Browsing Tag

Folk Duo

Igloo Hearts exhibited a new installation of art-folk in their ornately rendered vignette, Watering Can

Posted on 27 February 2024

Igloo Hearts’ latest offering, ‘Watering Can‘, is a masterful blend of folk sensibilities with a touch of baroque elegance. This single, emerging from the heart of Wrexham, positions the married duo as a folk force to be reckoned with while echoing the artistry of legends like Tori Amos, Kate Bush, and Mitski.

Katie Macgregor’s soprano vocals are the centrefold of the art-folk piece. Her haunting and ethereal timbres, cascade over the keys, enveloping the listener in a cocoon of timeless yet contemporary flair. The emotion conveyed through her performance is palpable, resonating with a depth that speaks to the soul.

Watering Can is an arresting showcase of their captivating sound, marked by classical piano, mesmerising chord progressions, and flawless harmonies, influenced by Jesca Hoop, Radiohead, and Kate Bush. The duo’s refined musicianship has earned them recognition as runners-up in the Purbeck Folk Rising Competition and Radio Wigwam’s Awards along with numerous BBC Introducing radio plays. Their live performances, held at esteemed venues like the Liverpool Philharmonic and Llangollen International Eisteddfod have received critical praise from across the board.

As they continue to gain acclaim, including an upcoming feature on the Channel 4 series ‘The Piano’, any self-respecting folk fan will want Igloo Hearts on their radar.

Watering Can was officially released on February 16. Stream the single on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Outpost Drive sang a bitter-sweet folk lullaby with their debut single, Go Back to Sleep

Posted on 13 December 2023

If you can relate to the melancholy of your dreams being more serene than your waking reality, prepare to be bruised by the emotional weight that will bear down on you when you hit play on the bitter-sweet folky acoustic pop lullaby, Go Back to Sleep, by the harmonically synergetic duo, Outpost Drive.

Between the aching of yearning and the gratitude of revisiting memories, Go Back to Sleep immediately cuts to the core of emotional juxtapositions when you are brought to tears recollecting the person who always knew how to make you turn a smile but only exists in dream. The lyric, “I’m lonely as I am free”, alluding to how life is just a dichotomy of Pepsi and Coke suffering, is especially potent as it cuts through the euphonically timeless orchestration, which proves how arcane instrumental minimalism can be when it is executed with superlative melodic command.

Willow Robinson and Mary Bragg Robinson, hailing from the English countryside and the American South, respectively marry the styles of British folk with Americana to deliver a sound that is as inventive as it is authentically all-consuming. The debut is a testament to the ability of love to transcend borders after the couple endured a year-long hiatus due to immigration hurdles. We can’t wait to hear what the ultimate folk power couple have in store for their sophomore release.

Go Back to Sleep was officially released on November 10th; stream it on Spotify or purchase the track on Apple Music.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

River Knight extended empathy for politically derived malady in their orchestral folk-rock score, Green and Gold

Posted on 7 December 2023

River Knight’s latest single, Green and Gold, is a socialist orchestral folk-rock masterpiece; with a reprise of “the system is broken and there’s no way back” as a lyrical opening, there’s no deliberation before immersing you into the infectiously empowering assault on late-stage capitalism.

The modern iteration of everyman’s blues keeps an upbeat tempo as the everyday atrocities unravel over the zeal in the instrumental arrangement to create an emotionally well-rounded score that unifies the disenfranchised while vindicating the anger that is breeding within the social tapestry.

With an ear for a compelling melody, an empathy for politically derived malady, and the technical prowess to construct a soul-sating earworm you’ll be humming for days, the UK duo who banded together in 2017 after Darren Knight’s wife passed away have become as essential as the Manic Street Preachers were in the 90s.

Green and Gold was officially released on November 24; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sahara CyberStars illuminated the airwaves with their alt-folk-rock score, Light Shines into a Space

Posted on 21 August 2023

After unveiling six LPs and six singles to date, the Dublin-forged, Australia-residing duo Sahara CyberStars, comprising the award-winning singer-songwriters Dave and Trish Long, exhibited how honed their synergistic sound has become in their latest single, Light Shines into a Space.

The duo may have gone down under, but their arcane Irish folk roots still linger at the epicentre of their theatrically inviting sound in Light Shines into a Space, which allows you to imagine how New Model Army’s post-punk musings would unravel with more ornate and orchestral instrumentals infused into their atmospheric stylings.

The deeply original score’s authenticity is only matched by the evocative pull of the release; from the first verse, you’ll be inseparably combined with the celestially scintillating experimentalism, which bends genres with the grace of an Olympian contortionist.

Light Shines into a Space is now available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Bluebyrd cut through the static in their latest alt-folk single, Too Much Noise

Posted on 5 February 2022
Too much noise by Bluebyrd

The Wolverhampton, UK-based alt-folk duo, Bluebyrd, has aurally triumphed once again with their latest single, Too Much Noise, which cuts through the static in our cacophonous existence.

For anyone that acquired a new level of overwhelmed anxiety as a parting gift from the pandemics and other chaos that leaves us feeling powerless, Too Much Noise should be considered an essential release. Not only do Bluebyrd deliver resonance hand over fist, but they also create a cathartic indie-folk soundscape that sits somewhere between Cohen, Billy Brag, Semisonic and the Levellers. I couldn’t think of a better new release to drown out the world to.

Too Much Noise was officially released on January 28th. It is now available to stream and purchase via Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Giulia Gatti dug down to the roots of storytelling with their debut single, Fix What You Break.

Posted on 22 October 2021

As the songwriting duo Giulia Gatti continues to enamour an international fanbase with their striking singles that take inspiration from soul, RnB and pop, we delved into their spellbinding debut single, Fixed What You Break. We instantly found ourselves arrested by the raw lyricism and confrontationally soulful vocals in the scorned post-breakup single.

Hell hath no fury like a woman who has endured the fallout from someone’s lack of accountability and reached breaking point, but Fix What You Break finds a stunning way of capturing the emboldening feeling of drawing a line in someone else’s destruction.

Giulia Gatti comprises Italian singer-songwriter Giulia Menegatti and Danish composer and guitarist Jonas Dannerbugt. With the gravitas in his tender fretwork and Menegatti’s resounding old school vocal timbre, they allow the roots of storytelling to blossom in their soundscapes.

Fix What You Break is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast