Browsing Tag

Orchestral Folk

Elisa Winter – Summer Spent Dreaming: orchestrally apocalyptic post-grunge resonance

Posted on 9 July 2022

While many artists desperately wrestled with their creativity during the first lockdown only to reveal trite lyricism the performer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and baroquely phenomenal recording artist, Elisa Winter foresaw the new normal before the modern plague was on our door.

Finally, her debut album, Summer and Smoke, which was officially released on Summer Solstice 2022, is here to spill orchestrally apocalyptic post-grunge resonance. The LP tracks across the tensions between truth, reality and gaslighting, with the engrossingly stunning highlight, Summer Spent Dreaming.

Lush yet tumultuous. Visceral yet encompassing the detachment we all felt in some capacity, Summer Spent Dreaming is the most authentic aural depiction of the frustration and entropy I’ve heard yet.

Everything changed, in a way it is almost impossible to put in words. I say almost because Elisa Winter discernibly succeeded with “speak to me please, what has happened to you? Searching for you in your eyes, you won’t let me in.” There’s been a disconnect that we’ve kept our heads in the sand about. Thankfully, Elisa Winter is here to vindicate the confusion in our alien relationship with reality and each other.

Elisa Winter’s latest album, Summer and Smoke, is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Henry Liggins orchestrated every hopeless romantic’s quintessential playlist staple with his folk single, Makeup

Posted on 10 June 2022

After a Cohen-Esque acoustic guitar intro, Henry Liggins’ vocals mellifluously float in with the same captivating ease over his tenderly orchestrated piano and guitar progressions as Glenn Hansard in his latest single, Makeup.

The hopeless romanticism in Makeup is nothing short of breath-taking poetry as Liggins muses on his muse, capturing the fragile beauty within the vulnerability of relationships in our chaotic existence. The amount of sincerity is almost a shock to the system. There’s no doubt that this dreamy serenade came straight from Liggins’ sugared Shakespearean soul.

While staying true to his timelessly intimate style, the Birmingham-based singer-songwriter notably has a tirade of commercial appeal behind his ornately captivating sound.

Makeup will officially release on June 10th. Hear it here.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Singer-songwriter Kelsey Hughen takes us to the House on a Hilltop.

Posted on 19 August 2021

Classically trained Austin, Texas-born singer-songwriter Kelsey Hughen has released her latest cinematic Celtic folk single, House on a Hilltop; the semi-orchestral single captures Hughen’s genre-fluid at its most arcane.

The celestial timbre of the instrumentals sets a fantastical tone, as the lyrics yearn for an escape from the struggle of conformity with the one person that you can strip back the façade with unashamedly. House on a Hilltop is easily one of the sincerest love songs to hit the airwaves this year. The way it captures the security of love that frees us is just beyond beautiful.

House on Hilltop is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Explore the Folklore in Garefowl’s single ‘Hion Daila Horo Ri Ho Hion Daila La’

Posted on 6 November 2020

Folklore organically flows through ‘Hion Daila Horo Ri Ho Hion Daila La’, just one of the singles found on the Alt Folk artist Garefowl’s alchemic TARDIS of an album ‘Cliffs’.

The entrancingly tribalistic record consistently subverts your expectations by seamlessly shunting you from eerie tones into euphoria-infusing traditional St Kildan melodies.

Even though each of the artists contributing to the album worked remotely, the instrumental arrangement transcends being ‘tight’. The mesmerism which breathes between the brooding notes is enough to tear you away from modernity and allow you to wonder what it would be like to live a subsistence existence away from the fray and 21st distraction,

After receiving high praise from the likes of Cerys Matthews (BBC Radio 6), Mark Radcliffe (BBC Radio 2) and The National, it is impossible to see how Garefowl won’t become a major part of the musical landscape in 2021 and beyond.

You can check out Garefowl’s single via Spotify or YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Get high with Michael Golden’s intoxicating Alt Folk single “Mr. Ecstasy”

Posted on 8 October 2020

Slip into the soul contained in US singer-songwriter Michael Golden’s debut album Some Kind of Holiday, it’s a candidly compelling narration of the artist’s experience navigating life, you’ll find plenty of familiar moments staring back at you.

The perfect introduction to their melodically haunting style is irrefutably “Mr. Ecstasy”. Any fans of Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits are going to get stung by the melancholy. Just like dropping a pill, there are blissfully radiant highs and soul-scraping lows. Yet, Mr. Ecstasy is able to offer far more than narcotics could.

The tender nostalgic comfort contained in Mr. Ecstasy is worth its weight in gold. Michael Golden has palpably succeeded in recreating the 70s sound with a modern digital folk edge.

You can check out Mr. Ecstasy for yourselves by heading over to YouTube now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

It’s Never Too Late for Jakob Kupferberg

Posted on 5 October 2020
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr1fgpNrJ0E&list=OLAK5uy_mRxGG1fbELmL04oJsPo90umve0bKPaJFA

Folky strummed guitar, strident violin, and a pushing, driving bassline offset Jakob Kupferberg’s new single ‘Never Too Late For Love’, an assured, mature folk-rock song that showcases Kupferberg’s vocal styling and guitar skills.

Vulnerable and emotional and yet strong and powerful, Danish-born Kupferberg references artists as diverse as Zach De La Rocha and Jeff Buckley, and this comes across in his music, the track switching easily from comfortable, familiar chord progressions to mildly startling, divergent codas and back again, intriguing and challenging but never, ever discordant.

Kupferberg’s debut EP, ‘Sweet Surrender’, is out on October 9th; ‘It’s Never Too Late For Love’ is on Spotify now.

Review by Alex Holmes

Knox Bronson – I Want to Know: Delicately Orchestral Alt Folk

Posted on 5 August 2020
https://soundcloud.com/knox-bronson/i-want-to-know-what-you-told-the-sun

Oakland, US Folk Singer-Songwriter Knox Bronson has recently released their latest single “I Want to Know (What You Told the Sun). If Cohen has a tendency to make you teary, so will this sublimely orchestrated release.

The delicately inviting semi-orchestral arrangement possesses plenty of choral depth and creates the perfect platform for Knox Bronson’s gravelly yet harmonic quiescent vocals. And the nostalgic feel of the release gives I Want to Know plenty of instant accessibility from the first hit. Yet, there’s plenty of distinction to be found within the atmospheric soundscape along with sheer amorous mesmerism.

You can listen to I Want to Know for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud now.

Keep up to date with Knox Bronson’s latest releases via Facebook.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Prepare to be sobered by Joe Johnson’s latest Indie Folk single “Be Who You Wanna Be”

Posted on 14 June 2020

Folk singer-songwriter Joe Johnson has recently released his instantly captivating single “Be Who You Wanna Be” and reminded us just how resonant Indie Folk can be.

Be Who You Wanna Be feeds you poignantly meta lyricism whilst grounding you with the melancholically-tinged instrumentals. From such simple guitar melodies and humbly tender vocals, Joe Johnson has created an atmospherically resounding single which will stay with you long after it has faded to a close.

The orchestral layers amplify the emotive weight in Be Who You Wanna Be, but in its essence, it’s a stunningly uplifting track which shares the same appeal as Eddie Vedder’s Into the Wild soundtrack album.

You can check out Be Who You Wanna Be for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast