How often can you say, in all honesty, that a song took your breath away? That was exactly what happened when I first heard ‘Porcelain’, I daren’t do anything to disturb the divine calm of this song’s delicate beauty. This heavenly piano ballad is the kind of track that pulls you into a trance and makes you forget the rest of the world exists. Philadelphia band The Lunar Year have crafted a song that captures the atmosphere of confession, that fragile moment when you first tell someone that you love them. When you are at your most vulnerable, when you risk your whole world falling apart, but you cannot keep that long overdue declaration of devotion within you for even a second longer. Listening to this song, it’s difficult to tell whether it reminds you of being in love, or whether it’s making you fall in love all over again.
Top Tracks: Maggie McClure – Be Right Here For You
There is a right time for every song, whether it’s a somber ballad for late night reflection or a rock anthem for walking down the street in full badass mode. For those rare times where you start your day on cloud nine, and you just want to joyously dance the day away, there are tracks like this bright and bubbly little pop hit. Singer/songwriter Maggie McClure’s latest piano driven track ‘Be Right Here For You’ is so shamelessly upbeat it could practically summon the sunshine on a cloudy day. Keep this lovely little number close at hand for the perfect pick-me-up on those rainy days and monday mornings. This pure and simple perky pop is just the right dosage of that much-needed feel-good factor.
The Brit Awards 2017
Continuing the trend set by this year’s Grammys, the Brits also managed (for the most part) to make the most of a bad hand. David Bowie received posthumous awards for best album and best male for his stunning final album Blackstar. Belwood favourite Rag’n’Bone Man started the year in style by becoming the first act to ever win both the critics choice award and best breakthrough act in the same year. Emeli Sande won best British female solo artist and The 1975 beat Radiohead and Biffy Clyro to take best band. There were few surprises in the international categories with Beyoncé and Drake winning best female and best male respectively.
Top Tracks: Julia Carlucci – Take Me Down
The ways of the heart are a fickle thing. Despite our better judgements we can’t choose who we fall in love with, sometimes it just blindsides you and takes your breath away. The latest single from this pop powerhouse tells just such a tale. Julia’s slick, soulful vocals and the intoxicating brass section on ‘Take Me Down’ are simply a match made in heaven. A perfect blend of old school soul and the pinnacle of modern pop, this Canadian songstress has provided an inescapably feel-good hit. Just take the chorus, with the stunning line “drowning in those oceans that he calls eyes”; a lyric so good you find yourself baffled as to how no one has come up with it before now! You can’t choose who you love, but you’d be hard pressed not to fall for this track.
Spotlight!: TYPES
It’s common knowledge that Manchester has a rich musical heritage that few places in the world can truly equal. It was the birthplace of countless legends and thankfully is still at the cutting edge, making some of the best new British music. TYPES are just the kind of band that sums up what makes Manchester so important. Meandering and experimental, yet intriguingly accessible, their new EP is the perfect microcosm of the sound that is dominating the UK’s underground scene, and it’s bands like this that will be leading the charge when it breaks into the mainstream. Lyrically it aims squarely at the establishment and our overly commercial modern world, but it’s the music, the band’s own unique brand of “post-post-punk”, that is the real show stopper here. Whether it’s the fragile, piano driven ‘Tropical’, the uplifting ambient coda of ‘K – Wave’, the hints of glitchy electronica in ‘It’s Like A Morgue In Here’, or the astonishing guitar work in their magnum opus ‘Mild Learning Difficulties’, it’s clear that we have here a band with a wealth of talent just waiting to be discovered.
Fans of DIIV, Preoccupations, Radiohead, MONEY and Algiers should check out their new EP The Future Is Close Enough, out 24th February
Top Tracks: John Adams – Things That Make You Beautiful
Rarely do you find a song, and it’s accompanying music video, that are so perfectly matched. The new track from singer/songwriter John Adams has used every possible avenue at his disposal to bring a tear to your eye. ‘Things That Make You Beautiful’, released 17th March, is a gorgeous ballad that shares a message of real love. It’s affirming and poetic lyrics speak of how beauty is more than just skin deep, and how it is the person within that truly captures you heart. Combine the track with it’s incredibly moving video of a blind dancer defying expectations, and you find it brings an air of elegance and grace to an already affecting music experience. With this track John Adams has truly created something to be proud of.
Top Tracks: No Hot Ashes – Bellyaches
Indie discos across the country, rejoice! Your latest feel-good floor filler is here, and is sure to delight any self-respecting indie fan. With their new track ‘Bellyaches’, No Hot Ashes have combined the synth driven style of fellow Stockport lads Blossoms, and the raw vocals of Catfish and the Bottlemen, with some simply divine bass lines lifted straight from the golden age of funk and soul. The end result is a shamelessly joyous and danceable hit that brings together good, old-fashioned northern charm with a bit of tropical, upbeat energy. The tight, infectious rhythm is sure to make this one of the biggest festival hits of the summer, so get on board with No Hot Ashes now and stay ahead of the curve.
Live Review: Amber Run, The Plug Sheffield, 18th Feb 2017
Photo by Lewis Marchant
There are some concerts that we simply go to on a whim, some that we have planned for ages in advance, and every so often a band comes along that you would drop everything to go and see. Having missed out twice already on seeing Amber Run, seeing the lads up-close and in their element was already long overdue. They have long been my white whale, the one that got away. However, with their new album For A Moment, I Was Lost surpassing all expectations and launching headlong into contention for album of the year, there was no power in heaven or Earth that would stop me from catching them on their latest UK tour. I made my way to their gig in Sheffield for what was sure to be a night to remember. Continue reading
Top Tracks: Keston Cobblers Club – Almost Home
Sometimes it’s the simplest of songs that leave the most lasting impressions. That is surely the case with this latest folky offering from Keston Cobblers Club. The title track from their upcoming album Almost Home, out 31st March, takes an acoustic guitar, some foot-tapping rhythms, a few cheerful harmonies and brings it all together to make a carefree and homely hit. Perfect for fans of Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers, it’s infectious, festival ready chorus is like the first blooms of spring after a long and bleak winter. This indie folk outfit have struck the perfect balance with their new song and have made something humble, honest and eminently lovable. With such warm and welcoming music in their repertoire, I’ve no doubt their new album will bring with it new fans and new horizons.
Top Tracks: Calista Kazuko – Poison
There are some tracks that grow on you, that you slowly start to love a little bit more with each listen, and some that immediately grab your attention and refuse to let go. ‘Poison’ definitely belongs in that latter category. The latest track from this London based singer/songwriter makes for the perfect Bond theme, with it’s dark dramatic atmosphere, soaring vocals and bewitching video. Taken from her upcoming EP Project: Love Me, released 17th March, it is a bold and empowering track that’s sure to make you sit up and pay attention. Strange, seductive and ever so addictive, it’s the kind of song that makes you feel like this whole mad world is yours alone, just ready for the taking.
Belwood Music 