I've been kind of dreadful at sharing much here this year (and for a while before that, to be honest) for various reasons. It's so hard to find the time around bookselling full time, volunteering a little online, and... life stuff. I wanted to drop in and write something, and was selecting from a few recent songs I've been loving, when it struck me: why limit myself to just one thing?! Three of my absolute favourite artists (no overstatement, I adore them) have released new albums in the past couple of weeks and I love each of them. There's a beautiful unmatched joy in an artist you love with basically every fibre of your being releasing an album you love. So three at once? I'm dreaming.
Queen Maggie Rogers is back with her third studio album Don't Forget Me. (No risk of that.) She's just announced a big ol' US tour, and ran a week or so of physical box office sales to get tickets into the hands of real fans. Queues galore, Maggie turning up in person to sell tickets, small shows in the evenings - I've been admiring it all from afar. Patiently awaiting a UK show I can get to because it has been far too long and I need a Maggie show in my life. For now, I'm happily listening to the album on repeat - particularly The Kill.
When I want a break from Maggie (not often) new Novo Amor is straight in the headphones. Collapse List is another stunner - following up Cannot Be, Whatsoever (2020) and Birthplace (2018) - which is when I discovered Ali's music and fell ever so slightly in love. He's still got it, and then some - this is a beautiful record - envious of everyone seeing the guys live at the moment. The power and beauty of these songs in the live setting... ah.
On the record, Ali wrote: "made in the studio that sits beside my home in Wales, it's a record of personal growth. It means a lot that I get to share this with you. I hope you get something from this music. Go listen."
Last but not least, my favourite musical magician Cosmo Sheldrake just shared his album Eye To The Ear - released independently on his own label Tardigrade Records. I saw a few of the tracks performed at Rough Trade East on release day, but the album is a mammoth twenty-one (!) songs, an hour of absolute wizardry. As always, field recordings play a huge part in the music, and some of the tracks will give streaming income directly back to relevant charities and organisations. As if 21 songs weren't enough, Cosmo shared Soil last week as part of an EarthPercent campaign celebrating NATURE as an artist, with revenue from streams going through EarthPercent to various conservation and restoration projects.
Music that does good, and is also absolutely brilliant. Yes please! Soil is "a homage to subterranean ecosystems" featuring honey fungus, an oyster toad fish, nightingales... you name it, it will probably be in there somewhere.
You all know how much I love Novo Amor and it would feel remiss of me not to share this beautiful live performance video, recorded while Ali was on an Greenpeace expedition in Antarctica earlier this year. It's one of my favourite tracks of his, made all the more gorgeous as he performs against the Antarctic backdrop, with whales, penguins and seals the only audience members.
As beautiful as the music is, however, the video has been shared to help raise awareness for ocean protection, and specifically a petition that Greenpeace are currently running. It's something that Ali has long been advocating for - his Birthplace video was my introduction to his music, and its environmental message was a big part of the reason that I fell so far in love with the project and stuck around to hear more.
From Greenpeace...
We are urging world leaders to agree on a strong Global Ocean Treaty which will help to protect at least 30% of our oceans by 2030 through a network of marine sanctuaries. Nearly 5 million people globally have signed the petition to protect our oceans. Add your name now and help put the biggest conservation effort in human history into action.
Hello! I've been a little quiet here while I had a week off from work and did things other than the blog... it's very rare that I take any time away from the site and was quite refreshing, but catching up on a week's worth of emails was anything but. Some gems were nestled in there, making it worthwhile, as ever. Now, I absolutely love it when favourites collide. Brand new from Charli Adams, Seventeen Again features none other than one of my absolute fave musical beings, Novo Amor. The track is the latest to be taken from Charli's album Bullseye, due to be released via Color Study on July 16th. As is to be expected, it's a stunner - excited for the record!
On the collaboration, which is one of a few across the album, Charli explains: "I'd been listening to NovoAmor for a while and was a huge fan when he reached out over Instagram back in 2019. I was spending some time in London shooting a video and he invited me out to his home studio in Wales to work on some music. Ali is ridiculously talented and we had a lot of fun creating this song."
"We spent the week making Seventeen Again and exploring Cardiff. I remember feeling the way that I did when I left home for the first time at seventeen and moved to Nashville, and that was the inspiration behind the song. It's definitely not in my nature to stay in one place for too long and I find myself fantasizing about moving away far too often. The song follows my familiar thought process of walking around a foreign city imagining what it would be like to never go home."
The concept of a long weekend when I've been off work for a few months is confusing to say the least. A lazy Easter Monday morning was had and I wasn't planning on posting anything here today... but I'm back off furlough in a couple of days so taking the chance to write while I still have it! Delighted to share this gorgeous new track from favourites of the blog Hailaker, who have partnered up with Wisconsin-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist S. Carey. I'm not familiar with Sean's solo music (yet) but most of you will certainly be fans of a project to which he has long contributed drums, keys and vocals... Bon Iver.
On the release, Hailaker (Ed Tullett and Jemima Coulter) share: "We're v excited to share 'Wavepool'. It was a dream and an absolute pleasure working with Sean, who we're both huge fans of. Wavepool is the first song we've ever worked on totally remotely and serves as a timestamp for us of this last year - it feels v good to release it!"
Very much a collective, Hailaker itself exists across countries - with Ed Tullett and Jemima Coulter working between Cardiff and Bristol, alongside Ali Lacey (Novo Amor) and Portland, Oregon-based collage artist Mike Roth, handling the project's artwork. This track coming together across the internet and a mere 4000 miles is therefore not so surprising. Produced in isolation with help from Ali, the track uses a trumpet sample left from recording sessions for the band's debut album, with Jemima and Sean's vocals wrapping beautifully around it and one another's. As dreamy and chaotic as you'd like a Hailaker tune to be.
Exciting news round-up time: Hailaker are working on their third album, while Jemima Coulter is finishing up her solo album - with singles expected later this year. Sean released a 10th anniversary deluxe edition of his S. Carey debut All We Grow in December, which you can check out here.
I haven't got a press release for this one, but it would feel criminal to keep
a track that has instantly come to mean so much and to bring me so much joy
away from the site. It's always a lovely surprise to find a brand new track
from one of your favourite artists has been released. In this case, the track
is Haven by Novo Amor, written for the soundtrack of the game
Life Is Strange. Ali describes it as
"a personal glory for me, to make music for a game. I've always wanted to
since I was a baby."
I must have listened to this twenty or so times since it was released on
Friday. For me, it's the essence of Spring rolled into a 3 minute track.
Escapism in a song. It's everything I adore about Ali's music, with David Grubb's violin as ever pairing with Ali's vocals to make the most glorious of tunes.
So much love.
It's that time of year... arriving just in time for Christmas (hey, did you really think that I'd forgotten you?!) my gift to you all is this list of my favourite records of the year. (You're SO welcome. Seriously. Don't mention it.) It's been quite the year and music has really had our backs through it all. While the world outside remains all sorts of bonkers, music is proving to be the salvation that it always is. There have been lots of incredible records released this year, and I've spent the last few weeks reminding myself of those that I've enjoyed. Rediscovering their delights, revelling in their joys, crying along to them and figuring out, a little self-indulgently, my favourites of the year.
In keeping with the personal style of the blog, a CMAT albums of the year post is essentially just a bunch of albums that I love. Set aside any expectations of technical chat, and instead, strap yourselves in for some soppy ramblings about the records which have mattered most to me this year, those that have shone a bright light on a gloomy year. Debuts from exciting new artists, some long-awaited returns, and new records from a whole bunch of talented artists - there is quite a mix of records and artists here, and I hope there's a little bit of something for everyone.
In a year where artists have had the rug pulled from under them in terms of live shows being paused and a real lack of government support, it's more important than ever to show your support for your favourites. Stream the hell out of their music, by all means - but grab a download or an LP on their site or through Bandcamp if you're able to. I decided that I wanted to share the love for more albums this year. So - the list has grown a bit, to 40 in total, up from 30 last year. And, instead of just writing about my five favourite records and listing some others that I love (as I did last year) I'm going to do things a little differently this year...
This is the first in a series of six (yikes) AOTY posts. Here, I'm sharing my top five (they're numbered, but in all honesty I adore every one of them a lot) and a list of 35 more records I've picked out that have meant the world to me this year (in release order because ordering them all would be an impossible task.) Then (after Christmas, just as soon as I write them...) I'll share five more posts, with seven records featured on each, writing a little about each of them. This year it felt like name-checking the longer list wasn't enough, I want to shower these records and artists with love, and I do have a lot of extra time on my hands thanks to furlough... again.
So, without further ado... my albums of the year!!!!! Don't they look pretty?!
1. White Tail Falls - Age of Entitlement (buy/stream)
Well, it's hardly surprising, is it? If you know me, or you follow the blog, you'll have heard/read me raving about this record a lot this year. In all honesty, there's been very little doubt in my mind as to which record was getting the top spot since this was released into the world. The rest of the top five certainly come close, but nothing has had such an impact on me this year as this piece of work. It's vulnerable, it's collaborative, it's experimental, and it provides an absolute rollercoaster of emotion. Simply put: it helped drag me through this year, and I love it.
A CMAT album of the year should be the record which has meant the most to me on a personal level, and this ticks so many boxes in that respect. If you've been living under a rock (well, ten points for social distancing) White Tail Falls is the solo moniker of all-round musical legend Irwin Sparkes, frontman of The Hoosiers. They've been (and still are) my favourite band since their debut album came out in 2007. My love for them was cemented at age 14 when I saw them live, and met them, for the first time in 2011, and I've been following them around the country (and all over the internet) ever since. I can't think of many other things that I've poured so much love into for so long.
I genuinely believe that the love I have for music, and my desire to set up a blog recommending new music, can be sourced back to the love I had for TH when I was younger. Irwin in particular has always been really supportive of the blog, which means the world. This year, a trio of crazy things happened - I premiered a video for the track Disintegrate (here) back in Feb, Irwin recorded an exclusive performance for the blog's fifth birthday in May, and I interviewed him about the new record in June (read that here.) Without getting *too* soppy those things are essentially teen Meg's dreams coming true. Being a little part, through the blog, in helping to spread the word about this superb record, has been a treat and it is such a joy to name it my album of the year.
Favourite tracks: Disintegrate, Body Weight, Devout & Rome's Already Fallen. (Alright, all of it.)
You know, I'm still a little in shock that this record exists. Album campaigns seem, on the whole, to exist on somewhat of a spectrum. Ideally, a few tracks will be released as singles, enticing you in, building anticipation. At the other end of the scale, a couple of records this year (which I won't name, but if you know... you know) have released almost the entire record (seriously, no exaggeration) as singles beforehand, to the extent that the excitement I had for those records was almost completely lost. At some extreme point of the spectrum, with the most unexpected record of the year, arrive Fleet Foxes.
One day, they're putting mysterious posters up (in France, I think?) implying that something was happening in a couple of days. Speculation began to build for a new single, and, lo and behold, we learn that an ENTIRE RECORD is due to drop?! What now??!!?! No time to prepare, to ready myself by obsessing over the back catalogue. No singles to obsess over. An entire 15-track, 54-minute record dropping onto streaming services, just like that. And it is GLORIOUS in every way possible. Arriving when it did, the record instantly became a soundtrack for my commute to work. Working in retail this year (when not furloughed) has been stressful, and taking that time to just sink into new favourites was a huge relief. In a strange year, the record has captured the feeling of hope and bottled it up beautifully. It is calming, it feels like a warm hug from a friend, it brought peace. Shore is certainly good enough to be in the top spot, but that crown is firmly in White Tail Falls' hands this year. Robin and the gang will just have to bring out another record, pronto...
Favourite tracks: Can I Believe You, Sunblind, Featherweight.
3. Laura Marling - Song For Our Daughter (buy/stream)
I have been a fan of Laura and her music for a while now, but I've never really connected with a record of her's as much as I have with Song For Our Daughter. I think that I feel as if I came to her music late, when she was already at least a few records in, and her extensive back catalogue is a little daunting. When this record arrived earlier than intended on streaming services (Laura's choice, to give fans something of a treat while we were all on lockdown) I had exactly the time and the headspace to give it the attention that it required.
This record is a genuine work of art, one of the most beautiful records on the list. So many records in, there is no doubting that Laura knows what she is doing and that you can feel safe in her musical hands. Yet, nothing on the record feels like you're hearing something that she's done before. It feels fresh, mature and empowered. A gorgeous blend of vulnerability and strength come through the music and lyrics. It's something special. I must also give a quick mention to the stunning acoustic EP The Lockdown Sessions which Laura brought out earlier this month, with acoustic versions of tracks from the record.
Favourite tracks: Song For Our Daughter, Held Down, Strange Girl.
Another record which could easily have taken the top spot here. SO much love for this. It's still utterly ridiculous to me that I was given the opportunity to listen to this record, long-awaited by myself and literally tens of thousands of listeners around the world, around two months before it was released, by Ali himself! A teeny humble-brag, sure, but it really does blow my mind that me sitting at home and typing away about the music that I love results in that sort of thing. Feeling pretty lucky.
After loving Ali's debut LP Birthplace in 2018 so much there was a lot of pressure on this record to live up to it. (Spoiler: it does.) Coming from different places in Ali's life, both in terms of time, and geography, the records are less like siblings, and more like musical cousins. "If Birthplace is the countryside, then Cannot Be, Whatsoever is the city: it's not where I'm from, but it's where I've been for a long time now", Ali told me in our recent interview about the record. There's a lovely short film about the makings of the record here too. I only wish that I was able to see tracks from the album performed live this year - soon, I hope. If you like this one, head back in time to Birthplace, and Ali's collaborative record with Ed Tullett, Heiress, as both are equally stunning.
Favourite tracks: Decimal, No Plans, Halloween & Birdcage.
It blows my mind a little that Dizzy aren't known by more people. They're superstars in my eyes. So here I am, imploring you to listen to them. Their debut was such a gorgeous discovery - a friend took me along to their set at The Great Escape a few years back, and their debut record came out a little while after. I played it at HMV when I worked there, and a few colleagues started to really get into it too. For a while, barely a shift went by where we didn't listen to it a couple of times. I remember experiencing the absolute joy of working in a music store, having a customer ask what was playing and if they could buy it. Yes!
Dizzy are like a joyous ray of light in the dark, and their new record, released a few months back, is exactly that. It's a brilliant follow-up to their debut, and one of the most relatable records (for me, at least) on the list, offering up a look at the claustrophobia of suburban living, and figuring out life after your late teens, all the while trying your best not to compare yourself with your friends. As I wrote in a post about the album announcement: "lyrically, it all sounds a little sad, but those reflective and pensive lyrics are always paired with the band's sunny melodies, courtesy of the trio of brothers Alex, Mackenzie and Charlie Spencer - it's what makes the band's music so loveable."
Favourite tracks: Roman Candles, Sunflower, Good And Right & Beatrice.
So there you have it... my top five records of the year. I love them all and hope that you'll love them too if you get the chance to check them out. Below are 35 more records, in release order, that have meant the world to me this year. I'll be sharing a few more posts explaining why I love these ones so much ~soon~ (I have to write them first). So watch out for those, and a little end of year ramble soon too. Much love!
The Big Moon - Walking Like We Do Bombay Bicycle Club - Everything Else Has Gone Wrong Gengahr - Sanctuary Brooke Bentham - Everyday Nothing Franc Moody - Dream In Colour Halloweens -Morning Kiss at the Acropolis NNAMDÏ -
BRAT The Strokes - The New Abnormal Hailaker - Holding Jack Garratt -
Love, Death & Dancing Gia Margaret - Mia Gargaret Richard Walters - Golden Veins Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher AJIMAL - As It Grows Dark/Light HAIM - Women In Music Pt. III Dream Wife - So When You Gonna... Samantha Crain - A Small Death Stornoway -
The Farewell Show Haux -
Violence in a Quiet Mind Lianne La Havas -
Lianne La Havas Willie J Healey - Twin Heavy Siv Jakobsen - A Temporary Soothing The Magic Gang - Death Of The Party Declan McKenna -
Zeros Everything Everything -
Re-Animator Cosmo Sheldrake -
Wake Up Calls Bear's Den & Paul Frith -
Fragments Fenne Lily - Breach IDLES - Ultra Mono Tempesst -
Must Be A Dream Dawes -
Good Luck With Whatever Deep Sea Diver -
Impossible Weight Laura Fell - Safe From Me Ed The Dog -
Untitled.crashed.crashed.crashed Maggie Rogers -
Notes from the Archive: Recordings 2011-2016
If you made it this far, and like what I do here on cool music and things, a little friendly reminder that I have a Ko-fi page here where you can show the blog some monetary support. (Thanks!)
Happy day-after-Spotify-wrapped-day... while the streaming model certainly has all kinds of flaws for artists, it can clearly be a superb tool for music discovery. I was pleased to find that my top five artists are ones whose album I've bought this year - if you find something you like, buy the CD, the vinyl, a gig ticket (one day!) or get yourself some merch! Tell your friends if you think they'd like the music too. Follow them on social media. Your appreciation in those ways is worth far more than a stream - but stream away too, you'll find some of your favourite new artists there!
No surprises for me to find that Novo Amor was right there at the top of my wrapped (again) - my top artist, top song, and 17 of the top 100 songs (including a bunch from his brand new record Cannot Be, Whatsoever.) I'm nothing if not a little bit predictable. With that in mind, it's really exciting to finally be sharing this interview today. Ali was kind enough to agree to answer some questions about his previous record at the start of 2019 and I finally got round to sending some over a couple of weeks back... better late than never?
Yesterday, he premiered Please Don't Stand Up When Room Is In Motion, a documentary created by his director pal Josh Bennett, which serves as a timestamp of his musical career up to now. It's a lovely watch for fans but also just a really interesting insight into the process of making a new record (and it's put together beautifully) and expands on a lot of the things touched on here - I've embedded it a little further down, but if you can't wait that long, it's here.
Hello! Firstly, for those who haven’t seen the hundreds (almost) of posts that I’ve written about your music in the last couple of years, who is Novo Amor, and why the moniker?
Novo Amor is the artist name I gave myself back in 2012. I never wanted to put myself out there using my own name; I wanted something/someone to hide behind and something that could be ambiguous - a music project that could be adaptable as a I release more and more music, allowing myself to sit somewhere between a solo artist and a band, flowing from the sound of one to another.
Discovering you via the Birthplace video in 2018, I felt a little late to the party and as if I had some catching up to do (I think I’ve managed it..) It was clear online and at one of your Union Chapel gigs that you had a really loyal and global following. I’m intrigued to know how things started… were there any earlier iterations of the project, and had you always wanted to make music?
I’ve made music for a long time, since I was 12, when I got a game called Music 2000 on Playstation. In the years between 12 and 20 I was playing drums in bands and just producing as much music as I could. A lot of music discoveries happened in those years and it inspired me to flow between making electronic music, cinematic pieces, orchestral scores, rock and metal and the folky alternative stuff that became Novo Amor.
Through my time at university I was an aspiring film score composer, scoring small films and passion projects when I could. It wasn’t until I stopped studying that, I guess, I found my voice and started to put a name to what I had been working on: a catalogue of music that was inspired by my previous year in upstate New York.
We’re talking (via the internet) as you’ve just released your second record Cannot Be, Whatsoever into the world. Congrats! After loving Birthplace so much and spending so much time with your music over the past two years, this record still managed to surprise me and I love that. How does it feel to have the record out, particularly in such a strange time for the world and for music?
No surprise that it feels strange, as the times are. It was a very long lead into the release, sharing half the record before it was out, so it feels like it’s taken up a lot of my year and been given the attention that it needed. Sitting here in November 2020, looking back at what my year was meant to be like, is quite saddening. I’ve been very bored this year. I like to travel and accomplish things.
Touring the Birthplace album was almost like a way of putting the record behind me, closure to move onto something else. I played about seventy shows around that album. By the time we hit the final show, it felt like a big moment, a real accomplishment for me and my touring friends to be proud of. I’m worried that I’m not going to get that from this album. It’s a shame, but I’m okay with it.
What was the recording process like? The when, the who, the how… feel free to get as musically nerdy as you’d like (the more, the better!) How did it vary from with Birthplace?
Both albums were self-produced and recorded in the same place, here in my studio in Cardiff, but they feel very different to me. Birthplace, my debut album, felt like closing a chapter on a lot of my past. The album really focused around the era where I started writing music as Novo Amor, back in 2012. Whereas Cannot Be, Whatsoever feels more focused on the present. If Birthplace is the countryside, then Cannot Be, Whatsoever is the city: it’s not where I’m from, but it’s where I’ve been for a long time now.
The process of recording was a bit more collaborative, with more of the sounds and parts coming from other people than before, mainly my collaborator Ed Tullett who co-wrote a lot of the music with me. Making music alone, which is all I used to do, can get old pretty fast. It’s nice to share the experience with somebody else and accept other people's ideas. It definitely makes for a better outcome.
The majority of the recording was still just me at home on my own, layering ideas, deleting ideas, working through the mistakes and taking it one day at a time.
On this record (and across your music more generally) are there any notable influences, musical or otherwise? As a nature-loving bookseller, I’d love to hear about any natural or literary influences…
The last time I finished a book was about five years ago. To be honest, pretty much all the influences in songwriting come from personal experience, a mental digestion of my surroundings or view of my past from my present. Growing up in deep Mid-Wales, surrounded by nature, has probably had some sort of an impact on the music I make. I’m definitely drawn to relaxing and calm music, I love ambience and texture and sounds that feel as though they could represent natural landscape and stillness.
I think nature became a bigger visual influence than anything else. A lot of my videos are based around bodies of water and set in remote, almost otherworldly natural environments. The Birthplace video was all shot in the ocean, Terraform was shot on a volcano, Holland and Anchor were shot against the sea, From Gold - on a lake, Alps was shot on a snowy mountain in Scotland, Repeat Until Death was shot in the snowy hills of Mongolia with a tribe that live amongst reindeer. etc etc...
You know that I have a particular soft spot for No Plans (that drop… damn) but do you have a favourite track on the record? Is there one that you’re particularly excited to play live with the band, when you’re allowed to?
No Plans is definitely one that will feel great to play live. It brings me back to my rock music roots. I think Decimal or Halloween are my favourites. Decimal is one of the best songs on the record and Halloween is just a song I feel a strong personal connection to.
On that note (sort of) it’s no secret that I love how conscious you are of the environmental impact that you have as an artist. I guess I’d like to ask how important that is to you? Personally, I think you go far beyond the majority of artists - recycled and sustainable merch, less emissions when touring, reusable bottles, only asking for what you actually need on the rider, etc. With so much emphasis (rightly) on climate change and finding environmentally friendly ways of doing things, I’m finding myself drawn towards artists (and by extension, venues and festivals) who I can see making a tangible effort in this way.
Even though my choices are only making a small direct impact on the environment, I think it’s the message that’s carrying. It’s important for people to understand that there are, for most things, more than one option. The more we lean into the sustainable and ethical options, the more feasible they become for the rest of the world.
Finally, something I like to ask everybody - what are you listening to at the moment? Any new artists that you’re really excited by, or old favourites you can’t get enough of?
I’ve been listening to Magic Oneohtrix Point Never the new album by Oneohtrix Point Never. It’s the guy who scored the film Uncut Gems. Also been loving Great Grandpa, Holly Humberstone and Christian Lee Hutson.
You can (and should!) buy the new album Cannot Be, Whatsoeverhere.
Whilst I fear that my words won't be able to do it justice - especially as I'm trying to write this the day after the announcement of a second lockdown in England, and amidst the uncertainty of, well, everything - it's a huge honour to have been entrusted with an early stream of the new record by Novo Amor. In a way it couldn't be arriving at a better time, for me or the world. Both Ali (the Welsh singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist behind the moniker) and you, the 'reader', will know how much I adore his music. I think I say that a lot (and it's always true) but sometimes an artist comes along and their music pulls the rug out from under you, transporting you, bringing out those verging-on-obsessive tendencies. For me, Novo Amor is absolutely that artist.
When his debut solo record Birthplace arrived in late 2018, I don't think that I had fallen for a record so hard in a while. I loved others just as much, but for an artist who I had only discovered perhaps weeks previously, the love I had for the record immediately was overwhelming. It became an instant favourite, a bit of a life-raft, an album that I would constantly turn to if I needed some musical comfort, and I still do. I was therefore delighted to be offered the chance by Ali to listen to the new record early. To put it simply, I sit here in my living room writing nice things about the music I enjoy, essentially for a bit of fun, and for that to lead to opportunities like this frankly blows my mind. Even more so when I glance at Ali's Spotify account, where he has over three million (!) monthly listeners currently. Mind-boggling.
In a year where I've only been able to get to a couple of gigs (back in February - Bear's Den and The Hoosiers) I've spent a lot of time feeling super nostalgic towards memories of previous shows. Last June, I volunteered at Bushstock Festival, in the gorgeous church that Ali and his band headlined. To get to watch one of my favourite artists headline at my favourite festival would've been enough, but to meet and look after the band was the icing on the cake. Unsurprisingly, they're the sweetest bunch and made me feel really welcome, before playing an absolutely cracking set.
Fast forward a year, and Novo Amor returned in June with two brand new tracks, Decimal and Halloween. The stage was set... something was happening. A record? Fans online certainly hoped so. A little bit of teasing ensued and Cannot Be, Whatsoever was announced a few weeks later with the release of Opaline. All three of the singles are sublime. Each unique. They hinted at something sonically a little different to the previous record, as Ali elaborated on in videos shared online...
You kind of ask, what am I trying to achieve, what is this album about, why am I bothering? And those are questions which you don't ask yourself in the start. It definitely felt like a new era of Novo Amor for me, because it was so different. This new album is just another chapter in the progression of my life, of these moments. As I started making the new album, I kind of remembered why I make music, remembered why I like doing it. It was really exciting.
This record features the same set of players and influences and that trademark falsetto remains, but the sound and the narrative have progressed naturally, growing alongside Ali. I think that a really formative and important moment in the life of a music fan is when you realise that you don't need to feel really precious about the music that somebody you admire makes. When a band return with a new track and it's a little different, it's often treated as a bad thing, even when the track is great. The latest Mumford & Sons record, for instance, is far from the banjo frenzy that is their debut, but that doesn't take anything away from either. I frankly adore both Novo Amor records, and I bet that this was far more fun to make than heading to the drawing board with Birthplace #2 would've been.
I enjoy the whole thing, I enjoy the challenge, because I keep on going because I want the end result of the album, this body of work that I'm happy with, but as you get more and more audience of course you kind of get a bit more freaked out about what people are gonna think about it, which you can't help [...] people say they make music for themselves but it's hard to kind of have that mindset when you know people are gonna hear it.
It's not always easy to make sense of these thoughts or know how far your reach will extend. Sounds and ideas become scatterings of shapes and patterns that need to be grasped, pulled closer and nurtured, the process can feel like a mess. But I think it's good to allow these things to clutter, to become the mess that you then have to work to refine. The thought that you can create things that affect people so fiercely out of thin air can really overwhelm.
While Ali's lyrics are usually left to our interpretation and I don't have a press release, or indeed any technical musical knowledge with which to throw fancy words at you, I can do what I always do - try to spread love for the music that I love. This records falls into that category entirely. After receiving it a couple of months ago, it sat in my inbox for a couple of weeks before I had the chance to sit and take my first proper listen. I knew that I would need the time to take it in properly. Since then I've smugly listened, over and over, finding new parts to marvel at on every listen. A new lyric which stops me in my tracks, a stunning violin part. There is so much intricate detail to unpick, and a whole lot to love.
I love (and I'm not sure I've used that word enough yet... are you starting to get the gist?) the track Halloween. The lyric "I miss my friends that I pretend I don't need, but I could've done with them this week" gets me every time. With another lockdown looming this is such a relatable sentiment. From the title at least, No Plans also feels particularly topical at the moment. It's my favourite track from the record, I think. But don't tell the others. The 'drop' a couple of minutes in was such a surprise on my first listen, but a really really superb one. The vocal and the sudden cacophony of instrumentation in this track feel like a sudden unleashing of energy, of raw emotion. It fills me with fire for those few minutes, before immediately contrasting with the much more delicate Birdcage and Keep Me, two really tender tracks. The record has a lot of contrast at its heart, which I think reflects some of the process of making it, detailed in Ali's recent social post, with some admirably honest thinking:
months down the line the record grew this backbone of indecision, jumping from feelings of self-affirmation to self-pity, from joy and celebration to feelings of boredom and anxiety. It's not something I really wanted, but those feelings naturally manifested themselves within what I was creating. I think that spectrum of emotion appropriately mirrors how it feels to make an album, at least for me anyway. It's a mess and can cause a lot of grief. It gives you life, then drags it back out of you. It gives you happiness, the best days, the worst days, and makes you question your purpose and abilities. These words feel unnecessarily dramatic when describing nine months of just making music, but hey, that's how it feels.
I could likely ramble more, but you should probably just go and listen to the record. It means an awful lot to me and I'm so excited for everybody to hear it. I know that it will come to mean a lot to those millions of listeners around the world, and to those who are yet to discover Ali's music. You've got a lot to look forward to if that's you. A teeny bit envious.
If the world has fixed a little by then, Ali is touring all over the place from next April, with some UK shows including London's Barbican. Huge! Tickets and dates for it all, and for something exciting to put into your calendar beyond the weekly grocery trip, are here.
Check out the new record on streaming services/Ali's store here.
Just over a couple of weeks until the new Novo Amor record is out... I'd say how over the moon I am about this (because I am) but in a very very exciting turn of events, I've had a stream of it since early September. Madness. In such a bonkers year, doing little other than travelling back and forth on public transport to my (busy and understaffed) retail job and with no gigs on the horizon it takes something special to bring some much needed joy, and having this record two months before release is just the ticket. For the last album, I'd heard and loved a couple of singles and it was more a case of "oh, that new Novo Amor album is out, I should listen to that..." whereas this time I have been eagerly awaiting this for months. To have listened to it many times already, before Ali's almost 3 million (!) monthly listeners on Spotify get the chance, is really exciting.
Ali just shared I Feel Better, the fifth single to be taken from the record (my favourite is yet to come - you're going to love it) with a video directed by Lisette Donkersloot. The director has shared this quote about the video - "I was inspired by several things. One being a Spanish performance artist and of course the track which I’ve really come to love, but mostly I wanted to capture the idea of recovering from heartbreak and betrayal. This paradoxal feeling where you on the one hand are dying to reconnect/feel affection but simultaneously are equally afraid to let anyone new in due to trust issues and the fear of getting hurt again, so you continue to shut people out and suffer in solitude. In my opinion this represents a universal feeling so I wanted to tell it from a gender fluid point of view. I am super grateful and pleased to have collaborated with Ali, he respected my vision from the get-go and gave me a lot of creative freedom."
When I was thinking about sharing the track to the blog, I came across Ali's post. I intended to pull a quote or two from it, but feel inclined to share the whole passage. It's rare to see an artist opening up so much about the creative process, and the struggles that ensue:
I felt an incredible rush of joy and direction when I initially wrote the piano and chorus melody. At the time it felt like this song would define the album, which hadn’t been written yet. I thought it would set the tone for a more positive and joyous step forward, but months down the line the record grew this backbone of indecision, jumping from feelings of self-affirmation to self-pity, from joy and celebration to feelings of boredom and anxiety. It’s not something I really wanted, but those feelings naturally manifested themselves within what I was creating. I think that spectrum of emotion appropriately mirrors how it feels to make an album, at least for me anyway. It’s a mess and can cause a lot of grief. It gives you life, then drags it back out of you. It gives you happiness, the best days, the worst days, and makes you question your purpose and abilities. These words feel unnecessarily dramatic when describing nine months of just making music, but hey, that’s how it feels.
By the end of the album recording, the song felt like an outlier, another one of these ideas that didn’t really need to be heard. I’d worked on it too much. It felt like I was making it worse with every day of recording. It felt like the album had shifted too far away from this uplifting piano line that I’d gotten excited about months before. So, I was ready to throw it away until my friend and collaborator EdTullett stopped me. He gave me encouragement to at least see it though and try to make something we could be happy with. I think he (thankfully) saw more importance in this song being on the album than I did. Like most of the other tracks on the record, we worked on it together and it’s a much better record because of it. The song, while still feeling like a bit of an outlier, actually came to represent so much of what this record is for me, this range of emotion and indecision, the building up and tearing down of ideas, this clash of happiness and sadness and affirmation from others. As the song sings - “just tell me that it’s alright and I'll be fine”.
The new record Cannot Be, Whatsoever is due for release on 6th Nov - pre-orderhere.
I was reminded yesterday (by the trusty Instagram archive) that it was two years since I first posted about Novo Amor, with a slightly gushy love letter to the tunes Utican and Birthplace, and a bit of marvelling at Ali's sustainable practices as an artist. With his debut album on the way, I was pretty sure that I was on the way to falling for his music. You could say that was an accurate prediction.
I'm over the moon about the upcoming release of his second record Cannot Be, Whatsoever on 5th November (pre-order it here.) Recent single If We're Being Honest is the fourth track to be lifted from the album and as ever, it's stunning. My words from that first post continue to ring true about this latest offering - "his falsetto vocals are striking, accompanied by music that is vast, atmospheric and often cinematic in its nature, making use of some really exciting instrumentation."
As an aside: two years on, and the vast majority of artists are yet to catch up with Ali and his team when it comes to sustainability. Excited to receive the new Cosmo Sheldrake LP some time this week - made from recycled materials as Ali's are. There's still so much that the music industry - particularly in touring, when that happens again, can do. Ditching single use plastic bottles, leaving behind excessive riders, sustainable merch, recycled packaging for CDs and vinyl - the opportunities are somewhat endless!
Grab tickets for the upcoming Novo Amor tour here.
I mostly aim to use this blog to spread the word about music that I love, and I am so unbelievably excited to be writing this post!!! Novo Amor (AKA Welsh artist Ali Lacey) just announced his new record, Cannot Be, Whatsoever, due for release on 6th November. Since finding the title track of his debut record in the blog's inbox in 2018, his music has never been far from my ears. Through the fairly non-stop listening of the record after the release later that year, he became (unsurprisingly) my most listened to artist of the decade on Spotify. Probably on vinyl too, if my record player was counting...! He's a wonderful artist with great ethics and a beautiful team and band working alongside him, and he's a generally lovely person, you can't really ask for more.
The record is just a few months away and new single Opaline (watch the video below) joins previous double single Decimal and Halloween on the track-list. I'm positively itching to hear more and will be playing this one on repeat in the meantime! There is something so special and unique about Ali's music, a simultaneous power and vulnerability, with mesmerising soundscapes that just scream to be let onto a film soundtrack. I'm genuinely so grateful to have found his music.
The new record is up for pre-order on the website - as with the previous album, the vinyl is going to be made from recycled vinyl pellets. The process means that every record is unique - honestly, streaming has nothing on the beauty of a recycled vinyl record. If the record itself (both musically and visually) wasn't gorgeous enough, there's photography for the project from Dan Harriswhich is superb, and artwork hand-stitched by Tilleke Schwarz. A lot to love!
Rewind a couple of years to 2018, and I was just about to have the absolute joy of discovering Novo Amor, AKA Welsh artist Ali Lacey. Skip through what is probably a couple of hundred (at least) listens of his record Birthplace, a Union Chapel show and getting to look after Ali and the band at Bushstock last year where they played a stunning headline set... and I am very much still adoring the tunes. A treat, therefore, to have not one but two new tracks last week - a double single to make me ecstatic and to overwhelm me with all the sad feelings (... the perfect mix!)
Both tunes, Decimal and Halloween, are gorgeous, unsurprisingly. I could say more, but in this instance, I very much want to let the music do the talking - and I'm writing this at midnight when I should definitely be asleep. Just know that Ali is without a doubt my favourite musical discovery of the last couple of years. Once you've listened to the new double single below, and cried a little, listen to Birthplace and figure out for yourself why I love it so much (and while you're there, you should most definitely check out Holdingfrom Hailaker and Nanofrom David Grubb - projects from members of the Novo Amor family.)
While Ali usually likes to leave the tracks up to fans' interpretation, I grabbed a quick quote from him about Halloween: "it's a song I wrote on Halloween night of last year, the day that ended what was quite a bad month for me personally. I hadn't felt motivated to pick up my guitar in a little while and when I did I just felt like all the good things had left my mouth, I was out of things to say, which birthed the first line of the song."
"The chorus calls back to Halloween of 2011, when I fell and hit my head on the sink and had to have it glued back up. The song was originally just five verses about how shit October was for me and it just got me thinking about that old Halloween and how I'm kind of feeling the same 9 years later. I usually don't like to have such obvious lyrics, but I like how the song lets people in to a more personal side of me, in a way. I feel like the line "I miss my friends that I pretend I don't need" sums me up completely."
For a few months now I've been settling into a bit of a routine with the blog to fit around work commitments, sharing posts in the week, so it's been a while since I shared anything at the weekend but I really can't wait to share these two brand new Hailaker tracks with you. I absolutely adore this duo. Their debut self-titled album has a pretty high chance of featuring in my favourite albums of the year list (you heard it here first...) and these first new tracks since the release are a perfect Autumnal listen. First, here's Iridesce.
Discovering Novo Amor last year (you may well have seen me ramble about Ali and his music quite a bit here since...) was a complete joy for several reasons, one of which was that I discovered Hailaker off the back of that. Made up of British musicians Jemima Coulter and Ali's collaborator Ed Tullett, the duo enlist the help of various Novo Amor live members, and US-based artist Mike Roth to create something together which is really special and unique. There's a slight 'British Bon Iver'feel to the project, a community vibe. I'm really digging Famous, which is below...
Hailaker play a couple of UK shows this evening and tomorrow in Leeds and Manchester, in support of American Football. If you missed the debut album, give it a listen here - I hope you love it just as much as I do.
If you've been following the blog for a while (or, admittedly, any length of time as I ramble about them a lot) you'll know that I'm quite a fan of the label Communion, which started as a monthly live music night at Notting Hill Arts Club back in 2006. Almost exactly two years ago I headed to one of these nights - I was there primarily to catch MarthaGunn and Harry Pane but know that I can trust the Communion guys to curate a solid line-up.
I checked out the rest of the line-up beforehand, and I was most looking forward to seeing Valley Maker, AKA Seattle-based Austin Crane. Unfortunately some crazy traffic delays meant I missed his set, but I've kept an ear out since and enjoyed his record Rhododendron last year.I'm super excited to say that he's back with his first new release of 2019, the gorgeous new track Supernatural which was recorded with Novo Amor in Cardiff and Trevor Spencer in Wales. The track has an equally stunning video directed by Joseph Kolean and Zach Gutierrez which you can check out below...
With their self-titled debut album due for release this Friday (3rd May) Hailaker have shared the latest single with a beautifully animated video. Describing themselves as less a band and more a fluid and open-ended project, Hailaker's principal members and founders are Jemima Coulter and Ed Tullett, both solo artists in their own right. Contributions from Ali Lacey of Novo Amor and Mike Roth, an Oregon-based artist who handles their artwork, make for a really exciting project.
The new track explores the idea of seeing somebody that you love going through an illness, be it mental or physical, and the strain that this can put on you, despite knowing that the person with the illness is going through something much worse. The lyrical themes are reflected in the accompanying video which is the work of videographer Lokyu. The animation focuses on a character who is at work building and fixing a city, which is later revealed to be on a woman's back. The more he tries to fix the structures, the more we see them continue to disintegrate, reflective of the feelings of frustration and helplessness that you feel when you can't help somebody through an illness.
Pre-order the self-titled debut album from Hailaker here - it is due for release on Friday 3rd May.
Finding a brand new Novo Amor track at the top of my Spotify 'Release Radar' playlist this week was a beautiful surprise.The cover of Katie Kim track I Make Sparks was originally featured as a bonus track on the Japanese release of his debut album Birthplace and has now been made available to stream, and it's gorgeous.
Speaking about the track, Novo Amor shares: "'I Make Sparks' is a cover of a song by Irish artist Katie Kim, from her album 'Salt'. I fell in love with her bedroom demo a few years ago and have been looking for an opportunity to record my own version, to show my appreciation for Katie's music. I found time after I'd finished my debut album, 'Birthplace' [...] I'm really happy it's getting a release worldwide now."
The digital release of the track follows the recent release of a double A-side single with Gia Margaret and a two part short film for tracks Sleepless and Repeat Until Death. Having just finished up a tour of the US, he's soon embarking on a European headline tour before returning to the UK to headline Bushstock Festival on 15th June. (Which I absolutely can not wait for!) Tickets and full dates 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!
I feel a little late to the party with this one but desperately wanted to share these tracks! After a discreet double A-side single released late in 2018, Hailaker have announced their self-titled debut album (due 26th April via Lowswimmer) and released two stunning new tracks. Hailaker is primarily made up of founding members Jemima Coulter and Ed Tullett, but the collective project also features contributions from Ali Lacey (Novo Amor) and Oregon-based artist Mike Roth, who looks after the artwork.
Jemima describes the record as being "the narrative of mine and Ed's friendship first and foremost, since it meant we went from being strangers to spending weeks writing together. We see Hailaker as a fluid project, with no restrictions on output or contribution; perhaps one notable commonality is to make music that's melodic in all aspects, rich and interesting."
Talking of the name of the project, a made up word, she goes on to explain that "having a word with no defined meaning means the only association it could have is with the project. That's so freeing because it's completely open, and I think it's led to us feeling infinitely free about what Hailaker is, who's involved, what the music sounds and looks like, etc. It's all Hailaker because it all feels like Hailaker."
From what I've heard - this album is going to be a beautifully rich piece of work, free from the restrictions and boundaries artists (and their labels) often place upon themselves, with a glorious musical texture mixing elements of acoustic and electronic instrumentation - I can't wait to hear more!
I have been very much in love with Novo Amor since catching the video for his track Birthplace last Summer - it's a video tackling the issue of plastic in our oceans, and had me instantly hooked. The video went viral, receiving various awards and nominations including Best Independent Video at the AIM Awards -and deservedly so. His debut solo record of the same name was released in October and quickly became my second favourite album of the year (only missing out to the total star Rae Morris) and his show at Union Chapel was easily one of my favourite shows of the year.
In some very exciting news, Novo (AKA Ali Lacey) has teamed up with producer-directors Jorik Dozy and Sil van der Woerd again for a stunning two-part video for tracks Sleepless and Repeat Until Death. His music is incredibly cinematic and lends itself to videos of this nature - the newest collaboration acts as a comment on climate change, in particular the very real impact of air pollution on humans.
The videos were filmed in Mongolia, whose capital Ulaanbaatar is one of the world's most polluted cities - during the winter months, temperatures drop below -35C, and residents rely on burning coal for heat, which leads to an intense period of air pollution which is in turn wreaking havoc on the city's residents. Additionally, the city's population is swelling as the changing climate weakens the habitat of reindeer and the nomadic people who herd them (The Tsaatan), causing them to migrate to the city to seek alternative employment. Only forty Tsaatan families currently remain.
Sil & Jorik spent almost three weeks filming landscapes rarely seen in mainstream western media, creating videos which "tell the tale of a young Mongolian girl battling the health effects of air pollution, and her journey of recovery from modern life in the city to a lifestyle in the countryside that is more in-keeping with nature." Filming in such conditions was not without its difficulties, with the low temperatures causing issues for both the crew and their filming equipment.
9 in 10 people globally breathe air containing high levels of pollutants;
More than 90% of air pollution-related deaths occur in low and middle income countries, mainly in Asia and Africa;
Around 3 billion people (>40% of the world's population) do not have access to clean cooking fuels and technologies in their homes, the main source of household air pollution;
Air pollution is a critical risk factor for noncommunicable diseases, causing an estimated 24% of all adult deaths from heart disease, 25% from stroke, 43% from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 29% from lung cancer.
Novo Amor is out on an international tour across March, April & May and returns to London to headline my favourite festival (this is genuinely a dream) Bushstock Festival on 15th June. Check out the full tour dates on his site here.
I'm already looking ahead to albums from the likes of Maggie Rogers, Indoor Pets and Busted next year, but first, it's time to reflect on some of the wonderful music that I've been enjoying this year with a round-up of my favourite albums to be released in 2018. It's taken a lot of thinking (you hardly need me to tell you it's been a brilliant year for new music!) but I've whittled it down to a top five, which I'll follow up with some more albums I've really been loving this year.
1. Rae Morris - Someone Out There
If you've seen my posts during the year, it's probably not all that surprising that Rae has secured the top spot and deservedly so. I've pretty much spent the entire year telling anyone who will listen that I completely adore this record, and seeing Rae perform twice towards the end of the year cemented my love for these tracks. At the time of release, lyrics on many of the tracks were incredibly relatable, meaning that I connected with the album in a way I'd never really experienced before. This is a very special album for me. Picking a favourite track is almost impossible as I genuinely love every second, but if I had to choose, it'd be Dip My Toe.
2. Novo Amor - Birthplace
Until this year (to my shame) I hadn't even heard of Novo Amor before, but instantly fell for his beautiful falsetto vocals when I saw the Birthplace video over Summer. The video is a cinematic masterpiece in its own right, highlighting the issue of plastic pollution in our oceans. Finding that he had a page on his website detailing ways in which his album campaign and upcoming tour were going to be sustainable, I knew I'd stumbled across an artist I'd likely fall in love with, and I was right. The album may only be 33 minutes long, but those are 33 of the most stunning minutes of music I've heard this year and I absolutely can not wait to catch him headlining my favourite festival Bushstock next year! Favourite track: Repeat Until Death.
3. Mumford & Sons - Delta
Probably my most highly anticipated album of the year, my favourite chaps Mumford & Sons did not disappoint with Delta, their fourth studio album, though they did make us wait until November, and snuck into the top five at the last minute! The album has had a mixed reception from critics and fans alike, but I find that part of the joy of music is that it's totally subjective, and I personally love the record. The band themselves have expressed the belief that it's their best record yet, and I'm inclined to agree with them (but don't tell Sigh No More that... it'll always be a classic album for me!) Favourite track: Wild Heart.
4. Cosmo Sheldrake - The Much Much How How & I
I started listening to Cosmo at the end of last year, just in time for his debut record in April this year and he is absolutely one of my favourite recent musical discoveries. Cosmo is one of the most intelligent and fiercely creative people to grace my earphones this year, and his album is a collection of tracks that are bonkers and magical in equal measure. I love it. Birthday Suit sounds as if it has been taken directly from the soundtrack of an old Disney film, Wriggle provided one of my favourite remixes of the year from Mr. Jukes (listen to that here) and Come Along is one of my favourite standalone tracks of the year. But my absolute favourite on the record (currently) has to be the last tune, Hocking, it's five minutes of instrumental bliss (and simultaneous craziness.)
5. Idles - Joy As An Act Of Resistance
I'd challenge anyone who has listened to the Idles album this year to claim that it isn't one of their albums of the year. And to anyone that hasn't: listen to it, pronto, and add it to your list. I'm guilty of at first labelling the band and album as angry rock music, but delving deeper (and reading interviews such as this one with the BBC) has shown me that there is a lot more to this Bristol band than I initially realised. It's an incredibly socially conscious record, exploring issues such as Brexit and toxic masculinity, as well as real losses that singer Joe has endured in recent years. The album takes these negative subjects and turns them on their head, providing songs that celebrate difference and are full of hope and unity. Idles are the band I didn't know I needed in 2018. Favourite track: Danny Nedelko.
So that's my top five albums this year! There have been so many more that I have absolutely loved in 2018, so here's a list of some more (in release order) that I wholeheartedly recommend you checking out.
Django Django - Marble Skies The Wombats - Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life MGMT - Little Dark Age Superorganism - Superorganism Gengahr - Where Wildness Grows AdySuleiman - Memories The Magic Gang - The Magic Gang The Vaccines - Combat Sports Christof van der Ven - Empty Handed Peace - Kindness Is The New Rock And Roll Ben Howard - Noonday Dream Ghost - Prequelle Boy Azooga - 1, 2, Kung Fu! Dawes - Passwords Panic! At The Disco - Pray For The Wicked Florence & The Machine - High As Hope Evergreen - Overseas Dizzy - Baby Teeth Jungle - For Ever Low Island - Low Island & Friends 17-18
