Browsing Tag

90s Britpop

Andrew Bradley advocated for unity in the infectious grooves of his latest single, Everybody’s Welcome Here

Posted on 30 July 2023

Hot on the heels of his debut LP, All Things Considered, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Andrew Bradley is set to unveil his unifying funk-dripping pop-rock hit, Everybody’s Welcome Here.

After an 80s funk hop reminiscent intro, the single unravels as a kaleidoscopically groovy hit that will leave you itching to hit a dancefloor and move to the intrinsically rhythmic magnetism. With the attitude of Britpop and a perfect pinch of Beatles-esque 60s psych-pop, Everybody’s Welcome Here is a compellingly textured sonic TARDIS of a release that couldn’t be better timed.

In such a divisive era when it feels like the pot is being perpetually shaken to breed antagonism in the atmosphere, Andrew Bradley served an all too welcome reminder that acceptance is one of the highest virtues we should all find a little more time for.

Prior to releasing Everybody’s Welcome Here, Andrew Bradley has gained experience in the industry as an artist and producer. From The Sound Emporium Studios in Nashville to Abbey Road Studios, his multi-faceted talents have graced plenty of the bucket list studios.

Check out Andrew Bradley on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

JW Paris Leave It Alone Video Premiere

Posted on 30 June 2023

Teaming up with the video director and director of photography, Alex Estrella, the prodigal spawn of alt-indie, JW Paris, visually captured the same superlative swagger of their distorted to-the-nines sound in their latest single and music video, Leave It Alone.

JW Paris was hardly painting at the kids’ table with their former releases. But the exhibition of a freshly honed sound in Leave It Alone, ahead of the release of their upcoming sophomore EP, marks a fierce new frontier for the powerhouse who never lyrically play with their cards close to their chest.

With Glasvegas-esque choruses that raise the roof so high they leave the brickwork on another plateau, Leave It Alone is metaphysically mind-melting in its ability to balance anthemic transcendence with hauntingly grunged up rancour that adds oceanic depth to the melodies.

Lyrically, Leave It Alone peers into the human proclivity to question reality and look for redemption for past mistakes. In JW Paris’ own words:

“Leave It Alone is a deeply personal song that reflects our own inner journey of self-discovery and acceptance. It invites the listeners on an introspective exploration of identity and longing for inner peace. It is a heartfelt track that encapsulates the struggles and triumphs of self-discovery, reminding us to embrace our imperfections and find solace within ourselves.”

Splicing two facets of the iconic 90s epoch has seen the London-based three-piece comprising Gemma Clarke, Daniel Collins, and Aaron Forde establish themselves as a peerless outfit you will want to try out for size and never take off.

Their two seminal 2022 singles, Electric Candle Light and Runaway received extensive airplay from BBC Radio 1, BBC Introducing, Absolute Radio, and Amazing Radio. JW Paris also deservedly worked their way into the main playlist on Radio X, and numerous curated indie playlists.

Leave It Alone will be released via Blaggers Records on the 30th of June after being recorded at Buffalo Studios, produced by JB Pilon and mastered by the 2023 award-winning engineer at Air Studios, Cicely Balston.

Stream it on Spotify or watch the official music video on YouTube. 

Follow JW Paris on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Tom Seth Johnson projected adoration through indie rock anthemics in Anywhere in the World Right Now

Posted on 19 April 2023

If indie rock n roll has a soul, it resounds in the magnetic sincerity of the latest single, Anywhere in the World Right Now, from Oxford’s prodigal son, Tom Seth Johnson.

With only an edge of 90s Britpop, there’s plenty of room for an Americana tinge that poured in the same foot-stompin’ vein as The Black Keys. So many postcards get sent to Britpop, but Johnson put his own swaggering stamp on his. Especially, through the sweeter-than-sugar line, “I’ve finally found a reason to play my guitar, ‘cos usually I’m down in Dixies midnight bar”. I legitimately shed a tear.

The rock n roll lifestyle is subject to prolific glamourisation; Johnson put that toxicity to bed and wrapped it up in soulful anthemics to prove all the vacuous sex and drugs in the world can’t parallel the high of coming home when it is a person that defines home instead of four walls.

Anywhere in the World Right Now is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Q-Days – Underboard: Alt-90s Nostalgia Has Never Been Kaleidoscopically Sweeter

Posted on 7 April 2023

The Brighton-based alt-rock outfit, The Q-Days, is driving nostalgia into the next generation of British guitar music with their dreamy kaleidoscopic 90s Britpop-kicked tones and cathartically honeyed vocal lines. Their latest single, Underboard, is sweeter than Sally Cinnamon under the duress of the choral progressions that lick anthemic soul into every honed note.

With escapism, freedom of expression and euphoria as their triadic ethos, they stand for everything we should be giving an ovation to in the UK right now. It’s the pits, but one thing is for sure, our polluted waters are the perfect breeding ground for prodigal sons of rock n roll that salvation seekers will want to flock to.

After spending their foundling days developing their craft before it reached the airwaves and live stages, The Q-Days were always going to be primed to make a killer debut. So far, they’ve opened for Youth Killed It, The Rifles, and Bilk, but if any breakthrough act is definitively headliner material, it’s The Q-Days.

Underboard will officially release on April 7th. Check it out on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Versonic twisted the melons of 90s Britpop with Come On (Up for Air)

Posted on 19 February 2023
Come On (Up for Air) by VERSONIC

The acclaimed indie rock act, Versonic, has twisted the melons of early 90s Britpop yet again with the anthemic angular melodicism in their bitter-sweet latest single, Come On (Up for Air).

With a bassline that will make any Pixies fans palpitate over and the opening lyric, “how does it feel to be suffocating on your own again”, which grabs your attention by the throat, it’s safe to say Stephen Connor’s award-winning writing skills are as sharp as ever.

How he managed to pull the euphoria from “cos no one’s gonna save you, no one’s looking for you and no one’s gonna make it alright (for you)” was nothing short of genius. The painfully honest yet lyrically liberating nature of Come On is just one of the reasons to delve into the artful reinvention of the 90s Britpop wheel.

Come On (Up for Air) was officially released on February 17th. Hear it on Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Electro-chanson meets 00s Britpop in Laptop Singers’ single, Le Love featuring Judy St. Clarke

Posted on 11 October 2022

Here to perpetuate the myth that there’s something in Sweden’s waters that breeds pop legends is Gothenburg’s brother duo, Laptop Singers, with their latest single, Le Love, featuring the Nashville singer Judy St. Clarke.

Before Le Love swings you back to Paris in the 60s, it makes a brief pitstop in charted by Garbage and The Cardigans 90s Britpop territory, leaving ample room for modernity to reflect in the lyricism that makes no bones about getting to grips with the tantamount of the tribulation.

The era-mashing yet juxtaposingly timeless single comes with more than just a pinch of electro-pop panache. The endlessly inviting demure soul from Judy St. Clarke against the electrically reverberating keys, high-energy guitars, and absurdity-embracing lyrics makes the chaos of 2022 worth enduring.

Here’s what Laptop Singers had to say about their sticky-sweet escapist release:

“This song is inspired by listening to lots of French music, both old classics from the 60´s, like Francoise Hardy, and new French indie pop like Bon Entendeur and L’Impératrice. It´s an uptempo, guitar-based song about youthful energy, love, and confusion right in the middle of 2022!”

Le Love is now available to stream on Spotify.

Follow Laptop Singers on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The transatlantic duo Post Suitcase unpack heartbreak in their debut single, Under This Hood

Posted on 30 September 2022

The debut single, Under This Hood, from the British/American indie-rockers Post Suitcase, euphonically bridges the transatlantic sonic gap. With blisters of Britpop bursting between the American overtones in the post-breakup track, it’s impossible not to get entwined in the narrative, which explores the tendency of others to put the token effort in when it comes to consoling and checking in on the recently heartbroken.

We’ve all been there, although notably, we’re not all capable of forging lyrical gold, “I’ll walk where the grass still grows, where my friends still smile but they really don’t know that, under this hood, is a lot of dead wood.” With the momentum ebbing and crescendoing through the release, which comes with the meditatively artful ease of the trumpet glossing over the angular indie guitars, Under This Hood is as cathartic as it is heartbreaking.

Debut releases don’t get much more promising than this. We’re hoping that Post Suitcase has more emotional intimacy and intellect to unpack in future releases.

Under This Hood will officially release on September 30th; catch it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Seattle converges with Manchester in BLUEBOO’s latest smorgasbord of alt 90s aesthetic, Cherry Woman

Posted on 4 June 2022

With a touch of Oasis to the choral vocals to anchor the anthem in its melodicism, the alt-90s Seattle sound doesn’t asphyxiate any originality out of the revivalist nature of BLUEBOO’s latest single, Cherry Woman. It teases just the right amount of nostalgia for Screaming Trees, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam as your synapses fire to the tune of the Chicago-based artist’s off-kilter hook-filled sonic signature.

Notably, we aren’t the only ones finding addictive propensities in the effortlessly original sound of BLUEBOO. They’ve garnered acclaim from across the globe, especially on their strikingly ethereal seminal single, You Win Abigail, which has amassed over 260k streams on Spotify alone.

Cherry Woman is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Bryan Donoghue leaves us in a Summer Haze with his Britpop-rock hit.

Posted on 12 September 2021
Bryan Donoghue

Edinburgh-born, Ireland-based alt-rock solo artist Bryan Donoghue is set to release his debut album Nowhere Never, Somewhere Always, which features the standout single, Summer Haze.

If you hold the 90s as an era as dearly as you hold summer as a season, you couldn’t ask for a better playlist staple. Summer Haze comes swathed in summer pop rock tones and laced with lucid 90s Britpop nostalgia. The Manchester sound resounds in the psychedelically tinged instrumentals, while vocally, Donoghue will strike a chord with any James Dean Bradfield or Paul Draper fans.

His debut album will be available to stream and download on all major platforms in September 2021.

Checkout Bryan Donoghue on Spotify. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Folk meets Britpop in River Knight’s latest single, She Came Round, featuring Ralph Walling.

Posted on 5 July 2021
https://soundcloud.com/river-knight-613028707/she-came-round-1

Americana meets UK Britpop in River Night’s alt-folk single, She Came Round, featuring Ralph Walling. While instrumentally, the semi-orchestral folky instrumentals run in the same vein as Dylan’s did in the 70s, there’s a touch of Oasis and the Stone Roses to the vocals that contrast with the accordant tones of the acoustic guitar progressions.

She Came Round is just one of the authentically original singles from the Southampton-based duo’s lockdown-born album, Grow, which released on June 25th. With plenty of tour dates in their diary, 2021 could very well be the year of River Knight.

She Came Round is now available to stream via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast