LISTEN: All Tvvins - 'Build A Bridge'

One of my favourite support act discoveries of the last few years has to be at a Twin Atlantic show back in July 2016, where I fell for openers All Tvvins, an Irish duo made up of Lar Kaye and Conor Adams. Their brilliant debut album llVV was released exactly a month later and reached #2 in the Irish charts, was nominated for Irish Album of the Year and received over 15 million streams. Fast forward three years and the duo's second album Just To Exist is due for release this Friday, 12th April. They've teased the release with a string of single releases, my favourite of which has been Build A Bridge which I want to share with news of the record. The band describe the idea behind the track as wanting "to convey the feeling of a summer evening sunset when you're driving out in the mountains and anything feels possible."

After working with previous collaborator James Vincent McMorrow to create Hell of a Party, which became the first single from the new record, McMorrow gave them a proposition - "I'm free in January and February. Do you want to come into the studio to make a record?" Kaye recalls "it seemed ridiculous but we knew he could make it happen." The duo took all the ideas they'd been working on for the past two years to a large open studio space in Dublin, and the trio created Just To Exist, which Adams describes as "a snapshot of where we were, what we were going through and where we hope to go next." Kaye adds that the title of the record represents "an acceptance of what we had to go through" to make the band not only exist, but to thrive once again.

All Tvvins play a string of shows (dates below) to celebrate the release of the album, check out the full dates and buy tickets here.

13th April - The National Stadium, Dublin
16th May - Oslo, London
17th May - Deaf Institute, Manchester
18th May - King tuts, Glasgow
19th May - Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds

Follow All Tvvins - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

LISTEN: August 2016 playlist!

Only one gig this month (though it was more of a family festival in central London where King Charles happened to be playing) but a lot of brilliant new releases, here's my playlist for August, featuring some of the music I've been enjoying this month! As I'm going back to uni in September, and Tigmus have a lot of shows coming up, I'll get back to going to lots more gigs, phew! I'm also seeing my favourites The Hoosiers this Saturday, and a special Bear's Den show for Amazon next week which should be cool!

1. Dawes When The Tequila Runs Out - probably the most exciting music news for me this month is that these guys are releasing their fifth studio album, We're All Gonna Die, on 16th September and this is the first track from it. A little unsure at first but I totally embrace the slight change in sound, and it's grown on me a lot! All the info about the album here. 

2. All Tvvins Thank You - I saw these guys supporting Twin Atlantic last month, and I'm digging their debut album IIVV, released this month. They're really fun live, and they're off on a 20+ date UK tour later in the year, looking forward to hopefully catching them at The Bullingdon in Oxford (dates and tickets here.)

3. Richard Walters U - Richard releases his new solo record A.M in October, and this is the stunning first release from it. Check out the Mahogany Session which recently debuted online. To launch the record, Richard plays shows in London and Oxford in October.

4. Fil Bo Riva Like Eye Did - while I don't always get chance to check out the music I'm sent my artists and their PR people, I was glad I took a listen to this track after finding it in my inbox. Love it! 

5. SG Lewis Yours - with two of King Charles' band members playing alongside SG Lewis I'm keeping an eye out on his music, and really enjoying the title track of his recent EP Yours. His biggest London headline show has just been announced, grab tickets for Koko in November here. 

6. Public Service Broadcasting Spitfire - after a friend introduced me to these guys a couple of years ago I've been keen to see them live, and despite writing a post about their big Islington charity gig I managed to let the show sell out before grabbing a ticket... holding out for some returns as it looks set to be a great show! At Eastbourne airshow earlier in the month I loved hearing this track played on the pier after the Spitfire had done it's display, a great touch (and a great track!)

7. Blossoms Blow - you have to have been living under a rock to have avoided hearing about these guys yet, particularly as their debut album reached number one in the charts when it was released earlier this month. Check out their performance at Reading Festival here. 

8. Dan Croll Swim - though I've come pretty late to Dan's music, only properly listening when I caught him at Bushstock back in June, I'm enjoying this recently released track Swim, the first taster of his upcoming record. 

9. Mumford & Sons Fool You've Landed (Baio remix) - it's been a couple of months since Mumford and friends released their Johannesburg EP, and they're just released some remixes of the tracks. Digging this track remixed by Chris Baio of Vampire Weekend. 

10. Tom Figgins Permafrost - finally some new studio recordings from Tom.... check out his whole Ghosts EP on Spotify, of which this is my favourite track. 

11. The Maccabees Spit It Out - with these guys announcing their split this month, it seems right to feature them in the playlist, with one of my favourite tracks from their latest album Marks To Prove It. They've hinted/promised some final shows, so hopefully I'll get to catch them live finally!

12. Jack Garratt BYSKB v2m2 (demo) - alongside the release of his latest single Far Cry, taken from his album Phase, Jack has debuted a demo of a new track.  

13. King Charles Ivory Road (Spotify Session) - the only gig I caught this month was Charles' solo acoustic performance at Spotlight on Seven Dials, and it was great hearing him close the set with my favourite track from the first record! Takes me back to when he performed the track to me in a field of thistles at Cambridge Folk Fest a few years ago (video).