Wild Nothing—the Captured Tracks staple led by Jack Tatum has announced a new album titled “Hold”, set to be released on October 27th. The project represents Wild Nothing’s first new LP in five years, and Tatum’s first self-produced record since his 2010 debut “Gemini”. The announcement is accompanied by a music video directed by Nathan Castiel for new single “Headlights On.” Mixed by Jorge Elbrecht, with drum production by Tommy Davidson of Beach Fossils, and featuring vocals from Hatchie’s Harriette Pilbeam, the song is a throwback disco-pop gem built around an infectious synth line and swinging percussion.
“It’s a song about your relationship reaching its most brittle moment and still trying to find even the smallest open window that can lead you back to that person,” said Tatum of the release. “Musically I was drawn towards something that felt very body-centric and could help get me out of my own repetitive thought patterns. It’s a propulsive and hopeful track that’s meant to act as a release valve, but the somberness that inspired the song remains intact.”
Jack Tatum’s project will share the new LP on October 27th via Captured Tracks.
On his latest album as The Drums, New York-based indie pop artist Jonny Pierce plunges into the work of healing from childhood trauma and the long shadow it casts over adulthood.
The sparkling, eponymous Jonny unfurls a love letter to a galaxy of younger selves, all hungry to be nourished, all rejoicing now that they finally get to belong. Playful, heartbreaking, raucous, and serene all in turn, Jonny embraces the mess of life in all its facets. It renders the magic that happens when you fall in love with yourself down to the marrow.
Soaring to alt-pop prestige on arrival, The Drums have released studio albums that deftly walk the line of aching melancholy and irresistible pop sensibilities, presented through a kaleidoscope of pastel guitars, reverb, modular synthesizers and drum machines. It’s a sound that’s wholly unique, and unmistakably The Drums. Listen to “Better” now
another new song “Isolette,” the latest teaser from Jonny Pierce’s forthcoming sixth studio album “Jonny“. On “Isolette”—the French word for “incubator”—Pierce croons over a poppy backdrop, taking jabs against piercing snare drums and surf-rock inspired guitar parts.
“My mother experienced what is referred to as a birth trauma when she was pregnant with me,” said Pierce about the inspiration for “Isolette.” “A doctor broke her water without her consent, and she immediately went into painful, traumatic labour. I was born prematurely. They rushed me into an incubator where no one was able to touch me.
Over the course of the pandemic, I took a lot of psych courses. In Child Psych, I learned that it is of utmost importance for a mother to have skin contact with her baby. It’s fundamental for bonding. “The love and trust you get from that initial bonding influences how you feel love and trust in future relationships. My mother had been violated at the time of my birth and I believe I became a symbol of that trauma. She detached from me emotionally, so on many levels I often feel like I never really left the isolette.”
Thrilled to announce I will release my sixth studio album ‘Jonny’ due Friday, October 13th.
here are 16 songs birthed out of my deepest wounds and out of my wildest joys. When I listen back to it, I hear my soul reflected back at me. I think you’ll find yourself somewhere in it too. For now however, I offer you a brand new single from the album.
There’s something intangible about Country Westerns vision of rock. It’s raw, frayed, like an abrasion that refuses to heal. Cover it up, cast it aside for a moment, but there’s always a bit of burn to remind you of its presence. The band’s sound is lodged between southern rock and a long shuttered ideal of indie, leftover from the Dutch East India days. On “Forgive The City“, Country Westerns offer up the kind of classic that would have rattled out of cassette decks in every college town and soundtracked the jukebox on a hundred last call clean-ups. It feels like an album that’s already lived ten lives and it’s not bound to leave the turntable around here for the whole year.
released April 28th, 2023
All songs written and performed by Country Westerns. Produced by Matt Sweeney,
“Swing From The Sean DeLear” is the new 4 song EP by Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds on In The Red Records. It celebrates dreamlike bridge between life and memory. Recorded and mixed with Jim Waters, (Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Sonic Youth etc.) at Waterworks Recording in Tucson AZ, “Sean DeLear”, is a tribute to the late, magical, and ubiquitous Los Angeles underground institution named Sean De Lear. The rocking song uses the metaphor of those passed on as swinging from a chandelier, a festive image we all hope is true!
Side Two of the EP is a 14 minute psych, Chicano groove titled “He Walked In.” The text is based on a visceral fever dream Kid had about his friend, and Gun Club bandmate, Jeffrey Lee Pierce, whom passed away in 1996. Leading us back to the theme of feelings sustained between life and memory, the song dreams on as the band spreads their monkey bird wings, Mark Cisneros on flute, and guest, tambourine queen Cesar Padilla lost in music but found in sound.
In such uncertain times, one thing is most certain; Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds will always bring the party.. and the other world.
Flyying Colours are a band that have perfected their sonic punch and ‘you never know’ is another infectious and highly rewarding listen of exhilarating sound and joyous harmony.
Shoegaze dreampop four-piece Flyying Colours release their stunning third studio album. formed in Australia in 2011, Flyying Colours released their debut single ‘Wavygravy’ in 2013, honing their sound on the Melbourne live scene and have picked up high praise along the way alongside heavy rotation across worldwide radio including BBC radio 6 music and kexp. the band released their critically acclaimed sophomore album ‘Fantasy Country’ in 2021 with the nme describing the release as “saturated dream-pop vistas”. recorded over a two-week period in the summer of 2021 at Red Doors Sounds with producer Woody Annison, Flyying Colours intended to capture a moment in time with recurring themes and sounds which feature throughout ‘you never know’. opening with the rollicking noise-rock of ‘lost then found’ and the catchy, upbeat melodies of ‘i live in a small town’, Flyying Colours are an unashamed wall of sound. ‘oh’ is a nod to ‘loveless’ era my Bloody Valentine while the sumptuous ‘Bright Lights’, beams with an ethereal beauty as floating melodies and shimmering guitars cascade.
Flyying Colours release their stunning third studio album. “Fantasy Country” is rich in sonic texture and shimmering atmospherics with a heavy dose of melody. From the swooning, sludgy ‘Goodtimes’ and urgent noise-fest of ‘Big Mess’, to the gorgeous melodic pop of ‘OK’, Flyying Colours look to redefine noise within the context of pop music. Elsewhere, ‘It’s Real’ is perfect, summery dreampop while the crushingly loud ‘White Knuckles’ and chugging ‘Boarding Pass’ is a hazy, echo-laden spaced-out affair. Having released their critically acclaimed debut album “Mindfullness” in 2016,
Flyying Colours are a band that have perfected their sonic punch and ‘You Never Know’ is another infectious and highly rewarding listen of exhilarating sound and joyous harmony. Elsewhere, there are grandiose pop moments in ‘Goodbye To Music’, ‘Modern Dreams’ a nd album closer ‘Never Forget’.
Our AU tour begins this weekend, followed (finally) by our rather belated EU/UK shows…I feel like I should say…and it feels strange to say…that these shows will be the last time we perform many of these songs (in these cities) live. After countless scrawled (and as we grew up printed) setlists placed conveniently just out of sight on sticky stage carpets, it is now time for us to say goodbye to much of our music (forever) – and hello to something (shiny and) new for our future. While this may sound odd and/or a little dramatic, this is just something we have to do that is very personal and important to us. We are forever grateful for the love and support given to this music and have revelled in every dropped chord, forgotten lyric and wrong pedal we have stepped on along the way. We look forward to sharing it all with you live one last time. For those places we haven’t been able to tour much (or any) of this music, we endeavour to make that happen and won’t retire “the hits” in these places until we do. This has felt particularly strange to type…see you at the show Flyying Colours
‘Tulsa Sound’, is a forthcoming limited edition JJ Cale 9LP coloured vinyl box set, which includes his first 8 albums and an LP of ‘early years’ rarities. The 50th anniversary of the career of songwriter and guitarist JJ Cale is marked by this release.
The unassuming Cale was raised in Tulsa, hence the ‘Tulsa Sound’ that he was crediting with originating. His work in this vinyl box spans the period 1971 to 1983. Cale’s influence was enormous, with many, many artists covering his work including The Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Johnny Cash, Eric Clapton, Captain Beefheart, Santana, Jerry Garcia and more.
This new package offers Cale’s first eight albums “Naturally”, “Really”, “Okie”, “Troubadour”, “5”, “Shades”, “Grasshopper”and “#8“ – and a bonus LP called “The Early Years” which is a collection of his 1960s singles.
One of the most important artists in the history of rock, quietly representing the greatest asset his country has ever had… His records are really minimal, light, it’s all about finesse. It’s almost like he’s whispering in your ear but you hear everything single word. I don’t know how he does it. It’s such a cunning technique.” Eric Clapton on JJ Cale
The audio has all been remastered at Abbey Road and this box also includes All have been a 40-pagehardcover book with a foreword from a certain Mark Knopfler.
“Tulsa Sound” will be released on 6th October 2023 via UMR.
When the Hives announced their first new album in more than a decade this spring, singer Howlin’ PelleAlmqvist told fans exactly what to expect. “There’s no maturity or anything like that bullshit, because who the fuck wants mature rock ’n’ roll?” he quipped. Almqvist continued, “Rock ’n’ roll can’t grow up, it is a perpetual teenager and this album feels exactly like that.”
Not only is that an impressive display of self-awareness, it’s also 100-percent correct. “The Death of RandyFitzsimmons” finds the Hives doing what they’ve always done: making catchy, frenetic garage-rock laced with a deadpan sense of grandeur. Now, there’s an argument to be made that, by doing pretty much the same thing they were doing on “Lex Hives” in 2012, and each of their previous albums all the way back to 1997’s “Barely Legal”, the Hives are just rehashing the same old sound. Two things about that. First, any person making that argument about this band probably hates fun. Second, the Hives have been a caricature of themselves from the start—that’s always been part of the point.
If the music is as bombastic as ever, “The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons” does advance the mythology of the Hives. The band has long claimed that Fitzsimmons was the behind-the-scenes mastermind who started the group and wrote all of the songs before supposedly disappearing after “Lex Hives”. When the band went in search of their mentor, they purportedly found a tombstone bearing his name, but all the grave contained was new suits and demos for the 12 songs comprising the band’s sixth LP.
There are no wasted moments here: The whole thing flashes by in a little more than half an hour, and eight of the songs are less than three minutes long. That’s plenty of time for a barrage of chaotic-sounding but deceptively tight garage rock. When Almqvist counts backward from four on “Countdown to Shutdown,” the guitars land like a detonation, with shockwaves that give way to a muddy bassline that powers the song between riffs. “Two Kinds of Trouble” has a more angular feel, as scabrous lead guitar lines spar with the riff while Almqvist lists off strings of trouble-causing counterparts (“Women! Men!” or, later, “Norwegians! Danes!”).
There are guitars on “Rigor Mortis Radio,” too, but the beat is the focal point there: Tom-toms and handclaps propel the song while Almqvist makes outrageous declarations about his appeal, possibly from the point of view of the dearly departed.roup. All Rights Reserved
Not every song hits with as solid a thump—”Crash Into the Weekend” revs and revs without ever quite falling into gear, while “The Way the Story Goes” doesn’t have as sharp an edge that most of these tracks do. Yet the Hives’ commitment to the bit is total, and “The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons” boasts some of the band’s most exhilarating material in a career that has never lacked any superheated songs or top-shelf showmanship. Maybe that counts as maturity after all.
The Hives new album ‘The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons’, out August 11th now:
Jilian Medford’s project Ian Sweet has announced a new album called “Sucker”. It’s due out November 3rd via Polyvinyl Records. She’s also shared a video for its first single “Your Spit,” featuring cameos from Saturday Night Live cast members Sarah Sherman and Martin Herlihy, as well as members of Nation of Language.
Of the new song, Medford said in a statement: “‘Your Spit’ is about the joy and fear that surrounds new relationships. The excitement that’s also accompanied by doubt. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say the song is just mostly about making out.”
Medford started working on “Sucker” in the fall of 2022 at an artist residency at the Outlier Inn in Los Angeles. She then worked on the demos with co-producers Alex Craig and Strange Ranger’sIsaac Eiger, as well as mixing engineer Al Carlson. Of the process, she said: “I was feeling very stuck in L.A. and was trying to get comfortable with spending more time alone again. I went there not knowing exactly what I wanted to do or make, but I knew I wanted to explore and get out of my comfort zone. I forced myself to make things on the spot, in the moment and not overthink it too much.”
“Sucker” features the song “Fight,” which appeared on the “Star Stuff” EP, released last year. Ian Sweet’s last LP was 2021’s “Show Me How You Disappear”.
According to a press release, Holly Humberstone’s highly anticipated debut represents the singer coming of age, growing from unknown singer at her parent’s piano to the most exciting alternative pop stars of her generation. “I feel like two different people half the time. My biggest challenge is always to make something I feel I haven’t done before, that reflects new parts of me,” explains Humberstone.
“‘Antichrist’ is about a break up I went through a couple of years ago. I genuinely cared about this person and wanted so badly to make it work, but I knew something wasn’t right and my heart wasn’t in it,” she shared.
She continued: “I knew that I was inevitably going to have to hurt the person who I wanted so much to love. At the time I wrote the song, I remember feeling like I was constantly letting those around me down. Like I was falling short of being there for anyone I cared about. I basically felt like the worst person in the world; like the “Antichrist”. I really felt that I was toxic to be around, and the guilt and self-loathing that came with that manifested itself in this song.”
Speaking of ‘Room Service’, Humberstone shared: “I wrote Room Service a little while ago when I’d just started touring full time. I was finding myself constantly stressed out and although I was having fun, I was really missing home and my friends. I felt like I was watching them live out their lives from a phone screen, like I was being left behind.”
“There was this swelling feeling that I was growing apart from that world that I was missing so badly, and I just didn’t want to be forgotten. All I wanted to do was to get a hotel room with my best friend, lock the world out and do stupid stuff like order room service.”
She continued: “To me, this song is a simple love song to the people I care about the most, and the seemingly basic experiences you share together that can so often be taken for granted. The busier I get, the more I treasure the precious time I get with my friends and family; the more I value them in my life.”
Both of the lead singles together serve as a revolving door into the visceral duality of the singer herself. ‘Paint My Room Black’ is set for release on October 19th via Polydor/Darkroom/Geffen.
The Fat Angel Sings 