Luke Sital-Singh sings songs of love, longing and grief in this stirring performance of “Afterneath” and “Killing Me.” These are the songs I just never tire of hearing and I never tire of writing, because they make me feel less alone,” Sital-Singh says.
I’m not sure if you’ll remember because, you know, there’s a lot of stuff that goes on these days. But back in April of this year I was asked to perform at the TED Global event in Vancouver, and I said yes, obviously. It was an amazing privilege and I’m super excited to tell you that the video of my performance is now live on Ted.com.
I was asked to perform two songs and speak a little about what makes me tick as a songwriter. In my head my talk was entitled ‘Why sad songs are the most important songs’
So go give it a watch, it’s not long. And if you like it maybe share it with someone else you think would enjoy it too.Thank you, Luke x
Emily Brown is a Californian singer-songwriter and poet. Drawing comparisons to Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell, her clear voice, and carefully crafted lyrics draw from personal experience and literature.
‘Unseen Girl’ possesses the type of chords and indie girl vocals that beat a path to our door on a daily basis. This time however it comes fitted with an urgency that suggests an artist up for the fight and in the process cuts a fine Sharon Van Etten dash. On this evidence Emily Brown could well be on her way, a soft edged juggernaut at full tilt where nobody but the bad guys get hurt. It grows and it blooms, if only falling in love with somebody was this easy. Emily Brown’s new album ‘Bee Eater’ is out at the end of August.
Tancred’s ‘Something Else’, featuring Potty Mouth, is sweet, unpretentious alt-rock with a personally-oriented approach. Behind a fun, well-made music video, this group has a solid, if not kind of derivative, take on modern trends in the genre. The simple, lo-fi bedroom pop these women are going for is deeply reminiscent of Soccer Mommy. There’s a clear sense of the group as focused on social justice and female empowerment, but this is couched in a more personally-oriented, poppy lyrical sensibility that seems in debt to 2000s indie groups like Death Cab For Cutie and The Strokes. The broad, vaguely feminist aesthetic can be traced through more recent pop figures like Hayley Williams of Paramore back to Avril Lavigne and maybe even characters like Missy Elliott or Lauryn Hill. Anyways, this is a neat track from an up-and-coming band. Check out ‘Something Else’
“Something Else” is taken from Tancred’s new album, Nightstand, which came out June 1st, 2018.
Throughout I’ll Sing, Shannen Moser reveals a strong understanding of relationships – not only the influence they have on us but also the inner turmoil they create. “Haircut Song” is a deeply poignant, often haunting portrayal of the power this human connection has over us. Recalling a relationship, she presents us with a different kind of love song: You said I’m doomed to love you, and that’s the truth/It’s a sort of ***ed up way to say it, but I loved you too. As the song progresses, she lays bare her desperation when things go sour: A Broken heart will convince itself of many things/I will silence my own beating heart, that’s the sh*t you don’t want to hear/I would sell myself out for a lifetime of “I love you, love you, my dear”. The song is beautiful, sarcastic and heartbreaking all at once. It hits all the right receptors in the brain, leaving you wanting more; this is ok, because the rest of I’ll Sing delivers the goods.
Although Moser’s lyrics are her greatest asset – giving I’ll Sing an extra bite through witty storytelling – there’s no denying her skill as a musician. Effortlessly blending folk, blues and country, there’s a good deal of variety throughout her songwriting. Sometimes, we get nothing but the dialed-down plucking of a guitar, but “Hallelujah” busts out the banjos and enters borderline ho-down mode as it progresses. Whichever method she employs, all the songs are given an extra jolt of life by her soaring vocals and relatable themes of love and friendship. “One For Mama” is a real tear-jerker, with bluesy guitars and strings making way for the croon of Momma, I’m never too old for your love. And as she closes with the Americana-tinged title-track, she makes it apparent she plans on making the best of life – pressing on and “singing” even in its most vicious moments. It’s one hell of a way to conclude such a powerful album; the slower pace allows her voice to really capture the moment in perhaps her most alluring performance here. If any of the tracks could be called soulful, this is it. It’s only one piece of the gorgeous puzzle, though. In its entirety, I’ll Sing is overwhelmingly affective – one of those albums that connects with you on a personal level. There are other notable songwriters this year, but few of them, if any, have as much to say as Shannen Moser does on her gripping sophomore effort.
Breaking out of Australia with the stark and poignant Boys Will Be Boys, Stella Donnelly was hailed an overnight feminist folk hero. Taking inspiration from the likes of Angel Olsen, and with a slight nod to the lyrical prowess of fellow Aussie Courtney Barnett, Donnelly’s debut and wonderfully titled Thrush Metal EP just got a re-issue on Secretly Canadian with full marks from most music press, including us. Most certainly one to watch and fawn over.
Donnelly played “Talking” in Conductors and Resistance, an art installation by the Israeli artist Ronen Sharabani that’s on display as part of the SXSW Art Program. Like Donnelly’s direct and feminist folk songs.
Stella Donnelly so far has only one EP to her name, but that’s been enough to make her sharp wit come through in sweet, quiet songs that rage loudly. The Australian singer-songwriter’s Thrush Metal EP was recently reissued in the U.S. with a bonus track, “Talking,” which she performs here surrounded by video of wires, a weaving machine and woolen yarns.
Here is the Official Music Video for ‘Lost Without You’!!! The support you’ve shown me and this song over the last month has been truly breathtaking. To every person who’s shared, liked and commented, thank you. You’re just incredible, It’s been a long time coming.
Freya Ridings has been patiently, diligently working on her music for years now, honing her skills, refining her approach.
And then it all seemed to click into place. Her single ‘Lost Without You’ really hit home with fans, and eventually found its way into an important scene on a little known TV show called Love Island.
Going viral almost overnight, everything since has been a rush – sold out shows, a packed out set in Tottenham Court Road station, and a whirlwind series of engagements.
Jade Bird. Already a recipient of the Reeperbahn Festival Anchor Award, this London-based songwriter took SXSW by storm, charming all who saw her with her clear voice and fetching songs. When she was barely a teenager, Jade learned to play guitar and started writing her own lyrics, eventually settling into an intense song-a-day pace. Some were good, others better left forgotten, but the process sharpened her chops and shaped her approach to songwriting. Her debut EP, Something American, is out now.
Jade Bird’s debut EP Something American – was originally released in 2017 gets a limited physical release. Across the 5 tracks, her voice has arrived like a total breath of fresh air in the current musical landscape – putting her own positive, refreshing spin on a richly complex personal and musical heritage.
Jade Bird performs Lottery on Later… with Jools Holland on BBC Two
Within the EP, Jade manages to twist huge themes including disillusionment, divorce, cheating and sorrow into the realities of an independent-minded modern British teenager. Produced by Simone Felice (The Lumineers, Bat For Lashes etc), the EP was recorded at Clubhouse Studio in Rhinebeck, NY and features Matt Johnson (Jeff Buckley, St Vincent) on drums, Will Rees (Mystery Jets) on guitar and Sara Lee (B-52’s) on bass.
With her Redemption Tour kicking off , Tori Forsyth has announced her debut album Dawn Of The Dark (Produced by Shane Nicholson) It will feature the second single ‘In The Morning’ and along with first single ‘Grave Robber’s Daughter’ and the previously unreleased ‘Kings Horses’, available as an instant track with album pre-order.
The alt-country artist who will also perform at this year’s SXSW Festival, has also shared the video for the single which even though was a last-minute addition to the album, still beams with honest songwriting and musical maturity far beyond her 22 years.
“‘In The Morning’ was a last minute addition to the record so it’s funny that it’s risen to the top as a second single,” says Tori. “The song has a few different meanings to me, it was a written in a darker time of my life and there’s definitely that theme to the song, but I think it’s also a song that basically rides on gender equality, the idea that a woman can do everything a man can.”
Directed by Brad and Rick from Spilting films, the ‘In The Morning’ video is Tori’s second collaboration with the duo who perfectly capture her gritty persona and complex song-writing subject showcasing dual personalities across a dazzling dreamscape. The filmmaker’s transport us through twisting mazes and deserted dunes, both located on the fringes of Newcastle Australia.
In The Morning by Tori Forsyth taken from the album Dawn of the Dark
After the stunning “Birthday”, Gia Margaret looks deeply into the space that remains after a loved one leaves your life. “Birthday” is a gentle, mid-tempo rock song that couches the weight of its lyrics in lush electric guitar chords, gleaming synthesizer patches, and big, expressive drums, hitting the sweet spot between Imogen Heap and Broken Social Scene. In a voice that barely rises above a whisper, the Chicago-based singer/songwriter details a sudden, devastating breakup. “I can’t pretend I didn’t know it/But then the night came and you were gone,” she sings, her voice multi-tracked and produced in a way that makes the edges of her consonants pop. After the shock of the initial split, Margaret starts to preemptively mourn all the rituals she won’t get to share again with her ex-partner. “Wouldn’t it be so strange/Not to be with you on your birthday?” she asks on the chorus. Her vocal melody skews oddly optimistic, vaulting up toward the top of her range as if she’s trying to put a positive spin on her loss. “Birthday” may be an emotionally moving breakup song, but it’s the kind that lets you self-soothe in the midst of grief.
Gia Margaret releases the second single from her first record, There’s Always Glimmer. If that first track was about the moment things fall away, “Smoke” is a gorgeous evocation of the moment they come together.
Margaret’s writing taps into the fragility of happiness – the immensely overwhelming feeling of something you’ve wished for so vividly becoming real, the moment you surrender yourself to it. From the gentle cascading piano line that acts as the spine of the song’s crescendo, to the double-tracked near-whisper of the vocal melody, the soft-focus comfort of the song’s feeling of stillness layers itself like a Sunday den.
Even as washes of cello, reversed vocals and an electronic beat flicker into life towards the end of the track, reminiscent of Daughter, it remains true to the sparse feel of its title. Picturing the simple pleasure of making a home with someone through immensely intimate moments – crying in the bathroom, nestling into new sheets – its sensual feel unravels the transportive potential of emotional memory. Ethereal, effortless and all-enveloping, it’s a misty and atmospheric watercolour.
“Smoke is one of the older songs on the album,” Margaret tells us. “It’s just something sparse I wrote to reflect on how beautiful the surrender of building a home with someone can be. It’s about sense memory and vulnerability. More specifically all the complicated feelings and memories that something as unremarkable as the scent of smoke can bring. Moving into an apartment with another for the first time and going from childhood home to “adulthood” was a transition. I wanted to capture how much I loved that apartment and the peaceful and still feeling that person and place enveloped me in. I hope the music speaks louder than my plain words. That was sort of my intent with this one.”
“Doug Saltzman engineered, mixed and co-produced Smoke,” she adds, on the production of the track. “We worked on it over the course of four months, and the song wouldn’t have been the same without his efforts, his vibrations, and especially his electronic drum production. He really is a wizard! I played all the keys, and MollyRife added the cello. Doug and I self-released a early version of Smoke two years ago, but it was basically just one of my home demos, with drums overdubbed by Doug. It was the first time I had collaborated with someone who made beats, and I was really into what they added. Doug is super collaborative and easy to bounce ideas off of. I’m so glad I got to revisit the song with him and take it to a new place.”
There’s Always Glimmeris out on July 27th via Orindal Recordings..
Ellis, the pseudonym of Canadian songwriter, Linnea Siggelkow. Up until now, Ellis’ reputation has been based entirely on a series of live dates with the likes of Soccer Mommy and Pale Hound, however this week we’ve finally got some recorded material to go on, in the shape of debut single, The Drain.
The Drain about which Ellis sings is more emotional than plug-hole related as Linnea explains, “it’s about self-sabotaging a relationship because you’re afraid of how deep it’s getting, but then saying ‘fuck it’ and diving in anyway.” That euphoric feeling of throwing yourself in at the deep end is equally present in the music, as driving rhythms are cut through with gorgeous twinkling synths and Linnea’s, easy, almost detached vocals. With an EP coming later in the year, Ellis’ potential is clear to see, and where she goes next could be fascinating.
The Fat Angel Sings 