The Fat Angel Sings

Rage, confusion, despair, self-deception, and introspection—Madi Diaz cycles through the full spectrum of emotions on History Of A Feeling, her debut on ANTI-Records. It’s an album that undeniably marks Diaz’s status as a first-rate songwriter, a craft she’s spent years refining, and one wherein Diaz establishes herself as an artist capable of distilling profound feelings with ease.

When Roe V. Wade was overturned this past summer,

Patty Griffin’s song ‘Be Careful’ slipped into my subconscious.

It becamea mantra of strength that was playing consistently in the back of my heart and mind day in and day out, gently encouraging me to keep putting one foot in front of the other. It became a sort of battle cry directed toward anyone that wants to take away my rights to my own body and my reproductive freedom. You’ve awakened the beast

so you better ‘Be Careful.’ This Supreme Court decision affects all of us – ‘All the girls with the washing rags,’ ‘all the girls with the shopping bags,’ any person with a uterus and everybody with their own body. This is about control over another person’s human rights and freedoms – the right of making our own choices about our health and well being. When it was so hard to talk aboutwhat had just happened in our country, writing about it felt a little easier, so my best friend, Morgan Elizabeth Peirce, and I wrote our own verse, using the brilliant Patty Griffin’s song as a springboard into our present. It felt good to say andsing somethingthat means so much to us and I’m beyond thankful for this group of wonderful humans for coming together to put all of our voices and hearts on record, printing thismoment in time, putting it out into the world and harnessing thepower that is born when we unite and work together. I hope that anyone needing to hear this song, hears it and feels a little bit less alone.

released November 7th, 2022

Written by Patty Griffin
Engineered & mixed by Alex Hope
Performed by Madi Diaz, S.G. Goodman & Joy Oladokun

Peter Gabriel will tour across the UK & Europe in spring 2023. The tour marks his first shows outside of North America since 2014’s Back to Front Tour celebrating the era-defining album So. Produced by Live Nation, the 22 shows in Europe will kick off in Krakow, Poland on 18th May 2023, with dates in Italy, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, The Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and the UK before wrapping in Dublin, Ireland on 25th June 2023.

The tour will then continue in North America in the late summer/fall with dates and ticket information to follow. i/o The Tour will see Gabriel playing new material from his forthcoming album “i/o”, as well as delving into his peerless catalogue of music, with hits, fan favourites and the unexpected. For the shows, Gabriel will be joined by regular band-mates Tony Levin, David Rhodes and Manu Katché.

Full details on the i/o album will follow. Peter Gabriel said of the tour: “It’s been a while and I am now surrounded by a whole lot of new songs and am excited to be taking them out on the road for a spin. Look forward to seeing you out there.” TICKETS: Tickets go on sale starting Friday 11 November 2022

Our favourite Irish indie-punks New Pagans have just dropped news of their second album and some new songs!  “Making Circles of Our Own” is incoming on 17th February and available to pre-order on vinyl now!

Recorded at Badlands Studios in the Glens of Antrim in Ireland, “Making Circles of Our Own” is a glorious listen, incisive, inspiring, and uplifting. Building on the promise of their successful debut, “The Seed The Vessel The Roots and All”, it’s a complex, beautiful record you’re going to want to immerse yourself in come February!

In celebration of the new album news, and to tempt you further, the quintet have given us the new double single “Karin Was Not A Rebel” and “Fresh Young Overlook“. This follows the recent first single from the album, the stunningly uplifting “Better People”.

The new album is available to pre-order now on limited Blue/Black or Eco-Mix vinyl and subscribers to our Legend vinyl subscription service will receive this as their February drop.

Releases February 3rd, 2023

Francis of Delirium have released a new song called ‘Mirrors’. It’s included in the new EP of the same name, also out today, alongside the previously shared tracks ‘Come Out and Play’, ‘All Love’, and ‘The Funhouse’.

“The EP was largely a way for me to process and adapt to the chaos that continued to be more and more present in our everyday life,” Jana Bahrich explained in a statement. “As I was writing the EP, it felt like every moment got weirder along with my headspace.

I was inspired to mimic that mayhem by using heavier guitars and darker tones, leaning into drum sounds that were massive and bombastic, drawing from bands like Slint and The Smashing Pumpkins.”
“Mirrors” by Francis of Delirium, part of “The Funhouse” EP

Gena Rose Bruce has followed up September’s single ‘Foolishly in Love’ with another Bill Callahan (SMOG) collaboration, the track ‘Deep Is The Way’. This time Callahan not only throws in with songwriting, but he contributes vocals as well. This single is the title track to Bruce’s newly announced album, scheduled for release on 27th January 2023 through Remote Control Records and Dot Dash Recordings.

On the collaboration with Callahan, Bruce says: Working with Bill was very poetic and brought a feeling of nostalgia. We have only ever had written correspondence, sending lyrics back and forth to each other, with sometimes weeks in between responses, just analysing lyrics, there was no small talk, just keeping it about what’s important – the music.

‘Deep Is The Way’ is profoundly moving and stately – delivered as a yearning ballad with Bruce’s gorgeous, melancholy vocals dipping in and around Callahan’s more gravelled and grounded contribution. Added to this there is a strong antipodean flavour, drenched in the languid sunshine and bright blue skies with a hint of darkness lurking deep inside.

The instrumentation is sparse and evocative – gently unfolding and undulating beneath the vocals.

Bruce says of the track: I think it can sometimes be overwhelming trying to find your place or ‘your thing’ in life. This song really is a dedication for those people who may be slower in finding themselves, who like to dream, think deeply and take their time to make decisions, for them to appreciate and honour their thoughtful process. Not everyone has to keep up with this unachievably fast and competitive world.

Bruce’s songwriting and delivery is soaked in a sensuous frame, achingly beautiful vignettes that are delicate yet powerful and filled with a profound sense of longing and regret.

The song is accompanied by a luscious video, directed by Alex Badham, a student of the legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog. The short film was shot during the pandemic in Europe and Australia and features empty, lonely spaces, but as it progresses, it pans out to wider landscapes offering a feeling of comfort and hope. On this feeling, Badham says:

I totally fell in love with this song, having had some clichéd romantic moments listening to it whilst wandering the rainy streets of Berlin. I wanted to incorporate some of the seedy city vibe in the video. I had lots of travel going on and Gena had the idea of utilising this opportunity to make a slow and dreamy collection of empty spaces. I was lucky enough to visit some interesting and varied places over this period, Tenerife particularly has some amazing spots in such a tiny land mass – lush forests, black beaches and volcanic moonscapes. I also went into quite a few Berlin bars, asking on the spot if I could get a shot (with my camera) and a shot (of booze) and accidentally got a little shitfaced at times, oops. I’m pleasantly surprised by how emotionally moving it turned out, given how simple it is – a fairly straightforward concept about escaping the city and exploring the world outside.

Gena Rose Bruce’s second album. Out January 27th 2023 on Dot Dash Recordings.

Softcult is the Canadian grungegaze duo of twins Mercedes and Phoenix Arn-Horn, who both used to play in Courage My Love, and they’ve got a new EP called “see you in the dark” arriving in spring of 2023. New single “Drain” is an atmospheric yet anthemic track that finds a middle ground between Siamese Dream and Soccer Mommy.

released November 2nd, 2022

From the outset, Judee Sill’s 1971 self-titled album exists at this wonderfully specific intersection of psychedelia and childlike whimsy. Opener “Crayon Angels” contains mentions of the astral plane, magic rings, mystic roses, and phony prophets, and followups “The Phantom Cowboy,” “The Archetypal Man,” and “The Lamb Ran Away with the Crown” all sound like fantastical fables in their lyrics.

Instrumentally, the album ranges from oboes and trumpets to strings to gentle drums and shakers, with Judee’s crystal-clear voice and acoustic guitar as constants. “The Lamb Ran Away with the Crown” bridges the album’s psychedelic nursery rhymes to its more earnest, biblically inspired middle section, including orchestral ballad “Lady-O” and enduring classic “Jesus Was a Cross Maker.” Judee’s voice is stark and unadorned and bears a comfort in its plainness, reminiscent of Peter, Paul & Mary’s music for children; even so, her ability to spin a deeply honest and intimate narrative makes her music perfect for listeners of any age and any time. This album was her first, released when she was 26 after a somewhat troubled childhood and early adulthood rife with drug addiction and a stint in jail. Despite its intricacy (thanks in part to Joni Mitchell engineer Henry Lewy and production by Graham Nash), the album was not a commercial success.

Her struggle with addiction continued through the ‘70s, ramping up as her music career waned. She died of overdose in LA in 1979 at the age of 35. Perhaps the most enduring statement on Judee Sill is the closing trio of “Lopin’ Along Thru the Cosmos,” “Enchanted Sky Machines,” and “Abracadabra,” ebbing and flowing from simple, imaginative ballad to gospel-like anthem to once again orchestral, harmonic masterpiece.

Judee Sill’s self-titled album contains as many layers as she does, and each listen reveals new truths, with one constant: “However we are is okay.”

You may recall that the original lineup of The Damned, Dave Vanian and Captain Sensible, who are still in the current line-up, and guitarist Brian James and drummer Rat Scabies who hadn’t played with the band in decades — were set to reunite for a few shows in 2021 to celebrate the 45th anniversary of The Damned’s debut single, “New Rose,” which was possibily the first UK punk single. Those got postponed due to the pandemic but the short tour kicked off this Friday at London’s Eventim Apollo.

“It’s the gig they said would never happen!” cracked Captain Sensible at the show, joking about the well-known acrimony between Vanian/Sensible and James/Scabies. But happen it did.

Walking out to the Doctor Who theme, the band stuck to material from their first two albums — including classics like “Neat Neat Neat,” “Problem Child,” and “Born to Kill” — plus covers they used to play around the time, including The Stooges’ “1970” which they retitled “I Feel Alright” for their debut album and opened the London show with. “It was even more garage than I remember back in the day,” Sensible said after the show. The encore opened with “New Rose,” and then they finished with covers of Bo Diddly’s “Pills” and The Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time.”

It was not the last time, though, as they played the Eventim Apollo again on Saturday with the same setlist and have three more reunion shows this week (Manchester, Glasgow, and Birmingham).

Check out the full London Night 1 setlist:

SETLIST: The Damned @ Eventim Apollow, London 10/28/2022
1970 (The Stooges)
You Take My Money
Help!(The Beatles)
Born to Kill
Stretcher Case Baby
Feel the Pain
I Fall
Fan Club
Alone
Fish
1 of the 2
Problem Child
Neat Neat Neat
Stab Yor Back
Sick of Being Sick
See Her Tonite
You Know
So Messed Up

Encore:
New Rose
Pills (Bo Diddley)
The Last Time (The Rolling Stones)

After Go-Betweens co-founder Robert Forster learned his wife Karin Bäumler had ovarian cancer, they decided to make music together as a way of coping, and they brought in their whole family, making the new album with their daughter Loretta and son Louis (former of The Goon Sax). “She’s a Fighter” is a powerful love song that uses only two chords and as many lines. “I had written my first two-line song.” Forster says. “I had just out-Ramoned The Ramones!”

Ever since we met, Karin and I have sung and played music together in our home, and in these dark days we turned to music once again. I had a batch of new songs I’d written over the last years, and we started playing them together. Our son Louis often dropped in for a meal and a chat and soon he began joining us on guitar. One night, when sitting cross-legged on the couch, after we had played a song, Karin looked up from her xylophone and said, ‘When we play music, is the only time I forget I have cancer.’ That was a big moment.

Robert Forster – “She’s A Fighter” Single taken from the new album “The Candle And The Flame”

For her first solo album in seven years, Meg Baird is moving beyond the more pure folk of previous albums in favor of a lush production style incorporating drums, synthesizers, and vibraphone into her sound — not to mention elements of shoegaze and trip hop. First single “Will You Follow Me Home” is a quiet stunner, swaying along a melotron breeze and a conga-powered groove, with Meg’s ethereal voice really making it soar.

“Furling” moves through the breadth of Meg’s musical fascinations and the environments around them—edges of memory, daydreams spanning years, loose ends, divergent paths, secret conversations under stars

Song from “Furling” by Meg Baird, out on LP/CD/Digital on January 27th, 2023 on Drag City.