Browsing Tag

Lockdown Music

Maddison Skies have made their Pop debut with their optimistic playlist staple ‘To the Moon and Back’

Posted on 27 December 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztCUceB6Z70

We’ve heard our fair share of debut singles this year after so many artists were driven to find the catharsis in expression in chaotically confusing times, but very few, if any, were as soul-meltingly powerful as ‘To the Moon and Back from Maddison Skies.

Maddison Skies consists of Gracie May, Thea, and Sophie; three phenomenally talented UK-based vocalists who banded together through adversity. On their first real life meeting, they recorded their debut single to instil some much-needed optimism on the airwaves. To the Moon and Back is a stunning Indie Pop testament to the power and necessity of love, if you’re not convinced, their harmonised vocals will give you all the assurance you need.

If this is the future of girl groups, colour me excited.

You can check out the official music video to Maddison Skies’ debut single by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

London’s ‘Up In The Air’ is the perfect antidote to Covid-Brexit winter blues

Posted on 21 December 2020

‘Up In The Air’ by newcomer London is the perfect antidote to the current wind, rain, Brexit, and Covid-19 doleful torpor gripping the UK, a summery, upbeat, dance-y mix of R&B-inspired hip-hop and mellow, groove-filled soul. There’s a rich, deep and uplifting ascending bassline, a deliciously soulful female backing harmony part, and London’s soft, Smokey Robinson/Marvin Gaye style tuneful vocal, all lilting smoky East Coast DC vibes and summer sunshine.

‘Up in The Air’ is London’s third single, following up ‘Y.D.L.M. (You Don’t Love Me)’ and ‘5 Questions’, and it’s clear that there’s some growth going on here; all that bodes very, very well for London’s future.

Check out ‘Up In The Air’ on Apple Music and Spotify, and follow London on Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

Set aside your anger and find the possibility of positivity with Farris’ sonically ensnaring single ‘Rocket Blaster’

Posted on 8 December 2020

2020 may seem like an opportune time to release a new angsty protest song, but Alt-Rock luminaries, Farris, proved why it isn’t with their matured and mindfully explosive latest single ‘Rocket Blaster’.

Undoubtedly, everyone needs adrenalizing tracks on their playlists to find catharsis in, to vent through, to find mood-matching resonance within. The Netherlands-based artist sweetened their galvanising sound with a message of positivity. One which we all need to be reminded of from time to time. Anger may be a more prominent part of the human condition recently, but that doesn’t mean that should be the default emotion we turn to when we’re faced with the reality of our increasingly absurd socio-political climate. Subversively, Rocket Blaster asks the listener to find the positivity within the negative through tattoo-worthy catchy lines such as “Put away your guns and your rocket blasters, anger only kills us faster”.

The overdriven sonically ensnaring sound in Rocket Blaster is just as visceral as the message written by Texan singer-songwriter Kathleen Farris who exudes magnetically ferocious energy that any fans of Joan Jett, Juliette Lewis and the Licks, The Runaways and L7 would definitely appreciate.

Rocket Blaster is the first track to be released from the upcoming EP of the same title which is set to drop in 2021. We’re already stoked to hear what kind of conscious ingenuity the forthcoming release contains. Until then, we’ll be left with the rhythmically infectious earworm which is Rocket Blaster.

You can check out Rocket Blaster which was released on October 20th for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Harry Baker Opens Up Conversation with his Jazzy Soul Pop Track ‘Talk to Me’

Posted on 2 December 2020

To affirm the belief that there is always a silver lining in any given situation, breaking Alternative artist Harry Baker has released their lockdown-inspired and lockdown-created single ‘Talk to Me’ which celebrates the sense of community which has transpired from physical isolation.

While many people within the industry have been hit hard by the pandemic or have simply resigned to apathy, other artists are using music for its true purpose; to communicate wisdom and offer connection.

With their infectiously soulful approach to the soundscape which mixes elements of Blues, Pop and RnB with lashings of nuancedly accessible Jazz, it isn’t only the sentiment of the single which will leave your soul sated.

To extend the distinction of their sound, Harry Baker tends to lend from a non-linear timeline when it comes to their influences. You’ll find 90s grooves alongside even more nostalgic elements of Blues and Jazz. Yet, nothing about Talk to Me feels archaic.

With the subject matter address in this compassionately essential single, each and every component feels raw and urgent. From the dreamy hazy shimmering guitar tones to the robustly blaring yet succinctly melded sax solos, each component amps up the level of emotion while simultaneously offering resolving catharsis as you lose yourself in the lyric-less verses which have been left bare to emphasise the state of loneliness we’re all feeling now.

Everything in the production neatly and synergistically falls into place thanks to production help from Alex Linder (Flood for the Famine) and mastering from Pete Maher (The Rolling Stones, The 1975 and U2).

Talk to Me is far from the UK and Spain-based artist’s first achievement. With three albums under their belt, plenty of attention from BBC introducing and having played with the likes of Jamiroquai and Yolanda Charles, they’ve certainly made their mark on the industry, but it is easy to feel like the best is yet to come.

Talk to Me is available to stream via Spotify. Or, you can check out the community-created official music video which released on November 29th via YouTube.

To keep up to date with the artist’s future releases you can follow them via Facebook.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Alise Ashby – I Will Carry You (Feat. Gabriela Martina)

Posted on 29 November 2020
Alise Ashby

Love and loss go hand in hand, two sides of the same coin, and there is no more final hurt than the death of a loved one; written as far back as 2006 for a dear friend who had lost his wife (and released for the first time now in response to the unprecedented losses of the Covid 19 pandemic), Alise Ashby’s ‘I Will Carry You’ is a stunning, delicate, piano-and-strings ballad of grief, healing, and the pain of heartbreak and passing.

Commissioned to write her first independent film score at the tender age of just 16 (and presented at the Cannes Film Festival), Alise Ashby is a stunningly gifted composer and musician, and ‘I Will Carry You’ is an exquisite piece of work, soaring and hopeful yet dazzlingly compassionate and sorrowful all at once.

Uplifting piano chords sit amongst an orchestral arrangement heavy on strings and woodwind, the cinematic, swooping arrangement perfectly suiting the lyrics, panoramic and uplifting without ever feeling schmalzy or overdone; Gabriela Martina’s alluring, graceful vocal performance carries the song, bewitching and classy, hand-in-glove with the tenderness and elegance of the narrative.

‘I Will Carry You’ is an absolute treasure, inviting the listener to feel comfort and connection, hope and composure, and perhaps – just perhaps – a little less of the desolation and detachment otherwise wrought across the past twelve months.

‘I Will Carry You’ is released on the 11th December. Follow Alise Ashby on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

London Alt-Indie Trio Alchemy3 Has Made Their Lockdown Debut with “Ride Us Through the Storm”

Posted on 18 November 2020
https://alchemythree.bandcamp.com/

London-based trio Alchemy3 made their Alt-Indie debut on October 29th with the mesmerically compelling release “Ride Us Through the Storm”. Hit play and you’ll quickly come to realise how they came up with their moniker.

The high-vibe creative expression runs rampant through the tantalising soundscape, which is a minefield of aural curveballs, but each unexpected evolution in the single affirms that Alchemy3 have the ingenuity and the positivity to make a difference to the airwaves.

Ride Us Through the Storm is a track which utterly consumes you when you hit play, and I think we can all agree, aural escapism is more valuable now than ever. With vocals which share hypnotic reminiscence with the likes of Nadine Shah floating atop of the intricately orchestrated instrumental arrangement which mixes acoustic instruments with dreamy electric guitar notes, the single unravels as one of the most stylistically and lyrically profound singles I’ve heard this year.

You can check out Alchemy3’s debut single by heading over to Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast 

UK Hip Hop Producer GieoSound energises the airwaves with their latest drop “Na Na Na Na!”

Posted on 6 November 2020
https://youtu.be/vVy3DzHkEAI

It is an incredibly rare occurrence for true personality to shine through in Hip Hop, but after hearing GieoSound’s latest release Na Na Na Na! I feel like I know the artist and producer well enough to invite them over for a cup of tea.

With the track which dropped on October 27th, the UK-based artist and producer put a brand new spin on the frustrative and aggressive tracks which have been created during lockdown. It’s a work of feisty defiance, but with the lush warm soft tones and GieoSound’s playfully enigmatic approach to production, you can’t help but feel a little endeared and reassured that no matter how bleak things seem, it’s all going to be okay. Even if it isn’t, at least we’ll have blazing new drops such as Na Na Na Na! to jam to as the apocalypse looms.

You can check out Na Na Na Na! for yourselves by heading over to YouTube now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Christian Schormann – The Ballad of Captain T: A Warmly Resolving Attack of Satire

Posted on 2 October 2020

Lockdown has inspired artists in many ways. Christian Schormann created the perfect Pop track after witnessing the lack of leadership in the US during the pandemic. Sounds dreary right? Wrong.

In The Ballad of Captain T, disdainfully playful rage pours over the warmly resolving instrumentals which ooze soul-soothing choral appeal. Tracks such as The Ballad of Captain T can all too easily fall into the novelty category, yet, there’s enough nuance and prowess for it to easily diverge away from that pigeonhole. There’s a sincerity within the single, a sensitive understanding that the problems which the lack of leadership has caused have had a detrimental impact on peoples lives, and deaths.

In short, you couldn’t ask for a more perfect Pop single. The unexpected guitar solo was the aural cherry on the cake.

You can hear it for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

David Adonis – Safe Distance: A Guide to Dating in the Digital Age

Posted on 30 August 2020

David Adonis allowed the airwaves to keep up with the digital evolution of romanticism with their latest single “Safe Distance”.

Safe Distance breaks the monocultural mould with rhythmically seductive melodies cooked up through an infusion of RnB, Pop and Afro Beats. But much more importantly, David Adonis served an all-important reminder through the resonant lyrics that love and romanticism are still persevere-able.

In a few years from now, tracks like Safe Distance will serve as a memento from the time we globally, simultaneously experienced love displaying resilience against the hate and chaos 2020 thew at us.

We may have a more limited way of connecting, but you can almost feel the fizz of passion between two people locked in amorous fixation when listening to the smooth grooves in David Adonis’ soulfully seductive Afro Beat single.

You can check out Safe Distance for yourselves via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jimmi Ski – Kiss Me Through the Phone: The Ultimate Lockdown Lovesong  

Posted on 29 August 2020
https://soundcloud.com/jimmiski/kiss-me-through-the-phone/s-bjE6R7IiQaZ

Fans of the 1975 won’t want to deliberate on hitting play on “Kiss Me Through the Phone”, the first single to be released from Jimmi Ski’s EP “Missed Calls”.

It certainly isn’t the first lockdown-inspired pop track to hit the airwaves, but it is possibly the first lockdown-born track which manages to maintain romanticism, optimism and a smorgasbord of other high-vibe emotions without reminding you of how soul-sucking the experience has been.

Jimmi Ski will be dropping a new track every month, if they parallel the sentimentality and intimacy of Kiss Me Through the Phone, you’ll definitely want to save space on your radar.

You can check out Kiss Me Through the Phone via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast