Browsing Tag

bob dylan

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

Award-winning alt-folk artist Colin Clyne has released his latest single, ‘Within Hindsight’

Posted on 22 June 2021
Colin Clyne

Award-winning Scottish alt-folk singer-songwriter Colin Clyne’s latest single, Within Hindsight, takes you back to the time when ballads were tender and minimal instrumentation carried alchemically profound magnetism.

The tones in Within Hindsight are enough to evoke synaesthesia as you drink in the sepia colours weaved into the acoustic guitar progression and soft neo-classic-style meanderings of the piano. The gravelly whisky-soaked vocals hit the high notes with soaring ease, allowing Clyne to exhibit both his arresting vocal range and emotional range. They say that there are 34,000 possible human emotions, Within Hindsight resonates as capable of evoking most of them.

After spending ten years in California collecting accolades, including being a two-time winner of ‘The Best Acoustic Act’ at San Diego Music Awards, and featuring on a list of the best singer-songwriters curated by NBC that listed him alongside Tom Waits, it is safe to say that he made quite the impression. There is no reason why he can’t celebrate the same success on this side of the pond.

Within Hindsight is due for official release on June 25th.

You can check out Colin Clyne via his website, Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Walker Tex delivers mesmerising grunge folk in his latest single, ‘Make Me Smile’

Posted on 3 June 2021

Under the influence of 70s folk and grunge, up and coming artist Walker Tex has made major waves since he started introducing his original material to the airwaves in 2020.

His latest release, and his most popular single to date, Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me), carries all of the soul of a track by Dylan or Cat Stevens and all of the sonic appeal as My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive.

The singer-songwriter carries the same hypnotic magnetism of Cohen with his whiskey-soaked vocals; when blended with alt-90s-inspired tones, Make Me Smile is simultaneously a shot of nostalgia and an introduction to the future of alt-indie folk.

Make Me Smile is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Hunter & Girton – Father Time: Solemnly Compassionate Alt Folk

Posted on 1 March 2021
Hunter & Girton

Rural Indiana-residing alt-folk duo, Hunter & Girton, are set to release their most haunting single to date, ‘Father Time’. The sparse and desolate soundscape leaves plenty of room for your own emotions to coalesce with the sentiments delivered through the lyrics which will hold a mirror to your personal relationship with melancholy.

There may be a crestfallen air to Father Time, but it’s anything but depressive. The solemnly meditative single parallels the levels of compassion found in the most tender tracks from Pearl Jam’s latest album while delivering tear-jerking tones which lend inspiration from 60s Folk.

Father Time is due for official release on March 5th. You’ll be able to check it out for yourselves by heading over to the artist’s official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

P.B Ruck – Some Love: Sonorously Sentimental Americana Folk

Posted on 21 January 2021

Under the influence of Cohen, Waits and Dylan, Southampton-hailing artist, P.B Ruck, released their sonorously powerful latest single ‘Some Love’; the sense of romanticism is just as old school as the sepia-stained tones in the meditative Americana folk soundscape.

Through spatial effect and lyrical sparsity, Some Love is just as much about your introspection and amorous nostalgia as it is about the artist’s. With a touch of modernity on the production, folk roots are firmly implanted in the mix, but it blossoms through the tender vocals which resonate with a nuanced touch of celestially choral mesmerism.

Some Love was released on December 28th, it is available to stream via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Scott Albert Johnson offers an invitation to transcend the 2020 chaos with their Americana Alt Folk single ‘Float’

Posted on 17 December 2020

Mississippi-hailing artist Scott Albert Johnson lays down old school bluesy soul in their latest single ‘Float’ which unfolds as a timelessly cathartic feat of Alt Folk Americana. I’ll never quite get used to hearing Covid times references in a track which sounds like Cohen could have released in the 70s, but I’ll remain eternally grateful for the resolve all the same.

It’s hard not to believe Scott Albert Johnson when he tells you that the clouds are going to break someday. For your sanity’s sake, add the celestially-produced, chorally-upraising single to your playlists.

You can check out the official music video to Float which was released on November 30th via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Cass & Crossland – Adeline: Absorbingly Sweet Indie Folk Rock

Posted on 22 November 2020

Phoenix Arizona’s Indie Folk Rock duo Cass & Crossland made their 2020 debut with the absorbingly idyllic single ‘Adeline’. Their timeless approach to songwriting will remind you of the iconic greats while affirming that they’re the contemporaries that the airwaves have been calling out for.

The stunning harmonies find perfect balance with the transfixingly accordant semi-orchestral instrumental arrangement which simultaneously feels minimalistic and resounding. It’s the kind of track you hit play on, and you can’t quite tell if you’re consuming the track or if it is consuming you. The immersive ethereal air to the soundscape perfectly complements the romantically vivid imagery which the lyricism conjures.

With their ability to not only draw affectionate emotion from you as you listen to the track but also leave you endeared by the soul which the track contains, they’re undoubtedly ones to watch. Get them on your radar.

You can check out Adeline for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

NewtonSmith – Born in a Hurricane, Forged in a Fire: Soulfully Nostalgic Alt Folk

Posted on 9 October 2020

The accordant romanticism almost catches in your throat as you listen to the soulfully melodic instrumentals mellifluously collide in NewtonSmith’s latest single Born in a Hurricane, Forged in a Fire which dropped on September 4th.

There may be reminiscences to Bob Dylan and similar roots-deep Alt Americana Folk artists, but the UK-based Folk duo masterfully brought that nostalgically resolving sound into the 21st century. Any fans of Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers will undoubtedly find the magnetism in Born in a Hurricane, Forged in a Fire. The catchy lyrics and even more infectious melodies make hitting play on this track an unforgettable experience.

If you like keeping track of hot up and coming artists, you’ll want this duo on your radar, right about now.

You can check out NewtonSmith’s latest single by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

PB Ruck lays down some haunting soul with their latest single “One-Man Rodeo”

Posted on 1 September 2020

Up and coming singer-songwriter PB Ruck released his latest single One-Man Rodeo on August 24th. It’s pretty much safe to say that it may just be the most pensively raw single we’ve heard so far in 2020.

The hauntingly mellifluous soundscape possesses a timeless Alt-Folk feel which is sure to be a hit with any fans of the likes of Cohen, Waits and Dylan, but it’s anything but archaic. Thanks to the clever contemporary nuances in One-Man Rodeo, it rings with modernity, resonance and connectivity.

You can check out PB Ruck’s single One-Man Rodeo for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Garrett Clark Bell – Rolling On: Alt Folk for the Outliers

Posted on 30 August 2020

On the heels of a successful debut single, Alabama-born artist and ex-vet Garrett Clark Bell has released their mellifluously hypnotic sophomore single “Rolling On”.

Any fans of War on Drugs and American Football will no doubt appreciate his modernistic take on Country which comes with a blissfully winding infusion of Alt Folk. If you pull your attention away from the consciousness-consuming accordance of the inventively effect-laden instrumentals, anyone who finds resonance in Bob Dylan’s lyrics will find plenty of relatable sentiments in Rolling On. It speaks to the outliers of society, the ones that navigate through the alienation looking for direction. It’s a powerful affirmation of the fact that even if you feel alone, you’re not alone in that feeling.

You can check out Rolling On for yourselves by heading over to Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast