So Im not much of an emp guy any more (to hold lets be honest) and it kinda stopped being fun - well a long time back - for most of us. That was until I have to say I came across the dangerous summer completely by accident this last week. This is a band that had thus far completely evaded me - the bands most recent effort came out way earlier in the year.
That said if you liked the wordy-ness of a Weintz and a genuine way with a stratospheric tune then this could well be a band to get your ears around soon (although you may well be way ahead of the curve on me on this one)
Something to make you fall in love with tattood boys with guitars all over again.
Dont worry nothing to do with that bloody owl city song. TF are a brooklyn based two piece (brother and sister if i remember rightly) who blend an effortless mix of chamber folk, out and out pop and a healthy dollop of spacious wonder to create an irresistable mix of indie pop joy.
You can download the bands new 3 track ep for free right now over at the EARDRUMS POP netlabel. Id advise you to check it out at your earliest possible.
I posted on Youth Pictures a couple of weeks back and their great new album (Puzzle the Detective - out now on how is annie records) and I cam very pleased to report then (via Ben at Lazy Acre) that the band are coming to the UK this week to play a show. Details are below.
Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson @ The Fighting Cocks - Kingston
Its that you can never keep everyone happy. How can we manage to balance a love of shaking our asses like a polaroid picture and yet also indulge our moody "Bunnymen" sides and justify wearing this bloody trenchcoat out in public.
Luckily Oslo's I SEE HORSES have answered this problem in the form of their debut ep "Has my stealth been in vain" which manages to keep everyone happy across its four tracks. You see by throwing together swathes of their Factory records collection along with a dash of The Raptures dancefloor nouse and Nick Caves booming voice, the band have hit on a collection of songs that offer depth to the dancefloor canon, not least in the opening track Amerika which rides a Morrisey tinged vocal all the way to a euphoric chorus.
You can download the bands ep for free over at Lazy Acre Records website for FREEEEEEE (that s free people) and I would urge you to do just that.
Somehow now onto her 10th studio album (seriously girl how?!) Thea Gilmore continues to develop into one of the UKs finest songwriters. Its no wonder that Bruce Springsteen and Martha Wainwright rank her as one of their favourite songwriters. As wry and self deprectaing as it is raw and intimate Gilmores new album Murphys Heart continues to showcase the delicate songwriting talent that has seen her continue to plough her own furrow of delicously folksy pop.
Heres the video for new single "You're The Radio" - please do check out her website to get your hands on the new album
Havign disapeared from the scene for a while (on a particularly visible level at least) Ruarri Joseph - once touted as a new Get Cape Wear Cape Fly remember - returns with a wonderful new album of Waits-ian acoustic folk and blues that packs an emotional punch and a half. Josephs cracked Baritone is the centre piece of these tastefully arranged vignets, all everyman croon and emphatic soar over a collection of beautifully arranged songs, draped in aching strings and adorned with medlodic flashes of piano and percussion along with way.
A beautiful album - Shoulder to the wheel - is definietly one you should be adding to your "to lisen to lists" very soon!
As singer songwriters go there are few that are genuinely striving to push the genre forward - with most content to live within the acoustic fence erected by Nick Drake (hell Robert Johnson for that matter) and uninterested in the world outside of there. While the innovators then are rare enough its an even rarer beast that manages to set up home within the genre and still somehow contribute something worthy to an already over flowing canon.
Norwegian Uno Moller is one such songwriter and his debut album "songs from my beautoful colourball" is out now. The collection is a ten track album (culled from a huge archive of stockpiled home recorded songs) that over a bustling flatbed of acoustic guitars and gently chiming pianos carries Mollers crooning baritone over a series of folk and country led tunes recalling the likes of Nick Drake, Sparklehorse, Elliot Smith and even a confessional smidge of Conor Oberst as well.
Stark in tone and delivery, the record carries an emotional weight that belies its lightweight instrumentation (best exemplified by the utterly defeated sounding Graveyard Dance) whilst still maintaining a lightness of touch that enables you to get through the whole set in one sitting. By turns, sobering, intoxicating, claustrophobic and utterly uplifting Mollers sense of mood and tone is a wonderful thing given his humble home recording set up.
This album is available as a "you name the price" download as we speak and its highly suggested that you do just that (yes you can choose free!) and get involved now.
somethign uniquely British about these guys and utterly bewitching about this kind of innocent, naive acoustic pop. It is physically impossible to not fall in love with this song. The recorded version is even lovelier all mellotrons and little handclaps.
Ever wondered what Coldplay might sound like if they abandoned their current 'let's be Bono' mission and went off on an ACDC tangeant instead? Well in truth it probably sounds a lot like Luke Leighfield. Leighfields new album 'have you got heart' pulls of a tricky balancing across its length - wielding giddy stadium drums and wailing guitars on one hand whilst creating delicate piano led melodies on the other.
As bewildering as it might sound there's a clever conundrum going on here - is he taking the impersonal mass appeal of wembley bound rockers into an infinitely more personal place? Or merely giving the singer songwriter a rocket up its preverbial? In reality its both and all told it sets expectations for Mr Double-L extremely high for the coming months.
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