Alexander Laurence's Blog, page 1155

Pole Announces New Album; Listen To "Röschen"

POLE

ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM

FADING
OUT NOVEMBER 6

LISTEN TO “RÖSCHEN” credit: Ben de Biel Pole (aka Stefan Betke) announces details of a new album and shares the first track, “Röschen.“ Listen here.

Fading  is set for release on Mute on November 6. Available on vinyl, CD and digital platforms, the new album follows Mute’s remastered reissues of his groundbreaking trilogy,  1 2 3 , at the beginning of the year. “Every Pole record connects to recordings that I've made before,” Betke explains. “In order to stay in this kind of vertical development, the ideas from 1,2,3 up to now are connected. I keep the interesting elements, languages and vocabulary that I designed and add new elements.”

Pre-order Fading here.

The exploration of one’s own history relates to the inspiration for Fading. “The album was mostly inspired by the idea of memory loss,” explains Betke. “My mum had dementia and I saw her losing all the memory that she had accumulated over her 91 long years. When losing that memory it turned into what she was probably like in the beginning of her life when she was born - like an empty box.”

A concept album this is not however. The role of memory loss was simply a springboard for Betke, an idea for the Berlin based artist to further explore through sound. “It was the motor for moving in this direction,” he says. “So for the opening track, ‘Drifting,’ there is the idea of a whole lifespan that starts pretty empty and it gets fuller and then it ends with this kind of bell sound in the background. Or ‘Fading,’ the last track, deals with the idea of fading away and disappearing slowly. But you always leave something. You leave a feeling or an image or an atmosphere. Everybody who lives leaves something on this earth.”

This approach gave Betke the opportunity to reconnect with his own memory and past. “You can hear some little pops and glitches in the background of this recording, which is a direct reference to the trilogy,” he says. “But you hear it relatively quietly in the background, this is a little bit of a sign from me, as my history is fading away slowly too.”  

Due to the multifaceted nature of Betke, the end result is an album that feels as suited for immersive headphone listening as it does to being pummeled out through a PA loud enough to feel the bass rattle your ribcage.

It may have begun life with the embrace of an accident - Pole is named after a broken Waldorf 4-Pole filter that gave him the distinct sound - but over the years it has morphed and transitioned into a finely tuned and honed project with a deft yet potent sense of evolution. Accidents are, however, still something to be cherished in Betke’s world; the striking artwork for the album being a prime example. “During a super heavy thunderstorm my TV broke down and I couldn't see anything for 10 minutes,” he says. “As my screen was trying to recover it looked very strange. I took hundreds of pictures and when I was going through the photos, I saw these three where there are people coming into the image and fading out at the end. They look like oil paintings, and the fading away process is remade in the trilogy of these photos.”

So the presentation of the final album merges a perfect blend of considered craft with an unpredictable accident - much like the trilogy that started all this off.
 

Fading  Tracklisting
1. Drifting
2. Tangente
3. Erinnerung
4. Traum
5. Tölpel
6. Röschen
7. Nebelkrähe
8. FadingPre-order Fading
Listen to “Röschen”
 POLE:  WEBSITE  |  SOUNDCLOUD  |  FACEBOOK  |  SPOTIFY  |  APPLE MUSIC

MUTE:  WEBSITE  |  FACEBOOK  |  TWITTER  | INSTAGRAM |  SOUNDCLOUD

Smokescreens announces new Slumberland LP produced by David Kilgour (The Clean), shares first single

Smokescreens announces new Slumberland LP produced by David Kilgour (The Clean), shares first single

A Strange Dream is out Oct. 30

STREAM: "Fork In The Road" -
SoundCloud / Streaming Services



Los Angeles' Smokescreens are a group of friends who bonded through a love for New Zealand's Flying Nun label, as well as shared inspirations such as The Velvet Underground, The Go-Betweens, The Television Personalities and of course indie pop of all flavors. Their self-titled debut was released to wide acclaim in 2017, and was quickly followed-up with the excellent Used To Yesterday in 2018.

Since then they've toured a bit, written a bunch and made some great friends along the way. One new friend and fan is David Kilgour from legendary New Zealand band The Clean, who came to LA to produce Smokescreens' new record A Strange Dream. Recorded with trusted engineer Kyle Mullarky, this terrific album exhibits a band at the very height of their powers, combining their collective talents into a potent set of songs that's been superbly captured by the team of Kilgour and Mullarky.

From the jaunty pop of opener "Fork In The Road" to the rocking "Streets of Despair" and the dreamy "On and On" this is a record that clearly shows a band that knows it's way around a timeless guitar riff and aching pop melody. Gorgeous ballads like "Nighttime Skies" and "I Love Only You" add a new depth to Smokescreens' sound, and the cover of Scrotum Poles' DIY classic "Pick The Cats Eyes Out" is perfect, and perfectly fun. Add in an evocative cover painting from Mr. Kilgour and you have a record looks as good as it sounds, and will prove to be compulsive listening for any savvy pop fan.

Press photo by David Kilgour




Smokescreens
A Strange Dream
Slumberland Records
[Click here to pre-order]
Street Date: Oct. 30, 2020

Track Listing:

1. Fork in the Road
2. Working Title
3. Streets of Despair
4. Night Time Skies
5. On and On
6. I Want to Know
7. Pick The Cats Eyes Out
8. I Love Only You


SMOKESCREENS LINKS:

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Facebook
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Twitter
Slumberland Records

CHARLOTTE DAY WILSON RETURNS WITH TWO NEW SINGLES

CHARLOTTE DAY WILSON RETURNS WITH TWO NEW SINGLES

LISTEN TO "TAKE CARE OF YOU" FEAT. SYD
AND "SUMMERTIME"


"Charlotte Day Wilson is a one-person powerhouse." - THE FADER

"Wilson's voice is warm, like a low soothing hum with a touch of soul."- HARPER'S BAZAAR

"Blending elements of jazz, soul, folk, and R&B, Wilson writes deeply personal lyrics and delivers them with the expertise of a seasoned vocalist." - COMPLEX


PHOTO CREDIT: Othello Crey


Singer, songwriter, and producer Charlotte Day Wilson returns today with two new tracks - the velvety love song "Take Care Of You" feat. Syd and the effortlessly sunny "Summertime". The Toronto native melds soul, jazz, and R&B to create atmospheric upbeat ballads that breathe warmth and intimacy into contemporary pop. Her first offerings of 2020 a prime example, Wilson's latest continue to entice and expand her sound and catalog, setting the tone for more to come.


Charlotte on the singles: " 'Take Care of You' was one of those songs that came really naturally and quickly, the lyrics were impromptu & the music was simple. I just wanted to write the sort of lesbian love song that I would want to listen to. Syd was the best possible addition, we both felt it was a song that needed to be heard. I wrote Summertime at my cottage alone in the woods, I was just reflecting on some unrequited emotions that always seem to come back in the summer."


Growing up in Canada, Wilson studied classical piano and the practice of active listening - specifically Jazz with her parents in the living room of her childhood home. As a teenager, she taught herself how to produce using Garageband and she took her first stab at writing lyrics on her debut self-released EP Palimpsest in 2012. Her early work highlights her nonconforming sound melding elements of folk, soul, jazz and hip-hop. After a short time in school, she left the program to pursue her career in music - soon after collaborating with the likes of Kaytranada, Daniel Caesar, and BadBadNotGood, before releasing her second EP in 2016, CDW. The lead single from CDW, "Work" earned press acclaim from the likes of NPR, Teen Vogue, The Fader, W Magazine, and nominations for the 2017 SOCAN Songwriting Prize and the 2017 Polaris Music Prize. In 2018, Wilson released Stone Woman a 6-track EP that charts the collapse of a relationship. Upon release, Stone Woman earned recognition fromThe Fader,
Harpers Bazaar , Pitchfork, and more. Wilson's most recent release "Mountains" (co-written by the legendary Babyface and featuring background vocals from Daniel Caesar) is a gospel-infused soul-stirring track that chronicles a declining love.

Wilson's contemporary take on R&B and Soul showcases her sublime vocals and her ingenuity as she fuses vintage basslines, gospel assonance, and contemporary minimalist production to create a strikingly beautiful sonic aura. Stay tuned for more to come.

LISTEN TO "TAKE CARE OF YOU" FEAT. SYD
https://orcd.co/tcoy

LISTEN TO "SUMMERTIME"

https://orcd.co/summertime



ART CREDIT: Ryan Davis


FOLLOW CHARLOTTE DAY WILSON
INSTAGRAM
TWITTER
FACEBOOK
YOUTUBE

Emerging singer-songwriter Lizzy McAlpine releases debut album Give Me A Minute today

INTRODUCING EMERGING SINGER-SONGWRITER LIZZY MCALPINEDEBUT ALBUM GIVE ME A MINUTE OUT NOW

  
Album ArtworkAugust 13, 2020— Give Me A Minute , the debut album from emerging singer-songwriter Lizzy McAlpine is out now. McAlpine’s debut follows the release of an eight-track project she released in 2018 titled, Indigo. Fans can listen to/share Give Me A Minute here: https://lizzymcalpine.ffm.to/givemeaminute Written in the fall of 2019 while she was studying in Spain, Give Me a Minute is a folk-pop chronicle as one romantic relationship ended and another began, all while McAlpine far away from family, friends and her peers at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she majors in songwriting. “It was a very lonely time, so I wrote a lot of songs… That tends to happen whenever I go through a large-scale change, whether it’s in my environment or in my personal life,” says McAlpine.After spending a year on Give Me a Minute, which she co-produced with fellow Berklee classmate Philip Etherington, McAlpine already has the early stages of a follow-up project in mind. “This album one is like a snapshot of where I was at that time,” she says. “The next project could be completely different. Honestly, it depends on where I’m at and what I’m going through.”McAlpine is from outside Philadelphia and has been drawn to music since she was big enough to thump on her grandparents’ piano as a kid. Soon her freeform experiments took on greater structure where she began to share original songs and covers on Soundcloud and YouTube.With 5 million streams to date on DSPs, McAlpine’s gained notable supporters on TikTok from Shawn Mendez, Jacob Collier, Lennon Stella, Ben Platt, Jeremy Zucker and more.GIVE ME A MINUTE TRACKLIST1. Give Me A Minute2. Nothing/Sad N Stuff3. Over-the-Ocean Call (Andrew)4. I Know5. Where Do I Go?6. To the Mountains7. You, Love (Interlude)8. Means Something9. Same Boat10. Pancakes for Dinner11. How Do I Tell You?12. Apple Pie13. Headstones & Land Mines
 

Old 97's Share New Single “Bottle Rocket Baby”

OLD 97’SShare New Single “Bottle Rocket Baby”
New Album Twelfth Out Next Week on ATO RecordsPhoto credit: Alysse Gafkjen
Today Old 97’s share new single “Bottle Rocket Baby,” the final preview of their new album Twelfth before its release next week. Twelfth is a look back on the band’s nearly three decade history, and “Bottle Rocket Baby” reflects the years of hard living they survived, with Rhett Miller singing, “Unemployed downtown workin’ on a buzz / All my high-class friends are hidin’ out from the fuzz / I got a resumé of what never was / The good time rolls it always does.” Listen to “Bottle Rocket Baby” HERE. 
Twelfth, which also features the previously released singles “Turn Off The TV” and “The Dropouts,” is out next week, August 21, on ATO Records, and is available pre-order HERE. Join the band for an album listening party on their YouTube and Facebook on Thursday, August 20 at 9pm EDT.
EARLY PRAISE FOR TWELFTH:
“Old 97’s’ Rhett Miller Wrote Killer Drinking Songs. Now He’s Sober and Still at the Top of His Game.” – ROLLING STONE “The aptly named Twelfth (for the band’s twelfth studio album) finds Miller and the boys—Murry Hammond, Ken Bethea, and Philip Peeples—jamming once more, breaking up ruminations on past relationships and mistakes with guitar riffs and a head-bopping backbeat.” – AV CLUB “Classic Old 97s every step of the way yet pulses with the energy of a band making their debut, with unstoppable musical swagger and Miller’s effortless lyrical eloquence on full display.” – AMERICAN SONGWRITER “The country-punk hybrid sound the band has long been adored for is brilliantly present and accounted for.” – DALLAS NEWS “Even in their weightiest moments, Old 97's can still be best described as a band that elevates the spirits.” – POP MATTERSMORE ON TWELFTH:
“Somehow what we’ve got never breaks down,” Rhett Miller sings on Old 97’s exhilarating new album, Twelfth. At first, the line comes off as a boast, as a declaration of invincibility from a band that’s managed to survive three decades of rock and roll debauchery, but as the phrase repeats over and over again, it slowly transforms into something more incredulous, something more vulnerable, something deeply human. “We experienced some close calls over the last few years,” says Miller, “and I think that led us to this dawning realization of the fragility of it all. At the same time, it also led us to this increased gratitude for the music and the brotherhood we’ve been so lucky to share. I think all of that combined to make recording this album one of the most intensely joyful experiences we’ve ever had as a band.” That joy is utterly palpable on Twelfth. Loose and raw, the record is an ecstatic celebration of survival, a resounding ode to endurance and resilience from a veteran group that refuses to rest on their considerable laurels. Working out of Sputnik Sound in Nashville, Miller and his longtime bandmates—bassist Murry Hammond, guitarist Ken Bethea, and drummer Philip Peeples—teamed up once again with GRAMMY-winning producer Vance Powell (Chris Stapleton, Jack White), and while the resulting album boasts all the hallmarks of a classic Old 97’s record (sex and booze, laughter and tears, poetry and blasphemy), it also showcases a newfound perspective in its writing and craftsmanship, a maturity and appreciation that can only come with age and experience. Perhaps the band is growing up; maybe they’re just getting started. Either way, Old 97’s have never been happier to be alive. “You have to take pride in the unlikeliness of it all,” says Miller. “It’s mind boggling to think that we’ve been able to last this long, that we’ve been able to support ourselves and our families on our own terms for almost thirty years. Twelve is a lot of records.” Formed in Dallas, Texas, Old 97’s first emerged in the early ’90s with an adrenaline pumping blend of rock and roll swagger, punk snarl, and old-school twang that quickly brought them into the national spotlight. Conventional wisdom places the band at the forefront of a musical movement that would come to be known as “alternative country,” but, as the New York Times so succinctly put it, their sound always “leaned more toward the Clash than the Carter Family.” Fueled by breakneck tempos, distorted guitars, and wry storytelling, the foursome built a reputation for high-energy albums and even higher energy shows, earning themselves performances everywhere from Conan and Letterman to Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza alongside countless rave reviews. NPR lauded the group as a “pioneering force,” while Rolling Stone hailed their music’s “whiskey-wrecked nihilism and slow-burn heartbreak,” and The New Yorker praised their songwriting as “blistered, blasted, and brilliant.” On top of his prodigious output with Old 97’s, Miller simultaneously established himself as a prolific solo artist, as well, releasing eight studio albums under his own name that garnered similarly wide-ranging acclaim and landed in a slew of prominent film and television soundtracks. A gifted writer beyond his music, Miller also contributed essays and short stories to The Atlantic, Salon, McSweeney’s, and Sports Illustrated among others, and in 2019, he released his debut book, a collection of poetry for children, via Little, Brown and Company. While part of Old 97’s charm has always been the air of playful invulnerability they exude onstage every night, reality began catching up with the band in 2017. The night before a television appearance in support of the group’s most recent album, Graveyard Whistling, Peeples collapsed in a hotel parking lot, falling backwards and cracking his skull on a concrete abutment. He spent weeks in the ICU and was forced to miss the first leg of tour. Bethea, meanwhile, began to notice a loss of feeling in the fingers of his right hand. As his condition continued to deteriorate on the road, the numbness spread to his leg, and he was eventually forced to undergo spinal surgery in order to regain full motor control. Miller, for his part, found himself at more of an existential crossroads, questioning attitudes and behaviors he’d long taken for granted. Yes, he was a rock and roll star (whatever that means nowadays), but he was also a father and a husband, and he decided it was long since time to get sober.  “Back when we were in our 20’s, we put ourselves through these terrible trials because we thought we could survive anything,” says Miller. “But over the last few years, it started becoming clear that we’re human.”  Rather than slow things down, the band decided to embrace their mortality as all the more reason to seize the day. Life is short—a lesson that was hammered home on the group’s first day of recording in Nashville, when a series of deadly tornadoes ripped through town—and Twelfth is the sound of Old 97’s recommitting themselves to making the most of every moment they’ve got left. Addictive opener “The Dropouts” sets the stage, taking stock of the band’s journey from its very first days, when they cut their teeth playing the bars of Deep Ellum in exchange for pitchers of beer and pizza. Like much of the record to come, it’s a nostalgic look back on simpler times, but it smartly avoids looking at the past through rose-colored glasses, instead recognizing that change is neither inherently good nor bad, only inevitable. “There’s a line about sleeping on hardwood floors in that song,” says Miller, “and that’s what we did in the early days. But that image of hardwood floors keeps coming back and building on itself in different songs throughout the album, and over time it begins to mean different things as we grow up and start families and own homes.” Miller has a knack for capturing those sorts of little details that tell a larger story, for crafting richly cinematic scenes that transform seemingly mundane moments into metaphors for life itself. The driving lead single “Turn Off The TV,” for instance, spins a free cable hookup into a celebration of the visceral pleasures of living in the present, while the larger-than-life “Diamonds On Neptune” turns an astronomical phenomenon into a meditation on what really matters, and the waltzing “Belmont Hotel” finds emotional symbolism in the restoration of a Dallas landmark. “‘Belmont Hotel’ is a microcosm of the album, and of our band,” says Miller. “When we first started out, the Belmont was in absolute ruins, and we even did a photoshoot in the empty parking lot. Now, though, it’s more beautiful than it was in its glory days, and that got me thinking about the way we approach our relationships. Whether it’s a friendship or a marriage or a band, it’s inevitable that you’re going to go through ups and downs, but if you’re willing to put in the work and stick out the hard times, you can wind up with something that’s better than it ever was before.” While Miller collaborated with writers like Butch Walker and Nicole Atkins on Graveyard Whistling, he penned everything on Twelfth himself (outside of the Spaghetti Western-esque “Happy Hour” and hypnotic album closer “Why Don’t We Ever Say We’re Sorry,” which were both written and sung by Hammond). It’s a return to form he credits in part to his increasing comfort with sobriety, a comfort that finds him effortlessly running the gamut from playful romance (the dreamy “I Like You Better”) and brash bravado (the blistering “Confessional Boxing”) to supernatural fantasy (the Kinks-ian “This House Got Ghosts”) and old-school twang (the rollicking “Bottle Rocket Baby”). It’s perhaps the jaunty “Absence (What We’ve Got)” that captures this particular moment in Old 97’s history best, though, as Miller marvels at the way things change while staying the same. “The wine turns into whiskey / And the whiskey turns to tears / It’s been this way for years,” he sings, later summing the whole magic act up with a deceptively simple confession: “This is what I do.” Old 97’s may be human, but somehow what they’ve got never breaks down.
old97s.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Lia Ices Shares New Song "Hymn," First New Music In 6 Years

LIA ICESRELEASES NEW SINGLE“HYMN” OUT TODAY!
https://ffm.to/hymnPhoto Credit: Renee FriedrichToday singer-songwriter Lia Ices releases a gorgeous and ethereal new single “Hymn,” her first bit of new music in 6 years. Lia says, “‘Hymn’ touches on my relationship with “the muse”, or spirituality, or love — how I receive inspiration and give it back via the magic and mystery of the creative process, exposing both my introverted and extroverted self to the listener— which both exist as highly charged opposites in my art and personality. My good friend and director, Conor Hagen shot the accompanying video over the course of 9 months on super 8 film, while my band and I played shows up and down California and the pacific northwest last year. Playing music with others and for others is a ritual, there is an alchemy between band members, between audience and performer, between filmmaker and subject that is so powerful and humanly enriching and I am so grateful to have captured those moments. I realize now more than ever, that the magic of performance with the gift of music is my life source. And with the future of live shows being so unknown, this song and video are a bittersweet celebration of it all and a kind of intention setting of what I’ll be ready to return to.” 
The single is out via Lia’s own Natural Music. “Making music is an intimate process for me,” Lia says, “I created Natural Music as a container to make the music I want to make, and to reveal it to the world in my own personal way. It's empowering to connect more directly and build a community around the making and releasing of art — which, after more than ten years in the business, has been the most powerful aspect of making albums." Watch the video for “Hymn” here:  Listen to “Hymn” HERE.
Lia Ices has released 3 critically acclaimed albums - 2008’s Necima (Rare Book Room) followed by Grown Unknown (Jagjaguwar Records) in 2011, and then the simply titled Ices in 2014, also on Jagjaguwar Records. Her music has been covered from Vogue to Pitchfork to The New York Times and has been heard on HBO’s GIRLS, Gray’s Anatomy, and Oliva Wild’s Booksmart.  In 2015 she married wine-maker Andrew Mariani and relocated from Brooklyn to Sonoma County.   
“Hymn” is Ices’ first California output and was written at her home on Moon Mountain in Sonoma, while Ices was pregnant with her first child. She and her band recorded the track in Los Angeles with producer JR White (Girls, Tobias Jesso Jr), and it was mixed by Chris Coady (Beach House, Amen Dunes ) at Sunset Sound, Los Angeles. “Hymn” also marks a return to the piano, and Lia further states, “Coming to California and living on the mountain and being in nature, and then starting to grow a human, I wanted to make something without having any ulterior motives other than letting what naturally happens, happen.” “Hymn” also marks a return to the piano, and Lia further states, “Coming to California and living on the mountain and being in nature, and then starting to grow a human, I wanted to make something without having any ulterior motives other than letting what naturally happens, happen.”
Past praise for Lia Ices"Many new songs on Grown Unknown begin with the same ghostly melancholy of fellow nymph-rock poster girls such as Cat Power and Scout Niblett but, halfway through, transform without warning into warm, Stevie Nicks–like jams, which wouldn’t seem out of place on the soundtrack to a Wes Anderson film." Vogue
"The key asset on Grown Unknown is her impressively supple voice, which can spiral up into a giddy falsetto and fall crashing to the floor in dolorous rumination within a heartbeat" Pitchfork
"’Love Is Won’ (is a) simmering ballad that set Ices' stunning if cryptic vocals against a backdrop of elegant electric organ and spare drums, the track was used to devastating effect over the end credits in the first season of Girls. Ices finds Lia Ices in a more experimental mode, as she makes her rhythms first and builds her songs in light layers atop the beats. ‘Tell Me’ and the percolating ‘Higher’ capture an ebullience that brings to mind Paul Simon's Graceland or Panda Bear's Person Pitch." NPR
"Ices seems to be playing on her own field and setting up her own rules. There is always an air of mystery and wisdom in her pieces. This album (Ices) is a leap in a different direction but like her past work it possesses its own uniquely exotic gifts."  ABC News
“Ices, Lia's follow-up to 2011's Grown Unknown release is nothing short of a massive accomplishment in experimental folk music that pays off in the most surprising ways...Lia's entrancing and absorbing vocal style help keep you firmly placed in her grasp managing to convey a message through sound rather than words.”  PopMattersFind Lia Ices here:Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

HAAi Unveils Video For "Rotating In Unison;" New EP Out September 18

HAAi

UNVEILS SELF-CREATED AND EDITED VIDEO FOR
“ROTATING IN UNISON”

TAKEN FROM HER 4-TRACK EP

PUT YOUR HEAD ABOVE THE PARAKEETS
OUT SEPTEMBER 18credit: Imogene von Barron HAAi has created a video for “Rotating In Unison,” taken from the forthcoming EP  Put Your Head Above The Parakeets . “Rotating In Unison” is out now while the rest of the EP will be released on vinyl 12” and digital platforms September 18. Watch the video here.

Pre-order Put Your Head Above The Parakeets here.

Talking about “Rotating In Unison,” HAAi (aka Teneil Throssell) explained, “The track and the visual were both made to highlight beauty and coexistence as we all rotate around the sun. To try and remember beauty and calm in a time of uncertainty and unrest, even for just a few minutes. I really enjoyed creating this myself, incorporating visuals I’ve been using and making over the years. Thank you to Finn, Alex, Alice and Immy for allowing me to include you in this.”

The opening track for the EP, “Head Above The Parakeets,” premiered on Mary Anne Hobbs’ BBC Radio 6 Music show. Listen here.

Recent online sets include an hour-long show alongside Mute label boss Daniel Miller for Love Record Stores Event and a show from her flat in East London for Boiler Room’s Streaming from Isolation series.

The new EP is the follow up to HAAi’s debut for Mute,  Systems Up, Windows Down  EP, described by The Observer as “a bolshy collection of vibrant face-melters.” Stream and purchase here.
 

Put Your Head Above The Parakeets EP Tracklisting
1. Head Above The Parakeets
2. Rotating In Unison
3. Bon Viveur
4. Bass Is The Place
 Pre-order Put Your Head Above The Parakeets
Watch the “Head Above The Parakeets” video
Watch the “Rotating In Unison” video
Listen to HAAi’s BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix
 HAAI: FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | SOUNDCLOUD | SPOTIFY | APPLE MUSIC

MUTE:  WEBSITE  |  FACEBOOK  |  TWITTER  | INSTAGRAM |  SOUNDCLOUD

Nana Adjoa Shares New Single "I Want To Change" via Gorilla vs. Bear!

NANA ADJOA SHARES NEW SONG “I WANT TO CHANGE” VIA GORILLA VS. BEAR
DEBUT ALBUM BIG DREAMING ANTS OUT SEPTEMBER 24TH(Photo Credit: Latoya van der Meeren)
The Dutch-Ghanian singer-songwriter has been readying the release of her highly anticipated debut album Big Dreaming Ants throughout 2020 and with previously released gems like “Throw Stones” and “She’s Stronger” it’s easy to see why people are sitting up and taking notice. 
Gorilla vs. Bear premiered the new song “I Want To Change” calling it, “yet another vibrant, elegantly understated but sonically adventurous anthem…” Adjoa told them, “The desire to change is a weird feeling and brings with it a dichotomy of emotions. You get a sense of wanting to move forward, of getting out of a (perhaps self-imposed) rut, but you also fear leaving behind the comfort and security of what you know. With ‘I Want To Change,’ I’m giving space to an inner voice that quietly yearns for change and amplifying it in a way, calling for change that speaks to both the global and individual scale. I wrote the song over a year ago, now placing it in the context of the current state of the world, that inner voice feels more like a call to action for myself.” "I Want To Change" VideoStream "I Want To Change HERE.The track comes off the back of “No Room,” a song which Complex describe as a “beautifully calming track — built around little more than a guitar and Adjoa's stunningly gentle voice”. 
Big Dreaming Ants is an impressive body of work from one of this year’s most interesting new voices. 
Adjoa tells us “It’s like being a piece of a puzzle – this small person, dreaming about larger things.” It’s those larger things that have kept Adjoa growing as an artist, crafting new sounds, writing adroitly-worded allegories, and pondering life’s philosophical questions. And in her ongoing search for identity, the one constant that remains at the core of her being is music. “For me,” she says, “music is a way to believe in something deeper.”
Big Dreaming Ants will be available worldwide September 24th. "No Room" Video
Praise for Nana Adjoa:
"powerful" - The FADER
"The music will envelop you like a warm hug while Adjoa's lyrics make you feel like you are loved and in the safest of places" - Refinery29
"It’s Joan Armatrading by way of Mazzy Star, intimate and glossy, simple and surreal." - Consequence of Sound 
"Her lyrics are honest and relatable” - Stereogum 
“Her resolute ballads wrestling with race, gender, and sexuality... accruing a well-earned audience along the way.” - FLOOD "Throw Stones" Video

TRACKLISTING:National SongCardboard CastleThrow StonesNo RoomIn Lesser Light PollutionEvery SongLove and DeathShe’s StrongerWho Do We Look to NowI Want to Change
Born to a Dutch mother and a Ghanaian father, Adjoa joined her first band as a teenager, choosing to play bass because, “Every other instrument had been claimed,” she laughs. Yet – it was a lucky twist of fate. Unbeknownst to the musician, her mother had once been the bassist in a Ghanaian Highlife band and still happened to have her guitar.
Later, Adjoa entered the prestigious jazz program at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. But she soon learned that her musical passions lay elsewhere. She joined a variety of bands, began recording her own music and, in 2014, entered herself in the Grote Prijs van Nederland – the longest-running and biggest pop-music competition in the Netherlands. She made it to the finals, but most importantly, she gained a band, a manager, and the confidence to launch a solo career.
With a newfound sense of purpose, the artist’s work flowed. In 2017, Adjoa released a debut EP, Down at the Root (Pt. 1), followed by 2018’s Down at the Root (Pt. 2), and A Tale So Familiar. With each EP came wider critical acclaim, increased support from influential radio stations and streaming platforms, and a larger radius for touring. By the end of 2018, Adjoa had toured her way through New York, Los Angeles, London, and Amsterdam while playing some of the Netherlands’ largest festival stages.
Adjoa set out to write her first full-length album at the beginning of 2019. Now working in her own studio, she not only had the freedom to write and record songs nearly simultaneously, but she also had a wide palette of instruments at her disposal. The result, on Big Dreaming Ants, is a profusion of sounds: lush, yet delicate, intimate while expansive, and moody yet hopeful. A diverse array of multilayered tonal textures can be heard throughout the songs, and on any given listen, one will hear something new – a thumb piano, vibraphone or a vintage harmonium. 
Though Adjoa – who typically plays the guitar on stage – handled the majority of the instrumentation herself, she also engaged a variety of musicians to lend their talents, including members of her live band – drummer Mats Voshol, trombonist Daniel van Loenen, and guitarist Tim Schakel – as well as local artists Jonas Pap, who performed a variety of string arrangements and Eelco Topper on the vibraphone. The Rotterdam-based producer, Wannes Salomé, brought a sense of focus and cohesion to Adjoa’s ambitious work.
On a track like “National Song,” which opens the record, Adjoa looks at cultural identity. “Every country has a national song,” she explains. “In the Netherlands, ours is translated from old Dutch. So everybody sings along but they don’t know what it means.” She elaborates, “It made me question the tradition, and why we feel the need to belong to a nation when borders aren’t as clear as they used to be.” The song is also about searching for one’s own identity – on a personal, cultural and global level.
Having fallen into a new romantic relationship, Adjoa was also moved to write her first love song, “In Lesser Light Pollution.” She explains that the lyrics “Are all about missing somebody and hoping that the time will pass until you can be back with them.” She recalls that she was inspired by looking at the moon one night, wondering if they both could see it. Adjoa also vocalized her feelings through an inspired cover of “Love And Death” by the legendary Ghanaian artist Ebo Taylor. Adjoa honored the song’s afrobeat roots, while also making it entirely her own.
When it came to the title for Big Dreaming Ants, Adjoa looked to the album’s closing track, “I Want To Change,” in which she sings, “Big dreaming, little ants/It’s just, who we are.” The artist shares, “That line really summarized all of the thoughts that I was having when I was recording these songs.” She adds, “I’m having these dreams about what my life could be, but I’m also seeing myself as a small part in this chain of people – all these small pieces working on something, and they don’t really understand how it’s connected or if it’s even connected. To me, it was like ants – all working together for a bigger goal.”
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CAAMP RELEASE NEW SINGLE + VIDEO - “FALL, FALL, FALL”

CAAMPRELEASE NEW SINGLE/VIDEO“FALL, FALL, FALL” OUT TODAY!Today, CAAMP have released their newest recorded single and companion video - “Fall, Fall, Fall” via their label home, Mom + Pop.“‘Fall, Fall, Fall’ is a song about change - prescribe whatever meaning to that as fits your spirit, but for all of us, the main themes are racial and environmental injustices,” says lead singer Taylor Meier. “We just want more folks to hear this message, especially in these divisive and culturally tense times.”  The album art was made in collaboration with Lavystitch. The music video was directed, filmed and edited by Nate Murray at Local Motives, a non-profit that profiles naturalist organizations around the country including farmers, fisherman and conservationists.

WATCH “FALL, FALL, FALL” HERE CAAMP also recently performed on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Watch their performance #PlayAtHome performance HERE.The performance was filmed in Caamp’s hometown of Columbus, OH during quarantine. The trio also just recently released their first live EP Live From Newport Music Hall. The five track recording was taken from one of their seminal hometown shows in Columbus, OH. The recording contains live versions of songs off their most recent album, By and By.  Stream Live From Newport Music Hall here.(photo credit: Hannah Edelman )
In week one of the release of their full length, By and By, Caamp made multiple chart debuts. By and By entered the Billboard Top 200, was the #1 Heatseeker, #1 on the New Artist Alternative Albums, top 5 vinyl album sales for the week and entered the Alternative and Emerging Artist charts. Caamp scored their first #1 at radio with their single “Peach Fuzz,” made their late night television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and followed that up with a killer performance on CBS This Morning Saturday. After a victorious festival season playing Firefly, Shaky Knees, Forecastle, Outside Lands, Austin City Limits, Great Escape and many more, Caamp kicked off a major US headlining tour on September 24th and sold out show after show. Caamp formed when Taylor Meier and Evan Westfall met and bonded over a shared love of music and a shared love of home, specifically the inspiration they culled from the Midwest lives they grew up in. The two began writing and performing and quickly grew a rabid fan base. A self-titled 2016 debut album took flight, quickly gaining over 284 million streams, with a staggering 124 million streams for their single “ Vagabond ” alone. Evan and Taylor brought on a third member and longtime friend, Matt Vinson, to join on bass just before recording By and By.

Sylvan Esso Unveils “Rooftop Dancing” From New Album Free Love Out September 25 / Loma Vista Recordings

Sylvan Esso Unveils “Rooftop Dancing” From New Album Free Love Out September 25 / Loma Vista Recordings
WATCH  / LISTEN

Sylvan Esso has unveiled “Rooftop Dancing,” the second single from their forthcoming album Free Love (September 25/Loma Vista Recordings). “Rooftop Dancing” captures the duo of Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn in a minimalist moment of intimacy.  Watch the video for “Rooftop Dancing” here: https://found.ee/SE_RDVideo “Rooftop Dancing is about the excitement of being part of a collective humming whole - a city that contains multitudes - with your small story shining softly amidst it. Cheryl Dunn was a natural first choice to make the video since she has been so brilliantly capturing the spirit of NYC for years. We are so grateful to her for collaborating with us and giving us a beautiful slice of what the city feels like today,” Sylvan Esso says.   The video was filmed and directed by celebrated NYC street photographer and filmmaker Cheryl Dunn. This kinetic, loving portrait of NYC in the summer of 2020 depicts an awakening - New Yorkers seeking open air to move, dance and breathe, even for a fleeting few moments.   “To me this song reflects the social climate of NY right now, with its historical resilience to re-invent - to create new things from the discarded, to take back the streets, to not dwell on what you can’t do but to get excited about what you can do… like riding bikes en masse, making guerrilla art shows by the river, making more art and music - and yes - dancing on the roof tops!” Cheryl Dunn adds.   Sylvan Esso announced Free Love with “Ferris Wheel,” stirring excitement and praise from Pitchfork and the Fader to Stereogum and Cool Hunting, along with Best Songs of the week nods from Variety, NPR, Paste, E! and others. Nick and Amelia spoke at length with Bob Boilen on NPR's All Songs Considered on the making of the song and video - and how “Ferris Wheel” is the “sassy summertime amusement park song” she’s always wanted to write.   Watch the “Ferris Wheel” music video here: https://found.ee/SE_FWVideo “Rooftop Dancing” and “Ferris Wheel” represent the two sides of the new album: some of their hardest driving and most dance-y songs yet, balanced with their most meditative. Free Love is a 10-song collection that thrives on collaborative frisson. While their celebrated first two albums were born from a delineation in creative roles - Amelia the lyrics and melodies, Nick the chords and beats - Free Love is Sylvan Esso’s first true “band” record: two voices fused together. It was written, recorded and produced at Sylvan Esso’s own studio, built in the woods in North Carolina. Sylvan Esso has produced some of indie pop’s most enduring songs in recent years and just achieved a career milestone by crossing a half billion streams worldwide. Their last album, 2017’s What Now, debuted in the Top 40 of the Billboard 200 and earned the group their first-ever Grammy nomination for Best Dance/Electronic album.  Free Love Tracklist:1. What If2. Ring3. Ferris Wheel4. Train5. Numb6. Free7. Frequency8. Runaway9. Rooftop Dancing10. Make It Easy https://www.sylvanesso.com/Store: https://found.ee/SE_FLStoreInstagram: https://found.ee/SE_instagramTwitter: https://found.ee/SE_twitterFacebook: https://found.ee/SE_facebookYouTube: https://found.ee/SE_YouTube