If you could imagine what it would sound like if Nick Cave and Johnny Cash aurally met in the middle, you’ll get a good idea of what is on offer in Finnish singer-songwriter, Mauri Dark’s, latest single ‘Poison Woman’ taken from their LP ‘Dreams of a Middle-Aged Man’.
With rhythms which will throw into a dark Western while sending a few postcards from 70s Folk, Poison Woman is an eclectic smorgasbord of familiarity, rearranged to offer undiluted ingenuity. It’s as immersive as any Tarantino film but easily eclipses them on an emotional level. The sonorously low vocal timbre coalesces with the baritone guitar, setting a dismally cinematic tone which draws you into the melancholic mindset the single was written with. But with the level of emotion on display, listening to Poison Woman is anything but an exercise in morosity.
We’ve all had spare time to spend with our demons in recent months, Alt Rock artist LEE DAVEY spent plenty of time mentally frolicking demonic spirits before penning their darkly hypnotic single ‘Incubus’.
Nick Cave comparisons are easy to make, especially with the ‘red right hand’ lyrical reference but allowing you to believe that Incubus is solely an assimilative work would be nothing short of criminal. The mythology-laden lyricism allows LEE DAVEY to transcend the Murder Folk genre and enter the realm of Demonic Folk Rock. Expect slithering rhythms, tinges of swampy Americana Alt Folk and searing solo work which affirms that LEE DAVEY’s prowess as an instrumentalist parrels their abilities as a lyricist. The dark imagery he paints with does more than just leave a macabre canvas behind. It exposes the darkest corners of our minds, the ones we can barely look into ourselves, let alone invite others to see.
You can check out Incubus for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.
Slow Capital is Andrew Dailey, a filmmaker from Kansas City, MO, who is currently based out of Brooklyn, NY; a precursor to a six-track EP planned for early 2021, Slow Capital’s second single ‘Underground’ is a beautifully mature fingerpicked acoustic guitar track, mellow and delicate, alluring in its simplicity, and carried along by Dailey’s poetic, storytelling lyrical content and up-front vocal delivery.
At just over three minutes long, ‘Underground’ is a perfect piece of alt-folk, confessional, poetic, a narrative tale to music with a harmonious, melodic guitar line and a gentle, tender vocal. You can hear ‘Underground’ on Spotify, and follow Slow Capital on Instagram.
Italian Dark Psych Folk artist Nero Kane released their sophomore album, ‘Tales of Faith and Lunacy’, on October 30th, following on from the plaintively arid psychedelia in their debut album ‘Love in a Dying World’.
After tracks from their debut album quickly fell into my ‘on repeat’ playlist on Spotify, there was no preparing me for how dark this album was going to be. The droning walls of noise leave you utterly paralysed by the intensity of the emotion. It’s so much more than just senseless nihilism, it’s a series of reflective admissions made regrettably, but sincerely all the same.
Despite melancholy being a recurring theme, the expansive release offers a myriad of introspective wormholes to slip into. Each track will surprise you more than the last. For anyone that believes that albums are outdated formats, Tales of Faith and Lunacy will prove you wrong. It tears you from the 21st century and invites you to explore a gothic American western landscape constructed by hypnotic minor-key psych-folk infusions with the ability to subjugate your entire consciousness. The space left between the notes in the looped riffs allow your fear, disenchantment and isolation to coalesce with the soundscape.
Lord Won’t Come sets such a devastating tone for the album. The title becomes a mantra as it confirms your fears; there is no salvation which follows the traversing of our seemingly-condemned quite literally scorched earth. Bauhaus and Nick Cave reminiscences are easy to conjure, but Nero Kane has an authentically unique ability to console you, even when he’s telling you that your soul is damned.
Track 2, Mechtild, where you can truly start to appreciate Nero Kane for his inclination to look outside of music for inspiration. Mechtild was inspired by the life of a Christian medieval mystic, the drawn-out notes resonate like celestially meditative whispers implanted by a lover, chilling but passionate all the same.
There isn’t a skippable track on the album but Track 4, Magdalene, offers an unparalleled level of dizzying entrancement as it sonically effervesces. It is the epitome of psychedelia; it almost makes you question your ability to cognitively function as it consumes you. Atop of the viscerally ensnaring kaleidoscopic tones, you’ll find Samantha Stella Stella’s sermonic vocals which will leave you floored by their gracefully convictive command.
The release poignantly paints a picture of how lunacy has the potential to be in everything we do and everything we feel, from the following of faith to battling self-inflicted psychological destitution. But perhaps more imperatively, the album highlights the danger of going into yourself, only to find madness. After what we have all been through in 2020, Tales of Faith and Lunacy unravels as the cultural sanctity we’ve all been crying out for.
Tales of Faith and Lunacy is due for release on October 30th via Nasoni Records.
Grab a vinyl LP (Black or Crystal Clear), CD Digipack, limited edition cassette or digital copy via Bandcamp.
Brian Perrone’s latest darkly moody Indie track “Sorry” is one of the sincerest apologies I’ve ever heard. Any Dark Folk/Murder Folk are sure to be as enamoured and evocatively bruised by Sorry as we were.
From the first verse, you’ll be hooked in the lovelorn narrative tale of regret and longing. The progressive single holds plenty of space for the artist’s seamlessly unexpected evolutions in tone and style which consistently uses complex time signatures. From delicate Neo-classical keying to Jazz-style improvisation, Sorry has a smorgasbord of inventive ingenuity to throw your way. Yet, in its essence, it remains a transfixing resolving soundscape with plenty of soul on offer.
Sorry is due for official release on August 28th, you’ll be able to check it out via Spotify.
Berlin-based artist Sidetrack Walker has released their most captivating soundscape to date. Expect the human psyche to stare back at you when you hit play on Will to Leave which is just one of the tracks found on their latest album The Art of Starvation.
The Neo-Classical melodies perfectly capture tense, fraught and honest emotion. Under Sidetrack Walker’s deft orchestration, the progressions spill more resonance than even the most meta of lyrics ever could.
But what blew me away the most about Will to Leave was the sheer distinction. Sidetrack Walker’s tendency to pull from a myriad of genres such as Neo-Classical, Dark Folk and Prog Rock allowed their sound to spill an alchemic amount of atmospheric intensity.
You can stream and download Sidetrack Walker’s single Will to Leave along with the rest of their album which was released on April 24th for yourselves via Bandcamp.
Award-Winning musician Vincent Lima has released yet another resoundingly raw single with “Albany”. Any fans of the darkly alluring mesmerism of Tom Waits and Richard Hawley are going to want to jump on the singer songwriter’s first release in 2020.
There’s a unique tenderness to Albany, it’s rare for tenderness to accompany deep cavernously evocative tonality, but Vincent Lima has proven that the aural elements make for a potently alchemic mix. If you could imagine what it would sound like if Bill Ryder-Jones and Nick Cave collaborated together, you may get an idea of what Albany has to offer.
Yet, the distinction truly lies in the singer songwriter’s ability to lace the soundscape with a brand-new contemporary resonance through the infusion of nuancedly melancholic Pop.
The pensively deep quivering notes against the deep reverberance of Vincent Lima’s vocals in a cinematic production is something we’ll never forget. And we’re pretty sure that you won’t either.
You can listen to Albany for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.
There was certainly no forgetting Folk artist Bluebyrd after the release of their debut album “Uneven Ground” which was released in 2018. The melodious charm which the soundscapes exuded offered an aural serenity not easily matched.
Their latest single “Song for the Duped” may not offer the same blissful tones, but it’s the dark, angsty protest song which everyone needs to hear right now. As we contend with gaslit Daily Mail readers frustration is an inevitability. Thankfully, Song for the Duped offers plenty of cathartic salvation and dares you to not resign to the apathy. Instead, the single compels you to carry the same smiting attitude as offered in this masterful Americana-inspired Dark Folk Track.
You can check out Song for the Duped for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud now.
“Gamble” is just one of the recently released Dark Folk singles found on the up and coming Boston-based artist Laney Ryan’s latest EP “Doorways & Diversions”.
With this release, Laney Ryan has proven that she may just be in possession of the most celestially magnetic vocals we’ve heard this year. Anyone can pick up an acoustic guitar and share a piece of their soul, but very few artists exude the same captivating distinction as what is found in Gamble.
Laney Ryan’s vocals resonate as ethereal whispers over the atmospherically orchestrated stripped-back soundscape which contains plenty of light and dexterous reverb around the tentatively paced acoustic notes.
While some ambient Indie Folk singles offer catharsis, Gamble offers a transcendental experience – especially when the synergy in the steady and soft vocal harmonies meet the top notes in the melodies.
You can check out Laney Ryan’s single Gamble for yourselves by heading over to Spotify now.
