The comrades of Nova Lyon invited the Bristol folk group, This Is The Kit, for a new Nova Rec. Session in the famous studio La Ciergerie, and captured by Jafar Films. And speaking of France, I am beside myself doolally crazy that the Amazing legend and maestro that is Mathieu Boogaerts will be joining us for Nottingham, Sunderland, Ipswich and Sandwich! March is just around the corner, and for us that means Gigs, including a gigantic Royal Albert Hall show (for which the wonderful Jesca Hoop will now be joining us as very special guest) it’s all rapidly approaching, and we ‘d love it so very much for you to be there with us. We are immensely looking forward to these gigs and we can’t wait to have a mighty fine time with you all. Tell all your pals and then bring them along!
We are excited to announce a new album, “Songs of the Recollection” which will be available everywhere on March 25th. It’s a collection of cover songs, some of which have been available on previous tribute albums, some that we dug out of our archive and some that we recorded specifically for this album, but all of which connects us to our past and helps to define our present.
Long before we were musicians, we were music fans. We didn’t grow up sitting around the kitchen table playing instruments and harmonizing. We grew up sitting around the record player listening to each other’s record collections and having our minds blown by what we were listening to. This was the passion and experience that we shared. These are some of the songs and some of the artists that have found their way into our lives and eventually into our repertoire over the past fifty years.
“Five Years” is from the album “Songs of the Recollection” which is released on March 25th, 2022. Musicians Margo Timmins (vocals) Michael Timmins (guitar) Peter Timmins (drums) Alan Anton (bass and keyboards) Jeff Bird (electric mandolin)
Blues legend and music icon Buddy Guy premiered a new trailer for his upcoming documentary “The Torch”, which is set to release on March 18th. The film examines the guitarist’s journey and continuing impact on the blues’ sound and culture. At 83, Chicago legend Buddy Guy remains the standard bearer for the blues, an icon determined to see the art form live on long after he’s gone. Enter young guitar phenom Quinn Sullivan, who has been mentored by Guy since he was a kid. This stirring documentary, amplified by electrifying musical performances, charts the guidance Guy himself received from the likes of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf while observing the Grammy-winner passing his wisdom to the next generation.
The film is set to cover the world and legacy of the blues through Buddy Guy’s eyes but the overarching goal has an even wider and more impactful goal. Director Jim Farrell explained that the film was inspired by a pact Guy had made with his mentors and peers that stated: “Last man standing, don’t let the blues die.”
“The Torch” begins with a dive into Guy’s discography, musical timeline and revolutionary moments. Later they explore Guy’s dedication towards mentorship for “young generation” and his passing the torch to up-and-coming blues musicians like Quinn Sullivan and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, as it was passed to him.
Along with showcasing backstage interactions, jam sessions, and sit-down interviews with Guy, Carlos Santana, Susan Tedeschi, and more, “The Torch” will also feature never-before-heard music from the blues pioneer.
This is Tamara Lindeman’s fifth album as the Weather Station the album has a lightning-in-a-bottle quality that nothing she had released previously could quite prepare you for. At the end of 2018, she said, she was driven “insane” by reading a New Yorker article by environmentalist Bill McKibben, written as California burned during the most destructive wildfire season in history. She subsequently poured her anger and grief into the 10 songs on “Ignorance“. The lyrics occasionally slipped into something approaching straightforward protest songs but, for the most part, they entwine “climate grief” with what sound like words about a failing relationship to startling effect. She also shifted her musical focus, bringing in a new expansiveness and gloss – synths, disco beats, strings, sax and flute that carry a distinct hint of jazz about them. In purely melodic terms, these are Lindeman’s strongest songs to date, filled with nagging hooks and gracefully unforced-sounding tunes; the sound is smoothly, warmly appealing: you could imagine singing along to them if the lyrics didn’t keep belting you in the gut.
“Ignorance” was not an album that came out of nowhere. Former child actor Tamara Lindeman has been making great albums as the Weather Station for more than a decade, developing her sound from down-home acoustic guitar and banjo to atmospheric folky alt-rock and earning comparisons to Joni Mitchell from some critics in the process. While the latter seemed to have more to do with her vocal phrasing than her actual song writing, it gives you an idea of the regard in which she was held. Nevertheless, her fifth album under the name had a perfectly of-the-moment, lightning-in-a-bottle quality that none of her previous work could quite prepare you for.
Occasionally, you couldn’t tell what she was singing about – romantic heartbreak or paralysing despair at the thought of impending ecological catastrophe – or rather, you could take Ignorance’s songs either way. On Parking Lot, the everyday sight of a bird landing on a rooftop, singing “the same song over and over again, over the traffic and the noise” leads to floods of tears: “I know you are tired of seeing tears in my eyes, but are there not good reasons to cry?” asks the chorus, ambiguously. Separated could be about a couple falling apart, or it could just as easily be a depiction of frustration at an endlessly combative era of sharply divided opinions: “If you wanted to understand me you could / If you wanted to hold my hand you would.”
As Lindeman has pointed out, she is “a writer of the small event”. Her songs feel all the more effective for the way they focus in on detail rather than painting in broad brushstrokes, and for the way she avoids sloganeering in favour of something more complex and believable: frequently admitting to feeling overwhelmed, or expressing a desire just to forget or ignore what’s happening, at least for a bit. Its loveliest track might be Atlantic, which finds Lindeman first looking out, bedazzled, at a sunset over the ocean, then desperate to switch off from current events. “I should really know better than to read the headlines,” she sings. “Does it matter if I see it? / No, really, can I not just cover my eyes?”
The Weather Station’s new album ‘Ignorance’ out now.
Witch Fever’s explosive doom punk alleviated by the band’s politically charged vocals is set to make a noise far beyond Manchester. Heavy riffs, feral vocals, rumbling bass lines and fierce drumming, this is the band you don’t want to miss when gigs return. Gothy grunge-punk for those who Halloween all year round
For Witch Fever, 2022 brings an exciting new era, kicking off in January when they support IDLES on a spring tour. Although their aim was to never to be seen as political, their music has been used as an anthem for self-expression through artistic freedom and lyrics that inspire rage against structures of oppression.
After releasing their debut track ‘Carpet Asphyxiation’ together in 2017 this defiant and wonderful band are finally receiving the positive acknowledgment they deserve.
Stone know that there’s more to life than the ice at the bottom of the glass. On their breakthrough single ‘Leave It Out’, frontman Finn Power sings from first-hand experience: “Now it’s 3AM and you don’t even know your name / Third time this week mate, it’s your life going down the drain.” There’s a better life out there and it’s gripping as they work through the anxiety to find it. Labelling their sound ‘scally rock’, the delivery is so street-Scouse that you’ll be pulling a wheelie around the Albert Dock belting their lyrics in no time.
If you’re an indie fan living in Liverpool then you’ve likely already heard of Stone, that rare breed of indie band who emerge from the overcrowded melee and prove themselves a genuine hope for nationwide success. Having dropped only three songs in 2021 (one a B-side), Stone are looking to capitalise on the considerable—and rising—success of their live shows by having an incredibly prolific 2022.
Having supported YUNGBLUD on tour this year, the Scouse quartet have picked up a whole host of well-deserved fans who are waiting eagerly for more acerbic lyrics delivered in a regional accent and go-crazy garage indie compositions. They have a lot to look forward to in 2022.
Dublin is still out there producing some of the best guitar bands in the business right now. Next to be heard is Sprints, a self-proclaimed garage-noise band that have been making waves all throughout 2021. With all the buzz surrounding their recent live shows, it’s hard to believe that they’ve just finished their very first tour as a band. Fans of raucous guitars and cathartic screaming will not want to miss out on Sprints.
If you want a taste of just how strong they are as a band, check out the spectacular ‘How Does The Story Go?’, which was the first taste of their upcoming “Modern Job” EP, set to arrive in March. Singing with brutal honesty and endless energy, they’re absolutely impossible to ignore. Hear Sprints once, and they’ll be in your head forever.
Raw and raucous, Sprints are a garage-noise four-piece from Dublin. They combine guitar-driven hooks, motoric rhythm and emotive lyricism to create a unique sound that pulls from grunge, post-punk and beyond.
Sprints formed in late 2019 but have quickly been championed by the likes of BBC Radio 6 & Radio 1, The Guardian, NME, DIY and Nialler9.
In terms of releases, Prima Queen have had a quiet one so far. Their first single ‘Milk Teeth’ dropped in 2019. Their breakout hit—the sweet, HAIM-vibes ‘Brownstone’ followed in 2020. It would be 2021 until the duo would drop their third cut ‘Chew My Cheeks’, huge thanks to Fern and Jules from The Big Moon who produced it, a single that came packaged on their brand new label Nice SwanRecords. Having recently inked a deal with Nice Swan, alternative duo Prima Queen look to follow in their labelmates footsteps in 2022 with their brand of lyrically-taut storytelling and slinky earworms. Led by best friends Louise Macphail and Kristin McFadden, Prima Queen’s ethereal sound, which shimmers with delicate vocal interplay and glacial instrumentation, already takes them to regal heights.
The band also made their live return in 2021—a seven-piece live proposition was first presented at this year’s Green Man. With “Chew My Cheeks”, Prima Queen once again display the subtle touches and lyrical flourishes that marked them out as pre-pandemic press favourites.
On the new single Prima Queen offer the following: “Chew My Cheeks” is a song that centres on an unhealthy obsession with someone who is slightly out of reach. We wrote it in lockdown last year when we were remembering what it was like to idealise people you don’t know and to use them as a form of escapism. We ended up watching The Matrix in isolation together around the same time and were really inspired by the world in which the movie creates” Prima Queen are an all-female indie/alternative rock band.
Discussing their collaboration with The Big Moon, the band say “It was incredible being able to work with The Big Moon since they’ve been such a big inspiration to us and we look up to them so much. They really understood our vision for the song and we were so impressed with how they were able to bring it to life.
2022 will see the band share more than we’ve had before, and banking on the strength of the releases we’ve had so far—as well as the track record of Nice Swan’s signings, it’s could be an exciting year indeed for Prima Queen.
Dublin’s M(h)aol burst onto the scene this year with their stunning debut EP “Gender Studies“, which shows off the band’s sound of purest post-punk. But it’s the lyrical content that pushes M(h)aol to the next level; Róisín Nic Ghearailt rages against the violence women face every day, as well as misogyny in the music industry with all the lexicon of a poet. Currently based between Dublin, London and Bristol, M(h)aol (pronounced “male”) are formed of Róisín Nic Ghearailt, Constance Keane, Jamie Hyland, Zoe Greenway and Sean Nolan. Together, the band aim to shake up the male dominated post-punk scene with their urgent, shadowy sounds, with previous single ‘Laundries’ being the perfect instigator for this pursuit. Then with ‘Asking For It’, M(h)aol aim to dismantle the external and internal narratives that perpetuate the behaviours behind gender-based violence and victim-blaming.
M(h)aol are a band bursting with potential and 2022 is sure to be a standout year for the Irish band—their sound would translate wonderfully to an album and their growing fanbase are hungry for more.
Written and recorded in three days, “Gender Studies” was released 29th Oct digitally, and 14th Jan physically via TULLE.
