I can categorically say that I’m not a morning person, and I’m willing to bet that most people feel much the same way. Most mornings however, aren’t half as blissful and heart-warming as those detailed in ‘Leave Me Light’. I imagine we’d all be morning people if we were lucky enough to greet the day in the fashion described in the new single from London based singer/songwriter FERGUS. Describing a tranquil morning spent savouring the soft caress of the one you love, basking in every second shared together before it’s time to get up and face the world, this track hones in on the beauty found within the smallest moments. Likewise you’ll find yourself wanting to revel in every detail of this charming track; the vivid yet relatable imagery, the delicate soothing folk arrangement of the first half of the song, and the slick R&B flourishes and solo guitar work in the latter half. ‘Leave Me Light is a brilliant reminder that true love isn’t about grand gestures of devotion, but about finding someone that makes every mundane morning feel like a fairy tale.
top tracks
Top Tracks: Michael Lane – Moon & Sun
If there’s any positive I can take away from the seemingly endless months spent in lockdown, it is a greater appreciation for my home in the countryside. For years I quietly resented being out in the middle of nowhere, feeling detached from all the exciting hustle and bustle of city streets. But with life grinding to a halt, I found there’s no place I’d rather be right now. Where once I envied friends in the fast lane, I now wish I could share my oasis with them and offer an escape from their cramped boxes in an empty concrete jungle. The morning chorus of birdsong that welcomes you to a new day, the cool caress of the summer breeze against your skin, lush fields of wildflowers and the delicate flutter of butterflies adding much needed colour to the greyest of days. Even something so simple as the fresh air in your lungs and the warm sun beaming down, the kind of things you take for granted, do so much to bring a lightness to your heart. Singer/songwriter Michael Lane is distinctly familiar with that sense of comfort and release that nature brings on his brand new single ‘Moon & Sun’. This beautifully bright folk tune shares the uplifting spiritual sensation of basking in the everyday marvels around you. The life-affirming feeling that you’re a small part of this vast wondrous world around you, and that it in turn is a part of you.
Top Tracks: All The Luck In The World – Waves Poem
There’s an odd sense of solace that comes from feeling small and inconsequential. We feel it most in the bittersweet tranquility that comes from gazing up at the stars, or in this instance from watching the rhythmic crashing of waves upon the shore. Staring out from the sand at a vast expanse of rolling ocean, stretching beyond the horizon, somehow makes you and all the worries holding you down feel insignificant by comparison. Watching waves dash upon rocks and race along sandy beaches before retreating back – same as they always have, and as ever they will – offers some comfort in their constancy when so much in life feels uncertain. With their new single ‘Waves Poem’, Irish trio All The Luck In The World capture that feeling brilliantly with a blend of vivid imagery and compelling soundscapes. Taken from their forthcoming album How The Ash Felt, it marries the soft shimmer of their affecting introspective folk style, with layered grandiose instrumentation and hints of glitchy electronica that recalls Bon Iver’s self-titled, and feels every bit as expansive and spellbinding as the ever swirling sea it depicts.
Top Tracks: Reed Gaines – Vampire
Quite often the spark that drives me, and I would hope all music writers, is the one that comes from finding a diamond in the rough. Hearing a new track full of promise from an up-and-coming artist and just being completely captivated by the sense of possibility, and looking forward to watching them grow. Hearing some interesting style or engaging melodies, envisioning how it can be built upon further down the line, and singing its praises from the rooftops to give it a nudge (however small) to help reach that point. ‘Vampire’ is not one of those tracks. It’s no diamond in the rough, rather it’s already perfectly cut, full of fire and brimming with brilliance. Nashville based artist Reed Gaines offers an assured performance, and delivers a song that any big name band would proudly parade as a new lead single. The anthemically bittersweet melodies and driving drums immediately recall The National’s ‘Don’t Swallow The Cap’, but the quiet dignity of Reed’s hushed vocal style and some smatterings of elegant piano and spaced out synths in the closing moments manage to add his own unique stamp upon it. ‘Vampire’ is such a triumph that almost the opposite is true and it’s hard to see just how it can be built upon… but I’m looking forward to finding out.
Top Tracks: Love Crumbs – Ellipses
This past year has been difficult for everyone, and for many of us our friends have been the lifeline that has kept us going. We’ve all been given a chance to reflect on the things that truly matter and strengthen the connections that matter most to us. But as we rekindle old friendships and grow closer to loved ones, we are sadly also reminded of all the relationships that have somehow fallen by the wayside. For whatever reason there are plenty of people that we slowly drift apart from until they become strangers in all but name. While the relationships that end abruptly usually at least come with some amount of closure, those that quietly erode without you noticing before it’s too late leave behind a multitude of questions and ‘what-ifs’; no big crescendo, just fading away into silence. With wonderfully expressive raspy vocals reminiscent of Stevie Nicks, the bittersweet Americana of ‘Ellipses’ addresses the lonely limbo of faded friendships. How you try your hardest to keep the conversation alive but the replies still become fewer and further between, until they just stop all together. How it leaves you with so much left unsaid, still wondering how they’re doing long after losing touch, never knowing if there was a reason, something you could have done different, or whether it was all just life getting in the way.
Top Tracks: Amy May Ellis – Fresh Drone
So much of who we are is intrinsically tied to the turn of the seasons. Who among us hasn’t felt uplifted by the first sun of spring and seeing the leaves and flowers begin to bloom. That moment of transition which brings a lightness to your heart and a comforting feeling of familiarity. It’s a peculiar sensation, and one that seems to burn brighter with each passing year. Whether we realise it or not, captured in that moment is the memory of shifting seasons from ages past and all the changes they wrought. In the first azure sky of summer we remember the boundless feeling that came from our carefree adventures, with the first cool breeze of autumn we recall walking with loved ones beneath the golden falling leaves, and with winter’s first flakes of snow our inner child jumps for joy every time. With her blissful new single ‘Fresh Drone’, Amy May Ellis encapsulates that sense of reflection and nostalgia. Perfect for fans of Billie Marten, its light and airy folk arrangement is the perfect analogue for the feeling of simply closing your eyes, listening to the birdsong, and feeling the breeze across your skin. Taken from her upcoming EP When In The Wind, ‘Fresh Drone’ hangs over you in a delicate haze, like a fading dream still clinging on through the first light of morning.
Top Tracks: All The Queen’s Horses – The Ides Of March
There’s a subtle art to sparse arrangements. It’s all too easy for it to feel like there’s something missing; like you’re a solitary voice in the silence, surrounded by empty space yet to be filled. The key is to make the quiet work for you. Incorporating the blank canvas into the artwork itself, making the empty stage part of the story being told. Taken from the forthcoming album The Dark Below & The Isle of Dogs, this stunning song tells the tale of a man beset by misfortune and misery, foul luck forever following just a few steps behind, and struggling to find someone to help carry the weight. The song’s sparse nature amplifies all the feelings it evokes; the sorrow of being stuck on an endless spiral, where misfortune breeds more misfortune out of all your control, and the isolation of feeling like burden and a bad omen for those around you. More than that, it lets you savour each mournful rise and fall of cello, and allows the raw, soulful vocals of Sean Murphy the necessary room to captivate you with every plaintive plea. ‘The Ides Of March’ bends the stillness to its bidding and implores you to revel in every detail uncovered by the quiet, no matter how broken and intimate.
Top Tracks: John Revelle – This Bird Has Flown
I remember once reading that nearly everyone unfortunate enough to lose an arm or a leg experiences what’s known as a “phantom limb”. It’s so inconceivable that we can just carry on without such an important part of ourselves that our brains simply can’t process it. Even years after the fact it feels like there’s something still there. I’m of the mind that a similar sensation takes hold after a break-up. When those very deepest of connections that we form – the kind where the other person has your heart completely and becomes part of your whole identity – get severed, it’s hardly surprising that it feels like losing a part of ourselves. ‘This Bird Has Flown’ deftly deals with those phantom threads that remain. How that person remains at the forefront of your thoughts long after their gone. How they’re the first person you think of whenever you have news to share, how all your hopes and dreams of the future still contain an empty silhouette of them, and how some part of you deep down will always leave a light on for them to come back. With his debut single, Bear’s Den founding member Joey Haynes (under the moniker John Revelle) traces those tethers while channelling his inner Neil Young. With its gospel tinged chorus and soft twangs of banjo, this timeless slice of Americana will fittingly stay with you for a long while.
Top Tracks: Joe Devine – Giant Leap
It’s all too easy to get caught up in the worst of humanity and forget to take a step back and appreciate the good; like our uncanny ability to create, to make something seemingly out of nothing. How words on a page can change history, how paint on a canvas can inspire generations, and how a few plucked wires on a piece of wood can make beautiful music. With ‘Giant Leap’ guitarist Joe Devine offers that same sense of perspective and instils a sense of wonder. Though the song’s odd time signature and rock steady rhythm section form an already engaging foundation, the rest of the track feels like Joe has been let loose to weave an entire world of his own creation. A cathedral of sound from a few plucked strings, he packs so much feeling into this one instrumental. This ‘Giant Leap’ soars into the stratosphere with an exhilarating rush, builds moments of tension as though the ground is racing to meet you, and offers dazzlingly quick and intricate changes like a high speed chicane through the treeline. There are moments of stillness that feel like drifting through the clouds gazing at the world below, and it boasts infectious melodies to rival any pop song. I’ve often wondered why instrumental tracks so rarely break into the mainstream, but hearing it done to this standard I’m conscious now of just how high the bar has been set.
Top Tracks: Benedict – Sweet Sister
We all lead double lives. We put on a brave face and keep going through the motions, but underneath we’re all fighting our own battles. All the pain and fear that eats away at us, the hopes that we dare to cling to, the little rituals and small moments of joy that keep us together. Even for the most open among us, no one ever sees the real you, no one truly understands what it’s live your life. But sometimes it’s important to remember that the same is true of everyone else. Whether it’s a passing stranger or those closest to us, they’ve all struggled with things you couldn’t even begin to guess at. With this introspective indie rocker, Benedict takes the time to think on the trials that others have faced and wonder what it’s like to see the world through their eyes. What begins as a blend of love, admiration and regret, thinking back on his own sister’s battle with cancer and the hidden torrent of emotions she must have faced, grows into a more universal message of understanding. With its driving beat, compelling chorus, and Benedict’s striking vocals reminiscent of The National’s Matt Berninger, ‘Sweet Sister’ is a timely reminder to be mindful of each other’s struggles and to walk a mile in their shoes every now and then.
Belwood Music 