I've been feeling a little rough lately (haven't we all?!) and those best laid plans of writing more posts here haven't quite come to fruition yet, but I've been enjoying this new one from Flyte and wanted to share. The duo's first new music of the year, I'm Not There is a taster of more to come from a record made with producer Ethan Johns at his home studio and is just beautifully vintage Flyte. I adore them.
On the process of creating the new track, Will shares:
Although regular therapy and the ever-enlightening practice of songwriting has helped me immensely over the years, a lack of self-love, self-forgiveness, and the baggage of family trauma still hangs around - sometimes heavily.
This song was written under a particularly dense cloud, with a rainy brain. I was draining my subconscious, not present in the slightest. From the few times we’ve played this song live, it’s been noteworthy how male leaning people of all ages have been quick to tell us about their immediate connection to it - make of that what you will.
What may also be interesting to some is that it’s a fully live performance, cut right at the start of the album recording session. We played it once and once only, and that’s all the listener hears bar a single piano added later. Nick, Ethan and I hadn’t played as this trio before and you can hear us introducing ourselves to each other, figuring the whole thing out as we played. Ethan, as well as being a sensational producer/engineer is an experienced, emotionally intelligent drummer, which provided a safety net that allowed us to step blindly into the performance with no preparation.
It’s taught us that there, in that risky place, is where the truth is most easily coaxed out of us.
I just stumbled onto the blog, thinking that I should probably write something soon.... and I was greeted with the glorious sight of 500,000 (!) all-time views. Say what?! That's a big number. Whether you're here by accident, or you're a regular scroller of my infrequent rambles - hi. Thank you!
Now, there couldn't really be anything else that I need to write about right now when my headphones have been slightly consumed with one particular piece of new music for the last week or so. In fact, I got an early listen of this and cried in the staffroom, of course I did. Absolute queeeeen Maggie Rogers is back with Don't Forget Me, the title track from her upcoming third album, due on 12th April (the same day as Cosmo Sheldrake's new album - lord help me.) I've listened a fair few times already and I am adoring the new track. Maggie is making exactly the music she wants to right now, and you can tell. It's gorgeous.
I have had so much fun at every stage of making this album. I think you can hear it in the songs. And I’m finding it’s sort of the key ingredient to making all of this really fly.
This album was written over five days, two songs a day — three days in December 2022, two in January 2023. It was written in chronological order.
Some of the stories on this album are mine. And for the first time really, some of them are not.
I wanted to make an album that sounded like a Sunday afternoon. Worn in denim. A drive in your favourite car. No make up, but the right amount of lipstick. Something classic. The mohair throw and bottle of Whiskey in Joan Didion's motel room. An old corvette. Vintage, but not overly Americana. I wanted to make an album to belt at full volume alone in your car, a trusted friend who could ride shotgun and be there when you needed her.
This has been such a transformational and special time in my life. I’m so grateful for many years of support and care I’ve been offered to let me come to all of this in my way and in my time. I can honestly say I’m more ready than I've ever been…and most importantly, I’m having a blast. I hope you love this record as much as I do.
The Staves are back! Album announcement time! Isn't it exciting????!!!
It feels like time has been a little bit wobbly for the past few years - somehow, their last album came out in early 2021, meaning there will have been just over three years between albums. We are ever so deserving of this new album. That 2021 record, the excellent Good Woman, was my album of the year. My most listened to album of that year, the first show that I got to after the various lockdowns - a record that really unlocked a deeper love of this band for me. A little bit exciting that they're back with a new one then.
Produced by John Congleton and their first release via Communion Records (I mean - a perfect fit if ever I saw one?!) All Now arrives on 22nd March 2024, and features recent single You Held It All (again - excellent) and this new single, the glorious title track.
On the track, Jess and Camilla say "it's a stream of consciousness about frustration and feeling overwhelmed with modernity. Kind of a rejection of the performative way we have to express ourselves now in order for it to be deemed valid."
Discussing the video, which was directed by James Arden, the pair add "We were in love with the old footage of singer songwriters performing in shows like 'The Old Grey Whistle Test', and the way the audience hung on the singer's every word. We wanted to play with the idea of 'All Now' being an ideology and a message. Something that came from artists and creatives, but is then hijacked and commodified by corporate creeps, preaching the message to gain power."
"I'm grasping the neck of all of my friends singing I deserve the same as you do."
Chartreuse never disappoint, and I'm a little in love with this one. I should probably be heading to sleep, but I feel compelled to write as I've just listened to their new single a few times in a row and then fallen into a little Chartreuse shaped rabbit hole. Love them and love this one a lot! They recently announced their debut album Morning Ritual, which is due for release via Communion Music on 10th November - Whippet is the latest single to be taken from it.
With Hattie on lead vocals on this one, she describes how the track was inspired by a conversation she had with a friend at the pub about life plans and 'settling down.' "She was asking me what my plans were, and I said I didn't know. A lot of our friends have serious careers, and we're in a band. I felt bitter about having to have the conversation, so the line "left like a whippet" is me wanting to leave and stop talking about it."
If you like what you hear - they're heading on tour across November: dates and tickets here. They've also just announced a few instore shows, tickets here.
You heard it here first: I'm well and truly back in my The Staves era. So many of my favourite artists are coming back with new songs and albums at the moment and I have fallen pretty hard for this one. The duo are back with You Held It All, their first release via Communion Records (a match made in heaven, I think?) and their first new music since the 2021 album Good Woman(my album of the year.) It is almost TOO good?! I haven't much to say, apart from that I love these sisters so much. Crossing my fingers that there's an album on the way, but for now, I'll happily listen to this one on repeat...
On the track, the band share: "You Held It All is a song about understanding, and the knots we tie ourselves in when we don't express our truth; and how much power and freedom there can be when we do."
The new Dizzy album drops in a couple of months on 18th August, and I'm aaaaall kinds of excited. I've been busy with work lately, spending the time I'd like to have been writing blog posts writing a big ol performance review, so I haven't had much chance to pop up here but I really wanted to share this one. Like most of the band's releases, I've had it on repeat since I first heard it. Love love love this band. If they're a new name for you, you've got a LOT to look forward to, with two previous brilliant records and what is looking to be a superb third arriving soon!
Speaking about new track 'Close', singer Katie shares: "back in 2019 we were on tour in Eau Claire, Wisconsin when the wheel bearing on our van went kaputz on American thanksgiving. It was a hard day but the only thing I can really remember about it is laughing in the mechanic's waiting room and then finding our way back to a hotel with a bottle of green room whiskey. We've been through a lot as a band but we always manage to reconnect on itchy hotel beds between episodes of Family Guy. 'Close' is about a lot of things but mainly it's about the comfort Mack, Charlie and Alex bring me."
Still bad at blogging. Sorry. Finding comfort in new tracks from favourites at
the moment, and was really excited to find a new one from Chartreuse in
the inbox a few days back. It's the first track from the band since last
year's
Satellites(featuring Orlando Weeks, no less) and the oh-so-brilliant
Is It Autumn Already?EP which somehow came out in 2021... huh?!
They're a band who can kind of do no wrong in my eyes (though if they returned
with some out of character death metal I might not vibe with it quite so
much... but, you never know) and exactly what I'm looking for at the moment.
There's only so much Stornoway I can listen to on repeat (OK, that's a
lie). ANYWAY. Basically, Switch It On, Switch It Off is gorgeous
and you should probably stop what you're doing and listen to it now.
On the track, vocalist Mike Wagstaff shares:
"I wish I could control the switch in my head from overthinking and
negativity. Through the verses, Switch It On, Switch It Off darts between
memories, fantasies, daydreams and landscapes - snapshots from a busy mind.
You have to observe and take them in quickly before they pass."
ICYMI on Twitter / Instagram - the blog turned 8 this week! Happy birthday, website I pour many many words into.
I've been bad at posting things here for a bunch of reasons, but I want to do my best to share more when I'm able to... and I'm excited by this. Ezra Williams (of Heartstopper soundtrack fame with My Own Person - the track that plays as Nick starts to question his sexuality... and is all sorts of brilliant) has an album on the way!!!! Supernumeraries is due on 16th June, and new track Until I'm Home just dropped - featuring Sammy Copley. They're both dreamboats and I love this one.
Talking about the track, Ezra says: "I wrote this song on the train home from hanging out with my girlfriend at the time. I overthink everything and cannot be left alone with my own thoughts for a second or I'll feel like the world is collapsing in on me."
Two Dizzy posts in a row? Yes indeed. The best news - they've just announced details of their third album, the self-titled Dizzy, which will be released via Communion Records on 18th August. The album news arrives alongside Open Up Wide - perhaps their most pop-tinged track to date, and I'm in love with them all over again.
In a beautiful act of synchronicity, the record arrives the day after their debut album Baby Teeth hits a milestone, turning five years old. The new tracks and new record give us a Dizzy who are far more confident in their art, but just as unique and endearing as the band I fell in love with all those years ago. Can not waaaait to hear more. But I'll have to.
I'll no doubt ramble lots more about the record over the coming months so for now, I'm going to focus on the new track... which Katie describes as "a tongue-in-cheek ode to a music industry we've never understood all that well." On the process of creating the new track, she explains "when we started recording the album, our producer David [Pramik] was super conscious of cutting the fat from each song. One afternoon he encouraged us to write our parts in a simpler, more 'spoonfed' fashion for easy listening, when Mack piped up cheekily 'Open up wide! Here comes the airplane!' The next morning we were all feeling a bit resentful of that mindset and 'Open Up Wide' came to be while we were having our morning coffees."
Dizzy are heading to the UK for a short run of shows in May - two London dates are already sold out, but it looks as if tickets are still available for Bristol and Brighton. Tickets here.
Ohhhh boy. There's a new track and some Dizzy news coming next week. Everybody stay calm. While I try to compose myself (this track is coming the same day as something new from Cosmo Sheldrake and I'm sure they've coordinated on purpose) this feels like as good an excuse as any to share this recent acoustic version of Birthmark. I have aaaall the love in the world for this band and I adore Katie's vocals on this track - it's a rare treat to hear their music stripped back like this and I love it!! Enjoy!
If you're digging this, here's the studio version - also, the band are hopping over to the UK to play a handful of shows in May. Both London dates are already sold out, I think, but they're also playing Brighton and Bristol - tickets here.
It's wild to think that I've been in love with Dizzy for nearly five
years - from a chance encounter at a festival to never-ending listens of their
two albums - and the love is still going strong with the release of their new
single Birthmark. In fact, in a ridiculous week for exciting new
releases I am absolutely and unashamedly obsessed with this one, and my
last.fm stats will concur. It is so so so great. The track is the follow-up to
recent single Barking Dog, a triumphant return for the band that I
described as
"one of the most exciting things to appear in my inbox for a long time". I'm not entirely sure how I'll handle a new album when it comes, but for
now, these two are on repeat.
Talking on the track, singer Katie Munshaw shares: "the song is from the point of view of someone I love who went through
their first heartbreak last year. I remember we were laying in bed one night
and they said they didn't feel so bad until it was time to go to sleep. I
thought that was so sad."
"The 'Birthmark' video is meant to be a visual representation of the saying
'dancing with the devil.' I wanted the visuals to feel more like a nightmare
than a music video, hence its lack of narrative. We shot the video in a farm
field in western Ontario so a lot of cow shit was stepped on to get these
beautiful shots which I think is hilarious and fitting. Special thanks to
our devil, Marc, for allowing us to paint your skin red in freezing
temperatures in the name of assholery and thanks mom for letting me use your
sunroof in the name of getting a cool ass shot."
This is honestly one of the most exciting things to appear in my inbox for a long time - Dizzy are back!!!!! Ahhhhhhhh. I'm genuinely thrilled by this news. If you're new here, I've been sort of obsessed with them for a few years, and have a lot of love for their debut album Baby Teeth and its follow-up The Sun And Her Scorch. With more new music on the horizon for 2023, they're back with new single Barking Dog (via Communion Records) but things are looking a little different...
A new era for Dizzy sees singer Katie Munshaw donning a particularly striking mask in press photos and the music video for this track. On the (brilliant) reasoning behind this, Katie explains "I'm a very anxious and sensitive person. Thinking about taking a bunch of photos and videos of myself, especially after two years in isolation, felt a bit shocking and scary, and like something I didn't really want to do."
"I find it strange how musicians are often introverted people, yet one of the largest parts of our job is visually selling ourselves to an audience. It feels unnatural to pine for strangers' attention to afford rent or whatever, and as someone who's particularly sensitive, it isn't sustainable. To me, the mask not only represents a calloused version of myself but it lends itself to an anonymity that I love. A Jane Doe of sorts. I like the idea of a female artist making the conscious decision to take her appearance out of the question for the audience."
On the video, Katie continues: "Our director was like, 'what if you just punched yourself in your face for three minutes straight?' and I was like 'Fuck it, why not?' We did three takes and by the end of it all I was pretty teary. I don't know that I will ever forget being in that bathroom with my pal feeling very safe and understood while simultaneously scared of my own feelings. 10/10 would punch myself in the face again."
Dream collaboration time. Imagine the stunning vocals and musical styles of Chartreuse and Orlando Weeks combined... well you don't have to, because it is here and it is a beaut. Of course it is. The blend of vocals feels so natural - might we expect them to make some more music together in the future? I certainly hope so.
On Satellites, Chartreuse share: "We've been big fans of Orlando's work for many years and were introduced over email a few years back. We sent him a piano idea we'd been messing around with that we couldn't seem to go any further with. He sent back a beautiful voice recording from his laptop microphone of an almost finished song about Satellites. He called us up and told us he was getting a space interstellar feeling, then probably a year or so later he came over and we finished the song off! Enjoy!"
Let's escape the heatwave for a moment and go back to July last year. Wunderhorse (AKA Dead Pretties frontman Jacob Slater) was bursting onto the scene with Teal and I was nothing short of obsessed. A few singles later, he's just shared Leader of the Pack and the obsession is back. The press release describes it as "an instant earworm" and I couldn't agree more... it has glued itself to my brain, and you won't find me complaining. The track is taken from the upcoming debut album Cub, releasing via Communion Records on 16th September, with a show at London's Lafayette on 20th October.
On the track, Jacob shares "Leader of the Pack is a song about betrayal. About not being able to escape the thing that eats away at you, it's a song written as a means of getting even."
Is there anything that a new Maggie Rogers track can't cure?! Goodness me I love Maggie so much - and this one felt like a personal reward from Maggie to myself. I've been snowed under with some work this week, seeing my inbox gradually getting fuller but unable to delve into it. A couple of hours after I finally finished up with the work thing, a new track from Maggie debuts on Radio 1... yes please! Previous single That's Where I Am will be happy to get a bit of a rest in my speakers because I will be listening to Want Want on repeat for the foreseeable future.
Want Want is an unashamedly joyful track on sexual desire, or as Maggie puts it - "sex and sensuality". I'm already imagining this one in a live show and.... yes?! Please. Again. Luckily, I might not have to wait too long for my next live Maggie show, as she's heading to the UK on the Feral Joy tour in November, with a date at Ally Pally on the 10th. The joy and pride that I feel knowing that Maggie is headlining such a venue...
Originally written in quarantine with Maggie's long-term collaborator Del Water Gap in Maine, the track was produced by DWG and Kid Harpoon at Electric Lady Studios in NYC, Real World Studios near Bath and Sid's Palace in Scarborough, ME. The video for the track, directed by Warren Fu, sees Maggie performing the track at a karaoke bar in NYC's Koreatown and you can watch it below...
Want Want is taken from the upcoming record Surrender - due 29th July (pre-order here.) Full details of Maggie's upcoming UK and Europe tour here.
Album recommendation time, folks!!!! You all know how much I love
MICHELLE, right? They're an NYC-based collective that first came onto my radar about two years ago with this brilliant live session performance of The Bottom from their first record. They had just signed to Transgressive over here and have been releasing a string of superb singles since, but I think that new track POSE might be one of my favourites yet. It's taken from brand new record AFTER DINNER WE TALK DREAMS which I can confirm, after a good few listens, is pretty damn superb too. See for yourself...
Grab a copy of the record and check out their upcoming tour dates on the website here.
Mosa Wild are back!!! Genuinely delighted by this news - they're one of my favourite bands of the past couple of years, I absolutely adore the Talking In Circles EP. They're back with Expect Me - exactly the heart-on-sleeve kind of anthem you'd expect from the Kent four-piece. It's taken from an upcoming EP, the poetically titled Zip Your Coat Up For English Weather, due in Spring 2022 via Glassnote Records.
On the new track, frontman Jim Rubaduka shares "Expect Me was initially written and recorded at my mum and dad's kitchen table in Ashford. We tracked the final version with our friend Ben Baptie at Pool Studios. I think it's the most collaborative studio session we've had.
It was a joy to have a bunch of our friends come down and bless this record. The song has a very simple and direct message. I wanted the verses to feel like a hymn you know well, and the outro to feel like a hug that you don't want to end."
Ah, Chartreuse are pure magic, right? A little gutted I forgot about their show at The Lexington last night... looks like it was all sorts of wonderful and Orlando Weeks even jumped on stage for a song! The sadness is short lived however, as I was at my first solo gig adventure since last March, watching Bess Atwell in Cambridge with Eve Owen and Gabby Martin supporting. Hey, talk about magic... genuinely stunned by each of their performances and the entirety of Bess' latest record is circling my head non-stop today. No complaints.
Anyway - Chartreuse! I've been loving their recent Is It Autumn Already? EP and the latest single Deep Fat. They've just shared a beautiful live performance of the track, filmed at Vada Recording Studios by Sam of Avocado Baby Film. Magic all round. If you like what you're hearing, there are a couple of shows left on this tour, at Birmingham's Hare & Hounds on Friday (3rd) and Manchester's Gullivers on Saturday (4th). Go on my behalf, please?! They're also heading out on tour with Palace in February and March so no excuses for any of us, really...
A slice of soulful bedroom pop for your Thursday... damn I love MICHELLE. The New York based 6-piece never miss, travelling across genres to create beautiful art with the layered harmonies of their four vocalists Sofia, Emma, Layla and Jamee, alongside synths and percussion from Charlie and Julian. MESS U MADE arrives with a living room session video (complete with session guitarist Maya Polsky and session bassist Nick Catrambone) and really shows off the cross-genre music they're making... and the passion behind it. The track is the second to be taken from their upcoming album AFTER DINNER WE TALK DREAMS (due 28th January via Transgressive Records in the UK.) Enjoy...
Having just finished up a US tour with Arlo Parks, MICHELLE recently announced US tour dates for 2022 with Mitski. They'll be supporting Gus Dapperton around the US in November, and a UK headline tour follows in February, including The Lexington on 9th February. Tickets here.
Here's a Thursday treat for you, a new track from Chartreuse. Swedish Water is the fourth track to be taken from their upcoming Is It Autumn Already? EP, due for release on 19th November via Communion Records. This Black Country four-piece are truly something special - the combined vocals of Hattie Wilson and Mike Wagstaff alongside the instrumentation of Rory Wagstaff and Perry Lovering makes for something that is often weird and wonderful, and unlike anything else you'll hear this year.
On Swedish Water, Mike shares: "This song is for people who find themselves away from the people they love. It's about working through the frustration of a long-distance relationship although there are difficult parts of the song it is essentially a love song about wanting to be with the person you love.
A few years ago, I took a short trip to Stockholm to visit my girlfriend who was working over there at the time. There's a lot of water that runs through the centre of Stockholm, it moved in a certain way and looked different, different enough to notice. I think it was something to do with the summer light, it looked like oil moving around swelling up and down it was something special. This being something precious I decided to put into words as a snapshot of my life at the time.
I had just watched Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire which follows the journey of angels on earth so I guess I was walking around in that world for quite a while. This inspired me to search online for the definition of an angel 'a person of exemplary conduct or virtue’ these references fed into the opening of the song.”
Chartreuse are playing a run of headline shows in November and December, taking in The Lexington in London on 30th November. Tickets and dates here.