Author: James Fenney

Spotlight!: Ålesund

/ James Fenney

The world around us changes with the seasons, and though we may think ourselves above it, we ourselves are changed along with it. Winter is a time for endings, and so naturally we are compelled to reflect on all that came before. As the animals hibernate from the cold we find warmth and comfort nestled up with friends and family. Spring is alive with new beginnings, and instils in us the compulsion to look forward and carve new paths. But it’s the summer heat that forges us into our strongest, boldest selves. It’s the period where we’re most likely to leave the life we know behind in search of adventure. It’s punctuated by dancing at festivals, cheering in sports stadiums, parties that make the most of the long days, memories made in sunsets that seem to last an age. Summer is for living. Sat here on the hottest day of the year thus far, listening to the new EP from Bristol band Ålesund as the last rays of sunshine illuminate the street, I can’t help but feel the band are burning every bit as bright as the summer sun. 

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Top Tracks: Lucifers Beard – Out For Blood

/ James Fenney

It’s nice to do a deep dive into a song. To sit with it a while, unravel its deeper layers. See how different your tenth or twentieth listen will feel compared to the very first, after you’ve had time to pick up on the song’s nuances and form some semblance of a deeper connection. ‘Out For Blood’ is not one of those songs. This isn’t some slow burner to sit and ponder, rather, true to its name, it is a song that goes straight for the jugular. There’s no room for introspection when you can’t hear your own thoughts over the sound of the blood pumping in your ears. This track from solo project Lucifers Beard (10/10 band name, no notes) paints a thin veneer of southern grit overtop the kind of Royal Blood style no-holds-barred hard rocker that just chews you up and spits you out. Between the phenomenal gut punch bass tone, squalling guitar solo, and the brief psychedelic interlude that leaves you just enough time to catch your breath, this little gem is a delightful find for fans of Queens of the Stone Age and King Gizzard.

Top Tracks: EĐĐIE – The Spark

/ James Fenney

The hardest part of a break-up lies in the sudden onset of the unknown. Not just in practical terms; the constant stream of changes to how you spend your days now that you’re spending them without that someone by your side. Far beyond that, the most painful and confusing part is the realisation that you didn’t know what was in the other person’s heart quite as well as you thought you did. The doubt and uncertainty dig their way ever deeper through your brain like a tree root through soil. What was the moment where their love first began to falter? Was there a way that you could have kept things together? These and more questions that all leave you shaken, and rarely ever come with reassuring answers. ‘The Spark’ channels that frantic pondering about how it all unravelled into an introspective anthem awash with 80s sensibilities. This track from Pennsylvania based artist EĐĐIE, taken from his latest album Grieving Hour, deftly balances the rawness of heartbreak with memorable melodic hooks and stunningly slick production.

Top Tracks: lotusbliss – Heaven To Me

/ James Fenney

I sometimes wonder if my Spotify stats read like the listening habits of a crazy person. The kind of person that will sit and listen to the same single song on repeat for interminably long stretches of time. The way I see it, if I’m to write about a song and do it justice, I need to know it inside and out, even if it takes hours. Many songs do not fare well with that level of repetition; it becomes such familiar territory that your brain just coasts by on autopilot. But then you have songs like ‘Heaven To Me’, that unveil their secrets gradually, sounding as fresh on the 50th listen as they did on the first. This track from sibling trio lotusbliss, taken from their new EP Deafening and Silent, feels like the audio equivalent of a mirror maze. Weaving an illusion which make it seem like it stretches on forever. From the deft intricate drum work, to the understated synthscapes flickering in the background. With angelic vocals reminiscent of Nothing But Thieves’ Conor Mason, and guitar that both squalls like a gale and twirls gently like a falling snowflake. Every listen becomes a fresh adventure well worth embarking on.

Spotlight!: Yoshika Colwell

/ James Fenney

As I’ve grown older it’s begun to dawn on me that the key to happiness is learning to find comfort in the life you’re living. No more constant comparisons to the lives those around you are leading, no more lingering too long on regrets & what-ifs, no more holding on to the idea that “one day, things will all be different“. Life isn’t about the big picture, it’s all in the everyday. Most of our time spent on this Earth is ordinary, and all of that time is spent as ourselves. Making peace with who you are, what you truly need, and how you want to spend your days. Accepting the things you can’t change, and being wise enough to recognise the parts you can and should. That’s the way to contentment. There’s A Time, the debut EP from singer/songwriter Yoshika Colwell, provides an idyllic little oasis of said contentment for anyone in search of it. Thanks in no small part to the lightness and grace of her vocals, the warmth and tenderness of her folk arrangements, and the soft naturalistic approach to production that makes you feel like you’re there holding your breath in the corner of the recording studio. Yet beyond all that, contained in these five tracks, are Yoshika’s own musings on making this journey of self-reflection. Continue reading →

Top Tracks: Picture Parlour – Face in the Picture

/ James Fenney

At first I didn’t get the hype behind Picture Parlour, but all that changed upon seeing these rising stars live. Seeing their style, energy and stage presence in the flesh, it suddenly made all the sense in the world why they were generating such buzz on the live circuit. Somehow that intensity didn’t quite get captured on their first couple of singles. ‘Face in the Picture’ is the first time that a studio recording has been able to show the quartet at the height of their powers. This title track from their debut EP, out 14th June, effortlessly outdoes the Arctic Monkeys at their own game. Katherine Parlour’s unique croon is bursting with soul, Ella Risi’s earth shaking guitar dances around cinematic orchestration; the whole damn affair feels like an event. All about how the echoes of the past, and the wounds once thought healed, continue to haunt us, ‘Face in the Picture’ feels like a ready-made Bond theme. The ideal track for a suave secret agent struggling to outrun their past, or for making the rest of us feel like we can take on the whole world.