Feel like you’re heading backwards, simply out of time? Hell of a song coming in by way of Lisbon then, right here. The charming House Plants really know how to pluck those strings and turn on the reverb. City Vocabulary has been out since January, when life was much different but personal anxieties within were pretty much the same.
The track surfs on just the right amount of pace and fuzziness, keeping the balance throughout. The group evolved around Guilherme Correia who does most of the writing and recording from the safety of his own bedroom – so that probably hasn’t been too much of a transition in times of a global pandemic. Their upcoming debut EP Public Speaking could be a more private affair though, streamed into your headphones, release date tba.
Summer time is traveling time, and traveling time is happy time. But be it pandemic or environmental reasons, plane rides to far away corners of the globe aren‘t on the menu right now, and possibly for times to come.
So, consider getting in your Tesla or pick up truck and just drive, open roads, through the landscapes rushing by, and pop in some of Lost Beach‘s brilliant driver songs, firmly holding on to that steering wheel. Exhibit A is attached below in Runaway Rose, a gentle track that will take you right to your desired destination, just like that. Flawless, and out now. Tour dates, in the future.
Extra lush tunes come gliding in by way of the original John Bax here rocking his finest denim on denim. He is usually going by every duty-free shoppers dream Paradise in Toblerone and lacking a microphone to record lyrics, going all in with the instrumentals on Roses, attached below at your convenience.
The track is off his upcoming EP Carnival. Should be a steamy summer banger this one, vocals or not. In the meantime, find this track and more on Poule d’Or Journal, the Spotify playlist with nothing but the latest musings straight from the headquarters.
Hazy tunes for the longest days of the year coming in by way of Kekeno and the UK’s city of lights that is Nottingham. Light Pools is his latest and quite a timeless piece, like Sherwood forest’s Major Oak.
While combining lush electronics and a smooth lo-fi feel with carefully thrown in riffs as he goes along, Light Pools lets the blinding rays of the East Midlands’ June sun shine right through. The track is out now, with more to come.
Bristol’s Dick Dent here dropped a rather lovely debut solo album back in March, moments before most of Europe went into hibernation. Life’s Hard is a healthy collection of dreamy pop songs that make even more sense in the heat of June and careful attempts to be social again. Attached below is Juliet, a beautiful hazy ode to chances missed and points being made.
His solo debut came after a decade-spanning indie career being part of Yoofs and The Death of Pop, among others and only just last week, he released a new EP titled Dick Dent Goes Pop that does just that and comes packed with four intense cover versions from She’s The One to Come Into My World (Spotify). Furthermore, he will start a monthly radio programme over at Camp Fr, the artist residency project in the French Pyrenees, next week, Monday, June 29.
Photo credits go to Laura Eley and her only.
Odd trying to write about music these days. Times look bleak and yet what else is there to do then do your part, stay positive, go high or go low, be kind, be real. Los Angeles sweethearts Freedom Fry then arrived just in time with their altogether uplifting sophomore album, regionally titled Songs From The West Coast. The duo set out to make a record that feels “like the sunshine and the breeze blowing through your hair” – which couldn’t read more desirable right now.
The album comes eleven tracks strong and is carried by an effortless ease and warmth in their riffs and vocals, while echoing the folky aesthetics of love and opportunity of the nineteen-sixties. Music was a vital driver for social progress back then and can do its part today as well. But even at face value, Songs From The West Coast is a stunningly beautiful piece of recording that feels oddly timeless and transcending. Attached below is the striking new single Not With A Bullet.
Photo credits go to the talented Nicole Spencer and Mikey Spencer.
