Tag Archives: single

Graywave : With Me, single released June 2020

There are hidden gems in the back catalogue of West Midlands based singer/songwriter and guitarist Graywave, the performing name of the multi-talented Jess Webberley.

On ‘Fluid’ from 2019 the poignant guitar and disconnected voice evolves into a huge doom-laden noisewall. The track then moves seamlessly and impressively back into almost a soothing instrumental and multivocals. ‘Afternoon Escapism’ is an evocative title for a languid guitar-line led pop musing. I also really like the dreamlike excursion of ‘Rain’, bringing to mind the best of Canadian indie outfit Alvvays.

Now new single ‘With Me’ takes the music in another direction, featuring a softer edged sound but with more dissonance, looseness of structure and otherworldliness in the music. The vocals have been absorbed into the textures of guitars and insistent drum pulse.
As the bassline descends gracefully and the guitar sparkles and fills the space above, the lyrical mantra ‘…always searching…always yearning…’ speaks of timelessness and longing.
Graywave describes the enigmatic cover artwork as ‘…depicts my bedroom with the addition of a portal leading elsewhere, tying in with the mood of the song….’.
This atmospheric track is released on June 18th, with more music to follow and hopefully some live shows with her band.

https://www.facebook.com/graywaveuk/

Jeremy Tuplin : Space Magic, single released May 2020

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A new single from highly creative troubadour Jeremy Tuplin, a precursor to new album ‘Violet Waves’, due later this year.
In 2019 he released ‘Pink Mirror’, an LP absolutely crammed with musical and lyrical ideas. It embraced love, mythology, social comment along with detailed musings on the grand and mundane (see review below). With his understated vocal delivery and either a simple and elegant guitar accompaniment for ‘The Beast’ or the progressive band excursions of ‘Pandora’s Box’ the sounds always complemented the direction of the words.

‘Space Magic’ is a track featuring his band The Ultimate Power Assembly, contributing a mellow lounge-jazz bossa nova groove perfect for heady summer days. The guitar dances around the main chord sequence, ringing out and playing around with the main tune. The words are a spaced-out road trip of surreal and imaginative astronomical references, ‘…the Saturn moon Enceladus – supposedly nice this time of year….’ or ‘…let’s dance, Cassiopeia’s second chance….’, inviting us to join him for the ride and ‘….take a chance…at the black hole dance…’ which may feature ‘…Capital Gold Motown Classics…’.

This journey culminates in what sounds like the heaven of ‘….intergalactic truth love-manic wreaking havoc in the most beautiful manner….’.
An electric guitar solo flows seamlessly into the mix and then fades out as this evocative song floats off into the ether.

http://www.jeremytuplin.com/
http://www.trappedanimal.com

Jeremy Tuplin : Pink Mirror, LP released 5 April 2019

Three Singles, released Spring 2020.

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Ward Thomas – Hold Space

‘Hold Space’ is a new song from UK country-pop duo Ward Thomas, building on the reputation of their acclaimed 2019 ‘Restless Minds’ album and it will be included on a forthcoming EP.
It is a well balanced union of a melody that holds the song without over-elaborate instrumentation and of course features the sisters’ sparkling harmonies. A straightforward lyric makes the point very effectively as it describes how to be there for someone who may be struggling emotionally. They recently supported James Blunt on his UK Arena Tour which probably opened up a whole new audience but I think I preferred seeing them headlining a stunning sellout show in the intimate setting of the Cambridge Junction last March.
The duo have now rescheduled their acoustic tour for September this year.

https://www.wardthomasmusic.com/

Ward Thomas, Junction, Cambridge, 1 March 2019

NZCA Lines – Real Good Time

NZCA Lines is a London based electronic duo who I first heard when they released a lush bit of synth-pop and nearly hit called ‘Two Hearts’ in 2015. As I often do I was initially attracted by the band name, inspired by the giant animal patterns in the Peruvian desert only visible from the air. This new track ‘Real Good Time’ features on an album ‘Pure Luxury’ due in July; this time the keyboards and beat have been simultaneously pumped up then unravelled as well as featuring unpredictability in the vocal sounds. The influence of some of the looser party-groove tracks by Prince weaves its way through too; it is a winning combination of out-there funk and elegant electrics.

https://www.nzca-lines.com/

Molly & The Moon – Rise

‘Rise’ is another super single from folk-country four-piece Molly & The Moon, a follow-up to heartbreaking ballad ‘Cold Is The Night’.
This song is very much an anthem of positivity, probably it would be perfectly placed as a finale to a live set (when those days come again…). Driven throughout by a pulsing rhythm guitar over a recurring and reassuring bass the lyrics refer to the inevitable passing of time ‘….can’t stop the sun from falling over the edge of the horizon…‘ but counteracted by the optimism ‘…as the sun will rise once more…‘. With extra band harmonies, the rich tones of keyboard and the continuing subtle but complex percussion pattern ‘Rise’ builds nicely to the grand final chorus – showing that there is plenty going on instrumentally in this song to add to Molly’s excellent vocal performance.

https://www.mollyandthemoon.co.uk/

Three Singles, released April/May 2020

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Lucy Gaffney – ‘Can’t Escape’

‘Can’t Escape’ is the debut solo single by Lucy Gaffney, a singer songwriter from Belfast, now based in Liverpool. She has been in other bands including a duo called MMODE with her brother and she has worked with The Coral. This is a smooth piece of dream pop, with one of those ‘War On Drugs’ type verses – a sort of two chord road movie sound and then goes into a biggish chorus which sticks in your head. The voice sounds full and rich and yet blends and blurs into the mix of this perfectly structured pop song.

https://www.facebook.com/LucyGaffneymusic/

Smoke Fairies – ‘No Matter How This Goes, Just Make Sure That You’re Kind’

Smoke Fairies are excellent live performers and they manage to transfer the dark atmospheres of their songs onto recordings too. I can highly recommend their last album ‘Darkness Brings the Wonders home’ and this track ‘No Matter How This Goes’, Just Make Sure That You’re Kind’ was recorded at the same time, and given its high quality and prescience perhaps surprisingly left off the LP, but the band have since explained that they didn’t think it suited the mood of the rest of the tracks.
They are essentially a duo, this quote from Pitchfork magazine describes them as follows ‘…..Blamire and Davies don’t trade vocal duties so much as appear to sing from the same body, their voices nearly indistinguishable, shifting between smoky moans and toe-curling trills…’.
I’m not so sure; I think the two voices subtly differ and contrast but the harmonies are definitely from another world. Look out for their home online performances, most recently raising money for the RSPCA.

https://www.facebook.com/SmokeFairies/

Moscoman feat.Tom Sanders – What Do We Care

This is three mixes of ‘What Do We Care’ by Moscoman, who is a producer and DJ specialising in ‘raw and rugged machine disco, acid, melodic techno, wonky house and dark disco’. He also crosses over into some surprising alternative territories and has his second album released on UK indie label Moshi Moshi later this year. After the sparse 80s keys of the introduction, this song features distinctive vocals from Tom Sanders of Teleman, one of my favourite live and studio bands that I have reviewed many times before. The track is probably a bit more clinically electronic and detached than Teleman’s more organic work but it is definitely worth several listens.

https://www.facebook.com/moscoman/

GodNo! : Hulk, single released 3 April 2020

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Combining elements of art and math rock the debut single from indie supergroup GodNo! (featuring members of Grawl!x, Pet Crow, Cable, Merrick’s Tusk) was the dissonant ‘Unholy Water’ with its tight, spiky anger loping between a main riff of two chords underneath a sinister double vocal describing the psychoactive effects of alcohol. The satisfying total onslaught sounded like it could fit into an electric version of Brecht/Weill’s ahead-of-their times 1930s theatre songs.

The new track ‘Hulk’ begins slightly lighter, with just drums and sparse guitar before a raw bass joins the party. This instrumental power frames an excellent disconnected vocal from Shelley Jane, with a gradually building level of intensity and tension ‘…. when what I get is the minimum that I expect….’ soon exploding into the searing guitar-led sensational chorus ‘…and being nice won’t save you….my strength is growing all the time…‘.
There are a couple of short instrumental bars but the rhythm guitar continues unrelentingly as the vocal phrases become more dominant, brittle and in the end unhinged ‘…I don’t say sorry for what I do…. I could be nice this is the choice….’ before a final link into the dark but catchy chorus.

This duo of blistering singles should be joined by more releases later this year…

https://www.facebook.com/GodNoBand/
https://recklessyes.com/

Fightmilk : I’m Starting To Think You Don’t Even Want To Go To Space, single released March 2020

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An excellent new single from powerpunk quartet Fightmilk, a preview of their much-anticipated second album, currently being recorded for release later this year on eclectic popsters haven Reckless Yes Records.

As on lead singer Lily’s recent solo EP (as ‘Captain Handsome’) there is a melancholy weaving through the lyric ‘…you said one day you’d fly me to the moon…these days you just make sad songs in your room…’.
Like many of the Fightmilk tracks there are cultural references to mull over and enjoy ‘….watching Interstellar didn’t make it better….reading Carl Sagan, looking kind of vacant….’ as well as a rare namecheck for ‘background radiation’ in a pop song.

The space theme is an apt metaphor for regret and disappointment (see Billy Bragg’s ‘The Space Race is Over’, ‘Jupiter Crash’ by the Cure, ‘Rocketman’ etc etc) but this new track manages to simultaneously embrace those feelings and take a different direction, as well as including a title that is possibly the longest in the history of this genre (beating Klaatu/The Carpenters ‘Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft’….).

It is a thoughtful but sharp lyric, well-delivered by Lily over rich ever-changing music with otherworldly guitar shimmers and a thumping bass and drums in the chorus. A short instrumental break has an ascending wall of distortion like Apollo 11 taking off, before the music calms down and celestial harmony is restored…

https://www.facebook.com/fightmilkisaband
https://recklessyes.com/

Julia Bardo : Phase, EP released March 2020

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Relocating from Brescia in Italy to Manchester, Julia Bardo has absorbed musical influences and developed her cross-genre styling to great effect. I wrote a review of track 2, one of the taster singles from this EP for http://www.indiemidlands.co.uk, now the finished package has been released….

1. Into Your Eyes Gentle sound effects lure us into this classy opener. Julia’s voice is right at the front of the mix, expressive but somehow otherworldly as the guitar layers are gradually added to. Unhurried and melancholy, it is an outstanding track with a sound reminiscent of Canadian indie dream-poppers Alvvays at their echoing best.

2. Please Don’t Tell Me With a disconnected feeling in the music and lyrics, this starts with a distant vocal floating across an alt-country soundscape. This soon bridges into a catchier chorus ‘….. please don’t tell me who I am…please don’t tell me who you are…’ as a guitar figure sounds subtly jarring and dissonant, then goes into a short instrumental link.
And all of this in the first half of the song. There is plenty of musical activity in less than four minutes; add in the video too with the red and blue coloured versions of Julia’s conscience, the possibly deserted performance venue and the old portable TV and this is a rich, rewarding and thought-provoking track.

3. Lonely Morning A faster rhythm-driven song, with percussion and a spiky electric guitar setting the pace. With the sentiment of the lyrics never quite certain the chorus ‘….and when you wake in the morning lights are gone and you’re lonely….’ settles nicely in your consciousness and won’t leave.

4. I Wanna Feel Love This is a hybrid of 60s multi-layer torch song and moody dream-pop, complete with Italian spoken word section and retro instrumentation. The yearning and heartache in the vocals stays with you as this excellent EP reaches its end.

http://juliabardo.co.uk/
https://www.wichita-recordings.com/

Hydra Lerna : Camera, single released March 2020

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‘Camera’ is the stunning new single from singer/composer/musician Hydra Lerna, self-produced as always and this time moving into a lighter pop groove. Despite the summery flavours of the music, there is a darker side in the lyrical conflicts of the narrator being in a difficult relationship, not quite sure of the conclusion but aware of the positives (‘….It’s a hundred degrees outside…but in here it’s intensified….’).

Many of her songs show that Hydra Lerna has always been able to turn a lyrical phrase inside-out and use some evocative imagery ‘…hold me like a bed of nails… I think I found my holy grail…’ and explanation ‘….it is all in our flawed design…puzzle pieces with jagged lines…’. But the situation described here is sort of equal, with the slightly sinister pay-off ‘…when we’re hanging in the balance….I’ll have the photographs of you…’

It is a lyrically dense and thought-provoking song and the music reflects the ebb and flow of the words; based around two six note keyboard figures there is a deep bass counterpoint and subtle percussion.
Hydra Lerna is a talented harp player and has featured this on some of her previous tracks but this time the unique instrument has been left to gather dust in the studio cupboard; as she explains “There is no harp in Camera at all sadly, just synths! I moved away from it for this track because I wanted to be free to create something upbeat and dancey, without feeling like I needed to sit and write with the harp”

The innovative video features lots of secret filming in Norwich city centre shops, as Hydra links together the photography of the video-watcher, herself and the surroundings and looks like she is having great fun in the process!

https://hydralerna.com

Sunset Beach Hut : Twenty//25\\five, single released March 2020

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Midlands quartet Sunset Beach Hut last recorded in 2018, with ‘Comfort’ and ‘Upside-Down’ hitting many critical radars and most noticeably the much-streamed ‘Bury’. This distinctive track was simultaneously haunting and soothing with a flowing and busy guitar line and relaxed counterpoint vocals.

They have continued to play live to an appreciative following and now the excellent new single ‘Twenty//25\\five’ arrives, hinting at a renewed flourishing for the band. On this enigmatically named and punctuated track the guitar has continued to glitter in the mix, floating amiably through the song with reassuring echo and melodic depth as the vocals by Aphra Smith beguile and intrigue – lyrically cryptic and melancholic (‘…I’m a glass of champ that’s lost its fizz, a half empty bottle when it comes down to it…’) but always returning to the chorus line ‘….I came to dance my thoughts away…. out of your spotlights….’.
The lo-fi creative animation of the video combines effectively with the song to become strangely uplifting and thought-provoking, as the bass and drums drive the rhythm along with a relaxing confidence until the abrupt end; the two minutes ten passes all too quickly…

https://www.facebook.com/sunsetbeachhut/

Molly & The Moon : Cold Is The Night, single released February 2020

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First recorded as a solo acoustic ballad in 2019 by folk country singer and composer Molly-Anne this stunning new version has reimagined and expanded the original and now stands as the first release from the new band Molly & The Moon.

Reassuringly the track has retained the subtlety and understatement; set to a gentle waltz time it is a simple expression of missing a loved one ‘…I think that I love you too much…you’d break my heart if you never came back…’ resolving into the perfectly balanced three-part harmony chorus, ‘….cold is the night without you here….the pain of my heartache as wild as the sea…I hope the wind blows you back to me….’.
The production and performance is relaxed and mellow – with the rich but delicate lead vocal hinting at the depth of emotion beneath the surface.
This new band line-up features acoustic bass, guitar, banjo and cajón and is featured in an atmospheric video recorded at a 10th Century Saxon Barn in Gloucestershire, an appropriately timeless and classic setting for this gorgeous song.

(Molly & The Moon can be seen at the charity Frameshifter II Festival on 21st March, tickets available here )

https://www.mollyandthemoon.co.uk/

Molly-Anne : Autumn Leaves, EP released December 2019