“I think this might be my favourite song I have ever written, and it took a while to reveal itself,” Montreal singer-songwriter Leif Vollebekk of “Southern Star” from his upcoming album “Revelation”. “I spent about two years waiting for the last verse to come. It was recorded in one live take with me on piano, Oliver on drums, Shahzad on bass and Angie, who happened to be in town, singing harmony. We added Rob Moose on strings and Cindy Cashdollar on steel guitar. I asked her to stretch out at the end, and, when she did, I just sat there in the control room, completely blown away.”
After I played this song solo on the final night of our last tour, my friend and sound engineer Harris Shper came up to me and said,”New song?” I said, “Yeah.” “Strings?” he asked. I said, “Yep.” He said, “Cindy on steel?” said, “Exactly.” He was hearing exactly what I was hearing in my head. I decided at that moment that he would record “Southern Star”.
The night before that show, I ran into Shazhad Ismaily (@ectoderm88) in NYC who added so much to my album “Twin Solitude”. I asked him to come back and play bass. He, myself and Olivier Fairfield, along with Anfie McMahon (who was serendipitously in NY) recorded the whole thing in one take at Dreamland Recording Studios The brilliant Rob Moose added strings. I saved the last few bars of the song for Cindy Cashdollar to play what I think is the most beautiful steel guitar solo l’ve eve heard.
Cindy Cashdollar will be joining us at the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal this Friday.
directed/filmed by wondrous Kaveh Nabatian, with Michael Felber, Michael Feuerstack and OlivierFairfield graciously helping breathe life into this music video. Ok I think that’s it.
I hope you enjoy this song as much as I did writing it and recording it. It might be my favourite song far. Happy summer X
Paul Weller rarely does the same thing twice. Twice in a row, at least. For his 17th album, which arrives one day shy of his 66th birthday, he’s created a lush and soulful world draped in swooning orchestration and featuring a wide range of cool friends and collaborators, not to mention a bunch of great new songs. That he manages to always find new places to go that fit within his amazing body of work — that includes The Jam and The Style Council — is arguably Weller’s biggest talent. Like 2021’s terrific “Fat Pop (Vol 1)”, “66” isn’t entirely beholden to a single style. There are rock songs “Jumble Queen,” written with Noel Gallagher), disco numbers “Flying Fish”, and Jaques Brel-style baroque “My Best Friend’s Coat,” a co-write with Le Superhomard) but the strings and horns and woodwinds — and Weller’s impeccable taste — tie it all together.
That said it’s the wistful, soulful numbers that really soar. “Nothing,” one of a few songs written with Madness frontman Suggs McPherson, is an instant classic, sounding a bit like a modern update on what Weller did in The Style Council, with jazzy chords, brass and psychedelic synth solos, set against ruminations of a long-lasting relationship
“Nothing forged our love / Out of nothing / Because it was only by / Having nothing / We were able to realise / We needed nothing else / But each other.” Mellow maybe, but Paul continues to throw heater after heater. May all of your heroes age this gracefully.
Beak, the trio of drummer Geoff Barrow (Portishead), bassist Billy Fuller (Robert Plant’s Sensational SpaceShifters) and keyboardist/guitarist Will Young (Moon Gangs), surprise-released what is easily the group’s best record yet which A) plays great as a seamless album experience, yet B) has plenty of standout cuts, and C) sports what will surely be my Album Cover of the Year when December comes. (That’s Barrow’s dog and band mascot Alfie, who passed on during the making of the album. RIP, Alf.) This trio have had a very distinctive style since day one — a murky, rhythmic mix from a wide variety of ’70s head music — but they have never sounded more in the zone than here.
While the group wouldn’t be Beak> without Barrow’s drumming and vocals, and Young’s woozy synths and arpeggiated guitar-work, it’s Fuller’s amazing bass lines that lift this one to the top of the heap. There’s a fungal, peat moss vibe to what they do (Fuller says Beak> sound like “we were coming out of the ground”) that carries across the variety of sounds found on >>>>, be it folk (“Hungry Are We”), Can-style grooves (“The Seal,” “Ah Yeh”), doomy prog (“Windmill Hill”) or claustrophobic synthwave (“Secrets”). Then there’s awesome closer “Cellophane” that starts off as a bad trip and ends in near-metal acid rock freakout. What they do is not for everyone, but if your brain is wired this way, put on some good headphones and get ready for Beak> to crack your egg.
Taken from the album 〉〉〉〉out now on Invada Records / Temporary Residence:
New York-based singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Jordan Lee, aka Mutual Benefit has today released of an album of demos of his acclaimed record “Growing at the Edges” (2023). The release of these intimate bedroom-recorded original versions of the big studio arrangements coincides with the start of his UK and European tour dates for March 2024, where he will be supported by label mate, Odetta Hartman.
Of the “Demos” release, Lee explains “The Growing at the Edges” demos were a return to my bedroom recording roots as a way to process my feelings during the lockdown in NYC. These are scrappy, intimate versions of the big chamber-folk arrangements on the studio versions”
Speaking about the upcoming tour dates, Lee says:
“I’m thrilled to announce our UK and European tour dates for next year. It’s been almost five years since the last tour abroad. I am looking forward to sharing the adapted live arrangements of “Growing at the Edges”.
Marika Hackman has a digitally release an acoustic versions EP of her fourth studio album, “Big Sigh”. Previously only available physically, the four-track EP featuring new versions of “No Caffeine”, “Hanging, Slime” and “Big Sigh”, which is now available on streaming platforms worldwide.
The CD version of “Little Sigh” is still available via Marika’s store as a ‘bonus CD’ item.
The WAEVE – composed of Graham Coxon and Rose Elinor Dougall – today announced details of their second studio album “City Lights“, set for release on 20th September 2024.
Everybody knows Blur’s Graham Coxon is an amazing guitarist, but did you know he’s no slouch on saxophone either? He lets it bleat on both instruments on “City Lights,” the swoony new single from TheWAEVE, his duo with partner Rose Elinor Dougall. This one starts pretty Blur-y, at times, in the indie-est of ways — Coxon’s guitar hook gnaws at the back of your head — but here comes the chorus and Dougall’s voice, which is as cinematic as it gets, and then the sax solo blows in straight out of 1985.
A year on from their acclaimed eponymous debut album, The WAEVE is back with “City Lights“, a collection of 10 songs that illustrate the evolution of their collaborative musicianship and sees the band’s sound solidified into something bolder, more expansive and self-assured. The agitated, art-rock squall of first single, and title track, ‘City Lights’ is followed by the anthemic and expansive second single ‘You Saw.’
Graham and Rose said of the track – “‘You Saw’ is a song about acknowledging how seemingly tiny decisions can have a seismic impact on the course of one’s life, how sometimes it feels like the way things turn out are predestined. It’s about reconciling a past version with the new version of one’s self and being grateful for how things work out. It’s built around a rhythmic string line to reflect the sense of propulsive forward motion.”
Written by Graham Coxon and Rose Elinor Dougall, and produced once again by James Ford, City Lights features Graham and Rose on vocals, as well as keyboards, guitar, bass guitar, drums and saxophone.
By the end he’s trading licks with himself on both instruments. It’s awesome but I do wonder how they will pull it off live?, To celebrate the release of ‘City Lights’, see The WAEVE perform tracks from the new album live in Rough Trade stores this September. All shows also include a signing session with the band.
20th September Liverpool. 21st September Nottingham, 23rd September Bristol
‘City Lights’ by The WAEVE is out now on Transgressive Records.
Whitelands is Etienne, Jagun, Vanessa and Michael. Started by Etienne and Jagun in 2017. Vanessa joining in 2019 and completed by Micheal in 2021!. They recently released their debut single for Sonic Cathedral with “Born in Understanding”.
The London based quartet are busily crafting vulnerable, deeply moving shoegaze gold “With an array of unexpected textures, there’s barely a misstep to be found on this romantic, sumptuous record… a dizzying mesh of sound.”
Along with Deary they’re in the vanguard of contemporary dreampop that has enough edge to avoid evaporating into pretty sounds. It’s got that dreamy soundscape and the gossamer vocals just under the surface.
Whitelands under exclusive licence to Sonic Cathedral debut Released on: 2024-02-23
This Chaotic, genre-busting four-piece capable of transporting you to another world What NME said:“Lip Critic are the band of the moment. A full-on, disruptive force emerging from their city’s underground scene – their music rides high on a bolt of infectious energy.”
Initially confined to whispers, Lip Critic has skillfully ensured that everyone is now immersed in their fast-paced world. This year, we announced their anticipated debut album ‘Hex Dealer’ with the exhilarating single ‘Milky Max’!
‘Hex Dealer’ was produced in collaboration by vocalist Bret Kaser and Connor Kleitz. Their eclectic sampling style is amplified by the infectious breakbeats and pingy snares crafted by drummers Danny Eberle and Ilan Natter. The singular mixture of classic punk/hardcore and electronic styles result in 12 frantic tracks of postmodern pop for the genreless future.
They’ve amassed critical acclaim in a short period of time with NME saying they’re “on their way to becoming the next great NYC band” and Paste Magazine calling them “an apocalyptic wasteland of NYC’s best underground punk”
The quartet of Lily Fontaine, Douglas Frost, Nicholas Eden, and Lewis Whiting began writing songs in university and quickly accumulated a devoted following based out of Leeds, UK. Wittily penned art-rock that’s not afraid to deconstruct modern Britain “What you have in ‘This Could Be Texas’ is everything you want from a debut; a truly original effort from start to finish, an adventure in sound and words, and a landmark statement.” ours with Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Parquet Courts, or their performance on Later… with Jools Holland After signing to Island Records, the band has just released their debut LP, “This Could Be Texas“
The songs on English Teacher’s debut LP “This Could Be Texas” mean so much to the band because they serve as a constant reminder of where they came from, as well as where they’re going. Formed in Leeds, the quartet consists of vocalist/guitarist Lily Fontaine, percussionist Douglas Frost, bassist Nicholas Eden, and lead guitarist Lewis Whiting. Many of the songs that make up their new Island Records effort are quite old—some are nearing a decade of existence—and reflect the group’s time in university as they flesh out ideas for compositions that were requirements for graduation.
It’s an album about being in between communities, with lots of Fontaine’s words reflecting her experience as a mixed-race person in an often inhospitable world. On “The World’s Biggest Paving Slab”—perhaps the most British song I’ve ever heard—Fontaine sings of all the worlds she encompasses, all the people she sees herself as: “I am the Pendle witches, John Simm / And I am Lee Ingleby / I am the Bank of Dave, Golden Postbox / And the festival of R&B.” This is kind of how English Teacher operates; an amalgamation of British post-punk both vintage and modern, but spiked with an equally potent dose of originality that makes their debut one of the year’s most original thus far.
“When I was writing a lot of these songs, I never expected them to be given this amount of a platform,” Fontaine tells me. “So it’s a really nice way of recognizing how far I’ve come personally. They’re quite special to me, and I’m so happy that people tend to agree.”
And people do tend to agree. Since dropping the “Polyawkward” EP in 2022, the band has toured with Parquet Courts and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, sold out a number of UK and European tour dates, and graced the cover on NME.On “This Could Be Texas”, they cash in on this hype by moving their influences into all sorts of exciting and new places.
On “R&B,” Eden’s bass provides a bouncy undertow for Fontaine to wax poetic about the world she imagines versus the one that’s in front of her. “I’ve been writing R&B for you / I’ve been making you a tea before you know it’s what you need / Tell me, is it too sweet for you? I’ve been writing R&B.” During the chorus, the drums play furiously with manic guitar squeals. Fontaine makes coffee, decides not to write R&B—despite appearances, she doesn’t have the voice for that genre she decides in one of the most clever lines on the album. It sounds like early Bloc Party’s vulnerability with the technical precision and experimentalism of Black Midi, a thrilling concoction proudly indebted to the UK’s rich and diverse tradition of rock music.
The album title, which is equal parts whimsical and rooted in reality, came while the band was walking through a neighborhood in Leeds that was full of concrete, reminding them of the “motorways” in the US. Guitarist Whiting muttered, unassumingly, “This could be Texas.” It made the rest of the band laugh, but it kept on lingering, becoming a mantra of sorts as they began to record their debut LP.
“Over time, we realized that the album’s kind of about displacement and home, the in-between of not belonging anywhere.”— Lily Fontaine
Lewis adds, “Leeds is kind of the spiritual home, but we don’t spend as much time there—except for Lily, [as it’s] where she still lives.”
For English Teacher, “This Could Be Texas” is an assertion that home is as much where your family is—chosen or inherited—as it is a place on a map.
The Breeders have shared a filmed live session, “Live in Big Sur”. The stripped-back impromptu session, which was recorded during a visit to the Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur, California.
The footage captures the band at their most organic; artfully directed by James Brylowski with illustrations from animator Pedro Eboli. Tracks performed in the session include “Divine Hammer”, “Do You Love MeNow”, “Drivin’ on 9” and “Invisible Man”.
“Last fall at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur our show was rained out. The sky cleared just as dusk fell & someone said: let’s go into the forest. So in a grove of redwoods we played a few songs for the hermit thrushes and spotted owls. Thank you Mark Satterthwaite and crew for filming it.”
The Breeders performing stripped back versions of some of their classic tracks. Following the 30th anniversary edition of “Last Splash” that was released last year, the band are currently on the road for their UK
Tracklist: Do You Love Me Now? Divine Hammer Invisible Man Drivin’ On 9
The Fat Angel Sings 