LISTEN: Spector - 'Simplicity'

I really really love Spector. I think I see them as some sort of modern day indie heroes - a very deserved title. Debut album Enjoy It While It Lasts is somehow seven years old this year, featuring such absolute tunes as Chevy Thunder, Celestine and Friday Night, Don't Ever Let It End. OK, let's be honest: the entire album is brilliant. They followed it up with the equally superb Moth Boys in 2015 and last year's Ex-Directory EP. A recent bout of single releases comes ahead of an upcoming EP, with Simplicity the latest track from the band, released just ahead of their current UK tour.

Enigmatic frontman Fred Macpherson explains that the new track is "about getting the opportunity to leave it all behind [...] to walk away from the things that make you unhappy, to care less, make better decisions, treat yourself and others more sensitively, to not engage in petty hierarchies, not look at your life in terms of achievements (or lack of them), to spend more time with your family and people you actually like, be less selfish, less bitter, to give something back. It's about recognising the opportunity to do all those things and not taking it." 

Spector are currently in the midst of a UK tour - taking in shows across October and November, finishing up with shows at Oxford's Bullingdon on 12th Nov and London's Oval Space on 13th. Full dates and remaining tickets here.

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LISTEN: VC Pines - 'Bones'

Loving this - VC Pines (aka Jack Mercer, ex Carnabys frontman) has shared his latest solo track, Bones, via Fierce Panda Records. His first new music since his successful EP Indigo, it is a really soulful tune, carrying the energy and sound of his live shows, where he is often backed with an eight-piece band and a whole lot of brass. He explains that Bones was "inspired by the film 'Onibaba', a vintage Japanese film with themes of war, romance, famine and death. The protagonist of the film becomes a stalker in the name of love due to such desperate times as a way of survival and this is something that I wanted to explore: to get in the mind-set of someone with such infatuation that they become obsessive. 'Bones' is written from within the mind-set of a teenage stalker in present day." 

Bones is the first track from his upcoming second EP, which is set for release in early 2020. The EP has a colour-coded theme, with Jack exploring his synaesthesia through the tracks. He explains (and this is genuinely fascinating) that "I found out what synaesthesia was during a lecture at music college, when the lecturer seemed to be describing how my brain worked. I always thought that that's how everyone saw the world and that various senses were triggered by certain things and that's just how we lived. Then when I realised that wasn't the case, and that I had something different, I started to use it as a tool." 

"Since then I've always used my synaesthesia, particularly chromosthesia to write songs. 'Bones' as a whole song for example is orange in colour in my head, with shades of violet/purple to add darker elements in certain areas [...] it all helps me visualise the song whilst writing to create something that I really feel when playing live on stage. I can see and feel the song as it moves throughout." 

VC Pines heads on a string of UK shows in April, taking in Brighton's Prince Albert (1st), London's Omeara (2nd), Leeds' Oporto (16th) and Bristol's Crofters Rights (24th.)

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LISTEN: Saltwater Sun - 'Mouthbreather'

New Saltwater Sun! A cause for celebration, for sure. The Reading four-piece first came onto my radar last Summer with their single Hot Mess, and they released their The Great Deceiver EP earlier in the year. In short, they've had a pretty exciting year with support from press (the likes of NME, DIY and The Line of Best Fit) and BBC Radio (Huw Stephens, Annie Mac, Jack Saunders). They performed at a string of festivals this Summer, have recently supported US rockers Jimmy Eat World, as well as playing with The Amazons and Another Sky.

Brand new track Mouthbreather precedes a batch of new material set for release next year, produced by Kristofer Harris (who has worked with Bear's Den, Belle and Sebastian and more... though I know him best as the lead singer of the criminally underrated Story Books.) Delivering a sassy, rage-filled vocal, Jen Stearnes explains that "'Mouthbreather' is a monumental rant about the myriad people who get on Saltwater Sun's collective last nerve. Loud chewers, bad drivers and mansplainers - the list goes on! Sure, we could be the bigger people and rise above, but where's the fun in that?" 

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WATCH: Tom Rosenthal & Cosmo Sheldrake - 'Swarm Swamp Swim'

Delighted to share this one - a new collaboration from Tom Rosenthal and Cosmo Sheldrake. I'd like to think that Cosmo hardly needs an introduction on the blog - since discovering him as support act for Johnny Flynn just over two years ago I've posted about a lot of his tracks, and his debut album The Much Much How How & I was in my top five releases of last year. I really really love Cosmo's music. Tom Rosenthal is a newer name to me, though I recall seeing a session he played with Rae Morris a year or two ago. While volunteering at Bushstock Festival this year I got to catch Tom playing - I mostly just remember his set being really well received and hilarious for various reasons. Mostly the track Watermelon, featuring the lyric "boom boom boom, it's watermelon time" - genius. New track Swarm Swamp Swim is a collaboration that manages to capture the sounds of both Tom and Cosmo perfectly - take a listen below! Video directed by May Kindred Boothby.

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Follow Cosmo Sheldrake - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

LISTEN: Mosa Wild - 'Acoustic Sessions' EP

Bringing together my love for indie and acoustic music, one of my favourite musical discoveries of the year have released an acoustic EP with reworkings of two of their tracks and a Sharon Van Etten cover. Mosa Wild have had a crazy year, with a couple of sold out London shows, their EP release, festival appearances and an arena tour with Tame Impala to name just a few highlights. The acoustic EP, which you can listen to in full here is a lovely introduction to the band for new listeners. I completely adore this version of Honey, which you can listen to below. 

If you'd like to hear the band away from the acoustic side of things, they're heading out on tour very soon across the UK as main support for Glassnote Records label mate Jade Bird (who has a track record of brilliant support acts, with Flyte currently on the road with her in the US and Canada.) Those dates run through November, and the band headline Scala in London on 11th March. Full list of shows here.

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TOUR NEWS: Fickle Friends (December 2019)

It feels as if time has completely flown by since Fickle Friends released their debut album You Are Someone Else. It was somehow all the way back in March 2018 and after a period of touring they've been hidden away making new music and... they're back! Amateurs is their first release of the year and the first taste of music from their second album and it was worth the wait! In short it is a bit of a bop.

They're heading out on the road this December for a run of intimate shows which finishes up in one of my favourite venues, London's Omeara. Dates and tickets here.

2nd December: Castle & Falcon, Birmingham
3rd: Leadmill, Sheffield
4th: Mash House, Edinburgh
5th: Phase One, Liverpool
7th: Moles Club, Bath
8th: Joiners, Southampton
9th: Omeara, London

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LISTEN: BENEE - 'Find An Island'

Really enjoying this new track from New Zealand artist BENEE which I recently shared to the playlist (listen/follow that here.) At just 19 she's been making waves back in NZ and further afield with her music, falling somewhere between pop and R&B, carving out a soundscape of her own. Earlier this year she released the FIRE ON MARZZ EP with stand-out track Soaked (which has racked up over 25 million streams on Spotify) and my fave, Glitter. She explains that she wrote the new track "about my best bud because sometimes ya hate your friends, but you always love them." 

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LISTEN: Among The Citizens - 'In Your Car'

As a music blogger based in Peterborough and writing for the past few years, I think this may be my first post about a band based near the city. A historic moment. I was introduced to Among The Citizens last year by a close friend who went to college with the guys - cue a post-work gig in my hometown, another momentous occasion. (Gigs usually require a day out, or at least a frantic last minute train journey to London or elsewhere.) In new track In Your Car the band offer up a slice of indie/alternative in the vein of Catfish and the Bottlemen, Two Door Cinema Club and the like.

Like this? They're currently on a headline tour for This Feeling with a London show this Thursday (24th)  at The Monarch in Camden and a Cambridge show at Portland Arms on 2nd November.

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LISTEN: White Tail Falls - 'Give It Up, Son'

Kicking off the week with something freshly squeezed... Give It Up, Son, the debut track from London artist White Tail Falls. Earning instant bonus points from me the track has some gorgeous strings throughout, with beats from drum and synth machines creating a sound that seems to be almost pulsing. It is constant and repetitive, whilst also being added to when you least expect it. All this while Irwin's ever impressive vocals sit atop the music, making for a really intriguing debut.

He explains that the track is a "wake-up call from someone who loves you; imploring you to be honest with yourself. It's set in the context of addiction, where family and friends know what's going on but the addicted individual is still labouring under the misapprehension that they've got everything under control. The voice is that of a parent watching their child unravel. Addiction doesn't just affect the person with the disease." 

If you like what you're hearing and happen to be in London this evening, then get yourself to Servant Jazz Quarters for the single launch this evening. Tickets here.

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LISTEN: Brooke Bentham - 'All My Friends Are Drunk'

Singer-songwriter Brooke Bentham has shared the second of her tracks with Bill Ryder-Jones, a wistful track reflecting on lost youth, entitled All My Friends Are Drunk. In a description of the track which I find quite relatable, Brooke explains that "I wrote the lyrics about growing older, and growing apart, and learning about yourself. I was one year out of university and a lot of the lyrics on the album sound a bit lost because I realised I am so existential every day, and I'm so constantly aware of myself." Take a listen below and keep an ear out for more music to follow from the pair!

She's just finished up a run of shows supporting Bill Ryder-Jones, and he'll soon be playing as part of her band as main support on the Sam Fender UK tour across November and December. She's also playing a free solo show at The Islington in London on 9th December - full dates and tickets are here.

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