Browsing Tag

BBC Introducing

Hip hop and indie-rock go pop-punk in Lewis Shepperd’s latest single, Take My Hand

Posted on 20 December 2021

Lewis Shepperd showed us the true extent of his versatility with the release of his latest single, Take My Hand, which obliterates the boundaries between indie, pop, rock and hip hop. The breaking artist hasn’t idled since we heard his last single, Follow You, which delivered a Kings of Leon style of cool and proved that his soulfully resonant talent should be as revered as Winehouse’s. Since then, he’s performed at the Isle of Wight Festival in 2021, received plenty of BBC airplay and garnered critical acclaim from across the board.

With rap bars mixed with his energised indie-rock vocals atop the instrumentals that continually shift through melodic grooves, tension-fraught build-ups and pop-punk style breaks, Take My Hand is a gift that keeps on giving.

As the garagey distorted rock licks towards the outro prove the value in the perpetual solidarity by depicting the chaotic state of the world, the lyrics remind you how sweet it is to have stunning souls around you. If that doesn’t hit the spot, you may want to check if you’ve still got a pulse.

Take My Hand is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Folk noir soulstress Echo Wants Her Voice Back has released her most evocative single to date, ‘Wife’

Posted on 3 June 2021

‘Wife’ is the latest poetically Avant-Garde single from Cypriot-born, London-based singer-songwriter and actress Echo Wants Her Voice Back. Starting with a minimalist, spiritual intro that any fans of the Cranberries will appreciate, Wife is captivating from the start. The conversationally imploring vocals lead you right into the heart of the track, and that is a trip you’re going to want to take over and over again.

With a touch of Gwen Stefani-Esque attitude to the folk-pop lyrics in the chorus, the seamlessly progressive single is proof of the alchemy that can breathe through a release created without constraint. The baroque pop outro that carries reminiscence to Emilie Autumn’s archaic sound is a haunting way that ensures Wife will stay with you long after the outro

With her second EP in the works, Echo Wants Her Voice back is well worth room on your radar.

Wife released on May 21st; you can hear it for yourselves via SoundCloud and Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Libby Butterworth explores femininity with her indie-pop earworm CHANEL.

Posted on 14 May 2021

CHANEL is the latest single to be released by Cambridge-hailing 21-year-old singer-songwriter Libby Butterworth who has already earned a spot on the BBC Introducing Hotlist in 2020 for her catchy, vulnerable indie-pop sound.

Hit play on CHANEL, and you will immediately see why there is so acclaim amassing around her soft feminine vocals that bring plenty of intimacy to her candid lyrical style. Your archetypal pop track leads you to believe that you are the outlier for not having it all figured out; Libby lets her listeners hear her uncertainty and internal conflict with lines such as, “I want it all and I don’t want anything”.

CHANEL flows perfectly along with the shift in the tide away from demands on pop stars to be less iconic and more humanistic. The single finds a nuanced way of saying that femininity doesn’t always come easily, and the desire to be the embodiment of Audrey Hepburn doesn’t always come from within.

Not only is CHANEL an infectiously moody indie-pop earworm, but it also has the potential to help so many women understand their own identity. Naturally, we look forward to hearing plenty more from Libby and her sultry subversive style.

Libby Butterworth’s latest single, CHANEL, is available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast