Completely over the moon about this - Dizzy are back with their first new music of the year, Sunflower. The track follows up their recent Heavy / Twist EP and the 2018 debut album Baby Teeth which I absolutely adore. They were a random discovery for me as a friend took me to their set at a festival and I am so grateful for that introduction - I love them. The new track was produced by the band themselves and mixed by Craig Silvey (Arcade Fire, Florence & The Machine). With lyrics that see singer Katie Munshaw drifting between self-loathing and self-care, Katie describes the track as "a three and a half minute 'snap out of it!' to myself when I'm feeling low, unconfident or not myself."
The band are about to head on a support tour in the UK and Europe with Oh Wonder but they've also just announced a London gig of their own at brand new venue Lafayette (sister venue, if you will, to Omeara) on November 18th. Tickets are on sale here today!
A new MarthaGunn song, which is technically an old MarthaGunn song, but new. They've just brought out a new studio version of Heaven, which if I recall correctly was their debut single a few years back (at least, one of the first.) As such, it was the starting point of my live for the band and has always been a live favourite so I'm really glad to see the return of the track and I'm loving this version.
Frontwoman Abi Woodman, when sharing the track to the band's social media, explained that: "I am not comfortable being comfortable. I always want more. Sometimes I don’t know whether to accept the beauty of simplicity or to self-sabotage to find something greater. When I wrote ‘Heaven’, I was playing out a fantasy in my head and exploring a path I could only dream of taking. A few years on and I have stopped living in fantasies. I go after everything my soul desires. Heaven is a song for anyone dreaming of something more."
It's been just over a year since I was first introduced to Dizzy. A friend encouraged me to go along to their set at The Great Escape festival - I knew nothing about them, what sort of music it was, just the name, but I went along and absolutely loved it. Their debut album Baby Teeth was released a few months later and quickly became one of my favourite albums of the year. Working at HMV at the time, I loved playing it in store and getting some colleagues to fall for the record as much as I had. The band is made up of brothers Charlie, Alex and Mackenzie Spencer and their neighbour Katie Munshaw who have been making music together through high school - there is something incredibly endearing and loveable about the group. The critics agree - they received the Juno Award for Best Alternative Album back in Canada. I'm really excited to hear that they're back, with new single Twist being the lead track from an upcoming EP due later this Summer via Communion Records.
Talking in a mini documentary video about the new track which you can check out below, Katie describes that the album had been written straight out of high school, meaning that there was quite a length between writing the tracks and when they were released and audiences were able to connect with them. With new tracks on the way which were written in the past few months, the band are clearly raring to release them. Katie explains that while "Baby Teeth was written about bedrooms, parking lots, restaurants and movie theatres, the new stuff is coming from a well of travelling and touring. Twist is really about missing someone so badly that you see them places and get really excited, and then realise it's not them. It's about the hold someone can have over you even after they've left your life."
They've just finished up their first headline tour back home but fear not, they're coming to England very soon with a few shows - not to be missed! Tickets here.
29th May: Rough Trade, Bristol
31st May: The Eagle Inn, Manchester
1st June: All Points East x Gentlemen of the Road, London
2nd June: Notting Hill Arts Club, London
Follow Dizzy - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.
With just over a week to go until the release of their third studio album So that you might hear me, and while in the midst of a UK tour (which saw me catch the band in Nottingham last week - check out my write-up here) Bear's Den have been gracing us with lots of tears of the new record. Last week they shared the music video for latest single Laurel Wreath, and have kept up the momentum with the release of brand new track and video Crow yesterday. Both videos and a little bit of info are below... I'll be reviewing the record at some point next week so keep an eye out for that post too if you're a fan of these guys.
The Laurel Wreath video was shot in the Marzahn-hellensdorf neighbourhood of Berlin, a neighbourhood home to many immigrants to Germany, but also a stronghold of the far right. The video features local actors from a housing centre for refugees and explores themes of loneliness as the actors go about their lives blindfolded, reflecting the track's recurring lyric "you don't have to be lonely alone, I could be there in a heartbeat." The director duo Jungle describe the idea of "people living their lives in the private cubicles they call home, willingly unaware of each other. Paying a price for their individuality. A dreamlike reality where people embodied their isolation through blindfolds."
The next track on the record, Crow is one of the most emotive, stripped back tracks on the album. It is one of the band's most personal songs to date, with singer Andrew Davie saying "the song was written in memory of my Mum's boyfriend who lived with us growing up. He was an awesome guy and somewhere between a father figure and a best friend to me growing up but unfortunately he passed away when I was 15. I wrote this song as I wanted to acknowledge how important and thankful I am to him for helping to raise me and my sister." The video for the track shows a bunch of the band's fans in Nashville, London, Brussels and Sao Paulo listening to the track for the first time alongside family members. It's an incredibly simplistic video offering, but makes for emotional viewing.
Davie explains "we thought that a music video that celebrated the idea of family would be the most appropriate thing we could do. Frequently we receive an overwhelming number of messages from people telling us about their relationships with the songs and their stories of how those songs have interacted with their lives. We wanted to honour those stories and provide an opportunity for their stories to be told. Once a song is written and recorded and available, we cannot claim it to be ours, alone, anymore. This song lyrically encompasses so much of what we stand for and talking openly about difficult things and sharing those thoughts with our fans means we can support each other and feel less alone in life's harder moments. There is a weight to our relationship with our audience that we take seriously and won't ever take for granted."
Head to the Bear's Den website to pre-order your copy of the new record So that you might hear me, due for release 26th April.
This has been a long time coming and is very much brilliant news - Brighton's MarthaGunn are back with a new track! Following the recent announcement of their first UK tour in Bristol, London and Manchester at the end of April, they're releasing the first product of months of work in the studio and I already absolutely can't wait to hear more. Equally excited to see more of the artwork as Dan Harrisis Creative Director for the project - he's an incredible photographer whose work I really love!
For now, here is Saint Cecilia. Introducing the track online, the band explain that "When you ask yourself a question, instinct will usually answer. This song is about ignoring those guiding voices. A restless longing for change despite an unwillingness to do so." Listen below (and here on Spotify) and if you like what you're hearing, grab tickets for the upcoming shows here!
I'm really excited to be heading back to my favourite festival Bushstock this June (15th) for a second year of volunteering! It'll be my fifth consecutive year at the festival - it's always a highlight of the year and consistently delivers an incredible line-up. Whether you're catching artists you're already familiar with and love, or taking a chance on somebody new, you're sure to be in for a treat. For those who don't know, Bushstock is a one-day multi-stage festival held in Shepherd's Bush. With Communion Presents organising, you're in pretty safe hands musically. Across the last few years I've seen the likes of Nick Mulvey, Bear's Den, The Staves, Matthew & The Atlas, Ten Tonnes, Banfi, Rukhsana Merrise and MarthaGunn play at the festival.
For me, this year was already sounding incredible at the announcement of Novo Amor as the first headliner - so it can only get better from there, right? Correct. Novo is joined by recently announced fellow headliners Gang Of Youths. The Aussie rockers play the festival following four consecutive sold out shows at Islington Assembly Hall in April. In addition, the likes of Ferris and Sylvester, Jordan Mackampa, Laurel, Marsicans, Mosa Wild, Rhys Lewis, Roman Lewis and more have all been added to the line-up, which you can check out in full here. There are more announcements to come too!
With Super Early Bird tickets selling out in record time, and Early Bird tickets now also sold out, general tickets are on sale and selling fast - you can grab yours here for what is guaranteed to be a wonderful day of live music on June 15th!
"You fire those words right at me, with your loaded gun. You watch as they fly through my skin and to deeper within."
The time seems to have flown and it's finally (almost) time for us to hear the new record from Lucy Rose. No Words Left is due for release this Friday, and Lucy has shared the third single in the shape of Treat Me Like A Woman, a liberating and bold introspective comment on gender equality, delivering lyrics such as the above, and "I'm afraid and I'm scared and I'm terrified, that this is how it will be for all of my life." You can pre-order the record here and listen to the gorgeous new track below.
Lucy explains that the track was written while on tour in Munich "after a combination of events which pushed me to think about the way people interact with me purely based on my gender." She goes on to explain that "I don't want a debate, this isn't a song aimed at men, it's a conversation that everyone needs to have with themselves. Have I ever judged a woman differently to a man? [...] This song has been created inside me over years and year of small, tiny, and in ways, insignificant events that have built into a tower of anger." "I isolated myself from my entire touring party. I couldn't explain to them how I was feeling [...] The next night in Vienna I played 'Treat Me Like A Woman' for the first time. Like playing any new song, it was emotional, but wow, in all my career I've never felt so empowered and liberated to be expressing something that for so long I had felt unable to explore [...] these are matters that are important to me, that affect women every single day and it was time for me to stand up and say something in the only way I could, in song."
Lucy tours the UK and Europe across April and May in support of the album release, opening with a sold out show at London's Union Chapel. Before that, she's playing some in-store performances this month: Rough Trade East, London (21st March); Resident, Brighton (22nd); Rapture, Witney (23rd); Truck, Oxford (23rd), Music's Not Dead, Bexhill (24th); Banquet, Kingston (25th); Pie and Vinyl, Southsea (26th) & Sound Knowledge, Marlborough (27th).
UK tour dates as follows: Union Chapel, London (9th April); St Georges, Bristol (10th); Gate, Cardiff (11th); Stoller Hall, Manchester (13th); Liberty Hall, Dublin (14th); City Varieties, Leeds (16th); St Lukes, Glasgow (17th). Grab tickets and check out the full dates on Lucy's site here!
I ventured back to London on Monday for my sixth (I think...) gig of the year, a Communion Music show with Christof van der Ven headlining, and Benedict Benjamin and Emma Gatrill in support. The trio had been on a co-headline tour for the week, taking in shows in Leeds, Stroud and Brighton before heading for the capital. It was genuinely so stunning that I can almost forgive the mildly stressful journey I had to make to a new area of London, and the stress of searching out the venue, The Waiting Room, which is the basement of a pub in Stoke Newington.
Once I'd found the venue and settled down (it has a bench stretching along the length of the room - bonus!) Emma Gatrill took to the stage to open the show. Delivering vocals, harp and keys (through a pedal board, confusingly) she was joined by Marcus Hamblett (producer and live member of Bear's Den alongside Christof) on guitar. I know of Emma through her work with Matthew and the Atlas, but her solo work is new to me, and was utterly spellbinding. I particularly enjoyed the track Skinwhich is taken from her 2017 album Cocoon.
Up next was Benedict Benjamin. I saw Ben playing live a couple of times when I was living in Oxford, both times at Sofar Sounds shows where he was playing solo, so it was great to see him play again, and with a band this time around. During his set, I remembered the trivial fact that I was the first person to buy a physical copy of his debut album Night Songs (which I adore and which quickly became a soundtrack for my essay procrastination) back in 2016 at one of the Sofar shows. Claim to fame?! Monday's set delivered a mix of tracks old and new, including the amusingly titled Motherfucker (which is, in the sweetest way possible, about his baby daughter). I'm really looking forward to his new record Truant, which is due for release on May 3rd and features the single Ain't Easy which you can listen to below.
Next up, Christof van der Ven took to the stage. Similarly to Ben, I've seen Christof performing solo a couple of times in the past, last year (opening for Adam Barnes) and a few years back at a Bear's Den show. This time around he was joined by a band, a sort of folk supergroup made up of members of Bear's Den and Matthew & The Atlas. And they were glorious. Very happy to hear that album two, which I believe features this live band, is currently being mixed in Berlin!
What Christof lacks in on-stage banter while distracted by the task of tuning his various guitars, he makes up for in some gorgeous songwriting. The set combined tracks from his 2018 record Empty Handed(which made it into my gigs of the year list) and his recent EP Beneath The Ordinary Load. I've been listening to the EP a lot since the show and have found myself really connecting with the "emotional weight" that Christof himself describes the tracks as carrying. I really appreciate the honesty and integrity in the writing.
Opening track Town To Town reflects on the "personal struggle of not having a home and being on tour all the time. Not being grounded [...] Not having a place to come back to that is mine". Second track The Spell (which you can listen to in a lovely acoustic session below) touches on his own broken heart, and lead single Cut The Ribbon is written for a close friend, of whom Christof explains: "my dear friend Martijn had an operation on his heart last year and struggled mentally for a while. This one is for him." Final track Big Men At Heart is a track written about mental health, and the importance of speaking up. Christof said of the track that "last year the singer Scott Hutchinson took his own life. I never met him but we have mutual friends. It hit home. It was devastating [...] This is one for Scott and for speaking out about mental health."
What's better than a new Bear's Den track to kick off your Wednesday, I hear you ask... how about TWO new tracks from the lads?! They're back (finally!) with the album to follow up 2016's glorious Red Earth & Pouring Rain and I'm delighted. So that you might hear me is set for release on 26th April via Communion Records and they've shared two tracks from the record today, as well as a full track listing and some tour dates!
The album was recorded in Seattle with Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, Father John Misty) and mixed by Craig Silvey (Arcade Fire, Metronomy) and is described as "both bold and exposed, intimate yet expansive". The two singles display this essence perfectly. Standing alone, the tracks feel as if they'd have a home in different genres, but in the context of the upcoming album I feel this shows us a band who are confident enough to explore their musicality - and they've earned that confidence. Fuel On The Fire makes use of pulsing drum machine beats and electric guitars and is reminiscent of the band's last, more electronic, record, while Blankets Of Sorrow is a far more intimate track, drawing links more closely to the band's debut album Islands. In both tracks and the record more generally "a need for connection lies at the heart." I for one am very glad to have the guys back and can't wait to hear more from the record!
The Bear's Den live show is a joy to behold, and if you're digging the new tracks you should most definitely grab a ticket to the upcoming shows, UK dates as follows: Rock City, Nottingham (9th April); Academy, Dublin (10th); Limelight 1, Belfast (11th); Barrowlands, Glasgow (13th); Albert Hall, Manchester (14th); O2 Academy, Bristol (16th); O2 Guildhall, Southampton (17th); Shepherd's Bush Empire, London (23rd). Check out ticket info & Europe/US/Canada dates on the site here.
I often ramble about my love for the independent label Communion... they're brilliant and they always deserve the praise, constantly delivering music and shows from some of the most exciting new bands out there. Their first ever signing was the total legend Matthew And The Atlas, very quickly hailed by Q Magazine as a "British Bon Iver" and deservedly so. Last year, I caught Matt and the band performing in the beautiful surroundings of a Church in Shepherd's Bush for the label's Bushstock Festival, I was volunteering in the venue and it was a little overwhelming to be standing around in the 'backstage' area while members of the band came and went. The set was glorious.
I am delighted to hear that Matt is releasing his brand new album Morning Dancer on 10th May and absolutely can not get enough of the first single Pyres. Musically it's a far cry from his early acoustic offerings of 2010, and even the Cali and Palace EPs of 2017, but this is in no way a bad thing. Matt's unmistakable vocals shine through the track, with gorgeous harmonies and as Communion themselves describe it, "illustrious brass interjections" which need to be heard to believe. I've essentially had this track on repeat on my 2019: cool music and things playlist all weekend.
Matthew And The Atlas are heading out on a UK tour in May to celebrate the release of Morning Dancer, full dates are as follows: Patterns, Brighton (12th May); The Fleece, Bristol (13th); The Globe, Cardiff (14th); Omeara, London (16th); Bodega, Nottingham (17th); The Castle & Falcon, Birmingham (18th); Arts Centre, Norwich (20th); Deaf Institute, Manchester (21st); Leaf, Liverpool (22nd); The Wardrobe, Leeds (24th); Stereo, Glasgow (27th); Mash House, Edinburgh (28th); Voodoo, Belfast (29th); Grand Social, Dublin (30th). Grab tickets for all those shows here!
Canadian four-piece Dizzy have been on my radar and in my headphones since I followed a friend along to their late night set at The Great Escape last May, where I was instantly mesmerised by their powerful yet almost subtle and understated lead vocalist Katie Munshaw. The group also comprises of brothers Charlie, Alex and MackenzieSpencer - they're all from the suburb of Oshawa, Ontario. They originally started to make music to "combat the anxieties of the vortex of boredom" - for Dizzy, "having the suburbs as their playground for experience encouraged them to explore music and art outside of what was right in front of them - and to create their own." As Katie says of living in modern suburbia, "Oshawa introduced me to friendship and heartache and change while keeping me bored enough to sit at home and write about it."
The resulting album is Baby Teeth, which very quickly became one of my favourite debut albums of 2018. The band have just shared the visuals for Bleachers, a track which Katie describes as being a love song for her little sister and "about how much I worry about her in this big messy world." Directed by Ryan Faist, the video features Super 8 footage filmed by Katie's sister Beth of her and her friends in Oshawa. On the surface, it's a sweet, almost nostalgic video but dig a little deeper and there's an overriding worry for the future nestled in the footage, as an actress playing an older Beth relies on assistance to breathe safely. Perhaps pessimistic and reminiscent of a dystopian reality, but is it really that difficult to imagine that it could be the situation in fifty years time?
This genuinely is some of the best music related news I've heard in a long time. My favourite festival Bushstock have announced the first few acts for the 2019 festival, including my favourite musical discovery of the year Novo Amor, who is the first headliner. Can. Not. Wait. Bushstock is a one day multi-venue festival held in Shepherd's Bush and organised by the folks at Communion Music. Across my four years of attending I've caught the likes of Nick Mulvey, Matthew & The Atlas, Seramic, Amber Run, Ady Suleiman, The Staves, Tamino and Frances. They're my favourite label, working with some of my favourite artists, and it's always a wonderful day of music discovery - the worst part is deciding which artists to miss! Alongside Novo, they've also announced the equally brilliant MarthaGunn, as well as Apre, Olivia and Winnie Raeder with a lot more to be announced. Grab bargain early bird tickets for the festival, which takes place on June 15th 2019, here.
It's no secret that I'm a pretty big fan of the label Communion and I'm digging one of their latest signings, Dizzy. Hailing from Ontario, I caught the quartet playing live at The Great Escape in Brighton earlier in the year - it was a last minute choice between catching them or heading to my hotel room to catch up on sleep, and I was glad that I chose to trek up to Green Door Store to see them with a couple of friends (staying up even longer for a 1am Gengahr set...) Having never listened to them I wasn't sure what to expect, but was instantly drawn in by singer Katie's stunning vocals. Despite the late stage time, she had complete command of the audience and we were treated to a range of songs from their recently announced debut album, Baby Teeth, which you can pre-order here. For now, check out a live session of Joshua, it's soothing, intricate and more than a little bit dreamy.
It's no secret that I adore (and in a way, idolise) the work of the wonderful folk at Communion Music(the record label, promoter and publisher), and seeing their Nick Mulveyheadline show at the rather huge Royal Albert Hall in London earlier this week was a total joy. Not least because back in 2014 his show at O2 Academy Oxford (with my fave Sivu in support) was both my first Communion gig and the first gig I ever went to by myself - the start of something brilliant!
I've seen Nick play a couple of times since then at Bushstock Festival (he headlined gloriously last year) but this was by far the biggest and most ambitious show so far, the closing evening of his UK tour promoting second record Wake Up Now. After a set from TT(AKA Warpaint's guitarist Theresa Wayman) warmed up the crowd rather brilliantly, Nick took to the stage alone, casually strolling out and surveying the crowd to rounds of raucous applause. There was an almost palpable and mutual level of respect between himself and the audience, as applause turned to silence (from, I can only assume, sheer amazement) as he began to play We Are Never Apart.
Gazing out at the crowd a few songs in and asking "Shall we have a good night?" before declaring that "this is the coolest thing" it was clear that Nick was pretty astounded by the evening, but he oozed confidence and seemed completely at home on the stage. Mirroring this, his tunes felt like they belonged in such a venue. Last week, he shared part of a short film online where he talked about the pressure that a London gig could bring and feeling liberated from it, and in the same vein, from the idea of making music for anybody else, concluding that "there is a kind of uncertain but definitely satisfying future out there if you just do what you wanna do in the way you wanna do it" - something that I think a lot of us could take something from.
The performance ventured through songs old and new and while the quieter tunes, encouraging a level of silent wonderment from the audience, were great, it was the powerful sing-alongs that became highlights for me. Cucurucu was given a repeated first verse and closing tune Mountain To Move had everybody up on their feet but the stand out for me was perhaps Nick's biggest tune Fever To The Form, which had everybody holding their phone torches aloft and made for a bit of a tearjerker. As the first few notes rang around the venue, a slight murmur of applause erupted from the more seasoned fans, to which Nick reacted "I love this song" before describing his first time playing the tune in his old house in Clapton, and telling us that "I really fucking cried my eyes out you know." Glad to know I'm not the only one!
A refreshing part of the show was to note differences from the studio recordings... very often you go to a concert only for the band to perfectly replicate their album live, which isn't necessarily a bad thing if you enjoy the recorded music, but changing it up is always welcome and helps to keep the live experience worthwhile. This difference was particularly obvious in the opening of Remembering, a track where the studio version features some fairly prominent female vocals. For this tour, Nick's set up was notably simple for such large venues with just himself, Dan See on drums and Nick Pini on bass and keys, but the band managed to fill the space beautifully, with Nick's soulful vocals carrying around the room. It would've been nice to have some female vocals though - but that's about as far as I can go with criticising the show, because in every other aspect it was a complete joy to witness.
During the show, Nick informed us that "this is a folk gig by the way" as if checking that we were all aware of exactly what we'd signed up for, before covering Bob Dylan's I Was Young When I Left Home. While some covers can be a little throwaway, it was clear that the track meant something to him, and he dedicated it to friends at the show who he hadn't seen enough while busy touring over the past few years. The show itself was huge but felt intimate with Nick talking of his friends, dedicating the beautiful tune Unconditional to his wife Isadora and with him speaking of his spiritual beliefs and of the difficult experiences his family have faced over the last year. All of this seemed to feed into genuine appreciation and gratitude towards each and every one of the audience as he gazed around the room at the end of the show, as well as to his band and crew, and he was paid back in powerful rounds of applause. I'd say that this wasn't a show that Nick and his team, or the audience, will be forgetting in a while.
If you missed it - check out Nick's new Dancing For The Answers EP here.
Last week I was lucky to win tickets to the Communion on Tour show at the stunning venue Omeara in London, where three of Communion's most exciting acts showcased their talents, Joseph J Jones, Banfi and Dan Croll. After a day of wandering around London and visiting a cat cafe, a lovely break among my final deadlines, we headed to the venue - although I caught a symphony listening party in another part of the venue back in December it was my first proper gig at the venue, and I can't recommend getting along to something there if you're in the area!
Up first was Joseph J Jones, who I caught back in March supporting Jack Savoretti. I enjoyed his set there, but because it was in the fairly huge Royal Festival Hall with people arriving and finding their seats throughout the set, and we were sat quite a few rows back, I don't feel that I'd really engaged with the set. His voice is however incredibly impressive and I was looking forward to catching him in a more intimate setting, and he certainly didn't disappoint. At the moment I'm really digging his latest release, the track Gospel Truth, and can't wait to hear what he puts out next. He's also touring the UK in June if you like what you hear!
Next up were my favourite band of the moment, Banfi. I've honestly fallen pretty hard for their music over the past few months and this was the sixth time seeing them and I couldn't help but think how they are getting better at every show - not something you can say about most bands! Of the unreleased tracks they're performing in their set at the minute, Future is probably my favourite (although I'm already doubting myself writing that) and there's a lovely video of them performing it for Sofar Sounds London below! Like Joseph, they are also off on their first headline tour soon, following a support tour with the Bear's Den chaps in the UK and Europe for the last couple of months. They're heading out in September, taking in The Lexington in London on 12th September (tickets).
Last up it was a total pleasure to catch Dan Croll again after seeing him play an acoustic set at Bushstock last year and headlining the Communion Christmas Club Night at the end of the year. His new record Emerging Adulthood (something that's becoming quite a fear as my time at uni draws to a close) is being released through Communion on 21st July featuring the brilliant tracks One Of Us, Away From Today and Swim. Rounding up this post nicely he is also off on a tour, a little sooner than the others, kicking off in Glasgow on Friday before taking in Leeds, Manchester, London, Birmingham, Bristol and a slot at The Great Escape Festival in Brighton which I'm hoping to catch!
If you liked what you read about and would like to catch a similar show I can wholeheartedly recommend Communion's festival Bushstock, a day of beautiful music and wonderful community spread across multiple venues in Shepherd's Bush. Check the line-up out here (Banfi are playing!)
Thursday's gig at O2 Academy Oxford was my my fifth time seeing Bear's Den (and fourth seeing Banfi) and both totally exceeded my expectations! The show had been long sold out and once the Banfi lads were announced as support I knew it was going to be an incredible evening of live music, and a perfectly timed night out to celebrate handing in my dissertation the day before! I am however a little gutted that (unless I can find some cheap Southampton accommodation) I can't make another date on the tour, as Seramic join the guys from Wednesday to make it an even dreamier line-up for the rest of the tour!
Bear's Den
Kicking off the night with some appreciation to the Bear's Den guys for bringing them on tour and letting them play to these massive sold out crowds, Banfi took to the stage and absolutely smashed their set. Working their way through a bunch of new tracks I'd heard at a couple of their residency shows at The Old Blue Last they built up to their three singles, Where We Part, Happy When You Goand the latest, Rosedale House. It was lovely to meet the band properly after the show, they're a great bunch of guys and I really recommend you get along to their fourth and final residency gig on 26th April (free tickets here), and, as if that wasn't enough, they've just announced a UK tour for September - dates and tickets all on their website here.
The night was already pretty great and the Bear's Den guys managed to take it to another level, giving us a beautiful set full of tracks from both records, the stunning 2014 release Islands and last year's Red Earth & Pouring Rain, starting off the set with its title track. Unplugging their instruments and standing at the foot of the stage, they performed Her Tears, an older track I hadn't actually heard before (terrible fan - but it's always nice to discover new music live too!) and later in the set they came into the crowd to perform Bad Blood which was a pretty beautiful way to bring the evening to a close before bringing the house down with Agape. If you're new to the guys, here's a recent live music video for their track Greenwood's Bethlehem.
There's still a couple of weeks left of the band's UK tour, taking in Sheffield tomorrow night and finishing up in Southampton and London in the first week of April - be quick as the shows are likely to sell out, check the band's site here for the remaining tickets.
It's been a little while since my last post but super happy to be able to say I've submitted my dissertation (ahhh!) - now just to get back into my other modules, five assignments to go until final year is finished! I had a brilliant time seeing Bear's Den and Banfi last night which I'll probably post about today or tomorrow, but while I'm in a Communion Music mood, here's a couple of recent album announcements from the label.
First up, Dan Croll releases Emerging Adulthood on July 21st, the follow up to his brilliant debut record Sweet Disarray. The record features the tracks Swim (listen below), One Of Us and Away From Today. The record's press release describes it as 'a sumptuous, shape-shifting, surprise-packed pop triumph that keeps the listener gripped throughout the ride' - sounds pretty interesting, so be sure to get your ears around it in July! The single One of Us is set for release on 12th May, supported by a run of UK shows in Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, London, Birmingham and Bristol - tickets and album pre-order all here!
The Communion treats don't stop there, as recent signing Lucy Rose releases Something's Changing the week before on July 14th. Featuring her recent single with The Staves, Floral Dresses, the record shares its release with a short film about Lucy's South American tour last year (which I'm actually going to feature as a case study in an essay I'm planning on writing about musicians and their fans on social media). You can pre-order the record through Lucy's site here!
To support the release, and following Lucy's recent solo UK library tour, she's heading out to cinemas across the UK and much further afield where the short film will be played out before her set. Dates and tickets here (including a show at London's Rio Cinema!)
Following the first night back in November, I managed to catch Banfi again last month playing their second residency show for Communion at Old Blue Last. They're quickly becoming firm favourites of mine with every live performance and new release, I can't wait to get a full EP or album from them! They've just released a stunning new music video for recent track Rosedale House, produced/shot etc by Jake Dypka who also produced their brilliant Happy When You Go video - if you're a fan of cars, time lapse, or good music, then you'll probably love it.
You know you're in safe hands when Jake Dypka is involved... I've followed his work for a few years after being introduced to his work with Dry The River, and this video he's directed for Banfi which is premiering today over on Dorkis pretty epic! Take a watch/listen below...
It's the first music video from the band, who are signed to Communion (again, you know you're in safe hands!) In fact that was my exact train of thought when Communion announced recently that they were playing a free show at the end of November... I grabbed tickets thinking I'd never listened to them before, predominantly as RichardWalters and WAYLOR are opening the night and I was seeing them the next day.
I got home and searched for some of their tracks and turns out I had listened to them before as their track Where We Part is on the Communion 10 year anniversary RSD vinyl I got earlier in the year. Now getting pretty excited for their show at The Old Blue Last - tickets were snapped up really quickly but if you're interested in seeing them you're in luck as the Communion Christmas show has just been announced and they're playing along DanCroll, Seramic, AlexVargas, a special guest (the intrigue! Last year's special guest was James Bay if I remember rightly!) and DJ set from PatrickNazemi. The show is at Notting Hill Arts Club on 4th December, tickets here! Currently debating if I can afford (financially and academically) to go to the show myself... but I reckon I can probably be persuaded!
Last night I went to the Oxford leg of the Communion New Faces tour, where the line-up comprised of Matt Woods, Rukhsana Merrise, Adam French and The Beach. I hadn't listened much to any of the artists, but have huge confidence in the line-ups championed by Communion, and although for some reason, the crowd was pretty tiny, all four artists played great sets and are surely destined for great things. On the tour around a year ago, I saw Frances, who yesterday played on Radio 1's Live Lounge and is doing very well for herself!
Mahogany released this video yesterday of Rukhsana Merrise performing a session of her track Money, certainly worth a watch! Funnily, the session bassist who currently plays with The Hoosiers was on bass in her band last night, and once I'd got over that unexpected surprise, I really enjoyed the set!
A quick mention has to go to Matt Woods who opened the night, and who I was pretty mesmerised by. His performance was really beautiful and emotional, his range is pretty insane, and (especially as I couldn't spot him to go and grab a CD) I hope I get chance to see him live again pretty soon! Here's his most recent track, Ain't No Use.
The New Faces tour finishes up in Brighton tonight, and Bristol tomorrow night, tickets and more info here.
