Browsing Tag

Folk Singer Songwriter

It is ‘All About You’ in Cristina Movileanu’s summer folk-pop serenade

Posted on 4 July 2023

If you noticed it got a little hotter on the 16th of June, that may have been due to the scorching hot summer folk-pop single, All About You, from the vibrantly vivacious singer-songwriter Cristina Movileanu.

Each year, artists compete against each other to orchestrate the hit that will become their audience’s upbeat soundtrack to the summer. Never one to make pedestrian or predictable moves, the Emerald Isle-haling originator created a gateway to a parallel world brimmed with positive energy and joyful moments.

The jangly upbeat indie folk guitar melodies will be your main mode of transport, while Movileanu’s soulful vocal timbre will take you the rest of the way. There really is no overstating how captivating All About You is. For your own sake, don’t hang around in delving into the carresive Elysian chemistry in All About You.

Check out the official music video for All About You on YouTube, or add the sun-bleached hit to your Spotify playlists.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Marsh Family instilled empathy for refugees in their single, See Your Face Again

Posted on 16 June 2023

Released to raise awareness for 2023’s Refugee Week, The Marsh Family’s compassion-driven and strings instilled latest single, See Your Face Again, is as devastatingly beautiful as it is necessary. In a time when tribalism and prejudice are so pervasive in the mainstream discourse, and when it is painfully evident that empathy is the only remedy, singles don’t come much more seminal than See Your Face Again.

The indie folk single by the musical family gives the listener a view into how heartbreaking it is for migrants to decide to tear themselves away from the ones they love in search of a future that is brighter. There’s no sacrifice greater than leaving family behind in landscapes where more rubble amasses every day.

Instead of preaching to the choir, the Marsh Family collectively put themselves in the unenviable position of migrants, allowing the listener to come to their own emotional conclusions, whilst being guided by the euphonic grace of the release.

The single features Ali Esmahilzada, who fled from Kabul to LA without his violin, but was benevolently given one by a US benefactor. The single itself pushed me to the brink of tears; the stunning contribution from the resoundingly talented Ali Esmahilzada pushed me over the edge.

Stream See Your Face Again from the 16th of June via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Bay Bryan’s debut LP is a reverie of ubiquitous art-folk revelation

Posted on 9 June 2023

Life often imitates art, but LPs which emphasise realism and naturalism to such a vivid degree that you find yourself open to the purity and vastness of reality on this 1,000-mph spinning rock are a little harder to find, making the debut album, The Meadow, from Bay Bryan a ubiquitous revelation.

With vocals as diaphanous as the quiescent folk motifs, the omnipresent grace of the 10-track release becomes a paradox in its freeing yet arrestive proclivities. With sounds of the forestland flourishing in the same vein as Cosmo Sheldrake’s nature-sampled work in the opening singles before the LP embraces some folk traditionalism and elevates it through tantalisingly minimalist guile, The Meadow unravels as a release you should consume whole so that the euphonic album can return the favour.

There may be a lot to lament in this Anthropocene. Yet, as euphonically alluded by the Colorado-born, Manchester, UK-based artist, beauty still exists in the totality of our existence. Allowing the release to spill the solace of resonance; around the brushstrokes of pure rapture are conjurings of pensiveness, which give the LP as much soul as the euphoric dream-like layers.

The concept album may portray the tale of a protagonist trapped in an endless daydream, but with the infectious flower child celestiality, you may just find the inspiration to forego reality too, if only for the duration of The Meadow.

The singer-songwriter is often gratifyingly guilty of bringing their theatre-making talents into their imaginatively cinematic soundscapes, which have garnered rave reviews and airplay from BBC Radio 3. In an era when there is so much hate and fear, artists able to implant us in the sanctity of a daydream away from the waking terror are worth their weight in gold; Bay Bryan may just be the richest artist in the UK.

“I want you to stop. I want you to breathe. And for the next 30min I hope that you let yourself go —immerse yourself in world of the meadow —and get lost with me in it’s golden hue. The adventure is yours for the taking.” ~ Bay Bryan

Stream The Meadow via Spotify

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lucas Pasley put his audience in the saddle of injustice in the roots release, Icelandic Horses

Posted on 21 May 2023

The authentic but by no means archaic Americana luminary Lucas Pasley twanged plenty of timeless soul onto the airwaves with the release of his third album, Ponies Back Home. The serenely composed release, which carries all the Grammy-nominated allure of Bonny Light Horseman’s debut LP, starts with the standout single, Icelandic Ponies. 

With melodies that sway in the breeze of his songwriting which pays homage to his Appalachian Mountains roots and a voice so soothing it could placate a rabid raccoon, there’s no overstating the arresting allure of Icelandic Horses.

His slide guitars reach the pinnacle of sonic catharsis as the lyrics lament the inherent unjustness of the universe while showing you the beauty within it in the same breath. The fragility of life is laid out in a series of short and bitter-sweet vignettes to brim you with gratitude for the burdens you don’t bear and fill you with empathy for the ones who do.

Stream Lucas Pasley’s album, Ponies Back Home, on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Evergreen is astronomical in her latest folk single, Meteors

Posted on 2 April 2023

The Austin-hailing multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and cello teacher, Evergreen, is renowned for her narrative folk soundscapes that can rejuvenate love and lust for life. Her latest single, Meteors, is another vibrant extension of her mission to paint portraits of phenomenological beauty and prove that music is a global element of humanity. If any single could be accurately described as a high vibe folk lullaby, it’s Meteors.

With a twinge of Twain in her vocals atop the classical cellos, folky strings, and artfully baroque elements, Evergreen reached the pinnacle of sonic beguile in Meteors, which is as accessible as oxygen, with no shortage of virtuosic flare.

Evergreen is now available to stream on Spotify; her debut album, Delicious Vignettes of Recent American Kind, which will be a mash of academic and classical music, is due for release on March 31st.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Malcolm Duff brought us right back down to humble ground with his quiescent folk score, Leaving

Posted on 29 March 2023
https://soundcloud.com/user-883383372/leaving

Along with his paramour co-creator, Da Silva, the folk singer-songwriter Malcolm Duff reminded us why his sound is so unforgettable with his latest single, Leaving.

To do this feat of melancholically sweet folk justice, I’ll refrain from the tired Cohen comparisons and lean into the cinematic fluid grace of the orchestration that wouldn’t be out of place on the Wild at Heart soundtrack. The evocative movie script ending of a score entrenches you in its sentimentality, which alludes to how distance is as much of a state of mind as it is a matter of miles.

Some may say that searching for unconditional love is simply being in love with the idea of love itself, but Malcolm Duff put those romantic cynics to shame, by proving that only love can save us all. In a time when it is so easy to fixate on arbitrary notions of success, the gentle acoustic strings and breezy harmonica blows in Leaving will bring you right back down to humble ground.

Stream Leaving on SoundCloud now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mariele Jankowski sang ‘The Long Song of Mary Green’ in her folky feat of beguile

Posted on 3 March 2023
https://soundcloud.com/mariele-jankowski/sets/the-long-song-of-mary-green-radio-edit/s-OdOKTKKMffi?si=6275f7fbaf144e95a35971da75ba80b0&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

The latest single, The Long Song of Mary Green, from the London-based singer-songwriter Mariele Jankowski keeps the true storytelling roots of folk blossoming in blissfully melodic beguile.

Around the vivid imagery that spills over the acoustic guitars, which rhythmically guide you through the release beneath Mariele Jankowski’s timelessly mesmeric vocal timbre that lends itself well to distinction, is a compelling tale that is worth heeding.

As we all embark on endless quests for eternal happiness, and we fail to account for the world’s tendency to throw us curveballs as it turns, upending the promise of eternal bliss. Mariele Jankowski delivers the soulfully resonant reminder that for any real shot of happiness, we need to master the art of letting go and enjoying the journey instead of fixating on the destination.

I can honestly say I haven’t been this taken with a folk artist since discovering Amigo the Devil, and that isn’t an accolade I part with easily. Yet, the euphorically euphonic outro is one that I will delve into this extended release time and time again for.

The Long Song of Mary Green will be available to stream from March 3rd on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Aayushi has released her captivatingly cosy ukulele-led lullaby, I Ran Out Into the Snowflakes, Laughing

Posted on 5 January 2023

Daringly opting to use a ukulele as the main melody driver in a single that encompasses the nostalgia sparked by Christmas paid off in spades for the Birmingham-based folk singer-songwriter, Aayushi in her latest single, I Ran Out Into the Snowflakes, Laughing. The artist’s background in poetry and literature also owed itself to the quiescent track, as Aayushi reclaimed the term ‘snowflake’ away from those who wish to abstract from the beauty of compassion and uniqueness.

The stripped-back sonics did little to detract from the disarmingly arrestive power of the cosy lo-fi lullaby, which rekindles the warmth of childhood Christmases in the snow while reminding us that, as autonomous adults, we get to choose how we reignite that magic.

Released on December 23rd, the quaint serenade quickly amassed ample attention, including placement on several staunchly followed Spotify playlists. It is a single her fans will undoubtedly turn to year after year to stave off the threat of festive melancholy.

I Ran Out Into the Snowflakes, Laughing is now available to stream on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

From tragic inevitability, hauntingly filmic beauty is born in Rico Friebe’s single, This Day

Posted on 23 December 2022

Folk singer-songwriter, Rico Friebe, has unveiled the hauntingly filmic second single from his upcoming debut album, Word Value. Born from tragedy and hope, the vividly redolent single, This Day, explores the inevitability of the days we fear the most, alluding to our inability to avert discourses we are compelled to run from.

There is a profound grace in the alchemic vocal layering that spills soul across the stabbing minor piano keys that torridly flurry through the soundscape to reflect the phenomena we have to accept we can’t overcome. In concept and execution alike, This Day is a masterful piece that has left us with plenty of anticipation over the debut album.

Listen to This Day on Spotify from December 23rd. Await the alchemy in the debut album, which is primed for release in early 2023.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Chloe Southern painted the portrait of a morally grey romantic in her immersive folk single, Oil & Water

Posted on 4 December 2022

The 22-year-old neo-folk singer-songwriter and producer, Chloe Southern, goes beyond making honesty her brand through the motto, “the more alone I feel in an experience, the more I know I need to write about it”.

The Boulder, CO-born, Brooklyn-residing artist is fresh from the release of her debut EP, Last Man on Earth, which contains five singles, all orchestrated to give a confidant to anyone drifting along the same wavelength. One of the standout singles, Oil & Water, is a quiescent aching lullaby. Atop gentle acoustic guitar strings that weave rich Elliott Smith-Esque melodies, Southern finds her resounding voice as she heightens the emotions to the nth degree through the climactically gentle vocal progressions.

All too often, singer-songwriters paint themselves as flawless protagonists in their own stories. Southern switched the narrative by creating a morally grey character of herself in the single that traverses how she stole someone from the arms of another. But she pulls the romanticism back around by alluding to her ability to love him like no other. We’re officially rooting for her in the romantic saga.

Oil & Water is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast