Today’s Track: Nas (feat. Hit-Boy) – “Ultra Black”

October 14, 2020 — 1 Comment

You better get Night Vision Goggles on – We’re going in Ultra-Black. It’s new post time!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “King’s Disease” (Released on August 21st, 2020) (via Mass Appeal Records)

Good Morning to you, my name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to deliver the daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every single day. I’ve got a slightly more mainstream name on the cards for you today, as we are taking a look at the most recent work from Brooklyn-based lyricist, rapper-songwriter and entrepreneur Nas, who was one of the biggest pioneers of hip-hop culture during the 1990’s, with his Street Poetry that emerged in the New York scene and made him an internationally known, household name. The son of Olu Dara, a Jazz musician, Nas has subsequently enjoyed success commercially, with seven of the twelve albums in his discography becoming certified Platinum and Multi-Platinum in the US, especially 1994’s “Illmatic”, his debut record, which is still considered to be one of the all-time best. His new album, “King’s Disease” really does not seem to have bucked the trends of his crossover success, according to chart data from Rap Current, as the new record reached first-week sales of 48K, with 19K of that amount arriving from the back of pure, physical sales, as opposed to streaming figures and digital downloads, giving him a debut at #5 on the US Billboard 200 Albums Chart. The album was released at the end of August through Mass Appeal Records, the label that Nas co-founded. Here, in the UK, it’s reached the spot of #24 on our Albums Chart, proving that Nas is still a relevant voice in Hip-Hop culture. The record features guest appearances from hip-hop super-group The Film, as well as Anderson Paak, Don Toliver, Charlie Wilson and several others. The lead single “Ultra-Black” features Hit-Boy on the decks. Let’s take a listen to it down below.

The “Ultra-Black” music video was directed by filmmaker Spike Jonze and it also features appearances from fashion designer Dapper Dan and Kerby Jean-Raymond. One of the most noticeable thoughts to stem from the sound of “Ultra-Black” is that it feels more driven by hooks and riffs than some of Nas’ other, more contemporary output, as he recites: “We goin’ ultra black, unapologetic-ally black, The opposite of Doja cat” to repeat the title line to a brisk, melodic pace. The line has also caused a bit of controversy for some press publications, as they’ve interpreted the line as a diss to Doja Cat, a pop rapper. For me, I feel it’s also a commentary on how modern hip-hop music is often meme-driven and targeted at a very wide male audience, whereas Nas favours his old-school production techniques and his Street Poetry flair. In the space of a fairly short duration, Nas lyrically manages to squeeze in a variety of different topics, be it reminding the world that he loves Hit-Boy beats, or reminding his own son to be a better him, riffing: “We going Ultra Black, I gotta toast to that” on the punchy chorus. He also namechecks Grace Jones, a revered dancehall singer and actress, the 70’s TV series Sanford and San, and even his American Express black credit card, to name just a few. It never feels like a ramble though, with a cohesive thread of vocals related to celebrating unity and his Black ethnicity to connect the dots together. It also never feels too much like a one-sided Preach or a “forced” diss track against white culture, it simply feels like a celebration of his culture and a knowing acceptance of his artistic status, which never came easy. “Rhythm and Blues/Pop/Rock/Soul to Jazz” is my favourite hook, and I really like how Nas keeps his themes very timely, even going so far as to rap “Talk with a mask on, the freshest breath”, while he backs up his poetic rhymes with an old-school production style, with a relaxed and upbeat backing track. I think he closes off the track very nicely, with a simple “Black Is Beautiful” refrain, which wraps a very neat little ribbon on everything as we cross the finish line. It’s a very good track, and it manages to feel perfectly suited for the times when also calling back to the past of hip-hop culture for it’s production and mid-tempo sound. The chorus isn’t really the catchiest thing that you’ll ever hear and the titular refrain may get tedious for some, mind you, but it’s moderately catchy and I think it’s quite easy for a more casual listener to consume. I think that it makes for a conscious, well-rounded track overall – The vet’s still got “it”!

Pictured: Nas in the studio recording “King’s Disease” (in 2020) (Photo Credit: Brooklyn Vegan.com)

Thank you very much for reading my new post! I’ll be back tomorrow, just like always, with an in-depth listen to another recent track – This time, from an indie rock band founded in North London, who were formerly known as Fish, who released their debut album in late-March this year, via Domino Records, after a handful of previously-released singles and mixtapes gained traction on the scene. They have supported Sunflower Bean and Fat White Family on tour. 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/

Today’s Track: Loraine James (feat. Jonnine) – “Don’t You See It?”

October 7, 2020 — 1 Comment

Is it a bird? Is It a plane?…. To be honest, I don’t see it yet. It’s time for your new post!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Nothing” (EP) (Released on October 2nd, 2020) (via Hyperdub Music)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, as with always, I’m here to write up your daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to get typing up about a different piece of music every day! “Don’t You See It?” is a track which pricked my ears a little from KEXP’s Song Of The Day podcast last week or so ago, and I heard it again a week or two ago on one of John Ravenscroft’s episodes of 6Music Recommends. It comes from Loraine James, an emerging artist who I was very unfamiliar with beforehand. James is an Experimental Electronic Ambient composer who was born, and is still currently based, in North London. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, James has been sharing demos and previously unreleased tracks which didn’t make the cut for the set-list of “For You and I”, an album that she released in 2019. She has previously released the EP, “Button Mashing”, for the New York Haunted indie label. However, she’s now signed up to Hyperdub. On her latest EP, “Nothing”, which was released over the last weekend, she has actively sought out collaborators who “emphatically extend the feeling” in her instrumental music with “their own unique energies”. “Don’t You See It Now?” features Jonnine Standish on vocals (from the Australian Rock group, HTRK). Let’s take a listen to “Don’t You See It Now?” below.

Speaking on her lyrics, Standish has commented that they’re a reflection on moving on from a destructive relationship, explaining that: “Just thinking about someone is a direct energy force that can hold the passion unconsciously and your energy can get messy, and tied up together like a knot”, and those press statements are pretty much on-the-money of what “Don’t You See It Now?” represents to me, as an avid listener. James uses her deep, skittering drum melodies, which lurch and stagger, to signal an emotionally damaging and mentally disorienting breakthrough of lust and consumption, as a hefty breakthrough of Neo-Soul and Acoustic-Folk shine through Standish’s lead vocals. She sounds desperate, crooning: “Don’t you see it, now?/Well, you’ve got this hold on me somehow” and “Do you see it now? The tighter you hold on, The more you’re losing out” as a hazy synth line glistens in the back-foot and James uses deeply layered, percussive bass steps to take proceedings off the steering wheel. There are lyrics slightly playing on Summer romance (“The ending of the summer, cause’ the summer’s fading out”) and a harsh self-reflection on the errors Standish made on her end romantically (“When we talk about love, you seem to get things wrong”) as James litters the sonic picture with off-kilter transitions and down-pitched samples. There’s a few metallic thumps of Neo-Electronica and stumbling piano sections here and there, but it never feels too abrasive or heavy. For my ears, there is some soft, hopeful ambience which hints at a peaceful future after moving on from the failing romance, created by the odd mellow keyboard sample or the Trip-Hop synth lines that James throws into the picture now and again. Overall, there really is a lot that you could uncover from this track, both from a musical and lyrical standpoint. It conclusively feels dense and bold, with an effortless blend of London Soul and glitched Neo-Electronica. I truly find the sum of it’s parts to be mesmerizing.

Pictured: Loraine James in an official publicity shoot for Pitchfork.com (2020) (Photo Credit: Ekua King)

Thank you very much for looking into my daily blog post! I’ve noticed that we’ve been spending a lot of time looking at the London music scene in the recent weeks, so tomorrow, we’ll be changing our gears up with an in-depth look at the new project from a native Californian producer who is currently situated “somewhere between the Balaerics and the Basque country”, and has previously released material under several aliases. He has released new music under the Snake Free Roofing label, but has previously released his work under WNCL Recordings, Phonica White and UNO! NYC between 2010 and 2016. 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/

Today’s Track: Nick Mulvey – “Begin Again”

September 30, 2020 — Leave a comment

With study in Ethnomusicology, you’d expect him to know all his stuff. New post time!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Begin Again” (EP) (Released on July 10th, 2020) (via Fiction Records)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, like typically, I’m writing up about your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to get typing up about a different piece of music every day! I’ve always seen Nick Mulvey, an indie folk singer-songwriter and producer born in Cambridge, as somewhat of a little anomaly for Britain’s alternative music scene. After re-locating to Havana in Cuba to study music and art, he first made his mark upon his return to England as a founding member of a London-based Instrumental Percussion band, Portico Quartet, of which he used to play the Hang, which for those who don’t know, is a Pendulum-like Metal Plate instrument which is often considered to be a Steel-Pan ‘Drum’ part. His debut studio album, “First Mind”, which was released in 2014, received a nomination for the Mecury Prize award of that same year. Mulvey also studied Ethnomusicology at the University Of London’s School Of Oriental and African Studies, and so it becomes very clear that he has a fascination with the psychological and philosophical effects of World-based music, which is a rare occasion for an artist of a British, Northern Soul-driven background. The “Begin Again” EP is his latest music release, and this new 4-track project was released on July 10th via Fiction Records. Although his solo output has taken him in more of a Folk-led direction, he’s stated: “I’m always drawn to the same principles in music. Beneath each genre, at a certain level, they hold the same principles”. Let’s have a listen to the titular single of the new EP, “Begin Again”, below.

“Begin Again” is his first new release since 2019’s “In The Anthropocene”, a record that made history as the first track to be pressed on vinyl made from entirely recycled Plastic materials that were washed up on the UK’s shores. Mulvey says of the tracks, via a press release, “I see chaos, but I also see the opportunity for a new world, and a more beautiful one. We are living through an incredible shift. The old ways are dying, right before our very eyes. In a way, my songs are songs of the new ways coming through”, and a theme of nature and Earth is rather evident on the simplicity of the acoustic instrumentation and the emphasis on vocals which he portrays in the title track of his new EP, “Begin Again”. In the world we’re living in, where such a large amount of the music that we access is produced electronically, it can make for an engaging deviation from the tried-and-true formula of the now. Mulvey starts off: “Mary was my mother’s mother and my sister too/There’s a rain in the river, there’s a river running through” as he begins the story of Mulvey wanting to learn about his grandmother, who sadly died before he was born. The instrumentation here has a light groove, with shaking guitar strums and simmering percussion beats, with a gentle Hang melody thrown in for good measure, and to call back to his past. The lyrics also play on the topics of acceptance: “Can we begin again? It’s me again, I know you are so different to me/But, I love you, just the same” over the top of a plucky guitar melody that feels upbeat and easy on the ear. The rest of the vocals play on the Coastal and Nature themes of Mulvey’s previous releases, as he recites: “Sister by the side of the sea/Take the War out of me”, with a poetic twang to it. The vocals skew towards a bit of a Spoken Word delivery at points, with a quality that sounds emotive and well-educated at certain points. This makes the track feel rather sweet and down-to-earth. It reminds me of Ed Sheeran, but without most of the over-commercialism that has really downplayed his newer releases. Personally, I can’t really hear the World elements of his past work too clearly, but there are some blueprints of that education here, with the rhythmic guitar patterns and the lyrical devices that play on nature and environment feeling subtle, but well-paced. I would quite like to hear Mulvey get that big ol’ Hang instrument for a few more experimental tinkerings in the future, but there’s strength in the acoustic instrumentation and the emotive, confident lyrics in the track. This is a good way to bring the month to a close.

Pictured: Nick Mulvey performing at The Shepherd’s Bush Empire (2017) (Photo Credit: George Brown)

Thank you very much for reading my new post! Duty shall call for me again tomorrow, and we’re going to hit our stride in the new month by kicking off with the excellent new single from a much more established act, who create a wide variety of Electronic Dance and Ambient Chill-Out music, producing “At The River” which appears on vol. 1 of The Classic Chillout Album series. The group have released eight full-length studio albums, four of which have charted within the Top 50 of the UK Albums Chart. The duo achieved chart success, mostly in the 90’s, for the tracks “I See You Baby” and “Superstylin”, which still receive a decent level of radio airplay today! 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/

Scuzz Sundays: 3 Colours Red – “Beautiful Day”

September 27, 2020 — Leave a comment

It may look Beautiful, but I think that it’s a pretty chilly day outside. It’s Scuzz Sunday!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Beautiful Day” (Single/EP) (Released in 1999) (via Creation Records)

Good Afternoon to you! I am Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing up about your daily track on the blog, just like usual, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! It’s now time for another Scuzz Sunday, where we remember an ancient relic from the Pop-Punk and Emo-Rock genres, with a single released between the decades of the late-1990’s and the mid-2000’s, to see if it can hold up to modern quality standards. 3 Colours Red were an English Pop-Punk 4-piece band who were formed in London in 1994. Often grouped together with the substantially similar pre-“Indie”-brand projects of the time, like Feeder and Ash, the band went on to release three studio albums between the years of 1997 and 1999, and received moderate commercial success by recording six UK Top 40 Chart singles, alongside two UK Top 20 albums. 3 Colours Red got their name from just sticking a sharp drawing pin in the middle of a copy of Time Out, a London-based listings magazine, and it randomly landed on an advertisement for the concluding part of the Three Colours trilogy of films, created by Polish film director Krzysztof Kieślowski. “Beautiful Day” was a single from “Revolt”, the band’s second album, which was released on Creation Records in 1999. The group recorded the album at Rockfield Studios with Dave Eringa (a producer for Manic Street Preachers), and it saw the 4-piece heading towards a far more commercially-oriented and radio-friendly sound to their prior work, which sadly caused a rift between the members of the band, who originally split up after the release of two singles from the album. “Beautiful Day” reached the #11 position on the UK Top 40 Chart. Let’s listen to “Beautiful Day” below.

In case I’ve left you feeling a bit confused, “Beautiful Day” has nothing to do with the more well-known track of the very exact same title recorded by U2. This iteration of “Beautiful Day” has a more laidback and slowed-down approach with it’s subtle Piano instrumentation and the symphonic guitar chord progression. I’m also getting a Summer sound from the melodically drifting string sections and the rather downtempo vocal range from vocalist/bassist Pete Vuckovic, who co-wrote and recorded the track at Westside Studios in London. I get a feeling that it might have been a little divisive for their fans, as the band previously used a heavier Pop-Grunge approach, and this has a more soft-centered and stripped-back feel to their earlier sound. The verses have a romantic texture which comes across as a bit cheesy, with Vuckovic singing: “The dream is fallacy come true/I Just wanna spend some time with you/On a beautiful day” over the top of an ascending string section and the minimalist production style to add an introspective feel to the lightly paced chorus. The brief interlude of “Nothing you can do, Will change me” adds a gentle breeze of Violin strings to the mostly acoustic strumming rhythms. It often feels rather tongue-in-cheek and a little bit too squarely in the “Lovey-Dovey” department to grasp my imagination, but I feel there’s a nice, warm poetic songwriting style that makes this ballad feel rather sweet and genuine. It’s not particularly Scuzz TV-like, but it would have been getting airplay on the channel due to it’s more commercial sound and the fact that there’s just about enough of a Pop-Punk element retained in here, to fit the brief. This is down to the harsh bass guitar riffs that creep in the bridge of the chorus. It’s bittersweet. It’s not the best Scuzz Sunday track ever, but it is not the worst either.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Revolt” (LP) (Released on February 8th, 2020) (via Creation Records)

Thank you very much for reading my post! As always, I’ll be back at it again tomorrow, as we kick off another week’s round of daily blog posts with an in-depth look at a recent single by one of the Secretly Canadian label’s most recent signings. It comes from a young, emerging artist who was born and raised in upstate New York, who later graduated from The University Of Southern California with a degree in Graphic Design in 2017. Her alias isn’t very alike to what you would expect her Dream-Folk music to sound like. 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/

Today’s Track: Sibille Attar – “Hurt Me”

September 22, 2020 — Leave a comment

The Swedish songstress who wants not to be immune to pain. It’s time for a new post!

Pictured: Sibille Attar in a press shoot to promote various singles (in 2019) (via PNKSLM Recordings)

Good Morning to you! I am Jacob Braybrooke and, as per usual, I’m typing up about your daily track on the blog, since it is still routinely my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A pretty intriguing violinist, Sibille Attar is a Swedish singer-songwriter and self-producer who burst onto the indie scene in 2012 with a Grammy Award nomination for “Best Newcomer” following the release of her critically-acclaimed debut EP, “The Flower’s Bed”, that same year. Since then, Attar has become a valuable collaborator for several other artists, including the likes of David Lindh and Jonathan Johansson, and Attar has also performed under the Prince-inspired alias of Little Red Corvette. This autumn, at a yet-to-be determined point, Attar is set to release her first full-length LP record effort since 2013’s “Sleepyhead”, although Attar’s 2018 EP release “Paloma’s Hand” sort-of bridged that seven-year gap. A former member of touring bands like The Tourettes and Speedmarket Avenue, she is one of the most anticipated recent signings for PNKSLM Recordings. She’s previewed her upcoming album with “Hurt Me”. Let’s hear it below!

“Sleepyhead”, released in 2013, was Attar’s major label debut, and she told BTR Today on the pressure she faced: “Being told what to do was not my favorite thing, which meant it was a lot of unnecessary struggles, and I realized I should be independent … So I had to recollect myself — I was questioning my entire motive of doing music at all because I thought the industry was so shitty. I kind of lost my confidence. When everyone starts having opinions on what you do… I started questioning myself.”, and she’s hoping to expand her sound with a new-found confidence. On “Hurt Me”, Attar matches a fragile bass guitar pattern with a rumbling synth sequence, before reciting: “Another week of silence, A childish act of violence”, before a swelling Cello section gets added to the mix. Attar puts her Violin to good use for the chorus, where she powerfully explodes: “It doesn’t hurt me, It doesn’t hurt me anymore” over the top of a crescendo of sweeping Violin strings and a vulnerable, two-step drum signature pattern. The production feels quite technical, and Attar subverts our expectations in the second half of the track, with a drastic key change that replaces the dramatic, up-tempo String instrumentation with a relaxed Synth interlude that incorporates a wider focus of Art-Pop into the Synth palette. Attar begins singing in French as the strings become more angelic and graceful. The tone flickers again at the end, where the intensity of the previous Violin melodies take hold again. Overall, I find this little track to be rather inventive and original. The mood is constantly changing with the dramatic effect of the chord layout, but the elements feel even enough for it to work, although this cohesion may feel a little risky in places, it manages to hold it’s weight due to the overlying Art-Pop elements. I feel it’s definitely an exciting effort from Attar and a good selection to show you on the blog, for it’s solid creativity and imagination.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Hurt Me” (Single) (Released on May 8th, 2020) (via PNKSLM Recordings)

Thank you very much for reading my daily blog post! As per usual, I’ll be back at it again tomorrow, where we’ll be taking an in-depth look at a recent single from a staple of the local music scene in Seattle, Washington. It comes from am Experimental Hip-Hop artist who has been credited to be a catalyst in the uprising of dynamic underground rap acts from the Pacific Northwest during the 2000’s as a member of the groups Abyssinian Creole and CopperWire. 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/

Today’s Track: Billy No Mates – “Hippy Elite”

September 8, 2020 — Leave a comment

A little birdy once told me she’s close friends with Larry Loner. It’s time for a new post!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Billy Nomates” (Self-Titled LP) (Released on August 7th, 2020)(via Invada Records UK)

Good Morning! I am Jacob Braybrooke and, like always, I’m typing up about your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my routinely day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! The amusingly named “Billy Nomates” is the alias of British singer-songwriter Tor Maries, who told The Guardian that she started playing in bands in her 20’s, which sadly never went anywhere, and it led to a period of depression. It was a live gig from Sleaford Mogs that rekindled her passion for writing music, and she set up shop with her laptop, and she began floating between Bristol and Bournemouth to write, produce and perform her own material again. She originally hails from the Melton Mowbray area of the rural North East county of Leicestershire. Her No Wave style straddles between the old-school punk of Nick Cave, the youthful energy of Sonic Youth, and the Jazz-fuelled Americana of Emmylou Harris. Maries’ debut album, a self-titled LP, was released on August 7th via Invada Records in the UK, and she mastered her new album with Portishead’s Geoff Barrow as her engineer. Describing her record, she told NME in a recent interview: “In a world of Yes Men, I’ll be a No Woman, thanks”. Let’s sign for the “Hippy Elite” below.

Giving her take on climate emergency and global environmental pollution, Maries’ instead subverts your pre-conceptions with “Well, I wanna save the Whales too, but it’s a f***ing Wednesday afternoon, so a Canvas Bag and a smile is the best I’ve got for you” with a razor-sharp sense of anecdotal wit, after declaring to herself as “It’s okay, I’m a terrible person” as a mid-tempo, gentle Drum Machine beat loops itself over the top of a bitter, repelling bass guitar riff. Some of these lyrics turn out to be the funniest I’ve heard during the year, with “Well, one time, I cycled all the way home/Because this planet is our only one/But nobody saw it, and I felt all the worse for it, and it wasn’t my bike” truly standing out as an honest highlight. Later on, “If I had all that money in my pocket, drank all that local beer and ride that ego rocket” pokes fun at the wealthy, higher conservative elitism. The chorus is an expansion of these ideas presented in the post-chorus bridge, as Maries’ spitefully recites: “All the things they do, I don’t disagree/Purgatory, for me” before she wonders: “If I could only quit my job, and join the Hippy Elite” as the electronic Synth beats start to take shape, and the electric guitar riffs continually keep up a mid-tempo pace and form a groove that sits along the consistent bass guitar melodies with relative ease. There isn’t really a whole lot going on here melodically, with the focus remaining mainly on Maries’ resentful vocals and the attitudinal, genuinely funny lyricism. However, she builds the track with solid use of electric lead guitar patterns and riff-driven bass chord production to carry her personality across, along with recurring, programmed Synth beats and subtle, yet polished, electronic Drum textures that keep the momentum from lowering too much, as if to keep meandering around, as the lyrics glide between one comical rhyme to another. It skews poetic, but there are also elements of Country and Desert-Rock creeping in. Overall, I find this to be thoroughly entertaining throughout and the humor successfully manages to keep itself afloat and never get uninteresting due to the 60’s and 70’s New-Wave Punk template of her musical formula. I think it takes a longer time to properly connect with than some of the other recent output that’s been featured on the blog as new releases lately, but it’s re-playable and mature, like a fine wine. The achievement is that it’s a real grower.

Pictured: Billy Nomates pictured in promo materials for the Farmfestival in Somerset (in 2020) (via PR/press shoot)

Thank you very much for reading my new post! As always, I’ll be back at it again tomorrow, with an in-depth look at the latest single from another new album that was, rather coincidentally, released on the exact same day as the debut Billy Nomates album. It marks the second joint-album collaboration between two incredibly talented, no-nonsense Black musicians, as producer L’Orange links up, again, with US rapper-lyricist Solemn Brigham, for a new sequel to their defining work for label Mello Music Group’s portfolio. 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/

Today’s Track: JW Francis – “New York”

September 4, 2020 — Leave a comment

Those New York city folk certainly love a steaming hot cup of Joe. It’s new post time…

Pictured: JW Francis in a promo shoot for “We Share A Similar Joy” (in 2020) (Photo via PR/Sunday Best Recordings)

Good Morning! I am Jacob Braybrooke and, as always, I’m writing up your daily post on the blog, because it is routinely my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! Suffice to say, I don’t think J.W. Francis, a NYC-based indie singer-songwriter signed to Sunday Best Recordings, is the kind of artist to really take himself dead seriously. Francis describes himself as “a bedroom recording artist who writes musical diaries about living with his best friend in New York City.” He has been ramping up some popularity in recent months with listeners of BBC Radio 6Music and Dudlab with “New York”, the lead single from his forthcoming debut album, “We Share A Similar Joy”, which is set for a release in a few months time, on November 6th via Sunday Best Recordings. After a recent string of consistently lo-fi, upbeat Indie Pop-Rock singles and EP’s, the debut record will arrive to be as highly awaited by the diverse Internet Music Community. Speaking on “New York”, Francis said via press release: “I’m a licensed tour guide of NYC. This place has taught me so much. I wanted to write an homage, but also express how I feel, which is mostly contained in the first line of the song ‘I’ll sleep when dead’. This song is an ode to the city I live in. It’s about feeling frustration but also inspiration.” Let’s take a tour of “New York” with JW below.

In what feels like the USA’s answer to UK christmas classic “The Snowman”, JW Francis delivers an amusingly appropriate music video to complement the hazy, psychedelic atmosphere created by the funky, glossy guitar grooves of the track, as a product of itself. Beginning with the opening hook of “I sleep, I’m dead” to mark the arrival of the wonky, push-and-pull production of the bass guitar-driven refrains, Francis lays out a core melody that consistently shifts the leading pace of the track, and reveals new influences to the sound. He rhythmically quotes “It’s easier, I was on the up, I was with ya'” and “In the fall, you should call, you wrote a story” over a stumbling line of acoustic guitar riffs and a stuttering signature of Drum beats that sound frantically paced, but they never seem heavy or chaotic due to the mellow template of the subtly comforting and light-hearted warmth of Francis’ vocals. “I feel it in myself” marks a drastic key change, with the same guitar riffs of before feeling more subdued and relaxed, and the distracting Drum fragmentation is replaced by a steady-strummed signature which complements these slowed guitar riffs, before it gradually enters the fray again and slowly reverts back to the kinetic pacing that was previously withheld. While this track is part of an over-crowded Indie Rock market that may render this as forgettable by it’s commercial value, there’s no denying that “New York” is a track very fit for wishing it was summer in the approaching, wet and rainy autumn. It reflects the frantically moving hustle-and-bustle of it’s city’s lifestyle, yet the whimsical, ballard-driven elements and stop-and-start melodicism of the overall sound is enough to provide a break from the mundanity of a “typical life in NYC”, for me. This is a vibe that I’ve caught onto and it’s what makes this work so well.

Pictured: Cover Art for “We Share A Similar Joy” (Available from November 6th, 2020) (via Sunday Best Recordings)

Thank you for reading this post! As per usual, I will be back tomorrow, with an in-depth look at another emerging artist. This time, we’re heading closer to my home in the UK, as we catch a glimpse of an emerging indie singer-songwriter from Leeds who performs under his own seperate moniker. His new track was recently featured on John Kennedy’s X-Posure show on Radio X, and he played a large hometown gig with a slot on the BBC Introducing Stage at the mainstream-friendly Reading and Leeds Festival in 2017. 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/

Today’s Track: The Magic Gang – “(The World) Outside My Door”

August 21, 2020 — Leave a comment

Alaka-Kazoo and Shaza-Khazam – it’s my favourite 7/10 band! It’s time for a new post!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Death Of The Party” (Available from August 28th, 2020) (via Warner Bros. Records)

Good Morning! I am Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog, as usual, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! Friday means it’s time for a couple of new album releases, if August is a little bit lacking on higher-profile selections. Next week, The Magic Gang are back with “Death Of The Party”, their second studio LP record release, which is the follow-up to their self-titled debut album which came out, many moons ago, in March 2018. It’s been a longer road than the fans were anticipating, as it was delayed due to COVID-19 from a May 15th spot. In case you’re not familiar, The Magic Gang are a 4-piece Pop group from Brighton and they are signed up to the major label, Warner Bros Records, meaning they’re part of my self-titled “Indie Bollocks” category that includes bands like The 1975 and Pale Waves, who are not really independent artists but they are called “Indie” in terms of their sound. Don’t get me wrong, I have a positive relationship with The Magic Gang as a listener, and I thought the first LP captured a strong sense of adolescence and nostalgia which made them stand out amongst the crowded market – if a little commercial and basic for my liking. They’re very likeable gents though, and they’re full of good personality on their social media accounts, which is one of the reasons why I think they’re a top-notch 7/10 band, as it’s also very easy to listen to them if you can’t think what really tickles your fancy. Their latest single, “(The World) Outside My Door” takes on a more Acoustic approach, with Jack Kaye taking the reigns on the lead vocals from Kristian Smith, who performed lead vocals for “Think” and “Take Back The Track”. Let’s stream their new track below.

“(The World) Outside My Door” sees the Brighton-based Pop Quartet moving towards a more mature direction, with the inspiration behind the new track coming from a personal experience where Jack Kaye was writing music in his bedroom at the time where the Extinction Rebellion protests raided the streets outside. The lyrics are obviously very self-reflective, as the lyricism explores Kaye’s guilt at the time as he sat idly while “everybody else around me was taking part in history”, as he explained to NME in his own words. It gets padded out, as a concept, by light instrumentation and very minimalist production which makes these lyrics feel actually quite personal and rewarding. Kaye recites: “First thing in the morning/I’m gonna make a change”, over a very slight auto-tune effect and a set of softly rumbling bass guitar riffs that add a slight tinge of aggression. He puts it bluntly: “The world is gathered outside of my door/And they’re telling me I oughta do more”, while the rest of the band back him up with slightly distorting guitar riffs and a fluttering Piano part. We build to a more dramatic conclusion, where a female choir backs Kaye’s vocals up, and Paeris Giles smashes the drums to a razor-sharp signature. I bet it’s the closing track of the album, as it gives you a reflective thought to hold on to. It does sound a little bit like the kind of music that a 12 year old would listen to, and they seem to be catering nicely towards a 14-aged Teen market who would share his similar beliefs, and are still developing their ear for great music. As always, you can do a lot worse than The Magic Gang, and I think this is the strongest single from their new LP so far. The guitar hooks may be a little twee and the lyrics themselves a touch shallow, but the minimalist production style and the acoustic instrumentation works very nicely. Above all, the songwriting is genuinely quite affecting, it has a simplistic nature that manages to hit me where it wants to. To conclude, I don’t love it, but I like it. It has an honesty and an expression that hints of better material to come from the group as they continue to hone their sound as a new, emerging talent. I would like to hear a bit more of an experimental sound in the future, and I may even suggest cutting ties with the label to achieve this, which is risky, but I truly feel the major label’s executives are holding them back from true greatness. They’re one of, if not, the UK’s best 7/10 band though.

Pictured: Jack Kaye (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Kristian Smith (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Angus Taylor (Bass Guitar/Percussion) and Paeris Giles (Drums) in a Surf’s Up! Photoshoot for DIYMag.com (2018) (Photo Credit: Jenn Five)

I’ve actually been tracking some of The Magic Gang’s other singles during the build to their sophomore LP effort. You can check out “Think”, although this has now grown on me a bit, here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/03/04/todays-track-the-magic-gang-think/, and their decent second single, “Take Back The Track”, here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/06/20/todays-track-the-magic-gang-take-back-the-track/

Pictured: The Magic Gang in their self-titled debut LP era in official shoot (2018) (via WB Records)

Thank you very much for reading my new post! I will be back tomorrow, as always, with an in-depth look at the new track from a Dublin-based Alt-Rock band who have been making waves internationally. However, don’t forget to check out the blog in two days time, where it will be time for your weekly edition of Scuzz Sundays, where we revisit an Emo-Rock or Pop-Punk relic from the past. We’re celebrating the 1-year anniversary of the feature with a silly little track that was absolutely predominant on the Scuzz TV channel. 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/

Today’s Track: Drab City – “Troubled Girl”

August 20, 2020 — Leave a comment

Will this Problem Child find itself in a serious bit of Jeopardy? It’s time for a new post!

Pictured: Islamiq Grrls (Vocals/Producer) and Chris Dexter-Greenspan (Guitar/Percussion) (2020) (via Bella Union)

Good Morning! I am Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog, just like always, since it is my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! “Troubled Girl” is a recent-ish track that I sadly didn’t quite get the time to spotlight nearer to it’s release, back in April. Drab City is made up of US Witch-House producer Chris Dexter-Greenspan and Berlin-based producer Asia, who perform under the guises of Islamiq Grrls and oOoOO, respectively, for their Drab City project. The two started working together from a joint-album, “Faminine Mystique”, which was released in 2018. Their debut album under the Drab City name is “Good Songs For Bad People”, which they released on 12th June via the Bella Union label. Their sound has been likened to Portishead and Broadcast by Jude Rogers of The Guardian, as their dark palette incorporates elements of Dub, Alternative Hip-Hop, Dream-Pop, Pop-Punk, Art-Pop, Progressive Folk and Experimental Jazz into their lyrical themes of social alienation, violent revenge and spiritual salvation. Not much is known – as this is a very secretive project. Let’s stream “Troubled Girl” below.

“Troubled Girl” is a narrative-driven story piece about a misunderstood and belittled teenage girl’s dreams of her escape from a neglectful home life and her emotional dealing with her angst through a runaway trip. This is a classic pop trope, but it gets reconfigured with a ghostly sentimentality and the enigmatic presence of Greenspan and Asia as left-field producers. The track begins with a whispered vocal delivery, as Asia sings: “There was a troubled little girl/From a small troubled town/With nowhere to go” during a Spoken Word intro that builds to a mid-tempo drum groove that plods along to an airy vocal section, feeling laidback and mean-spirited in both measures. The slow Drum backing develops in interesting ways, with a doo-wop Trumpet melody and a Spanish guitar-laced chord riff that throws in a 1960’s Art-Pop aesthetic. The lyrics progress to a calmed stage, as Asia recites sections like: “Some day, no, I won’t come back/Some day, mother knows what others say” and “You don’t know your own/Whatever they will have” over the top of a muted production flair and some prickly, vintage Jazz qualities that balance the tone out. The mood is downbeat and hopeless, but there are glimmers of peace and hints of a content emotion buried within, especially towards the closing stages of the track. It sounds a little bit like a Shoegaze track, with a semblance of My Bloody Valentine and Pale Saints in the painted, cerebral instrumental qualities, yet it feels melodic enough to latch on contemporary Emo-Pop sounds closer to Billie Eilish or Dashboard Confessional. This will take longer for some listeners to connect with and it falls into a “niche” box, but I really like what I am hearing. There is a woozy Alt-Jazz sensibility which is curiously appealing, and the eclectic drum centric layout develops in subtle, but tasteful, ways.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Good Songs For Bad People” (Released on June 12th, 2020) (via Bella Union)

Thank you very much for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as always promised, with an in-depth listen to “(The World) Outside My Door”, the new single by Brighton-based 4-piece Pop band The Magic Gang, taken from their second studio album, “Death Of The Party” which releases tomorrow, via Warner Bros Records. 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/

Today’s Track: Beckie Margaret – “God”

August 19, 2020 — Leave a comment

Potential deity of Avant-Pop, or apprentice to the Cool Thing Guys? It’s new post time!

Pictured: Beckie Margaret being interviewed backstage at Village Green Festival (in 2019) (via Gateway978.com)

Good Morning! I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog, as per usual, because it is my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! Beckie Margaret is a singer-songwriter and producer based in Southend-On-Sea who began writing music at the age of 5, and then 7. She is an emerging artist who is signed up to Cool Thing Records, the indie label set up by Luke Branch and Jazz Miel of UK indie puck group, Asylums. “God” is a bit of a deep dive, and I sadly could not find much information about Margaret around on the internet. However, she originally found inspiration to write her own music through Poetry and Classic Literature. She also cites Jeff Buckley, Bon Iver and James Blake as her main influences. She is currently working on a new EP and her debut full-length album release with Rees Bromfield of Youth Club as her producer. Explaining the lyrics behind “God”, she wrote on social media: “God”s lyrics are laced with the obsessive thoughts that come with the slow, painful realisation that someone you loved, only saw you as “a bit on the side”. She also wanted to capture the standstill feel of our current COVID-19 situation, writing: “I wanted to release something during this uncertain time that outlined the foundations of a dysfunctional love, one that lingers in the deprivation of what could’ve been,” she shared, “Complete and utter inner chaos whilst realizing your own reality.” – Let’s have a listen to her track,”God”, below!

Beckie Margaret displays a resolute confidence and a strong vulnerability on “God”, using cerebral Dark-Wave Synth melodies and Alt-Pop production to pave the way for her future development as an independent artist. She is authoritative and brooding, using a Gothic-Pop inversion, while opening: “I like the Roses on your body, you never bought me flowers” as she plays with irony and regret. The contextual themes of obsessively romantic behavior feel intimate and suggestive, as she croons: “Boy, it was fun loving you when you were God”, to play on how lust can often consume people, and it becomes an obsession that takes hold of your faith and sexuality. She offers a glimmer of hope and a notion of moving-on later in the chorus, crooning: “You make me want to believe in God”, before holding a long note to air the chorus out with a radiant breeze. The instrumentation throughout is rooted in Americana and Desert-Rock, with plucking bass guitar riffs and ambient washings of Synth tones which create a very honest and downbeat tone, if a little painful and sarcastic in emphasis. This forms an emotive and angered soundscape that reminds me a little bit of Alexandra Savior’s “The Archer”, a record which was released earlier this year and is one of the year’s best to me personally, with a shattered influence of Lana Del Rey and Florence & The Machine, but with a more Blues-driven sound and a cooler aesthetic. “God” feels a touch more influenced by Post-Grunge and Art-Pop than Savior’s record, but it also goes for a volatile emotion and a similarly deep, plodding melodicism. Overall, I think that she has a beautiful voice and I feel the melodic components are as cold as ice, but in a good way as it rains down on it’s intended effect, given by the theatrical style. It, maybe, doesn’t stand Margaret out among her contemporary peers that much, but it does stand out a little, and her brooding instrumentation nails her objective of capturing the fine difference between strength and vulnerability. This is an artist who I am surely looking forward to keeping tabs on.

Pictured: Beckie Margaret pictured before recording a live episode of “Get In Her Ears” (2018) (via Hoxton Radio)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as always promised, with an in-depth look at a recent, but slightly old, track from another artist of an emerging status. This time, it’s coming from an Alternative Punk duo, originally based in Los Angeles, who has just released their debut album on the Bella Union label, with a sound that calls back to 90’s Trip-Hop and 60’s Punk, with the likes of Portishead and Broadcast as their inspirations. 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/

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