This week we get a lot of new stuff from Belgian bands; Oscar and the Wolf (Nostalgic Bitch) and SONS (NOTHING)! AUTOMATIC (NEW BEGINNING) has a cool sound and needs to be namedropped here! My heart goes out to the pure and powerful song from Sons! It's also pretty happy song and os so catchy!
OSCAR AND THE WOLF - NOSTALGIC BITCH (ALT. VERSION)
Oscar and the Wolf released his latest single Nostalgic Bitch. A slimmer and faster edit that the version that appears on the album, Nostalgic Bitch is a classic Max Colombie gem. Melancholic and moody but also sparkling with glossy pop-hooks, nodding playfully to early single Princess (the one that started it all…) but packed with an extra dose of confidence. Colombie has this to say on the song, "Lives can go separate ways, but what once was love, can’t be erased. Now you’ve let me go, I am going to stay under your skin for the rest of your life.”
12/11 @ Sportpaleis, Antwerp (NEW DATE!)
SONS - NOTHING
Belgian garage punk ‘n’ roll crusaders are back with avengeance on seething new single Nothing! Amps up to 11, phasers set to stun and off they go! SONS are back with a furious and insanely catchy slab of rock & roll. A pulsating staccato guitarriff, drums getting a serious beating and singer Robin Borghgraef spitting his lyrics into the mic as if to get rid of a foul stench in his mouth. “Nothing ain’t wrong / Nothing ain’t real / Nothing inside me makes me feel now / I feel like going all blind / I feel like falling behind now”. It’s clear that the last couple of years left its mark on the gentlemen from Melsele (North of Flanders, near Antwerp). “'Nothing' deals with feeling numb and emotionless. Dealing with a lack of impulses by searching for a kick or a rush”, the singer/guitarist explains. SONS tackle this by fashionably trashing a house in the wonderful video for the single. It’s full throttle rock & roll fun and much needed after this 2-year standstill. Nothing offers a first taste of the brand-new album Sweet Boy, due for release on April 22nd on [PIAS] Recordings.
22/04 new album 'Sweet Boy' via [PIAS] Recordings
28/04 @ Trix, Antwerp
01/07 @ Rock Werchter, Werchter
LOVERMAN - INTO THE NIGHT
Brand new [PIAS] Recordings signing Loverman lures you deep into the night on stunning dark-folk debut single! Into the Night is the impressive first release from this low-voiced Cupid with an acoustic guitar for an arrow. A first taste of a body of work that pulls on the same heartstrings as the wonderful dark folk anthems of Timber Timbre, the late-night ballads of Tindersticks and the classic songs of Cave, Cohen and Drake (Nick that is). “’Into the Night’ was written a time when I was going through problems at once on a personal level, as well as in my relationship”, Loverman explains, “problems that, by now, are mostly, but will never be entirely, behind me. The song gives me mixed feelings because it takes me back to a time and place where I wasn’t doing well. At the same time, it reminds me of the love and friendship I feel for the person I wrote the song for. It allows me to look back at our shared history, which in turn gives me a sense of gratitude, of pride, of sadness, of happiness and most of all, a deep sense of love."
DE PORTABLES – COLLECTIVE DISGUISE (RADIO EDIT)
The lyrics of Collective Disguise, the brand new single by De Portables (and their first since the 16-minute long The Undercurrent from 2016) are clear: the song is a child of the lockdown. But certainly not a song about covid. Feel free to take “going outside with a facemask” figuratively. As a metaphor for situations where people come together and don't always pretend to be who they are. Those moments when we collectively play a role: on the train, the street, receptions, weddings… or simply online. Collective Disguise is the first single of the upcoming self titled 2XLP (out in April '22), which is mixed by the almighty “baron of techno” Dave Clarke.
22/04 new album 'De Portables' via Studio Muscle
BERTRAND BELIN - QUE DALLE TOUT
Bertrand Belin commes back with a new single called Que Dalle Tout. A hypnotic tempo, a mechanical danse: minimalistic and burlesque with lots of strange figures passing by. Que dalle tout means just nothing at all: it's a French wordplay, so impossible to translate!
06/05 nouvel album 'Tambour Vision' via Cinq7
URAL THOMAS & THE PAIN – DANCING DIMENSIONS
Soul legend Ural Thomas And The Pain announce their new album Dancing Dimensions released 3rd June via Bella Union. The title track is the first single and comes with an entertaining part-animated video. "'Dancing Dimensions' is about that perfect place in your mind you can transport to, a place where vintage grooves, soulful hooks, and modern sounds collide. The world we live in can be a tricky place to navigate & sometimes you need a spot you can escape to where the music sways, the crickets sing and the magic never ceases. That place can always be found in the Dancing Dimensions." - Ural Thomas.
CONFIDENCE MAN – WOMAN
Dropping on International Women’s Day, Confidence Man share new song, Woman, the opening track and third single from their forthcoming second album TILT, due for release on Friday, April 1st, 2022 on Heavenly Recordings. The smooth house jam is partnered by a one-shot party scene clip directed by Joe Agius (Hatchie, The Creases, Rinse). Setting the tone for the album, Janet opens Woman with a powerful spoken word manifesto: “I’m a woman of many words, but words do not define me. This is my house that I built with my own two hands and if I so desire, I will burn it down. So don’t call me the spark. I’m the fire and the flame. Ok?”
01/04 new album 'Tilt' via Heavenly Recordings
AUTOMATIC - NEW BEGINNING
Automatic – the LA trio of Izzy Glaudini (synths, lead vocals), Lola Dompé (drums, vocals) and Halle Saxon (bass, vocals) – is back with their second album, Excess, to be released on June 24 on Stones Throw. On 1st new single New Beginning – inspired by the Swedish sci-fi film Aniara – they reject the false hope of leaving behind a scorched planet and searching for “a better place”, at a moment when the ultra-rich are eyeing manned space travel.: “In the service of desire / We will travel far away”. The song and accompanying video imagine the “nihilism and loneliness” of attempting to escape the planet once unchecked consumerism has reached its logical outcome.
24/06 new album 'Excess' via Stones Throw
17/06 @ Fête de La Musique, Charleroi
