Browsing Tag

Singer Songwriter Duo

Saint Senara’s ‘Lost Lisa Marie’: Where Sothern Gothic Folk Blues and Ghosts Collide

Posted on 2 February 2025
Saint Senara

Saint Senara’s latest single, Lost Lisa Marie, demonstrates the award-winning singer-songwriter duo’s unrelenting commitment to crafting southern gothic folk with depth and distinction. Since their 2020 inception, their evolution has led to a sound that combines blues rock’s raw intensity, folk’s piercingly poetic imagery, and the atmospheric richness of Americana.

The haunting arrangement in Lost Lisa Marie invites listeners into a vivid sonic panorama. Blues rock guitars, distorted crescendos, and angular riffs collide to create an audibly tactile experience. As the powerhouse chanteuse’s vocals re-emerge over the brash blues-rock climax, her delivery cuts through the chaos with grace, grounding the intensity in rich, emotive clarity.

Far removed from the pitfalls of pastiche, Saint Senara imbue their sound with authenticity and power, allowing Lost Lisa Marie to unfold like a narrative in motion, leaving space for reflection as much as visceral connection.

For fans of blues-soaked Americana and raw poetic intensity, this is a track that will leave your pulse racing out of rhythm and your finger hovering over the replay button. Off the back of their successful headline shows in 2024, Lost Lisa Marie is both a standalone triumph and a stepping stone towards what promises to be an uncompromising future.

Lost Lisa Marie will be available to stream on all platforms from January 31st. Find your preferred way to listen via the band’s official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Somewhere In Between – Mr & Mrs: An Orchestral Indie Folk Tale of Amour for the Ages

Posted on 2 September 2024

Somewhere In Between, the soul-embracing union of Deena Robertson and Austin Bisnow is so much more than a new alt-indie folk act on the scene; the duo is a profound testament to love’s resilience.

Their debut single Mr & Mrs, taken from their double A-Side which also includes the single Wildflower, unfurls as an artfully orchestral folk narrative, resonating with emotional depths through dual-layered harmonies. The intimate glimpse into a romance that has battled odds as daunting as cancer and triumphed with a story sung through their very being reaches the epitome of heart-rending.

The single channels the delicate nuances of Thom Yorke’s artful signatures, the diaphanous echoes of Tom Odell, and the undeniable chemistry reminiscent of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. It’s an ornately ethereal vignette of romanticism so vivid, it might just redefine your understanding of love, illustrating that true affection demands patience, compassion, and understanding.

Their journey began when Austin first heard Deena singing in Sanskrit during a hot yoga class in LA, leading to an inseparable bond forged at a retreat in Utah. Challenges soon followed, notably Deena’s cancer battle, compelling them to immortalise their vows in song with the aid of Grammy Award-winning artist Ry-X. Today, their Quebec barn-turned-studio is not just a place of creation but a sanctuary where their lives and art intertwine.

For those jaded by Hollywood’s glossy depictions of love, Mr & Mrs offers a real, raw, and profoundly authentic alternative. Hit play, and let the seraphic sentimentality carry you to where love reigns supreme, unscripted and unequivocally honest.

Mr & Mrs is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sun-Pinned Leaves shared the euphoria of being a rolling stone in their folk-rock reverie, See Y’all Again

Posted on 17 May 2024
Sun-Pinned Leaves

After winning the International Folk Duo of the Year award from the International Singer-Songwriters Association in 2023, the UK duo, Sun-Pinned Leaves are evidently still riding high, judging by the exuberant dreamland of nostalgia constructed within their latest single, See Y’all Again.

After the folksy piano keys have delivered their polyphonic euphoria, the rhythm section kicks in to deliver a rhythmically compelling beat that no 70s folk-rock fan will be able to resist. Even if you don’t know the joy of living on the road, you can live vicariously through this zestful vignette of how sweet it is to drift from coast to coast, where no goodbye is a definitive parting.

If Sun-Pinned Leaves aren’t on your radar yet, make room and stay tuned for their seventh LP, Seven Sins Aren’t Enough, which is set to become the sound of the summer when it releases in July.

See Y’all Again will be available to stream on all major platforms from May 15th. Find your preferred way to listen via the Sun-Pinned Leaves official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Alison Wahl & Brian Berggoetz reinvented the festive soundscape with “Christmas is the Right Time for Us”

Posted on 28 December 2023

Despite Christmas music often treading the well-worn path of jingle bells and festive clichés, Alison Wahl and Brian Berggoetz brought a refreshing gust of Americana folk rock into the Yuletide soundscape with their latest single, Christmas is the Right Time for Us.

Brian Berggoetz, a self-taught guitarist and a songwriter with a flair for reinventing classics, infuses his unique style into this holiday offering. His experience, ranging from performing at SXSW Festival to sharing stages with notable artists, shines through in the song’s intricate guitar work. The absence of traditional motifs and melancholy of aural nostalgia in favour of Americana folk elements is a bold choice, which infuses the song with an uplifting and authentic feel.

Alison Wahl’s vocal harmonies intertwine perfectly with Brian’s, creating a tapestry of sound that is both warm and inviting. The standout lyric, “When love is just enough, Christmas is the right time for us”, encapsulates the essence of the song – a celebration of love and togetherness that transcends materialism. This lyric, in its simplicity, captures the heart of the holiday spirit, reminding listeners that affection and emotional connection are priceless gifts.

The production of the song is a delicate balance of subtlety and strength, allowing the dual harmonies to take centre stage in a track that doesn’t just aim to be another Christmas hit but strives to leave a lasting impression on its listeners.

Christmas is the Right Time for Us was officially released on December 11; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Desert folk duo, Medicine Hat, made soul the centre of their gravity in their latest single, She Comes and She Goes

Posted on 7 March 2023

The latest single, She Comes and She Goes, from the breakthrough duo, Medicine Hat, is an instantaneously resolving amalgam of indie, blues, deserty folk, and psych-pop, which will efficaciously pull you into the soul-centred gravity of the harmony-laced release.

While the folky strings exhibit just how much the nostalgically-inclined independent duo respects the roots of the genres they tease through their melodies, the Stevie Nicks-reminiscent lyrics paint a romantically immersive picture of a free spirit that you can’t help falling in love with by proxy.

The riff-driven middle eight gives you the perfect opportunity to appreciate the virtuosic flare of Medicine Hat, along with their ability to reinvent a familiar palette to make it definitively their own.

She Comes and She Goes was officially released on March 3rd; hear it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lewis & Ford advocate the artistic life in their addictive reggae-dubbed psych-pop single, Radio

Posted on 1 November 2022

After refusing to bow to social pressures and shack up in a life of drab uniform domesticity, the LA duo Lewis & Ford released the sweet feat of reggae-dubbed ear candy, Radio. For every artist that has remained committed to their creative life to the disdain of loved ones, the stridently euphoric track is a sure-fire hit of vindication.

In Lewis & Ford’s taking-no-prisoners high-vibe lyrical style, they versed “I won’t ever be like them and never leave this town, cause I can’t hear them hatin’ while my band is playing a stadium, you’re gonna hear me on the radio” as the ultimate middle finger with a smile affirmation that autonomy is as beautiful as the lush psych surf harmonies and dreamy melodies. While the rhythms pop, Americana roots contort around the kaleidoscopic colour in the galvanising tonal palette.

Stream Radio on YouTube, and follow Lewis & Ford on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast