Today’s Track: Homeshake – “I Know I Know I Know”

September 13, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Vinyl Copy of ‘Under The Weather’ (Released on September 10, 2021) (via Dine Alone Records)

Good Morning to you! You are reading the text of Jacob Braybrooke and, as per usual, the time has come for me to get typing up for another daily track on the blog, because its always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Homeshake (Or HOMESHAKE, as he stylizes it) is the solo Alternative R&B project of the Canadian electronic music singer-songwriter and producer Peter Sagar, who was born and is still currently based in Montreal. He initially got one foot in the door of the music industry as a member of Mac DeMarco’s touring band, and, in 2013, he released his debut solo record as a cassette – ‘The Homeshake Tape’ – through the Fixture Records label. He has quietly amassed five solo studio albums since that time, each of which have been released over the years to a generally favourable reception from the critics. His latest, ‘Under The Weather’, is the follow-up to 2019’s ‘Helium’, and it was released over the past weekend on Dine Alone Records. Mostly written in 2019, the album chronicles the periods of isolation that Sagar has felt before, and during, the Covid-19 pandemic, using the process of equating making music with writing a personal journal. Check out the new single – ‘I Know I Know I Know’ – below.

‘I Know I Know I Know’ comes to us accompanied by the sparkling animated video directed by Keith Rankin, of Giant Claw and Orange Milk Records fame. The director states, “I had been wanting to work with the dancer Azuki Umeda for a while”, saying of the exciting collaboration, “She had made a few pieces of choreography for me, and I put one against the Homeshake song thinking it might be too frantic, but it actually matched perfectly”, adding, “Me and my partner Ellen Thomas came up with an abstracted figure look and did rotoscope animation over the dance sequence, I hope it looks like a dream landscape” in Sagar’s press release. Thriving on a low-lit feel and a smooth low tempo, Sagar creates a slow and sultry love song that feels sentimental and warm for ‘I Know I Know I Know’ as he builds layers with a diversity of minimalist elements. The open guitar chords, the lightly pulsating drum machine riffs, and the percussive bassline work to explore an intimate personal depth, and they are matched with some scintillating keyboard melodies that glisten along to the underlying sweetness of the subtle fluctuations in pacing. Sagar’s lyrics feel sensual and cut to the chase, with lines like “It’s no use/That I’ll never stop loving you” and “It’s crushing me longer than it’s supposed to, Holding me closer than you ought to” that feel a little flirtatious, but Sagar uses a crooner falsetto in his delivery that gets a more shy and fearful emotion across to me, as a listener, with a concise chorus that echoes from its rather subtle increase of tempo. Although a little bit dreary, Sagar does a good job of making his vocals sound quite intriguing and using heartfelt instrumentation to really set up a scene, as he matches the sense of euphoria with solidarity through the hazy sounds of his laidback instrumentals and the differing textures that he creates. The musical equivalent of whisking you into your bed covers.

Pictured: Peter Sagar wrapping up ‘Helium’ in his recording studio (2019) (Photo by RedBullMusic.com)

That leaves us with the end of the page, and all I really have left to say is thank you for the support. The fun doesn’t stop there, however, because I’ll be back tomorrow with an in-depth look at some more aggressive music from a new album that quickly became one of the most highly anticipated releases of the summer, having been released in the same month that it had been officially announced. It comes from an electronic music producer and journalist who has been releasing music under several guises since the 90’s. His projects include ICE and Techno Animal, and the project of King Midas Sound (with the poet Roger Robinson and the visual designer Kiki Hitomi).

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Today’s Track: Nas – “Moments”

September 11, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Track Listing for ‘King’s Disease II’ (Released on August 6th, 2021) (via Mass Appeal Records)

Good Morning to you! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and I’m going to be putting the ‘Hip’ into the ‘Hop’ on this rather cloudy Saturday morning to up its ante with another daily track on the blog, because it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! It’s only been under a year since legendary 90’s rapper Nas won the Grammy Award for ‘Best Rap Album’ with 2020’s ‘King’s Disease’. However, that was more of a ‘legacy Grammy’ if you ask me, and I feel that his new direct continuation of that record – ‘King’s Disease II’ – released a handful of short weeks ago, is a bit better and more representative of such an award. Another victory lap for the famous associate publisher of Mass Appeal magazine, and a New York-based musician whose debut album – 1994’s ‘Illmatic’ – has been inducted into the Library Of Congresss National Recording Registry, ‘King’s Disease II’ once again finds the multi platinum-selling entrepreneur bringing the Fontana-born producer Hit Boy on-board with him, and the frequent pair have seemed to become something of a collaboration cheat code in recent years. The new album also features fruitful guest appearances from the likes of Eminem, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Charlie Wilson, EPMD and more. The new record also comes highly recommended from the critics, scoring an excellent 88/100 on review aggregate site Metacritic to indicate “Universal Acclaim” from lots of music publications. Check out the mid-album highlight ‘Moments’ below.

‘King’s Disease II’ was released in early August through Nas’ own label, Mass Appeal Records (of course) and, as well as performing strongly in review sections, this new release marked another commercial milestone for the famous rival of Jay Z, as it went straight to #3 in the US Billboard 200, becoming Nas’ highest charting album in nine years, and its first week sales of 56,000 units outmatched those of its predecessor in his ‘King’s Disease’ string of recent releases last year. An introspective anthem that matches chopped old time Soul samples with a clear, witty backdrop of nostalgic realizations, ‘Moments’ reminds me, in terms of its narrative thread, to recent movies like Disney Pixar’s ‘Soul’ and Amazon Prime’s ‘The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things’, where it feels like a grounded celebration of the little beauties in life, and this really connects with me on a decent personal note because I recently had my sister’s wedding, and that was a ‘Once In A Lifetime’ deal of enjoyment. Lyrics like “We used to all put in and go half on bail money/F**k making it rain now, we makin’ it hail money” harken back to the youthful days and the emerging stages of his career, and reflective sequences like “My whole career I stayed away from features/But I figured its perfect timing to embrace the leaders” are calling cards for the album as Nas speedruns through his personal growth through the decades. The catchy chorus, with quick hooks like “Movin’ in ya first crib or having your first kid/Moments you can’t relive” really hammers the point home with a near equal mixture of accessibility and relatability. I love how these rhymes feel a little clumsy at points, as the straightforward meaning of the track really helps to give them a freestyle flair that charms. Plenty of credit goes to Hit Boy too, who works very hard behind the DJ decks to make everything flow together elegantly. The whimsical mix of laidback Horn sections, the strutting muted drums, the fluttering Glockenspiel melodies and self-satisfied Bass beats feels nicely endearing and complements Nas’ relatively unpolished vocals well to tell the story, and it gives the brief lyrics that may otherwise come across as a bit too slap-dash a well-contained, apt Jazz influence for the backdrop to flourish. He’s perhaps not a brilliant producer on his own, but when he works with Nas, there’s a really coherent chemistry that feels very engaging. It is a bold statement – but this is one of Nas’ best.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Illmatic’ (LP) (Released on April 19th, 1994) (via Columbia Records)

As Nas’ quietly declares in the track that we just heard, he is now considered a legacy artist and so he’s no stranger to making appearances on my blog already. Last year, we took a listen to the lead single ‘Ultra Black’ from the first ‘King’s Disease’ record, which you can still read here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/10/14/todays-track-nas-feat-hit-boy-ultra-black/. Meanwhile, earlier in the year, we looked back at his culturally significant debut album ‘Illmatic’ with the single ‘It Ain’t Hard To Tell’ for ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ – a moment that you can relive from my site here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/04/21/way-back-wednesdays-nas-it-aint-hard-to-tell/

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘King’s Disease’ (LP) (Released on August 21st, 2020) (via Mass Appeal Records)

That brings us to the end of the page for today, and thank you very much for being a part of this particular moment with me! It’s ‘Scuzz Sundays’ tomorrow, and so we’ve nearly reached the part of the week where we take things a little less seriously and either head-bang or cringe to some of the Pop-Punk anthems from the teenage time of our lives. My pick for this week comes from a rather successful Kanas City-bred Post-Grunge band who have sold over seven million albums worldwide. Since 2012, the band’s leading man has been hit with accusations of lip syncing during live shows.

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Today’s Track: Meadow Meadow – “Silhouettes”

September 6, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Silhouettes’ (EP) (Available from September 17th, 2021) (via Practice Music)

Good Morning to you! You are reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke and, as per usual, the time has finally come for me to get the new week off to a flying start with another daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Meadow Meadow previously made an appearance on the blog in January with ‘Fireworks’ when I was writing about some of my holdovers from the year before, and I’ve been keeping a close eye on their work since then. This Manchester-based Avant-Garde duo is comprised of James Green and Peter Darlington, who were previously two members of Spring King, a Garage Rock quartet from Macclesfield who were once the cover stars of Dork Magazine. Since the breakup of Spring King, Green and Darlington have both enjoyed continuing to write new material together as Meadow Meadow, a process of creativity they find to be as “a constant source of peace and catharsis”. Green and Darlington cite the likes of Beck, 808 State and Neil Young as their influences behind Meadow Meadow, and the pair of producers also share a love for The Microphones and Animal Collective. The work they create now is self-described as “Music for walking, cycling and camping” because the two musicians have bonded together over their shared experience in growing up near reservoirs, forests and canals. The follow-up to their self-titled debut EP released last year, ‘Silhouettes’ is their new EP, which arrives on September 17th via Practice Music. Check out the Phone-optimized video for the EP’s title track below.

Their new EP also includes the previously released single ‘DNO’, which was mixed by Mike Lindasy of Lump and Tunng. Green explained about the new EP release, “We wrote ‘Silhouettes’ just after completing our first EP, and we both felt it set the tone of what we wanted to do for our next collection of songs. It was inspired by a drawing that was uncovered behind the wallpaper in my childhood bedroom” via his press release. Set to the fan footage visuals of fan footage from different nature spots, ‘Silhouettes’ feels like home for fans of Darkside, where Folk-oriented nylon guitar chords and playfully synthetic sounds mix with a more organic theme to create a strangely endearing equation. The vocals feel much less polished than some of the duo’s previous tunes, and this feels more akin to their roots in DIY Post-Punk as a part of Spring King. Lyrics like “I’m hoping to find peace in sorrow/A black sparrow sitting on the wall” and “I jump into bliss/I fell through the wall/Thick paint on my hands” create a visual picture of the lyrical themes of painting a picture of yourself to reflect quietly upon. We’re led to a more hushed finale, where the refrain of “Truth is beauty/And I see that now/At 3am, I’m always spinning out” is squeakily crooned to the tune of a slower musical palette. Some elements of field recordings and psychedelic textures give the experimental sounds a strange mix of a cosy campfire feeling and a more disturbing undertone where the loose Piano keys and the rolling Drums create a more percussive style. There’s a warmth to these sounds, but the more meditative anchoring process also reminds me of the more collage-based style of Art-Rock bands like Django Django, while the life-affirming brightness of the more sonic sounds harkens back to Moon Duo for me. Overall, this is a weighted mixture of Avant-Rock and Dream-Folk that feels like a well developed mish-mash of other alternative groups, and so it feels original enough by weaving these wide influences together with a warm personality that suits the visual feel of the psychedelic themes.

Pictured: Meadow Meadow (Peter Darlington & James Green) (2020) (Photo via Facebook.com)

As I mentioned, I also checked out a greener Meadow Meadow (See what I did there?) for the blog early in the year, and so if you liked the sound of ‘Silhouettes’, why not check out ‘Fireworks’ here?: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/01/26/todays-track-meadow-meadow-fireworks/

Pictured: James Green performing a synth part for “Bonzo” last year (2019) (Photo via Facebook.com)

Thank you for reaching the end of the page with me today, and I can’t wait to add another entry to the blog tomorrow as we take an in-depth look at another emerging British independent music act that comes from Wrexham, North Wales this time and she will be releasing her debut album on Fiction Records later in the week. Having drawn comparisons to Ex:Re and The XX, she is now based in Margate and previously led the Transgressive-signed Shoegaze band Deaf Club before starting her solo career.

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Scuzz Sundays: The All American Rejects – “Dirty Little Secret”

September 5, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Move Along’ (LP) (Released on July 12th, 2005) (via Interscope Records)

Good Morning to you! This is, of course, Jacob Braybrooke, and this is the time of the week where we revisit some of the Pop-Punk anthems of the past – typically released between the late-90’s and the mid-00’s – to see whether any of the most popular music from THAT phase of our lives can still hold a candle to quality in the modern times, and that fits in with my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! It’s been a hot minute since we wrote about The All American Rejects other major hit, ‘Gives You Hell’, for the feature, and so it naturally feels like a decent time to unveil their other big ‘Dirty Little Secret’. This was a commercially successful rock band from Stillwater, a city in the state of Oklahoma, who were one of the Dreamworks Records pack of the Scuzz TV Pop-Punk 00’s that had also included bands like Smash Mouth and Papa Roach among their line-up. Led by Tyson Ritter, the 4-piece group have shifted units to the heights of Platinum success when they hit the peak of their popularity, and ‘Dirty Little Secret’ was certified Gold in the UK in 2019, almost ten years after the original release of the single. These days, the band do not seem to be working on albums anymore, but they have continued to tour and in 2019, they released a new single on their new label Epitath. They were ranked at #183 on Billboard’s ‘200 Artists Of The Decade’ list in 2010. Spin ‘Dirty Little Secret’ below.

‘Dirty Little Secret’ was not actually about an angsty end to a youthful relationship, as commonly assumed, but the memorable hit track was actually written about a light case of tax fraud experienced by frontman Tyson Ritter and the follow-up of a hasty cover up that cleared up the boys time for finishing off their second studio album, ‘Move Along’, a well-enough reviewed sophomore release that spawned three top 15 singles in the US, and therefore bolstered the LP’s appeal to solid sales to the tune of a Double Platinum certification by the RIAA after the milestone of two million copies was met. ‘Dirty Little Secret’ led the band to become a fair household name, and so it’s definitely the type of music that you would have expected to hear from them, and the genre, at the time. The driving bass melodies power it to the Power-Pop side that bands like Relient K or Wheatus aimed for, and this formula of mostly pure Pop meets a light slab of Punk worked out well for the fame-seeking dreams of these artists at the time. Lyrics like “You are the only one that needs to know” and “These sleeping thoughts won’t lie” largely fit the themes of secrets and, ironically, don’t reveal too much, and that works out in favour of the songwriting here because it gives things a little bit of fun, rather than simply blurting out the obvious meaning, if you will. The furnishings of Acoustic Guitar in the beginning soon become more distorted and dirty guitar riffs, and we’re led into a vastly more Grunge-influenced second half that gives proceedings more of an edge, albeit very briefly. The chorus has a catchy hook of “I’ll keep you my dirty little secret” that scream for a festival crowd to sing along to, and the straightforward Drums give the production a tighter feel. The vocals feel a bit generic for the time, and the lyrics aren’t really that interesting, and it’s a catchy Pop-Rock tune from the 00’s that plays out predictably. However, I place an emphasis on the word of ‘Catchy’ there, because it is a pleasant tune to listen to as it simply feels punchy and engaging. On the whole, this is not necessarily great, but when I was younger I found that All-American Rejects were one of the better ‘Trashy’ bands of the era, and this is nowhere near the absurd levels of Crazy Town or The Bloodhound Gang. It perhaps borrows from too many typical ideas from its time, but the self-indulgence of Ritter’s vocal delivery and the snappy guitar melodies were enough to keep me entertained. Inoffensive and rather anthemic, ‘Dirty Little Secret’ didn’t ever quite match the feel-good fun of ‘Gives You Hell’ for me, but it’s a fair effort to do so. Harmless and reasonably nice, its success was understandably no secret for the band.

Pictured: Tyson Ritter (Lead Vocals/Keyboard/Piano/Acoustic Guitar), Nick Wheeler (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals/Synths), Mike Kennerty (Rhythm Guitar) and Chris Gaylor (Drums/Percussion) (2018) (Photo by Jeff Neumann/AlternativeMusicPress.com)

Right – that leaves us at the end of the line for another week. Thank you for joining me, and I’ll be back to kick off the next week of daily uploads from the morning onwards. Tomorrow’s track gives us a closer look at one of the upcoming weekend’s new EP releases, and it comes from a project who previously made an appearance on the blog in January, and have been supported by Lauren Laverne on a recent episode of ‘The New Music Fix’ on BBC Radio 6 Music. This Avant-Garde Duo is formed up of two previous members of Spring King, who have been on the cover of Dork Magazine.

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Scuzz Sundays: Evanescence – “Call Me When You’re Sober”

August 29, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘The Open Door’ (LP) (Released on September 25, 2006) (via Wind Up Records)

Good Morning to you! You’re reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, I have returned from my short break away from the blog, and so it’s time for me to add another entry to our ‘Scuzz Sundays’ library, because it is – once again – my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! It has been a little while since we had a female-led band featured on a ‘Scuzz Sunday’ on the site and I like to be inclusive for all on the site, so I’ve decided to whip up a quick one from Amy Lee’s Evanescence today since, all things considered, they are a good quality group. The lead single from their second album – ‘The Open Door’ – released in 2006, ‘Call Me When You’re Sober’ reached the top five of the UK singles chart that year. For their second album, the Arkansas 5-piece group decided to head towards a Symphonic Metal direction and they used backing vocals from choirs when the album was written over an 18 month period. Evanescence have always sold well in European markets, and this album was no different because ‘The Open Door’ topped the album charts in Greece, Switzerland, Germany and Australia too. The record also won ‘Album Of The Year’ at the MTV Australia Video Music Awards in 2007, and the record has also been certified as Double Platinum according to the RIAA. Let’s revisit the lead single below.

The pressure was certainly mounting up for Amy Lee’s quintet to deliver the goods for the follow-up LP to their widely successful ‘Fallen’ debut in 2003, and they made small steps to repeating their huge success with ‘Call Me When You’re Sober’, a single that reached ten of the different component Billboard charts in the US. Lee wrote the anthemic single about her dwindled relationship with Seether’s lead vocalist, Shaun Morgan, and she recorded the soon-to-be hit of the time with co-producer Dave Fortman (Slipknot, Simple Plan) as she penned the lyrics about how addiction issues had terminated the ties with her former love interest. To change things up, Lee’s band transformed the Grunge sounds of ‘Bring Me To Life’ and such earlier hits for a more sultry mix of strings and delayed pedal effects for ‘Call Me When You’re Sober’, while the rest of ‘The Open Door’ included a few classical Piano ballads. This single would have played out as more familiar for their fans though, with hard-hitting lyrics like “Don’t cry to me/If you loved me/You would be here with me” and “Sick with shame, Must be exhausting to lose your own game” being recited above a fairly radio friendly style of melodramatic guitar riffs and mascara-wearing aggression. Lee still seems very confident in what she’s going after here, however, and she delivers these lines with a cool confidence that suggests a little bit more than simply selling units. While the instrumentation is admittedly a little on the forgettable or even predictable side of her usual angle, the whimsical Piano breaks and the sweeping bass melodies are packaged together neatly. There’s some nice personality to the slightly evil sort-of chuckle towards the end, and the assortment of Strings towards the melodic chorus decorates the proceedings with a solid coat of polish. Overall, this is a haunting monologue that may come off as a bit bland or a bit too pop-oriented at times, but it certainly does more good than it does any real harm. Amy Lee’s vocals are lovely, as always, and the swooping mixture of different instruments feels very neat overall. It definitely has a lot of polish to it, but it has enough substance to stand out nicely enough by the time it stops spinning. A solid, if not quite up to personal best, offering.

Pictured: Amy Lee (Lead Vocals/Keyboard), Troy McLawhorn (Lead Guitar), Jen Majura (Rhythm Guitar/Backing Vocals), Tim McCord (Bass Guitar) & Will Hunt (Drums) (2020) (Photo via Concord.com)

If you want to revisit another taste of Evanescence’s 00’s days, then make sure that you are ‘Going Under’ with me for an in-depth dig through their prior discography here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/10/11/scuzz-sundays-evanescence-going-under/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Fallen” (Released on 3rd March, 2003) (via Wind-Up/Epic Records)

That’s all for now! Thank you for your patience in allowing me to deliver some new content to your eats when the time suited me, and I’ll be kicking off a brand new week of daily music recommendations tomorrow with a sleeper hit from a British female indie rock singer-songwriter from Ripon, North Yorkshire. She started to gain attention by attracting new viewers to her acoustic YouTube performances in their hundreds when she was only twelve years old, and, in 2015, she was nominated for the BBC’s ‘Sound Of 2016’ Award.

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New Album Release Fridays: Villagers – “So Simpatico”

August 20, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Art for “Fever Dreams” (LP) (Released on August 20th, 2021) (via Domino Recordings)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke and, as per usual, it’s time for me to get typing up on the blog for yet another daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! This is, of course, Friday – so that means a new crop of LP’s are available today via physical and streaming. New offerings from the likes of Lorde, Orla Gartland, Holy Holy, Jake Bugg, Angel Olsen and Deafheaven are making up a reasonably busy week for fresh music. The record that I’m looking forward to hearing, however, is ‘Fever Dreams’, the 5th studio album from Dublin’s indie folk favourites Villagers. I’m not very familiar with this quintet, at all, but I’m rather optimistic for it because of possibly the most old-fashioned reason of all – I really liked the singles, including the 7-minute epic ‘So Simpatico’, which BBC Radio 6 Music seems to have been hammering the life out of during the daytimes. The group will be playing in my nearest city, at The Junction in Cambridge, in October – and they have been known for winning the Choice Music prize in 2010, and scoring a pair of Mercury Prize nominations. ‘Fever Dreams’ was written and recorded over the space of two years, and it was mixed in the studio by David Wrench (The XX, FKA Twigs). The band’s leader, Conor O’Brien, says “I had an urge to write something that was as generous to the listener as it was to myself. Sometimes, the most delirious states can produce the most ecstatic, euphoric and escapist dreams” about the new record, which is performing well with critics. There’s currently an 84/100 score on Metacritic for this release. Check out the sampler below.

‘So Simpatico’ is “a song of devotion, whether to a person, the self, or the art of being” with a “struggle for authenticity is at its core”, according to O’Brien in his newest press release, and the sprawling Folk ballad comes accompanied by a visual narrative video which was directed by Rosie Barrett, which is matches the lush lyrics with a tale about a sad clown that learns to love himself again. A slow-burner with a story about rekindling a zest for life that has become mundane, ‘So Simpatico’ is a sumptuous combination of a Pop song about the essence of love, and a more cinematic affair which takes some Jazz-oriented cues from Kamasi Washington and Curtis Harding. The lyrics start softly, with a romantic set of sequences like “In the garden you’d lie/In the depths of my mind” that repeat throughout the tune with a dream-like nature. There’s some light percussion and organic strings added to the mix when the beat takes flight, with the use of a Glockenspiel and some floating Piano melodies giving the rich textures a deeper intimacy. The second half of the track uses an extended Saxophone solo and a more subdued mood to swell into an honest refrain from O’Brien, who sings, “The more I know” and “The more I care” as the airy sounds and the emotive instrumentation slows the pace down to a relaxing grind. The majority of the lyrics feel very blissful and light-hearted, designed to uplift the audience, but, to me, a few of the lyrical sequences feel a touch more sinister. There’s an eerie sense of discontent to O’Brien’s voice in the slower sections, but it helps to take his little character on more of a journey by the time that his track’s duration is up. A lovely track that never feels like it has dragged on, despite a long running time, ‘So Simpatico’ has some catchy lyrics and a fantastically emotive core that gives its, at times, “mushy”, songwriting some deeper substance. A blissful listen.

Pictured: Conor O’Brien (Lead Vocals), Tommy McLaughlin (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Danny Snow (Bass Guitar), Cormac Curran (Keyboard) and James Byrne (Drums) (2013) (Photo by Mark Nixon)

If you enjoyed the calm style of ‘So Simpatico’, there’s a good chance that you might like the other lead single from the band’s new album, which you can revisit on the blog here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/06/03/todays-track-villagers-the-first-day/

Pictured: Villagers in promotional artwork for ‘Becoming A Jackal’ (2010) (Photo by Rich Gilligan)

That brings us to the very end of the page for another 24 hour period! Thank you for getting this far with me, and I’ll be back tomorrow to add a little bit of spice to your Saturday with an in-depth review of some sparkling new music from a rather high-profile name and a critically-acclaimed one at that. This Sydney-born female indie rock singer-songwriter burst onto the scene in 2015, earned a nomination for ‘Best International Female Artist’ at the BRIT Awards in 2016 and released a collaborative album with Kurt Vile in 2017. A new solo album follows this November via Mom + Pop.

Today’s Track: Curtis Harding – “Hopeful”

July 26, 2021 — Leave a comment

“Hope is seeing light, in spite of being surrounded by darkness”. Time for a new post!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Hopeful’ (Single) (Released on May 18th, 2021) (via Anti- Records)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, and it’s time for another optimistic daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! ‘Hopeful’ is the latest single from the Atlanta-based Soul singer-songwriter Curtis Harding, who records his own music with his self-described ‘Slop ‘n’ Soul’ style where he carries across the influences of R&B, Blues, Gospel, Psychedelic Rock and Country into his process of songwriting and musicality. In the past, Harding has been known for backing mainstream star CeeLo Green. Also, he is a founding member of Night Sun, an R&B-infused Garage-Rock band with former members from Black Lips, which has been active in Atlanta since 1999. Harding has now inked a solo record contract with Anti- Records, the same label which is also home to the likes of Booker T. Jones, Deafheaven, Mavis Staples and The Black Keys. There’s no news on a new album release associated with ‘Hopeful’ yet, but it has been four years since his last album material. ‘Hopeful’ arrives with a music video directed by Lynsey Weatherspoon, which directly references the events of 2020, like the Black Lives Matter protests, of which the lyrics were influenced by. Let’s give it a spin below.

A peaceful protest for the current racial affairs of the present times, Harding reflects on ‘Hopeful’ as, “I wrote ‘Hopeful’ some time ago, but in theory it goes far beyond a time and place”, Harding explained in a press release, noting, “I’ve always tried to carry it {Hope} wherever I am. Darkness finds us all, hope allows us the fortitude to seek out the light” in his self-assessment. For us, it’s the unmatched energy that his vocals bring to the track that brings home what we were all feeling in the millions last year, and how we can progress our mindset as a society to craft a brighter future for all. A radiant Gospel backing vocal of ‘Hopeful’ spreads across the canvas, while a melodic Hip-Hop delivery and tight Drums piece the decisive emotions together. Harding’s voice conveys qualities of vulnerability, longing, tenderness and peace as the stabbing Percussion and the funky Guitars provide an upbeat, yet golden era of Jazz-leaning, backbeat. Lyrics like “Now in this present darkness/All ears listen just a mass has formed to cure the common condition” and “A catalog of parables that’s broke down in a tongue/That’s been corrupted no substance to be hidden from” are delivered with a rhythmic flow. It feels like an effort split into two acts, with a long Wah-Wah guitar solo signaling the transition into a more melodramatic vibe. Horns, Strings, Brass stabs, cinematic female backing vocals and soulful Psychedelia carry the angrier, bluesier direction through to the perceptible climax, while the first half of the instrumental arrangements are a notch more Pop-driven, aside from a few quiet Organ chords that whistle briskly in the soundscape, marking a shift in the times. On the whole, this is a solid single that tells us that Harding is back, but, it also tells us that attitudes change for the better, and, as a society, we are fundamentally good and typically have our combined hearts in the right place, although a straight road to such positive unity can have it’s fair share of twists. Although it may feel a tad too 2020 for the next year at the first glance, the instrumentation definitely has a timeless feeling, and so do the key messages and personal values that Harding is raising awareness of.

Pictured: Curtis Harding in a PR shoot for ‘The 405 Exchange Podcast’ (2017) (via Ken Grand-Pierre)

That leaves us on a very Hopeful note to end the day with, but please feel free to join me again tomorrow for some more intriguing new music. The pick in question comes from a Los Angeles native who proclaims herself as the “Wal-Mart Marilyn Monroe” because she has been associated with the entertainment industry since a very young age. She was a child star on screen and is professionally trained in tap dancing. She has just released her debut solo album on Johnny Jewel’s label – Italians Do It Better.

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Today’s Track: Eliza Shaddad – “Now You’re Alone”

July 10, 2021 — Leave a comment

I think we’re alone now. There doesn’t seem to be anyone around. It’s new post time!

Pictured: Cover for ‘The Woman You Want’ (LP) (Available from July 16, 2021) (via Rosemundy Records)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here – and it’s time for me to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, just like usual, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! New music comes from Eliza Shaddad today, a Scottish-Sudanese film composer who says that she grew up in seven different countries, and she is currently based in the UK. She moved to London, where she studied Jazz at Guildhall School Of Music and Drama. For a number of years, Shaddad has been rubbing shoulders with the industry’s more widely known figures, including support slots on tour with the likes of Keane, Kae Tempest and Lucy Rose, and she even recorded her first EP, 2014’s ‘Waters’, with Jack Patterson from Clean Bandit, and she has also appeared on Sky News and BBC News to speak about the music industry in 2020. Her follow-up to 2018’s debut album, ‘Future’, Shaddad is set for exciting times ahead with the release of her sophomore LP, ‘The Woman You Want’, next week via her own indie label, Rosemundy Records. If you live near me in Cambridgeshire, it’s worth noting that she is scheduled to be playing a gig at The Portland Arms in November. Grab a sampler with ‘Now You’re Alone’ below.

‘Now You’re Alone’ was mixed by Grammy Award winning producer Sam Okell (PJ Harvey, Celeste) and later mastered by Tim Rowkins (Rina Sawayama), both helping Shaddad to show her vulnerable and vitriolic sides with the guitar-driven track. She says, “I was feeling apart from the world and raging against that, watching the news every day and feeling like I wanted to scream, so I wrote a song you can scream-sing to”, about the single in her own amusing words in her press notes. Backed by a Country influence and a slowly swelling orchestral section, Shaddad goes for powerful vocals and a soaring presence on a track which was clearly born from her thoughts during the Covid-19 pandemic. The instrumentation is relatively simple, but her background in cinematic soundtracks clearly shows in the ways in which the sweltering dynamics unfold. The bridge section towards the end, after all, bears no resemblance to minimalism. Lyrically, Shaddad is constantly questioning the motives of a love that has run it’s course, and continues to damage her mind-set as she navigates new dangers in life. She sings the likes of “I tried to warn you, I swear I tried/But if I don’t matter, babe I don’t believe we could have survived” and “Now you’re alone/And the world has turned it’s back on you” with enthusiasm and angst, while the verses deal with her feelings of loss and neglect. There’s a lot of emphasis placed on the emotionally-driven vocals, and the instrumentation reaches it’s boiling point when we emerge into the heightened intensity of the finale. I enjoy how the acoustic melodies and the String-enhanced beats softly build into the more aggressive, personal moods as the lyrics continue to gradually develop, and it’s easy to tell that Shaddad worked very hard to achieve these effects with her producers. There’s a little bit of Pop here, but there’s also some Folk influences and a Steel-like Country sound which gives this a decent amount of heft. This is not entirely of my usual taste for music, but I felt it was pretty good. A crowd-pleasing Power-Pop ballad.

Pictured: Eliza Shaddad in an Artist Profile shoot for F-Word Magazine (2021) (Photo by Kim Jobson)

That’s all for now! Don’t miss out on my interview with Drug Store Romeos, which you can see on the homepage of the site right now! If you’re begging for new content, however, come back tomorrow for a new entry in our ‘Scuzz Sundays’ series. We’re skewing more towards Post-Punk this week, which makes for a refreshing change, for a track coming from one of the most notable names from the genre’s revival time in the 2000’s. Often compared to Joy Division and Editors, the band’s debut album took the #1 spot on Pitchfork’s list of the Top 50 Albums of 2002.

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Today’s Track: Yves Tumor – “Jackie”

July 6, 2021 — Leave a comment

Not much of an ‘Old Flame’. More of a check-in with a frequent friend. New post time!

Pictured: Yves Tumor in an official photoshoot to promote “Heaven To A Tortured Mind” (2020) (via PR)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, and it’s finally time again for me to get typing up for today’s track on the blog, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! If 2018’s ‘Safe In The Hands Of Love’ and 2020’s ‘Heaven To A Tortured Mind’ were any indication for the future, I’d comfortably write at any point that Yves Tumor – the Florida-born and Italy-based pop experimentalist Sean Bowie – is one of the very most exciting music artists out there in the world, with Tumor’s vast attention to detail in the sound and visuals of their work never going unnoticed. It’s unclear if we’re getting a full-blown album or a new EP from Tumor off the back of this, but I was still thrilled to bits when I saw that ‘Jackie’ had been released as a new single, alongside a psychedelic new video which sees them traversing a dark science fiction forest to chase an old flame. Tumor is also coming off the back of fruitful collaborations with the likes of Kelsey Lu, Moses Boyd and Kelly Moran in recent times, and so they have been keeping really active since landing the No. 2 spot on my ‘Top 25 Best Albums Of 2020’ list that you may recall seeing on the blog last December. Along with releasing ‘Jackie’, Tumor has also announced a 28-date US, UK and European tour for next year, with ‘Jackie’ merch becoming available to buy on their Bandcamp page as well. Pay ‘Jackie’ a visit below.

The enigmatic glam-rock manipulator conjured up the ‘Jackie’ music video with the LA-based creative studio Actual Objects, who have collaborated with the likes of Kanye West, Travis Scott and Musuem Of Modern Art NYC on projects before. They commented, “Their work is always so forward looking, and has always been a major inspiration for us. ‘Jackie’ was a chance for us to dig deep into our tookit and work with some of our most experimental techniques”, on working with Tumor, as the artist themselves keeps characteristically hush-hush about things. Reminiscing and mulling over an obsessive love that has run it’s course, and singing about the upshot from the relationship in purgatory, Tumor works his magic over the top of a punctual filtered kick drum beat. Lines like “When you wake up/Do you think of me?” and “Old flame/We were torn apart right by the sleeve” make his consumption clear, and lines like “These days have been tragic/I ain’t sleeping/I refuse to eat a thing” briefly dip their toes into mental health issues. Despite the overall Glam-Pop influence that gives the off-kilter melodies an upbeat punch, we are left with dark lyrics and a gloomy scene. The beats are fast-paced and melodic, with the push-and-pulling of the overall song structure and the loss of bearings for the heavy basslines giving way to a characteristically precise welding of love-sick Psych Rock. As always for Tumor, it meshes together a lot of different influences in a way which, on paper, shouldn’t work so well. However, there’s huge attention to detail that gives the pacing a certain flow, and there’s an emotive core deep down in the songwriting and the delivery that binds these explorations of Glam-Rock, Avant-Rock and Brit-Pop together. Prince would certainly be a fan, with the damaged ballad featuring well-crafted guitar solos and an electrifying, near-fantastical aesthetic that gives the costumes and the music video some depth. It’s certainly rewarding of repeated listens too, as there’s a lot going on here, and so you can slowly start to decipher each section of the track pretty easily, although the generally catchy song structure should allow more casual listeners to grasp the gist of it too, because it’s also just a solid Glam-Pop revivalist anthem. All in all, there is no way of predicting where Tumor is heading next. That’s the beauty of it.

Pictured: Yves Tumor in a PR shoot to promote “Serpent Music” (2016) (Photo Credit: Daniel Sannwald)

My first introduction to Yves Tumor was the cool single ‘Gospel For A New Century’ from last year, and so, if you’re new to Yves Tumor, it may also be a good place for you to start. You can find out what I originally had to say about the 2020 single here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/03/28/todays-track-yves-tumor-gospel-for-a-new-century/

Pictured: Vinyl Copy of ‘Heaven To A Tortured Mind’ (Released on April 3rd, 2020) (via Warp Records)

Thank you for reaching the end of the page today, and please feel free to check back in with me again tomorrow for a new entry in our ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ library as we delve back into a well-known tune from a legendary late 1980’s and early 1990’s Baggy/Madchester Movement indie rock group who were famously signed to Mute Records, and were known for using Organs and distorted guitars to take influence from 70’s Psych-Rock.

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Today’s Track: José González – “Visions”

June 26, 2021 — Leave a comment

Let’s hope his vision turns into a dream and not just like a night terror. New post time!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Local Valley” (LP) (Available from September 17, 2021) (via Mute Records)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, as per usual, typing up with your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Lifting up our spirits this Saturday is the first brand new material in six years from the Swedish indie folk singer-songwriter José González, who was previously known as one half of the Tunip duo, along with Tobias Winterkorn. If you are more of the casual type of listener, you’d perhaps best know González for 2006’s ‘Heartbeats’, a huge hit that reached #9 on the UK Singles Chart, and so it’s an impressive feat for González to still feel superbly relevant in the years since then. The follow-up to 2015’s ‘Vestiges & Claws’, 2021’s ‘Every Valley’ is shaping up to be one of the year’s most highly anticipated album releases when it launches on September 11th via Mute Records. For him, ‘Every Valley’ is a reflection on the role that nature has played to humanity in the years since we last heard from him. One track is also sung in Spanish, and the new record is a depiction of his thoughts and beliefs. Fitting with his love for the natural world, González performed ‘Visions’ for National Geographic’s ‘Earth Day Eve’ live music event on April 21st. Let’s check it out.

“I set out to write songs in the same vein as my old ones: short, melodic, and rhythmical, a mixture of classic Folk singer-songwriting and songs with influences from Latin America and Africa”, says José González in a press statement when writing about how ‘Local Valley’ builds upon his previous solo work, adding, “Many of these songs have a crystal-clear, secular humanist agenda: anti-dogma, pro-reason”, to his notes. ‘Visions’, influenced by the Effective Altruism and The Long Now community movements, is directed by the warmth of the guitar tones and the comforting qualities of the acoustic instrumentation, reminding me of the seasonal feel that Fleet Foxes nailed on ‘Shore’, their latest album, last year. He sings lyrics like “Imagining the worlds that could be/Shaping a mosaic of fates/For all sentient beings” and “Cycles of growth and decay/Cascading chains of events/With no one to praise and blame” with a soft and chilled tone, gliding his voice above an earthly acoustic guitar strum and natural String sections. Lyrically, he muses on society and making sense of the past and the future. He touches on unity, ignorance, contentment and more, in a multi-track voice setting, all of which are given little electronic effect. Aided by long vocal harmonies and the use of Birdsong samples in the background, we hurtle towards a relaxed finish where he poetically implies that human relationships are the focal point of his light philosophies as a personal artist, without revealing too much, as this could take away the effect of the vague references to his opinions behind the lines. “No, we can’t know for sure what’s next/But that we’re in this together” leads to this ending. The structure sounds typical of a vintage Folk hymn, and he emphasizes on strengthening his sonic identity with his underlying ideas of togetherness. On the whole, it’s a big comeback tune that lacks bombast, but that makes it no less urgent. Instead of striving for a punchy hook, we’re given a much more relaxed mood. It feels very blissful, and the general emotions are kept quite positive, as to keep the listener feeling hopeful, and the natural sounds are, should I say, the clean leaves on the tree.

Pictured: José González performing live in The Current’s studio (2015) (Photo by Leah Garaas/MPR)

That’s all for now – I’ll leave you to enjoy the rest of your serene morning. Please come back to me tomorrow, though, for something completely different. It’s ‘Scuzz Sundays’ and we’ll be revisiting a surprisingly memorable hit from a US Rap-Rock 4-piece from Florida who scored an unusual UK #1 hit with the track. It’s great timing, too, since the band have just announced a UK tour for next year. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/