LA-based DJ-turned-producer Sklyer Madison made her Monstercat debut today with her fiery new single, “Phoenix (feat. GLNNA).” Drawing inspiration from trap, future bass, and hip hop, Skyler has carved a niche for herself in the electronic space with her unique “future-trap” style. Nestled atop the rich bassline and warm chord stacks, GLNNA’s beautiful vocals tell a story of rebirth and perseverance, capturing Skyler’s emotions during a toxic period in her life. Akin to the fabled bird that rises from its own ashes, “Phoenix” carries a powerful message that anyone can find the strength to start over and transform the next chapter of their story.
Skyler Madison shares, “This record is by far the most personal body of work I’ve ever created. “Phoenix” is a metaphor for a dark time in my life but also a very transformative peak within myself. I hope it sheds light and gives those the inner strength they need to turn their pain into power and rise above their old self or a situation that no longer serves them the same way I did.”
Since transitioning from an open-format DJ to a full-time producer, Skyler Madison has garnered immense support from industry greats such as Flux Pavillion, SLANDER, Flosstradamus, and Krewella to name a few. Fans can look forward to seeing Skyler’s first performance of 2021 on October 7 at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco as direct support for Blunts & Blondes.
South Korean Rapper, Singer-Songwriter, and Record Producer, B.I, has announced a special guest lineup for his highly anticipated return to live performing. 131Live is proud to announce that Pink Sweats, Afgan, Epik High, and Destiny Rogers are joining the lineup with special performances and guest appearances. Get ready for a new concert experience, a movement of different cultures coming together seamlessly through the power of music. Not only will ticket purchasers get access to the full waterfall concert by B.I, but 131Live Presents has prepared these additional artists to make this an unforgettable event.
Tickets are on sale HERE for the show, where B.I will be performing his debut solo album for the first time. Tune in Saturday, October 2nd at 11:00pm EST & 8:00PM PST / Sunday, October 3rd at 12:00pm KST.
Earlier this year B.I released his global single “Got It Like That,” featuring Destiny Rogers and Tyla Yaweh, which MTV referred to as “nostalgic.” And on June 1st, B.I dropped his first full-length studio album, Waterfall, including his lead single “illa illa,” which TIME Magazine listed as one of “The Best K-Pop Songs of 2021 So Far.” The music video for “illa illa” broke a record of 12.7 million views in 24 hours, making B.I the most viewed male solo artist debut music video within the first 24 hours. Additionally, his album Waterfall was #1 on iTunes in 24 countries.
TICKETS ON SALE HERE
Breaking out with a melodic, emotive – and extremely well executed single, London based LA releases ‘Wrong Or Right’. Inspired by his relationship with his mother, the track focuses on themes of decision making, and the choices of bad and good, wrong or right. Whilst standing tall as a street anthem, the topics are highly relatable in a much broader scope too, making his work stand out in a crowded space. His cleverly selective lyricism is both genuine as it is engaging, opening his sound up to a world far beyond the confines of the trap.
Music is LA’s passion – and choosing the path of music has been no easy road. Hailing from Pimlico, London, LA is already well known in his area at the age of just 19. He is an indie hip-hop artist, with lyricism so real and unapologetic that he can make the hood cry – but he has a sense of humour that he frequently displays in his music. Joking that he is the ‘Trap Sheeran’, LA is aware that he is distinct, and unique from the rest of the talent.
You know all of those warm and fuzzy first-time feelings you get as a teenager—the ones you wish you could hold on to forever?
AVIV retrofits those emotions into her songs. The 15-year-old Toronto singer, songwriter, and multi- instrumentalist pens the kind of affecting and arresting D.I.Y. pop that’s both nostalgic and prescient (You could think of it like nineties alternative pop born post-social media). After generating millions of streams independently and receiving acclaim from Atwood Magazine and more, she continues to perfect this approach on a series of singles for Photo Finish Records.
“I’m just a teenager who acts much older, still gets excited about little things, and really loves to over- analyze her emotions and put them into music,” she says. “I try to be true to myself with everything I do. The more AVIV the music is, the better.”
AVIV grew up in a big family of four siblings, including her twin brother. Every Saturday, they went record shopping together on Queen Street in Toronto, picking up classics by Fleetwood Mac, Radiohead, and more. “Most families went to the mall,” she smiles. “We went to the record store together.”
At six-years-old, she studied piano under “an old-fashioned teacher who scared me into practicing and getting good!” Around the same time, she developed her voice and eventually picked up guitar. Casual poetry transformed into songwriting as she regularly played her early compositions for friends and family. Throughout high school, she obsessed over the likes of Clairo, Lorde, and Lana Del Rey.
“They’re my three moms,” she laughs.
Once the Pandemic hit, she found herself listening to more music than ever and, at the same time, writing as well. Working with her big brother’s friend Jackson Follemer as co-producer, she regularly took the train to Montreal to visit them at McGill University and started to record music in 2020. Following “Cookie Dough,” her independent single “Girls In Red” claimed coveted real estate on playlists such as “indie pop & chill” and eventually amassed hundreds of thousands of streams. “Frontlawn” and “Lonely Bitch” only increased her momentum with consistent organic growth.
“Music became a way to convey my emotions,” she admits. “Since I won’t even talk to my friends about a lot of these things, it’s an outlet for me to talk about things I don’t talk about.”
With its glassy synths, simmering guitar, cinematic hum, and candid lyrics, “Black Coffee” represented another evolution. It initially came to life as a guitar and vocal demo by AVIV before producer Rian Lewis [Kiiara, D.R.A.M.] added his touch. The single initially debuted on Spotify’s “New Music Friday” and attracted widespread critical acclaim. Atwood Magazine described it as “a song that acts as an album of memories, a reminder to enjoy the moment and to find a possible way to reconcile,” and Fashionably Early predicted, “This is sure to be a hit.” At the same time, it illuminated her keen melodic instincts and vivid storytelling strained through the hook, “And all of the memories and all of the warnings. Poured it all down in the drain. Yeah, we’re like black coffee. But we could fill it up if we wanna.”
Joined by OCTAVIO the Dweeb, she made her Photo Finish Records debut with the Official Remix.
“With COVID, a lot of my friendships and my friends’ romantic relationships just came to a full stop,” she observes. “People drifted. When you pour out your cup of black coffee, there are all of these grains in the bottom that stay there. Those grains are all of the things that could’ve been pursued, but the cup was already poured out. That’s the deeper meaning.”
In the end, AVIV preserves feelings you don’t ever want to lose with each and every song. “If my song takes you somewhere emotional, there’s nothing better to me,” she leaves off. “Or, if it makes you answer a question you’ve had about your life, that would be amazing. My songs make me answer my own questions. When I release them, I hope they do the same thing for you.”
In the wake of the #MeToo movement and the US electing its first female Vice President, the time of the empowered female is alive and well. Alt-pop rocker D.K. Lyons celebrates the strong, authentic female figure in his new single “Katie in the Moment,” out now from his new EP, Vandalism, due out this fall.
Raised by three positive female role models (after losing his father in a plane crash), D.K. Lyons grew up in awe of women. In his new single, “Katie in the Moment,” the artist sings about a bartender who notices a female customer, “Katie,” who frequents his bar. While dismantling toxic masculinity and providing philosophical advice, Katie exudes the utmost self-confidence. She gives a stark contrast to the boys who fawn over her and inspires the insecure bartender to take ownership of his own life. Lyons describes his newest single as “a track that’s meant to inspire authenticity, empowerment, and dancing.”
The song is about the experience of rejection from your first love. It is written in a first person perspective and as well as being a song of loss and rejection it also has an uplifting and relatable catchy chorus with high energy that is prefect for a car journey or to play on wards to any exiting event.
Credit: Chris M Saunders
Breaking the six year silence – GILMORE TRAIL – are pleased to confirm their return to music with a brand new album.
‘Impermanence’, the long-awaited follow up to 2015’s ‘The Floating World’, will be released via the band’s own Chasmata Records imprint on 21st January 2022.
Offering fans an exclusive teaser today, it stands as an enigmatic and enveloping re-introduction to the world of Gilmore Trail and a tantalising promise of an all new chapter in the writing.
LISTEN TO THE TEASER HERE
Sheffield’s premier instrumental rock band, Gilmore Trail, are David Ivall and Danny Mills on guitars, Joe Richards on bass and Bob Brown on drums. Named after a passage in Alaska – a route recommended for best experiencing the Northern Lights; their compositions have a reputation for the atmospheric and transcendent, with their latest work ready to continue the blazing trail set out by their former work.
Arriving 10 years into their career, ‘Impermanence‘ will complete a trilogy of full-length studio releases for Gilmore Trail. True to form, it’s a record that finds them building upon the foundations of their previous work while broadening their horizons in the spirit of transformation and new possibilities.
Having amicably parted-ways with drummer Sam Ainger right at the beginning of the recording process, it would be the recruitment of his replacement Bob Brown that would also set the trajectory and tone for the new album. A record ultimately about change, transition and uncertainty, the seven tracks of ‘Impermanence’ each offer their own response to these underlying core themes. Officially completed in 2020 before the pandemic was even a twinkle in the world’s eye, ‘Impermanence’ would come to take on an eerie new resonance in the months that ensued as its theoretical concepts became hard truths for just about everyone.
