New Album Release Fridays: Gang Of Youths – ‘In The Wake Of Your Leave’

February 25, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Angel In Realtime’ (Released on February 25th, 2022) (via Mosy/Warner Bros. Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, of course, and the time has come for me to talk about one of the weekend’s most fascinating new album releases with ‘New Album Release Fridays’ on the blog, which ties into my goal of writing up about a different piece of music every day! ‘In The Wake Of Your Leave’ marks the second appearance on the daily blog for the surprisingly good Southern Rock-influenced rock band Gang Of Youths led by the frontman David Le’Aupepe of Samoan and Māori heritage. These guys are from Sydney, Australia and they seem to be more well-known there – having won four awards at the ARIA Music Awards Of 2017 including ‘Album Of The Year’ and ‘Producer Of The Year’ alongside Adrian Breakspear for their second album, ‘Go Farther In Lightness’, that was also released that year. However, they have been gaining daytime airplay from Radio X and BBC Radio 2 in recent years, they have performed on ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ in the US and they have toured arenas in support of Sam Fender too, and so it seems to me that they have been gaining mainstream traction in the rest of the world in recent months. It may expand even more when the masses hear ‘Angel In Real Time’, Gang Of Youths’ third studio album, which arrives today. Announced on Twitter last November, the new LP tackles the subjects of grief and loss – as Le’Aupepe has sadly lost his father – as well as indigenous identity. Describing his father in a press release, he says, “My dad was a gifted and passionate gardener. It’s where he funneled a lot of his energy and sensitivity, and despite our humble economic status, we were always surrounded by beauty”. Let’s hear a song about the subject – ‘In The Wake Of Your Leave’ – below.

This has been shaping up to be a crowded 2022 for Gang Of Youths as they continue to sell out headline solo gigs, and of the heart-wrenching recent single that we have just seen above, the ringmaster David Le’Aupepe recalls, “I wanted to reflect on how I became dependent on grief for solace and inspiration”, explaining, “The cycle from numbness to acceptance to yearning plays a role in my approach to grieving my dad’s death. As a result, most of the time, I feel a bit futile as a person”, in his own words via press release. Featuring backing harmonies by the Auckland Gospel Choir, percussion from drummers from the Cook Islands and sweeping string arrangements by Tom Hobden, L’Auepepe sounds both self-lacerating and liberating on the fast paced and emotive ballad as he recites lyrics like “So, as you canyoneered from our world upwards and the angels take their place/I was the loser at your funeral/No emotion conveyed” to the sound of some free-wheeling guitar melodies and energetic drum backings, as he shifts through a story of accepting loss and the cycles of moving on from a heavy bereavement at a concise structure and speed. The vocal delivery in the verses feels a little more poetry-based, with urgent lyrics like “I was drawn out in vain/And the idiot I am just figured/In the wake of your leave/That I’d never hear from you again” that feel like they are being half-spoken with a winking eye as the vague sense of humor shines through. Sung against a crescendo of uptempo guitar riffs and a grandiose backdrop of backing vocals and strings, the chorus of “My hand on heart/It’s not a thing that I’ve been dreaming of/And it goes without my blessing” and “But it comes and goes/And shows me all I’m missing” provides a very triumphant response to the death of a close relative and puts a little focus on the person who is suffering from the event, instead of solely the father himself. Introspective in the songwriting, confronting difficult topics with a brave sense of personality, and conjuring up some excellent instrumentation that gives it the anthemic feeling that it strives for, what really – quite honestly – amazes me about ‘In The Wake Of Your Leave’ is how it takes a concept that is deeply relatable and quite appealing to the mainstream in a way, but it still manages to feel intimate and unique to Gang Of Youths, as the track does a good job of convincing me that only David L’Aupepe could have wrote the track as it feels so reflective and expressive of himself. Most of the bands who have released music that Gang Of Youths remind me of – like Kings Of Leon or Liam Gallagher – have often released material that simply feels a little manufactured to me and I have found tricky to relate to as an individual – so I can often take it or leave it. I’m glad to say that with Gang Of Youths, the former is the case. Overall, ‘In The Wake Of Your Leave’ is pretty bloody fantastic in my opinion. A track that has a fair share of influences that it wears on it’s sleeves and it feels like it is about the person who made it, as all of the most moving music does to me, while feeling like an authentic tribute to L’Aupepe’s lost father. An irresistible mix of Bruce Springsteen, 80’s Blues Rock and this more modern, cinematic incarnation of The War On Drugs that we heard on Kurt Vile’s bands’ recent album. This is a really great piece.

Pictured: David Le’Aupepe (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar/Piano), Jung Kim (Keyboard/Synths/Acoustic Guitar), Max Dunn (Bass Guitar), Tom Hobden (Violin) and Donnie Borzestowski (Drums/Percussion) (2021) (via PR)

As mentioned before, ‘In The Wake Of Your Leave’, is the second single from Gang Of Youths to earn a little bit of attention on the blog. You can check out what I made of ‘The Angel Of 8th Ave.’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/08/14/todays-track-gang-of-youths-the-angel-of-8th-ave/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘The Angel of 8th Ave’ (Single) (Released on June 15th, 2021) (via Warner Bros. Records)

That was all that I really had to say about Gang Of Youths today, and I hope that you enjoyed this week’s entry of ‘New Album Release Fridays’ on the site, as your support is always highly appreciated. ‘Scuzz Sundays’ returns in two days time where we’re going to revisit a Post-Britpop classic from Richard Ashcroft’s old band. Before then, I’ve got some more accessible music lined up for you tomorrow as we listen to one of the latest tunes by an established Electronic Pop group from Devonshire, England who have remixed many artists over the years including Lady GaGa, Franz Ferdinand, Goldfrapp, Sebastien Teller and Gorillaz. Their seventh album was released last week.

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New Album Release Fridays: Beach House – ‘Once Twice Melody’

February 18, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Once Twice Melody’ (LP) (Released on February 18th, 2022) (via Sub-Pop Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has come for me to give you a sneak peek at one of the weekend’s most exciting new album releases, given that it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! In most typical weeks, my choice for ‘New Album Release Fridays’ on the blog is a highly anticipated affair that we’ve only got two or three singles from at most prior to the big moment of release, however, in the case of ‘Once Twice Melody’ – you can hear three quarters of it already. The latest LP project from the Baltimore, Maryland duo of Victoria LeGrand and Alex Scally, otherwise known as Beach House, a Chamber Pop duo who have been nominated for a GAFFA Award in Sweden, ‘Once Twice Melody’ is effectively a double album that contains 18 tracks that have all been presented in four chapters of four tracks that have seen staggered releases since November 2021, a risky move that notably finds music contributing to the streaming algorithm more closely than ever before. In aid of supporting the behemoth of a record, Beach House will be touring the UK and Europe in May and June 2022, as well as performing alongside fellow Psychedelic acts like Tame Impala and Lorde at this summer’s Primavera Sound Festival. ‘Part 1’ was released on November 10th, 2021 followed by ‘Part 2’ on December 8th, 2021, followed by ‘Part 3’ on January 19th, 2022 and, finally, the final chapter releases today alongside a full release of the project on Vinyl and Streaming. The duo have also recently provided the soundtrack to ‘Marin’s Dreams’, a short film. With their drawing and expansive sound that has been focused on conveying an abstract reflection of a message that idyllic moments are never quite as fruitful as fantasy, I have a lot of faith in LeGrand and Scally to pull out all of the stops with this mammoth of a release. For a sampler, let’s revisit the title track below.

Self-produced entirely by themselves, the ambitious LP project by Beach House was mixed by Alan Moulder, Dave Fridmann, Caesar Edmunds and Trevor Spencer, and it has been recorded over the past two years in a handful of studios spanning across Los Angeles, Baltimore and Cannon Falls. The lyrics for the title track speak of a girl that is placated by her own eccentric imagination, an unnamed character with an enigmatic narrative that we experience with refrains like “Nights fly by in her mind/All along the boulevard” and “She tries to understand/A never, never land” that find LeGrand focusing on the finer details of her mindset and they play out above a gorgeous sequence of looping synths and live drums on the title track. Guitar arpeggios continue to conjure up a sweeping and decorated soundscape that evoke sinking into the grass or the sand from an hourglass slipping through your fingers while LeGrand croons about the sensual slow pace of a hot, gauzy summer’s day. Lyrics like “Days go by/In her eyes/Belle De Jour in front of me” and “The purple on the vine/The velvet deep tree line” find the prismatic mood of the vocals basking in the far-away lands that have been constructed by our shy character’s wandering mind. It feels lush and vibrant as a complete package, with LeGrand and Scally telling a mysterious yet intriguing tale of the illusion of a crystal clear universe of fiction that are polished carefully with intimate Strings and a symphony of creative backing vocals, and yet the idealizations of our leading lady are never truly filled in. The sound simply takes you back to the very core of Shoegaze and Dream Pop music, which is all about filling a simple few melodies with meticulous details and an atmosphere that is simply designed for you to get lost in – and the kicking drums/synths combo of the vivid instrumentation escalate their own levels of intensity as the sprawling sounds move up to a higher scope. Therefore, I have a lot of faith that despite the sheer length of ‘Once Twice Melody’ as a full release, LeGrand and Scally will give the project plenty of depth and variety as to not grow tiresome and justify the length in creating music that doesn’t lose it’s intimacy over a run time. I concur that Beach House are brilliant!

Pictured: Victoria LeGrand and Alex Scally (2018) (Photo Credit: Robert Johannson/InterviewMagazine.com)

I’m off to visit my sister in Kent today, and so I haven’t got any longer to chat about all things music with you for today, but thank you very much for checking out the blog and your support is highly appreciated! If you deeply love your Dream-Pop and your Shoegaze styles of music, you’re also going to enjoy tomorrow’s post, which is why I decided to cover these two tracks so tightly together. It comes from the main solo project of the French multi-instrumentalist and producer Melody Prochet who got a 9/10 score from Drowned In Sound’s Dom Gourlay for her debut studio album in 2013.

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Today’s Track: Spiritualized – ‘Always Together With You’

January 3, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Jason Pierce (Lead Vocals/Lead Guitar/Keyboard) (2018) (Photo via Juliette Larthe/Nasty Little Man)

Good Morning, it’s Jacob Braybrooke! How has your year been? It’s time for me to write up about yet another daily track on the blog, since it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! This is the first of roughly 250 ‘Today’s Track’ on the blog aside from my other features in 2022, so I thought it was only fair to kick things off with a cosmic bang alike to a big meteor hitting a Volcano – or something not quite as dramatic as that. Either way, ‘Always Together With You’ is a fresh new single by Spiritualized that I’ve been hearing on the radio lately, and I really can’t get enough of it. Spiritualized is now the solo project of Jason Pierce (J. Spaceman) of former Spaceman 3 fame who was born in Rugby, Warwickshire. Spiritualized used to be a group featuring the likes of guitarist Doggen Foster, drummer Kevin Bales, keyboardist Tom Edwards and more, among a few line-up changes over the years. At the time, Spiritualized won NME’s ‘Album Of The Year’ award in 1997 by beating stiff competition like Radiohead’s ‘OK Computer’ and The Verve’s ‘Urban Hymns’ with their critically acclaimed album release ‘Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating In Space’ that year. Pierce’s ninth studio album under the Spiritualized project – ‘Everything Was Beautiful’ – has recently been announced with a release date of February 25th, 2022 via Fat Possum Records. On the new record, Pierce plays a staggering amount of 16 different instruments that he recorded in his home and in 11 different studios. More than 30 musicians, including Pierce’s former band-mate John Coxon and his daughter Poppy, will also appear on the new album. Penned during lockdown, Pierce says the album was written in a state of embracing the isolation while viewing it as a “beautiful solitude” and noting “I felt like I’d been training for this my whole life”, as per a press note. Let’s check out the opener below.

“There was so much information on it that the slightest move would unbalance it, but going around in circles is important to me. Not like you’re spiraling out of control, but you’re going around and around and around and on each revolution, you hold onto the good each time”, states Pierce – who will be taking his Spiritualized act on the road for tour dates beginning with North American gigs running through April – adding, “Sure, you get mistakes as well, but you hold on to some of those too and that’s how you kind of… achieve. Well, you get there”, in his own words. Thankfully for Pierce, his new single begins with pin-point precision by kicking off with a whirring Synthesizer loop and a settling, if distant, voice amid the soft strums of the guitar melodies and the spacious backing vocal that feels ragged in delivery. Simple lyrics like “If you will be my lonely girl/I would be a lonely boy for you” and “If you want another world, I would be another world for you” make up the fragmented soundscape as discordant yet lightly textured Post-Punk bass guitar riffs and hard-edged Drum beats quicken the pace of the swelling sounds. The vocals are layered yet forceful and the quietly shimmering backdrop of diverse sounds make for a detailed but fairly grounded arrangement. Towards the end, a sudden crescendo of Strings set to lyrics like “If you walk the galaxies/I would walk the galaxies for you” and “Always together with you/If you’ve got a lonely heart” that transforms the brief moonlight of his vocal textures in the early going into more full-blown Space Rock as Pierce gathers up his dreams and allows the themes of high romance and space opera to collide more fully. Lonesome yet humble, Pierce looks inwards while gazing upwards with this beautiful new tune that feels beautifully textured and carefully produced with thoughtful pacing choices to the point where the peak cinematic explosion between Psychedelic Pop and slightly classical Rock feels astounding. This is an artist who clearly knows what he’s doing, and the new single is a very effective teaser for a pretty and intricate new album exploring heartache and tranquility with a sense of grandeur that will hopefully be met promptly. A fantastic single that could only be Spiritualized.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Everything Was Beautiful’ (LP) (Available on February 25th, 2022) (via Bella Union)

Thank you for journeying into a galaxy of new music with me today, and I’ll be back tomorrow for our second best regular post of the year so far with an intriguing Alternative Punk track that I recently found through KEXP’s ‘Song Of The Day’ podcast recorded by a Manchester-based band with over 2.3k monthly listeners on Spotify. The 4-piece’s producer and third member – Liam Stewart – has toured with Lonelady.

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Santa’s Scuzz Sundays: The Smashing Pumpkins – ‘Christmas Time’

December 19, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Pictured: Billy Corgan (Lead Vocals/Writer/Producer), James Iha (Bass Guitar), Jeff Schroeder (Keyboard/Rhythm Guitar) & Jimmy Chamberlain (Drums/Percussion) in a press shot for ‘Cyr’ (2020) (Photo via PR)

Happy Ho-Ho-Holidays to you from me, Father Christmas, and – for a final time this year – I’ve got a new entry in my ‘Scuzz Sundays’ December takeover to give our regular writer Jacob Braybrooke (Who is almost the busiest man in the world, bar me) a little break, because it is his day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! My takeover has come and gone incredibly quickly, almost as quickly as the time it takes for one of my Elf’s to create a toy for the little children of the world, but it draws to a natural conclusion with a rare track from one of the most established alternative rock bands of the 1990’s, The Smashing Pumpkins. Best known for albums like ‘Melon Collie and The Infinite Sadness’ and ‘Siamese Dream’, the name of the group probably has more to do with Halloween than Christmas. However, their blend of soft metal, dream rock, shoegaze, electronica and gothic rock has persisted throughout the ages, and their ambitious frontman Billy Corgan, who was also once a promoter for Total Nonstop Action wrestling, has ensured the project has sold its way to over 30 million records worldwide. It is also a solid achievement that the band are still going, having released a new album as recently as their eleventh LP outing – ‘Cyr’ – in 2020. Our good friend Jacob tells me that he is quite fond of The Smashing Pumpkins himself and that although their discography can be a little hit-or-miss, particularly in their dwindling late-00’s period and with some of their most recent material garnering mixed-negative receptions from him, they make music that is never inherently uninteresting and he appreciates all of the visual work that Corgan puts into their art, and so he still likes to make it clear that even his least favourite releases of The Pumpkins are not without merit. Believed to have been released in 1997 originally, their creative rendition of ‘Christmas Time’ was an original Christmas song that was a rare recording to come across since it was never formally released on one of Corgan’s albums. Instead, it was found on the compilation ‘A Very Special Christmas 3’ that was produced by the usual trio of Bobby Shriver, Al Cafaro & Linda Feder to benefit the Special Olympics via A&M Records. Let’s check it out below.

‘Christmas Time’ can also be found on The Smashing Pumpkins’ 2005 compilation, ‘Rarities and B-Sides’, that just does what it says on the tin. The original source, as mentioned, was ‘A Very Special Christmas 3’, the third in the titular of Christmas box sets released for charity. This iteration of the series also featured some appearances from Mary J. Blige, Dave Matthews, No Doubt, Natalie Merchant, Sting, Enya, Hootie & The Blowfish and Steve Winwood, and the big release runs for over 66 minutes in its entirety. It reached #2 on the US Billboard Top Holiday Albums chart and it was certified as ‘Gold’ for shifting over 500,000 units by the RIAA. Keeping things short and sweet at a less daunting 3:17 however, was Corgan’s original track ‘Christmas Time’ which was second in the track listing, and it feels like a natural choice to warm you up for the more mellow or hard-hitting cuts later on. Reflecting on the fuzzy and kind-hearted memories of times gone by, Corgan uses nostalgic lyrics like “We watch the children playing, beside the Christmas tree/The presents are wrapped up, it’s beautiful and secretly” and “I remember dreaming, Wishing, hoping and praying for this day/Now I sit and watch them/The little ones I love” introduced a more mature theme of enjoying Christmas time as an adult, which feels like unique and relatively untapped subject matter in other yuletide anthems. There’s a delicate String section that dominates the backbeat, as well as some whimsical Horns that help to set the tone of a simple Christmas done right in the opening. The key hook of “Christmas time has come, toys for everyone” gets the simple message of ‘Christmas is finally here’ across in a sweet and pleasant way. Musically, this probably has the most in common with the band’s ‘infinite sadness’ era as it doesn’t really reflect harder rock archetypes, but it feels almost child-like in the way that it depicts Christmas in such an earnest way that is complemented by Corgan’s vulnerable vocals well. There’s a few Synth textures buried in here, but the track certainly has an eclectic air of rhyme and reason to it. As a complete package, this makes for a really gorgeous and subtle Dream-Pop release that wears its heart on its sleeve and conveys a basic message in a pleasant way. It plays to the softer side of The Smashing Pumpkins that is rarely seen, but is very appreciated when it does pull in an appearance, and it feels somewhat strange that it hasn’t really been given any cover versions or re-workings for John Lewis ads at Christmas in later years. At the time, it was a refreshing change of pace for a band who are known to release intimidating double albums and inter-connected albums to opt for something simpler and indulge in straightforward holiday cheer, and Corgan strikes a good balance between child-like joy and more adult-oriented nostalgia in his lyrics. I’m sure that Jacob would love for me to point out that Corgan could have easily just recorded a simple cover version of an already more established song for the record all of those years ago as it would have cost him nothing. However, he instead decided to write his own lyrics and chord sheets from scratch. This is testament to what makes Corgan’s project so appealing over the decades and why The Smashing Pumpkins have survived throughout the saturation of ‘Indie’ for so long. He never repeats himself and, as an artist, he always gives his all into everything what he does. That’s something that we can all deeply admire about Corgan. To conclude, this is an essential addition to your playlist as it has everything that you could want from a Christmas song since it feels traditionally festive as well as original.

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Mellan Collie and The Infinite Sadness’ (LP) (Released in 1985) (via Virgin/EMI Records)

Jacob has also informed me that Corgan and his co-horts have made two previous appearances on the site. You can catch up on their recent material with ‘Wyttch’ from 2020’s ‘Cyr’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/11/27/todays-track-the-smashing-pumpkins-wyttch/. Or, you can relive their ‘Melon Collie and The Infinite Sadness’ days with his take on ‘Tonight, Tonight’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/10/27/scuzz-sundays-the-smashing-pumpkins-tonight-tonight/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Cyr’ (LP/Album) (Released on November 27th, 2020) (via Sumerian Records)

I’ve got to give Rudolph’s nose a wipe – and so I’ll leave it there for today! Thank you very much for having me throughout December, and I’ll leave you in the capable hands of Jacob Braybrooke again tomorrow, who will be having a brief reset before Christmas to help you catch up on some music that you may have missed in 2021. The next pick comes from a Black Metal-influenced Art Folk and Country singer songwriter who issued her tenth studio LP via Sacred Bones Records and Bella Union in October.

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Countdown To Christmas 2021: Frightened Rabbit – “It’s Christmas, So We’ll Stop”

November 20, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Art for “It’s Christmas, So We’ll Stop” (Released on Dec. 15th, 2008) (via FatCat Records)

Good Morning to you! You are reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time to grab your Gingerbread Latte to sip along with as we continue our ‘Countdown To Christmas’ today, which I’ll be leading because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! A Scottish indie folk band who were formed by Scott Hutchinson, who originally began the group as a solo project, in 2003 – Frightened Rabbit were a band who released five albums, two EP’s, two live albums and ten singles to critical acclaim, which allowed the band to develop a large cult following that is still avid to this day. There is a sadness to the band, however, as Hutchinson fell ill and he went missing on a terrible night in 2018, where his body was later found dead near Port Edgar, South Queensferry. Based in Glasgow from 2004, the band were also known for their frequent collaborations and extensive touring with Aaron Dessner, a multi-instrumentalist from The National. Frightened Rabbit’s work has been released across Fat Cat Records and major label Atlantic Records, and the strongly reviewed 6-piece were also well-liked for their regular charity work with the Invisible Children Inc. music coalition project. Hutchinson, alongside his brother Grant Hutchinson, also worked with Justin Lockey (Editors) and James Lockey (Minor Victories) on their side project Mastersystem. Mainstream-wise, Frightened Rabbit were perhaps best known for 2013’s ‘Pedestrian Verse’, which reached #9 on the UK Albums Chart. However, their final album, 2016’s ‘Painting Of A Panic Attack’, which included the particularly good single ‘Get Out’, was my personal favourite. In 2008, they got into the seasonal spirit with ‘It’s Christmas, So We’ll Stop’. Let’s give it a spin.

Scott Hutchinson released an original mix of ‘It’s Christmas, So We’ll Stop’ as solo material in 2007, before he reworked the track with expanded instrumentation and additional production for a re-release the next year. He said, “It’s Christmas… is about people deciding to be pleasant to one another for about a day, regardless of whether or not they actually get along the rest of the year”, adding, “I feel it’s maybe healtheir to live a little more consistently (not that I do), but often humans need excuses to be nice and giving and loving to one another, and Christmas is one of those times, for better or worse”, to the Vinyl’s product description. At just over five minutes in length, Hutchinson encourages a ceasefire for hatred over the top of some swelling String sections, a melancholic lead guitar hook, some softly psychedelic backing vocals that feel warm in texture, and some gradually building Drum rhythms. Lyrics like “As the rot stops for today, Let the rot stop for just one day” touch on restraining the disillusionment and sensual assault that comes with the excess of the holiday season. Later lyrics, like “‘Cause the wine on our breath puts the love on our tongues”, touch on product overindulgence and throw shade at commercialism a little, while vaguely spotlighting the community of Christmas as the main theme. The final refrain of “The next day, life went back to its bad self” hints towards the hostilities of the wider world being resumed after the big day of December 25th. While treading familiar ground for a Christmas single, in terms of the key material discussing the halting of arguments and the easing of tension that it all brings, Hutchinson manages to polish everything in a neat way. His vocal delivery feels sharp and piercing at times, giving off the idea of the knives being put down for the single day but also suggesting a warmer armistice, and it introduces a raw element of melancholy and a sense of foreboding to the instrumentation. The soundscape, as a result, is full of musical diversity. It is slightly charming and witty in a black comedy format, but it’s also a little sombre and downtempo, all while maintaining an uplifting quality in the spirit of the religious season. It feels very frank, with the blend of orchestral and acoustic instrumentation complementing his variety of tones as the songwriting develops in a way that’s gradual. It is one of the most poignant, yet realistic, festive songs out there.

Pictured: Scott Hutchinson (Lead Vocals/Acoustic Guitar/Writer), Billy Kennedy (Lead Guitar/Keyboard). Andy Monaghan (Rhythm Guitar/Backing Vocals), Simon Liddell (Bass Guitar) and Grant Hutchinson (Drums/Percussion/Occasional Backing Vocals) (in 2013) (Photo via RedBull.com/Atlantic Records)

That brings us to the end of our trimming of festive output for this week! Please join me again tomorrow for ‘Scuzz Sundays’, as we take a listen to a Pop-Punk anthem from a well-known California-formed rock band who bonded over their love of music on the football pitch and they recorded one of their albums in the Paramour Mansion.

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New Album Release Fridays: Bears In Trees – ‘Little Cellist’

November 19, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘And Everybody Smiled Back’ (LP) (Released on November 19, 2021) (via Counter Intuitive Records)

Good Morning to you! You are reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for us to delve deeply into one of this weekend’s most intriguing new LP releases, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! While Jessy Lanza will be releasing her ‘DJ-Kicks’ compilation this week and Kaytranada will be releasing his ‘Intimated’ EP today, new albums from the likes of Elbow and Deap Vally are likely to get overshadowed this week by the media attention that the week’s heavy-hitter, Adele, will be receiving from the release of her new album ’30’. Therefore, I’ve decided to provide another alternative option for you to explore this weekend. ‘And Everybody Smiles Back’ is the highly anticipated debut studio album from the Croydon-formed indie rock group Bears In Trees, who have been signed to the Boston-based label Counter Intuitive Records. With a large social media following of over 100,000 followers on Instagram and over 20,000 via Twitter, the band are seemingly poised for bigger things in the near future. The project is led by producer George Berry, who graduated from the Academy Of Contemporary Music with a first class honours degree in Professional Music Production. He’s joined by bassist/lead vocalist Ian Gillespie, classically trained flautist Callum Litchfield and songwriter/guitarist Nick Peters, who runs the majority of the band’s social media pages. Having just embarked on their long-delayed debut headline UK tour and supported NOAHFINNCE on a previous tour, Bears In Trees are keeping proceedings fresh by developing their new record as a concept album which tells stories of the day after the best or worst day in a person’s life, and each of the songs featured on the LP tells anecdotes being pulled from the band’s actual lives. Speaking about the unique concept, Nick Peters says, “In films and TV series, the plot line ends on the best or worst days of someone’s life and that we never really get to see the day after”, adding, “I think it’s important because the day after is where the healing and compassion happen”, in a press statement. Let’s check out their recent single, ‘Little Cellist’, below.

Commenting on ‘Little Cellist’, Iain Gillespie says: “This is a story about me and a good friend of mine. She plays Cello. She found me in a god-awful state, which finally began my treatment journey for my mental health”, describing, “I was lying on the floor of the student union building; me finally opening up to her allowed her to open up to me and we became each other’s shoulder to cry on, and she kept me safe during some very hard times”, in Bears In Trees’ press release. Bridging Spoken Word sections and poetry with a more conventional Indie Folk template, ‘Little Cellist’ is a narrative-driven tale about seeking hope and purpose through a common experience, with lyrics like “She often held in her intrusive thoughts for fear/That the weight of her worries was too much for him to hear” that discuss difficulty in speaking your mind truthfully, in the way that Brits do as we say what we don’t mean in terms of dialect. Later refrains, like “She quelled her anxiety to calm her fading friend” and “The ambulance rolled up like his limousine/To take him to a place where he reigned supreme”, mix a sense of whimsicality with more hard-hitting content in terms of narrating the story. The instrumentation is kept rather simple and concise, as floating Piano lines and brief String sections provide a slightly cinematic, uplifted underlayer to the rustic, heartfelt acoustic guitar melodies. The Spoken Word sections feel intriguing, as they provide a dream-like feel to undercut the set-up for the narrative and ensure some more variety to the songwriting. The lyrics are nice and easy, with a clear theme being communicated by a blend of poetry and contemporary Indie Rock production. Later lyrics like “Even Jesus Christ himself needed help to bear his cross/Please feel free to lean on me if the world becomes too much” tend to go darker in tone, recited with a delivery that reminds me of Jarvis Cocker in its mix of sardonic wit and emotional storytelling. When all of these parts are merged together, you get some story-based indie rock that feels crowd-pleasing and accessible, yet feels a little more complex in practice than your average release. Therefore, it feels like a sensible choice for a single. Overall, this was an engaging blend of sardonic storytelling and spoken poetry that carries a similar message to other mental health-based tracks, yet it still sets itself apart well enough because there’s an individual personality behind it.

Pictured: George Berry (Producer/Drums/Percussion), Ian Gillespie (Lead Vocals/Bass Guitar), Callum Litchfield (Ukulele/Piano/Backing Vocals) and Nick Peters (Lead Guitar/Chief Songwriter) (2019) (via PR)

That’s everything that I’ve got planned for today on the blog! Thank you very much for your support, and I’ll be back tomorrow to continue leading you through our ‘Countdown To Christmas’ series on the site. If you check it out, you’ll be treated to an alternative festive single from a Scottish indie folk band who were active until 2018, where the lead singer was presumed to have sadly lost his life after going missing. However, they were known for their work with the Invisible Children coalition project.

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

August 29, 2021 — Leave a comment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Today’s Track: Gang Of Youths – “The Angel Of 8th Ave.”

August 14, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Total Serene’ (EP) (Released on July 15, 2021) (via Warner Music UK)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, and it’s time for me to get typing up for 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! A 5-piece Desert Rock group formed in Sydney, but now based in Hackney, Gang Of Youths are an indie rock quintet who appear to be a big deal in recent times. Their debut album, 2015’s ‘The Positions’, reached the top five of the ARIA Albums Chart in their native country of Australia, and, their follow-up, 2017’s ‘Go Farther In Lightness’, was nominated for eight ARIA Music Awards in 2017, gaining them wins for ‘Album Of The Year’, ‘Best Rock Album’, ‘Best Group’ and ‘Producer Of The Year’ on the night. On July 16, they released the ‘Total Serene’ EP with no prior notice, marking their first new music since that time four years ago. It also marks their first new music to be released with Tom Hobden, a former member of Noah & The Whale, as their new guitarist and violinist, replacing Joji Malani, who left the band in 2019. The new EP includes two original tracks and a cover version of Elbow’s ‘Asleep In The Back’ from 2002, which frontman Dave Le’Aupepe explained with, “We love Elbow and we thought it was thematically relevant”. Check out the self-produced new lead single, ‘The Angel of 8th Ave.’, below.

Gang Of Youth have also inked a deal with Warner Bros, in 2019, as the formerly fully independent artists continue to raise their profile, and Radio X have also granted ‘The Angel Of 8th Ave.’ national daytime radio airplay in the UK. Dave Le’Aupepe told Zane Lowe, “I started writing this about four years ago and we’ve done 15 versions of it”, adding, “It’s probably the only song that you’ll hear from us now that sounds remotely kind of what we sounded like the previous kind of six to eight years”, in an interview, as he teases a new path of direction for the band in the times to come. ‘The Angel Of 8th Ave’ is a heart-on-its-sleeve acoustic rock tune that promises new hope in it’s light-hearted approach. The track has a tight four-minute duration, with Le’Aupepe singing about the evolution on his love for his wife, Cort, as he reminisces over the past and looks for constancy, glad that he took the risk to find love again after a traumatic split-up with a former partner. Lyrics like “God, it was state of the art/You called each of my sorrows by name” reference a move to a new city as the catalyst for positive change in your relationships, and sings lyrics like “I wanna lay me down/and be lover of the year” with a slightly quirky tone to reflect on the long-standing love that he has found in a very celebratory way. The post-bridge towards the end, where he comments “Ah, there’s heaven in you now”, with Joy Division-leaning Synths intact, is a definite highlight in showing that Le’Aupepe has a defiant muscularity in his voice. To be brutal, a lot of this style of music can be very “take it or leave it” with me, and, in the past with Gang Of Youths, I’ve sometimes took the latter choice. However, I find there to be something irresistible in this mish-mash mix of Bruce Springsteen, The War On Drugs and The National that I really enjoyed. The strings add a cinematic flair to the equation, the drums roll along at a rhythmically speeding pace, and the bass guitar riffs trend towards Prog-Rock in an entertaining way. You can hear the influence of Warner Bros’ producers at some points, especially in the radio-friendly production, but the rest came across with honesty and integrity that was convincing for me. Filled with a varied pallete of influences, a broad style of poetic expression and a lovingly 80’s call-back of moods, ‘The Angel Of 8th Ave’ was a surprising delight for me. A real, excellent highlight of the band’s discography thus far.

That’s all for now! Thank you very much, as always, for sticking until the bitter end with me. It’s ‘Scuzz Sundays’, as per usual, tomorrow, as we introduce another group of friendly new faces to the blog. Well, kind of. Tomorrow’s pick came from one of Slash’s post Guns ‘N’ Roses projects that was active in the 00’s. Despite having a failed relationship with RCA Records, they gained critical acclaim, they toured with Alice In Chains, and they won the Grammy award for ‘Best Hard Rock Performance’ in 2005.

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Today’s Track: Iron Maiden – “The Writing On The Wall”

July 31, 2021 — Leave a comment

I’ve got two tickets to see Iron Maiden, baby. Come with me Friday. It’s new post time!

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Senjutsu’ (Available from September 3rd, 2021) (via Parlophone Records Ltd.)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s finally time to shake up your Saturday with an intriguing track on the blog, because it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Iconic purveyors of all things audio-visual Metal, Leyton’s gods Iron Maiden are making a bold comeback with the highly anticipated release of their seventeenth mainline album, ‘Senjutsu’, a Samurai-influenced record which releases on September 3rd via Parlophone Records. This will be their first new material in six years, and a highly-anticipated entry in the library of a pioneering group whose career has spanned across 40 releases, including albums, compilations, EP’s, live albums and remix albums. According to data from MD Daily Record in 2021, Iron Maiden have sold over 200 million copies of these releases globally. It is bizarre, then, to think that Iron Maiden never seem to get a great deal of radio or television support for their new releases, and I only got the memo about ‘The Writing On The Wall’ due to my uncle making a post about it on Facebook. He is an absolutely huge fan of this new one, by the way. Let’s check it out for ourselves below.

Lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson teamed up with former Pixar executives Mark Andrews and Andrew Gordon, along with director Nicos Livesey and other animation studio Blinklink to create the detailed video for ‘The Writing On The Wall’ that finds Eddie (The band’s mascot) being converted into a 3D audio-visual nightmare. Fitting collaborators for a band whose 1982 LP, ‘The Number Of The Beast, was voted as the ‘Best British Album’ by the public in a poll related to the Diamond Jubilee ceremony of Queen Elizabeth II in 2012. I’ve read from a few critics that ‘Writing On The Wall’ sounds a little different for Iron Maiden, although I’m not knowledgeable enough to make too many comparisons myself. The party starts off with an Acoustic element created by the mid-tempo Spanish guitar riffs, before the sneering delivery of Bruce Dickinson’s vocals swoop in for forceful lyrics like “Now we are victorious, we’ve become our slaves” and “A land of hope and glory building graveyards for the brave” that drives the main riffs to a more intense delivery. The layering of the different instruments is cohesive and detailed, with the distinctive bass guitarist joining the fray for a Southern Blues feel towards the chorus. Later in the seven-minute affair, we get a beautifally controlled lead guitar solo, and the Drums kick into a higher gear as Dickinson sings “Have you seen the writing on the wall?” and “Can you see the riders on the storm?” for the final repeat of the chorus. The pacing of the track nicely mimics the ‘rider of the storm’ who is the protagonist of the high-budget Metal epic, with careful layers of Drums and Bass gradually building in a methodical way as the guitars gradually start charging to the home stretch of the ballad. It never feels too frenetic, and it feels like more of a rock-oriented Country track on steroids for the most part, but there is a beautiful control to the technical production of the ballad, and the fantastical elements of the narrative manage to still come across as fairly original and inventive enough to satisfy both die-hard fans of their discography, and those, like me, who require a re-introduction to the band’s modern style. On the whole, this is a wildly enjoyable new single that takes Metal down some interesting avenues, while also providing solid entertainment for their pre-existing fanbase. As sturdy and robust as the long-served longevity of the story of ‘666’ still being the Number Of The Beast.

Pictured: Bruce Dickinson (Lead Vocals/Piano), Steve Harris (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals), Dave Murray (Lead Guitar), Adrian Smith (Keyboard/Backing Vocals), Janick Gers (Rhythm Guitar/Unclean Vocals) and Nicko McBrain (Drums/Percussion/Occasional Backing Vocals) (2021) (Photo via PR)

That’s the end of the road for today, and thank you again for your continued support for the blog. We’re doing it all over again tomorrow with another new entry in our ‘Scuzz Sundays’ line-up of revisiting the Pop-Punk anthems of the past. This week’s catchy pick marks the second appearance on the site from a famous Swedish Garage-Punk Quintet who have become acclaimed by critics as one of the genre’s top tier live acts. In 2005, they issued a live concert DVD to make the claim – ‘Trussels In Brussels’.

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Today’s Track: Field Music – “Orion From The Street”

May 6, 2021 — Leave a comment

A spherical far cry from the time where we thought the Earth was flat. New post time!

Pictured: Peter & David Brewis (Vocals/Synths/Keys/Guitars) (2021) (Photo by Memphis Industries)

Good Afternoon to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and, as you’ve likely realized already by now, it’s time for 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! A now-pair of London Art Rocker veterans, Field Music have released nine albums in the last 16 years, scoring a Mercury Prize nomination and three UK Albums Chart top 40 entries in that time. Members of Maximo Park and The Futureheads have been featured as a part of their line-up over the last few decades, but the core members are Sunderland brothers David & Peter Brewis. Their latest release is ‘Flat White Moon’, which has gained critical acclaim since getting released last weekend on Memphis Industries. There’s usually a two-year gap to their cycle, on the exact day of their prior album, but ‘Flat White Moon’ is an outlier of that Easter Egg because we only heard from them last year on ‘Making A New World’, a concept album about World War 1 with eerie parallels to the time. Named after a constellation of stars, ‘Orion From The Sun’ was the lead single of the release, which was seemingly inspired by the 70’s Glam Pop of David Bowie, Led Zeppelin and Talking Heads. It’s fair to say that professor Brian Cox would be having a ‘Field Day’ with this. Check out the brilliant music video below.

Writing new material quicker than usual with the release of ‘Orion From The Street’, Peter Brewis writes: “It’s full of accidental quotes and allusions – the first couple of lines I overheard in a Cary Grant documentary, but they sum up the whole song – how intense impressions of love, hate, grief and guilt can be an almost hallucinatory experience” in Field Music’s recent press statements after penning that he wrote the promotional tune in a daze. Kicking off with a pack of twinkling keyboard melodies that gets a low-key groove of dramatic synths and colourful guitar riffs shimmering from that point onwards, permeating with a high radiance during the chorus, we get a propulsive and buoyant musing on stargazing and astronomy with uptight bass rhythms and wholly positive electronic tones in the familiar, yet nostalgic, Field Music mould. The vocals complement the brief pokings at Prog-Funk nicely, with Brewis imagining a world where “Death is but a dream” and “Memories that fall like rain are spirited away” over a wistful, psych-hinting background. It’s refreshing to hear a track which isn’t really addressing heavy and modern topics like race, femininity or LGBT circles, as the lyrics ponder gentle philosophy and cosmic themes instead with a vivid synth palette. I feel that it makes for a very nice change from the typical “indie” sound of the 2020’s, as the vocals signal for a means of escape from reality. A vivid set of instrumentation and cascading music production make proceedings feel fresh and the hooks are quite memorable. The odd guitar licks and the cymbal crashes give it an off-kilter flair, and a nice Horn section provides a fluttering highlight towards the middle. Overall, I like it because it’s just a pretty song that does something different to it’s peer contemporaries. While the meaning isn’t particularly definable, it provides an intricate moment for you to stop and nod your head along to. The hard effort clearly shows, with a solid update on the Alternative Rock sound of the mid-2010’s, as a retro nuance adds more depth to the package than it may first appear on the Lunar surface.

Pictured: Cover Art for “Flat White Moon” (LP) (Released on April 23, 2021) (via Memphis Industries)

That’s all for today, but we’re going back to the basics on the blog tomorrow, as we delve into one of the weekend’s biggest new album releases. This week’s pick marks the much-anticipated release of the debut album from Brighton’s promising Post-Punk prodigies who are one of Warp Records latest signings and appeared on the Independent Venue Week documentary ‘On The Road’ where they were seen playing a dustbin lid with an asparagus! 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/