Sia Shells is a Toronto based singer and songwriter that rhymes about the everyday magic we find through relationships, self love, reflection and dreams.
Her emotive contralto vocals juxtaposed against upbeat dream pop sounds instantly transport you to another world.
Sia has played large crowds, opened for notable artists such as Lil’ Debbie and headlined various performances including Nuit Blanche at The Royal Conservatory.
On the back of viral breakout hit Maybe My Soulmate Died, LA based polymath iamnotshane is returning with stunning new offering what doesn’t kill you mutates and tries again. A heartfelt, tongue-in-cheek alt-pop song showcasing Shane’s dreamy vocals over floating beats, the track showcases the talents that have seen him pick up over 40 million global streams in the past 3 months and widescale support. Speaking on the track, Shane states:
“What Doesn’t Kill You Mutates and Tries Again” is about acknowledging bleak situations so it doesn’t
get the best of you.
I wrote it to help me stop worrying about what I can’t control and find some peace in the madness.
Deciding to dance and have faith it will all work out for the best even if it’s not what I had hoped”.
The Tenors debut their first single with new members, Mark Masri, GRAMMY and JUNO award nominee and international recording artist, and Alberto Urso, winner of Italy’s most prominent TV competition “AMICI”. This song is the perfect introduction to the new configuration of the group reinforcing a message of hope, healing and harmony.
“We are very excited to showcase the power and harmony of the next chapter for The Tenors. This first single has a deep meaning for us as we start this new journey together. The song is about hope and letting go and seeing the miracles all around us.” -The Tenors
Following their live U.S. debut at The Hollywood Bowl on September 15 as special guests of Lang Lang, comes the release of their debut original single, “Miracle”. Accompanied by the single, The Tenors share the “Miracle” music video which was filmed in Sicily and directed by Fabrizio Conte.
Singer, songwriter, and producer Reeny Smith trades in a sophisticated blend of groove-heavy R&B and heart-wrenching soul, deeply influenced by both her Baptist church choir roots and the ‘90s girl groups she grew up listening to on the radio. But when you strip everything else away, the very heart of her singular brand of pop music is the relationship between her and the piano, a connection Smith has nurtured since she was just five years old, spurred on by a profoundly musical family. From behind the keys, the Nova Scotia-based artist uses her powerful voice to communicate the atmosphere each song necessitates, conjuring the pain of heartbreak during a performance’s lowest lows; radiating tangible joy in the midst of its highest highs; and exploring everything in between.
Her earliest, most significant musical inspirations came from her family—Smith’s mother, Maureen, is also an astounding singer; “Mr. Performance” is what she calls her funk-loving father, Jonathan, who helped shape her charismatic stage presence; and her grandfather, former pastor Rev. Wallace Smith Sr., was a member of two of Canada’s premiere gospel groups, The Gospel Heirs and The Sanctified Brothers. It was in her home community of North Preston, Nova Scotia—the largest Indigenous Black community in Canada—and at St. Thomas United Baptist Church, learning to harmonize in the choir and watching her grandfather preach, that Smith’s artistry began to take shape.
Hal Cannon announced his first solo album release in over a decade, with the single “Thirty-Six Miles” (June 14th). This gentle gothic folk song, like a wide angle shot that opens a grand western epic film, scans a vast sky and red desert cliffs. Yet, inevitably the camera zooms in to the intimacy of life in this mythic place, the American southwest.
Cannon’s life work has been all about documenting and exploring the cultural and natural landscape of this place. But this new album, “Nothin’ Lastin’,” is also personal and intimate. The songs, a cry of impermanence and the quest to find solid ground.
Cannon’s songwriting often exists in a timeless space; simultaneously capable of paying tribute to the past, while also observing the present, and considering the future. In “Thirty-Six Miles” we get a vivid example of this approach as Cannon alternates verses that hint at past tragedy with the repeating refrain “Shalako”. That being the name of an annual Zuni ceremony that gives thanks for the harvest and blesses new homes in the community. With its aura of hushed reverence and gently picked banjo patterns, the lead-off single eases us into a boundless world that is captured amongst the thirteen tracks on the Nothin’ Lastin’ album. Despite Cannon’s lengthy resumé as a member of the Deseret String Band, Red Rock Rondo, 3hattrio, and as a solo performer, the topical reach of Nothin’ Lastin’ makes it his most expansive project yet. “Years Go Down” offers a touching reflection on seasoned love, the title-track brings a sense of peace to impermanence, “Our Fathers” explores the motivations of Cannon’s ancestors’ journey to Utah, and “Silver Dove” offers a brooding reflection on religion and hope.
“Smoke Communiqué” is the second single from the German-American indie rocker’s upcoming Daydream Echo Chamber EP, due out on November 4th. Reminiscent of The Strokes, the upcoming single is a spiritual successor to the group’s 2021 track “Ignorance Is Blitz”. The song addresses the group’s feeling that in this day and age, those with the dumbest opinions or the unkindest, most negative things to say are always loudest and get the most attention, whereas anyone with a more rational, sensible, or informed take on things feels as if they are arguing with a brick wall, and those loud, obnoxious, and dangerous displays of idiocy are the result of power elites.
“Smoke Communiqué” follows the band’s latest single “Clarity”.
rising powerhouse AJA (Aja Neinstein) returns with her brilliant new single
‘How Do You Sleep?
Communicating with perfect poise, AJA reflects on the toxicity that she was faced with whilst completing her final two years of High School. Using her talent for songwriting as a form of catharsis, ‘How Do You Sleep?’ comes as an authentic offering that’s catchy as hell.
Explaining more, AJA shares: ‘This song is more of an emotional take on my high school experience. It stems off of my last single Bad Game Of Telephone, which was more literal. ‘How do you sleep’ touches more on the emotional impact of those experiences. Sometimes it’s ok to be exhausted from the drama. Take your time to process it, feel it, move on and you’ll be stronger as a result.’
How Do You Sleep? Is AJA’s fourth single to be released since the start of the year and follows her huge single ‘Bad Game of Telephone’. The powerful track saw support from the likes of Metal Magazine, Rollacoaster online and Consequence who referred to the tune as ‘slinky and energetic’.
This is Canadian multi-instrumentalist Leena Rodriguez with my alternative rock project, MBG. With two new singles out and an EP release in the future, I’m about to break out in the Toronto indie rock scene that’s so heavily dominated by boy bands with my own loud, edgy and unique sound.
Originally when I started writing the verses I was just complaining about my friends being in love and feeling like a third wheel. Once I got to the chorus, I had mad writer’s block and didn’t know how to continue until I thought to myself, “What if it’s not really about me hating being the third wheel but rather being jealous because I secretly have a crush on my friend?” I felt in complete denial about it but eventually these feelings became so strong that I couldn’t ignore them. I took that intention and finished the song so quickly.
Listen to the pop-infused song, “I’m Not In Luv,” on streaming platforms now.
Love is in the air and I’m turning blue
I think at one point in our lives, we’ve had little harmless crushes on our friends and I feel like as a queer person having these feelings for your friends of the same sex while still trying to figure yourself out is a little wild and scary and this song is a little bit about that.
Thanks for listening,Leena Rodriguez of MBG
BLUE VIOLET are back with news of a new EP, single and a spread of Scottish tour dates this Autumn (full dates included below).
Directly following their debut album ‘Late Night Calls’ (released in the Spring of 2022), the band have been busily working towards its successor in the shape of a new EP entitled: ‘Love, Hate & Forgiveness’. Confirmed for release on 21st October, the four track release will feature two acoustic reworkings of ‘Late Night Calls’ classics, plus two brand new offerings including the new single “Favourite Jeans” which is available to hear now.
STREAM ON ALL SERVICES HERE || WATCH VIDEO HERE
While described by Blue Violet as “a continuation of themes, both sonically and lyrically, that we explored on our debut album”, the songs of the ‘Love, Hate & Forgiveness’ EP mark a distinctly different writing chapter for the duo. Whereas the songs heard on their debut album ‘Late Night Calls’ date back to a prolific month-long session in 2019 with producer Rob Ellis (Anna Calvi, Marianne Faithful, PJ Harvey) at Devon’s Middle Farm Studios; their upcoming material is a glimpse of how the pair spent the inescapable lockdown of the following year.
“For all of the chaos and hardships that Covid brought to the world it also provide ample time for people to be creative” reflects singer Sarah Gotley of the ‘Love, Hate & Forgiveness’ EP. “So although we only released our debut album in April this year we wanted to bring out some of the music that we’d been working on in that time”.
Salt Lake City-based musician Addison Grace announces his sophomore EP Things That Are Bad For Me, due out November 11. Alongside the announcement, Grace shares a brand new single “Pretty Girl,” out everywhere now with its dreamy video shot on film. On the soft, melancholic “Pretty Girl,” Grace chooses self-preservation over an unhealthy relationship.
Addison Grace’s second EP, Things That Are Bad For Me expands on the vulnerable sonic world built with their May 2022 EP Immaturing. Where the previously shared, often light-hearted project chronicles growing up and navigating the challenging aspects of discovering one’s identity, the follow up collection embraces the darker, harder parts of this new understanding and self-acceptance. Over a new set of five tracks, Grace shares the forthcoming EP is exactly what the title says, explaining, “It’s a journey of self indulgence and depreciation, jealousy, pain, and acceptance. I’d always had a hard time with comparison and self acceptance and that started to show in my songwriting. I was indulging in such awful feelings. Now I feel each song tells its own story and spirals into different reasons of why I was struggling up until the last song, ‘If Nobody Likes U,’ where you can hear I was finally learning self-acceptance.” Grace continues, “While the ‘Immaturing’ EP was my journey of growing up, discovering myself, and transitioning, ‘Things That Are Bad for Me’ is the journey of not only learning to live with yourself but also learning to feel those difficult, gross emotions and be able to accept them.”
Casey Moon is a genre-defying multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and half of the production duo Zookids. Having handled production for artists such as Young Thug, Gunna and A Boogie with the Hoodie, writing for independent artists in the indie-pop world, and having played in a slough of rock bands over the years his style has absorbed an eclectic array of influences.
Over the course of 2022, Casey plans to release his trilogy of EPs: Fountains, Mirrors and Ashes. Each project Varies in genre and draws thematic influence from a different film or TV series. Listened to sequentially, the projects tell a story about growing up, love and loss.
Boasting a strong voice with an ear for pop melody, modern production and a dazzling live show, Casey is a truly singular act.
Elizabeth M. Drummond today shares her latest single ‘Bullet’. The track signals the imminent arrival of her forthcoming EP ‘Congratulations’, out November 18 via UK label Young Poet..
Watch the video to Bullet now – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7yssFRal5s
Those Playlisting can do so – here – On the track, Drummond explains: “I wrote ‘Bullet’ at a time where I was really being forced to let go and face myself. My co-producer, James Seymour, suggested we record it live – just me and a guitar. I don’t think the song would be the same if we hadn’t done this. Since we were in the midst of a lockdown, the additional instrumentation was recorded by players at home. Zac Barter (double bass and strings), Joe Orton (pedal steel guitar) and Olaf Scott (piano) recorded their ideas in isolation and sent them to us. It all came together quite beautifully in the end. 
Back with their first release since 2021’s This Might Take A While, cinematic garage rock band The Drives today release the single and video “Not That Bad” – Listen. Today’s release is the first single off of the band’s forthcoming second EP. Fully produced by the LA-based trio, “Not That Bad” as well as the band’s upcoming EP, very transparently delve into the world of mental health. As a means to tackling things head-on and avoiding complacency, the band offers a raw look into their innerworkings as individuals, functioning within a collective unit.
On today’s release singer and guitarist Andrew Levin said, “This song is an attempt to capture the aftermath of a romantic relationship that ends before it really starts.” He continues, “It’s that point when you are just getting to know someone and then things slow down for whatever reason, so you can’t really be sad about anything, even though you clearly are. People end relationships for a million different reasons and sometimes it has nothing to do with their partner anyways.”
Larkin Poe – the GRAMMY® Award-nominated duo of Georgia-bred, Nashville-based multi-instrumentalist sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell – have shared “Strike Gold,” available now at all DSPs and streaming services. An official music video premieres today at YouTube. “Strike Gold” marks the latest single from Larkin Poe’s upcoming sixth studio album, Blood Harmony, arriving via their own Tricki-Woo Records on Friday, November 11. Pre-orders are available now, including limited edition magenta colored vinyl, CD, cassette, and more.
“After years of being out on the road, this song feels emotionally anthemic,” says Rebecca. “Shoutout to all the good souls out there who keep showing up for their dreams, even when the goin’ gets tough.”
LISTEN TO “STRIKE GOLD”
WATCH OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO
PRE-ORDER BLOOD HARMONY
Larkin Poe will mark the arrival of Blood Harmony with their biggest North American headline tour to date, getting underway January 20, 2023 at The Orange Peel in Asheville, NC and then traveling through an April 1 tour finale at Atlanta GA’s Variety Playhouse, with highlights including Los Angeles, CA’s Fonda Theatre and New York City’s Webster Hall. Tickets for all newly announced dates go on sale this Friday, October 7, at 10 am (local). For complete details, please visit www.larkinpoe.com/tour.
SOPHIA ALEXA REVEALS STELLAR NEW OFFERING ‘GOING TO CALIFORNIA’// LISTEN HERE
Having already beguiled with beautiful new offerings The Way You See Me and Before I Go, California born- London based artist Sophia Alexa reveals gorgeous new offering, Going To California. Laying her striking vocal tones over plucked guitar lines, the track is a relatable ode to the wanderlust we all feel from time to time. Speaking on the release, Sophia Alexa states:
I wrote ‘Going To California’ when I was feeling a bit trapped in London, so I started to romanticize escaping to a different place. I was originally born in California and I’ve always wondered what my life would look like if I grew up there. I’ve kept it as a place in my mind I could escape to, which is what I wanted to say in this song.
An artist who draws inspiration from icons of yesteryear. Sophia Alexa looks set for a busy few months. Look out for more very soon.
Brooklyn-based alt-rocker Moon Walker shares new fiery single & video “Turn Off This Song (Before It Takes Your Soul)” out everywhere now ahead of his electrifying sophomore LP The Attack Of Mirrors, including a limited run on vinyl, due out October 21 and available for pre-order now.
“Turn Off This Song (Before It Takes Your Soul)” opens with a groovy bassline with fuzzy vocals that meld into powerful, dark societal commentary, critiquing everything from capitalism, to the distrust of media, to the hyper-surveilled, hyper-policed place the U.S. has become. It’s a song that sonically and lyrically Moon Walker feels best represents his music and message as a whole, aptly embodying the narrative of the forthcoming album.
Its accompanying video portrays a matching dystopia, depicting a man in a room alone watching an old television set as Moon Walker appears on the screen performing the track in a red-lit room who, while performing, soon begins taunting the viewer, and rattles off new laws in place. The alt-rocker is then seen behind a computer, coding what plays on the TV as the government bans are announced and secretly communicates with the police officer, together, manipulating the viewer. The man is soon met with the police officer who enforces the laws inside his home, banning books and listening to the radio, then periodically places Uncle Sam propaganda-style posters that read “Moon Walker is watching you” signifying the heavily controlled, manipulated media.
Explaining the video’s inspiration, director Madison McConnell explains, “The song felt dystopian to me, so I took heavy inspiration from [1924 Russian novel] ‘We’ and [George Orwell’s] ‘1984’ when writing the video. I drew from those book’s themes of lack of privacy and control.”
An American-citizen raised in the heart of the Canadian prairies, award-winning roots / Americana singer-songwriter Noah Derksen writes with the groundedness of harsh Manitoba winters mixed with the failed optimism of the American Dream. He currently lives in the West End neighbourhood of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
In 2019 Noah released his third full-length album entitled America, Dreaming. Produced by JUNO-award winning producer Murray Pulver, the album represents an observation of the United States and Noah’s identity as an American-citizen; an observation of how things change with time, and internally, reflecting on his own shift in perspective. The album earned him a 2021 Canadian Folk Music Award for Emerging Artist of the Year.
Plus, Noah’s got long, flowing auburn hair and a twinkle in his eye. What’s not to love?
Female house and techno producer/DJ HoneyLuv releases her official remix of Melle Brown’s ‘Feel For You’ featuring Annie Mac via Virgin Records.
Enlisted by rising UK DJ and producer Melle Brown, HoneyLuv has inserted her sizzling house vibes into ‘Feel About You’. Bringing a refreshing take to the piano-led house original, HoneyLuv adds swift synth stabs and rhythmic percussion around Annie Mac’s alluring vocals. A vibrant spin on the UK radio hit, HoneyLuv’s ‘Feel About You’ remix is fit for dancefloors around the globe.
Regarding the remix, HoneyLuv said, “With this remix I wanted to put a little of that classic house sound and make it my own. The vocals by Annie Mac were just the icing on the cake to bring it all in and give it that touch of Luv.”
With a passion for all things related to old-school house music and contemporary soul, Melle Brown has been steadily building her career as a promising DJ and producer. She garnered support from tastemakers like DJ Mag, BBC Radio 1, and Mixmag to name a few. Her Intersection EP was critically acclaimed and received support from the likes of Elton John and DJ MistaJam. Melle has enlisted today’s hottest talent to remix ‘Feel About You’, kicking off with the legendary DJ Koze and now exploding producer/DJ HoneyLuv.
As Daisy the Great, Kelley Nicole Dugan and Mina Walker make folk-inflected indie rock that spans a multitude of moods—capable of being clever, devastating, or both simultaneously, spanning harmony-laden folk pop to powerhouse indie rock balladry—and has attracted quite the following as a result.
Kelley and Mina met as acting majors at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and eventually bonded during a sketch comedy class where they first connected over their mutual passion for music: “We’d both written music on our own in the past, and we ended up writing this silly song together in that class that clued us into the idea that we might want to collaborate on other projects together as well,” Kelley remembers.
After graduating, the pair started writing a musical together about a band. “We got together nearly every day to work on it, and eventually we finished the script and moved on to writing music. When we started to share some songs that we had written individually in the past and rearranged them for the two of us, we immediately felt like we were on to something really special. We’d dreamed up this fictional version of ourselves in a band together and realized that we could just make it happen in real life.”
Two years after releasing his most-streamed single to date, “Someone Else,” the guitar-thrashing, metal-meets-bass authority Sullivan King returned to Monstercat. Collaborating with chart-topping producer Ray Volpe, the duo combine earth-shattering screams and destructive riffs on “The Dead March,” giving fans a taste of Sullivan King’s lethal new music to come. Rife with his complex percussive rhythms that pave the way for searing vocals and death-defying drops, the record appeals to heavy rock aficionados and dubstep enthusiasts alike.
Sullivan King shares, “‘The Dead March’ really felt like the right track to truly set the tone for this next era of my music. With all the sh*t that’s going on in the world, in music and in life, it feels like people are just waiting for one another to fall, and this track, while vocally short-lived but to the f*cking point, is a way of saying, ‘I’m taking you with me if you want me dead’. So let’s march together.”
Ray Volpe adds, “This was so fun to work on together! Extremely easy to balance our styles and I think they both really shine through on this.”
Having worked with metal’s best from Aaron Gillespie of Underoath to Jason Aalon of FEVER 333, as well as the biggest producers in the electronic scene from Excision to Subtronics, Sullivan King has established himself as an in-demand multi-genre force. After welcoming his first son earlier this spring, he’s enjoyed fatherhood from the road, taking to a run of live dates across the US this summer. Including stops at Nocturnal Wonderland, Lost Lands, and LA’s Academy, he’ll bring fans anticipated collabs, plenty of shredding, and more shows to be announced soon.
ADDIE BRIK returns with the breathtaking new single: ‘Retromingent’.
STREAM ON YOUTUBE HERE || SPOTIFY HERE || APPLE MUSIC HERE
Taken from Addie’s forthcoming new album, ‘That Dog Don’t Hunt’, it’s a song of a transfixing gravity that will bring to mind the works of Talk Talk or Kate Bush to halt you in your tracks.
Co-written with Michael Timothy (Massive Attack), it also features expertly metronomic percussion from Jim McDermott (Simple Minds / The Silencers), guitars by Robbie Macinosh (The Pretenders / Paul McCartney), spacious piano parts and hammond organs, plus the voices of a thirty-strong children’s choir from The Scottish National Youth Choir. Together, its constituent parts infuse to form something utterly spellbinding.
Touching on tolerance and comeuppance, judgement and karma, Addie explains of the themes at play in “Retromingent”:
“Whatever people do or do not do to you along the way, if you can’t let go of that (a total tsunami of utter sh**e), you’ll never get to where you should be going. So, I have a responsibility to think correctly and hold myself to standards, my future, heaven or hell, depends on it. People do what they do and will get their comeuppance. There’s a natural working order here that fulfils itself.”
Beans on Toast is back, kids!
With a little help from some new friends, including the animated hero ‘Little Bee’, the songwriter and festival legend is very pleased to unveil a brand new series of children’s books and an accompanying album:
‘THE FASCINATING ADVENTURES OF LITTLE BEE’
Released on 1st December 2022, ‘The Fascinating Adventures of Little Bee’ is a collection of original stories and songs for kids, created by folk singer Beans on Toast, with a nurse and a teacher – Jaime and Lily Adamsfield.
Aimed at 2-10 year olds, the series takes us into the world of the character Little Bee. Presenting ten unique rhyming adventures, each will invite you on a journey to exotic new places, from the sea to the city, the woods to other worlds, into space and back in time.
Each of the ten books arrives with its own perfectly paired song, written and performed by Beans. From the slick R’n’B stylings of “To The City”, the dancefloor-ready disco of “To The Rainbow”, the futuristic synth-pop of “To Space”, to the rollicking rockabilly of “To The Woods”; there’s a song to suit every story. Recorded at Durham Sound Studios with Kitty & Lewis Durham (of Kitty, Daisy & Lewis), plus Jack Flanagan (Mystery Jets) and Matt Magic Fingers, the songs will feature on an accompanying ‘The Fascinating Adventures of Little Bee’ compilation album (also out 1 December).
Speaking about how the ‘Little Bee’ book series and record came to be, Beans on Toast says:
“Since becoming a Dad a few years back, I’ve been fully immersed in kid’s books. I Love them! Especially Julia Donaldson and Oliver Jeffers – Incredible! I feel like kid’s books are very similar to folk songs. They’re simple, to the point, with a message about being kind to the world and its people. When Jaime and Lily (old friends who I wrote THIS song about many moons ago) presented me with a character they had invented, Little Bee, and asked if I had any ideas and what we could do with the character – I said yes – and this project of children’s stories and songs was born. Completely different from anything I’ve ever done. I wrote the words and made the songs, Lily illustrated them, and the three of us planned where Little Bee would go on their fascinating adventures!”
Natalie Shay is an indie-pop artist hailing from North London. The multi-award-winning musician has established an ever-growing presence and loyal fanbase through her explosive live performances and unforgettable anthems, recognising her as one of the UK’s hottest emerging talents. With indie synth pop leanings and ferocious guitar playing, Shay’s references range from Haim and Taylor Swift to Little Comets. Her relatable lyrics touch on love, self-discovery and the everyday experiences of a twenty-something.
Combining her youthful and charismatic aura with her classical training and time spent at the prestigious BRIT School, Shay has finessed the ability to produce undeniably catchy music, whilst maintaining musical maturity. Soaring back into the scene with her highly anticipated EP MILK, Shay’s dynamic abilities continue to flourish. Inspired by the theme of growth, MILK makes reference to the lyrics “Milk Teeth” in “Good Girl Behaviour”. Shay confides, “Every track is about growth or new beginnings or reflecting on myself, in particular, heaven and outgrow. I always write from the heart and from my own experiences and stories. My whole aim with lyricism is to connect with others who are in that frame of mind now or have been there in the past to relate.”
Each track on MILK explores different key feelings and experiences sensed when writing during the lockdown. She continues, “I hope I can inspire other girls, in particular, to get into songwriting as so many female singer/ songwriters inspired me to do so and it’s saved, changed and made my life.” Collaborating with different creatives across all five tracks, there’s an overarching warmth to MILK. Shay’s melodious abilities soar with catharsis, as she strives to capture key moments of her life through her music. At her core, she’s a remarkable storyteller, one that continues to break boundaries and trailblaze into her own realm of indie pop from the soul.
Email: neill@outloudculture.com
