Psychedelic Folk

Today’s Track: Sir Was – “Waiting For The Weekend”

August 31, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Joel Wästberg (aka Sir Was) in a ‘Says Hi’ EP PR shoot (2016) (Photo via GoldFlakePaint.co.uk)

Good Afternoon to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has come for me to deliver yet another daily track on the blog, because, yet again, it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! I have picked something for today that I think anybody working in a primary school or on a 9-to-5 basis would relate to easily, and that’s ‘Waiting For The Weekend’ – the freshest new offering from Swedish electronic music producer Joel Wästberg, who releases his calming Nu-House material under the pseudonym of Sir Was. He began making music from his home, which is located in a village known for windsurfing called Frillesås located near the Western coast of Sweden. In his life, Wästberg has studied at the University Of Kwasulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa – and he has collaborated with modern Nu-Soul/Nu-Disco icons Little Dragon, who he was going to support on tour before the pandemic nixed those plans last year. I recently came across Sir Was when he was selected by BBC Radio 6 Music presenter Lauren Laverne to be her ‘Spotlight Artist’ pick on ‘The New Music Fix’ two weeks ago, and he will be performing at the Eurosonic Festival in Gronigen, The Netherlands next January. Before then, his third solo studio album – ‘Let The Morning Come’ – is set to be released on October 15th via Memphis Industries, the same Berlin-based indie label that Field Music and Baba Ali have released material with. Let’s start ‘Waiting For The Weekend’ with him below.

In the two years since he released ‘Holding On To A Dream’, Wästberg received some life changing news in the form of inheriting the genes for a rare, hereditary condition causing multiple strokes, and the new record is a reflection on his enjoyment of life and how these experiences have allowed him to absorb creativity on a deeper psychological level, as he notes “At first, I got very sad and scared” about his devastating diagnosis, before he added, “But at the same time, it was like all the other worries I carried suddenly didn’t matter. I just got this very intense feeling of being alive” in his press pack for the Circuit Sweet website. ‘Waiting For The Weekend’ captures this free-minded spirit with a reasonably simple lyrical theme, which are paired with calming lo-fi synth beats and drifting percussion that connote a sense of bliss and relaxation for the listener, despite some more threatening subject matter behind the vocals. Basic lines such as “Bleak days/Slow pace” and “Past few days, been in the deep end” are short reminders for the listener to be kind to themselves when the traffic of the mind becomes crowded, and the repeating hook of “God knows it is a big deal/To feel some peace of mind” trades a distressing surface-level topic for a dreamier arrangement. The synth chords seem to be long and winding throughout, while the sonic Drum patterns have a hardened sense of punch to them. Stabbing percussion and Falsetto vocal effects make up the rest of his template, and the Funk-influenced blend of Electronica and Hauntology manages to feel more indie-friendly in the uplifting vocal message and the harmless bass sounds add a sense of chilled assurance that hides little away from the sparkling burst of wonky keyboard sounds towards the end. A well-rounded single that was definitely worth the wait for.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Let The Morning Come’ (Available from Oct. 15, 2021) (via Memphis Industries)

That brings us to the end of the page! Thank you for ‘Waiting For The Weekend’ with Sir Was and me, and I’ll be back tomorrow for a new entry in our ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ feature! This time, we’re looking back at a lesser-known vocal group based in New York who were formed in 1967 in Delevan, and, although they didn’t leave much of a wider mark at the time, many of their records have been re-issued by Cherry Red Records in the decades since their 00’s disbandment. They were hugely influential to many artists including Stereolab, Cornelius, The High Llamas and more.

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New Album Release Fridays: Villagers – “So Simpatico”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

New Album Release Friday: Darkside – “The Limit”

July 23, 2021 — Leave a comment

The experimental duo who don’t always look on the bright side of life. New post time!

  • Pictured: Vinyl Copy of “SPIRAL” (LP) (Released on July 23rd, 2021) (via Matador Records)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, and it’s time to take a moment out with your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Latitude Festival may be the biggest talking point of this mid-July weekend, but, for those of us who couldn’t get ourselves a ticket and need to rely on getting our music fix elsewhere, there is a handful of new records available to fresh ears. Anne-Marie, Joel Culpepper, The Jungle Giants, Emma Jean-Thackray, Leon Bridges and Mercury Prize winner Dave all have new full-length albums hitting store shelves today. My pick for this week has been eight years in the making. ‘Spiral’ arrives this morning through Matador Records from Darkside, the collaborative side-project of the insanely prolific Chilean-American composer Nicolás Jaar and the Brooklyn-based rock multi-instrumentalist Dave Harrington, a previous member of indie bands ARMS and Translations. The follow-up to 2013’s ‘Psychic’, the new record was written and recorded in 2018 and six of the tracks were largely made through an extended week-long session during that summer in New Jersey. It has a 79 on Metacritic to show solid reviews, with Charlotte Krol of NME calling it “A gorgeous, filmic record that rewards with each spin”. Check out promo single ‘The Limit’ below.

“From the beginning, Darkside has been our Jam band, something we did on days off”, Jaar spoke of Darkside’s return from hiatus, adding, “When we reconvened, it was because we really couldn’t wait to jam together again”, to the press release. Dave Harrington added, “It felt like it was time again. We do things in this band that we would never do on our own. Darkside is the third being in the room that just kind of occurs when we make music together”, to the press notes for the hype machine. Down to a tee, ‘The Limit’ is a psychedelic adventure through experimental corridors of patterns and exciting, wildly free-spirited tones that make the steadfast jolt feel like a diverse, atmospheric journey. Beginning with some intriguing Woodwinds-like sounds, Jaar laments a loss of grip on reality of life with contemplative vocals like “Don’t sow what you reap/Submit to the pace” and “The waters erase/Nothing left to see” as we build up to a lengthy instrumental that combines Folk-led guitar riffs with stiff Keyboard frames, with a driving Drum melody that adds a lot of heft to the strength. We reach a breaking point when Jaar refrains “Current with no direction”, as the steely frames take an intrusive turn to something that feels much more harsh and abrasive in setting, as the transcendant Funk beats grind to a squelching, grounded halt with grating guitar sections and propulsive Synth cuts. The finale is also dynamic enough to stay interesting on your repeated listens, as Harrington’s production cascades through jangled rhythms with an Acid rain-like quality, while Jaar’s vocals feel unphased throughout the obscure experiment of the five minutes. It’s a strange but controlled mixture of ambient tapestry overall, with an opening that reminds me of Django Django in it’s 00’s dance flair and Folk-inflicted guitars, but the following sequences of ethereal audio really keeps you on your toes and feels incomparable to much else in terms of it’s dissonant explorations of creaking acoustics. On the whole, it expertly walks the line of bizzare and frantic like a tightrope circus act, yet it never loses it’s footing to fall off the said tightrope in the analogy. It never feels like pure chaos, since the eclectic instrumentals have a coherent narrative of-sorts and the key changes never stray from the path of consistency too aggressively. It’s certainly not mainstream, but it’s good to remember that Darkside’s records are being aimed more towards an avid fanbase, as opposed to those who will just take whatever formulaic dance track the pop charts throw at them. The tune is a very cool record, with an ever-changing dymamic in sound that mixes Jaar’s virtuosic skill as an experienced classical composer with Harrington’s ear for psychedelic influences that he honed on the US DIY indie electronica scene. You can revel in it’s Jaaring nature. See what I did?

  • Pictured: Nicolas Jaar & Dave Harrington (2013) (Photo Credit: Jim Carroll/The Irish Times)

We’ve reached your destination – which is the end of the page for today! I’ll be back to do it all over again tomorrow, however, with an in-depth look into some brand new music from a popular cult UK lo-fi independent Prog-Rock duo – a married couple – who are making their second appearance on the blog with a new single that features the British godfather of Punk himself, Iggy Pop, to confirm their new set of tour dates.

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Today’s Track: Villagers – “The First Day”

June 3, 2021 — Leave a comment

Cudillero. Maribor. Shirakawa. Beautifal villages which nobody knows. New post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Fever Dreams” (LP) (Available from August 20, 2021) (via Domino Recordings)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, and it’s time for you to read your daily track on the blog, as always, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! I’ve got some brand new music to share with you, and this one reminded me of Sigur Ros and Fleet Foxes. ‘The First Day’ is the new single from Villagers – an Irish indie folk band from Dublin who, although I’m not massively familiar with them besides from ‘Trick Of The Light’, have been critically acclaimed over the years. Their resume includes Mercury Prize, Ivor Novello Awards, Q Awards, Choice Music Awards and Digital Socket Awards wins and nominations. They have also been on the touring circuit with Tracy Chapman, Grizzly Bear and Elbow. Their fifth studio album, ‘Fever Dreams’, has been added to the album release schedule, with a confirmed release date of August 20th for the Domino-signed new release. It follows the 2018 effort, ‘The Art Of Pretending To Swim’, and Villagers will be taking themselves on a UK tour to locations like Brighton, Nottingham, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, and Cambridge in October. Check out ‘The First Day’ below.

“I had an urge to write something that was as generous to the listener as it was to myself”, the band’s leading vocalist Conor O’Brien said on the escape and journey themes of the new record, adding, “Sometimes, the most delirious states can produce the most ecstatic, euphoric and escapist dreams”, to his press release. Villagers also worked with director Daniel Brereton on the music video for ‘The First Day’, who were able to shoot the video with him on-set with casting and styling. The video is a great compliment to the track, with a black-and-grey filter matched by a disorienting mix of jumbled vocals soon paving the way for a ray of sunshine and light as soon as the warmer tones begin to emerge. The melodies are absorbing and kind, with a reflective Falsetto effect that gives the vocals a hand-painted quality. O’Brien is singing about “It’s like falling in love, on the first day of the rest of your life” as the cheerful hook is delivered over the top of a floating Brass instrumental and a choral backing vocal, after a pre-bridge that lets twinkling keyboard riffs and romanticized moods to carry the mood along. The verses are more psychedelic, with lines like “Feels like soft rain/feels like a sweet rhyme” and “Feels like a riverboat as it takes you to the sea/Feels like floating on the essence of a dream” that are delivered poetically, and with gentle chords, with a mix of Strings, and even an IDM-like synth line that crackles beneath the arrangement at spaced points, with an overall Folk-rooted song structure that keeps the band’s main genre explorations intact. Considering that I hadn’t heard much of Villagers before, I found myself very pleasantly suprised by this. The overall context and meaning is joyful, but vague, and so it’s easy for listeners to associate the bright emotions in different personal lights – like a wedding day, a graduation, or the jolly end of a tiresome pandemic, to name a few ideas. In any case, it’s lovely. The instrumentation is varied enough to keep the repetition of the hooks interesting, and it’s a brightly coloured adventure that celebrates the joys of living through a cinematic lens. It reminds me of American Authors ‘Best Day Of My Life’, but less one-note and more sonically developed. As Jim Carrey would say, its B-E-A-utifal.

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

That’s all for now! Feel free to join me tomorrow as we delve deep into one of the weekend’s most notable new album releases. Head of the pack this time comes from a UK student radio favourite who makes her latest appearance on the blog to co-incide with the release day of her long-awaited new album. The self-described ‘Psychedelic R&B’ progressor who recently made her television debut in an episode of ‘Later… With Jools Holland’ on BBC Two. 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 Friday: Lord Huron – “Long Lost”

May 21, 2021 — Leave a comment

What do you name a Cowboy with an untidy bedroom? Messy James! New post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Long Lost” (LP) (Released on May 21st, 2021) (via Inertia Music)

Good Afternoon to you! I hope that you’ve just had a lovely Lunch, because now it’s time for you to get ‘Long Lost’ into today’s track on the blog. I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! There’s two other albums I’m insterested in hearing this week: One from CHAI (More on that later) and the latest from Joey Pecoraro (Refer back to my Tuesday blog post for a taste of that). However, the new album from BBC Radio 1 playlisted Country/Folk singer-songwriter Billie Marten and the new LP offering from the former Super Furry Animals lead Gruff Rhys, among new EP’s from Biig Piig and Elkkar, are worthy of your time too. We’ve also got a new album from Michigan Alt-Folk outfit Lord Huron hitting store shelves too. The band are perhaps best known for ‘The Night We Met’, a track that has been streamed over 735 million times online. It’s the follow-up to 2018’s ‘Vide Noir’, which was their first release on a major label, in the form of Republic Records. ‘Long Lost’ has been teased through the group’s ‘Alive From Whispering Pines’ series that has seen them perform their previous tracks and debut new singles through ticketed livestream performances online, hosted by the enigmatic fictional figure, Mr. Tubbs Tarbell. Lord Huron also performed the first single, ‘Not Dead Yet’, on Jimmy Kimmel’s talk show in the US. Get your ears lost into the LP’s title single below.

A letter from Mr. Tubbs Tarbell accompanied the press release for ‘Long Lost’ as a single, saying: “The new tune hinges on cinematic strings, dusty tambourine, and soft acoustic guitar before transmitting a dreamy vocal. It nods to Spaghetti Western soundtracks and 50’s pop in equal measure, as though Roy Orbinson and Ennio Morricone finally got around to collaborating”, concluding, “Meanwhile, the accompanying video further opens the window onto the expanding world of the album” in the text. That does my job for me, then. What strikes me about ‘Long Lost’ is that it manages to echo modern Folk bands that I enjoy, like The Mountain Goats or Fleet Foxes, but it also feels very old. The pacing isn’t terribly upbeat, but the hooks are somehow still catchy, with a lush soundscape of strings and tangy guitar licks that manages to give the single an absorbing atmosphere that feels cinematic and story-driven. Lyrically, the lead vocalist, Ben Schneider sings about a protagonist entering the wilderness to heal. Lyrics like “For a while I was held by the myth of the lost highway/In the spell of the night and the lights of the great white way” play on feeling a blissful disconnection to the outside world, and later lyrics like “Leave me where the moonbeams carve through the leaves like blades, Lay me in the tall-grown grass in a shallow grave” embrace nature despite a light melancholy. Eventually, the steady percussion and the trickling moods swoop in for a more triumphant chorus where Schneider sings “Send me to the mountains, Let me go free forever” and “I’ll be running in the forest/Dancing in the fields like this” to capture how it feels to live freely and enjoy the small circumstances of life. At this point, it’s easy to imagine some damaged figure reveling alongside a Stray dog for company in a Western movie dessert, perfectly content by just what he has. The concept feels imaginative and intriguing, and the backing vocals are particularly good on this. Lord Huron are a bit of a weird one where I had one friend who really got me into their previous album, however, I stopped listening after an initial week or so, and I’m not quite sure why. Apart from that, I’ve never known anyone else in the UK who has heard of them and I’ve never heard them being played once on BBC Radio 1, 2 – or even 6Music. I’m hoping the new album has a bit more replay value for me, however, for whatever reason that was. On a side note – they seem pretty popular in the US seems they got a spot on a mainstream talk show, but if you’re a fan here in the UK reading this, just give me a nudge in the comments section to let me know. Overall, though, I think this is brilliant. Atmospheric, original, inspired thoroughly in it’s style and it’s substance, and there are plenty of sumptuous melodies to get ‘Long Lost’ into. Very good indeed.

  • Pictured: Ben Schneider (Lead Vocals/Acoustic Guitar/Harmonica), Tom Renaud (Lead Guitar), Miguel Briseño (Bass Guitar/Keyboard/Theremin) & Mark Barry (Drums) (2018) (Photo via Jambase.com)

If you’re finding yourself getting ‘Long Lost’ into the sound of this – Make sure to explore what I had to share about the promotional single, ‘Not Dead Yet’, right here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/02/22/todays-track-lord-huron-not-dead-yet/

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Not Dead Yet” (Single) (Released on Feb 19, 2021) (via Whispering Pines Studios)

That’s all, folks! Make sure to reconvene with me tomorrow for an in-depth look at another of the weekend’s new album releases, as we dive into the equally superb sounds of a Japanese Alt-Pop quartet signed to Sub-Pop Records who are making their second appearance on the blog. As I said the first time – they have become known for supporting Superorganism on tour in 2018, and last year, they collaborated on a tune with Gorillaz & JPEGMafia for the ‘Song Machine: Season One’ album and viral video series. 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 Friday: St. Vincent – “The Melting Of The Sun”

May 14, 2021 — Leave a comment

Big Daddy Cool is finally home for his dollop of Daddie’s Ketchup. It’s new post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Daddy’s Home” (LP) (Released on May 14, 2021) (via Loma Vista Recordings)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for you to read your daily track on the blog, as per usual, and that’s because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! You could say I’ve gone for the obvious choice for our pseudo Album Of The Week choice this time – but that doesn’t mean it’s not the right one. ‘Daddy’s Home’ is the sixth album to come from St. Vincent – also known as Oklahoman Singer-Songwriter Annie Clark – who has continually established herself as a modern icon of Alternative music, including a win for ‘Best Alternative Album’ at the Grammy’s in 2015 that, rather shockingly, made her the first solo female artist to win in that category in two decades. It’s the long-awaited follow-up to 2017’s ‘Masseducation’, a record which continued to cement her as a highly valued talent, and it once again sees her co-producing it with Jack Antonoff, who worked with Clark on her prior release. Other than St. Vincent – this week, the actually-rather-good Jorja Smith provides some competition with her in the charts, mid-90’s Trip-Hop/Soul staples Morcheeba are back for another go-around which I might actually check out, The Black Keys are back for another timely summer release of theirs (I know my Uncle is a huge fan of them), and rapper J. Cole drops his swiftly announced latest. I’ve certainly been on the bandwagon for the hype towards Annie Clark’s latest, and we took an in-depth look into her work as part of our International Women’s Day post on the blog a few months ago. She appeared on ‘Saturday Night Live’ to perform ‘The Melting Of The Sun’ – a sampler for the LP – Check it out below.

It’s been well-documented in the press campaign for ‘Daddy’s Home’ that St. Vincent was inspired to create her latest body of work by the events of her father’s release from prison two years ago, for white-collar crime, as well as his Vinyl collection that she grew up hearing in the 1970’s, as Clark teased to NME, “One of the things about ‘Daddy’s Home’ is that there is a literal and autobiographical element to it, but also, I’m daddy now”, adding, “It’s hard for me to parcel out what is what. I just make the world. I don’t think too much about compartmentalizing it”, when referring to the New York City aesthetics of the early 1970’s that she built up the visual groundwork for her new record around. Clark is very much a visual artist, and she’s known for playing around with her image in subsequent releases, a trend that feels contextualized through her parallels to Prince and her Bowie-like reinvention on tracks like ‘The Melting Of The Sun’. It has a title which implies a chilled out and blissful tone. It’s a psychedelic wonder – with distorted vocals that stand out. Lyrically, she references cultural figures like Marilyn Monroe and Joni Mitchell, as she pays homage to female creatives who fought in a hostile or challenging environment, ultimately achieving some success by respecting their own core principles, despite meeting grizzly ends, with the sour in the sweetness being depicted in Clark’s song by trippy effects and long harmonies. The instrumentation blends soulful backing vocals and subdued Piano work with curved, warping Synth sequences and slow Electronic melodies that give the track a crooked, experimental feel. Overall, a kaleidoscopic and dream-like atmosphere is created, one which balances the nightmarish subtleties of the quiet, yet tense String sections and the deliberately perfectionist Drum beats that reveal a mysteriously blissful, yet relaxed angle to the narrative that Clark is continually shaping to meet her own ends of her artistry. There’s an excellent closing stretch to the single, and it feels paced out naturally, where the vintage Gospel influences begin to really shine through and the shout-out’s to her female icons finally comes across in a more celebratory light. I think it’s slightly stronger than her previous single – ‘Play Your Way In Pain’ – in the ways that it feels complex – yet human, and the discussions of female experience in the Golden age of the 70’s and the very different sound to the ‘Indie’ capabilities of her peers continue to single her out as a true artist of her craft. You can tell very easily from her live SNL performance that she loves embodying a character, and I can see many parallels between Clark and the likes of Kate Bush or Bjork in the ways that Clark simply makes music to express an honest creativity, and is never afraid to experiment with her musicality or her image to achieve her goals. It’s beautifully tireless, and I have nothing but positive things to say about Clark and her work at this point in her career. Sumptuous to a tee.

  • Pictured: St. Vincent at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards (2020) (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)

As aforementioned, St. Vincent was the featured artist of our International Women’s Day celebration post previously on the blog for this year, and if you missed the boat on that piece, why not take a minute to enjoy it? Follow the link here to read it: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/03/08/international-womens-day-2021-special-st-vincent-digital-witness-2014/

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “St. Vincent” (LP) (Released on Feb 24th, 2014) (via Loma Vista Recordings)

That’s enough rave reviewing for one day! If you want more content, however, meet me back here tomorrow for an in-depth introduction to a duo of Chicago funky house producers who have known each other since the age of three, a nostalgic realization of childhood that feels reflected very well in their debut LP, which was released a few weeks ago on the Foreign Family Collective label. 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/

Way Back Wednesdays: Gilberto Gil – “Aquele Abraço”

May 12, 2021 — Leave a comment

“Gil is Tropicalia’s rude essence” – Sasha Frere-Jones, 2020. Finally, let’s go Way Back!

  • Pictured: Gilberto Gil in Valencia, Spain (2021) (Photo by Gérard Giaume/Berklee College Of Music)

Good Morning to you! It’s a beautifal day outside, and so I’m here to sweeten it up with your daily track on the blog, as it’s still my day-to-day pleasure. First of all, my apologies for disappearing from the face of the Earth for the last couple of days. I ended up getting a small extension for my Masters work because my project wasn’t quite ready yet, and it’s been a busy road of traffic up in the head lately. I’m perfectly fine now, so don’t you worry. I’ve always set up this blog as a place of pleasure and enjoyment, and so I never wanted for it to feel like an obligation or a chore, so I just needed a minute to focus on the stress personally and the tasks at hand. It’s all good!

With those modules submitted, let me introduce you to our pick for today. For my project, I was researching ‘World Music’ and whether this term holds discriminatory context. One of the genres that I explored was Tropicalia, a movement that saw it’s artists – the likes of Gal Costa, Caetano Veloso and Bahian graphic designer Rogerio Duarte, express political protest through eclectic music styles and promote messages of defiance against the ruling military coup which took over Brazil in 1964. It was a moment, rather than a movement, with the protests winding down from around 1968 onwards. It was a very busy time for the likes of Gilberto Gil, however, who was also very much a key creative figure in the revolution. Gil and Veloso were threats to the military. They were imprisoned for two months, then deported, moving to London for a little bit. He returned to Bahia in 1972, and he’s continued to work as a musician, politician and environmental advocate. He also served as Brazil’s Minister Of Culture between 2003 to 2008. “Aquele Abraço” was issued in 1969 by Universal, but Gil would perform the track during marching protests during the time of Tropicalia. The title roughly translates to “The Hug” in English. Let’s reflect on the busy time for Gil below.

‘Aquele Abraço’ was written during a time of house arrest, where Gil developed the melodies and lyrics, before putting together the instrumentation for it’s recording. It became a major hit in the charts of Brazil during 1969, and it was performed at the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games by Marisa Monte and Seu Jorge of the Bossa Nova corporation, MPB. Reaching iconic status in his home turf, Gil’s lyrics invoke themes of neighborhoods, Samba schools, national landmarks, and the popular musicians of Rio De Janeiro. I’m not entirely familiar with how the music was made, since it was well before my time, and I cannot understand the actual lyrics. However, it’s clear enough that it’s Latin-flavored Samba with a gentle guitar rhythm. The rest of the instrumentation is very percussive, with shuffling Maraca beats and a shimmering Cuica rhythm that creates a sultry, sentimental and celebratory tone. Gil whoops and hollers his way through soft, lounge Jazz influences and psychedelically driven drum parts that get some effects going within the backdrop. It mostly feels like a love letter to his nationality and his peers, and expresses a sound that overall feels ‘exotic’ or very ‘distant’ in it’s experimentation – where sentiments of Rock ‘N’ Roll and the use of electric guitars make the rhythms feel progressive for the time. On the whole, it’s an impressive combination of relaxed and joyful, and it was too edgy to be seen as lawful by the government. That’s a pretty big thing. I have probably got a different stance on it as a Western listener with a white British ethnicity compared to the purpose of the track for the society it was aimed at, and it’s worth considering that I’m only reviewing it in hindsight. However, it’s still evident that Gil is music at it’s core – expressing to the public of Brazil that arts and culture had a role in developing Brazil as a nation during his commercial peak and soaring to the heights of Tropicalia.

  • Pictured: Gilberto Gil in a PR image for NN North Sea Jazz Festival on July 12, 2019 (Photo via NSJ)

That’s all for now! Join me again tomorrow as we pick up right where we left off with some brand new music. Tomorrow’s talent is a gender fluid rapper, producer and visual street artist who is also the founder of the NiNE8 Collective in London, and they share an eerily similar stage name to a certain under-rated star who scored a huge UK and US hit with ‘Bulletproof’ in 2007. 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/

Way Back Wednesdays: The Lightning Seeds – “Pure”

May 5, 2021 — Leave a comment

I’m going to keep this pure – It’s one of my Dad’s favourite bands! Let’s go Way Back…

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Cloudcuckooland” (LP) (Released on January 29, 1990) (via Ghetto)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to take a moment out of my deadline work-filled day for an in-depth look at one of the seminal sounds of the past that has influenced those of the present, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! For those of you who perhaps don’t listen to much music or radio, you would probably know The Lightning Seeds best from their work with comedian David Baddiel and presenter Frank Skinner on classic UK footie anthem ‘Three Lions’, which has reached the top of the UK Singles Chart on three different occasions since it’s release due to the World Cup. Up to that point, however, the then-emerging Liverpool indie trio experienced commercial success ahead of the Baggy Brit-Pop era of the 1990’s. Case in point is their debut single, ‘Pure’, which was the first track which vocalist Ian Broudie had “completely written and sung, ever” and it reached #16 on the UK Singles Chart. Not too shabby for a first effort, right? At the time, it was mostly a solo project for Broudie, who followed up on his first crossover chart hit with the release of his debut album, ‘Cloudcuckooland’, to US chart success in 1990. Let’s revisit the video for ‘Pure’ below.

It was only when 1994’s ‘Jollification’ was released when Broudie decided to expand his project of The Lightning Seeds to a full-fledged touring band, with the band’s most famous line-up joining him. Before signing to Epic Records, Broudie had his roots set in small Noise-Punk 70’s bands and became better known a producer rather than a musician, contributing to work for acts like Echo & The Bunnymen and The Fall, prior to embarking on the trip of The Lightning Seeds in 1989. ‘Pure’ saw Broudie spring to mainstream radio consciousness for the first time after the initial run of 200 copies of ‘Pure’ on physical formats proved too little for the demand. Mixing catchy pop hooks with a youthful, simple innocence, Broudie made a hit out of a happy pop tune with the appealing instrumentation. The chorus, and the refrain of “Don’t sell the dreams you should be keeping, Pure and simple every time” is very memorable and easy to relate to, with verses that are written from the viewpoint of a burgeoning relationship with the purest of sweet love sentiments, despite our narrator seeming to be in a little state of doubt where nothing seems impossible. His vocals are shaky and veering towards the nervous side, but they add solid effect to the overall performance, where the expressions of the vocals are, you’re going to hate me for this, pure and simple every time. Musically, we’re being treated to slightly psychedelic Horns, the gentle strumming of the bass guitar, and the three-note synth sequences that all do their job and don’t ever overstay their welcome. There’s not a great deal to it instrumentally, but the sum of it’s parts each play out nicely with a pretty, birdsong-like structure. It’s a very radio-friendly tune, but everything is tied together neatly, and there’s a nice twist to the upbeat mood where the lyrics become more of an ode to the beauty that never lasts. Sure, it’s one of my Dad’s rock tunes, but I’d take it over Coldplay any day.

  • Pictured: The Lightning Seeds with comedian David Baddiel (1996) (Photo by Alamy/The Irish Sun)

That’s all for now – but I’ll be back tomorrow for more musical musings. Join me then for an in-depth look at some new music from one of Brit-Pop’s most promising modern inventors. The now-duo were formed in Sunderland in 2004, and have a brand new album out now on Memphis Industries. The band have been nominated for the Mercury Prize and, at times, have been joined by members of Maximo Park and The Futureheads in their line-up. 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 Friday: William Doyle – “And Everything Changed (But I Feel Fine)”

March 19, 2021 — Leave a comment

Sometimes it’s like an hourglass with no sand in it. It’s a waist of time. New post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Great Spans Of Muddy Time” (Released on March 19, 2021) (via XL Recordings)

Top ‘O’ The Morning to you – I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get typing up right here for your daily track on the blog, because, just like always, it is routinely my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! It’s time for us to grab a sample of one of this week’s new album releases. The new crop includes the new offering from Americana mega-star Lana Del Rey, the fourth album from Oscar-nominated South African singer-songwriter Alice Phoebe Lou, the debut album from the hotly tipped indie rock band Middle Kids, and there’s a debut EP from the emotive Dream-Rock band Bleach Lab. Since William Doyle – formerly known as East India Youth – was listed at the top of Deep Cuts’ Best Albums Of The 2010’s list for 2019’s ‘Your Wilderness Revisited’, which got some ecstatic reviews, I felt that his new album would be a great choice for us this week. Despite only being 30, Doyle seems something of a perfectionist, with ambient and instrumental side-projects, and a stint as the lead vocalist of Doyle and The Fourtfathers, to his name. He’s got plenty of experience, and so there is solid potential for ‘Great Spans Of Muddy Time’ – which arrives today via Tough Love Records – to shine this year. It’s been a rocky road to release, since he dealt with a hard-drive failure, leaving Doyle with only cassette recordings of each track on the record. This left a direct impact on the sonic direction and audio quality of the new record, which is named after a quote that he took from the memoirs of the BBC presenter Monty Don. He describes it to the press as a theme of Englishman-gone-mad, scrambling around the UK’s verdant rural pastures looking to make some sense. Let’s stream ‘And Everything Changed (But I Feel Alright)’ below.

Even just the front cover of the album’s artwork is a looker. I feel that this creates a contrast of vibrancy that juxtaposes with the mundanity of the lyrics exploring the standstill of the life cycle in ‘And Everything Changed (But I Feel Alright)’, which Doyle has told the press that “Like other favorite songs of mine, this arrived when I least expected it, almost fully formed. It’s partly a reaction to the complexity and excess of my last album. I wanted to get back into the craft of writing individual songs rather than being concerned with overarching concepts.” in his notes. Starting with a folk-led, acoustic guitar backing – Doyle deconstructs his Art-Rock roots to their very core. The analog synth work creates a washing wave of ambience, before Doyle softly sings lines like “As time rolled in from the East, The love stopped it’s happening” and “As though it had been agreed, Like wind blowing off the leaves” as distorted bass guitar chords and vocal harmonies pop in for a brief moment. The next section is pretty striking, as off-kilter guitar solo’s and a reverb effect on his voice adds some changes and shifts to the instrumentation and the tone of the package itself. Most notably, I think there’s something about the track which feels right for the time that we’re living in right now. With the synth work feeling analog-based and expansive, and the darker shades of the sonic production in the final section of the track, it is an effective reflection of the restrictions that we’ve been living under – for what feels like forever – currently. It ultimately brings a lack of excitement to our day-to-day lives, and Doyle seems to depict this accurately as he comments on the blurred lines between habit and instinct. The instrumentation, such as the loosely packed synths towards the end, and the meticulous guitar patterns that split up during the chorus, and the basic lines like “I’m always dimming the light switch” also make a point of the necessity in our believing in intuition, while persevering in the most difficult of situations. It feels like perhaps the most obvious choice for a single from the new long-player, due to it’s accessibility – with relatable lyrics and fairly stripped-down production – but it feels articulate and it still makes some noteworthy commentary on how the pandemic has stripped us down to our basic instincts. Overall, the effort put into this can really be heard because I think it succeeds very well. More moving than it seems at first glance.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Your Wilderness Revisited” (Released on November 1, 2019) (via XL Recordings)

That’s all I’ve got time for today! Scuzz Sundays returns in two days time, and so you’ve got that weekly entry to look forwards to. In the meantime, however, I’ve got some new music to share with you tomorrow – which features the mainstream-friendly names of KT Tunstall and Peaches as featured vocalists. The main artists, however, are a US Garage-Rock duo based in Los Angeles who have opened for Blondie and Garbage in their ‘Rage and Rapture’ tour of 2017. They also released a collaborative album with The Flaming Lips two years later. 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 Friday: Jane Weaver – “The Revolution Of Super Visions”

March 5, 2021 — Leave a comment

If could have any Super Power in the world – I would abolish Covid-19. New Post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Flock” (LP) (Released on March 5th, 2021) (via Fire Records)

Good Morning to you – I am Jacob Braybrooke, and as you may have guessed, it’s time again for me to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, since it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Quickly, we’ve reached the end point for another week in Lockdown, but rest assured, there are always new things to do from Friday. Last week was a jam-packed point for new album releases, and so this week feels quite a bit lighter. There’s a new LP from cult Scottish Prog Rock duo Arab Strap, Norweigan Alt-Pop producer AURORA, and the most mainstream-targeted release comes from the reigning Kings Of Leon, as well as a new single to announce the upcoming new album from iconic female Alt-Rock singer St. Vincent. It’s slim pickings for me this week, but the one artist that I probably have the most familiarity with is Jane Weaver. Even that familiarity is not a large deal, but I remember enjoying the shape-shifting Synth-Folk sounds of her previous LP, “Modern Kosmology”, in 2017. Her ninth main album release, “Flock”, arrives today via Fire Records, with live touring dates all over the country to follow later in the year. The new record is also available on an olive-green vinyl and poster from Rough Trade, and a Crean-coloured Vinyl from Indie Store. Although you might not know her by name, Jane Weaver has been around for a long time. She was a former member of Brit-Pop band Kill Laura, who used to manage New Order in the 1990’s. She was also part of the Folktronica project Misty Dixon, and Weaver also fronts her own ambient chillwave side-project, Fenella. Let’s sample “The Revolution of Super Visions” below.

“The revolution accidentally happens because so many people visualize the same ideals and something supernatural occurs” is what the Liverpool-based singer-songwriter and electronic producer said of the lead single taken from her newly arrived album in a press release, continuing “Everyone is exhausted by social media, inequality and the toxic masculinity of the world leaders contributing to a dying planet” in her written analysis of the track’s core themes. Starting off with a simple “You look good” and a basic “Do you look at yourself and find nothing?” over the top of a strutting, 80’s-inspired Disco synth riff and a fairly acidic, yet mellow synth line. For me, there’s a real Bowie-ism found within this sound, with a lighter update of Glam-Pop than Goldfrapp gave us on “Black Cherry” in 2003. The vocals rely on long, shimmering harmonies as verse lines like “I wasn’t ready to say, but I danced to your beat for sixteen hours/I’m camouflaged at the scene” and “See you gaze in the haze, the line of fire” have a long and high-pitched tone, being recited over the top of a strutting bassline that fits the current vogue for retooled disco. Weaver, however, refuses to shy away from the themes of materialism and consumerist addictions that I can interpret in her lyrics, with subtle vocals like “You try to dress to impress, This occasion for me, it’s time to hide” landing a more significant impact on a more intent listen. Songwriting aside, the instrumentation matches the cosmic-themed visuals and the 80’s Synth-Pop aesthetics with a host of bold layers, as distinct psychedelic synthesizers and processed, discordant acoustics production give the track a rather progressive feel, instead of necessarily relying on the creation of a punchy hook. In the end, though, my imagination isn’t too hard-pressed to imagine Gwen Stefani or Jessie Ware performing the track as it’s centerpiece. However, it’s the well-timed fusion of Prog-Pop and Prince-inspired mid-90’s Synth-Funk that makes the melodies memorable to me. It’s a solid case of Weaver bending the rules of Pop to her benefits.

  • Pictured: Jane Weaver outdoors in Manchester for Silent Radio (in 2017) (Photo by Joseph Curran)

Thank you for taking up the time to check out my new post! What are the new music, film or TV releases that you’re going to be purchasing, downloading or streaming over the weekend? Let me know in the comments below. Don’t forget to join me again, in the meantime, tomorrow – where we’re going to take a look at some recently-released music from one of my childhood staples of the Scuzz era. Perhaps their most recognisable track, “Make Me Wanna Die”, was previously used as a featured track on the movie soundtrack of 2010 Hollywood comic book film “Kick-Ass”, which starred Chloe Grace Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. 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/