After their much acclaimed (if more than a little quirky) 2014 debut Weird Little Birthday, Happyness are back with the brand new single off their as yet untitled forthcoming album. The slow burning ‘Falling Down’ features some gorgeous dream pop guitar melodies, with subtle hints to the softer side of alternative rock icons such as the Pixies and Sonic Youth. Having also announced their biggest London headline show to date at The Dome, Tufnell Park on the 28th April, it seems the future is bright for these curious college rockers. After this sublime taste of what’s to come I’d advise you to keep your eyes peeled for more details about their new album.
Top Tracks: Georgia Ruth – Cloudbroke
After collaborating with Manic Street Preachers on ‘Divine Youth’ from their Futurology album, Welsh multi-instrumental singer/songwriter Georgia Ruth is back with her brand new single. ‘Cloudbroke’ is taken from her new album Fossil Scale, the follow-up to her 2013 Welsh Music Prize winning debut Week Of Pines. Featuring a sparse and echoing electronic ambience and interesting Eastern influences, it creates the perfect backdrop for Georgia’s unique vocals. The track’s curious video features three dancers emerging from their blanket cocoons and writhing on a lonesome windswept beach. The song and its accompanying visuals are full of character and sit worlds apart from anything else released this year. Georgia Ruth has confirmed with ‘Cloudbroke’ that she is one of the most distinctive and important rising stars in the Welsh music scene.
Top Tracks: Oparu – Remember Me
There’s something incredibly moving and dramatic about the debut single from Oparu. This new musical project from LA based singer/songwriter Dianna St. Hilaire, a tireless and dedicated self-taught musician, is steeped in broody atmospheric tones pierced by her chilling operatic vocals. ‘Remember Me’ blends together electronica, dark 80s synth pop and classical styles to create a track that sounds like it should be echoing across some vast expanse of a breathtaking nordic landscape. The haunting and evocative track is brimming with pent-up emotion and gives an intriguing glimpse into the character of the artist behind it. If you’re looking for a stirring song that is simply bristling with passion, and with a tangible sense of catharsis, then look no further. There is an untapped well of beauty here just waiting to be discovered.
Spotlight!: Taylor Noelle
One of my biggest pet peeves with modern pop is with a lack of ambition and with artists not living up to their full potential. However I have no quarrels whatsoever with the immensely talented pop singer/songwriter Taylor Noelle. Born and raised in Los Angeles before bringing her skills to Nashville, her debut EP is everything that pop acts should aspire to be. Each and every track quite easily deserves a place in the list of top songs of the year, and each for its own unique reasons. The slick and soulful ‘Too Good’ is full of attitude as Taylor slowly wraps you around her finger, whilst on the opposite end of the spectrum the fragile folk of ‘I Fall’ is the kind of beautiful balladry you’d expect from a bona fide Disney princess. ‘Won’t Waste My Time’ features some subtle latin hints and a smooth bluesy breakdown, and the dream pop soundscapes, cascading piano and infectious bass lines of ‘Covers Me’ makes the perfect backdrop for Taylor’s gorgeous vocals. This captivating young artist displays the kind of effortless range and diversity that modern pop is so desperately missing, which makes her music all the more special.
Fans of Hannah Grace, Emeli Sande, Gabrielle Aplin and Adele should check out her debut EP Out of My System.
40th anniversary of The Last Waltz
Rising to prominence as Bob Dylan’s backing band and key collaborators, The Band soon became a hugely influential act in their own right. With their string of hugely acclaimed albums in the late 60s and early 70s, as well a performance at the legendary Woodstock festival, they inspired such contemporary acts as Eric Clapton, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Elton John. On November 25th 1976 The Band performed their farewell concert at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco which featured such special guests as Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Emmylou Harris and Van Morrison. The concert was immortalised as ‘The Last Waltz’ by famed director Martin Scorsese and is often hailed as one of the greatest concert films ever made.
Top Tracks: Magic Magic Roses – Dusk
The latest song from San Francisco band Magic Magic Roses surrounds itself with a kind of mystical air of beauty, like a fine veil of mist clinging on in the early morning haze. ‘Dusk’, the title (and closing) track from their upcoming third album out 2nd December, will be sure to appeal to fans of such equally gorgeous and ethereal folk acts as The Staves and First Aid Kit. The sparse and wistful arrangement and the warm layered harmonies create a soothing lullaby to lure you away into a peaceful, dreamlike trance. The song’s aesthetic whispers to you pastoral tales of strolling through golden fields under amber sunsets, and of crackling fires on cold autumn nights. It’s the kind of music that you can get lost in and simply disappear for a while in some better place.
T in the Park 2017 cancelled
Scottish festival T in the Park has announced that it will be taking a fallow year in 2017, marking the first year that the event has failed to take place since it’s inception in 1994. A statement from the festival organisers cited problems “logistically and financially” with moving sites and with the new site affecting a nesting pair of rare Ospreys. This seems the latest installment of bad publicity for the event, as recent years have included high crime rates and antisocial behaviour, several deaths, major traffic delays and poor organisation. Hopefully with an extra year with which to plan, some of these issues will be resolved before the 2018 festival.
Top Tracks: Apherium – Resolve
Taken from their latest EP Embrace The Fall That Brought Us Here, the new single from Apherium really leaves a lasting impression. With ‘Resolve’ this Yeovil based band create the perfect balance between aggression and melody, like the hair-raising calm at the eye of a storm whilst chaos whirls all around you. The impassioned vocals and thrilling guitar interplay really get your heart racing and leaves you desperate for more. In the band’s own words the song is about “finding your inner strength, letting go of your past mistakes and doubts and moving forward with your life. It’s about learning to feel love instead of hate or fear and reigniting the flame in your heart” which I think is something we can all get behind. This is an undeniably slick and refined example of some of the best alternative rock that the nation has to offer.
Album Review: Metallica – Hardwired…To Self-Destruct
Metallica – Hardwired…To Self-DestructSpotlight!: SEASONS
Sometimes the energy of a song can hinder the song itself, things can get too wild and simply ruin the musicality. This problem that plagues far too many alternative acts is no problem at all for Bedfordshire band SEASONS. Operating like a well oiled machine they showcase intricate musicianship and crystal clear melodic vocals while still maintaining a hard grasp on that heavy vibe to get your blood pumping. The dynamic ‘Last Words’ has a great interplay between bright and harsh guitar tones, overlain with engaging vocal harmonies. ‘Fire’ leads a full throttle rhythmic charge, the menacing riff of ‘Empire’ simply seethes with purpose and the anthemic balladry of ‘When We Were Young’ flirts with the band’s more accessible side but still contains enough complex instrumentation to make your head spin. There are plenty of bands on the scene with this level of technical skill, there are plenty that know how to make great song; but there are few bands that have such entrancing vocals at their disposal, and can put all these elements together in the way that SEASONS can. A debut album from this talented quintet simply can’t come around fast enough!
Fans of Young Guns, Mallory Knox, and Lower Than Atlantis should check out their latest EP What Goes Around.
Belwood Music 