Posts Tagged ‘Jo Bevan’

DESPERATE JOURNALIST – ” Fault “

Posted: April 27, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Desperate Journalist have developed a keen following as they have grown into cult status, and now the London post punk quartet drop “Fault” which is the first single from their upcoming LP “Maximum Sorrow” and is released via Fierce Panada Records on July 2nd .

“The lyrics for ‘Fault’ were initially written quite intuitively and informed by what sounded good mouthwise with the kind of melody I thought the song needed—quite sonorous, Jim Kerr-y vowels. As I edited it into something which actually made sense, it naturally turned into a memory-screed about a terrible flat I once lived in and how the place itself seemed to reflect all the misery going on in my life at the time. I quite like the idea of a song sounding so big and dark and kinetic but with lyrics set mostly in quite a small space where nothing really happens except for unexpressed turbulent emotion.”

“Structurally it’s unusual for us in that it a) doesn’t have many guitars on it and b) has a shifting hook/chorus which doesn’t happen at the times you’d necessarily expect. It was more of a textural exercise to record too which was really enjoyable and interesting—there are two drumkits on the recording and also synth undercurrents to make it extra propulsive and intense.” – Jo Bevan

Desperate Journalist will be promoting their eagerly awaited new record with an unmissable show at Lafayette in London, “Fault’ is the first single taken from the LP ‘Maximum Sorrow!’, out on 2nd July 2021 on Fierce Panda Records

DESPERATE JOURNALIST – ” The Fear ” Pulp Cover

Posted: November 17, 2020 in MUSIC
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Desperate Journalist’s new lockdown cover of ‘The Fear’ by Pulp is out now. The band are currently working on new material, the follow-up to 2019’s ‘In Search Of The Miraculous’.

Much-admired darkpop dreamers DESPERATE JOURNALIST are popping their heads out of the giant pandemic duvet with the special release of their cover of Pulp’s ‘The Fear’ on October 2nd.

Back in the panic-stricken spring of 2020, when the growing global pandemic ensured that the playing of gigs suddenly became as practical as the flying of pigs, fierce panda asked its newly domesticated acts to choose a favourite tune by a.n.other band with which to rockdown in lockdown. These covers would form the Covid Version Sessions, informal home recordings designed to capture the unsettling mood of the moment, and now those recordings are all seeing the digital release light of day throughout the autumn.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and doom’n’boom experts Desperate Journalist couldn’t really capture the unsettling mood of the moment much more adroitly than by flirting with a song called ‘The Fear’ and anointing it with their patented brand of bruisingly low slung indie sass.

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“We are all fans of Pulp in the band, but my personal favourite album of theirs is ‘This Is Hardcore’,” explains singer Jo. “It’s where Jarvis’s talent for the great observational lyric meets a cracking in his writerly facade, and the parallels between all the unusually personal angst in the songs and the death-of-the-Britpop-party cultural landscape of the UK at the time add up to a sublimely melancholic and relatable whole. It’s my go-to hangover record so (as bassist Simon says) I know it like the back of my hand. Anyway our friend Kevin kept suggesting we do a cover of ‘The Fear’ every now and again and it finally made sense in April what with the entire world slowly supernovaing into oblivion around us, all shut in our houses, so we had a go, because there was nothing else to do.”

Desperate Journalist have been more lockdowned than most this year: after the sensational response to their 2019 album ‘In Search Of The Miraculous’ – their third exemplary long-player – the foursome were already hiding away working on new material when the proverbial pandemic shutters came slamming down in March. Desperate Journalist’s fearless take on ‘The Fear’ is the second of the fierce panda Covid Version releases in the wake of woozy dreamboats MOON PANDA, who took The Strokes’ ‘Call It Fate, Call It Karma’ outside for a big cosmic cuddle on September 11th. More CV tunes from GHOST SUNS, JEKYLL, CHINA BEARS and NATIONAL SERVICE coming soon… 

Until the end
Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh
Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh

Released October 2nd, 2020
Written By: Pulp (Candida Doyle / Jarvis Branson Cocker / Mark Andrew Webber / Nick Banks / Stephen Patrick Mackey)

Performed By: Desperate Journalist [Jo Bevan (vocals), Rob Hardy (guitar), Simon Drowner (bass) and Caroline Helbert (drums)]

DESPERATE JOURNALIST – ” In Search of the Miraculous “

Posted: February 24, 2019 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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“In Search of the Miraculous” is the third album from much-loved indie goth dreamboats Desperate Journalist and follows the bands critically acclaimed album Grow Up. If the title conveys a sense of wide- eyed ambition then the music on In Search Of The Miraculous fits the plot perfectly, featuring ten tracks fizzing with creative passion, giant choruses, heroic solos and poetic intensity.

Warning: this album contains love songs, anti-love songs and other songs wandering about, lost in an in-between-daze. It’s a bit complicated. Boasting one of the most inspired band names of recent times, the quartet take their moniker from a 1979 John Peel Session track by The Cure. If you ever wondered what Harriet Wheeler from the Sundays would sound like fronting a rawer version of the Smiths or the Cocteau Twins with energy and a shimmering indie edge, then Desperate Journalist is a must hear.

‘Satellite’ is the second single taken from the LP ‘In Search of the Miraculous’, out on 22nd February 2019 on Fierce Panda Records

Band Members
Jo Bevan – Vocals,
Simon Drowner – Bass,
Rob Hardy – Guitar,
Caz Hellbent – Drums

DESPERATE JOURNALIST – ” In Search of the Miraculous “

Posted: January 11, 2019 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Once again the New Year promises great things from listings of new albums to be released, already announced in late 2018, and top of that tree is the third album from Desperate Journalist, In Search of the Miraculous. Arguably, they already found it on 2017’s Grow Up but on the other hand, if that was near perfection then maybe they needed to find the “miraculous” to improve on it. The first single ‘Cedars’ showcases Rob Hardy and Jo Bevan’s ability to create a pop song that improves with every listen, slowly creeping under the skin, new elements appear and surprise until it’s so deep in your soul that you can never escape and you become a full blown evangelist.

‘Cedars’ is taken from the LP ‘In Search of the Miraculous’, out on 22nd February 2019 on Fierce Panda Records

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DESPERATE JOURNALIST – ” Resolution “

Posted: April 1, 2017 in MUSIC
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Desperate Journalist have just released latest single Resolution, a mix of noir power chords.

Singer Jo Bevan said, “The song was written in a hotel room after a New Year’s Eve party when I was feeling particularly peculiar, unable to drink and on a lot of codeine. New Years Eve is obviously an unusually heightened time to feel completely out of the loop with a group and when that happens to me, like everything else I can’t really cope with, I romanticise it into filmic fragments.

“The countdown to midnight was dramatized massively by the band we were watching (as is standard), and I couldn’t escape fixating on teenage thoughts like: how many cliched repetitive conversations/Fun Times you have with people on Significant Days of the Year, how emotionally awkward the midnight kiss was for so many of us, the people making big pointless romantic gestures, and the general warm frenzy of everyone else from the weird cold bubble of where I was. So broadly speaking, the song is about being detached and overstimulated.”

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Glowering indiegoth melody crunchers Desperate Journalist have announced their biggest headline show to date at the Scala in Kings Cross on Thursday April 6th. Their terrific new single called Resolution is out now

 

 

DESPARATE JOURNALIST – ” Hesitate “

Posted: April 11, 2015 in MUSIC
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Video for ‘Hesitate’ by Desperate Journalist taken from the album ‘Desperate Journalist’ out now on Fierce Panda (UK) & Minty Fresh Records(US) ‘Hesitate’ is the new upcoming single by London four-piece Desperate Journalist, and to get you in the mood they have share the accompanying video.

Taken from the album their self-titled debut album, the Jason Weidner-directed video to the track was worked around vocalist Jo Bevan’s coming across the work of film artist Takashi Ito.

“I was really struck by how he uses time lapse photography, projection and altered film speeds in a sketching way to make something at once sadly romantic, ghostly and kind of mundane. I sent one of his films (‘Grim’) to Jason and he came up with a treatment inspired by Ito’s aesthetic which perfectly reflects the paralysing anxiety of the lyrics.”

‘Hesitate’ is darkly intense song epitomized by a nervy bass line and pulsing drums, gradually melding with Bevan’s vocal, it all flows into an explosion of poetic lyrics set against a sonic wall of frenetic guitars.

The band head out on tour next month, playing a handful of shows as follows:

Sunday 24th May – Birmingham, Hare & Hounds
Wednesday 27th May – Sheffield, Rocking Chair
Thursday 28th May – London, 100 Club
Friday 29th May – Norwich, The Blueberry
Saturday 30th May – Bristol, The Stag & Hounds

DESPERATE JOURNALIST – ” Happening “

Posted: January 8, 2015 in MUSIC
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Desperate Journalist’s self-titled debut album builds on the fantastic single they released last year, as the band continue to demonstrate their ability to balance phenomenal vocals with stunning guitar riffs that grab you and don’t let go.

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When I hear a band whose music reminds me of the Brit-pop era I go to a very happy place and start to reminisce.  Desperate Journalist does just this.

I could listen to Jo Bevan sing all day long.  Her vocals are encapsulating, and coupled with Rob Hardy’s mesmerizing guitar riffs, well let’s just say that prior to writing this review I have nearly worn the album out through listening to it. Desperate Journalist are a New Music Snapshot and I believe Jo’s vocals were compared to those of Shirley Manson’s of Garbage fame.  Striking, invigorating and perfectly balanced throughout the tracks, there’s an edge to her voice which combines with a velvety smoothness that takes your hand and leads you through the tracks.  Along with Bevan’s voice the album provides a very distinct sound, testament to the dedication and self-production of the tracks.  I was trying to think of another band I’ve heard this year that provides the same distinct sound while heavily reminiscent of the Britpop era.

If I had to suggest one small issue with the record, and it is tiny, there is a danger that some of the tracks blend into each other.  I was introduced to the band through “Control” which opens the album superbly, while “Cristina”, “Hesitate” and “Remainder” carry on this fantastic opening, but there are some similarities across the songs.  To be fair to the band, this is a slightly ridiculous point to make as the tracks are great and they all strengthen the distinct sound Desperate Journalist have. I’ve finished rambling on I would recommend two things; going to see them live and also listening to a few of their tracks… I guarantee that a small amount of exposure to Desperate Journalist will result in a purchase of their album.