LISTEN: Emma Gatrill - 'Out Of The Dark'

We might be nearing the end of the year and album of the year round-ups can't be far off (yikes) but there are still some exciting new releases on the horizon. One of the things I'm particularly excited for is Come Swim, the new record from Brighton based multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and all-round musical good egg Emma Gatrill, which arrives on November 24th via Willkommen Records. 

I've shared a couple of the singles here already as I think they're brill (I particularly love Adonis Blue - especially as I heard it around the time I saw one!) and I'm not stopping yet, here's Emma's latest gorgeous single Out Of The Dark. Harp, strings, synths, harmonies - there's a little bit of everything, and I'm all over it. 

Talking about the new track, Emma explains that it is "a song about searching for the light in the darkness, trying to discover the best in ourselves and those around us. We have to be the first to change to bring about change. It pays homage to the fabulous Kristin McClement whose song 'Pursue the Blues' was inspirational to this tune. For this album I asked lots of different drummers to record me beats to write to. This song was crafted to a beat written by Jamie Whitby-Coles but then took its own direction. The drum machine ended up replacing the original drums as it added the grit and drive that the song needed."

For those of you lucky enough to have a ticket, Emma opens up for Bear's Den at the second of their four-night run at Union Chapel on Monday 27th November. Enjoy!

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WATCH: Emma Gatrill - 'Adonis Blue'

Oh hi! We're back to writing blog posts too late, when I should be getting to sleep... but I haven't posted in a while and the press release for this one was sitting in my inbox whispering sweet nothings to me. I've just had a week off work and headed down to the South coast, to East Sussex. A trip to Brighton gave me aaaaaall of the The Great Escape memories from my couple of years there. A walk along the cliffs at Beachy Head provided the unexpected acrobatic trio you didn't know you needed - airplanes practicing overhead for this week's airshow, swallows dancing through the skies before their migration back to Southern Africa, and smaller still, some fancy blue butterflies. Back at the hotel, I had a look through my guidebook and lo and behold - we'd been admiring the Adonis Blue! Ooft. A real stunner!

Skip forward to staring at my inbox this evening, looking at the various tracks and announcements I'd like to try and write about and.... this one jumped out to me. Sussex resident and all round good egg/performer in many brilliant bands Emma Gatrill has just shared her new single Adonis Blue (you guessed it) and it is just as beautiful as its namesake. The track also features Conor O'Brien of Villagers - big yes to that!

The track arrives with news of Emma's new album Come Swim, arriving 24th November on Wilkommen Records, and featuring contributions from Emma's partner Marcus Hamblett (who also oversees production) as well as Helen Whitaker (flute) and Andrew Stuart Buttle (violin). More on the record over the next few months!

On the track, Emma shares: “Adonis Blue is a rare butterfly, the males have brilliant sky blue wings with a fine black line around the edge. I spent the summer on a quest wandering the South Downs in the hope of spotting this butterfly. The track is about searching for things that are hard to find but accepting that the quest itself can fulfil desires. It’s about the adventure and all that we find along the way. Conor is such an inspirational musician and it was an absolute honour to work with him on this song. The beat he crafted really weaved itself into the orchestration and his trumpet really makes the song for me!”

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LISTEN: Matthew And The Atlas - 'Nineteen'

A number of my favourite artists have returned with new music lately - each one filling my heart and bringing me alllll of the joy. The prospect of live shows, browsing for vinyl, commutes spent devouring new albums and playing singles on repeat. Big yes. One of these artists is Matthew And The Atlas, who came back with the gorgeous Folding Unfolding back in March, a teaser of things to come. Luckily, we didn't have to wait *too* long - he's just shared new track Nineteen, alongside news of brand new album This Place We Live, due on October 13th. 

Excitingly, Matt is re-joining the Communion Records roster for this album - having been their first ever signing way back in 2010 with the release of his debut EP. Love me a bit of Communion history. (And anything to do with Communion, to be honest.) With previous record Morning Dancer having just celebrated its fourth birthday (they grow up so fast...!) I know I'm not the only one who will be eagerly awaiting this one! 

More on the record in due course (you've got a few months of me ramping up the obsession over its arrival... you lucky things) but for now, I'm loving Nineteen, and glad to have something other than On A Midnight Street, Pyres and Temple to listen to on repeat. (All are big ol tunes. Promise.)

On Nineteen, Matt shares: "I wrote 'Nineteen' during a period when I was making music but struggling to focus on a clear direction to take it in, and I began to feel like I was losing my way creatively. This led me to reminiscing on how I felt about music when I was younger. I used to run an off-licence in my early twenties and a friend of mine would always drop by. We would stand out at the front of the shop, talking about bands we loved from America, what it would be like to tour there and if we'd ever be able to do music full time. The shop was in a little Hampshire town, next to a railway line which seemed very far away from that world, but it all seemed possible still. 'Nineteen' is trying to recapture that feeling of excitement and possibility I had back then when we were kids." 

To celebrate the release of the record, Matthew And The Atlas heads on a mammoth 30-date tour across the UK and Europe in October and November. Dates and ticket info here. 

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LISTEN: Elanor Moss - 'Mary'

"... you don't have to be alone, I'm always by the phone" 

It's no secret that I'm a little in love with Elanor Moss - her tender vocals and relatable songwriting have made for a string of beautiful singles over the past year or so. Following up last year's Citrus EP, she's just released new EP Cosmic and final track Mary. It's a plea to a loved one, 'imploring them to find and accept the same help that Moss is learning to accept from others', and makes a perfect final track for the EP, bringing together another stunning collection of tracks from Elanor.

Discussing the new track, Elanor shares "Mary is a song about looking after your friends. Loneliness and depression can creep in like a dense fog that separates you from people you love; this is a song about trying to reach and comfort a friend when they're in that place. It's a place I've been to plenty, so I understand it! We're not alone, and that's the message I wanted to ring the EP out with. I wrote it with my friend Josh Finn; I had nearly finished it and couldn't get a second verse so I sent it over and he sent back the whole second verse as it is now. He's brilliant!"

Elanor Moss · Mary

If you like what you're hearing, you can catch Elanor on her first headline UK tour starting in March - tickets are available here.

23rd March: Rough Trade, Bristol

24th: St. Pancras Old Church, London

25th: Upstairs at Whelans, Dublin

28th: The Fly Tower at Abbeydale Picture House, Sheffield

29th: YES (The Basement), Manchester

30th: The Poetry Club SWG3, Glasgow

31st: NCEM, York 

1st April: Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds

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LISTEN: Elanor Moss - 'Catholic'

2023 has officially begun (you're welcome). The first tracks have arrived on the annual blog playlists (here and here), and if I do say so myself... they're sounding reaaaally good. There was little doubt as to what would open up the first playlist update of the year, as I've had this one on repeat for the past week. With her second EP Cosmic on the way in February, Elanor Moss just released Catholic from it and I am a little bit in love. I'm under the weather (again! aaagh!) so I'll let Elanor and the track do the talking on this one... 

About the song, Elanor shares: "Catholic isn't truly a song about being Catholic, or leaving the Catholic church... not really. It's a song about grappling with your identity and realising you've relied on validation from others most of your life, whether that's friends, family, or romantic partners. It's also about realising you have the power to change and doing that. It's cathartic to play and sing live, and I felt like I was tapping into something new in my writing. We tried recording it a bunch of different ways; acoustically, more lounge-y, slower... it didn't feel right until it was big and loud. It was an interesting moment for me in my writing and sound. I wanted to be loud for once and see what it was like to be in an indie-rock band. I love it."

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WATCH: Elanor Moss - 'Cosmic Memory'

Slightly bewildering to think that the last gig I went to was in June (the lovely Memorial) - a show at which Elanor Moss was opening and was in beaaaaautiful form. Like, really good. Ridiculously talented, of course, but also a brilliant stage presence. With me just about getting over her debut EP Citrus, she's just announced the sequel, Cosmic, which is releasing via Blue Raincoat Music on 23rd February. The news arrives with the first taste of the EP, Cosmic Memory, Elanor's first full-band production. The marriage of Elanor's vocals and those strings... agh. Too good.

"'Cosmic' came after a year of exploration for me. I'd just moved to London, and was experimenting with different styles lyrically and musically, writing with friends for the first time, and visiting New York to work with my friend Oli Deakin on the new record. For the first time in my creative life I felt the freedom to be playful and experimental in the writing process, foraging for different ways to express complex feelings. Before, I was in the thick of a feeling without much perspective, this time I've embraced an approach of 'sometimes all you can do is laugh at yourself.' It's been a liberating rabbit hole to go down."

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WATCH: Jake Whiskin - 'Drive You Home' (feat. Lizzie Reid)

I'm fully in a bit of a sad song phase at the moment, lapping up all of the gorgeous harmonic acoustic music that I can get my ears on. I shared the new one from Lizzie Reid a couple of days ago, mentioning her feature on this... it's too good for me not to share this one too. Jake Whiskin has announced his self-titled debut album with the single Drive You Home. Releasing via Dance To The Radio on 4th November, this is such a stunning taster of the record, which was produced by Lee Smith (Easy Life, Holly Humberstone) and Rob Slater (Yard Act, Crake) at Greenmount Studios, close to where Jake grew up. 

Talking about the new track, Jake shares that it is "a song about a relationship that's on its last legs and plays out over a firework display whilst you internalise how much you've grown apart over the years. I pretty much wrote the whole song around the lyric 'I will drive you out your mind and then I'll drive you home'. It always felt like a duet to me so we got Lizzie Reid on board who is obviously amazing and she just took it to a whole new place."

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LISTEN: Elanor Moss & Bess Atwell - 'Sober (Again)'

Dreamy collaboration time. About a month ago, I caught Elanor Moss supporting Memorial in London. A couple of weeks prior to that, Bess Atwell opening for Bear's Den. Both are incredible songwriters and artists in their own right... imagine my delight to find that they were releasing a collaboration! The track is Sober (Again) - a re-worked version of a track from Elanor's Citrus EP. As expected, it is bloody lovely. Brb, off to beg a promoter to stick these two on a line-up together so that I can hear this live. 

On the collaboration, Elanor said: "I've been a fan of Bess' since she released her brilliant debut album last year. When Oli Deakin sent me the strings he'd arranged for our alternate version I knew her smoky, nostalgic voice would be the perfect fit. Then when we reached out and she said yes I was thrilled! Getting her flavour on it was really special. She nailed the delivery and really got into the character and sentiment of the song." 

Bess adds: "I hadn't heard Elanor's music until Lucy (Rose) put me in touch with her about a possible collaboration, but having Lucy's endorsement meant I knew I'd soon be a fan. Elanor is a stunning lyricist and singer so it was a privilege to get to contribute vocals to this beautiful track. I chose Sober because I was struck by its simplicity, and the moving, intuitive melody."

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LISTEN: Elanor Moss - 'Soundings'

Psssst, it's brand new music time - sharing a debut single today which might just stop you in your tracks. Soundings is the first offering from Elanor Moss's Citrus EP, just announced. Originally from Lincolnshire, Elanor lived between York & Leeds while studying her undergraduate degree in Medieval Literature. It was in these four years that this body of work came to be, written through her late teens and early twenties and taking on influences from Elanor's life and studies. 

The first track sits around the concept of 'taking soundings' to measure the depth of a body of water. On the track, she shares: "Soundings is essentially about relying on substance abuse to drown out depression and trauma. How easy it is to slip into that. Contrary to the dark narrative, I wanted there to be a catharsis and playfulness to the melodies and delivery, and a melodrama too. I wanted to capture that feeling of total self-indulgence that can come with wanting to escape in your low moments. There's a self-awareness in the narrator's need to disappear into a haze; you know it's unhealthy but you do it anyway."  

The Citrus EP is set for release via Blue Raincoat Music (Laura Marling, Phoebe Bridgers) and was co-produced with Brooklyn producer Oli Deakin (CMAT, Ed Nash, Benjamin Francis Leftwich). Keep an eye out for more info...

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