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
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
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
Album Review: The Decemberists – As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again
The Decemberists – As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again
Indie Folk | Americana | Baroque Pop
94%
Top Tracks: Picture Parlour – Face in the Picture
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.
Album Review: Marjana Semkina – Sirin
Top Tracks: Luvcat – Matador
The romantics among us hold firm to their faith that the sheer force of love can move mountains. We know our own hearts, we know how deep the well of devotion and passion inside runs. Yet not all hearts are created equal, and some will remain closed and empty despite all our best efforts to spark something within. ‘Matador’ plays as a cautionary tale about how hoping your love will be enough to fix or change someone will only lead to you getting hurt by their games. Instead of smoothing away the rough edges of a person that isn’t right for you, like a river eroding stone, those sharp edges just keep cutting deeper the harder you try to hold on. This stunning debut single from Luvcat, the new project from Belwood favourite Sophie Morgan, pairs plaintive soulful romanticism with a dash of Nick Cave-esque gothic macabre. With an off kilter beat that reminds me a little of ‘Stagger Lee’, ‘Matador’ superbly uses its evocative lyricism and Sophie’s ever alluring vocals to weave a graphic tragedy about a love gone to waste.
Album Review: Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard And Soft
Interview: The Greatest Endangered Thing
There’s beauty in new beginnings. In nurturing new life to grow from the ashes of what came before. While we may wish that all our endeavours work out first time, all that really matters is that they work out in the end. All the road blocks and wrong turns we encounter on the way to get there, while frustrating at the time, make for a good story in the end. All the best stories have plenty of twists and turns after all. There are few storytellers more deserving of turning their new beginning into a happy ending than our favourite Transatlantic duo Samuel James Taylor and Rebecca Van Cleave. Sheffield based Americana outfit The Greatest Endangered Thing (f.k.a. Ophelia) – having taken the time to slow down and reflect on both the way forward and the road behind – feel as though they’ve hit their stride once again with the tender, bittersweet folk of their new EP Phosphenes Vol.1. We were lucky enough to have the pair play our tenth anniversary show, and luckier still to chat to them all about the new music they’ve been creating. Continue reading
Belwood Music 