Folk

Today’s Track: Maia Friedman – ‘First To Love’

March 21, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Under The New Light’ (LP) (Released on 11th March 2022) (via Last Gang Records)

Good Morning to you! This is hard-working writer and aspiring radio producer Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has finally come for me to keep your ears entertained by 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! Maia Friedman was already a skilled vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter before she even embarked on a solo career, as you may already know Friedman from her roles in the Brooklyn-based indie rock bands Dirty Projectors and Coco. Growing up in the Sierra national forest region of the Central California area with her father (a film editor) and her mother (a Jungian Psychoanalyst), Friedman began learning how to play instruments at a very young age and she has since become a big part of her local music scenes for her various roles in musical projects including Toebow, Bobby and Uki Ika Ai – as she joked to Melody Maker in an interview, “Collaborating gives me the juice”, a few weeks ago. Her latest full-length album – ‘Under The New Light’ – finds Friedman undertaking the role of a spiritual comforter and a serene healer for the listener, where she tackles the deep contrast between topics such as intimacy and growth, and light and darkness, throughout the duration of the long-awaited solo record. She began working on the material four years ago as she balanced putting the track listing together with her duties of being a music teacher in New York. Dan Molad, her fellow band-mate from Coco, helped her to produce the album. Additional work also came by way of her collaborators Tom Deis and Peter Lalish. Check out the single – ‘First To Love’ – below.

‘First To Love’ is given even deeper meanings by the aid of the Joshua Kilcoyne-directed music video, and Maia Friedman says of the new cut, “It is a humbling privilege to love someone in all their humanness and imperfection, to not only support but celebrate them through their journey of growth and exploration, to be by their side as they evolve into new versions of themselves”, adding that her lyrics roughly translate to, “I will love even the deepest layers of who and what you are. A question I pose to myself is, what if this person were me?”, in her press statement. Her ethereal track starts off with glitched Synths that replicate the sound of a heart monitor of a hospital to my mind, a polished sequence which runs throughout the track, and they are softly set against the backdrop of a warmly acoustic guitar melody and a soft bassline. Lyrics like “Look as the clouds pass overhead/I will count them until the daylight ends” and “Wait as the roots find their way/They’ll grow deeper with each passing day” are softly spoken and they carry the verses with a low-lit and wide-eyed tone. The chorus features more swooping and direct refrains like “Peel away/Keeping me up through the night” and “Escape/Be whatever you like” that position Friedman in a unique sense of directly addressing you as her audience, with the details of her personal situations feeling a little enigmatic in favour of giving you a space of reflection and free-wheeling tranquility as a listener. I feel like these more Folk-inspired sections recalls the cinematic soundtrack style of her work in Coco, but it goes quite far beyond an ‘Expansion Pack’ mentality of that sound as the intriguing electronic textures and the whimsical Classical influences of the serene vocals feel different enough to her material with those other projects. Overall, ‘First To Love’ is a bit of a slow burn, but it builds up to a nice sense of energy and it has a strong emotive core that is filled with wistfully produced Strings and warm Dream-Pop instrumentation that placed an emphasis on the most smallest and profound aspects of what it means to be a human and the details of subjects like sensuality and touch with an in-depth contrast that finds her striking out sturdily, as a relatable songwriter.

Pictured: Maia Friedman in Coco (along with Dan Molad & Oliver Hill) (2021) (Photo Credit: Stella Hartmann)

If you’d like to hear some of the magic that Maia has created in Coco – look no further.

‘Last Of The Loving’ (2020) – https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/10/22/todays-track-coco-last-of-the-loving/

‘Come Along’ (2021) – https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/12/06/todays-track-coco-come-along/

Pictured: Cover Art for Coco’s ‘Last of The Loving” (Single) (Released on 4th August, 2020) (via FCA Records)

That brings me to the end of the page for another day! I have little else to say, other than to thank you for checking out what I had to share with you for today, as your support is always highly appreciated by me. I’ll be back tomorrow to review one of the promotional singles from an imminent album being put out by a TrumsØ-formed Progressive House and Dark Ambient duo whose achievements include two Grammy Awards nominations, some worldwide tour performances, and a Robyn collaboration.

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Today’s Track: Rodrigo Amarante – “Tango”

September 21, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Rodrigo Amarante performing ‘Raul Campos’ for LAMC (2016) (Photo by Jack Vartoogian)

Good Afternoon to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has come for me to get typing up on the blog for 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! Today’s track comes from the Brazillian indie Folk multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and lyricist Rodrigo Amarante, who has just released his first solo album in seven years – since 2013’s ‘Cavolo’ – on the Polyvinyl Records label. Amarante has worked as a composer and arranger for a selection of Brazillian alternative soul groups like Los Hermanos, Orquestra Imperial and Little Joy, and enthusiastic Netflix fans may know that he wrote and performed ‘Tuyo’, the theme track for the streaming site’s original TV series ‘Narcos’ and ‘Narcos: Mexico’ that aired in 2015 and 2018, respectively. During his career, Rodrigo has rubbed shoulders with Brazillian Tropicalia movement icons Gilberto Gil and Gal Costa, and he performed at the Latin American Music Conference in 2017. He also appeared as a guest on the ‘World Cafe’ podcast for NPR Music back in August. His latest album, ‘Drama’, was released to positive reviews at the end of July, and it thematically explores the topic of masculinity in the modern world. ‘Tango’ is one of the few tracks on the new LP’s listing to be sung entirely in English, and so it serves as a great introduction to his work for Western audiences. As we already know, it takes two to Tango (That was bad…) and so he’s brought on his frequent collaborator – the Los Angeles-based and London-born musician Cornelia Murr – on board for some airy backing vocals on the soulful track. Check it out below.

“When I wrote this song I was projecting the idea of a love that lasts, one that is mutually supportive and reliable, safe in that sense, and I can’t imagine that being possible without a good dose of sense of humour”, Rodrigo Amarante told Northern Transmissions about ‘Tango’ in a press release, elaborating, “That seems to be the only way to get through it, the hard times. The song describes this love through what appears as dance instructions, pleads, the co-ordination of movements.” in his notes. ‘Tango’ certainly feels like a natural product of this hint of realization told by the two dancers in the music video, with the choreography adding a sense of constancy that the dream-like guitar melodies can only hint at. Fragility shines through Amarante’s voice, as he recites romantic lyrics like “Catch me if you can again/Hold me if I fall, You’ll know when” atop the steady percussive backdrop and the twangy acoustic guitar riffs that feel influenced by Reggae as the sound also makes for a nicely chilled out beach listen. The first-person perspective switches to more of a duet vocal format towards the end of the track, with Amarante and backing vocalist Murr telling the story of lovers meeting on the dancefloor, while the beats remain gentle and fairly swooning in style. The vocals counter one another nicely due to the swaying rhythms, and the relatively quiet Horn sections emerge and retreat from the picture in due course, providing another sultry element for the two vocalists to produce a laidback sound from. Overall, there are lots of elements in ‘Tango’ that work really strongly, from the settled, worry-free and radiant mood that it creates, to the more subtle instrumentation that complements the romanticism of the sound nicely as well, while the track also manages to capture elements of Tropicalia and Rocksteady from the past without sounding terribly outdated, albeit not sounding majorly current either. A quite elegant little piece of Folk that exhibits the precise footwork of the titular dance.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Drama’ (LP) (Released on July 16th, 2021) (via Polyvinyl Records)

That’s all for now! Thank you for joining me on the blog for a few moments and I’ll be back tomorrow for ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ as we take a break from my own recent recommendations to revisit the seminal sounds of the past! This week’s pick comes from an 80’s UK Synth-Pop act that have been in some news circles lately because their masterpiece from 1991 – ‘Laughing Stock’ – has celebrated it’s 30th anniversary!

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Today’s Track: Allison Ponthier – “Harshest Critic”

June 10, 2021 — Leave a comment

Whoever said we are our own critics never auditioned for Big Brother. New post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Cowboy” (Single) (Released on March 8th, 2021) (via Interscope Records)

Good Evening to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, and it’s time for me to get typing up for your daily track on the blog (Now that my million other tasks for the day have finally been completed), because it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of new music every day! I’m going to introduce you to a brand new artist today – and that indie folk/country singer-songwriter goes by the name of Allison Ponthier – who describes herself as “a wide-eyed misfit” from the outskirts of Dallas, Texas. She’s recently caught the ears of the major Sony-owned label Columbia Records, following a stint of meeting Lord Huron and collaborating with them, with the two acts going on a tour in the US later this year. She appeared on ‘I Lied’ from Lord Huron’s new album ‘Long Lost’, which is what exposed me to her, and she’s also performed on the major US late-night TV talk show ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ with them. The self-confessed ‘Jazz School Dropout’ has also been undergoing strange activities to pass the time when in quarantine last year, telling The Guardian in a brand new interview, “I’ve started making sculptures of little alien people”. Whatever floats your boat. ‘Harshest Critic’ is just her second single – and the follow-up to March’s Claymation-inspired ‘Cowboy’. Check out the music video below.

Allison Ponthier has been adding more friends to the feathers in her industry cap by collaborating with Jordan Bahat on the music video for ‘Harshest Critic’ and co-writing her material with frequent collaborator Adam Melchor, but the lyrics of ‘Harshest Critic’ are about the pressures that Ponthier feels to meet audience’s expectations – and her own – in being a music artist, as she explains in her press release, “I wrote ‘Harshest Critic around the time when labels were knocking on my door”, adding, “It ended up being a song about how, when you’re an artist, everything feels like life and death. But, in reality, it’s your happiness and who you are, as a person, that really matter. You might as well enjoy the ride, because no-one’s ever going to be as hard on you as you are”, when describing her songwriting approach and practices. Comparisons to Julia Jacklin or Alice Phoebe Lou could be made on ‘Harshest Critic’, with a crooner style that feels decorated by little sprinklings of Grunge and sparsely placed Americana elements. Lyrics like “What if all my fears were on display/Right in front of all of the world/Under a spotlight/Would they be on my side” and “I’m terrified/Of the way I look when it’s through strangers eyes/Wish I had a way to peak inside their minds” are very reflective and always place Ponthier’s own insecurities at the centre of the concept. The chorus finds her crooning, “If I’m being honest, don’t know if I can tell you/Who’s the harshest critic in the room?” and “It could be the studio audience/But they’re just payin for admission/And I’m the one with everything to lose” as Ponthier opens up about her stress and pressures in a highly confessional manner. The instrumentation takes a backseat to the vocals, with a tender guitar ballad and a soft, steady percussive trail of drum beats that mirror the beating of her heart as the vocals unfold. Overall, it’s difficult to be overly critical of Ponthier’s performance here, despite her own harsh judgments, in this track. I don’t think the sound was that terribly exciting, and I’m a little concerned that the label might fast-track her to become the next Lana Del Rey instead of the first Allison Ponthier, but, overall, she’s a very likeable presence because she feels very human. The words feel very poetic and expressive, with a simple theme that doesn’t run it’s course, because the sophisticated guitar chord changes and the heartfelt moods keep proceedings fresh enough, and her voice may conjure no critical panning of any form.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Harshest Critic” (Single) (Released on May 13th, 2021) (via Interscope Records)

Thank you for reaching the end of today’s blog post – your support means a lot. We’ve already reached Friday by the time that 24 hours rolls past again, and so we’ll be sifting through this week’s notable new releases. We’ll be focusing our minds on the return of a pack of Post-Punk veterans, well-known for several crossover chart hits in the 1980’s and 1990’s from Madison, Wisconsin. Their name was reportedly inspired by a conversation with a friend, who frequently told them that their early material sounded “like Garbage”. 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: Jade Bird – “Different Kinds of Light”

June 5, 2021 — Leave a comment

A ‘Light’ appetiser ahead of the new release of a 14-track project. Time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Different Kinds Of Light” (Released on August 13, 2021) (via Glassnote Records)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, as per usual, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! I was delighted to read that Jade Bird has a new album coming out, a Northumberland-born indie folk singer-songwriter who attended the BRIT’s School in Croydon and got a management deal after sending a demo tape in her final year, before going on to win the award for ‘International Breakthrough Artist’ at the AIM Awards in 2019. She’s got such a unique voice for a 23-year-old youngster, and her music typically draws from Americana, Blues and Desert Rock. Her upcoming LP, ‘Different Kinds Of Light’, follows up on her self-titled debut album from 2019, and it includes the earlier singles ‘Open Up The Heavens’, ‘Houdini’ and ‘Headstart’, and it was co-produced by Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, John Prine). Releasing on August 13th via Glassnote Records – Bird says “This record started in Japan, a small getaway from a busy year. We took it to Mexico, to Nashville and to upstate New York adding pieces of songs along the way until it became the different phases of who I am, what my relationship is and what my relationship to other people has become”. Let’s check out the main title single below.

Bird is taking to the stage of the Victorious Festival in Portsmouth across August Bank Holiday weekend, in support of her latest full-length record, which “at it’s most basic is about falling in love, and at it’s most complex, is about the chaos of trying to get away from your past”, according to her label’s press statements. ‘Different Kinds Of Light’, as the title track, retains these ideas at it’s core. The lyrics speak about how a transitional period of a relationship in your life is a catalyst for the different phases of your life, what your relationship is and what your relationship to other people may become, marking an experience of clarity for Bird in her life as a young adult. Lyrics like “We’ve been surviving, not thriving, living on time that’s not ours” and “It’s a battle of will, not a contest, honey/You’ve made your moves/I’ve made mine” takes a breakup to a new level, as a dwindling romance leads to a change into a new era for Bird’s life. She sings, in the chorus, “Who’s gonna make you feel beautiful/Under different kinds of light”, as she takes gentle lyricism to signal a more bittersweet emotion. As always, there’s plenty of personality to Bird’s voice, her greatest asset, which is convincing in it’s swinging of different moods like a pendulum, and adding a unique Rock ‘N’ Roll 70’s feel or a mild Country croon to her sound. The track is a little slow to get going, but we neatly glide into tender guitar melodies and crystalline String arrangements that represent a more mature direction for Bird going into her new album, compared to her previous record. It’s very accessible and it’s definitely the radio-friendly single of the new album as the marketing machine kicks into gear, however, it feels very neat and well-produced without seeming over-produced at any one real time. It’s very stripped-back, with simple instrumentation and an emphasis on the vocals, which sell a deep emotional core in it’s heartfelt textures. On the whole, it’s yet another decent example of how Bird should probably be more famous in the mainstream than she is, with an intimate space to showcase her talent with her voice.

  • Pictured: Jade Bird ‘Letting her hair down’ (in April 2019) (Photo Credit: Emma Swann/DIYMag.com)

If you’re also very excited to hear what Jade Bird has been busy developing in recent times, you can get a ‘Headstart’ on another single from the upcoming album release here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/11/28/todays-track-jade-bird-headstart/

  • Pictured: Jade Bird in a self-titled album era cover shoot (in 2018) (Photo Credit: Alice Burnfield)

That’s all for folks! ‘Scuzz Sundays’ returns tomorrow if you’re up for that, as we revisit a fan-favourite radio hit from an American rock band staple who were formed after the dissension of their frontman’s previous Desert Punk band, Kyuss, and he worked with Mark Ronson on 2017’s ‘Villains’, later collaborating with Run The Jewels and Mavis Staples on a track from last year’s ‘RTJ 4’, and his respective band have scored seven Grammy Awards nominations. 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/

New Album Release Fridays: Dropkick Murphys – “Queen Of Suffolk County”

April 30, 2021 — Leave a comment

Did you know The Stranglers used to be an 8-piece? The Suffolk Eight. New post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Turn Up That Dial” (LP) (Released on April 30th, 2021) (via Born & Bred)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, as per usual, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A bundle of new releases arrive today – including the new fairground-inspired double album from The Coral, the debut LP from the modern LGBTQ+ icon Girl In Red, a new outing from Gojira (the French Metal band who hold the record for the loudest concert ever recorded at the Stade De France), and, if loudness is your thing, the new outing from the Brit Award winning rock duo Royal Blood may tip your fancy. It’s not a far cry from the ever-charismatic Dropkick Murphys either, who are releasing their tenth studio effort, ‘Turn Up That Dial’, today, as always, through their Born & Bred label. Since 1996, the Celtic Punk band from Massachusetts have earned three Top 10 albums on the Billboard Top 100 chart, generated half a billion streaming figures, and released a near double platinum hit in ‘I’m Shipping Up To Boston’, and so it’s not been shabby business for them at all. There’s some brilliant track titles on the new album, I must say, which Dropkick Murphys have confirmed goes for a lighter tone than previous offerings, including the likes of ‘Middle Finger’ and ‘Mick Jones Nicked My Pudding’ in the recording. There’s also ‘Queen Of Suffolk County’, which has a music video, below.

“When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and things were so down, more than ever, we thought, nobody wants to hear an album about how bad 2020 was in 2021” were the exact words that leader Ken Casey used to promote the new album, one which celebrates the importance of a good sing along in music, and the title of ‘Turn Up That Dial’ really embodies the style of the music in it’s namesake, with tracks like ‘Queen Of Suffolk County’ playing on the relief from worry that comes when you “turn up that dial” on the speakers and blast your phobia away. The playful personality of the group is on show as per usual, with lyrics that recollect stories about a knife-toting local femme fatale, with Casey advising “You best stay out of her way, You know she’s here to stay” and “She don’t joke, and she don’t play” over the top of a usual and traditional Celtic soundscape, with an ounce of rock coming in for the chorus. The verses are on the lighter side as Bagpipe melodies and a slower Banjo melody gives way to witty lyrics like “She had style, she had grace, She had a knife and she had a mace” and “She was fire, she was lust, she was the devil, with a bit of angel dust” that paint a vivid picture of this character hailing from their local area, who had a penchant for taking what was hers. It almost feels quite nostalgic in places, with the past tense of the vocals and the up-tempo pacing making for a cheerful, playful anthem. I like all the one-liners, and it’s ultimately not something that they’re relying on you to take too seriously. I don’t think I have ever listened to a full album from Dropkick Murphys front to back, but I’ve always enjoyed the odd tracks that I’ve heard from them before because they’re very charismatic as performers and the simplicity of their joyful sounds cheers you up when you’ve had a few bad days. Overall, while there’s nothing too experimental or unpredictable about this, it feels perfectly solid and it’s an enjoyable track to listen to. The humor is on-point, and the simple formula of the music is one that works and comforts. Also, to be frank, I think it’s fair to say that we’ve all known a wild character like the ‘Queen Of Suffolk County’.

  • Pictured: Ken Casey (Lead Vocals, Bass Guitar), Matt Kelly (Bodhran), Al Barr (Backing Vocals), James Lynch (Lead Guitar), Tim Brennan (Accordion, Mandolin, Tin Whistle), Scruffy Wallace (Bagpipes) and Mark Geanakakis (Drums) (2018) (Photo via PR)

Here’s one to save as a bookmark and come back to when the festive season rolls around again, it’s my post about the seasonal Dropkick Murphys single ‘The Season’s Upon Us’, and you can check it out here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/12/23/todays-track-dropkick-murphys-the-seasons-upon-us/

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Signed And Sealed In Blood” (Released on January 8, 2013) (via Born & Bred)

That’s all for now – but tomorrow’s post comes by way of a household name. A famous electronic dance music duo who have just released a new track, and were originally called ‘The Dust Brothers’ when they started out in 1995 before they had to change this moniker due to the existence of a different musical act with that same name. They have also seen international success, winning six Grammy Awards in the US. 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/

Easter Sunday 2021 Special: Dolly Parton – “He’s Alive” (1989)

April 4, 2021 — Leave a comment

“He is not here, for he has risen, as he said” – He has risen indeed! Easter post time…

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “White Limozeen” (LP) (Released on May 30th, 1989) (via Columbia Records)

Wishing you a Happy Easter – it’s Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get typing up for today’s track on the blog, just like always, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! No Scuzz Sundays post this week, because I’ve got something Easter themed to share with you instead today to roll with the holiday season. Dolly Parton is an artist who I don’t feel I have to give much introduction for. She’s only probably the most famous Country music star of all time, and so her discography and socio-economic impact is pretty blindingly obvious. “He’s Alive” is a track which was actually written by Worship music icon Don Francisco in 1977, released on his album ‘Forgiven’, but Parton put her own spin on the track for the closing section of her staggering twenty-ninth main album release, ‘White Limozeen’, in 1989. I’m not familiar with that record (Country music isn’t really my thing, as I’m sure that you’ve probably noticed by now), but my research indicates that she aimed to return to the Country roots of her prior work after 1987’s ‘Rainbow’ saw disappointing results. She did so to great success, with the record spending a total of 100 weeks on the US Country Albums chart, earning positive reviews, and it went certified Gold in sales. ‘He’s Alive’ looks at the resurrection of Jesus Christ from Peter’s viewpoint. Last year, Parton shared an acoustic performance of the track to her followers on Instagram, and since arguably not much has changed in the way of lockdown restrictions since then, it still feels punctual today. Let’s check it out below.

“Somebody said the other day, oh, we’ve had a rough week”, “and just think about the rough week that Jesus had, and look how well that turned out for us. I’m going to sing about that” was a lovely way for Parton to introduce her acoustic rendition of the track in the video of her performance above, and ‘He’s Alive’ had previously earned it’s original producer, Don Francisco, similarly rock solid success in the way of two notable Dove music awards following it’s release way-back-when. Parton gets her version off to a bang with her signature voice and some stirring, naturally acoustic guitar chords. Parton balances a noticeably grounded tone with some more profound odes to religious events during the track, with lines like “Looked down into the street, Expecting swords and torches, And the sound of soldiers feet” and “The stone’s been rolled away, And now his body isn’t there” narrates the story of Peter’s revelation of seeing that Jesus’ body had been risen from the tomb on Easter Sunday in a more Spoken Word form. The grand finale of the track sees Parton exclaiming “I believe it, He’s Alive” and “Sweet Jesus” above a slightly more rough guitar rhythm and nothing more, as she celebrates the revelation in unbridled joy. Parton would usually perform the track with a Choir to back her up, but she joked that “there wasn’t enough elbow room” for one last year (and there still isn’t this year…) and so, using nothing more than her acoustic guitar and her natural voice in the solo performance, she does a great job of bringing some religious context to a holiday that is commercially about overpriced chocolate and a longer weekend. It really isn’t “my thing” in the personal opinion sense, but it makes a good reminder for what the strange holiday of Easter has been built upon. Seriously, why have it on a different day every year? It’s to do with the Moon and the Equinox, but just how? Anyways – You go and have a good one.

  • Pictured: Dolly Parton at the 53rd Annual CMA Awards in Nashville (2019) (Photo via Forbes.com)

That’s all for now! I’ll be back tomorrow for another Easter-themed post that is contemporary, and so that makes for a switch-up. Bank Holiday Monday… it looks like I forgot to book it off. I’ll catch you tomorrow then. 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: Cassandra Violet – “Swim Test”

March 18, 2021 — Leave a comment

It’s swim, not sink, for the potential of this Alt-Folk singer-songwriter. New Post time!

  • Pictured: Cassandra Violet in the music video for “Invisible Man” (2017) (Photo via Buzzbands.la)

Good Evening to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, you know the drill by now, it’s finally time for me to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, once again, because it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of new music every day! Today’s track seems to be one of my latest deep dives, because, for some reason, the music video for ‘Swim Test’ only has about 470 views on YouTube – at the time of writing this – and, honestly, I reckon this is a single that really deserves more exposure than it seems to be getting. I discovered this track originally from KCRW’s Today’s Top Tune podcast of free online downloads for their listeners to grab a taste for these lesser-known acts. Cassandra Violet is a Los Angeles-born singer songwriter currently based in Boyle Heights where, by day, she works as an English teacher. By night, though, she says that she pens hopeful tracks like ‘Swim Test’, which is about her father who doesn’t know how to swim, despite making a living besides the beach for a few decades. Violet is gearing up to release her debut album, ‘Maybe It’s Not Too Late’ which arrives on April 2nd, I think via self-release. Let’s take a ‘Swim Test’ below.

Violet’s music draws from the cinematic, where previous singles have been featured in US TV productions like Netflix’s ‘Ozark’ and a Showtime network original film. The new album, set for release in just a handful of weeks time, features some contributions from Joe Berry, who plays the Synths in French Electro-Pop pioneers M83. For Violet, although most of the album was written in the time before Covid-19 hit, the global pandemic has also given the track another meaning to interpret, as she writes “Although this song is deeply personal, it actually really relates to the past year we have all experienced and how we are all trying to keep our head above water these days, especially in L.A.” in a social media post. For me, the sound of the track veers into some Folk/Blues territory and it draws some comparisons to Sharon Van Etten and Alexandra Savior. Those comparisons are strong, however, since I really enjoy listening to both of those artists very much. “Swim Test” feels just as personal as the painful, raw songwriting talents of Van Etten and Savior, with a low-pitched vocal delivery and a basic set of instrumentation that evokes a mood in it’s ambience. Lyrics like “You got out your little town, and your Dad wasn’t around” and “and when he was, he never got you as a man” have a tinge of bitterness and resentment. The songwriting in the verses feel sharp, yet this tone is balanced nicely with the sense of uplift in the chorus, where Violet sings: “Just keep your head above the water, No worries and no bothers” calmly. The harmonies are a little unearthly, but not unsettling. Instead of going for a more frightening tone, Violet sings about the themes of persistence, and that if you can succeed in prevailing for a cause in difficult circumstances. The tone is kept quite realistic and grounded however, with a subtle blend of Lo-Fi folk and minimal percussion, as the guitar melodies just stray along to the loop that sounds a bit like a sweet Xylophone instrumental. I love what Violet does here in the cohesive changes of tone and the slightly playful beats. She manages to narrate a story that feels very uplifting, however, it’s not particularly upbeat, and so the storytelling develops naturally as a result. A track that is deserving of much more attention, there is plenty here to keep these shores of proceedings afloat and beyond.

  • Pictured: Cassandra Violet playing at the Durango Songwriters Expo (2020) (Photo via YouTube.com)

That’s all I’ve got to share with you today – It’s been a busy one! Feel free to join me again tomorrow, however, as we take a deep dive into one of the weekend’s new album releases. This week’s selection is the highly anticipated new album to come from a very prolific Bournemouth-born musician who was previously the lead singer of Alternative Rock outfit Doyle and The Fourfathers. It’s the follow-up LP to 2019’s ‘Your Wilderness Revisited’, which was named as the Best Album Of The 2010’s by Deep Cuts on YouTube. 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: Kings Of Leon – “The Bandit”

January 23, 2021 — Leave a comment

They’re back to prove if they’re still ‘Royalty’ of the Arena-sized stage. New post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “When You See Yourself” (Available from March 5th, 2021) (via RCA)

At last, it’s the weekend. Good Morning, I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get typing up about your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! It’s been a near 5-year wait for us to hear from Kings Of Leon (The three Tennesse-based Followill brothers and their cousin) again – but after a few teases on social media, they’re back to business. Their latest single is “The Bandit”, which follows the live acoustic recording session of their recent track “Going Nowhere” which the 4-piece posted onto the internet way back in last March. “When You See Yourself” is the name of their new album, and it’s due for release on March 5th, 2021 via RCA Records. As with it’s predecessor, 2016’s effort “Walls”, the record was produced by the Grammy-winning director Markus Dravs (Coldplay, Florence + The Machine and Arcade Fire). Let’s find out if they can add to their belt of 12 Grammy Award nominations, and 4 wins. I’ve never been massively into Kings Of Leon, although I know their stadium rock sound is a fairly popular one. In my younger years, especially around the late-2010’s time, I felt the Southern Rock and Blues-Rock influences of “Sex On Fire” were anthemic, and 2008’s “Only By The Night” was a massive hit. Let’s see what “The Bandit” has to offer.

The gear-up to Kings Of Leon’s new marketing campaign was a cryptic one. In the lead-up to the release of the new single, the Nashville natives sent out 10 T-shirts to their biggest fans on social media, which the group said were ‘one-of-a-kind. This was because every shirt represented a different track found on the new album, and the band left an accompanying note which read: “Printed inside of it are the full lyrics to a new song you may hear in a couple of days, a couple of weeks, or maybe even a month or so”. An 11th T-shirt, featuring the lyrics of “The Bandit” will soon be made available to buy on their merchandise website online. Anchored by a mid-tempo acoustic guitar riff and the folk-led use of bass guitar hooks, Caleb sings: “Chiseled their names in stone/Heavy the load you tow” with a strong vocal harmony. The lyrics tell the basic story of a group of people trying to track down a masked Bandit. Where and Why – we’re left to ponder. The drum chords remain gritty and steady, with Caleb leading the chorus of “And they’re walking around, With their heads in the cloud screaming, Must catch the bandit, reckless abandon” with an emotionally pleading mood, while the acoustic guitar chords settle for a mid-tempo rhythm and the bass guitar riffs feel a little dark. For me, the track zips to the beat of it’s four-minute duration at a mid-tempo pace, with an admittedly decent vocal performance from Caleb Followill, but the musicality leaves some energy to be desired. For me, it simply doesn’t develop any interesting elements that really grab my attention. The lyrics feel plain and bland, with the track narrating a story about a cryptic bandit, a car called Mandy and an indistinguishable beer. The guitar instrumentation feels well-paced, but again, it feels rather boring. I was waiting for a standout solo or a power-pop chorus, but the guitar chords just keep repeating on it’s basis. To me, it makes the rhythm feel lethargic and it doesn’t take the narrative anywhere, a feat that darker instrumentation or off-kilter melodies could have achieved. All in all, it simply fails to expand on Kings Of Leon’s original sound in ways that feel new or exciting – and, for me, after a near half-decade hiatus, it left me very disappointed. That said, if you are already a bigger fan of the band than me, I think you might enjoy this more. However, for me, it needed a little more experimentation to flesh out it’s ideas. Underwhelming.

  • Pictured: Caleb Followill (Lead Vocals/Acoustic Guitar), Matthew Followill (Lead Guitar/Keyboard), Jared Followill (Bass Guitar) and Nathan Followill (Drums) (2020) (Photo via WENN/AceShowbiz.com)

That’s all I have for you on the docket today! Join me again tomorrow – for a new weekly entry into our Scuzz Sundays feature, where we take an in-depth look back at a hallmark of the late 90’s, until the mid 00’s era of Emo-Rock and Goth-Rock delights. Tomorrow’s addition to our canon comes from a female-fronted band who were, much like Kings Of Leon, popular within the big commercial indie boom of the 00’s. The vocalist has recently collaborated on a track with The Avalanches for their latest new album – “We Will Always Love You” – which dropped last month. 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: Julia Jacklin – “To Perth, Before The Border Closes”

January 21, 2021 — Leave a comment

This is my R&R day, so to the blog – before jobs begin to crop up. Time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “To Perth, Before The Border Closes” (Single) (Released on Oct 12, 2020) (via Sub-Pop Records)

Good Morning to you – My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s now time for me to get typing up about your daily track on the blog, because it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write to you about a different piece of music every day! Originally from the Blue Mountains, but now currently residing in Sydney – Julia Jacklin is an Australian singer-songwriter of Folk, Country and Desert Rock music who has a voice that you could class as an expression of Natural phenomena. Jacklin’s first steps into the music industry were made when she was performing with the band Phantastic Ferniture, before going on two release two solo studio albums – “Don’t Let The Kids Win” in 2016, and “Crushing” in 2019 – in the time since. She’s also opened shows for First Aid Kit and worked with producer Burke Reid (Courtney Barnett, Liam Finn) to craft the Dream-Pop instrumentals and the confessional indie pop sounds that she explored on her sophomore LP release. Her latest single is “To Perth, Before The Border Closes”, which was released late in November for the “Sub-Pop Singles Club, Vol. 5” single compilation – along with the B-side, “Cry”. Let’s take a listen to it below.

Covid-19 has made very life difficult for music artists, where the thoughts of touring on the road and playing at live festivals are being sorely missed from a therapeutic and financial standpoint. A change of locale was an inspiration for Jacklin’s latest tune, as she wrote: “I’ve moved around a lot the last 5 years. Chasing work, love, work, something new”, before adding, “I started writing this song in Melbourne and finished it in Perth. It was like a little song bridge between the two cities to make the change easier”, to her press release. I love how this single sounds calm and mild, although the subject matter of the lyrics are heavily inspired by a situation that is anything but mellow and straightforward. Jacklin starts off laidback enough, as she sings: “I loved it there, That city held me, Don’t you know that everything changes?”, with the voice of her contemplative refrains just drifting over acoustic-backed guitar melodies and a slowly increasing tempo of quietly simmering Bass guitar riffs. The bridges evoke a tone of sadness, especially with “When the time comes, will you get on that flight, I got a feeling I won’t do it alone”, with the final variation of “It’s just feeling though” conveying a self-reflective quality. Throughout the track, “Everything Changes” keeps being repeated over the deft songwriting strategies, and the chorus is sung with an equal measure of looking back, and looking forwards again. The instrumentals are minimalist, although a quiet anger can be heard by the big raise in tempo for the chorus, as these qualities continually emerge and retreat for a while to capture the stillness of our current moment. All-in-all, the sound is of a similar ilk to singer-songwriters like Angel Olsen and Sharon Van Etten – but I like the stillness of the vocals, despite the matter of it’s topical inspiration, and I like how it makes you stop and think for a minute – not really noticing the power of the lyrics because of the way it makes you feel. This may not be made for everybody, and I can see your mileage may vary because it derives to ‘Cheese’ a little – but I really like a bit of Emmental, and I like Jacklin too. She has a beautiful voice. Finally, don’t forget that, just like the rusty sign reads at the end of the music video, “We’re all in this together”.

  • Pictured: Julia Jacklin in a press shot for LONDON IN STEREO (In 2017) (Photo Credit: John Bell/PR)

Thank you for reading my latest blog post! Tomorrow marks the turnaround point for another installment in our recently added weekly feature – “New Album Release Fridays” – where we’re going to take an in-depth look at one of the artists behind one of the weekend’s new LP releases, for a review of one of the singles from it. It’s going to be the highest-profile album release to come in a little while – this time from a Northern Irish electronic dance music duo who are currently signed to Ninja Tune. Their second album drops tomorrow, and in 2012, the duo were given the award of “Best of British Breakthrough DJ” by DJ Mag. 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 Staves – “Good Woman”

January 14, 2021 — Leave a comment

It’s a return from hiatus – and so The Staves are higher than ever. Time for a new post.

  • Pictured: The Staves (Emily, Jessica and Camilla Staveley-Taylor) (2019) (Photo by Sequoia Ziff/Press)

Good Morning to you – My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get typing up about your daily track on the blog, as per usual, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to get writing up about a different piece of music every day. The beginning of the new year is always relatively light on high-profile releases, but low and behold, exciting new music is on the way to us shortly. Case in point – The Staves, who are scheduled to release their first new LP in six years, in just a handful of weeks time. The Hertfordshire-based English Indie Folk trio of sisters Emily, Jessica and Camilla Staveley-Taylor started out by performing together at open mic nights hosted by their local pub in Watford, and their upcoming album release marks another period of transformation for them. Titled “Good Woman”, the album was inspired by many significant events which have occured in the personal lives of the sisters. This includes the end of romantic relationships, the death of their mother, and the birth of Emily’s first child. It was largely produced by themselves, although John Congleton lent some assistance in the studio. Let’s watch them perform the titular single below.

“Good Woman” is due for release on 5th February, via Atlantic Records. The Staves shared, in a press release, some extra details about the new album, penning: “When we think about making this album, we think about moments and snapshots of all the different contexts we were in as it was made. Living in each other’s pockets and then living with oceans between us. On voice notes and field recordings and ideas in emails sent across continents”, later concluding, “And coming home”. If that wasn’t a juicy teaser, then I don’t know what is. We’ll just have to make do with the title track, “Good Woman”, for now – a track that feels mellow yet elegant, as the purity of the vocal harmonies of the three sisters gently unfold over the course of the duration. Calmly singing about the themes of femininity and motherhood, the refrain of “Well, I cover my mouth/and I straighten my back” drifts above a steady bass guitar rhythm and a discordant drum beat. The third verse is a highlight, with “Surrender is sweet, Forgiveness divine” echoing through looping backing vocals, and the acoustic guitar riffs gradually increase their tempo and weight. The sisters build up to a finale, where “I’m A Good Woman” keeps getting repeated, as subtle Synth work gets added into the mix, to evoke a triumphant mood to juxtapose the softer side of the opening verses. The instrumentation is minimal and plain, with a large emphasis being set on the vocals instead. The lyrics are well-written and neat, with the guitar work and the jangling drum beats building to a clean, polished sound. On the minus side, I think it’s fair to say that it’s all rather cheesy, and so I think that your mileage may vary on the style. However, I do love my Emmental – and I feel that the track has been produced very well. I probably wouldn’t rush out to buy it, but I think it’s excellent for what it is.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Good Woman” (LP) (Released on 5th February, 2021) (via Atlantic Records)

Thank you very much for the support – and checking up with me on the blog today. I will be back tomorrow, as we take an in-depth look at one of the brand new albums set to release over the weekend, because it’s “New Album Release Friday” tomorrow. It’s style is pretty contrasting to The Staves, as we take a detour into one of the most anticipated emerging bands of the UK’s Post-Punk scene. The South London-based band are set to release their second album, a follow-up to their debut LP, which shared it’s title with a popular BBC One TV programme that broadcasts religious factual content and live performances of hymns.  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/