If you mix a happy tune with sad lyrics you got me hooked! I adored the vocals too. So single of the past week (sorry we missed the mail) is Terrified by Penelope Isles! Enjoy!
NEWMOON - HI (MOGWAI REMIX)
To celebrate the 5 year anniversary of their debut album Space, Newmoon had several songs remixed.
To kick things off, none other than the undisputed kings of mammoth quite/loud guitars Mogwai had a go with the song Hi, turning it into a gorgeous piece of noisy ambient.
29.10 new ep 'Sapce Remixed' via [PIAS]
MIDLAKE – MEANWHILE
Meanwhile’ is the first track to be released from Midlake’s new album For the Sake of Bethel Woods to be released on 18th March 2022 via Bella Union. Loss and hope, isolation and communion, the cessation and renewal of purpose. Timeless and salient, these themes echo throughout the fifth album from Midlake, their first since Antiphon in 2013. “Meanwhile…” is a song referencing the time in between what transpired leading up to our hiatus in ‘14, and what inspired us to reconvene in ‘20. The former being an unhealthy and unsustainable place that called for pause and the latter a serendipitous visit from Jesse’s late father (Dave Chandler, depicted on album cover) in a dream encouraging him to reunite with the band. Everyone had their respective experience during the uncertain time apart culminating in a confident and celebratory return to form.”
18.03.22 new album 'For The Sake of Bethel Woods' via Bella Union
EMELI SANDÉ - LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE FEAT. JAYKAE
British singer-songwriter Emeli Sandé has sold 6 million records, 19 million singles and streamed 1.4 billion. In her words, Look What You’ve Done “marks a big milestone, it’s my 1st release that I’ve produced & feels so good to have my full creative fingerprint on it. It’s been a pleasure working with Jaykae! His flow, word play & delivery are phenomenal.” It follows single ‘Family’ and widespread acclaim for her appearance on Later with Jools Holland.
NATION OF LANGUAGE - THE GREY COMMUTE
Brooklyn’s Nation of Language consider the absurdity of unfettered capitalism and the self-interests of giant corporations as well as the mega-rich in their new single and video, The Grey Commute. The trio also announces a worldwide deal with [PIAS], to release their highly anticipated second album A Way Forward on 5th November via Play It Again Sam. Discussing The Grey Commute songwriter/vocalist Ian Devaney said, "In some ways ‘The Grey Commute’ is one of the more upbeat songs of the record, but in truth it’s one that was born out of much more depressing stuff. As I was working on the lyrics I had a kind of fixation on terrible tax policies, our cultural addiction to meaningless consumption, and it all got swept together into this punchy, kind of fun track.”
“The synth-pop group offers a remarkably assured debut, with 10 pristine pieces that eschew dramatics for concision.” – Pitchfork
“Shades of OMD and Depeche Mode in the Brooklynites’ wonderfully solemn piece of retro electro-pop.” - The Times
05.11 new album 'The Grey Commute' out via Play It Again Sam
11.01 @ Trix Bar, Antwerpen
GEESE - EXPLODING HOUSE
Geese are a band that begins and ends in Brooklyn. Curiously alien, yet strangely familiar, the band’s debut album, Projector, is a product of five teenagers whose love of music touches every part of their lives: their restless anxiety about their futures, and their pent-up frustration with their present - a perspective all too familiar in today’s uncertain world. Exploding House is the focus track and comes with premium full video!
29.10 debut album 'Projector' via [PIAS] / Partisan Records
04.02.2022 [PIAS] Nites @ [CHEZ PIAS], Brussel
05.02.2022 @ De Kreun, Kortrijk
BEVERLY GLENN-COPELAND – EVER NEW (REWORKED BY BON IVER & FLOCK OF DIMES)
Earlier this year, Transgressive reissued American-Canadian composer and activist Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s 1986 masterpiece, Keyboard Fantasies, marking the 35th anniversary of its original release. On December 17th, Keyboard Fantasies Reimagined will be released, a collection of songs from the now legendary album, re-worked and re-imagined by a collection of creative kindred spirits. The album features works by Bon Iver, Flock Of Dimes, Julia Holter, Arca, Kelsey Lu, Blood Orange, Joseph Shabason and Thom Gill, Jeremy Dutcher and Ana Roxanne. This piece features Jen Wasner and Justin Vernon’s gorgeous vocals endlessly layered over rich instrumentation.
STEVAN – MR PANTS
Mr Pants is a joyous bop, with a groove as infectious and playful as the name suggests. The track came together with the help of producers Cosmo’s Midnight, who inject a signature dancefloor-worthy bassline, and Ontogeny collaborator Lucianblomkamp, who shared the initial sketches of what was to become Mr Pants after wrapping up sessions on Stevan’s brooding R&B mixtape, released in 2020. Stevan says, “’Mr Pants’ came about randomly, as did the name. Lucianblomkamp sent me this beat named "Mr Pants" (not sure why he named it that!) and it sounded quite different to what we had done before. We had just wrapped the Ontogeny mixtape together so I wanted to try something more upbeat, and this track was perfect. I constructed a little narrative about meeting someone special and feeling awesome about it. Then Cos and Pat (Cosmo’s Midnight) heard it and wanted to add some more sunshine and bright elements, which turned out amazing all in all. This is one of my favourites!"
PENELOPE ISLES – TERRIFIED
Terrified is the new single from Penelope Isles highly anticipated album Which Way To Happy, out on November 5th via Bella Union. The album is produced by Jack Wolter (from the band), and mixed by US alt-rock legend Dave Fridmann and resulted in an intoxicating leap forward for the Brighton-based band. “It’s a song that has a happy-fun-summery exterior but lyrically is totally the opposite. It’s one of self-doubt, displacement and finding something really terrifying to handle. Sometimes we hide a lot behind ourselves.The samples are a recording of a taxi driver we had in Baltimore. He was frantically talking the whole journey, nervous and furious at the state of the city and how the youth were so easily led into dangerous lives. He talked about how frightened he was to bring his kids up in a place like it. It seemed fitting to put him in the song.”
05.11 new album 'Which Way To Be Happy' out via Bella Union
AYO - I'LL BE RIGHT HERE FEAT. KEZIAH JONES
Royal, released in January 2020, marked Ayo's big comeback. An album between pure folk, soul and jazz, melodies and lyrics that go straight to the heart: a true declaration of love to music. Stopped in her tracks by the global pandemic, Ayo has now (finally!) been able to reconnect with her public and even make a return visit to the studio. I'll Be Right Here, a duet with Keziah Jones, is the first single from the reissue of Royal, due on 12 November.
12.11 album reissue 'Royal' via Wagram Music / Chapter Two
