The beautiful first track from Jack Savoretti's upcoming record Sleep No More, has an equally beautiful video to accompany it which was released today. When the track When We Were Lovers was released, I had it on repeat for the day and still can't get enough of it, I'm really looking forward to hearing more of the new album which is released on October 28th. The more I listen to Jack, the more I'm blown away by his talent and super proud that he's receiving the recognition he deserves!
The new album, Sleep No More, is up for pre-order on Jack's website including signed copies of the LP and CD as well as a limited edition phonebook - you also get this first single instantly when you pre-order.
I'm really excited to hear that Emeralds is the latest release from Red Earth & Pouring Rain, the stunning recent record from Bear's Den! The whole album is an absolute triumph but this is definitely one of my favourite tracks and it's great to see it get a proper release - the more that I listen to the guys, the deeper I'm falling in love with their music. I was a fan from a distance for a year or so, enjoying their debut record, until I was completely bowled over seeing them headline Bushstock this Summer. They're incredibly talented and totally humble guys and I love knowing they're off conquering America at the moment. I was really looking forward to catching them earlier in the month at a special intimate show for Amazon... sadly the show had to be rescheduled (but thankfully not cancelled) so I'm looking forward to seeing them next month, and loving the signed poster of the artwork that Communion sent to make up for it! Check out the new video below...
Bear's Den play a UK tour to celebrate the release of the album in November - unsurprisingly the majority of shows, except Brighton and Norwich, are already sold out. Due to demand they've added a new London date at the Hammersmith Apollo in April, tickets for all the shows through the site here, and after seeing them at Bushstock and playing an instore set this Summer, I'd heartily recommend catching them live, as I imagine their full headline set must be even more impressive!
How can you not love a track when it's positively entitled We're All Gonna Die... It's the title track of American legends Dawes' upcoming record which is released this Friday... I'm currently trying to avoid the stream of the whole album over on NPR as I'd rather it be a surprise on Friday! The guys fourth studio record, All Your Favourite Bands, released the middle of last year, is one of my favourite albums of all time and features probably my favourite ever track.
It's easy to get a little dazed and confused when a band's next record takes a change in direction (which a lot of people commenting online seem to be), which is definitely the case with this and When The Tequila Runs Out, the first single from the album. With this being their fifth studio album however, it's natural that the sound will evolve - where's the fun in remaking the same album five times?! I'm no musician but I imagine it'd get pretty boring to keep doing the same thing over and over, and they'd lose the love in creating music... I'd much rather that a band continues to make music and enjoy doing so! After a few listens I'm really loving both of the tracks and hope that will be the case for the whole album - and I'm holding out for some UK tour dates to be announced before long too as I'm desperate to see them live again.
The absolutely lovely Oxford based homeplanetearth have released the fourth and final track from their debut EP, their self-titled demo CD which they're releasing through a massive Oxford show on Friday night. I'm moving back to university on Saturday and gutted to be missing the show, particularly special as it's the first show of their debut UK tour, and the first of Tigmus' season of shows at the O2 Academy in Oxford.
The EP opens with the band's debut track Phat Phil, the first track I heard from the band back in February before meeting Josephine and Thomas and realising they were as lovely as their music (and their beautiful artwork!) Alongside the track come Find Me and Luca, and the new track Vi Er Dig. The band write of the new track that it "discusses a world where we are all human, we are all the same, yet we fight over menial matters and ruin beautiful things" - couldn't say it better myself, and applaud the guys for tackling these deep issues (their track Luca discusses the feelings associated with abusive relationships). Check out the EP and get along to their show on Friday as my proxy.. they also play Bristol, London, Norwich, Southampton and Brighton - tickets and info for all the shows here!
Last weekend I caught my first proper gig in a few weeks, seeing my absolute favourite guys The Hoosiers play their last headline show for a while, a big London gig. I've seen them play in various places and to much bigger crowds at a couple of small festivals, but this was my first time seeing them play a London show so it was a pretty special one for me. As the first band whose music really stuck with me since the first record back in 2007 when I was starting secondary school, the first proper gig I went to and a band through which I've made a lot of friends, I think of them as the root of a lot of my current passion for music. I definitely think it goes without saying that my love of the band and their music has been pretty formative in my life so they'll always hold a really special place in my heart (not to mention the fact that they're some of the loveliest guys I've had the pleasure of meeting at various shows) and it's always great to catch them live.
The show was also pretty exciting as I'm interviewing people about it for my dissertation, for which I've chosen to study live music, looking at the motivations of people attending live music events. I love going to gigs and have had some of my best experiences at them, and generally, I'm interested in finding out why other people go to shows. Specifically, I think it can be pretty heartbreaking to see a great band play to a non-capacity crowd, and with revenue from live music being of increasing importance to artists, I think it's important for promoters to understand why people go to shows (as well as the various types of people that go to their shows). This is in the hope that they can more successfully promote their shows to these various audiences, benefitting both the promoter and the artists, and helping more people to have a great time. I'm planning to focus upon a Sofar Sounds show too so that I can compare the two (quite different) gigs and the different reasons people have for attending them. I'm currently interviewing some people who attended the show last weekend, which I'm loving as it's always great to discuss a mutual interest, and I love hearing the lovely things people have to say about the guys.
As there were four support acts (four?!) it felt quite a long night and it meant that the guys' set was a little shorter than it probably should've been considering it was their headline show, but it was one of my favourite times seeing the band play... perhaps it's the fact it was a London show and a London crowd, but it felt extra fun, and Irwin's falsettos (often one of the highlights of their live shows) were on a completely different level.. I loved that every time his voice went high, the guys stood in front of me looked at each other in complete amazement. As if the show itself weren't great enough, Irwin and Al were sweet enough to allow me into their dressing room to ask them some questions for my project. My first face-to-face interview and it's with my favourite band... not bad going! It's crazy to think what 11/12 year old me would've thought, faced with the idea of being backstage with the guys and chatting to them!
It's pretty bizarre to think that with the first record being released in 2007, I've been a fan for almost half of my life, and at the show on Saturday, Al properly announced that they'll be returning in 2017 for a ten year anniversary tour, playing the record in its entirety for the first time. Huge sadness however as Sam, who has played keys and sang backing vocals with they guys for a long time, is leaving the band and Saturday was his last show... he's off to release his solo music and work on some other projects and I'm excited for him but it's always terribly sad when a member of your favourite band leaves! Of course we're all holding out a tiny hope that they'll reunite with Martin as part of the anniversary tour but who knows?! For now, Irwin's off to star in Big the Musical with an all-star cast, which runs in Portsmouth and Dublin over November and December, hopefully being followed by a run in the West End! Seems a right time to put some music in this post... a video of the guys performing probably my favourite track of theirs, Everything Goes Dark, acoustically in Worcester last November.
In the meantime, if you've made it this far through the post and you're wondering how the guys are still gigging off the back of the first album - they've since released three more records including last October's The Secret Service. Details of all the releases is on their site here where you'll also find news about live shows as and when they happen!
Just over a month ago I posted about Like I Did, the debut single from half-Italian, half-Irish Fil Bo Riva, whose voice struck me as pretty impressive and whose Italian roots caught me reminiscing on Jack Savoretti's music. He's just released Killer Queen, the second track from his upcoming debut EP If You're Right, It's Alright, set for release in a couple of weeks time. I'm loving this live performance of the track and hope that you enjoy his gravelly voice as much as I do!
If you enjoy the music, spread the word and be sure to keep an eye out for the EP, which you can pre-order on iTunes here.
I'm super excited that Tigmus, a promoter I've been working with since Feb, have today announced their biggest Oxford show to date, and a pretty special one it is. Oxford based Indian fusion band The Fusion Project, who put their own South Asian twist on popular songs (such as Ed Sheeran's I See Fire, below, and Adele'sHello), are headlining the stunning Sheldonian Theatre, a rare show for the beautiful venue and tourist hotspot. I am incredibly excited to be able to help with the show in the run up to the evening and on the night itself, with it taking place next month on 21st October.
The mission statement of the band is to take the beauty and depth of Indian classical music to a wider Western audience, and to bring the music back to a new generation of South Asians for whom Western music usually takes the forefront. As students at the University, the band are keen for the show to be a student-led evening, almost crafting a link between Oxford University and Brookes, where I'm studying. A coming together of people listening to music in a beautiful space, you can't argue with that!
To stay up to date with announcements about the show, mark yourself as interested on the Facebook event here, and tickets are available (including student prices) through Eventbrite here!
Tempesst, who played at the Doctors Without Borders charity show with King Charles back in July, are one of my favourite new bands this year, and I love their track Broke Down Blues. Digging this new video of them performing the track on a roof somewhere in London!
If you like what you hear and fancy catching them live, they headline London's Moth Club for Communion on 29th September, tickets here! (If you've a music taste anything like mine, you'll know that Communion back the best artists, so that's a pretty good accolade!)
Back in February I organised my first ever gig, with Little Mammoths headlining the basement of a cool pub in Oxford, and on the day of the show, Matt sent me the final mix of their debut album to listen to. It was the perfect thing to get me excited for the evening, and it's a brilliant record, I was very excited for others to get to hear it... not to mention impressed that they'd whittled down their material to a 10 track record, as they're known to play three hour long sets!
It's been a while coming since then but last week they announced that the album is out, and you can listen to it online in full HERE! For a taster, watch their new video for Uncle Ken's Bar, filmed on a recent tour. The track, about one of their favourite places (probably THE favourite) to play in Ireland is really fun, and fast-paced, and this is captured so well in the video, showing lots of people in some busy pubs having a brilliant time watching the guys play live... an impressive fusion of guitar, drums, bass, slide guitar and a horn section (though I've seen them with even more guys playing with them for their premature album launch back in October.)
Though you can listen to the album straight away online, they'll be releasing it on CD soon, and they've launched a campaign to try and get a limited run of 200 vinyl records printed. If you're interested in getting one, enter your email address to show your interest and if you're in the first fifty you'll even be featured on the artwork! I know it'll mean a lot to the guys to get the vinyl campaign up and running, so please support!
When We Were Lovers, the first single from Jack Savoretti's upcoming new record was debuted on BBC Radio 2 this morning, and it was totally worth waking up early for. While a few have commented that they can't wait to hear an acoustic version (and I totally agree, as Jack's acoustic performances are always superb) I'm already incredibly fond of this version of the track. Hearing Jack talk on the radio before the track was played, it was lovely to hear that the track, and the album, are an absolute match of how he wanted them to sound - you can't hope for better than that!
The track is the first from Jack's upcoming fifth studio album Sleep No More, which is going to be released on 28th October (very exciting news!!!) You can pre-order all sorts of signed versions of the record (or through iTunes if digital is more your thing) here, and check out Jack's updated show listings, with some European dates just announced here.
