The new version of ‘Tonight’, from the abum “A Brief History of Love” on 4AD Records, available here: http://bit.ly/IKGaM. Song produced by Paul Epworth, video directed by Rob Hawkins.
“Tonight” is the third proper single from The Big Pink‘s debut album A Brief History of Love, and their fifth single overall. “Tonight” was originally released on 7″ vinyl and as a digital download in 2010 . The single features a new recording of “Tonight,” produced byPaul Epworth (who also receives writing credit on this version of the song), and the band’s cover of the Beyoncé song “Sweet Dreams” as the B-side. The single comes packaged in a fold-out sleeve with a coloured elastic band as well.
Following the single’s release, a digital download-only EP featuring exclusive remixes by underground DJs and independent artists was made available on the band’s website for free
Numbers is taken from Daughter’s second LP, “Not To Disappear”, to be released on 15th January via 4AD/Glassnote Records.
Not To Disappear has crept right up our list of records we’re looking forward to since the band’s recent show at St Johns Church in Hackney, a triumph which showed they’ve found the balance between the delicate, tender nuances we love the band for and a little extra oomph which enhances the live experience. We really, really, loved it and Numbers stood out, with its thunderous bass and rattling drums. It’s a little softer on the release, so, if you like your music with a little kick in the chest make sure you head out to one of their forthcoming live shows.
Nearly three years after the release of their debut ‘If You Leave’, Daughter – the London-based trio of ElenaTonra, Igor Haefeli and Remi Aguilella – will return in 2016 with a new album, entitled ‘Not To Disappear’.
‘Not To Disappear’ is Daughter’s second album and finds the band making confident strides forward both sonically and lyrically. Elena, Igor and Remi spent a summer in New York recording ‘Not To Disappear‘ with Nicolas Vernhes (Deerhunter, War On Drugs, Animal Collective) at his Rare Book Room studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
4AD Records newcomer Pixx’ released a stunning song last summer in July the single ‘Fall In’ was one of 2015’s most striking, a downward-looking beachside lament almost drowning in Autumn tones and doomy aesthetics. That’s what makes 19-year-old Hannah Rodgers so special – with her music, there’s almost always a sense of solemn beauty.
Deerhunter have returned this autumn with the news their brand new album “Fading Frontier”, the follow-up to 2013’s Monomania was released via 4AD Records in October.
Alongside the album news, the Atlanta-born four-piece have announced full tour dates with new single ‘Snakeskin’ that comes accompanied by a typically trippy video.
The album was produced by the band and Ben H. Allen III, and features members of Broadcast and Stereolab, according to a press release. Bradford Cox and company are no strangers to this list—they’re one of those phenomenal live acts who stand to make year-end roundups like these whenever they set out on tour. Their 2015 dates behind this year’s Fading Frontier were no exception. Cox still can command a crowd, even occasionally breaking up fights.
The Atlanta art-rock provocateurs have done what so many of their peers from the Early Aughts Indie Explosion have failed to do: age gracefully. They aren’t making soft rock per say, but they are making some sublimely smooth indie rock that encapsulates the best lessons learned from their earlier, more aggressively arty works. Tracks like “Duplex Planet” inspired by the legendary fanzine of the same name and “Living My Life” make getting old just as mysterious and exciting as being young, while the glam-rock shuffle of “Snakeskin” is the grown-and-sexy song of the year. Bradford Cox and company have found a way to tease pop concepts out fine art, have rebuilt their songcraft out of the shattered pieces of 21st century rock ‘n’ roll to create and art-rock record that is as challenging as it is mature.
Last year, Bradford Cox got hit by a car, and he came out of the resulting depression with his gentlest, most comfortable collection of songs yet. “Fading Frontier” isn’t a happy album, exactly — there’s still anxiety and uncertainty and a nagging preoccupation with the looming specter of mortality. But those are all essential parts of human existence, and it seems that Cox has made peace with them. That maturity could translate to a lack of urgency, and Fading Frontier doesn’t feel like a statement on the level of something like Monomania. But when you’ve got songs this good, who cares
Deerhunter, imbued with a melange of R.E.M., Big Star and, dare we say, a touch of Roger McGuinn and Gene Clark harmony, have embraced the melodic on their lamentable opus to the Fading Frontier. Suffused in a crystalline and hazy production that recalls both the Animal Collective and Beach House, the band, mostly carrying around Bradford Cox’s baggage, have never sounded clearer and brighter. Slithering to esoteric swamp boogie, college rock and dreamy Numan-esque synth, Deerhunter navigate through the depressive thoughts and resignation of their de facto band leader; his near-fatal car accident, delusions and Marfan syndrome illness plaintively and sometimes philosophically pouring from every lyric.
Its easy to pertain to a certain kind of cold, detached dreaminess you’d associate with a label like 4AD Records in its prime: their overall sound being seemingly informed by Lush’s successful hybrid of classic pop, fiery punk and shimmering soundscapes.Yet, rather than reliving a sound there’s a sense here that Chorusgirl are more intent on reinventing it. Look no further than their debut self-titled LP for conviction.
It’s not all saccharine pop melodies, however, and Chorusgirl subvert to something far darker here. Album closer “Whiteout” counteracts some of the more accessible moments with its funereal dirge. “Sweetness And Slight” has the trademark Spector-esque intro the likes of The Jesus And Mary Chain had a famed propensity for, and there are noir-pop facets that you could liken to numerous bands of yore all over this debut, such as the melodic darkness of The Cure, and without tediously bracketing them in with other bands with female members like most music writers are too often guilty of, there is a marked quality on tracks like opener “Oh To Be A Defector” and “No Moon” that shares a subtle likeness with The Breeders’ bittersweet wildness.
As a whole, this record is unfailing in its approach to perfect pop not devoid of malevolence, and in that respect it’s refreshing to hear an indiepop band in 2015 that don’t just rely on an inoffensive ability to jangle and create retro pop songs. As far as stand-out moments go, “Girls Of 1926” prevails where “We Care About You”’s passiveness might elude you. It’s cohesive enough to be an enduring debut, and flows like something iconic.
Although it’s far too easy to let nostalgia distort your perception of a band like Chorusgirl, it’s best to listen to them as a band defined by the here and now, as opposed to continuously drawing sonic comparisons. Bands will always look to the past for inspiration for their own development; it’s just a structural feature of pop culture. Now it’s all about reinvention rather than replicating a sound, and by coalescing various influences and styles Chorusgirl have the balance just about right.
No No No, the new album by Beirut, is released today.
After featuring on NPR’s Morning Edition, and appearing on the inaugural Late Night with Stephen Colbert as part of an all-star ensemble, today sees the international release of the group’s fourth studio album No No No.
Preceded by the title track and latest single ‘Gibraltar’, the nine track album finds Zach Condon and his band releasing their first music since 2011’s The Rip Tide.
No No No is the group’s most stripped-down effort to date. A warm collection of tracks (many instrumental), the album leans on the heart worn sentimentality that fans have come to expect from Beirut. But surprisingly, it’s also a song cycle lacking many of the Mexican-influenced flushes of March of the Zapotec, or the Balkan-inspired flourishes of his earlier work.
The Fat Angel Sings 