Browsing Tag

Elliott Smith

The 90s indie rock icons Airbus return with their third studio album, ‘You’.

Posted on 13 July 2021
Airbus

If you paid attention to the UK rock scene in the 90s, you might already be acquainted with Airbus who are set to release their psychedelically sweet third studio album, You, via Spira Records.

The album unleashes singles penned and recorded back in the 1990s; the band lifted the audio from master tapes using a 24-track 2-inch tape machine to keep the warm analogue glow of the original recordings. Short of hopping in a TARDIS and pushing your way to the front of the crowd when Mazzy Star performed at the Shoreline Amphitheatre, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better way to transport yourself back to the 90s.

If you can imagine what an aural cocktail of The Zombies, Elliott Smith and the Beatles would sound like, you’ll get an idea of the dreamy, colourful accordance that is weaved in the standout single ‘I’. Reminiscences aside, the band’s masterfully melodic presence on the airwaves once more is a breath of fresh kaleidoscopic air. The lead track carries that dreamy feel of wholesome wild abandon that most have forgotten how to offer in the 21st century.

Airbus’ upcoming album is due for release in September 2021. You can check out the band on Spotify, Facebook and YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ricky Hoffman sings the Black Cat Blues in his latest alt indie-folk single.

Posted on 9 June 2021
Debut Demo by Ricky Hoffman

Fans of Neutral Milk Hotel, the Microphones, Elliott Smith and Sufjan Stevens will want to hear Wisconsin singer-songwriter Ricky Hoffman play the ‘Black Cat Blues’.

The expressively ardent Midwest folk single wouldn’t be out of place amongst other iconic cat-inspired tracks; it carries the same endearing panache as Stray Cats’ Stray Cat Strut, Squeeze’s Cool for Cats, and, of course, Love Cats by The Cure. Through the snappy percussion, accordant rings of the acoustic guitar, and the woody bends of the bass, Hoffman created the perfect platform for his unpolished and organic blues-folk vocals that will stay with you long after Black Cat Blues has faded to a close.

Black Cat Blues is now available to stream via Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Madeleine Bradford has released her celestially striking single, Resting Bones.

Posted on 31 May 2021

Resting Bones is the celestially transfixing latest single from US singer-songwriter Madeleine Bradford. At the age of 17-years-old, her music already boasts narratively-meta lyrics, arresting vocal harmonies and a spiritual edge that compels you to lean even deeper into the single to abstract the emotion and introspection. Even the silence that follows the outro is resounding.

If anyone has what it takes to become the next Phoebe Bridgers while establishing themselves with a distinctive style, it is Madeleine Bradford. The mellifluous guitars in Resting Bones possess the same level of alchemy that you will find in Elliot Smith’s most intricate releases as faint orchestral swells add striking crescendos to the deeply provoking single.

Resting Bones is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Roderick Jaynes take us to ‘The Bridge’ with his latest indie-folk single.

Posted on 30 May 2021
https://soundcloud.com/roderick-jaynes

San Francisco’s rising singer-songwriter Roderick Jaynes is set to release his most versatile single to date, The Bridge. With a grungy interlude that will make any fans of Dinosaur Jr prick up their ears, The Bridge is an indie chamber folk-pop track that keeps on giving.

As the progressive single picks up momentum and discord, the nuancedly psychedelic soundscape shunts you further down the rabbit hole as the descending piano keys and apathy-ringing chord progressions transgress into a form of aural gravity.

Any fans of Elliott Smith, Nick Drake Radiohead or Phoebe Bridgers won’t want to miss out on this evocatively haunting, stylistically artful release.

The Bridge is due for release on May 28th; you’ll be able to check it out for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Snir Yamin: maybe your new favourite singer-songwriter with new single ‘Taking’

Posted on 31 March 2021

Snir Yamin might just be the best male singer-songwriter you’ve never heard of; his previous singles, ‘Down The Line’ and ‘Twenty Three’, both made it to number one on the iTunes Top 200 Alternative Tracks chart, but new single ‘Taking’ is simply stunning, a painfully wistful melancholic nostalgia to Yamin’s guitars and plaintive vocals.

It’s a great track, evocative and emotive, gentle yet powerful all at once, some intricate, melodic guitar picking underneath the poignancy. It’s reminiscent, a little, of The Calling, but also classic singer-songwriters like Elliot Smith and guitar-led artists like Snow Patrol and John Mayer, there’s also classic songwriting with elements of older influences such as the Stones, Dylan, or the Police in the mix too.

‘Taking’ is available on Spotify right now; check out Snir Yamin on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

Baneful Town have released their wistfully lo-fi folk single ‘Change Your Mind’

Posted on 15 March 2021

Montreal-hailing experimental folk artist Baneful Town has been making waves with their wistfully lo-fi style since making their debut in 2019. Their signature sound may be instrumentally sparse, but it’s evocatively charged with a transfixingly nostalgic sense of loss and love.

Based on their latest single ‘Change Your Mind’, Baneful Town may become just as renowned for their bittersweet symphonies as the Verve.

Any fans of the tenderness of Elliott Smith and the dreamy mercurial tendencies of Bonny Light Horsemen will want to get acquainted with this quiescently compelling single. With their debut album due for release, Baneful Town are definitely one to watch.

Change Your Mind is available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Christian Wannerwall – Be Free: Artfully Meditative Alt-Indie Folk

Posted on 21 February 2021

With solitude as a muse, Christian Wannerwall delves deeper into the human psyche than most artists when orchestrating his consolingly empathetic takes on indie alt-folk. Within the Gothenburg-based singer-songwriter’s lyricism, you’ll pull out meditative wisdom which allows you to connect to a less contrived and artificial reality than the one we’re sold on a daily basis.

Within the melodic complexity of his artfully textured indie folk single ‘Be Free’, a cathartic simplicity resounds. As Christian Wannerwall’s evocatively piercing vocals, which share the same poignant sting as the likes of Elliott Smith and Thom Yorke, meet the neo-classic piano-led melodies, you’ll succumb to the notion that freedom is a state of mind and find that the weight of existential dread has already lifted.

Be Free is now available to stream via Spotify. For your sanity’s sake, hit play.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Blonde Lion has released their enrapturing ennui-laden Alt Folk single “Ordinary Day”

Posted on 5 August 2020

Folk-Pop singer-songwriter Blonde Lion released their latest single “Ordinary Day” on August 5th. Elliott Smith may not be with us anymore, but Blonde Lion’s melancholic style is just as efficacious at drawing pensive emotions from you and offering aural resolve.

Obviously, I didn’t make it to the end of Ordinary Day with dry eyes. The delicateness of the atmospheric and intricate acoustic instrumentals was one thing, the resonance in the lyrics was quite another.  Ordinary Days was inspired by the days where you wake up and struggle to find anything which offers any meaning. The jaded ennui was all too relatable and it’s safe to say that after the global lockdown, plenty more people will see themselves in this sublime soundscape which serves as the perfect introduction to Blonde Lion’s compelling style.

You can check out Blonde Lion’s latest release by heading over to SoundCloud now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Stelahr – Hundred Thousand Miles: Piercingly Artful Alt Pop

Posted on 6 July 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNgXPhi4D5U&feature=youtu.be

Berlin-based Breaking Pop artist Stelahr’s latest single Hundred Thousand Miles quite literally left me lost for words. In my extended mentally-incapacitated state of awe, the adjectives for Stelahr’s unique artful style alluded me.

The soundscape was as instrumentally, atmospherically and lyrically complex as you’d expect from the likes of Elliott Smith. Believe me, that’s not a comparison I make lightly. Yet, Stelahr allowed the dreamy and blissful track to sting with piercing melancholic longing which emanated from the stabbing notes in the piano and her haunting semi-operatic vocal style.

The ethereally moody soundscape paired with the official video which was created with a little help from the Sims 4 made the evocative potency of Hundred Thousand Miles even stronger. Watching the Sims character idle in domesticity before springing to life around music, crowds and nature hit especially hard thanks to lockdown. But Hundred Thousand Miles is definitely worth getting aurally bruised by.

You can check out the transfixing official music video to Hundred Thousand Miles which premiered on June 26th for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

8udDha bl0od – L3m0n 50Ul – 7h!5 L0<3ly F33ling: Soulfully Striking Alt Folk Rock

Posted on 15 May 2020
8udDha bl0od

L3m0n 50Ul – 7h!5 L0<3ly F33ling is just one of the upcoming releases from the enviably talented Brighton-based artist 8udDha bl0od. The Psych Alt Folk single pulls in a myriad of nuances, but from the first hit, it will feel like home.

If you could imagine a soundscape as evocatively compelling as Elliot Smith’s tender classics, as Stylistic as Kurt Vile’s approach to Blues, and as kaleidoscopically warm as a track from King Crimson, you’ll get a good idea of the ingenuity which spills from L3m0n 50Ul – 7h!5 L0<3ly F33ling.

Despite the sweet absolving layers of soul weaved into L3m0n 50Ul – 7h!5 L0<3ly F33ling it’s still an emotionally weighted single which will stick to your synapses long after the track has faded to a close.

You’ll be able to check out L3m0n 50Ul – 7h!5 L0<3ly F33ling for yourselves from July 27th via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast