Today’s Track: Andy Shauf – ‘Halloween Store’

February 16, 2023 — Leave a comment

Sending a signal from the outer reaches of the planet. Yes – I’m back with a new post!

Good Afternoon to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and, after a year and a half of going through an existential crisis, I have returned to my directing chair as I finally bring you a new post on One Track At A Time – because even though we have been apart for a while, it will always be my day-to-day pleasure to showcase the greatest emerging artists who deserve to be played more on the radio! If you were previously a long-term reader of One Track At A Time (First of all, thank you very much for your kindness and patience), you may recall how I used to adore writing about an artist called Jens Lekman – a Swedish indie pop/folk singer-songwriter – who really stands out for me due to his strong ability to tell engaging stories with an equal measure of melancholy and subtle appreciation for the profound moments in life. Well, Andy Shauf is an artist who I’ve been loving recently because they offer a very similar USP but their music is a little more gritty in its textures. With his origins rooted firmly in Saskatchewan in Canada – Andy Shauf later moved to Biennfait and Regina where he developed an interest in playing Christian music with his parents, a time where he learned how to play various instruments including the Clarinet. Today, I’m going to be telling you about ‘Halloween Store’ – so take a few to check it out and join me below.

If you are new to Andy Shauf, then you share the same story as me. I only managed to catch glimpses of his most recent music on BBC Radio 6 Music through various shows including The New Music Fix playlist and Tom Ravenscroft’s weekend show. ‘Norm’ is his latest album, having been released on February 10th, 2023 via Anti- Records. The full-length album is built around a fictional character of the same name, with Shauf commenting, “The character of Norm is introduced in a really nice way, but the closer you pay attention to the record, the more you’re going to realize that it’s sinister”, in press releases building up to the release date. If you have an ear for the softer side of music, you’re going to be quite pleased to know that ‘Halloween Store’ is a sparkling highlight of warm substance, and not a terrifying descent into chaos. Starting off the summer-friendly, concise indie pop/rocker with a raw acoustic guitar strum and an embellishment of drum cymbals, Shauf starts with a light rhythm as he tells an amusing anecdote about seeking a Halloween costume before a surreal encounter with an old flame. You can hear gentle sweeps of electronic Synths and a gentle Hi-Hat groove that creates more upbeat rhythms, soundtracking the butterflies in his stomach as he delivers lovely lyrics like “As my fog cleared/I realized, That you were sitting in your car/Smiling at me in the Halloween store” with a youthful bombast as the near Classical-like crescendo picks up. While his voice feels a little brittle and nervous, the twee nature of his anecdote fits the mood of the character with expert precision. The track feels like one of those dreams you experience where you wake up feeling cheerful and amused, but you’re never quite sure why because the positivity that you just felt was a half-remembered entity. It’s perhaps not a track that will tip the world on its axis commercially – which is exactly my type of music – but I find it gripping and enjoyable how Shauf manages to balance mundanity and drama in a way that feels warm and nostalgic simultanouesly due to his softly simple-but-effective approach. We just had Valentine’s – but this is as autumnul as late October.

Thanks so much for checking out my latest post! I may have lost my music mojo, but my dedication has always been to bring you my thoughts some emerging artists that simply take my breath away! I would love it if you would give me a follow on Twitter at @JacobBraybrook2 and I may help you to discover your next favourite artist there!

Today’s Track: Strawberry Guy – ‘Sun Outside My Window’

January 11, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Sun Outside My Window’ (LP) (Released on October 29, 2021) (via Melodic Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, obviously, and it’s time for us to take a breath of fresh air and explore some fruitful textures (since I am infamous for these pun-filled intro’s) with 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! It is easy for us all to feel a little down in the dragging January season, but one artist is likely to make you appreciate the bright rays of sunshine that make the outside world feel warmer than it probably is during this cold time, and one of these recordings for me is ‘Sun Outside My Window’, a recent single from the Liverpool-based solo singer-songwriter Alex Stephens who releases his music as Strawberry Guy. He is new to me, but I’ve read that Stephens started to gain popularity on SoundCloud for tracks like 2018’s ‘Without You’ before he attracted the Gen Z crowd to his work by gaining steam on TikTok. In fact, 2019’s ‘Mrs. Magic’ has been used on over 70k videos on the video-based social media platform, meaning that he’s garnered millions of views for the Lo-Fi track. Since then, Stephens has played the keyboard on tour with Halifax dance-punk sensations The Orielles and fellow Liverpool outfit Trudy & The Romance. Citing icons like David Byrne, Erykah Badu, Claude Debussy and Henry Mancini as his favourite artists, Stephens’ goal, it seems, is to upturn people’s perceptions of what ‘Bedroom Pop’ really needs to be. His debut LP – ‘Sun Outside My Window’ – was released on October 29th, 2021 via Melodic Records. Best known for signing Working Men’s Club who have been a fixture of the Synth-Punk scene for a few years, the label is an emerging organisation that boasts lesser-known talent such as W.H. Lung and Michael A. Grammar in their ranks. Let’s check out the title track of the record below.

Alex Stephens (aka Strawberry Guy) wrote and recorded the imminent album over the span of two years by himself, and he says, “It’s about seeing the simple things in life and them making you happy. I remember this day when I was really down… looking out the window, the sun beaming in it was beautiful, it made me want to go outside – it was simple but made me so happy in that instance”, about his new work in a press release. Hitting the ground running with the simple refrain of “I can feel a change coming again/You tell me I’m wrong, is it all pretend?” in the first verse, Stephens unleashes a quiet crescendo of succinct Strings and delicate Percussion to create an intimate soundscape that blends 70’s romanticism with breezy keys that effectively mimic a short burst of birds perching on a tree or a wave of butterflies fluttering past an old country Garden on a radiant morning. It feels relatively straightforward, but there’s plenty of depth when the uncommonly rich groove of the lush vocal intonations and the whimsical horns lead the chorus. The smooth harmonies, the soft melodies and the vulnerable lyrics create a mellow and humble instrumental that feels gently agreeable throughout, while the vocal performance of Stephens is dominated by a laidback Nasal voice that complements the light symphony of the wistful melodies. At the same time, the wide-eyed lyrics of Stephens that contain refrains like “But I see you there, You’re looking at me/And I feel so free” and “I can sense a shift coming from you/I guess you now know, was it ever true?” are very contemplative in tone and hint towards a light conflict with a love interest, although he keeps it ambiguous as to whether there really is something going deeply wrong or not. It adds a slightly darker texture to the vocals than the positive mood that his more advanced Piano playing implies, but the dream-like qualities are never lost by the contrast and that feels like a clever choice. The complete package is housed within that ‘Slacker Psychedelia’ framework that Mac DeMarco or Trunky Juno are well-known for toying with, but it feels more steady and his vocals seem a little more distant. There’s an air of The Flaming Lips to the light musical-type influences too, but the golden hour Brass outroduction and the gentle swell of Strings around Stephens’ Mellotron clicks owes more to impressionism in style. It’s not the clear-cut shape of the scene that makes the track feel realistic, but the details of the production and the easily relatable connection to the lyrical material that colour the scene of this track. Overall, I’d say that it makes me think of Fleet Foxes but, instead of feeling like a comforting folk orchestration fit for the autumn time, it feels more pastoral and spring-time in style and texture. A great track overall that, while unlikely to feel entirely new, is refreshing, and has the strength of some gorgeous arrangements to it.

Pictured: Alex Stephens (Strawberry Guy) with his ‘Taking My Time To Be EP’ on Vinyl (2019) (Photo via Twitter.com)

Thank you for reading my latest post, and please feel free to join me for something different tomorrow as we welcome a new ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ post to the site, where we’ll be remembering a golden Funk, Soul and Jazz band from far before my 23-year-old stint on this planet, although it will tie into a recent release thanks to a ‘Greatest Hits’ compilation release from November. A funk band like no other, their 1973 LP record ‘The World Is A Ghetto’ was Billboard’s best-selling album of that year.

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New Year’s Eve 2021 Special: Fleet Foxes – ‘White Winter Hymnal’

December 31, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Fleet Foxes’ (Self-Titled LP) (Released on June 3rd, 2008) (via Bella Union Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it is time for a fleeting (If you see what I did there…?) moment of cool reflection in the midst of ringing in the New Year, with yet another daily track on the blog, seeing that it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Although they took a reasonable hiatus between 2013 and 2016 so that lead singer-songwriter Robin Pecknold could pursue an undergraduate degree, the Washington-based Alternative Folk group of Fleet Foxes have always churned out their strong share of critically acclaimed and commercially successful material over the years and they released their fourth album – ‘Shore’ – as recently as last September via Anti- Records – a very enjoyable record that was featured on my ‘Top 25 Albums Of 2021’ list last January. The band stood up to prominence in mainstream consciousness, however, with the release of their self-titled debut album in 2008 via Bella Union Records. The hit that its associated Simon Raymonde-ran label needed to stay afloat at the time, the retro LP was the band’s first example of blending their refined vocal harmonies and tribalistic lyrical qualities together to widespread acclaim. The album was eventually made available to buy in places as common as your local Tesco’s supermarket shelves after it eventually reached #1 on the UK Albums Chart. Since being considered one of the best albums of the 2000’s and a highly impressive debut release, Fleet Foxes have continued to make ‘White Winter Hymnal’ a popular addition to festive playlists (both befitting of the Christmas and New Year’s season), a Silver-certified single full of beautifully layered vocals that has also been used in media productions like Hulu’s ‘The Path’ and 2015’s ‘Love The Coopers’. The track was also ranked as #66 on Pitchfork’s decade-end list of the greatest singles of the 00’s – and it has been covered by other established names such as television presenter Alexander Armstrong and A-capella act Pentatonix. Get swept away in the sound of ‘White Winter Hymnal’ below.

Issued on 7″ Vinyl as well as the digital MP3 format, ‘White Winter Hymnal’ was written by Pecknold from personal experience, as he was inspired to write the lyrics about a time where his friends ditched him in middle school. Although the lyrics might have been about childhood past, the source of the melody came from the familiar source of Walt Disney. Pecknold recounted to Rolling Stone during an interview in 2012, “The idea was a song like ‘Whistle While You Work’ from Snow White”, adding, “So it started with that very beginning thing, the first kind-of like, melody. And then once the verse was done, it just seemed like it lent itself to repetition”, in the discussion. Beginning with “I was following the pack” as the backing vocals of the band harmoniously overlap each other to capture the melancholy of winter and snow, ‘White Winter Hymnal’ was memorable for creating the effect of a dense cloud of harmonies that mimic a Cathedral reverb. Later lyrics like “White snow red as strawberries in the summertime” and “With scarves of red tied around their throats” feature imagery that is undeniably much stronger and the meaning of the track is left quite ambiguous. However, refrains like “To keep their little heads from falling in the snow” make me think of blindly following a bad influence without considering the repercussions. Instrumentally, the stirring drums and the ascending guitar melodies mimic the feeling of a sled that is riding down a path at a breakneck pace. The minimalist vocals, however, are more likely to convey a sense of contentment and peace, but the cavernous layered harmonies have a frosty and distant sound that relates to a white sheet of ice on a tranquill snowy morning. What was very interesting, and really quite groundbreaking, about the track is that, in seasonal terms, Indie and Pop music often tend to be more celebratory towards the summer season and, therefore, the qualities of a Christmas carol hidden in the melodies are more reminiscent of a traditional hymm and so Fleet Foxes’ ode to cool reflection in the winter was refreshing. Overall, ‘White Winter Hymnal’ had all the makings of a modern classic back in 2008 and that’s a quota that the Grammy-nominated band have fulfilled in 2021 with a recording that still sounds as gorgeous and as nostalgic as the first time it hit the radio airwaves. Cheers to a merry new year!

Pictured: Robin Pecknold (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Skyler Skjelset (Mandolin/Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Casey Wescott (Keyboard/Synths/Backing Vocals), Christian Wargo (Bass Guitar) and Morgan Henderson (Upright Bass Guitar/Woodwinds/Violin/Saxophone/Percussion) (in 2020) (Photo via PR)

If you told me that Fleet Foxes were covered on the blog more recently – ‘Can I Believe You?’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/10/26/todays-track-fleet-foxes-can-i-believe-you/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Shore’ (LP) (Released on September 22nd, 2020) (via Anti- Records)

That’s all for today and so all I have left to say for you in 2021 is… See you next year! Join me then for a special New Year’s Day edition of my regular posts tomorrow that you’ll really enjoy if you’re a fan of my weekly ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ feature! We’re going to be remembering a well-received late-70’s single by a prominent Scottish figure of the British Folk revival scene in the 60’s and 70’s. Famously described by AllMusic as “one of those mysterious woman songs”, the album of the same title as the song is a #5 hit in the US. The singer used to share a London flat with Paul Simon.

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Countdown To Christmas 2021: Emily Alyn Lind – ‘That Was The Worst Christmas Ever!’

December 16, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Emily Alyn Lind on the set of HBO’s ‘Gossip Girl’ (2020) (Photo by Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/Getty)

Good Morning to you! This is a tired Jacob Braybrooke, but I’m here to ‘Countdown To Christmas’ with you before the Christmas sandwich ranges of the major supermarkets get shelved for another year, since it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! My fairly recent discovery of Emily Alyn Lind was an interesting and unusual one. That’s because the 19-year-old indie folk singer-songwriter is actually a multi-talented creative and, in fact, I didn’t discover her through listening to music initially. I was simply sat on the sofa during a rainy evening watching ‘Doctor Sleep’ with my two parents at home, and she popped on-screen in the role of Snakebite Andi during the movie, which is well worth checking out. I enjoyed her performance very much and I decided to do some casual research into her, and I found out that she’s also an independent musician – as well as a film and TV actress – who has released some Americana-style music that is right up my alley, as I’m a huge fan of Alexandra Savior and Weyes Blood, who she reminds me of musically. She also directs her own music videos and she’s also been talking about releasing her own full-length album since 2020. ‘Spotless Mind’ and ‘Tantra Practice’ are my favourite songs by her, but her first track was a cover version of Sufjan Stevens’ ‘It’s The Worst Christmas Ever!’ that she issued in 2019. As an actress, Lind can be seen in the duology of ‘The Babysitter’ movies on Netflix, as well as the recent reboot of ‘Gossip Girl’ made by HBO. She began her acting career as a child star on ABC’s ‘Rampage’ and CBS ‘Code Black’ television series in the US, but she has also appeared in some productions like Hulu’s ‘Future Man’, Keanu Reeves’ 2019 Sci-Fi vehicle ‘Replicas’ and 2010’s ‘November Christmas’. Speaking to Vice about the niche dynamic of balancing music with her love for acting on camera, she says, “I was just always writing music since I could remember. My dad introduced me to folk music really young – Bob Dylan, Neil Young – and I just thought they were the coolest people in the world. Instead of wanting to be a ballerina, I just wanted to be Neil Young. I just loved the 60’s”, adding, “But I picked up a guitar and I started writing, so it started to become an outlet for me and I never stopped”, in her conversation. I’d very highly recommend her music videos for ‘Spotless Mind’ and ‘Castles’ because the two tracks showcase her unique personality excellently. However, the Sufjan Stevens cover really fits the theme of the moment here on One Track At A Time. Let’s give it a listen below.

Although she’s only an emerging talent in the film world, the roots of the medium are also in her blood, as she’s one of the youngest members of a dynasty of creatives from the film industry. The ‘Haunting In Connecticut’ 2 star has been working since she was four years old, and she is the daughter of the actress Barbara Alyn Woods and the producer John Lind. Her two sisters, Natalia Alyn Lind and Olyvia Alyn Lind, are also actresses. Her charming and reflective cover of ‘That Was The Worst Christmas Ever!’ captures the slight melancholy of the winter season acutely and insightfully, and she told American Songwriter, “I’ve always loved Sufjan’s take on writing holiday music. Not to get all sad boy here, but I think there’s something so nice about the realistic spin he puts on a genre of music that is very one dimensional. It’s a beautiful song, and a stunning melody, and I hope you like it as much as I do”, in late 2019. I feel that Lind’s sincere, stripped down rendition of Sufjan’s track is probably compared most favorably to Phoebe Bridgers and Bob Dylan, while Lind herself has been drawn intensely to Leonard Cohen and Neil Young since her childhood. It starts off with a sweet, soulful vocal sample that provides a swift opening for her lyrics, which feel soothing and graceful. They are gently poetic, with Lind using her natural voice to complement the radiant and mellow sound in a lovely way that makes the song sound more akin to one of her own. Some of her vocals have been layered, and I love that she doesn’t use any auto-tune here, instead relying on her harmonies and contemplative vocal delivery instead of a sense of over-production. The lyrics are about the commercial industry of Christmas if you will, and so the production choice fits the theme well and pays respect to it. I really like the laidback acoustic guitar melodies as they create a measured pace that works cohesively with her soft and clear vocals, walking the tightrope between soft and bright nicely. There’s some moodier and slowed pacing here and there, but the textures remain warm and delicate throughout with a vulnerability in her voice that is attentive. Overall, the track is a real hidden gem as such from Lind, with a lush fusion of gentle Dream Pop and Americana-tinged indie folk that works with her pure, unsullied by any artifice, vocals beautifully. I follow Emily on Instagram, so I can’t wait to hear more about her upcoming music and movie projects in the future. I think that she’s got an absolutely lovely voice and a natural likability, and I feel she’s a decent actress as well since I felt inclined to do some casual research into her after coming across her instead of just simply forgetting it, and I wish all the best to her with her diversity of projects, since I am glad that I came across her. This cover is a perfect vibe for this ruminating season.

Pictured: Emily Alyn Lind in a recent photoshoot wearing Dior for Harper’s Bazaar (2021) (Photo by Lucas Garrido)

That’s all for now! Thank you for reading my latest post and supporting my daily content on the blog, and I’ll be back tomorrow to guide you through another daily track on the blog, as we take a brief breath of respite away from our annual Christmas coverage. The refreshing change of pace will be a funky one, coming from a Nashville-based Psych Rock singer songwriter who began writing poetry at the age of 8. He released his latest EP, ‘What Box?’, this July and he describes himself as a “walking question mark”. The track was supported by BBC Radio 6 Music host Tom Ravenscroft.

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Today’s Track: Kings Of Convenience – ‘Rocky Trail’

December 13, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Erlend Øye (Vocals/Lead Guitar) & Eirik Glambek Bøe (Bass Guitar/Vocals) (2021) (Photo by Salvo Alibrio)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and its time to catch up with some of the music that we missed earlier in the year as we approach the start of a new one, because it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! For the Norwegian indie folk duo of Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe, you could say that it has been a ‘Rocky Trail’ on their return to making music. After a 12 year hiatus, in which the Bergen native pair saw some relationships continue to form and dissolve, felt record label pressure, and they confronted the onset of their 40’s, the Cornelius collaborators have returned with their first album to be released since 2009’s ‘Declaration Of Dependence’, a #10 hit in Italy. During their time, Kings Of Convenience were the inspiration for the Indian dream pop duo Parekh & Singh, they topped MTV’s European list of the best music videos in 2004 for ‘I’d Rather Dance With You’ and they performed at the Primavera Sound Festivals in both Barcelona and Porto. Øye is also known for a side project, The Whitest Boy Alive. ‘Peace Or Love’, their latest LP and fourth studio album release overall, features two collaborations with the Canadian global indie pop star Feist, and it reached #26 on the UK Albums Chart. Recorded across five years in five different cities, ‘Peace Or Love’ was a mellow take on Easy Listening Pop where Bøe and Øye leaned into the appeal of ease instead of confrontation after a difficult period of time away. After all, despite envy of Europeans easy leisure, it is distinctly an American trait to look for cracks in their mirage or facade – and that facade, if there was one, was very smooth here. They recently went on tour to support the record, including a double-header at London’s Royal Festival Hall in September, and a share of these dates have already come and gone. However, they are still scheduled to visit sites in Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg from March until June 2022 – if Covid restrictions allow for it. Let’s hear more about their ‘Rocky Trail’ below.

“Another classic Eirik composition that skillfully ignores the verse-chorus-chorus blueprint”, Bøe and Øye said about the structure of ‘Rocky Trail’ in April during a press statement for Paste Magazine, concluding, “It’s pop music, but not as we know it”, in their teaser. A welcome re-introduction to the group and what their sound achieves well, ‘Rocky Trail’ features a humble approach to production where the Kings’ simply harmonize about life’s grief and a failed relationship with a man featuring “a world on his shoulders that needed lifting” on top of a wholesome and jaunting acoustic guitar riff. The duo recite sequences like “Brave enough to go climbing up a wall so high that no sunlight is seen through winter” and “Brave enough to go travelling the world without money to eat or sleep for” to express a deep sense of freedom and contentment that create buoyant vocal hooks and laminate reality in a more optimistic light. There are some moments of a bleaker nature, with the opening refrain of “Let’s say you give me one more time, One last chance to speak again, Let’s start from what we left unsaid” highlighting a shade of relationship break-up glumness, for example. However, the tonal differences are sugarcoated by a warm violin string section that adds a slightly bitter ache to the forefront of the track. Their intertwining vocals are uplifting, giving the anecdotes of travelling penniless and surviving hungry a more inspirational feeling instead of a pessimistic outlook. However, the in-sync and timbre voices of Bøe and Øye remain a key fixture of their charm, while lyrics like “I should have carried you to the top of the rocky trail” have moments of reflective contemplation to them, later giving the lyrics of “How am I to know about your problems and your load/I am blind to what you show” some additional meaning in the realm of forgiveness. Overall, ‘Rocky Trail’ was a solid Folk track that doesn’t show any signs of being left on the cutting room floor for 12 years. Instead, it feels like a paled back ode to restoration from the duo and it seems like a warm welcome back from them. Delicacy and care are given to both of their vocal performances, a tactic that perfectly expresses an innocence and veteran experience simultaneously, attained through their pitches. A beautiful and simple return to form.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Peace Or Love’ (LP) (Released on June 18th, 2021) (via Virgin/EMI Records)

That’s all for Monday, and, with that conclusion, it’s time for me and the Kings Of Convenience to lead you on your way through the ‘Rocky Trail’ of mid-December living. I hope that all goes well for you today, and please feel free to join me again tomorrow to resume our ‘Countdown To Christmas’ with a fresh new Grunge spin on a popular Christmas carol that was performed by a female-led indie punk band from Auckland, New Zealand. Signed to Carpark Records in the US, they have toured throughout the UK and some European cities supporting Death Cab For Cutie in 2020.

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Today’s Track: Coco – ‘Come Along’

December 6, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Maia Friedman, Dan Molad & Oliver Hill in recent promotional artwork (2021) (Photo by Stella Hartmann)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and its time for me to welcome you into yet another daily track on the blog, because it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Although they share their name with a Disney Pixar animated film that was actually very good when it was released in 2017, Coco aren’t really the eccentric type like the family-friendly musicals being created and re-made by the House Of Mouse. Instead, the New York-based indie rock trio of Coco are the more mysterious type. The band remained anonymous while releasing critically acclaimed singles like ‘Last Of The Loving’ and ‘One Time Villain’ in the past because they wanted to let the material speak for itself, making music with a whiff of Dream Pop, Soft R&B, Alternative Funk and psychedelic Dub to it that was simply about how the music makes you feel instead of disclosing any details about who made it. However, that etiquette changed late in the summer when Coco revealed their identities as people who we already knew from other projects. Coco are comprised of Maia Friedman from Dirty Projectors & Uni Ika Ai, Dan Molad who played in Lucius and Chimney, and, finally, Oliver Hill who you might recognize from Pavo Pavo and Dustrider. They each share the vocals, writing and production duties between each other. They released their debut self-titled studio album in late October via First City Artists and AWAL Recordings, including the single ‘Come Along’. The band says, “From the beginning, music sprung up between us with a surprising and collaborative ease. We made a conscious effort to foreground our intuitions and trust each other’s instincts – criticism and indecision weren’t part of the process” for their biography. They all invite you to ‘Come Along’ with them below.

“The skeleton of ‘Come Along’ was recorded live, all together, with Oliver on guitar, Maia on drums, and Danny on bass. The underlying chord loop plays throughout as other instruments are weaved in one by one, picking up momentum and rolling forward as everything joins in harmony”, Coco recalled in a shared press statement about the single, adding, “The video mimics the song in this way, portraying our individual days-in-the-life with each of us filming one another on handheld cameras”, in their explanation for the writing and process behind creating the laidback three-way vocal duet. Such an improvisational approach to ‘Come Along’ does make sense when you hear it, as it feels like a stress-free and calm little recording with a mellow, often romantic, spin on the songwriting. Opened by a briefly chiming, windy Bell arrangement that creates a drowsy vibe before intimate lyrics like “We share a simple word/You’ve given me a shirt/I put it on” and “A table and a chair/A memory of home/Carry it all home” kick in during the verses, set against the backdrop of gently strummed Acoustic guitar melodies and some more percussive kick drum snares that create a rich and dream-like atmosphere. The fusion of Psychedelic R&B and soulful Soft-Funk are given another twist when a lightly distorted guitar solo takes the lead during the half-way point. The chorus, counteracting the harmonious vocals and the sonic environment of the verses, comes closer to Pop. More clear-cut lyrics like “Talk to me about anything you need/Just please, come along” and “The company is healing me/So please, come along” take centre stage, for example, as the chilled atmosphere shifts with the enhancement of a rhythmic String section and a dampened bass guitar line. It bathes you, as the listener, in a warm sense of subtlety and euphoria that feels very alluring on the whole. The main vocal hook is a little cheesy, but it is delivered with swirling pure vocals and a sense of delicacy that evokes the mood of the song well enough to keep you engaged. Overall, ‘Come Along’ is a lovely fusion of mellow Soft-Rock and prominent Dub influences that reminds me of Khruangbin in its tone and style, but it reaches out a hand to the slightly more cinematic spectrum of music for my mind. A gorgeous and well-focused arrangement.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Coco’ (LP) (Released on October 29th, 2021) (via Self-Released/Bandcamp.com)

During their anonymous days, Coco gained similar praise with the release of their one-off single ‘Last Of The Loving’, which also earned a place on my October 2020 highlights wrap-up. If you haven’t heard it yet, see what the fuss was about here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/10/22/todays-track-coco-last-of-the-loving/

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

That’s it! Thank you for continuing to read and support the site every day, and I’ll be back tomorrow with another regular upload as we convert over to the experimental electronic dance side of the recent releases spectrum, coming from a Paris-based DJ who was scouted by BRIT Awards nominees Bicep for their Feel My Bicep imprint label. He performed a live DJ set at Sarcus Festival this year, and he has been featured on a ‘Friday Guest Mix’ produced by Bicep for Mary Anne Hobbs on BBC Radio 6 Music.

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Countdown To Christmas 2021: Jens Lekman – ‘The Cold Swedish Winter’

December 1, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Jens Lekman in a garden photoshoot for a Bandcamp Daily feature (2017) (Photo by Ellika Henrikson)

Good Afternoon to you! You are reading the words of independent music journalist Jacob Braybrooke, and it is time for me to clock in for yet another daily track on the blog – since it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! It’s the 1st of December today, and so a new entry in our ‘Countdown To Christmas’ series for this year is a must-have. However, it feels a touch too early for a true Christmassy ballad yet to me, and so here’s something a little bit more generally winter-specific for your enjoyment instead. ‘The Cold Swedish Winter’ is a gorgeous and transcendant one from Jens Lekman, a Swedish indie folk singer-songwriter from Gothenburg. Known for his lyrics that are usually anecdotal and wry, backed by sampled strings and guitar-oriented melancholic pop textures, Jens is one of my favourite purest songwriters in the industry, and so any excuse for me to talk about his creative choices is enough to make me grin from ear to ear. Written in the style of a narrative, as usual for the former Swedish #1 album chart holder Lekman, ‘The Cold Swedish Winter’ is one of the finest tracks to be found on his first full-length album, ‘When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog’, which he self-produced and released via Service in April of 2004. It was re-released with slight variations by the more well-known label, Secretly Canadian, later on that year. Let’s spin the winter ballad below.

‘The Cold Swedish Winter’ by Jens Lekman is also the namesake and theme tune for a radio drama series which airs on BBC Radio 4. Showrunner and voice actor Danny Robins was influenced to create the sitcom after hearing the ditty, which tells the story of a marginally successful London-born stand-up comic who has relocated to Sweden that began in August 2014, and it began airing it’s fifth series last December. Given that he’s still a pretty niche artist, I can only wonder if Jens actually knows about the programme. Still, it is easy to see why ‘The Cold Swedish Winter’ sparked some ideas because it truly is a very pretty number. As usual for Lekman, the lyrics are dry but lightly comedic, with sequences which compare Cliff Richard and Lou Reed’s ideas of Sweden briefly, and other lines that involve porn and gonorrhea. It feels intimate and striped back, and his instrumentation lacks the budgetary bells and whistles of contemporary acts but it still manages to encapsulate the comforting and frosty feelings of the festive season decently enough, so it therefore still manages to click together as a Christmas single despite not intentionally being designed as one. He uses simple refrains like “The Cold Swedish Winter is right outside, and I just need somebody to hold me through the night” to set the romantic scene of asking a girl to pretend that he likes her. She replies in a shy call-and-response format, hushing him with solid refrains that expose his simple desire to feel loved. It also ends with Lekman’s typically introverted twist on the material, where he predicts the future of Sweden where archaeologists will dig up their hearts of stone. On paper, it looks random and seems as though it plainly shouldn’t work. However, it does cohere, as Lekman manages to sound convincing with his voice and tell the anecdote with a sincere, somber note where although we don’t know whether the overall anecdote is true or fictional fantasy, but he makes me feel like it is, as his listener. A patient and thought-provoking songwriter, Lekman is the type of artist who I could write a full essay about if I could be assigned to. Meanwhile, the mournful Violin samples that underscore the point and the powerful female vocals are the metaphorical angel on top of this Christmas tree. Overall, its an icy visual as pretty as a hand-drawn painting.

Pictured: Jens Lekman performing ‘A Postcard To Nina’ live (in 2008) (Photo via Interface Sessions)

Last December, we effectively reacted here on the blog to the day where the UK government essentially axed Christmas, and the kind words of Jens Lekman came to our aid like Rudolph on that fateful night with a song that helped us all to put these things into some proportion. Relive the emotional moment with the post here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/12/22/todays-track-jens-lekman-the-end-of-the-world-is-bigger-than-love/

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Night Falls Over Kortedala’ (Released on Sept 5th, 2007) (via Secretly Canadian)

That’s all from me today! Thank you for your support with the site, as usual, and please keep an eye out for tomorrow’s post. It comes from a fresh face on the blog whose music resembles psychedelic soul, prog jazz and alternative folk. Raised in Richmond, California – she participated in the Red Bull Music Academy programme in Tokyo in 2014 – where she co-recorded ‘Late Night Munchies’ with RJ & Mark Maxwell.

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Way Back Wednesdays: Bridget St. John – “Autumn Lullaby”

October 20, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Bridget St. John performing in ‘The Schoolhouse’ in Brooklyn (2016) (Photo by NYCTaper.com)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and since the leaves are all looking fully browned and the rainy nights have been drawing in earlier, now marks the time for a rather seasonally themed edition of ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ as we look back at some of the influential sounds of the past, since it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Hailed up as “The best lady singer-songwriter in the country” by soon-to-be BBC Radio 1 host John Peel, who produced her material and released it on his folded Dandelion label during the 1960’s and 1970’s, Bridget St. John is a Surrey-born Alternative Folk singer-songwriter and guitarist who is now approaching 76 years of age, but she has achieved many accomplishments during her career of writing and recording music despite remaining in relative obscurity. Sadly, the industry was more male-dominated at the time and she never quite received the type of recognition that she now gets in her time, but she still has recorded a large number of BBC Radio and Peel Sessions, as well as toured regularly on the British college and live festival circuit. Known for her “rich cello-like” vocal style, St. John has appeared at leading folk venues across the globe and she has performed alongside similar luminaries of her time like David Bowie, Nick Drake and Paul Simon throughout her storied history. ‘Autumn Lullaby’ serves as great mood music for a month like this, and it was the second track on the listing for her debut album, ‘Ask Me No Questions’, which was originally issued for release in 1969 and it featured guest spots from John Martyn and Nigel Cross, who played guitar and helped her to produce the music. It got a remastered release from cult favourite label Cherry Red Records in 2010, and the album received decent reviews at the time from the music press, although it found little commercial success due to a lack of promotion relating to the budgetary constraints of Peel’s Dandelion label, with AllMusic’s Richie Unterberger calling the record “Music for wandering through meadows on overcast days” in his favorable review for it. Soothe your stresses with ‘Autumn Lullaby’ below.

Some copies of ‘Ask Me No Questions’ changed hands for up to £100 before it was remastered by revival specialists Cherry Red Records, and, in 1974, she was voted as the fifth most popular female singer in that year’s Melody Maker readers poll. In modern times, St. John continues to perform live, including shows as recently as an intimate gig at Birmingham’s Moseley Folk Festival in 2018, and she still records some new music from time to time, including the cut ‘Fly’ for Mojo Magazine’s Nick Drake compilation album ‘Green Leaves: Nick Drake Covered’, issued that same year. The theme of ‘Ask Me No Questions’ was to produce autumnal-sounding songs that simply speak for themselves, and her rather woeful lyrics like “October, standing on Primrose hill, feeling the wind breathe in and out” and “As Autumn comes, I stay behind and gather sounds she leaves for me” set the scene very blissfully, with more personal lyrics like “Through water whispers, grokking weeds/I sing her autumn lullaby” and “The evergreen is ever free/I hear her, I remember this” follow up on the steam that she has built up shortly. She simply sings about the tides of change and what the changing of the seasons reveals to her intimately, but her voice is stunning and she has a whimsical power of making things just stop for a moment when you hear the vocals. The warm, low-pitched croon and the gently philosophical, story-driven brand of songwriting definitely remind me of Jens Lekman, and the subtle images of pastoral melancholy and emphasis on soft emotions feel hugely influential to the likes of Fleet Foxes and Father John Misty for my ears. The instrumentation is a wholly acoustic and nearly self-produced Folk affair, with brief washings of the guitar that are low-key and introspective whilst slightly sad and understated in tone. There are hints of comfort and inner warmth, but the sound also resembles one of longing and pining. Overall, this is a lovely no-holds-barred and divinely autumnal effort that really captures the duplicitous essence of our current season, and it really makes me want to hear the full album in a single sitting. It is a shame that chart success never followed her through these seasons and that BBC disc jockeys failed to play her work much in her time, and it is easy to wonder why. However, she doesn’t truly need it to make a strong impression because, as she aimed for, her songs speak for themselves.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Ask Me No Questions’ (LP) (Released in 1969) (via Dandelion Records)

That brings us to the end of the page for another day! Thank you for spending a few minutes with me today, and I’ll be back again tomorrow with an in-depth review of some new music from a London-born electronic music producer, studio engineer and DJ who is a modern icon of the LGBTQ+ community. She has released plenty of music using her side project alias of Nocturnal Sunshine and she was previously a part of the Electro-Dub duo ‘She Is In Danger’ with Lena Cullen. Her new LP is out next Friday.

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Today’s Track: Tycho & Benjamin Gibbard – “Only Love”

October 2, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Tycho (Scott Hansen) & Benjamin Gibbard in a PR shoot for ‘Only Love’ (2021) (Photo via PR)

Good Morning to you! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it is time to liven up your day with a clash between two titans on the blog, whilst reminding you that it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Today’s new selection marks the joint venture point between Ben Gibbard – the frontman of the Platinum-selling Alternative Rock group Death Cab For Cutie – and the nature-centric IDM producer Tycho (aka Scott Hansen) who you might also know as the graphical designer ISO50. As well as being known for his visual art, Hansen is known for using environmental sounds as a resource for his material, such as the sounds of weather footage that he blends with Ambient Electronica sounds and his Folk-led, downtempo guitar work. We last heard Gibbard on the hard-hitting mid-pandemic charity single ‘Life In Quarantine’ on the blog last summer, while we covered Tycho’s single ‘Outer Sunset’ – taken from his ‘Simulcast’ album of reworked mixes from 2019’s ‘Weather’ LP – back in early January on the blog. ‘Only Love’ is a new single that brings the two notable names in music together. It is interesting to note that it is also the first time that Gibbard has participated in a major electronic collaboration since his Platinum-certified work with The Postal Service more than a decade ago. ‘Only Love’ originally began its life as an instrumental track with a crucially missing vocal element, before Hansen decided to reach out to Gibbard as a fan of his work with an offer to produce a remix for Death Cab For Cutie’s 2016 track ‘The Ghosts Of Beverley Drive’, a trail of correspondence which has led to the two musicians crafting something in the studio together. Gibbard has also recalled in interviews that the lyrics and concept of ‘Only Love’ were influenced by a section of Naomi Klein’s book ‘This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate’ which Gibbard read in 2004. Let’s hear their results below.

A peaceful protest tune with a calm tone, Hansen said in a press release, “Ben’s voice was a very inspiring element to work with from a production standpoint; I felt it really meshed well with the kinds of sounds and instrumentation I gravitate toward”, while Gibbard has also shown a labor of love for the link up in his own press notes, telling Rolling Stone about the literature influence, “When Scott sent me the music for ‘Only Love, it seemed perfect for this statement. Since reading Alexis’ words, I’ve carried them as a universal truth; that the only way we preserve the people, places, or things we care for is with love, not hatred” in his own words. When I first heard ‘Only Love’, I honestly felt that it sounded a lot like Miami Horror. The vocal harmonies are very radiant and 80’s-leaning, while the Synth arrangements are soothing and bright. There are some bubbling guitar riffs that add some more colour and Pop-oriented melodies to the proceedings, while the Drums explode with a somewhat psychedelic and progressive Folk flair. The lyrics are kept concise and tight, with Gibbard just promising “No voices of anger/No threshing fists” and “No last chances missed/No Savior to arrive” above the sparkling Synthwave beats and the Lo-Fi production that pings around in your head. There’s a delicate sense of longing to the vocals, while the repeating line of “Only love can save this place” continues to repeat amongst the mixture of mid-tempo arrangements. A vibe of cathartic and deeply humanist lyricism is present as usual from Gibbard’s performance, while the 80’s-inflicted Synth Pop style of Tycho’s production adds a simple, but timeless feeling to the proceedings. There isn’t a ton of variety to the songwriting here, but the different arrangements and the nostalgic feel of the overall production seems like enough to maintain your interest. It is unclear whether this is a one-off release or whether Hansen and Gibbard will come together for a project like an EP (As we have seen with short-form releases from combinations like Khraungbin & Leon Bridges and MNDSGN & Lionmilk over the last few years), but I would certainly enjoy hearing more ideas being explored by this team-up. Quite uplifting and human in character, ‘Only Love’ sounds like a worthy addition to the discography of two great musicians who have probably earned a spot in your own record collection, in some form and at some point, already. A solid listen.

Pictured: Tycho (aka Scott Hansen) at Greek Theatre, Los Angeles (in 2019) (Photo Credit: Jon Bauer)

As mentioned earlier, we have previously taken a look at some solo work from Benjamin Gibbard and the San Francisco-based composer Tycho. If you haven’t shaken off those face mask and hand sanitizer blues yet, you can still take things down a notch with my assessment of Gibbard’s ‘Life In Quarantine’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/04/25/todays-track-benjamin-gibbard-life-in-quarantine/. Or, for more of Tycho, plug your earphones in and listen to ‘Outer Sunset’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/01/09/todays-track-tycho-outer-sunset/

Pictured: Benjamin Gibbard recording ‘Life In Quarantine’ at home (2020) (Photo Credit: KEXP.org)

That’s all for now! Thank you lots for joining me on the blog today, and I’ll be back tomorrow for something completely different in tone as we celebrate ‘Scuzz Sundays’ for yet another week. This week, we’re going back to the early-00’s discography of a very popular US heavy metal band from Des Moines, Iowa who had a number one album within the UK Albums Chart as recently as 2019. Their frontman, Corey Taylor, once appeared on an episode of BBC 2’s ‘QI’ as a panelist that was broadcast in 2016.

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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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