Alexander Laurence's Blog, page 139
March 11, 2025
Good Neighbours Spring North American Adolescence Tour
GOOD NEIGHBOURS ANNOUNCE NORTH AMERICAN ADOLESCENCE TOUR FOR SPRING; TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY, MARCH 14
FESTIVAL DATES INCLUDE MILWAUKEE’S SUMMERFEST,
HINTERLAND IN ST. CHARLES, IA AND OSHEAGA IN MONTREAL
UNVEIL BRAND NEW VERSION OF CURRENT SINGLE;
“RIPPLE (SOFT VERSION) - OUT NOW
[CAPITOL RECORDS]
SELF-TITLED DEBUT EP OUT NOW
WATCH
|
LISTEN
“RIPPLE (SOFT VERSION)”
WATCH | LISTEN
“RIPPLE”
ADOLESCENCE TOUR
04/20 - High Noon Saloon - Madison, WI
04/21 - The Canopy Club - Urbana, IL
04/27 - Beer City Music Hall - Oklahoma City, OK
04/28 - George’s Majestic - Fayetteville, AR
04/30 - Basement - Nashville, TN
05/02 - Will’s Pub - Orlando, FL
2025 NORTH AMERICAN FESTIVAL DATES
06/21 - Summerfest - Milwaukee, WI - TICKETS
08/01 - Hinterland Festival - Saint Charles, IA - TICKETS
08/02 - Osheaga Festival - Montreal, QC - TICKETS
Good Neighbours are hitting the road again for their upcoming Adolescence Tour. Hot on the heels of a massive North American tour with Foster The People, which saw the rising British duo play some of their biggest rooms to date, Scott and Oli are back Stateside next month, spreading the Good Neighbours gospel, introducing their unique brand of joyful, nostalgia-fueled indie-pop to new audiences.
The Adolescence Tour officially kicks off in the UK April 2 through April 13, before returning to the U.S. on April 20 with a show in Madison, WI. The band will make their way through the Midwest and South with dates in Urbana, IL; Oklahoma City, OK,; Fayetteville, AR; Nashville, TN; before concluding in Orlando, FL on May 2.
Speaking about the new tour, Good Neighbours, reveal, “There’s been a lot of bigggg mad moments in the last year, but as two boys from small towns, we realize we missed a couple stops. The adolescence tour is us making room for some places we haven’t yet been and letting us have some fun on the road.”
The official pre-sale commences tomorrow, Wednesday, March 12 at 10am local time. The general on-sale begins on Friday, March 14 at 10am local time. For a full list of tour dates and to purchase tickets, please visit www.wearegoodneighbours.com.
Earlier this year, Good Neighbours released “Ripple,” out now via Capitol Records. Named one of Rolling Stone ’s Songs You Need To Know. “Ripple” arrived alongside the band’s first official music video, directed by Alex Lockett. Watch the official music video HERE. Last month, Good Neighbours released their Apple Music Sessions EP, featuring a live version of “Ripple,” and a dreamy cover of Gracie Abrams’ “That’s so True.” Listen to Good Neighbours’ Apple Music Sessions HERE. Last week also saw the release of a brand new version of “Ripple.” “Ripple (soft version)” is out everywhere now.
Watch the official “Ripple (soft version) “ visualizer HERE .
To say 2024 was something of a whirlwind for Good Neighbours is an understatement.
“Home,” released in January of last year, recently was certified Platinum, making it the fastest and only RIAA Platinum debut released and certified in 2024. It has since amassed more than 500 million global streams, while TikTok videos using the song have amassed over 2 billion views. “Home” entered the singles charts in 13 countries including the UK (#26) and the Billboard Hot 100 (for 11 weeks) and spent nearly 40 weeks in the Top 10 on Billboard’s Hot Rock Songs chart, along with impressive radio airplay on more than 200 stations in the US across all formats, landing the song in both the Top 3 at AAA and in the Top 10 at Alternative Radio making it one of the most played songs of the year in both formats. Their latest single, “Ripple” meanwhile is climbing the charts as well, currently sitting at No. 26 at Alt Radio.
In addition, the band’s massive year included the release of their highly-anticipated, self-titled
debut EP (LISTEN), first US headline tour, during which time Good Neighbours made their television debut with a lively performance of “Home” on Jimmy Kimmel Live! (WATCH), and a range of accolades including a Billboard Music Awardnomination for Best Rock Duo/Group, VEVO naming the duo one of their VEVO DSCVR Artists To Watch for 2025 , a shortlisting for a BRITS Rising Star , MTV Push UK 2025 , and being added to BBC Sound Of 2025 longlist at home in the UK. Most recently, the band received a nomination for Best New Artist (Alternative & Rock) at the 2025 iHeart Radio Music Awards and were named one of Amazon Music UK’s 2025 Artists to Watch .
Good Neighbours are Scott Verrill and Oli Fox.
“Ripple” is available worldwide now .
Listen to “Ripple (soft version)” HERE .
Watch the official visualizer HERE .
Photographer Credit: Isaac Lamb 2025 UK ADOLESCENCE TOUR
04/02 - Cavern - Exeter, UK
04/03 - The Globe - Cardiff, UK
04/06 - O2 Academy2 - Leicester, UK
04/07 - Social - Hull, UK
04/08 - Tolbooth - Stirling, UK
04/10 - KU Bar - Stockton, UK
04/12 - Kasbah - Coventry, UK
04/13 - KOLA - Portsmouth, UK
2025 AU/NZ TOUR DATES
05/10 - Tuning Fork - Auckland, NZ
05/11 - San Fran - Wellington, NZ
05/13 - Max Watts - Melbourne, AU
05/15 - Manning Bar - Sydney, AU
05/16 - Triffid - Brisbane, AU
05/18 - Freo.Social - Perth, AU
2025 UK/EU FESTIVAL SHOWS
07/11 - TRNSMT - Glasgow, UK
08/15 - MS Dockville - Hamburg, DE
08/22 - Rock en Seine - Paris, FR
08/23 - Reading Festival - Reading, UK
08/24 - Leeds Festival - Leeds, UK
March 10, 2025
Alabaster DePlume's 'A Blade...' is "stunning" (The Guardian)
ALABASTER DEPLUME TAKES "STUNNING" (THE GUARDIAN) NEW LP ON US TOUR, BEGINNING THIS FRIDAY
"ALABASTER DEPLUME MESMERIZES LIVE, BLOWING MINDS WITH FEARLESS ABSURDITY AND RAW EXPOSED FEELING"
— UNCUT
CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED NEW ALBUM
A BLADE BECAUSE A BLADE IS WHOLE
OUT NOW ON VINYL / CD / DIGITAL DOWNLOAD
OUT ON STREAMING MARCH 25
Photo by Alexander MassekPRAISE FOR ALABASTER DEPLUME & A BLADE BECAUSE A BLADE IS WHOLE
"Stunning...you can’t argue with DePlume’s outstanding melodies."
The Guardian
"On the British saxophonist and poet’s graceful new album, the reminders to savor each day and to forgive oneself feel less like jazz tunes than wordless hymns."
Pitchfork
"A cohesive, concise album...the way DePlume morphs one style of music into another is natural, serene, and, well, healing."
Brooklyn Vegan
"Weaves a tapestry of sounds — spiritual jazz, folk, classical, and beyond — into a potent missive of grace."
FLOOD
“The Mancunian saxophonist and Jujitsuka dusts himself down and fires up the big strings for an album of fighting songs with healing sounds.”
The Quietus
“Conjuring chamber-based folk/ jazz collages with a bespoke philosophical twist .. assiduously pushing the boundaries.”
MOJO
“Traversing folk-jazz and elegantly-rendered orchestral suites, atmosphere and allegory, DePlume looks inward and confronts his own struggles.”
Clash
“His singing is murmured, pressurized, prayerful. His self-taught sax is his most distinctive voice, though, at times a shivering, Arabic thing like a quaking ghost, or sinuously sensual and serenely beautiful.”
UNCUT
"A brave record that confronts pain while embraces it with humility, acceptance, and vulnerability."
AllMusic
"Some of his most beautifully stirring work to date."
OurCulture
"A dense forest of spiritual jazz...hauntingly beautiful."
Glide
"A simple yet beautifully executed reminder to reflect, find healing and resist vanity."
The Skinny
This week, Alabaster DePlume — the acclaimed London-based saxophonist, singer, songwriter, activist, orator, and poet-philosopher — embarks on a 10-date US tour in support of his acclaimed new album A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole, available now on LP, CD, and digital download via International Anthem. The "stunning" (The Guardian) new album is available on streaming on March 25.
As UNCUT writes, "Alabaster DePlume mesmerizes live, blowing minds with fearless absurdity and raw exposed feeling." Live performances will feature an array of special guests, varying on a night-to-night basis. Slated to join DePlume on stage are the likes of multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily (“one of music’s most coveted collaborators,” according to The New York Times), drummer Tcheser Holmes of Irreversible Entanglements, percussionist / multi-instrumentalist Dan Bitney of Tortoise, violinist / vocalist Macie Stewart, drummer Helen De La Rosa, vocalist Monique Golding of Black Monument Ensemble, flutist Rob Frye, cellist Olula Negre, and many more musicians yet to be revealed. All dates will feature supporting sets from saxophonist/composer Patrick Shiroishi. Full tour itinerary below.
Last week, DePlume shared "Form A V," the album's enchantingly fierce third streaming single. It's a poetic summoning of inner strength, even against overwhelming odds. As DePlume shares: "At times we can find ourselves maligned or misunderstood by all others, even our closest allies. We can be alone in believing in ourselves, with a feeling that we need others to believe in us, in order to go on. But this is the perfect time to generate our independent faith in ourselves, precisely because it’s the one time we are not supported. In jiu-jitsu we have a practice where the whole dojo stands in the shape of a V, and one person stands facing them. That person is then attacked by each of the others in quick succession, and they deal with it however they can. And so the title is a challenge to the world, ‘go on, form a v – I am ready.’"
Listen to "Form a V" and purchase A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole here.
As with all of DePlume’s work, A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole is driven by intention. In this case, a desire to interrogate the concept of healing. As DePlume shared with music writer Liz Pelly, who wrote an essay to accompany the album as digital liner notes: “When I meet people who love my work I ask them, ‘what do people need?’ Many of them were answering ‘healing’, so I worked on that, first of all by healing myself. I found that it was an activity I could choose, and that it had a lot to do with my ownership of myself, dignity and independence. Instead of waiting for healing to ‘happen to me’ I could heal myself and own myself. That is what this album is.”
Read Liz Pelly’s essay on the album here.
Throughout the eleven songs on A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole, DePlume’s reflections on healing, dignity, and struggle are communicated through a stirring assemblage of disparate musics: ghostly and ancient folk melodies, groove-anchored maelstroms of swirling folk-jazz, elegant string arrangements (courtesy of Macie Stewart), disembodied voices, noir atmosphere, and allegoric, troubadouric song. Throughout, Alabaster’s intimate, confessional croon and vibrato-laced tenor saxophone convey, with a startling humanistic touch, everything from dejected fragility to resolute strength.
Following these US live performances, DePlume will tour the UK and Europe throughout the spring — see full dates below, more information here. DePlume’s band for the UK/EU tour will feature percussionist Julian Sartorius, drummer Seb Rochford, bassist Ruth Goller, and Mikey Kenney on strings. More guests to be announced.
Full album credits here.
"Form a V" is out now, stream it here.
A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole is out now, purchase it here.
TRACKLIST
Oh My Actual Days
Thank You My Pain
Invincibility
Form a V
A Paper Man
Who Are You Telling, Gus
Prayer For My Sovereign Dignity
Kuzushi
Salty Road Dogs Victory Anthem
Too True
That Was My Garden
TOUR DATES
March 14 - Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
March 15 - Kingston, NY @ Tubby’s
March 16 - New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge
March 18 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat
March 19 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
March 21 - Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern
March 22 - Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall
March 23 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
March 25 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent
March 28 - Knoxville, TN @ Big Ears Festival
April 29 - Norwich, UK @ Norwich Arts Centre
April 30 - Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
May 1 - Newcastle, UK @ Gosforth Civic Hall
May 2 - Glasgow, UK @ Mono
May 3 - Manchester, UK @ Gorilla
May 6 - Bristol, UK @ Trinity Centre
May 7 - Exeter, UK @ Phoenix
May 8 - Southampton, UK @ Papillon
May 9 - London, UK @ Hackney Church
May 10 - Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2
May 15 - Istanbul, TK @ Salon IKSV
May 16 - Warsaw, PL @ Niebo
May 17 - Berlin, DE @ XJAZZ!
May 21 - Paris, FR @ Le Petit Bain
May 22 - Lille, FR @ L'Aéronef
May 23 - Brussels, BE @ La Botanique
May 24 - Amsterdam, NL @ Zonnehuis
May 25 - Nijmegen, NL @ Doornroosje
May 26 - Rotterdam, NL @ Bird
June 1 - Torino, Italy @ Bunker (Jazz Is Dead)
June 7 - Cluj-Napoca, RO @ Jazz In The Park
July 2/5 - Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival
July 4 - Sete, FR @ Worldwide
July 17 - Molde NO, @ Moldejazz
Stay connected with Alabaster DePlume:
Website | Instagram | Bandcamp | Facebook | Twitter
Stay connected with International Anthem:
23 Profile | Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
Welsh Legends 'Melys' return with brand new single - 'Sgleinio' released Friday 28th March
Welsh Legends 'Melys' to Release New Uplifting Indie Pop Anthem "Sgleinio"
Ahead of their Record Store Day UK album release, Melys launch their new single "Sgleinio" (Shine) on Friday, March 28th.
The synth-infused indie pop track is the next single from their upcoming album "Second Wind," arriving on April 12th.
In the glare of the modern online world, "Sgleinio" (Shine) explores the pressures of online life and social media and the need for self-acceptance. In true Melys style, Sgleinio begins with stripped back verses that feature the old art of finger clicks and claps before its chorus bursts into life with lush layered vocals, crashing guitars and analogue synths.
“Sgleinio' came from seeing the difficulties of comparing ourselves with others online. We all have some experience of this, either personally or seeing someone close to us struggle. We put too much pressure on ourselves to project the perfect image, and I wanted to create a song that reminds us that we're enough just as we are.” Andrea
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Melys i Rhyddhau Anthem Bop Indie "Sgleinio"
Cyn eu rhyddhad albwm Record Store Day UK, bydd Melys yn lansio eu sengl newydd "Sgleinio" (Shine) ar ddydd Gwener, Mawrth 28ain.
Mae’r trac indie pop wedi’i ymbelydru â synthiau yn sengl nesaf o’u albwm newydd "Second Wind," sy’n cyrraedd ar Ebrill 12fed.
O dan yr archwiliad y byd modern ar-lein, mae "Sgleinio" (Shine) yn edrych ar phwysau bywyd ar-lein a chyfryngau cymdeithasol, a’r angen am hunan-gymeradwyaeth. Yn wir i steil Melys, mae "Sgleinio" yn dechrau gyda phenillion syml sy’n cynnwys yr hen grefft o gliciau bysedd a chlapiau, cyn i’w chytgan fyrstio i fywyd gyda lleisiau haenog lliwgar, gitars ymosodol a synthiau analog.
"Daeth 'Sgleinio' o weld y anawsterau o gymharu ein hunain ag eraill ar-lein. Mae gan bob un ohonom rywfaint o brofiad o hyn, naill ai’n bersonol neu’n gweld rhywun agos atom yn ei frwydro. Rydym yn rhoi gormod o bwysau arnom ein hunain i weithredu'r ddelwedd berffaith, a roeddwn i eisiau creu cân sy'n ein hatgoffa ein bod ni'n ddigon fel ydym ni." Andrea
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'It's Brilliant!" -
Adam Walton, BBC Introducing
‘Wondrous, Welsh popsters.... like Dusty Springfield backed by St Etienne..’
THE GUARDIAN
‘Melys possess a grace and charm all of their own. A most disquieting, unsettlingand pleasurable experience”
NME
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BIO
Welsh Indie band Melys formed in the Snowdonia village of Betws-y-Coed in the late 90's and quickly signed for the legendary Welsh label, ‘Ankst’(Super Furry Animals, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci)
With daytime and evening BBC Radio One plays from Mark Radcliffe, Steve Lamacq and Marc Riley and John Peel, the band signed a major deal, opened their own studio and label and went on to release 4 studio albums and an introducing album (released in Europe andUSA). Melys were 2002 winners of the Welsh music award for best live act, and were big favourites of legendary BBC radio DJ John Peel, and recorded 11 BBC sessions for him, going on to win Peel’s festive 50 with their song ‘Chinese Whispers’ in 2001.
After a long break where Andrea and Paul opened a few restaurants and Gary became an academic doctor, the band have been busy again, touring the UK with friends The Wedding Present and have just released a BBC sessions album (Vol.1) featuring sessions from Huw Stephens, John Peel and Adam Walton. Melys are currently in the studio on Anglesey mixing an album of new material with old friend and producer Gorwel Owen (Super Furries, Gorkys, Gwenno)
Melys are:
Andrea Parker, Paul Adams, Gary Husband, Aaron Watkinson
and Iwan Evans
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Melys Live Dates
Friday 14th March – Birmingham, The Victoria – Tickets
Saturday 15th March – Cardiff, The Norwegian Church – Tickets
Sunday 16th March – Reading, Purple Turtle – (Free Entry)
Saturday 22nd March – Camarthen, CWRW – Tickets
May 9th - Wrexham, Focus Wales Festival
May 15th - Edinburgh, Liquid Rooms
May 17th - Oxford, O2 Academy**
May 23rd - Birmingham, O2 Academy**
May 24th - In It Together Festival, Margam
May 25th - Milton Keynes, MK11**
**supporting Huey Morgan
Soundwalk Collective with Patti Smith Announce 'Correspondences Vol II' out 3/21 via Bella Union | Lead Track "Children Of Chernobyl"
Soundwalk Collective with Patti Smith
Announce "Correspondences Vol II" out March 21 via Bella Union
Share lead track " Children Of Chernobyl "
Soundwalk Collective with Patti Smith today announce the release of Correspondences Vol II, a new 2-track EP, out March 21 via Bella Union and available to preorder here. To accompany the announcement Soundwalk Collective with Patti Smith have shared the first track from the EP titled “Children Of Chernobyl”. Click HERE to listen.
On the edge of the forest surrounding Chernobyl, a stone’s throw from the Pripyat River, stands the church of St. Elijah, the only house of worship still operational within the 1000 square-mile radioactive exclusion zone. There, in the courtyard, stands the Bell of Sorrow, which rings just once a year, at exactly 1:23am on April 26, the moment when human history was forever altered, 39 years ago, as Reactor Four of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded, scattering its deadly, invisible poison throughout the land.
Ten miles northwest, at the centre of the zone, stands a much larger bell-shaped structure, a 31,000-tonne sarcophagus of concrete and steel, tall enough to entomb the Notre-Dame de Paris or the Duomo of Milan. Deep inside it, the nuclear fuel of Reactor Four still burns unstoppably, and will continue to burn for two millennia more, while outside nature thrives in the near total absence of human intervention.
It's here, where the natural meets the unthinkable, that the story of Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith’s CORRESPONDENCES continues. More than 10 years in the making, the audiovisual project centres on eight pieces initially composed as slow, meditative tracking shots for unmade movies using field recordings painstakingly gathered by Collective founder Stephan Crasneanscki on journeys of discovery, inspired as much by the interface of humanity with the natural world as by the lives of the canonical writers, filmmakers and revolutionaries both artists admire.
Soundwalk Collective with Patti Smith in Lisbon by Rita Carmo
Presented with these invisible landscapes, Smith improvised and wrote her own spoken-word poetry over the top, often at a distance, allowing the sonic impressions to draw out thoughts and phrases that crystallise into moments of clarity and revelation. “It’s a process of discovery through improvisation and channelling,” she explains. “We are sort of two halves, and we merge together the mental and physical traveller to get the atmosphere and the visual content – the music, even – and the words that will articulate what we want to do.”
“There is a long literary tradition of correspondence,” says Crasneanscki. “Writing was the only way to create proximity across distance. Nowadays, the immediacy of social media abolishes that sort of experience. The longing. That inner ability to channel and reflect, to comment on and share the poetic and sometimes mystical dimensions of travel. Distance allows you to reschedule yourself to what seems new, what is inspiring; it creates conditions for new callings.”
“It sounds abstract, but it creates an atmosphere and almost an earth that I can walk around in my mind,” adds Smith. “I can walk to these places or feel the spirits of these places, because at this point in my life I can’t make difficult journeys. I become the mental traveller. I don’t have to buy a ticket, I don’t have to go to the airport; I just listen and let myself be carried away.”
Released in May 2024, the first two pieces comprising Vol. I explored intimate, multilayered connections between the Greek mythological figure Medea, vengeful daughter of the sun who murdered her own children, and Italian film director Pier Paolo Pasolini, who directed the 1969 movie “Medea” starring opera singer Maria Callas in the title role. Responding to sounds and other material gathered from, among other places, the Caucasus mountains in Georgia, where Medea was supposedly born, and the beach on the outskirts of Rome where Pasolini met his hyper-violent end, Smith articulated beauty and terror alike, both chilling and warm, like fresh blood pooling on sand.
Vol. II is similarly conceived, not only as a dialogue between the artists but also between the two sides of the record – “Children of Chernobyl” and “The Acolyte, The Artist and Nature” – a correspondence spanning more than 500 years, from the turbulence of medieval Russia, through the terrible events of 1986, to the ecological crisis of the here and now. But where Vol. I was marked by death, Vol. II is, as Crasneanscki puts it, “more about the sacred, and how we as humans are damaging it.”
“Having worked with Patti for over 10 years now, I often use the metaphor of Rembrandt’s late paintings when we talk about her poetry,” says Crasneanscki. “There’s a deep blackness to it; a lot of gravitas, a lot of darkness. But it also has these beautiful gold highlights and clair-obscur. It reflects the transition of the world we are living in, and the feeling that there’s a new reality that’s setting in, and the realisation of what we’re leaving behind. There’s a lot of grieving in it, and a lot of longing too.”
Grief and darkness are palpable too in “Children of Chernobyl”, slowly clouding over like a gathering storm as the lush textures of a languid morning – birdsong, gentle rain, a distant bell – transform into a vision of the glowing, walking dead. Smith sings here too, in a fractured, wavering voice against a backdrop of Geiger counter noises and eerie, mutated notes played on the decaying pianos of abandoned Pripyat, once home to the most prestigious music schools in the former Soviet Union. More ghostly still are the same words sung in Ukrainian at the song’s end by the Chernobyl Children’s Choir: “There are roses underfoot that one cannot smell / There is fruit on the vine that one cannot eat / And they went to bed hungry / And hungry they’ll sleep / For a thousand years.”
For Crasneanscki, who has Ukrainian roots on his father’s side, the two pieces are intertwined not only with their Slavic past but also with issues that resonate today, not least with the ongoing Russian aggression. Only last month, a military rocket struck the bell-shaped dome at Chernobyl, penetrating almost to the substructure. Is containment then just an illusion? At a time when both nothing and everything is sacred, where do we turn? The struggle of humanity to sit with its powerful urge to create, while also being reckless and destructive, is something Crasneanscki sees playing out again with AI. “As humans, we put in place these systems, these structures, that we don’t know how to control when suddenly something goes wrong,” he cautions. “Which it always does, at some point.”
With CORRESPONDENCES Vol. II, Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith continue to meditate on great darkness and great hope, calling and responding to each other across distance, textures and time. “What I like about field recording is that often it’s creating a bridge with the distant past, with people many generations before me who might have experienced almost the exact same moment of sound,” says Crasneanscki. Like Rublev at the monastery, crossing the snowbound courtyard, or walking through the forest at Chernobyl, with the wind in the trees, raindrops falling on leaves, and the distant flowing river. A bell ringing down through the years. “It’s changed my life,” says Smith. “So, I’m grateful.”
Soundwalk Collective with Patti Smith live performances + exhibitions:
April 18 - Correspondences Exhibition opens at Piknik, Seoul
April 26 - Correspondences Exhibition opens at Museum of Contemporary Arts, Tokyo
April 29 - ROHM Theatre Kyoto (performance)
May 3 - New National Theatre Opera Palace Tokyo (performance)
Correspondences Vol II tracklist and artwork below:
1. Children Of Chernobyl
2. The Acolyte, The Artist and Nature
Σtella (pronounced Stella) Shares New Single “Baby Brazil feat. Las Palabras”
As previously announced, Σtella has confirmed an 11-date UK/EU tour beginning on April 7th in Berlin, DE, that runs through to April 18th in Rotterdam, NL. See below for a complete list of shows.
Tour dates
Mon. Apr. 07- Berlin, DE - Lido
Tue. Apr. 08 - Amsterdam, NL - Bitterzoet - SOLD OUT
Wed. Apr. 09 - Paris, FR - Le Mazette
Thu. Apr. 10 - London, UK - Jazz Cafe - SOLD OUT
Fri. Apr. 11 - Brussels, BE - Botanique @ Museum
Sat. Apr. 12 - Freiburg, DE - E - Werk
Mon. Apr. 14- Bern, CH - ISC
Tue. Apr. 15 - Winterthur, CH - Salzhaus
Wed. Apr. 16 - Stuttgart, DE - Merlin
Thu. Apr. 17 - Heidelberg, DE - Karlstorbahnhof
Fri. Apr. 18 - Rotterdam, NL - Motel Mozaique
Adagio is now available to preorder from Sub Pop. LP preorders from the Sub Pop Mega Mart (North America), Mega Mart 2 (UK/EU), and independent retailers worldwide will receive the album on Clear Pink vinyl in North America and white vinyl in the UK & EU.
Σtella
Adagio
Track Listing:
1. Adagio
2. Ta Vimata
3. Omorfo Mou
4. Baby Brazil feat. Las Palabras
5. Can I Say
6. 80 Days
7. Too Poor
8. Corfu
9. Caravan
Daniel Kleederman, known for his work with Bartees Strange, announces solo LP, shares music video
Daniel Kleederman, known for his work with Bartees Strange, steps out on his own with debut solo LP, Another Life
FFO: Grizzly Bear, Jeff Buckley, The National
VIDEO: "Compromised Positions" -
YouTube
Daniel Kleederman is best known for his work as musical director and touring guitarist for Bartees Strange - today he announces his debut solo LP, Another Life (out April 4 on Grand Kid Records) and shares the first single/video from it, "Compromised Positions."
Kleederman offers more context for "Compromised Positions":
""Compromised Positions" is a psychological, cosmic thriller about feeling the weighty responsibility of honesty and love while caught in precarious cycles of seduction and codependency. Time, space, and truth warp throughout as the gravitational pull towards the black hole of a breakup gets stronger and stronger.
It’s the only song on the record that went through a serious editing process - there is an earlier version of this song that is about 8 minutes long that I may release one day."
***
“A Knock At The Door,” the opening track of Another Life, the debut album by Daniel Kleederman, starts with the warped call of a bell toll: the unmistakable sound of a closing chapter. It’s a motif that adorns the record, and acts as a formal nod to the sacredness of love and loss, and the haunting, inescapable sign of deep knowing that the time to let go has arrived. Known for his work as a guitarist and collaborator for indie rock powerhouse Bartees Strange, Kleederman has quietly been working up to his own full-length release, co-produced with longtime musical partner, Chris Connors (Bartees Strange, Holy Hive).
“I need to learn the meaning of work,” Kleederman declares in his tender, Buckley-esque timbre, before the chorus bursts into a golden catharsis of gut-level realization, and 4-part vocal harmony. The lyric is a grand one - a far-reaching, inquisitive declaration that sets the stage for this genre-defying, behemoth of a record. But as Kleederman wonders, the body of work itself seems to answer: the meaning is in the monuments - the memorializing of precious relationships and breakups; psychedelic epiphany and tortuous heartbreak; foggy hairpin bends and sweet, unforeseen surprises.
Anyone who sees Kleederman perform understands his intimate and loving relationship to his instrument; in his hands, the guitar appears both an extension of self and a portal to other worlds. He spent his own childhood in the hills of Western, MA, waiting for the front door to shut - the final signal that his parents left to take the dog for a walk; now he could turn up his amp, close his eyes, and jump on stage alongside The Beatles and B.B. King, and the various other artists tucked away in his parents’ record collection. Kleederman’s friendship with the guitar remains a timeless force, ever-present in his current work.
In college (Vassar College), Daniel met a handful of brilliant musicians and friends who would shape the path of his life, including co-producer Chris Connors (Bartees Strange, Holy Hive) and drummer and roommate-for-8-years, Alex Goldberg (L’Rain, Cassandra Jenkins, Jessica Pratt). Though all three were dedicated and inspired students of many disciplines, music called, and Daniel, along with his friends, funneled down to New York to continue the dreamwork.
For a near-decade, Daniel immersed himself in New York City’s alternative music scene, lending his unmistakable guitar-voice and musical and collaborative sensitivities to a wide range of gigs and art projects; one of which, in the very beginning of 2020, was with soon-to-be indie powerhouse, Bartees Strange. As covid began to rage in NYC, Kleederman headed back to woods of Western, MA, reconnecting with family and his home place. There, he completed his training and certification as a life coach (CTI) and fell in love - with people, with birds, with photography, and again, with music - eventually recording a debut EP called Grand Kid (a not-so-secret moniker), before expanding to life on the road as music director and lead guitarist for Bartees Strange.
While Another Life unearths the wild journey that romantic partnership can take us on, the making of the record itself reflected the workings of a different kind of meaningful relationship - that of his longstanding creative partnerships. Kleederman met with co-producer Connors weekly for nearly two years to chip away at this highly detailed and ambitious record, ultimately creating something that might best be described as progressive/post-americana. It is the kind of record that could only be made amongst trusted collaborators willing to experiment, chase, fight, forgive, and persevere.
Stand-out track, “Compromised Positions” wrestles with the mind and heart, mimicked by frantic fretwork and unpredictable, elastic rhythms. Caught in a cycle of his own making, Kleederman runs through a hall of mirrors, searching for the signs that put him there in the first place. It’s a visceral, psychedelic frame for the album's equally layered thematic voyage, culminating in an intrepid spiritual revelation marked by Kleederman’s soaring guitar and Goldberg’s fiery drumming.
As with most real-life revelations and pains, there comes comic relief. “They’ll Be”––along with its intro track “Don’t Mind Waiting (To Die)”––teems with an unapologetic, almost hysterical silliness: there’s the over-the-top slide & baritone guitar duet (one of many outrageous guitar solos on the record), plus a hearty key-change to boot. “Chris [Connors] and I gave ourselves full permission to go for it and say yes to whatever truly tickled us in the recording process,” Kleederman explains. There is abundance in sincerity; that to live courageously is to voice the entire spectrum of pain and pleasure; judgement and compassion; depression and catharsis; humor and complete seriousness.
Another Life closes, appropriately, with “Answers,” the backside to the Revolver-esque, lost-in-the-world maze of “Mornings,” where Kleederman simply repeats the mantra “You’ve got all the right answers, boy” over an ocean-sized riff. It’s a prophetic statement for all, somehow coming from the past, the present, and the future all at once; but that’s how Kleederman’s world seems to work, a life close-to-the-heart, with an ear to the ground and the gut, searching for the answers there all along. A real trip.
TOUR DATES
Apr 2 - New York, NY - TV Eye (Album Release Show)
WELSH PUNKS 'KIKKER' ANNOUNCE BRAND NEW SINGLE 'DESTROY" OUT 13TH MARCH
WELSH PUNKS 'KIKKER' ANNOUNCE BRAND NEW SINGLE 'DESTROY' OUT THURSDAY 13TH MARCH
Artist: Kikker
Single Title: 'Destroy'
Label: Death Monkey Records
Single Release Date: Thursday 13th March
Single Format: Digital Single
Location: Swansea, Wales
Genre: Grunge / Alt-Rock
Socials: @Kikker @Beastpruk
Listen / Stream
https://on.soundcloud.com/D7YdannhJ4BDvCC78
South Wales Punks 'Kikker' have announced their brand new single 'Destroy' which will be released on the 13th of March.
Hailing from the overcast concrete metropolis of Swansea, 'Kikker' emerge from a refreshingly mature, vibrant and ever expanding DIY scene, thats been boiling and bubbling now for about a decade. New venues such as Tangled Parrot and The Elysium Gallery in the City center instigate catalyst, and play part in the recent insurge of Punk-core, with MONET, BABY SCHILLACHI and more.
Matt from the band explains:
"Destroy is existentially nihilistic in its nature. It’s about cycles of overwhelm, repeatedly passing the mental threshold where everything becomes too much to handle; inevitable breakdown. It questions how we deal with emotional struggle that is both repetitive and consistent. The modern world is a difficult and complex place to navigate, its systems and structures unnecessarily (but intentionally) causing detriment to psyche and wellbeing. God is a fraud, so what can we turn to to help us navigate through showers of shit?"
LYRICS
I wanna destroy everything that I own
And I wanna kill everyone that I know
Down to the end with it my friend
What makes me sick will come again
Out in the sun, medication
Calms me down, at least for now
I wanna see the sky, I wanna see the trees
These are the things that make me happy
I’m calmer now, much calmer now
I won’t say nowt, ‘cause I’m calmer now
I ain’t ever seen god, he ain’t ever seen me
He couldn’t care less about who’s happy
I need to get a car, I need to learn to drive
But I don’t care that much so I guess I’ll die
KIKKER LINKS
https://kikkeraregarbage.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/kikkeraregarbage/
https://www.instagram.com/kikkeraregarbage/
https://x.com/kikkersuck
March 9, 2025
Noise Pop Festival Welcomes 20K+ Attendees & 100+ Bands to SF for 32nd Anniversary
NOISEPOP 2025 REVIEW
byAlexander Laurence
Ihave been going to Noise Pop in San Francisco since 2001. I was intown in 2001, and I did an interview with the band Call and Response,who did a show at Bottom of The Hill. White Stripes and BlondeRedhead also played that year. I wasn’t really familiar with thefestival up till then. From then, I have been attending almost everyyear, except a few, when I was on tour myself, or there was a familyemergency. So having attended over twenty Noise Pop festivals, I haveseen it evolve. In the 1990s, it was mostly a one day indie musicfest. By the time of the 2000s, it became a mini-CMJ or a mini-SXSW.Many bands who would be touring or releasing a record would playNoise Pop. Plus there was a lot of local bay area bands who wouldbecome famous later.
Overthe course of 11 days, 20,000+ attendees enjoyed 60+ concertsfeaturing 100+ artists thatincluded the likes of St. Vincent, Benjamin Gibbard, DIIV, DannyBrown, Lankum, Cymande and Geographer, alongwith multi-night concerts from Earl Sweatshirt, AmericanFootball, Soccer Mommy, The American Analog Set, and more!
Sincethis event precedes SXSW and Coachella, and most festivals, it is agood snapshot of that time in music. This year having artists likeSt. Vincent, Danny Brown, and Lankum, Noise Pop is definitely on themap. St. Vincent played a small show at Noise Pop at Great AmericanMusic Hall in 2009. It was sparsely attended.
Thisyear, I saw Lankum at Great American Music Hall. This was a sold outshow packed with fans who had traveled from all over the world.Lankum has four albums out but they blew up in the last few years.They still haven’t tour America at all. So this was a specialnight. Even on the first song, the crowd was involved. Many of thepeople in the front rows lined up for hours. Lankum plays a mix oftraditional songs and originals. They give the songs their own darkpsychedelic spin. There are five musicians on stage and they all playseveral instruments. They play songs from all their albums. The nightpeaked when they played “Go Dig My Grave.” This band is goingplaces. Look forward to seeing them again!
Nextnight, I was at Rickshaw Stop. Liz Lamere opened. She was like anelectroclash act from 2002. It was fairly entertaining.
MercuryRev came out on stage that was covered by fog. The fog machine filledthe whole room. Mercury Rev started out with two songs fromDeserter’s Songs. This was one of my favorite albums of 1997, andgot me re-interested in music. I saw them once at CMJ in 1998, atBowery Ballroom, playing with Brian Jonestown Massacre. Two yearsago, both bands would do a full American tour in 2022. Mercury Revwho seemed to be a major European act for many years, have built uptheir credibility in the States only in the last few years. Theyrelied heavily on Deserter’s Song, but they played song from manyalbums, even the new one, Born Horses. Mercury Rev seems to be astrong live band for the near future.
Ionce again enjoyed this year of Noise Pop. Too bad they stoppedprinting the little festival guide. It was a good way to read aboutbands that you missed. But maybe it’s too costly, and less printersexist in San Francisco? Noise Pop is like a beacon of light for newmusic, and bands from the past that need to be rediscovered.
Photos thanks to NOISE POP
TEI SHI SHARES NEW SINGLE AND VISUAL "BEST BE LEAVING"; ANNOUNCES TWO SPECIAL SHOWS
TEI SHI
SHARES NEW SINGLE AND VISUAL
ANNOUNCES TWO SPECIAL WEST COAST SHOWS
TICKETS ON SALE MARCH 7TH; PURCHASE HERE
Photo Credit: Matues Porto
Today, Canadian-Colombian indie pop auteur Tei Shi makes a powerful return with her latest single and first offering of the year, “Best Be Leaving”, a deeply personal and introspective track that touches on the inevitability of letting go. The empowering and cathartic track signals a new creative era for Tei Shi, offering a glimpse into a new body of work born from a transformative retreat. Coinciding with today’s news, Tei Shi has announced two special headlining shows this Spring: Pappy & Harriet’s in Joshua Tree on May 15th and the Constellation Room in Santa Ana on May 16th. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10 AM local time. Purchase tickets here.
“‘Best Be Leaving’ is a song about letting go of someone you love. It's about the lonely fact that sometimes relationships hit a place where the best thing you can do is walk away.” Tei Shi reflects. “Throughout life we're all saying goodbye to or walking away from someone at any given moment...it's part of navigating our lives and the world, and for me that was real in a few different, important relationships in my life when I wrote the song. ‘Best Be Leaving’ is kind of my bittersweet soundtrack to that realization.”
Written during a week-long creative retreat in the backwoods of Vancouver Island, Canada, “Best Be Leaving” showcases Tei Shi’s fusion of ethereal melodies with her signature whisper-laden vocals, raw lyricism, and evocative production, done alongside longtime collaborators Noah Beresin and Tommy English. The accompanying visualizer serves as a symbolic act of catharsis as we see Tei Shi shedding her long hair in front of the camera during the creation of the song’s artwork. Embracing the song’s meaning, an ever-evolving Tei Shi steps into a bold new and fully independent artistic era.
Watch “Best Be Leaving” HERE
The single follows a run of intimate, sold-out jazz club performances in New York and Los Angeles, where she reimagined her catalog and performed covers and standards alongside prolific jazz musicians on both coasts. It comes on the heels of her critically acclaimed eponymous independent album Valerie, and a sold-out five-show run in New York City, where she captivated audiences in I Can’t Make Sense, a gripping new play written by her friend and collaborator, Vogue Giambri. The play was inspired by Giambri’s personal experience of losing her mother in 2023 while on tour with Tei Shi, supporting Kimbra.
Building on the momentum of Valerie and her theatrical debut, Tei Shi carves out her own space in the musical landscape. Known for weaving vulnerability into lush, genre-bending soundscapes, Tei Shi seamlessly blends pop, R&B, indie shoegaze, tropicalia, and bachata influences with dynamic storytelling and bilingual lyricism, further solidifying her place as one of today’s most intriguing and compelling artists.
Watch the official visualizer for “Best Be Leaving”
https://youtu.be/i3fThztSQD4?si=BPmJIRFQEirMUxV8
Listen to “Best Be Leaving”
UPCOMING TEI SHI SHOWS
5/15 - Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room
5/16 - Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriet’s
FOLLOW TEI SHI
INSTAGRAM | TWITTER I FACEBOOK I SPOTIFY I APPLE MUSIC I BANDCAMP I TEISHI.WORLD
Stream the new album from LAKE, their first in five years, on Don Giovanni Records
YouTube
After a five-year absence following 2020’s creative elevator-punk exploration Roundelay, Ashley Eriksson, Eli Moore, and Andrew Dorsett of LAKE return with Bucolic Gone, a mature and polished album that is at once groovy, upbeat, meditative, and slow-rolled. As LAKE’s 10th official full-length release, Bucolic Gone is a cohesive work of sophisti-pop that embodies an adult, contemporary sound—intimate, serene, mournful, and hopeful in equal measure.
The multi-instrumental trio is joined by an impressive lineup of collaborators, including guest vocalists Nicholas Krgovich on “Glad Rags” and Daisy Jaberi of Suver with original lyrics on “Love Is Deeper Now.” Frequent contributors also make appearances: Karl Blau delivers standout shredding on “Ferrari,” Mark Buzard of The Format provides guitar textures across multiple tracks, and New York jazz musician Eric Vanderbuilt-Matthews contributes intricate woodwind arrangements. Steve Moore (Earth, Sunn O))), First Aid Kit, Sufjan Stevens) adds trombone to “Love Is Deeper Now,” while legendary Canadian singer Jenn Grant lends her unique vocals to the outro of “Ferrari.”
From the sorrowful depths of “Blue Horizon” and “My Dear Brother”—written the day Eriksson lost her brother to COVID-19—to the clarity of self-soothing and healing in “Airplane” and “Love Is Deeper Now,” the emotional arc of Bucolic Gone moves from darkness to light. A heartfelt ABBA singalong pays tribute to Eriksson’s family and brother, while Moore reflects on his life as an artist in “Wonderful Sunlight,” mining uplifting memories for clues to life’s complexities. The album concludes with a breezy, surfy reprise of their cult hit “No Wonder I,” famously BMO’s favorite song in the popular international animated series, Adventure Time.
Recorded at The Anacortes Unknown Recording Studio by longtime collaborator Nicholas Wilbur and in the band’s own home studios, Bucolic Gone marks another step forward for Eli Moore in production and mixing. His meticulous attention to arrangement and balance—alongside an arsenal of distorted “whatchamacallits”—creates a rich, layered sound.
Celebrating 20 years of ethereal, yearning pop songs, LAKE’s latest effort is their most produced but also most intimate album. Now signed to Don Giovanni Records, the band is ready to continue delivering jams. While the world has changed since LAKE’s last official release, Bucolic Gone shows that time has been on their side.
TOUR DATES:
03/08/25 - Los Angeles, CA - 2220 Arts (Record Release Show)
03/10/25 - Tucson, AZ - Slow Body Beer
03/12–15/25 - Austin, TX - SXSW
04/15/25 - Butte, MT - Carpenter’s Union Hall
04/17/25 - Fargo, ND - Parachigo
04/18/25 - Minneapolis, MN - Cloudland
04/19/25 - Milwaukee, WI - Sky High
04/20/25 - Chicago, IL - Hideout
04/21/25 - Ypsilanti, MI - Ziggy's
04/22/25 - Toronto, ON - Garrison
04/23/25 - Ottawa, ON - Rainbow Bistro
04/24/25 - Montreal, QC - Cabaret Fouf
04/25/25 - Catskill, NY - The Avalon
04/26/25 - Brooklyn, NY - Baby's All Right
04/27/25 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
04/28/25 - Washington, DC - Pie Shop
04/30/25 - Durham, NC - The Pinhook
05/01/25 - Asheville, NC - Static Age
05/02/25 - Nashville, TN - DRKMTTR
05/03/25 - Athens, GA - Flicker
05/04/25 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl
05/14/25 - Bellingham, WA - Odd Fellows Temple Room
05/15/25 - Vancouver, BC - KW Studios
05/16/25 - Portland, OR - The Showdown
05/17/25 - Everett, WA - Fisherman's Village Festival
05/18/25 - Seattle, WA - Madame Lou's
05/19/25 - Whidbey, WA - Bailey’s Corner Store
