Perfume Genius’Mike Hadreas is one of modern pop’s true boundary-pushing juggernauts. Each of his four albums—but particularly the last two: 2014’s Too Bright and 2017’s No Shape—rattled with sonic magnificence and lyrics of deep trauma, the fierce reclamation of space and the transcendence of love and intimacy. Hadreas is fresh off a collaborative dance piece with choreographer Kate Wallich and The YC dance company, and he’s now poised to bring that vulnerable physicality to his first Perfume Genius album in three years: Set My Heart on Fire Immediately. While No Shape saw him lean into bold, adventurous art-pop, Set My Heart sees him embrace American rock ‘n’ roll glory. It still preserves his enthralling tenderness and idiosyncratic pop palette, but it adds torched guitars and classic rock melodies. Songs like “Describe” are led by a dreamy, prevailing calm while still shaking the ground with guitar distortion. It’s Hadreas at his most abstract and carefree.
While I haven’t previously delved into the albums of Perfume Genius (Mike Hadreas), I read his profile/interview in The New Yorker and was immediately intrigued, so I went straight to listen to Set My Heart on Fire Immediately, his new record; the song that grabbed me the most was “On the Floor.” It has a steady, side-to-side groove, the kind that might bring you to the nearest dancefloor on a cool evening.
The lyrics however drip with longing, and a touch of fear. Hadreas sings of big feelings for someone, presumably big love, and begs, “take this wildness away,” as the instruments pare down for a moment, leaving only the desperation in his voice before the groove picks back up.
From Perfume Genius‘ new album ‘Set My Heart On Fire Immediately” released on May 15th, 2020 on Matador Records.
Something about this indie pop Australian band always makes me smile, and “On the Line” is no exception: With a beachy bounce and sun-kissed warmth reminiscent of say Prefab Sprout, San Cisco’s latest single heralds the long-awaited return of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. If only we could go out and take advantage!
Yet music can, and so often is its own escape. Those glazed guitar riffs and “could you love me one more time?” chants welcome us to close our eyes and slip into a bright, buoyant new reality. A catchy indie pop “bop,” this is the song that will get us dancing all over the room, letting loose whatever stiffness has been building in our bones as we throw caution to the four winds and let it all out. I remember hopping around to songs like “Fred Astaire” eight years ago – that was always my favourite track off San Cisco’s 2012 self-titled. You never know where a band will go over time, and indeed so many of this group’s contemporaries are no longer together, or have gone on to new projects. I’m glad San Cisco are doing what they’re doing, because they do it so darn well: Every song is a delightful burst of sunlight, not to mention a sweet kiss upon the cheek. Listen to “On the Line” and indulge; a track so full of urgency and hope, San Cisco’s newest offering will fill an empty room with dazzling, gleaming light.
Australian alt/pop artist Tia Gostelow makes us all feel a little more normal in her honest new single “Psycho.” Showing us that we’re really all the same when it comes to playing the relationship roulette, Gostelow wants to remind you to never lose track of who you are and what you want.
Through relaxed soundscapes, sun-soaked melodies and soulful, glowing tones, Gostelow paints a relatable picture of modern day dating. In a world full of uncertainty, it’s important to remember who you are and although at times we may come across a little crazy, we’re definitely not “psycho.” I wrote this song a little while ago with my friend @aidanhogg at @plutoniumstudios. I really wanted to share a little bit about the meaning behind it before it comes out going into the session I felt like I really wanted to write a song about something that was really prominent in the media at the time and was also something personal to me and a lot of my friends. conversations about gaslighting in relationships/friendships was all I was reading about on my phone, it was all over my Facebook and Instagram.⠀
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It forced me to really think about the situations and relationships myself and my friends have been in where we’ve experienced gaslighting and how it made us go fucking crazy. I feel like when you are in these circumstances, it feels like you’re going insane. I felt like I was turning into this psycho person and it seemed like nobody else saw where I was coming from or understood why i was acting this way.⠀
Seeing all of these other people speaking up about it, made me deal with my emotions that I had just ignored and I finally felt like I could put all of my anger and frustration into something that means something. I hope this song helps other people who may be feeling or experiencing the same things
During these challenging times many of us are separated from our loved ones, without an idea of when we will be reunited again. This long period of isolation can be truly agonizing, affecting people in many different ways. Imagine having to cope with that for nearly two years. That’s what Australian born, London based artist Ebony Buckle had to endure during her wait for her marriage visa renewal. Her latest single “Ghost” is about her torturous experiences and the ultimate result it can have on your mental health. Her distinctive quirky style is embedded deep throughout her brand, both sonically, thematically and aesthetically. Known for dressing head to toe in bold, colorful outfits, Buckle leaves her mark wherever she goes.
Showcasing her distinct sound of beautiful folk/pop, Buckle has crafted a poignant song that we can all relate to – particularly now. Layered ethereal vocals and soft, gentle piano arrangements, allow for Buckle to tell her story, creating a heart wrenching release. “Ghost” gradually builds into an all-encompassing song, providing an emotional outlet for Buckle, allowing her to finally close a chapter in her life. The Australian singer/songwriter is known for her quirky song narratives, with previous tracks touching on themes from mermaids, to dinosaurs and everything in between. However “Ghost” sees Buckle taking on a much more serious subject, while simultaneously maintaining her quaint and captivating style which we have all come to love.
Ebony is a singer/songwriter/actor in London with a flare for the dramatic and an imaginary best friend called Susan the Raptor.
Alternative pop band Yumi Zouma revel their third album, “Truth or Consequences”, released Friday, March 13th on Polyvinyl Records.
Originating from Christchurch, New Zealand, the four-piece band consists of Christie Simpson (vocals, keyboards), Josh Burgess (guitar, bass guitar, vocals, keyboards), Charlie Ryder (guitar, bass guitar, keyboards), and Olivia Campion (drums). Yumi Zouma’s first two records, Yoncalla (2016) and Willowbank (2017), received great reception from a growing fanbase, with tours following both albums. Constantly working and wanting to produce new material, the group have also released plenty of EPs and singles in between full-lengths, including the single, “Bruises” (2019). Truth or Consequences greatly emphasizes the growth Yumi Zouma have had as a band over the past few years.
Christie Simpson’s ethereal vocals, the band’s dreamy pop melodies, and honest lyrics blend perfectly together and capture the Yumi Zouma sound. Songs like “Truer Than Ever” and “Lie Like You Want Me Back” dive into the complexities of life and this idea that answers may not be as clear as you want them to be. Each song questions the relationships we have and keep with others, and even the relationship we have with ourselves.
The writing process for this album in particular was quite different from the band’s previous works. All living in different locations, the band members became immune to writing songs individually and coming together later on to complete the process. When writing Truth or Consequences, all four bandmates rented out studios in various locations and started writing from scratch. As a result, the record revolves around a solid, central theme, and presents an easy, beautiful flow between each track.
Skullcrusher is not, as you might expect, some black metal band from Scandinavia, but instead LA-based songwriter Helen Ballentine.
She will release her debut four track EP via Secretly Canadian on the 26th June and the stunning “Places/Plans” is the lead from it, a sparse and gorgeously intimate song that is all the more powerful and compelling for its minimalist arrangement. In the case of Places / Plans the debut single by Skullcrusher, all of these elements are brought together. The video is carefully set up and washed with a haunting home-filmed haziness the re-watching of old family footage, with the lyrics incorporated book-style, and the song itself is compiled of a pretty loneliness.
The song and music video work side by side. It’s just one camera shot of a back garden, the house being white and grand and likely host to supernatural goings on. Skullcrusher sits on a blanket in the middle of the beaten lawn, having a picnic with herself like a child having an imaginary tea party with their toys. Another Skullcrusher sits swinging moodily on a swing, and a third stands on the steps by the backdoor sawing a piece of wood. They are clones, fragments of herself, lost in solitary thought. All while this is taking place, the lyrics appear at the bottom of the recording in gothic font- journal style questions such as ‘Does it matter if I’m a really good friend? And ‘Can I make it up there as I am?.
Skullcrusher is the musical project of LA based songwriter Helen Ballentine “Places/Plans” by Skullcrusher, from her forthcoming self-titled EP out June 26th on Secretly Canadian.
As a young teen fan watching “Top Of The Pops”, getting into The Move was natural, It was rewarded with an intense admiration of albums such as “Shazam” and then later Roy Wood’s“Message From The Country”. Back then, affordable compilations covering the career of The Move were few and far between save for the rather good “Greatest Hits Vol. 1” released on budget label Pickwick (SHM952), partly in “electronically created stereo”.
The advent of the CD and the release of several anthologies and expanded album reissues has kept admirers of The Move pretty content over the last decade but, for me, there hasn’t been a single disc compilation that ticked all the boxes in covering their career from “Night Of Fear” up to “California Man”. That is until now. “Magnetic Waves Of Sound: The Best Of TheMove” (ECLEC22554) is a remarkable release in that the 21 tracks on the CD are twinned with another 21 audio-visual treats on the accompanying DVD including the bands full infamous “Colour Me Pop” performance and a pristine promotional film for “I Can Hear The Grass Grow”. The folks at Esoteric Recordings (an imprint of Cherry Red Records) have done an admirable job in not only including every single issued by The Move on the CD, but also in selecting wisely album track nuggets such as “Kilroy Was Here”, “What?” and the classic “Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited”. An observation (but not a criticism) is that I’d have loved to see “Beautiful Daughter” included within the CD too,
All the hits are there and then some. The attractiveness and value of “Magnetic Waves Of Sound: The Best Of The Move” has been rewarded with impressive pre-orders and, at the time of writing, an entry into the Official Album Chart Update at a healthy #54, The Move and their role in the sparking creativity of The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) is a well known fact but this superb double disc collection gives both the avid fan and the casual music buyer a wonderful journey through the hit laden career of not only one of THE best bands of their time. This collection is also an appreciation of the stellar songwriting output of the one and only Roy Wood as well as those immovable contributions of Bev Bevan, Carl Wayne, Chris ‘Ace’ Kefford, Trevor Burton, Rick Price and, of course, Jeff Lynne.
Continuing its series of reissues dedicated to the Birmingham rockers The Move, Cherry Red’s Esoteric Recordings imprint has just issued a CD/DVD collection that chronicles the band’s many facets and iterations between 1966 and 1972. Magnetic Waves of Sound: The Best of The Move, featuring 21 tracks on CD and a further 21 live performances and promotional films on DVD, is certainly not the group’s first anthology, but it’s doubtless among the finest.
Over the course of just four studio albums – all but one of which, 1971’s Message from the Country, has been reissued and expanded by Esoteric – the band made a dizzying number of transformations. Pop-psychedelia, mod soul, hard riff-rock, country, cabaret, folk, and rockabilly were all part of The Move’s repertoire. The band went through five line-ups, with singer/songwriter/guitarist Roy Wood and drummer/vocalist Bev Bevan the two constants; Wood and Bevan would, of course, go on to form the original Electric Light Orchestra with Jeff Lynne, the Idle Race leader who joined The Move in 1970. Lead singer Carl Wayne’s 1966-1970 yielded the lion’s share of the group’s hits, while the seemingly rotating bass chair went from Chris “Ace” Kefford to Trevor Burton to Rick Price before the Wood/Lynne/Bevan triumvirate abandoned a permanent bass slot for The Move’s final incarnation.
All ten of the band’s U.K. charting singles are here, from 1966’s Tchaikovsky-quoting “Night of Fear” through 1972’s fifties retro-style “California Man,” as well as “Do Ya,” The Move’s only U.S. hit. (It was famously re-recorded by Electric Light Orchestra for 1976’s A New World Record.) A healthy selection of B-sides and album tracks are peppered throughout the set, as well. All of the tracks showcase not only the band’s great stylistic diversity but the strength of Roy Wood’s melodic pop sensibility. Though The Move could rock (the harsher sound of “Hello Susie” is still jarring in this chronological context), their singles were more often than not compact pop creations, including the controversial “Flowers in the Rain” (subject of a High Court lawsuit that forced Wood to forfeit all of his royalties, then and now, from the composition), the urgent “Fire Brigade,” shimmering “(Here We Go Round) The Lemon Tree” and baroque “Blackberry Way.” Move records were reliably filled with lush harmonies and unusual, dramatic instrumentation, sometimes courtesy of then-assistant producer Tony Visconti. Indeed, The Move were progressive before the word had entered the rock lexicon.
The final tracks on the CD portion of Magnetic Waves of Sound, culled from the Message from the Country era, were recorded as Lynne, Wood, and Bevan created Electric Light Orchestra. As such, they complement the debut of ELO (the band’s only album with Wood (though he played, uncredited, on a couple of tracks from ELO 2). “Ella James” was selected as the first single from Message, though it was quickly withdrawn and replaced with the jauntier “Tonight,” which was more redolent of the “classic” Move sound. The brisk, breezy “China Town” has Wood and Lynne trading vocals, with the latter already bringing a Beatles influence into the band and Wood bringing his best George Harrison-esque slide lines.
The second disc of this set – The Move on the Air: TV Broadcasts 1967-1970 – is an essential part of this package but could easily stand on its own, with 21 clips on DVD. Note that this disc is region-free/NTSC, playable everywhere. Quality is variable, particularly because the original aspect ratios have been converted to widescreen, leading to some “stretching” of the image. The images are otherwise sharp and detailed, and the audio equally fine. The centerpiece is a ten-song set from The BBC’s Colour Me Pop (in color, naturally) recorded on January 4th, 1969 featuring not only hits like “I Can Hear the Grass Grow,” “Flowers in the Rain,” and “Blackberry Way” but also covers such as Tom Paxton’s “The Last Thing on My Mind,” Carole King and Gerry Goffin’s“Goin’ Back,” and the Louvin Brothers’ “Christian Life.” Three songs from this set are lip-synched, while the remainder showcases the four-piece band after Chris “Ace” Kefford’s departure in its potent live prime. Other strong, primal performances have been culled from broadcasts of Top of the Pops and Germany’s Beat Beat Beat and Beat Club.
Magnetic Waves of Sound is housed in a digipak containing both a fold-out poster and a 20-page booklet featuring a new essay by Mark Paytress as well as credits, a chart of the band line-ups, and discography. Ben Wiseman has remastered, and sound quality is identical to the remasters, and comparable for the tracks new to this series. The first eleven tracks on the CD are happily all presented in their original mono mixes. This set is a fine addition to Esoteric’s stellar program dedicated to the underrated Brumbeat band.
CD
Night of Fear (Deram DM 109-A, 1966) (*)
I Can Hear the Grass Grow (Deram DM 117-A, 1967) (*)
Wave the Flag and Stop the Train (Deram DM 117-B, 1967) (*)
Kilroy Was Here (from Move, Regal Zonophone LRZ 1002, 1968) (*)
(Here We Go Round) The Lemon Tree (from Move, Regal Zonophone LRZ 1002, 1968) (*)
Walk Upon the Water (from Move, Regal Zonophone LRZ 1002, 1968) (*)
Flowers in the Rain (Regal Zonophone RZ 3001-A, 1967) (*)
Fire Brigade (Regal Zonophone RZ 3005-A, 1968) (*)
The Move was probably the biggest British group of the late 60s/early 70s who utterly failed to make any sort of impression on the American market. Nearly every biography written about them begins that way as if it’s the most important thing about the Move. It’s not, although it does provide a bit of (perhaps necessary) context. In England the Move had nine top 20 hits and was arguably ranked just below the Who (and just above the Pretty Things) in terms of pop group popularity. In the US however the Move never really made a dent in the charts, and are recalledif they are recalled much at all more as the predecessor to the Electric Light Orchestra, or merely a footnote in that band’s story, than for their own merits. It’s rare to find a Move album when you are crate digging.
It’s true, in America still to this day the Move would be considered downright obscure, but on (very, very rare) occasion (as in almost never), one does meet a total Roy Wood fanatic.
The Move‘s original five-piece line-up formed in 1965 when teenaged guitarist Roy Wood (the band’s principle songwriter), drummer Bev Bevan, bassist Ace Kefford, vocalist Carl Wayne (older than the rest of them) and guitarist Trevor Burton “moved” from the ranks of several other semi-successful Birmingham-based bands to play together in a new Brummie “supergroup.” Like a heavier Hollies, four of the quintet were capable of handling vocals and although golden-throated Carl Wayne tended to take the lead, they also switched off that everyone got a turn in the spotlight. They were managed, first by Moody Blues manager Tony Secunda—who dressed the Move in Mod gangster suits, hired strippers for their stage act and got the band a residency at the Marquee club in London—and then later by a proper gangster, the notorious Don Arden, father of Sharon Osbourne, the former manager of Small Faces.
The original “Something Else” was a live EP, intended to catch the Move’s considerable live prowess on one of those heady Marquee nights of 1967. But it didn’t quote work out the way it was intended. “Live” would have to be in inverted commas here because when the record finally saw release, because of problems in the recording process with the vocals, it would have to be heavily doctored in the studio. The sleeve-notes here make it clear that two live dates were recorded for the EP and in between they managed to lose bass player Ace Kefford, with Trevor Burton switching over to guitar for the second session to cover.
The first part presented here are 12 tracks from these two gigs that were remastered in stereo about ten years ago and though obviously more studio creations than bona fide live recordings they certainly hit the spot. Bev Bevan’s drumming is so powerful throughout, whilst the flash bombs went off and singer Carl Wayne axed in TV sets the mighty back-beat he supplied went on no matter what. It is inevitable given the problems with the original recording that the live chatter appears a little incongruous sound-wise with the cleanness of the music on offer. But if you can suspend disbelief and imagine that this was all laid down on tape at the same time, what you have is a choice offering of the Move in their element playing a lot of spirited covers interspersed with two of the big hits (“Flowers In The Rain” and “Fire Brigade”) and this provides a decent facsimile of what their live show would have been like at the time (sonically at least). Their version of Eddie Cochran’s “Something Else” could have even been the template for Sid’s later effort, such is the spirit of abandon.
During one of their Marquee dates the group caused a fire after they’d smashed some television sets onstage with an ax. Three fire engines showed up to fight the blaze, inspiring front page headlines and the subject matter for a future hit single. Then Secunda, without consulting with the group, devised a controversial marketing campaign for the “Flowers in the Rain” single—the first record to be played on BBC Radio 1 and their third consecutive top five hit of 1967—consisting of a postcard depicting Prime Minister Harold Wilson in bed with his secretary. Wilson brought litigation against the Move for Secunda’s actions, which he won costing them—specifically Roy Wood who wrote the number and had nothing to do with the publicity stunt—their royalties for the hit, which were donated to charity. This led to Secunda’s firing and Arden’s hiring. In fall of 1967, the group took part in a two-week-long concert package tour around the UK, playing twice a night with the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd and the Nice.
One major reason the Move never broke the American market is that they never toured here. They tried to—opening two shows for the Stooges before things fell apart—but it was a demoralizing disaster. Another reason might be their overt “Englishness” which would have been a turn off to many American rock fans at the time.
And don’t try to tell me that KISS didn’t base their entire sound on the stomp-all-over-yer-face “Brontosaurus,” because they so obviously did. (And just where do you think Paul Stanley got his “starchild” look from?,
Legendary British rock & roll group The Godfathers will release a brand new double A side single – ‘I’m Not Your Slave’ & ‘Wild And Free’ – on 17th June to celebrate the 35th anniversary since the band’s formation. The original line-up of The Godfathers played their first gig together at The Embassy Club in London on 17th June 1985.
Both new tracks were recorded immediately prior to the Coronavirus lockdown in the UK & although they were composed late last year the 2 songs chime perfectly with current events. Godfathers’ lead singer & founder member Peter Coyne describes ‘I’m Not Your Slave’ & ‘Wild And Free’ as “truly exciting, state of the art rock & roll”.
Coyne is now joined in The Godfathers by guitarist Richie Simpson & drummer Billy Duncanson (both previously in Heavy Drapes & Baby’s Got A Gun) bass player Jon Priestley from iconic punk band The Damned & guitarist Wayne Vermaak.
The Godfathers – famed for their primal rock sound (with songs like ‘Birth School Work Death’, ‘I Want Everything’ & ‘Unreal World’) mob inspired image & explosive live concerts – will resume touring activity with a world tour in 2021 to promote the release of a highly anticipated new studio album.
Stu Larsen has no fixed residence…all he owns is a suitcase. You can find him in his native Australia, in Spain, Japan or South America before he picks up and leaves for his next destination. The Queensland, Australia-born singer-songwriter, and narrator packed up his life in a suitcase and has circled the globe on a near twelve-year and five-continent international trip. He has chronicled this journey through his music, including his newest full-length album “Marigold”.
On April 3rd, singer-songwriter Stu Larsen will release his most intimate album-to-date, “Marigold” (via Nettwerk Records). The eleven tracks on Marigold speak to Larsen’s external and internal progression, bookended by first single “Whisky & Blankets (A Tu Lado)” and the final cut on the album, “Phone Call From My Lover.” In between Marigold and his earlier LP Resolute,Larsen fell in love only to fall into heartbreak and, ultimately, find the inspiration to write straight from the heart. The latest single, “Hurricane” is about the emotional force of love which swept – quickly and unexpectedly – in (and out) of his life.
“I came into her life so unexpectedly and turned everything upside down, she felt things she hadn’t felt before and maybe didn’t know how to respond, which turned the relationship into such a rollercoaster. ‘Hurricane’ is a short and punchy song that starts and finishes before you have a chance to settle into it,” says Larsen.
Currently, Stu Larsen has no fixed residence…all he owns is a suitcase, a guitar and a couple of cameras. You can find him in his native Australia, in Spain, Japan or South America before he picks up and leaves for his new destination. The Queensland, Australia-born singer, songwriter, and narrator packed up his life in a suitcase and circled the globe on a near twelve-year and five-continent international trip, as chronicled in photography and music.
Stu has now toured the globe numerous times over, cultivating fans with sold-out concerts around the world. As a result, fan favorites like “San Francisco” and “Thirteen Sad Farewells” have earned 100 million+ combined streams across digital platforms. In addition to documenting his travels through photos, Stu has lived numerous adventures, including an emergency appendectomy in Indonesia and being surprised by a jaguar at a party in Mexico City. Last month, Larsen announced his latest globe-trotting adventure that would take him through 11 countries in 31 days. But, with that, he still plans to return to North American this Spring.
