recording this song.
Along with it, we are releasing a music video that is one of my proudest moments as an artist. A moment where we can present visuals that speak to this season—a time of loneliness, of desolation, but also of beauty. I wanted to create something very triumphant and beautiful in a year that has been the opposite of those things.
I want to ask you, if you are willing, to come alongside of us today. This is a terribly difficult season for musicians. Without touring, it is almost impossible to get our music out into the world. Like all bands, shows have always been the way in which we sell the majority of records and promote our albums. Right now, that is simply not an option for us. SO.. we humbly ask of you…. If you would like to help us succeed and you believe in us—SPREAD THE WORD. Post about our song / music video today. Word of mouth is Always the best way forward for us. Follow us on Spotify, Youtube, etc.. Like our comments and comment yourself on our posts—as that alters the algorithm that can enable our music to get out to more and more people. The more people that hear and enjoy our music, the more sustainable this can be for us.
We love you and have been excited about this day for so long. This song is one of my favourites, and the video is so badass. Hope you enjoy it and we truly hope to see you soon. XO
Jessica and Deep Sea Diver
Dobson’s Deep Sea Diver bandmates include her husband Peter Mansen (drums), Garrett Gue (bass), and Elliot Jackson (guitar, synth). Impossible Weight is the band’s third album. The band entered the studio not long after the touring cycle for their sophomore album, 2016’s Secrets.
“We went into the studio pretty quickly after the tour ended, and I sort of hit a wall where I was feeling very detached from making music, and unable to find joy in it,” Dobson reveals. “I realized I had to try to rediscover my voice as a songwriter, and figure out the vocabulary for what I needed to say on this album.”
Deep Sea Diver is Jessica Dobson Peter Mansen Garrett Gue & Elliot Jackson. Just when I thought I couldn’t love this band any more than I do, they totally proved me wrong.
Danish quartet Yung have shared a new track “New Fast Song,” taken from their forthcoming seven-inch single titled “Progress”, due out on September. 11th via PNKSLM Recordings. It’s their first release since their 2016 debut LP A Youthful Dream, released on Fat Possum. “New Fast Song,” the b-side to the seven-inch title track, is a return to the melodic indie of their debut LP, but there’s less distortion and more warmth this time around. “We keep falling / but I really never see it that way,” they sing with passion over the closing guitar throttle. There’s a sense of poignant restlessness, but a satisfying vigour underpins it all.
Mikkel on the lyrics of the song:
“The lyrics for this one were written in the backseat of a tour van, at the end of a two-week tour of Europe. The last show of that tour was in Madrid and somehow we’d decided that doing the Madrid-Denmark drive without a layover was a reasonable idea.
We got up very early in the morning, packed the van and drove out of Madrid. Did a quick stop to fuel up and stock up on essentials. We had breakfast and I had a lot of coffee. As we hit the road I was hit by an overwhelming amount of emotions. Post-tour blues, joy of returning home, frustration from realising a normal everyday routine would appear in life, a private economy which was barely existing, the beauty of Madrid and all its small and narrow streets and beautiful balconies, an unbelievably hot day and the prospects of being confined in an upright position in the backseat of a tour van the next 2.500 kilometres: All thoughts and sensations that passed through my mind all the while an absurd amount of caffeine rushed through my veins. I can’t really say exactly what these lyrics are about, but all of the emotions above somehow made their way into the song. Maybe it’s a song about the beauty of frustration and hardship. Maybe it was just me trying to make sense out of something which did not make sense at the time.”
XX Yung
“New Fast Song” · Yung PNKSLM Recordings Released on: 2020-08-26
Samia this week shared “Triptych,” the fourth and final single ahead of her debut album out now. The new song spins a story of conflicting emotions mixed with a layer of historical inspiration through indie-esque vocals resembling the likes of Clairo and Soccer Mommy. “I wrote ‘Triptych’ sobbing in a green room in Denver,” Samia said. “I’d just read the story of Francis Bacon and his lover/muse, George Dyer, whose chaotic lifestyle served as Bacon’s artistic inspiration. George Dyer overdosed in the bathroom of a hotel room paid for by Bacon, who famously painted a triptych of his lover’s final moments. I had just been through a pretty tough breakup and felt I might be purposefully getting myself into dicey situations to justify my big feelings and write about them. ‘Triptych’ was a pretty blatant cry for help and an opportunity to confess my fear of being misunderstood.”
This week, singer songwriter Fenne Lily released a new single “Solipsism” it’s from her forthcoming album “Breach”, out September. 18th via Dead Oceans Records. The new track follows the release of previous singles “Berlin” and “Alapathy” and standalone tracks “To Be a Woman Pt. 2” and “Hypochondriac.” “A lot of situations make me uncomfortable — some parties, most dates, every time I’m stoned in the supermarket,” Lily says. “‘Solipsism’ is a song about being comfortable with being uncomfortable and the freedom that comes with that. If you feel weird for long enough it becomes normal, and feeling anything is better than feeling nothing. I wanted this video to be a reflection of the scary thought that I’ll have to live with myself forever. It’s surreal to realise you’ll never live apart from someone you sometimes hate. Dad, if you’re reading this you killed it as shopper number 2.”
The new single ‘Solipsism’ is now in the world (via Dead Oceans) alongside a bonkers video ft. my dad and Willie J Healey. It’s for anyone who has been or still is scared of everything — for anyone who feels like Louis Theroux at parties — for myself looking back on 21 as a weird time, not the end of the world.
Thank you to Joe Sherrin on bass and guitars, Josh Sparks on drums, Brian Deck and Ali Chant for producing and mixing, Tom Clover for directing and the 40+ shoot day team who worked tirelessly to bring my dumb ideas to life
“Solipsism” the new song by Fenne Lily off ‘Breach’, out September 18 on Dead Oceans Records.
Harmony Tividad and Avery Tucker aka Girlpool have shared a new remix EP featuring versions of their song “Like I’m Winning It” that dropped earlier this year.
The EP is titled Touch Me (It’s Like I’m Winning It), and it features three different remixes from Dev Hynes, Porches and Lydia Ainsworth. Each collaborator brings new life to the song, from dark and moody with Ainsworth to loop-heavy with Hynes, transforming breaths into beats.
Like everyone, I’ve been thinking a lot about the times we’re in. Sometimes those thoughts come to me as lyrics:
“These days have made a change in me”
I had written a song with that line in it a while back, and recently, I listened back and I realized that it felt very relevant to me now. “Time is Wasting” became the nucleus around which I imagined a mini-album / EP / whatever that brought together several recordings and a few live performances from the last several years that I was proud of but hadn’t found a recorded home for. See Here, I Have Built You A Mansion is a collection of eight of those songs.
There is a lot of time and distance and farewell on these recordings. “Miles Away” is all about physical and emotional distance. “Brothers In Arms,” one of my favourite Mark Knopfler songs, is a pathos-filled, Shakespearian rumination on battle and memory; this version was recorded during a soundcheck. I initially wrote “Be of Good Heart” for Joan Baez’s final album, but I loved it so much that I wanted to do a recording with my band as well. “Haunt,” “Heaven Knows,” and “Waiting on You” were recorded with the Royal City Band during the Gathering sessions. And “Lawrence, Kansas,” which was recorded live in Lawrence, Kansas, is one of my earliest compositions and a reminder of how much I miss playing live with my incredible band.
I am indebted to the phenomenal musicians and producers that I am lucky enough to work with and call my friends. I am also very grateful to you for listening and giving me the opportunity to continue making music. Finally, a huge thank you to my incredible family! Be of good heart everyone. – Josh
