Sister group Haim have been receiving a lot of love in recent months, from us included. When we chatted to them in our Introducing piece on the girls, they seemed keen to get back into the studio and carry on crafting what will become their debut album. 'Don't Save Me' brings that debut album one little step closer. And what a tantalising little step it is. By the far the poppiest thing they've done, it floats by on an airy synth vibe while a darker undertow acts as the riptide. We likes it. Just [...]
"Single-handedly rekindled the festival spirit that dwindled in Autumn’s unpredictable weather..." Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs | O2 Academy Bristol, 14/10/12 If the critics (and the phone ads) were anything to go by, 2012 was set to be Orlando Higginbottom’s year, even though the Oxford emotive house wunderkind has been in the underground subconscious for more than three years already. A steady string of remixes and EP’s released through Joe Goddard’s “Greco Roman” label since 2009 saw regular play in the Radio 1 nighttime slots, whilst his extravagant live shows built a steady, deserving hype [...]
"If they can add a bit of variation to their repertoire, good things will come..." Satellite Stories | Phrases To Break The Ice There can be no debate about the recent glut of excellent bands from the Baltic States, and it appears that this trend may be continuing. Phrases To Break The Ice , the debut effort from Finnish four piece Satellite Stories has boosted their entry into the crowded indie-pop scene and foretells the potential of excellent things to come. After wrapping up their recent tour of Finland, it is certain that [...]
"It is pop music in the dullest sense; bland, inoffensive and utterly disposable..." Ellie Goulding | Halcyon Ellie Goulding has been in the public eye since her early releases in 2009 and picking up the BBC Sound of 2010 award. She topped the UK album charts with her debut album Lights , has collaborated with, or written songs for, a whole host of other acts and artists tipped for bigger and better things. She’s toured the world and played at almost any festival of note you could care to mention as well [...]
While he may never get the true recognition he deserves there is no doubt that Willy Mason is a very special talent. Both of his albums to date, while failing to really bother the charts, have been fantastic chunks of folky Americana. We're therefore thrilled to hear that his new record, Carry On , will be coming out later this year in December. 'I Got Gold', the first official single, is a rootin', tootin', clickin' bootin' lo-fi shuffle with a trademark dusty vocal from our man. Listen below.
After a few corking EPs, Benjamin Francis Leftwich truly stole our hearts with his debut album Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm , which took the young artist all over the world. Well now he's back with a new EP, due for release in November. The first snippet of this is the title track, a dreamy acoustic number that showcases Leftwich's stunning vocals. In support of the In The Open EP, Leftwich has also undergone a mammoth UK and US tour, highlighting his popularity on both sides of the atlantic.
If you've managed to catch Noah and the Whale or Bombay Bicycle Club live recently, there's a good chance you also saw Blackpool's Rae Morris causing more than just a few jaws to drop. Fresh from her first headlining London show Morris had unveiled the first results of her recent time spent locked away in the studio working on a debut album that is due next year. 'Grow' is a slow, haunting torch so with sparse piano and echoey handclaps. Morris's voice is troubled and grows stronger as she launches each successive chorus. It's all very [...]
This is getting BLOODY ridiculous. I mean, are they putting something in the water up there? We ask this because pretty much everything coming out of Scandinavia at the moments sounds wonderfully rad. Stockers! (yes the exclamation mark is necessary) hail from Finland and are readying the release of their debut album, We Are The Numbers . There is a hint of post-punk here, a dash of The Smiths in Anton Morelli's yearning vocals. It's all pretty swell.
Among Brothers, the Cardiff based sextet, have been creating quite a buzz in the last year or so, having garnered serious support by BBC Introducing after their 2011 EP Homes . Now comes a brand spanking new double a-side single through Too Pure Single Club. 'I Am Certain' - one half of the release - is a jerky, topsy-turvy stab of indie-pop. With comparisons to both Grizzly Bear and Sufjan Stevens proving to be pretty apt. Guitars needle away, drums are helter-skelter and vocals yelp. Listen below.
"A much needed slice of indie grandeur, and evidence that Dog Is Dead have a bright future ahead of them..." Dog Is Dead | All Our Favourite Stories “ We are a mess, we are failures, and we love it ”. The Dog is Dead mantra completely embodies their ethos; as they bring to the market a chaotic yet refined indie opulence from an unworldly teenage perspective. All Our Favourite Stories is the culmination of years of touring and single releases, which leaves little surprise in the tracklisting but is a testament [...]
"Shows all the hallmarks of the greats – growth, experimentation, assurance..." Freelance Whales | Diluvia When Freelance Whales emerged in 2009, fresh from their subway and sidewalk guerrilla gigs with both guitar and glockenspiel tucked neatly under the arm, it was with their saccharine debut album Weathervanes . Stuffed to the brim with surefooted melodies and idiosyncratic indie-pop, it was an absolute delight and surely one of the most overlooked and underestimated albums of that year. That it’s taken 3 years for the follow up not only highlights the relentless touring [...]
"Represents a tremendous leap forward for a band already flirting with excellence..." Tame Impala | Lonerism One of 2012’s most heavily anticipated albums, critics have been waiting for Tame Impala’s Lonerism since it was announced back in late 2011. Frontman Kevin Parker has once more written and recorded the bulk of the album on his own in Australia, before adding the finishing touches with producer Dave Fridmann (MGMT, The Cribs). What has resulted from his efforts is not only one of the best psychedelic rock albums in years, but one of the [...]
Mark our words. The 1975 are going to be big. BIG big. Just months after the release of their debut EP they're readying another: The Sex EP. We've already aired its first single and title track and now it has a suitably monochrome video, which sees the group strutting their stuff in a room filled with posters, magazines and bass drum skins. Oh it's in there. They've signed to Vagrant Records and are working with Mike Crossey - who's produced for names such as Arctic Monkeys - on their debut album, due some time [...]
Skyfall, the latest Bond film due for release on 26th October, is perhaps the first movie in the franchise for which the song is almost as highly anticipated as the thing itself. And that is because they've team up with the record slaying, award winning Adele, who is quite possibly the most popular thing in music at the moment after a barnstorming few years. The song itself suits both camps perfectly: a big, bold, brassy ballad. The perfect accompanyment to Daniel Craig knocking 10 bells out of bad guys. Lovely.
A week or so ago we announced that The Weeknd would be repackaging their first three releases into Trilogy, which will then be considered their proper debut album. You've already heard the remixed version of 'Wicked Games', a highlight of House of Balloons . And now we have a brand new video for 'Rolling Stone', one of the standout tracks from 20112s Thursday . It's pretty in keeping with The Weeknd. Black and white, minimalist, sensual. Check it out.
"Shines in the brief moments when the band show off their more experimental side..." Errors | New Relics Errors have released this record to round off what has been, by all accounts, a pretty decent year for the Mogwai-backed Glaswegians. It began with the well received Have Some Faith in Magic album, which had many calling it their most fully realised record to date. So here we are with a second set of tracks in the same calendar year, and unfortunately it is mostly an underwhelming piece of work that only occasionally [...]
The Scandinavian invasion of indie continues apace with the emergence of Satellite Stories, a young quartet from Finland that lay claim to the poppier side of the indie landscape. Their devestating debut album, released earlier this year, blends the chirpy, squalling guitars of Two Door Cinema Club with the wunderpop melodies of fellow Scandies The Rumour Said Fire. The group have also just released details of two London shows later this month at both the Notting Hill Arts Club and Hoxton Bar & Kitchen. We suggest you get down there. Download new single 'Sirens' [...]
Deaf Club have had a good year, with the release of a handful of promising singles and EPs. As an apparant thank you to their ever-growing fanbase the group have made their final release of 2012 available as a free download, while working on new material for a new EP in early 2013. 'Break It Slow' is a bewitching, eery little number completed by some technicolour guitar work, tribal rhythms and Polly Mackey's rich vocal. If it's a sign of what 2013 will bring for the group then next will sure to be very good to [...]
Young upstarts I Am In Love have been the recipients of the warm glow of hype for a little while now, which was confounded when they released their fantastic new single, 'PALM', last month. And now, they have a video for it. The track itself is a throbbing electro-pop song in the vein of The Big Pink and latter day Jack Penate, while the video is more colourful than a teletubbies' neon party. Having been featured by Radio 1 tastemaker Huw Stephens, it would appear that this Leicester four-piece have a big future ahead [...]
"This is the sound of a once commercial indie success story with a puppy-dog sneer, now a mature and reflective individual..." Tim Burgess | Oh No I Love You You might remember Tim Burgess as the frontman with fair-to-middling 90s 'Madchester' act the Charlatans. The band was last heard recently touring their 1997 Britpop album Tellin' Stories , which many consider to be their best (although this writer has a soft spot for the uptempo jam of Up to Our Hips that came out three years earlier). In the comments [...]
When The Gramophone Rings
Boards of Canada – Reach For The Dead
HAERTS: “All The Days”
Sexy Track // “Devil Or Angel” // Lou Doillon
Daft Punk - Lose Yourself to Dance (Simøne Remix)
