Photo by Stephen Marva
One of the biggest draws of indie music is the DIY element of it. The fact that someone spent hours just experimenting with sound, embracing a creative drive to try new things, just completely absorbed by their own love of music. That same inquisitive and inventive side is self-evident within a matter of seconds when listening to the debut EP from Cathedral Bells. What is less obvious is the fact that what you are hearing is nearly all the work of one man. The playful bass line of ‘A Passing Phase’, the quirky throwback synths of ‘Homebody’, the airy haze of ‘Ethereal Shadow’, the brooding post punk vibes of ‘Memory Loss’. All of these tracks, which pull influences from across various decades into an amalgamation that’s entirely its own creation, they were all made at home, built up piece by piece. You don’t need to venture much further than the opening track ‘Cemetery Surf’ and the way it packs so much content into less than two minutes to see that Cathedral Bells is a project that pushes our expectations of what just one man can do. Blending dream pop, synthpop and post punk, this is a release that will tick plenty of boxes for indie fans looking for new music to get excited about.
Fans of The Cure, The War On Drugs, The Smiths and The Paper Kites should check out Cathedral Bells’ eponymous EP out 1st February.
We’re starting off the new year with something a little different. Welcome to the first in a series of articles where we take a look at major music tools and social platforms, from the perspective of both artists and music fans, and think about where they excel and where they need to improve. Obviously our first port of call is the music titan that is Spotify. It has become synonymous with streaming the same way Google has with search engines, and has changed the music industry forever, but is it for better or worse? 
Press Club – Late Teens
It’s new year’s eve, and therefore, more importantly, it’s Belwood’s 4th birthday and time for our annual awards! It’s been an odd twelve months in many respects, and a real mixed bag as far as music is concerned, but 2018’s highlights more than made up for its lows. Here’s the music that left the biggest impression on us over the past year: 
Though this past year has had it’s fair share of ups and downs, 2018 has consistently delivered some killer songs. In previous years my number one song of the year was obvious, it would spark something within me, ignite a fire that would keep burning all year. This time round I’ve had that same feeling about half the songs on my list! 
These lists aren’t final until they are up on the site to give a chance to those November and December releases that often get forgotten. That said, a basic list usually gets drafted quite far in advance as a guide. This list however is the exception. It took a long time to narrow down to a top ten, and even longer to decide on the final order. It’s been an impressively consistent year for EPs across the board, but after much deliberation I’ve settled on my final rankings. 
While 2018 has been a very inconsistent year as a whole, it has really delivered when it comes to music videos. There have been some incredibly inventive and entertaining visuals over the past twelve months, and here’s my pick of the best of the best. 
We’ll be starting this year’s list season with a brand new one. They say you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, but often album covers can say a lot about the music within. Many times I’ve bought a record simply because the artwork has drawn my eye every time I see it, and not once have I come away disappointed. As great as these albums are however, we’ll be ranking them solely on how eye-catching, unique and memorable the cover is. 
Belwood Music 