VUKOVI have today released a brand new single ‘QUENCH’. The single, which had it’s first play on BBC Radio 1’s Future Sounds with Clara Amfo last night, is taken off the bands highly-anticipated new album NULA. which is out the 7th October via LAB Records.
Speaking about the song Janine said ‘Quench is about female sexual empowerment and I want the song to inspire people to not attach shame to sexual empowerment.’
The band along with Sanctity Corporation will be hosting an audio/visual album listening party tonight at The Planetarium at the Glasgow Science Centre to celebrate the release of the new album NULA.
The band will be heading out on their biggest headline tour in October. The London show was upgraded from The Garage to o2 Academy Islington due to demand and alongside Manchester has now sold out. You can find a full list of dates below.
You can see VUKOVI at the following dates (with support from ZAND):
12th October- Stylus, Leeds – Tickets
13th October – Academy 2, Manchester- SOLD OUT
14th October – O2 Academy, Islington, London- SOLD OUT
16th October – Chalk, Brighton- Tickets
17th October – Fleece, Bristol- SOLD OUT
19th October – Institute 2, Birmingham- Tickets
21st October – Goldener Salon Hafenklang, Hamburg- Tickets
22nd October – Privat Club, Berlin- Tickets
23rd October – MTC, Köln- Tickets
25th October – Les Etoiles, Paris- Tickets
26th October – Patronaat 23, Haarlem- SOLD OUT
29th October – Student’s Union, Newcastle- Tickets
30th October – SWG3, Scotland- Tickets
VUKOVI are an ambitious band, and ‘NULA’ is an ambitious record, filled with big, punchy riffs amalgamated with extreme pop that has made them such a band to be reckoned with. The record has a careful sonic blending of nu metal, shoegaze, rock, punk, pop, electronics and sample. Now a two piece, vocalist Janine and guitarist Hamish are VUKOVI, and have spent these strange two years gone plotting in their Glasgow base. ‘NULA’ is, as vocalist Janine explains ‘A concept record’, which charts the journey of this character (called Nula) in a distant, far off, Sci-fi world.
Introducing Canadian-born, Brooklyn-based indie dream/pop artist Jenny Kern. With a magnetic vocal style and emotively piercing lyricism, Kern’s music has been amassing plenty of attention around the globe. Having originally started as a Page at NBC, Kern then went on to work for acclaimed filmmakers Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig, before eventually becoming a producer in the film and television industry. In 2018 Kern decided to take a leap of faith and pursue her passion for music full time.
Drawing on personal experiences, her songs unfold through a confessional-style delivery revealing the strength that can only come through vulnerability. Exploring what it means to be human and everything from anxiety, depression, getting older, interpersonal relationships, gratitude, love and loss, Kern confides, ”I think most people assume that my music skews toward lyrical sadness but I always try to inject a hopeful undercurrent to it. I want people to feel like there’s hope and just because something feels heavy doesn’t mean that it’s going to be that way forever.”
Taking profound inspiration from the likes of The 1975, Chelsea Cutler, and Maggie Rogers, Jenny Kern is back and unveiling her highly anticipated five-track EP Your Heart Knows. Exploring love from a multitude of angles, including the desire to let go and create distance, Kern confides, “It’s about being open and honest with yourself, trusting how you feel and looking inward at what you really need. Mostly I wanted to create a record that looks at the beauty and the heartbreak of a failing relationship. The ups and downs of that process. Even though you experience heartache you can also recognize the special moments and see how you evolve as a person throughout it all.”
EUT continue to transcend sonic depths. The Dutch five-piece create blissful, eternally youthful music that champions acceptance, authenticity and – most of all – buckets of fun. The band is the brainchild of Megan de Klerk, a captivating vocalist whose lyrics dance around 90s influenced guitar pop. Flowing between traditional genre boundaries with no fear, their unparalleled creativity saw the band thrive in their early days, using opposite takes as a driving force into a new era for alternative pop.
Now, the quintet are releasing the next single “Step By Step”, one of the first songs to be written for their upcoming album Be My Reactor, EUT’s first self-produced record. Liberated of deadlines and the whole touring lifestyle due to the Covid pandemic, the band could dig their heels deeper into their experimentalism. Sound-wise, the album has more in common with twilight than the bright, sun-kissed sceneries they courted before. With their new album, EUT soars with catharsis. They explain, “On previous records, we might have wanted to dance our problems away lyrically and musically. But during the writing process of Be My Reactor, there were a lot of emotionally heavy moments that had to be placed in a song and didn’t deserve to be pushed into the background.”
Within the album’s darker themes, the innate joy of reinventing the band’s sound and lyrical confrontation shines through. In an endless process of discovery, Guitarist/producer Emiel de Nennie explains, “We bought all kinds of synthesizers and I tried to teach myself how to write songs another way. That’s why this record sounds different, because we were caught up in all these new instruments.” As a result of handling the recordings themselves, EUT assigned Adam ‘Atom’ Greenspan (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Arcade Fire, Bloc Party) for additional mixing to create the unique sound for their next release.
EUT have always had a knack for summoning that elusive spark of alt pop energy, and “Step By Step” is no exception. Blasting with euphoric synthesisers and sweeping melodies, their idisocranic soundscape can be attributed to the band’s kaleidoscope of musical influences. Beck, Gorillaz and St. Vincent inspire the continuous reinvention that makes EUT so enthralling. Combined with compelling discourses surrounding depression, breakups, and closer friends with suicidal thoughts, they confide, “On this record, we faced these subjects without fear and confronted them, and in doing so we have tried to break taboos for ourselves.” Hoping to inspire their listeners to leave an old situation with confidence and trust in the “Step by Step” process, their latest endeavour is nothing short of extraordinary.
Exciting star-in-the-making Valencia Grace returns with a soul-stirring, heart-on-her-sleeve new single ‘There I Said It.’ The sublime yet melancholic, bitter-sweet new song is available immediately via Ministry of Sound (UK) / Columbia (US). It can also be heard on tour this year when Valencia supports fellow newcomer Renforshort.
Watch the live video here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktrrlcKZVBI
Those wishing to add the song to a playlist can do so – HERE
On the track, Valencia sings “We went from strangers smiling in a picture,
to confronting silence over dinner again” Speaking about ‘There I Said It’ Valencia said “I love the writing in this song. The writing is one of the most conversational and realistic I’ve ever been. It hurts every time I sing it because of that but it means that you can really feel the passion in the lyrics, so more people resonate with it.“
The lyrics ‘we went from strangers smiling in a picture, to confronting silence over dinner again’ are among some of Valencia’s own track favorites, which she explains “I love this line because it’s very true and exposing. I remember feeling the come-up in this relationship I was in, and exactly when it tipped and started to fall. God, it was awful. When you’re faced with “the talk” and you already know exactly how it’s gonna end before it even starts.”
“I gave a lot of myself to this person. My time, my energy. I even knew we would reach a dead end but for some reason, I just didn’t care. I told myself it would be worth it, worth suffering. It would tell a more exciting story, right? I guess I must’ve been in love. That’s what the song is about.”
“I know this line is simple but, ‘strangers smiling in a picture to confronting silence over dinner’ paints the whole circle from the first kiss to the last eye gaze and really just sums up the entire demise of my relationship.”
Irish alt-pop band HamsandwicH gear up to release their fourth studio album ‘Magnify’on 30thSeptember.
One of Ireland’s most enthralling live acts in recent times, HamsandwicH are well known for their incendiary live performances which has established them as one of the top touring acts in the country. Featuring their signature calling card of Niamh Farrell‘s powerful yet sweet vocal, Podge McNamee‘s juxtaposing baritone, and Brian Darcy’s soaring guitar riffs, if ever there was a band to feed off their audience it is HamsandwicH.
HamsandwicH: ‘“Magnify” is a new type of record for us. There’s a bit of indie electro dance on it but it also has lots of nods to our older stuff people will recognise, which we felt was important. The album deals with human connections and examining old and new relationships, making peace with the past while also reaching out to those needing to be heard more who might be a bit lost.’
The album opens with an infectious 80s synth-pop arrangement in ‘Electro Wave’, providing a perfect setting for the pairing of Farrell and McNamee’s vocals. ‘Do you still feel like your life’s a Saturday night?’ McNamee sings before the chorus euphorically bursts in. The band’s enthusiasm for writing and performing also shines through on latest single ‘All My Blood’. It serves as an open call to party as it gradually builds to a classic HamsandwicH climax. It is the perfect blend of the established HamsandwicH sound and the new direction the band are embarking on.
Meanwhile, ‘Le Soleil’ is a memorable mix of alt-pop and light dance that pairs really well with the call and response songwriting. With its bright rhythms and catchy hook in the chorus, its short length adds to the fun of the track as a bouncy middle-of-the-album snapshot. The fun is also present on ‘Julian’ in its choppy guitars and synths, a stark contrast with the lyrics of uncertainty in a relationship that works thanks to the band’s effortless songwriting skills. The hooks in ‘Run Run’ demonstrate their knack for creating a song that will work brilliantly live, complete with heightened vocals in the chorus and loud guitars to elevate them. ‘A Pact’ does the same, with its sprightly pop beat and addictive harmonies.
And don’t miss album closer ‘Good Friday’ which begins with a pulsing bassline that leads into a ‘when it takes hold’ refrain and acts as a nod to the band’s former manager Derek Nally, who sadly passed away in 2010. Acting as a look back at the band’s beginnings, it’s a poignant finish to the record and a mark of gratitude for where they are now.
Writing ‘Magnify’ remotely in different parts of the country (Dublin, County Meath and County Monaghan), swapping ideas over voice notes and recording between studios and Niamh’s kitchen over a staggered timeframe, the band’s adaptability is woven into the tapestry of ‘Magnify’ and its essence. The result is a testament to HamsandwicH’s spirited and assured artistic voice, and of their penchant to still push boundaries with their music. Production came from Michael Heffernan (Dermot Kennedy, Ailbhe Reddy, Thumper) whilst guest collaborators included Justin Gerrish (Vampire Weekend, The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) as well as Emily Lazar and Chris Allgood (Beck, Haim) who mastered the record and helped in facilitating the band’s renewed perspective towards making music.
Waiting for Smith is London-born, Amsterdam based singer-songwriter Harry Lloyd. Formerly a ski instructor in the French Alps, Lloyd had an epiphany after a severe accident, that if he could walk again, he’d dedicate his life to music. After recuperating and learning to play the guitar in bed, he formed Waiting for Smith, named after his original drummer Smith, who always failed to show up.
Spreading joy and making people believe in themselves are the driving forces behind Waiting for Smith’s musical endeavors. With the goal to continue to open his mind (and hopefully others) he confides, “My dream is to help people forget about their troubles in life, even if it’s just for half an hour. I love making people feel good.”
Now, Waiting for Smith is back with his new tune, “Skylight Dawn”, the third single ahead of his new EP, Trying Not To Try. Surrounding inspirational discourses on mental health, “Skylight Dawn” is about the push and pull of love and what that does to the mind. He confides, “However challenging it can be to be with someone you love, it’s arguably one of the best feelings you get during this experience on earth. When you realise you’re healing together – you see the beauty in the struggle.” Produced and co-written by Dane Etteridge (Lewis Capaldi, Declan J Donovan, & St Lundi) and recorded at Assault & Battery in London, “Skylight Dawn” came to life.
Instantly, it became clear that something special had been created, as his impactful lyricism and simply euphoric energy explores the union of two souls dancing with their darkness, to make their way into the light. As enveloping choruses rise atop distinct drum rhythms and Lloyd’s striking vocal energy, “Skylight Dawn” proves that we are better, and stronger together. In a never-ending investigation of what it truly means to be human, Waiting for Smith’s repertoire continues to exceed new heights.
Amassing international support, Waiting for Smith has landed radio play on over 191 stations around the world, including the likes of Huw Stephens on Radio 1, Dermot O’Leary and Jo Whiley on Radio 2 and Tom Robinson on 6 Music. Receiving over 2000 syncs internationally, and millions of streams to date, Waiting for Smith also provided the sonics for the Japanese Grand Prix, The Netflix series Vis a Vis (Locked Up), soaps in Germany and one of the biggest TV commercials in Spain in 2019, the Christmas ad for El Corte Ingles. With humbling praise from the likes of British GQ, Rolling Stone India, MTV Germany, Clash Magazine, Earmilk and Holland’s JFK Magazine, Waiting for Smith’s mission is to engulf the world with unforgettable melodies and his much-needed message of positivity continues to thrive.
FLIGHT ATTENDANT
“Honeysweet“
• “”Honeysweet” is about taking the bitter taste out of life, by being there for your friend to get ’em past the tough moments and see the good life around them. Because at the end of the day, what a sweet, sweet life we are living.”
• “Honeysweet” is from Flight Attendant’s self-titled album, out today. The band will celebrate tonight in Knoxville, TN at Santos Bar followed by a run of 20+ dates in Europe throughout November and December.
• Louder Than War says, “The debut album by Flight Attendant stands as a fine testament to the development of an exciting new band who have adopted such an eclectic mix of sounds and styles from their home in Nashville.”
buzzing pop punk superstar Leah Kate releases her new single “Monster” via 10K Projects/MDDN. Get it HERE.
Leah Kate also announces her upcoming EP Alive and Unwell, arriving on October 28th. The project will feature the new track, alongside recent single “Life Sux” and her breakout smash “10 Things I Hate About You,” which has now surpassed 260 million global streams, been used in over 780K videos on TikTok, and zoomed into the Top 20 at Pop Radio. Fans can presave the EP HERE.
Tapping into her signature rock-leaning sound, “Monster” serves as the ultimate clap back to the haters. “Go run your mouth and keep putting dirt on my name,” she sings before diving into the chorus, “watch me turn into a monster.” As the verses continue, Leah highlights the sad extent trolls will go to try to bring her down before delivering the ultimate f-you, “but when you make me famous, you’ll be the first one I thank.”
international artist WizTheMc drops his vulnerable single, “When I Get Lonely.” Get it HEREvia 10k Projects. Originally from Cape Town, WizTheMc resides between Berlin, Toronto, and L.A. As a result, the track highlights how he grapples with distance from his friends and family in his hometown. Rather than solely feeling a sense of homesickness, he explains that the isolation he feels from being away, “touches on my fears surrounding relationships.” Now based in Toronto, WizTheMc is gearing up for his debut album coming soon.
Showcasing his live set, WizTheMc hit the road with buzzing artist Kid Bloom this week for their Highway Tour.The 26-stop North American tour will hit major cities across the nation, ending at the iconic Troubadour in Los Angeles on November 3. Get tickets HERE and see full routing below.
Earlier this year, WizTheMc releasedWhere the Silence Feels Good, which took listeners through a tale of love, including all its triumphs, trials, and tribulations. Featuring songs such as “Fck Love” Featuring BENEE, “Do It Over” and “Premature Love” the project went on to amass over 13 million overall streams worldwide, while being hailed by the likes of PAPER Magazine, VMan, Dork, Notion, Forbes and Vogue.
Transatlantic quartet 53 Thieves today release their sprawling new album, Latitudes. A body of work led by focus track ‘Fault Lines’ featuring rising hip hop artist PELL, Latitudes showcases four unique artists with four unique sounds coming together to create a wonderful project.
A band formed during the pandemic who used to collaborate via the internet before finally meeting as the world began to open up, 53 Thieves have racked up over 100 million streams on their brand of intricately crafted, genre fluid sound.
Speaking on the album, the band state:
“Latitudes is an expression of distance, written by the four of us, who live in four separate locations. We want to emphasize how this distance felt from our individual and collective experiences, how it felt through the uncertainty of lockdown, and to showcase what we have learned together.
Our hope is that this album reaches out and speaks to those who have lost connection with themselves or with others, with their past or future, to anyone who feels that there is an unwanted space between them and something they cared about, be it an old love or lost opportunity.
Every song features the theme of distance to some extent, be it emotional or physical, heartfelt or apathetic, we designed the intensity curve of the album to be connected through this theme, like an unbroken line of latitude connecting each track from into to islands.
We view Latitudes as the culmination of our triumph over the challenges of distance; although we are separated by a vast ocean, we now understand that physical distance is nothing compared to the journey we have taken together.”
Toronto hip hop artist and ASL advocate MDL CHLD (aka Chris Corsini) returns with ‘Numb’, a powerful new song and video out today on all digital streaming platforms. Listen here.
‘Numb’ follows the release of ‘All The Sudden’which came out earlier this year and is the 2nd single from MDL CHLD’s new EP set for release on October 28th. Pop driven with laid back dreamy beats, ‘Numb’ is a personal song about addiction and mental health.
“I wrote this song when I truly hit rock bottom,” says MDL CHLD. “This was the experience that cracked me open, shifted my life, and led me back to myself. I hope this song inspires anybody who is going through their own dark night of the soul to keep going; it really does get better.”
MDL CHLD wants to reshape the way we look at inclusivity in the arts. He values diversity and inclusion and his vision is to merge his work as an American Sign Language Interpreter (ASL) with his passion for art and music into a unique and accessible performance approach. Like his previous creative projects, when creating the ‘Numb’ video MDL CHLD worked closely with members of the Deaf Community, both in front and behind the camera, while prioritizing LGBTQ+ and BIPOC individuals, whenever possible, to create performance art, music and videos, that are uniquely captivating and inclusive.
Canadian artist, noelle, is a 20-year-old emerging pop talent with a modern R&B edge.
noelle has been singing since she was barely old enough to walk. Initially finding her footing through YouTube, noelle amassed a following of 94.2K subscribers resulting from her viral covers of timeless classics and today’s biggest acts, most notably Post Malone and Sabrina Claudio.
noelle was raised on the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory in Ontario, in a family and community that surrounded her with music. Her upbringing exposed her to a vast range of musical genres, from Nat King Cole and Sarah Vaughan, to the pow wow drum and native wind flute from her Indigenous roots. Just like many others, noelle’s high school years were full of highs and lows, and music quickly became her outlet. Expressing her thoughts and emotions at her piano, coupled with a reality she sought to transcend, noelle began writing her own music as a therapeutic form of self-expression. The artists’ whose words she once personalized through her covers, soon became the major influences behind her own music. After graduating high school in 2017, noelle signed her record deal with Wax Records, and has spent two years developing her sound to create a modern blend of R&B, pop, urban, and jazz influences.
noelle’s pop ballad repertoire harnesses the powerful contrast of the darkness she sees in the modern world. Coupling thought-provoking lyrics with melodies that will both emotionally and physically move her audience, her words remind you how it feels to experience the world and love as a young woman today.
In this second course from the Rikas & Benny Sings collaboration cookbook, the European indie-poppers serve up a culinary treat in the form of a new wave-infused ode to the strains of modern living. Stuffed with reflected contradictions, “Never Leaving The House” tackles the phenomenon of being “always on the run but never leaving the house”. In their case, Rikas find themselves caught up in a world that forces young musicians into becoming part-time marketeers, accountants, and tour managers. All of these obligations piped into their homes via a cavalcade of emails, DMs, notifications and phone calls.
Written during an end of summer session in Amsterdam and recorded in the heat of Los Angeles this song might be one of the most subtly complex Rikas songs yet. It’s self aware yet unsure, it grooves but it’s not dancy, it’s instantly relatable but not superficial, it’s funny but not in a funny way. Singer/multi-instrumentalist Sascha explains, “we all are leaning towards those contradictional behaviors. Even we as artists struggle a lot with this wandering in between worlds. On one side there’s this ideal of freeing yourself from all capitalistic mechanisms but on the other side we want to be part of the market because it’s necessary and sometimes even exciting.“
American rock band Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts share their new single/video, “Everybody Loves You When You’re Dead,” the second track from their forthcoming debut album, Ballad of A Misspent Youth slated for release on November 4th.
“Everybody Loves You When You’re Dead” is a powerful, stirring rock-ballad. Tuk elaborates on the track’s inspiration: “I was channeling my favorite 70s glam gods on this track, for sure. I woke up one morning with phrase ‘everybody loves you when you’re dead’ running through my head, so I sat down and the piano and the song kind of wrote itself. I had been struggling with the death of a friend and I was flooded with existential thoughts. It’s not necessarily a song about death, per se, it’s a bit more layered with some social commentary thrown in there. Personally, I look at it as more a freedom song.”
Athens, Georgia’s Hotel Fiction invites you into their all-inclusive world with the release of the shimmering new single “Man on the Moon.” Paired with today’s release comes the announcement of their new EP Enjoy Your Stay, slated for an October 28 release date. The band’s second single off of the upcoming project, “Man on the Moon” is robust and galaxy-filling, with a cord of self-awareness anchoring the group back to Earth – Stream.
On today’s release, the duo said, “’Man on the Moon,’ despite being one of our most upbeat songs, is a metaphor for a struggling relationship. Distance can make someone you love feel like they’re on a different planet, physically and emotionally.” They continue. “It’s bittersweet to hear about a loved one’s adventures over the phone when they are far away. You’re happy they’re having the time of their life but wish you were there to enjoy those moments with them. The song never asks them to come home and has long accepted the fact that maybe they never will.”
Email: neill@outloudculture.com
