Weaving together poetry, music, and fine art, SAMANA return with a string of UK live dates, and their thrilling new single ‘Patience’. The track is taken from their upcoming album ‘All In One Breath’, out 11th March. Having spent two years rebuilding a Georgian farmhouse in the wild Welsh countryside, Rebecca Rose Harris and Franklin Mockett filled their car with a refined selection of instruments and a tape machine and headed to France for a three-week residency in early 2020. However, the world had different ideas and before the end of the first week they were given a simple choice: head home immediately or stay and ride out the incoming lockdown which would force the closure of all borders indefinitely. They decided to stay and keep working, a decision which would lead to a new record – the duo’s second full-length effort following 2019’s ‘Ascension’ LP, which was richly championed by Elbow’s Guy Garvey. ‘All One Breath’ continues Samana’s enthralling musical journey, weaving between various musical styles and influences, from progressive folk to an experimental, transcendental take on soul, blues, and rock. ‘All One Breath’ can be viewed now as a product of their time in the French countryside, and an ode to the exploration of silence, solitude, and a boundless sense of the destruction of time. Everything was recorded in the old wooden barn where they stayed, and the deep rich timbre of the space, along with the inventiveness with which they made a ‘sonic stage’ within the barn, had a huge influence on the finished sound; something raw but considered, and beautifully alive.
Groundbreaking singer-songwriter VINCINT has announced rescheduled dates for his first-ever U.S. headline tour. “The Getaway Tour” begins May 5, 2022 at Boston, MA’s Crystal Ballroom and then continues through an eagerly anticipated performance at Oakland, CA’s Starline Social Club on May 29, 2022. Tickets for all announced dates are on sale now HERE. Additional dates will be announced soon.
“This moment is so exciting for me and I get to do it twice. THE GETAWAY TOUR is happening this MAY and we added new dates! Nothing will stop me this time. Tickets on sale now! New York will be avail in 1 hour! Kiss you all so soon!” says VINCINT
SKINNY LISTER return with the touching new single: ‘Bonny’s Eyes’.
STREAM ON ALL SERVICES HERE || WATCH THE OFFICIAL VIDEO HERE
‘Bonny’s Eyes’ is accompanied with an official video that finds the real Bonny making her acting debut. Echoing the sentiment of the lyrics with sweet-natured visuals, the video captures Bonny’s innocent curiosity and natural fascination as she revels in the simple wonders of a day out. “On a purely personal level – it’s really nice to be able to capture a precious moment in time like this.” adds Dan. Watch the video here:
Joy Crookes on the “19th Floor” Music Video:
“I loved working with Ebenezer on this video. We wanted to create visuals that were reflective of the complexity and beauty of community, especially the immigrant community within London. The song is a recognition of all the obstacles immigrants have to overcome to build a life in somewhere like the UK, an acknowledgment of the journey that my Grandmother for example had to face to get to the 19th floor of a South London tower block and the heights that she has managed to reach.”
Rising Westcoast R&B artist Kendy X sets her mark with today’s remix release of “For Me” with Bronx-born rapper Dreamdoll and Los Angeles’ own Kalan.FrFr. Available to stream and purchase now, the trifecta forces unleash an irresistible remix to Kendy X’s debut single, which was met with praise last year upon immediate release. Kendy X shares “For Me is the most important song on the EP, because it shows the transformation into a bad bitch.” “The whole project is about finding yourself and becoming the woman you are meant to be and not changing for anybody. On For Me, I’m saying, this is for me. I can get shit on my own. I can do whatever I want to do. It’s meant to empower women. I’ve been listening to Kalan.FrFr since high school, so it was a dream to do a song with him. DreamDoll is such a powerful woman who demands respect. She embodies the spirit of the song.”
Good Dreams the upcoming album Niagara Moon sets out to follow in the footsteps of symphonic pop classics like Pet Sounds or The Soft Bulletin. Only in this case, it was made alone under quarantine.
It all began when Niagara Moon’s alter ego Thomas Erwin was having trouble getting to sleep again. It was like back when they were a child, having watched that scene from Brave Little Toaster (you know the one…) Though now, it was spurred on by the new daily reality of isolation and uncertainty. However, Thomas also remembered a secret sleep-aid technique that had worked wonders back in those days. When you find yourself late at night worrying about nightmares, the future, or just simply have a case of Sunday Scaries, imagine in your mind’s eye – in big puffy friendly letters, much like those on the album cover – the words “Good Dreams” beaming back at you. It helps more often than not. This theme of “mind over matter” appears often over the course of the album’s 12 songs. After a few years struggling to find their sound with a more conventional arrangement, Niagara Moon embraced the electronic orchestra living inside their Mac Mini. As such, “Good Dreams” became an baroque technicolor storybook of sound, and a welcome escape from the more challenging moments of the last couple years.While the music remains bright and fantastical, the lyrics tackle some darker concerns head-on. The Divine Comedy-esque “Hindsight” laments on the gradual loss of youth and freedom. “Boxed In” is a foreboding ode to the constriction and claustrophobia of the pandemic era. Similarly, “Bad Vibes” addresses the growing trends of paranoia and misinformation. Fortunately, the tone balances out with other tracks like “Who Needs Who?”, a celebration of empowerment and self-ownership in the age of the Great Resignation. “That’s News To Me” explores the power of love and vulnerability, and “Surprise For You” was even written as a marriage proposal to Thomas’s partner Huimin, whose ethereal vocal harmonies are also present on half of the songs.So come along. Dive in headfirst, shed the “Bad Vibes”, and find your own Good Dreams. They’re waiting for anyone that’s ready, with enough patience and imagination to accept them.
Beth Keeping is a UK based singer/songwriter with a captivating voice and eloquent flair for storytelling. With colourful pop melodies and empowering themes, her honest and wistful songwriting has connected with people around the world, with self-worth and sincerity being at the forefront of her music.
Inspired by artists such as Lauv, Julia Michaels and John Mayer and with a Taylor Swift-esque style, Keeping has gained global attention, travelling to Singapore, Ireland and the USA to lend her writing skills to other artists. After receiving an allied response from fans and critics for some of her previous releases, and gaining close to a million views on TikTok over the pandemic, Keeping felt inspired to start focusing on her own music as an artist.
“I’m not looking for a friend” is the vibey new single exploring situationships and self-confidence. With influences from electro-pop producer Zedd shining through, the liberating track is flushed with airy, uplifting melodies and playful synths, creating a dance-worthy, sing-along anthem. “It’s about being clear on what you want and intentional about going after it. It recognises that friendships can gradually develop into something more, and this process can be complicated and confusing, but you can’t sit in that space forever – eventually you have to make a decision either way.” In modern dating, we can get so preoccupied with acting cool and casual, and not wanting to show our hand, however the new track challenges people to be more intentional and open about what they want.
Keeping’s desire to champion and empower women is evident not only through her song lyrics, but also in her initiative ‘Write Like A Girl’, which shines a light on female songwriters. Having only been founded in 2018, it has grown exponentially with two UK tours and sell-out writers round shows in London, Newcastle and Bristol. These successes, along with her music gaining places on prestigious Spotify playlists such as New Music Friday and New Pop UK, is just a taste of what we expect to see from her in 2022.
After making significant traction in 2021 with her first ever musical releases, British pop princess in-the-making Eden Hunter is ready to continue making her mark on the UK music scene via her third official single: “All My Love”, out independently via AWAL.
Demonstrating her versatility with mellower synthpop sounds in contrast to her previous efforts, “All My Love” is the twenty-year-old musician’s Pride anthem celebrating self-acceptance and coming to terms with her own queerness, consequently allowing her to offer ‘all her love’ to the world and those around her. Marrying gorgeous vocal harmonies with optimistic melodies and subtle synth plucks co-produced by Eden with Nick Hahn (Lilla Vargen, Georgia Twinn), “All My Love” is further explored in Eden’s independently produced music video, which sees her star alongside drag celebrities River Medway, Sophia Stardust, Coco Couture and Aura Fiss in a campy ‘80s themed call centre, dancing away the day in power suits with smooth choreography by Six the Musical’s Freya Sands.
Speaking about “All My Love”, Eden said the following: “I wrote ‘All My Love’ at a time of complete inner frustration. I was really uncertain about who I was, both artistically and individually. I have always relied on my ‘artist self’ to be an ideal version of myself created from my best qualities but also stays really true to who I am; for some reason, I felt like no matter how hard I tried, I wasn’t quite meeting the mark of anyone expectations – or my own. Therefore, the song is a message I’ve
written to myself reminding me that when I don’t meet the standards set by people or society, and when I feel like I don’t belong and no one ‘gets it’, I will still continue to give people all my love because that’s who I am and I will always stay true to myself. The video for ‘All My Love’ was possibly one of the most fun things to shoot ever; it was my first ever music video and we shot it across two nights in June 2021. The song is about self-acceptance and trust even when others aren’t that way towards you so I knew I had to involve my friends who really encourage that within me and pioneer that to the world… so we created an ‘80s themed office party with myself, a five year old CEO and four drag queens!”
After a monumental 2021 for the sensational Zimbabwean singer, FRYA (pronounced Fre-ya) is ready to share her new hit single ‘Changes’, which accompanies the release of debut album ‘Balance’, released on Johannesburg based record label Exodus Entertainment.STREAM/DOWNLOAD: FRYA – CHANGES Tipped for major success by iconic international platforms including GQ, who recently interviewed Frya and identified her as a ‘vocal powerhouse’, the Zimbabwean born singer and songwriter is quickly establishing herself as an international star. Prior to the release of ‘Balance’, her debut body of work, 4 of Frya’s tracks were hand-picked for the soundtrack of Netflix hit series ‘Blood & Water’, all of which feature on the album. As an emerging artist, this is a monumental feat and one which can be attributed to both her music and character. Whilst her colourful life experience, emotion and feelings lend to the empowering, versatile and powerful soundscape that her music delivers, it is also her eloquence and fierce determination that open a world of intrigue in to discovering Frya’s world. Describing her sound as “The modern African woman: Versatile, powerful, bold”, it is clear why the world of music, style and culture are gravitating towards her with features across Notion Magazine, Earmilk and many more already scratching the surface of what is to be found from an artist like Frya.
Australian born, London based songwriter/producer Ryan Meeking, creates a unique brand of catchy and cutting-edge indie-pop evoking comparisons to Beck, Jack Garrat and Alt-J. He demonstrates his ability to bring wide-ranging skills and influences to bear on the art of pop music – and it’s connecting. Inspired by the complexity of relationships between people and their environment and intrigued by the emotional rollercoaster of life, Meeking plays with these concepts, concocting a one-of-a-kind space for each of his songs. He shares, “Every song I make has its own environment, its own conversation, its own emotion, its own world for exploring. It captures a moment in time – arriving as lyrics, sound and mood at once. One chance to connect.”
Meeking’s latest single “Better!” narrates two people who’ve always been friends, but often flirted with being more. Finally accepting the truth that they’ve always been better together and letting go of their fear, the track is an uplifting anthem, described as the musical equivalent of a street party. “Better!” also touches on the idea of not wasting time, as well as the underlying longing and frustration Meeking was feeling being separated from friends and family during lockdowns. He explains, “Because the pandemic made for such great stimuli, I realised every songwriter was probably going to write about it in some way. So I promised myself I wouldn’t directly address it. Instead, I used it as a way to inform my perspective – especially on things I’d always taken for granted.”“Better!” allowed Meeking’s soul to escape for a moment and romp through the ether unencumbered. The songwriter confides, “I was in a very strong mood at the time, wanting to let out a lot of pent-up energy, like a captive tiger pacing the cage perimeter. Better! opened the gate.”Adorned in a sonic tapestry of clever production, “Better!” showcases Meeking’s ability to push the boundaries. Featuring feel-good, sunshine melodies, playful instrumentation and smooth, honey-toned vocals, the irresistible track is sure to put a smile on your face and a skip in your step. Emerging in 2021, Rolling Stone AU described Meeking’s debut solo single as, “A blissful slice of indie-pop,” declaring, “Endless Run showcases exactly why Ryan Meeking is one of Australia’s best-kept musical secrets.” A well-kept secret indeed, Meeking’s credits include working alongside artists such as Gossling and Whitaker, the latter seeing his songs in popular TV productions including Suits, So You Think You Can Dance US and Teen Wolf. Having toured across Australia, the US and UK, Meeking’s music has racked up millions of streams across platforms. With more on the horizon for Ryan Meeking, now is a good time to be watching.
MEXICAN DOGS – have released the official video for their electrifying new single: “Run, Run, Run”.
An instant hit of retro-shaded, riff-rollicking Glam Rock for the good-times, you can watch the video here and now:
While holding a torch to their greatest influences, “Run, Run, Run” would also prove a pivotal moment in lighting the way forward for the Mexican Dogs as a band. As frontman Gaz Wilcox says of the track:
Recorded at 3rd Planet Studios in the band’s native Liverpool, “Run, Run, Run” was produced by the esteemable Andy Fernihough who assisted in coaxing out its Classic Rock charms.
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