LISTEN: Amaroun - 'Rise'

As somebody creating and sharing content online, I've felt a little reluctant to post and to draw any attention away from causes and accounts which deserve it far more at the moment. On the other hand, it feels a little naive to assume that my relatively small blog going quiet would make that much of a difference, or that a small moment of quiet would suffice - racism is not a new issue, and not one that is going away quickly. While I don't want to pull attention away from more important matters, new music regularly provides a much needed distraction for me, especially from the other virus going around at the moment, so I still want to spread some new music and love here. 

While this blog is just me, I'm happy to see many of the artists I support, PR companies that I communicate with, favourite labels and the like pledging support to learn more and to do better, both now and going forward, whether via the 'Music Industry Blackout' on Tuesday or in other ways. We're all learning to do more together. 

There is more that I could say but there are other voices you should most definitely be paying attention to far more than mine at the moment, and I wanted to just share an incredibly poignant new track with you.

Peckham based Amaroun has been sharing a song a month this year - I absolutely adored Talk and put it straight on the playlist, but didn't get around to sharing it on the blog - her new single Rise feels particularly relevant right now. The track tells the story of a woman battling an internal struggle between doubt and self hate, whose inner voice tells her to rise. She explains that "when you fall or get knocked down, do not stay down, do not let them hold you down, rise up, rise up against oppression. If you are marginalised, if you are queer, it's hard out there! Tell your story proudly, see yourself, your change and your journey as  beautiful and as growth. You are an ever changing authentic being so just be exactly that." 

Amaroun · Rise

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LISTEN: Pêtr Aleksänder - 'Another World'

"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probably explanation is that I was made for another world." - C.S. Lewis.

I was about to open this post by remarking that, upon listening to this EP for the first time, I considered Pêtr Aleksänder to be truly, well, something else. Then I realised that the opening track is called The Something Else and that my brain was probably being led down that path, but the point still stands. This is a sublime piece of work. Consistently overwhelmed by these guys.

Pêtr Aleksänder · Another World

The Another World EP is their first release since their 2019 record Closer, Still but they have certainly been busy elsewhere. While Tom is busy playing live with Mumford & Sons and Gang of Youths, Eliot has produced the Banfi record (out today!) and they've been continuing their run of 'reimagined' tracks, which they've worked on in the past for the likes of Banfi, Geowulf and Interpol. Not content with reimagining a track, this time, they've released an entire record. Clouds In The Mirror, released a couple of weeks ago, is a reimagined version of This Is Not A Safe Place by Oxford's RIDE. And magnificent it is too.

The new EP features previously released singles The Something Else, a true to form instrumental piece of art which eases you in with piano, strings and electronics, and Copy, Echo, Mirage. The latter was the first track from the duo to feature vocals from Tom Hobden, which is a treat. It's a pulsing and powerful track, drawing you in further, before the strings at the tail end of The Real Thing really push you, mind and soul, over the edge. If you're me, at least. I adore strings. On this and closing (and title) track Another World, words from a passage of the C.S. Lewis book Mere Christianity sit atop the beautifully unique sound that the pair have created.

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WATCH: Pêtr Aleksänder - 'Copy, Echo, Mirage'

Exciting new track and video alert from the duo that still hold the title for most viewed post on the blog (fun fact!) Following up their recent single The Something Else, contemporary-classical duo Pêtr Aleksänder (Tom Hobden and Eliot James) are back with the slightly surprising Copy, Echo, Mirage. Both tracks are taken from the upcoming Another World EP which is set for release via Kin Records on May 20th, their first release since the debut album Closer, Still.

I describe the track as surprising because this time around, while they've stayed firmly rooted in the genre they've carved out for themselves, there are vocals! A haunting vocal from Tom sits atop that gorgeous blend of contemporary and classical, with strings and piano creating another soaring, cinematic track. Of the inspiration behind the track, Tom explains that it is about "being enraptured by someone but having the pains of past love never quite letting you stay in the moment. The song's underlying sentiment questions over and over whether this new relationship can go the journey without succumbing to the inevitable pitfalls that everyone faces along the way..." 

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LISTEN: Pêtr Aleksänder - 'The Something Else'

News of an incoming Pêtr Aleksänder EP is very welcome indeed - Another World is due for release via Kin Records on May 20th. The classical contemporary duo, made up of all-round legends Tom Hobden and Eliot James, has recently shared The Something Else and for want of a better phrase it is... well, something else. Beautiful. I appreciate classical music but it isn't really a genre I've ever explored much, but I love the work that this pair do to bring classical music to a new audience, with a contemporary spin. It's all a very clever mix of strings and piano with electronic beats and is unlike anything else I post about here.

On the new track, Eliot explains that it is "an instrumental arrangement for piano and strings built around 16 repeating notes which were originally inspired by Pachelbel's Canon. Our 16 notes provide the backbone for a sweeping string arrangement which ebbs and flows around the central theme, accompanied by some slices of vocals and electronics which allude to the wider theme of our EP. It is a piece of music we have been playing and experimenting with live and became a natural starting point for the new wave of music we have been working on recently." 

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EP NEWS: Roo Panes - 'Pacific'

We all need a bit of soothing music at the moment, right? Well, let's look no further than brand new Roo Panes. He's just shared not one but two (!) brand new tunes from his upcoming Pacific EP, the title track and Colour In Your Heart, which you can listen to below. The full five-track EP is due for release on CRC Records on May 22nd.

While the title track, Pacific, brings us five and a half minutes of exactly the sort of track we've come to expect from Roo - the beautiful simplicity of acoustic guitar and those gorgeous trademark vocals - Colour In My Heart is something new. Without a guitar in sight (or earshot) there are electronic beats aplenty - Roo himself explains that "the reason I liked the idea of releasing this a and b side is because on this EP I've tried quite a lot of new ideas and textures, but also have some songs which are more traditionally me. 'Colour In Your Heart' is a new sound experiment and whilst being excited to share that as a single I also wanted 'Pacific' to be there to show the continuity with my other work. Together I think they make a really nice pair - both meditative and sound-scapey in their own way but one which is upbeat and the other more drifty and reflective." 

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WATCH: Archie Faulks - 'What For'

Videos like this one are surely the main source of blame for me constantly wandering around in public with headphones in, singing. Except there is absolutely no way that I look as effortlessly cool as Archie does here. The video is for What For, the latest single from Archie Faulks, and it features a cameo from a familiar looking busker... Isaac Gracie, anyone? The track is taken from the upcoming Longing for London EP, due for release on 14th February.

Talking about the meaning of the track, Archie explains that "when everything feels hopeless in life there will always be certain things that can provide an element of comfort. I am lucky that singing, writing and listening to music gives me that. So this song is about despite it seeming like my world was falling apart I still had a safe refuge in the history of recorded music and my own guitar." 

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