Mix Tape 27
Mix Tape Twenty Seven is a bumper edition some awesome selections, check it out…
On his new single Meltdown, Niall Horan offers up a feverish anthem that perfectly captures the frenzy of anxiety, then twists the track’s chorus into a moment of sweet reassurance for his fans (“When it all melts down, I’ll be there”). Released today by Capitol Records, the song is from the chart-topping global superstar’s new album, The Show, which is due out on June 9. He wrote the infectious track with John Ryan and Joel Little, who also produced, and Amy Allen.
With songs like Meltdown, Horan illuminates the driving force behind his more intentional approach to songwriting: a heartfelt desire to provide his fans with the same sense of catharsis that he unfailingly finds in music. “Whenever I’m having some kind of issue, the easiest thing is to sit at the piano and let it all out, and it’s not until I listen back that I realize, ‘Jesus, that was honest,’” he explains.
A deeply felt meditation on everything from mental health to the infinite complexity and uncertainty of love, The Show is an endlessly spellbinding statement on following your heart to its absolute truth.
Rock icons The Used have shared their newest single Numb off of their upcoming album Toxic Positivity, out May 19 via Big Noise.
The track tackles the all-too-familiar sensation of feeling too much and nothing at all simultaneously. The reoccurring line – “Does anybody else feel numb?” delivered in Bert McCracken’s passionate voice – is as much a reminder as it is a question, searching for reassurance that we aren’t alone in this feeling.
When asked, McCracken draws a parallel between the band’s 2020 track “To Feel Something” and their newest track: “I just wanna feel something. Anything is better than this. I just wanna feel something. No different from anyone else. Wanna waste my time but not like this at all. I just wanna feel something. No different from anyone else. Cause I feel numb. Does anybody else feel numb?”
Florence + The Machine releases the new single Mermaids. Having teased the arrival of this new masterpiece with cryptic images and lyrics of the magical and mythical, Mermaids in its full gory glory is here. A fitting addition to her fifth album Dance Fever, released last year, Mermaids sits alongside spoken word poem versions of album tracks King, My Love and Cassandra which have been added to the original album to create Dance Fever – The Complete Edition.
Mermaids was written and produced by Florence and Dave Bayley. They started it during their sessions for Dance Fever and completed it when Florence was recovering from her broken foot. It’s a cautionary tale of the mythical sea creatures morphing with English girls rolling around their cities with reckless abandon – embracing their one night on the shore and dancing like they’ve never danced before (“and the dancefloor filling with blood but oh lord, you’ve never been so in love”), enjoying the “cheerful oblivion” that comes with drink, drugs and a desperate desire to belong, love and be loved without regret or consequence.
Currently Number One for the second week in a row on the Australian Independent Label Singles Chart is the comeback single On My Own from RICKI-LEE. Her first new music in three years has exceeded fan expectations and now Ricki-Lee delivers the anticipated epic music video! The video drops as the Number One iTunes Single continues to rise on the current National Shazam Chart where it has remained in the Top 20 since release, as well as continue to climb on the overall Top 20 Radio Airplay Chart.
The personal and emotionally charged video which takes you on a journey from the dark into the light was recently filmed in Queenstown, New Zealand. The stunning backdrop adding to the expressive, powerful lyrics of the song. Talking about the making of the video Ricki-Lee said “New Zealand is one of the most beautiful places in the world, and it’s also where I was born, so to be able to shoot it there was really special for me. I haven’t made a big music video in a long time – so I wanted to go all out with this one! This video is everything I could have ever imagined for this song…and then some! And the best part is, I got to do with my dear friend Benn Jae, who is an incredibly talented director and film maker.”
“It looks stunning, but it was actually quite extreme and very dangerous to shoot. We were filming in freezing temperatures for hours in the wind, with freezing cold water raining on me…and for a very long time I couldn’t feel my feet or hands! Then, to be dropped on a glacier 2km above sea level and then literally dropped on the peak of a mountain and left up there all on my own…was kind of crazy! But I loved it!”
The Gaslight Anthem has shared Positive Charge, the first single on their own Rich Mahogany Recordings label, distributed via Thirty Tigers/Cooking Vinyl Australia. Produced and mixed by GRAMMY® Award-winner Peter Katis (The National, Interpol, Kurt Vile) at his Tarquin Studios in Connecticut, the gloriously optimistic track marks the band’s first new music together in almost a decade.
“‘Positive Charge’ began as a message of joy to ourselves and to our audience,” says The Gaslight Anthem’s Brian Fallon. “The central theme is about looking at the things you’ve come through and feeling like you want to go ahead with an open heart toward the future, believing that the best years are not behind any of us and the good we have is worth something.”
The Gaslight Anthem will celebrate Positive Charge and their recent return to action with a spring headline tour, highlighted by the band’s first live shows in the Southern US since 2015. Dates begin May 1 at Houston, TX’s House of Blues and then continue through the month. Special guests include Oso Oso and Emily Wolfe on select dates.
I Used To Be In Love is the brand new single from Jake Shears, available now on Mute. Upcoming album Last Man Dancing will see a release on 2 June 2023, and was introduced in irresistible style recently with first single Too Much Music. Having reached #11 in the UK National Airplay Chart, the track received its official live debut at Radio 2’s Piano Rooms (where he was joined by Neil Tennant and the BBC Concert Orchestra), and signalled Jake Shears’ welcome return to Pop. The polymathic star also saw his ‘Tammy Faye’ musical – written alongside Elton John and James Graham – scoop two Olivier Awards last month, after a sold-out London run.
A symphonic blast of house, hedonism, and the healing power of dance music, I Used To Be In Love is an anthem of abandoning your worries and finding yourself right at home in a crowd of strangers. It’s a potent highlight of Last Man Dancing, in which Jake Shears takes a lifelong love affair with club culture towards bold creative heights, and at times dystopian depths.
Everything But The Girl have revealed their new track No One Knows We’re Dancing and its accompanying lyric video. No One Knows We’re Dancing is taken from the duo’s upcoming new album Fuse, out now and follows recent releases Run A Red Light, Caution To The Wind and Nothing Left To Lose.
Speaking about No One Knows We’re Dancing, Tracey says:
“I think we all missed the communality of nightlife and going out during the pandemic. The song is a eulogy to the heyday of packed Sunday clubs – the faces, the secret life, the clubs where Ben DJ’d in the early 2000s.”
“The tempo is deliberately dreamlike,” adds Ben. “Slowed-down disco, like a memory. We asked producer-DJ Ewan Pearson to add some body to the groove and he sprinkles some delicious extra synth lines and thickens the Italo-flavoured drums.”
The Barnestormers’ self-titled debut celebrates the rockabilly origins of rock ’n’ roll – the trailblazers, the pioneers and the songs that started it all – so what better song to lead into the album than this bona fide classic?
Johnny O’Keefe’s Wild One is looked upon as ground zero for Australia’s rock ’n’ roll explosion, released on July 5 1958, it was the first Australian rock recording to crack the local charts.
The Barnestormers’ version of JO’K’s ground-breaking hit is a 2.38-minute blast of unadulterated rock ’n’ roll joy.
Real Wild Child is on The Barnestormers’ self-titled debut album, which will be released on May 26.
Milky Chance, the chart-topping German duo made up of Clemens Rehbein and Phillipp Dausch, release their newest single Golden, the latest preview from their highly anticipated album, Living In A Haze, out June 9th. Golden embodies Milky Chance’s signature sound with a fusion of idiosyncratic beats and Clemens’ distinctive voice. The introspective and thoughtful lyrics in Golden explore themes of love and self-discovery, delivered with a new and refreshing flair.
Regarding the single, the pair explains, ‘We remember the day we wrote this song because it was an especially golden day in Berlin – it made us positively nostalgic and set the tone for the whole session. ‘Golden’ is an homage to our youth, the golden time in life when a lot of things happen for the first time. It’s great to think back and to realise how naive and free we were, in the best way.
Golden follows the successful release of the album’s lead single Living In A Haze. Already rising up the US Alternative radio and Shazam Global Alternative charts, Living In A Haze seamlessly juxtaposes an upbeat instrumental with more contemplative lyrics. It’s an economical haymaker of a track, its structure unfolding with an enigmatic but intuitive logic as it goes from an elegiac triplet guitar figure to a tight, post-Strokes rhythmic feel.
Melbourne alternative rock outfit Belle Haven delve into nostalgic territory with lively new single Grimace. The trio will embark on a national tour supporting RedHook on the Postcards From A Living Hell Tour in May where they’ll share their new single live across the nation. Tickets on sale now.
Grimace is a dramatic exploration of what it’s like to work in the belly of the beast that is the music industry. Insecurity, fear, trepidation, uncertainty, and the endless tug of war between creative authenticity and creating a “product” from that craft.
“It is a brutal yet brilliant world to work in, and it takes a certain amount of resilience to be a part of sometimes which is something I think we’ve struggled with over the years.” explains vocalist David De La Hoz. “There’s a sort of irony to this song; we are more excited than ever to be releasing this music.”
“‘Raw Raw’ is the start of my next chapter. After losing half my hearing last fall, I was faced with a sudden and intense episode of fear and vulnerability. Like, could I even make music again? Once I got into my recovery and started writing and recording, I knew that I could. And what I wanted to create was music that felt properly rock but also properly future oriented. Uninhibited and different.
“With ‘Raw Raw’ I wanted to capture what vulnerability really feels like. Outwardly it might seem tender, but on the inside it’s messy and bloody and somewhat terrifying. It’s a chainsaw buzzing at your throat.” – K.Flay
LA based Multi-platinum two-time GRAMMY-Award nominated artist K.Flay is releasing the riveting new single Raw Raw today. The song is her first new music of 2023 and first since confirming that she has gone completely deaf in her right ear. Raw Raw is accompanied by the official music video which offers a psychologically chilling visual that taps into the disorienting effects of her real-life physical disability. The new single is her second for new label GIANT Music and the first from a new full-length studio album coming later in 2023. The video was directed by Griffin Olis (Nicki Minaj, The Aces, Ozuna) and the song was produced by K.Flay, Jason Suwito (Imagine Dragons, COIN, Sir Sly) and Brad Hale (Now Now).
flowerkid AKA Flynn Sant returns with his first new music of 2023 with the charged-up but still vulnerably centred Diss and Disappoint via Warner Music Australia. He has also shared the hauntingly poignant accompanying music video, directed by Alexandra Galloway.
Written and produced with Alex Hope (Troye Sivan, Tegan and Sara) in Nashville, the track hears Flynn recounting an ex-partner who only “disses and disappoints” him. Building upon the sounds and personal notions that he’s developed throughout his career, Diss and Disappoint sounds widescreen, buoyed by confidence and ambition. The chorus soars, instantly ready for boisterous singalongs, while the verses cut deep melodically.
“Diss And Disappoint is a song about a special person in your life becoming somebody else. The little things that made you fall for them in the first place, have slowly evaporated into thin air. They become someone that you no longer respect. A Lot of the time, I feel as though their words and actions follow me around wherever I go, and I can’t seem to escape it.” says flowerkid of the song.
Diss and Disappoint follows 2021’s revered everyone has a breaking point EP which featured singles vodka orange juice, miss andry, and it’s happening again feat. KUČKA. The EP was a haunting and delicate dig through his past. Self-written and largely self-produced with collaborators Nick Ward, Dave Hammer, and Alaska, it weaved striking lyrics through spacious electronics. At times, it collected you in a flurry of dense emotion while at other times, it was so quiet you could hear a breath.
Nathan Cavaleri is thrilled to unveil new single Broken Lines, and announce his fourth studio album Miracles, set for release on June 16 (ABC Music).
Broken Lines is the next instalment from the album, following the undeniably catchy Querencia and the hypnotic groove of Cool Changes.
Cavaleri explains the single, saying, “Tour life rattles the pillars that many of us rely on to feel human – Sleep, food, familiar people & surroundings. For years this caused many psychological issues until it became my mission to find peace, strength & confidence despite circumstance. With this shift in perception, touring has become an opportunity for personal growth. When I truly surrender to these experiences, I come back home feeling free & energised with memories that outshine past challenges. “Broken Lines” was written as a reminder of all the good that comes from touring. When I’m feeling weakened and lost, I only have to listen to it once to come back down to ground.
“The track’s production needed to reflect the space, depth & expansiveness of life on the road. When recording, I’d put up pictures of the movie “Easy Rider” to put me in the mood. Its strut aligns with the quest for calmness & cool. Its melodies & chords reflect the roads travelled to get there.”
Atlanta, GA singer-songwriter Teddy Swims returns with the emotional new single and video What More Can I Say via Warner Records. A soulful throwback to old-school R&B, the touching track is infused with gospel elements and bluesy guitar — all of which highlight the powerhouse’s incomparable vocals. It follows the recent hit collaboration FACE MYSELF with Elley Duhé.
“Drunken rage came stormin’ in, 5am you woke me up again,” Swims sings over a wicked bass line. “‘Cause the double’s on ice and your friend Diane, got you all up in your head again about a picture on my phone of a girl I used to know.” Relationship woes color the rest of the track as the genre-blurring hitmaker pleads his case: “If I’m a record then I’m broke, you don’t like my song no more – all I need to know is: what more can I say?”
Indie singer songwriter Katie Wighton bares her soul with the release of new single Without You, the track building to a crescendo that is so powerful, it literally stops you in your tracks. Lifted from her forthcoming coming debut solo album The End, the much-loved vocalist/guitarist from the ARIA Award-winning group All Our Exes Live in Texas will release her new long-player on June 2 via ABC Music.
Katie explains Without You, saying: ‘This is definitely my favourite on the album. It’s deeply personal and it still feels so real even when I listen to it now. When my partner and I split up, I remember missing him so much and thinking “I’m better off without you – I floss my teeth now, I don’t drink so much – we weren’t even that happy together towards the end… So why on earth do I miss you so much?!” When you break up with someone, you become supremely irrational – remembering the good as even better than it was and the bad as not so bad. He and I became such better people because we broke up. We were more independent. Happier. But we still missed each other so much. Our hearts are funny little things aren’t they? (Spoiler alert: we did end up getting back together now and couldn’t be happier!!)’
The National has released its ninth studio album, First Two Pages of Frankenstein, on 4AD / Remote Control. The project has already garnered rave reviews, with Rolling Stone saying, “Nine albums deep, the National find new energy by conjuring not just a great, suffocating fog but also the far light that guides the way out.” Also out is a lyric video for the new album’s song The Alcott, a pensive yet luminous duet between The National’s Matt Berninger and Taylor Swift.
“Matt wrote the main part of the song to some music I had written which Taylor had heard and I knew liked, so I thought it might be something she would really click with,” says The National’s Aaron Dessner of ‘The Alcott.’ “I sent it to her, and was a little nervous as I didn’t hear back for 20 minutes or so. By the time she responded, Taylor had written all her parts and recorded a voice memo with the lyrics she’d added in a dialogue with Matt, and everyone fell immediately in love with it. It felt meant to be.”
Set to a gorgeously sparse backdrop of piano and strings, ‘The Alcott’ finds Berninger and Swift inhabiting the roles of a couple attempting to resurrect a troubled relationship, forging a finely drawn story nearly novelistic in scope. “It’s about two people with a long history returning to a place and trying to relive a certain moment in time,” says Berninger. “It’s got the feeling of a last-ditch effort to hold onto the relationship, but there’s a hint of something positive where you can see the beginnings of a reconnection.”
Australian chart-topping and ARIA-award winning act Boy & Bear release their newest single, Silver Moon, taken from the band’s forthcoming self-titled fifth studio album, Boy & Bear, set to be released independently on May 26.
The fourth song to be featured on their forthcoming album, Silver Moon is a shimmering hit of indie-pop. Slinky synth jabs and sharp guitar riffs accompany Dave Hosking’s vocals. A gliding run of guitar melodies and falsettos marry together an immediate and catchy single of punchy and curious grooves.
The band will celebrate their album release with two intimate evening events at Sydney’s Lansdowne Hotel on Monday, May 29 (hosted by Linda Marigliano) and Melbourne’s Northcote Social Club on Tuesday, May 30 (hosted by Bridget Hustwaite). The nights will see Boy & Bear discussing their career journey, taking questions from the audience and playing some of their new and most defining songs acoustically.
Following the release of their acclaimed fifth album, Jen Cloher reveals the clip for the title track I Am The River, The River Is Me. Supports have also been announced today for the national album tour which kicks off in Perth on the 6th of May and concludes June 1st at the Sydney Opera House as part of the VIVID Live program.
The title is taken from a Māori proverb with Jen sharing further insight saying “It holds especially deep significance for Iwi (tribes) along the Whanganui River in the North Island of Aotearoa, NZ. In 2017 they won a landmark legislation when the New Zealand government granted the Whanganui River legal personhood—a status that is in keeping with the Māori worldview that the river is a living entity. The legislation refers to the river as an “indivisible, living whole,” conferring it “all the rights, powers, duties, and liabilities” of an individual.
At the heart of this album is a remembering of our purpose as human beings. We are not of this earth, we are the earth. When we frame our dependence in this way, we remember our purpose as guardians, caretakers – as kaitiaki.”
The clip – filmed by Nick McKinlay – is a day in the life story of a young Māori boy growing up in Collingwood, balancing the modern world with the traditional practices of his culture. His parents (Fallon Te Paa and Kodie Heremia) are members of Te Hononga o ngā Iwi, kapa haka (a Māori performing arts group) who appear across the album and will be joining Jen on tour for the capital city shows. Discussing the clip’s creation, Jen shares “When we were writing the treatment for the clip, Fallon and Kodie joked how their life is spent dressing up to be Māori. We ran with this idea which shows the time and care that goes into every performance. Like the song, the clip contrasts the grind of modern life with the transformative joy of connection, family and culture.”
Detroit, MI trio Bonny Doon share On My Mind, the wistful new single and final preview of their upcoming new album, Let There Be Music, out June 16th via ANTI- Records.
“I realised at some point that most of my thoughts, in one way or another, are just about people I know. Partners, crushes, family, friends active and friends estranged, people you barely know but who somehow manage to take up outsized psychic space, people no longer with us on this plane, etc. I don’t really know, but I would guess that’s true for most people. That’s what this song’s about,” Bobby Colombo explains.
With the recent excitement around the announcement of Mammoth II and the success of the current single Another Celebration at the End of the World, Mammoth WVH – the brainchild of Wolfgang Van Halen – is releasing another song to fans. Like a Pastime is the second song on the upcoming second album slated for release on August 4 via BMG. The song is available via all digital service providers and anyone that pre-orders the album digitally will receive the track as an instant download.
“It centers around a 4/4-time signature, but with a polyrhythm on top. I was teaching my fiancé what a polyrhythm is, and I stumbled upon this idea. The kick drums are accentuating it. It’s certainly one of my favorites and a completely different vibe than anything on the first album,” explains Wolfgang.
THE HIGH KINGS have released a new new single The Streets of Kinsale featuring Steve Perry on vocals and written and produced by Glen Power from The Script ahead of their massively successfully debut Australian Tour. THE HIGH KINGS from Ireland are a traditional folk group with rock sensibilities, who give new life for a new generation of Irish and Celtic music fans alike. THE HIGH KINGS re-energize the songs of days gone by and put their own twist on them bringing them into the 21st Century.
“We’re absolutely delighted to announce that our new single, ‘The Streets of Kinsale,’ is out now and available to stream or download .
‘The Streets of Kinsale’ tells the beautiful love story of The White Lady of Kinsale. The track was written and produced by the incredible Glen Power from The Script and features the iconic voice of Steve Perry from Journey. Having Steve collaborate with us on this single has been a dream come true. Combining his legendary vocals with our signature sound, we’ve crafted a timeless piece together that we’re incredibly proud of, and we’re thrilled for you to finally hear it! Make sure to stream or download ‘The Streets of Kinsale’ today, and please help us spread the word by telling your friends and fellow music lovers. Let’s share this incredible collaboration with the world! Thank you for your continued support, and we hope you enjoy our new single, ‘The Streets of Kinsale’
All the best,
Finbarr, Darren, Brian & Paul
The High Kings
Perth punk Dennis Cometti have delivered their top shelf new single, John Citizen, out now via Bargain Bin Records.
The latest character study from Western Australia’s finest self-appointed urban sociologists is a sharp observation of men buried in the depths of the suburbs. Everyone knows a bloke like John Citizen. He’s a simple man of simple pleasures and he’s got his life bloody sorted. Bangers and mash, stubbies, a comfy chair and an outside fridge full of mid-strength beer – what more does he need?
“John Citizen lives in every street and cul-de-sac in suburban Perth,” says guitarist/vocalist Alex Patching. “He’s out the front all hours of the day tending to the lawn. He’s down the pub every night having a punt. He’s lowballing you on Facebook marketplace. He’s on the couch watching A Current Affair, trying to put his finger on where it all went wrong in 21st century Australia. He’s a simple man of simple means, and he’s got it all figured out.”
PhaseOne has been turning heads over the past year with a series of EDM and metal scene collabs, paring with forward-thinking heavy bands ERRA, Polaris, and Void of Vision to explosive effect.
Now, the EDM artist is taking an artistic left turn as he concludes his PhaseOne x UNFD mixtape project with Gangrene. A gnarly, urgent audio rocket created in collaboration with fellow Australian act RedHook, Gangrene sets a frantic, breakneck DnB beat in contrasting lockstep with cutting guitars, shimmering synths andEmmy Mack’s unique and beguiling vocals and sweat-inducing percussion. It’s heavy in a different way.
“This was a fun one to work on,” PhaseOne states. “RedHook sent me the original demo idea and I immediately started getting inspiration how to add some electronic elements to it and knew instantly it called for a DNB drop. I began working on an idea just using the original WAV file demo they sent me and I’m pretty sure I turned an idea in for them to hear that same day and they loved the vision.”
He continues, “We then pretty quickly wrapped up the final recording stems, collaborating with a little back and forth before I wrapped up the mix and master. It was nice to write something more punk-poppy, as I’ve usually gone more of a metal route but I love the way it still seamlessly flows and intertwines the rock and electronic elements.”
RedHook is equally as excited about the collab, sharing, “Gangrene is a song about severing ties with a toxic partner. Even though they might feel like they’ve become a part of you, sometimes cutting them off completely is the only way to save yourself.”
She continues, “Craig and I have been huge PhaseOne fans for years, so it was hard not to fangirl our little brains out when Graeme hit us up to collab. He was so effortless and fun to work with, the song was like a ball we kept bouncing back and forth and it just kept getting bigger and badder every time.”
Multi-platinum rock band, Staind has released a brand new single Lowest In Me from their forthcoming album, Confessions of the Fallen.
Confessions of the Fallen – Staind’s first new studio album since 2011 – cranks into life with debut single, Lowest In Me, that is both familiar and fresh.
The hallmarks of the sound the band established close to 30 years ago are all there — Aaron Lewis’ vocals flexing from melodic keening to a hellacious roar, Mike Mushok’s ferocious guitar muscling the track forward, Johnny April and Sal Giancarelli propelling it with industrial-strength energy. But sliding through are some new touches, electronic flavorings that give the song, as well as the rest of the 10-track album, a refreshed and contemporary sensibility, letting us know that it’s still Staind but that Staind has not been in a time capsule since its self-titled effort in 2011.
“I did want to modernize the sound and bring us up to date,” Lewis says. “You can certainly recognize the band but at the same time you can hear that we’ve been paying attention and understand what kind of sounds and approaches we can use that maybe weren’t around the last time we did this.” Adds Mushok, “It’s undeniably Aaron’s voice, and same for the songs. We got together and spent a lot of time focusing on direction, and we really like how it turned out.”
Alt-pop singer and songwriter Eliott continues to build the anticipation for her debut album with the release of the evocative new single Control. Fueled by Eliott’s soul-drenched vocals, ‘Control’ is accompanied today by the official video directed by Charles Buxton-Leslie (known for his work with G Flip, ASHWARYA, Yergurl) and arrives fresh from supporting Irish singer/songwriter Cian Ducrot on his Australian leg of his World Tour.
Eliott shares, “Control is about unreciprocated love. It is about feeling isolated and vulnerable and coming to terms with the fact that you can’t force someone’s affection when you have already given them everything”.
Co-written with Jack Grace during a two-month writing session in Paris, ‘Control’ moves from delicate vocals to soaring notes, from heartbreak to liberation. A restless and urgent cut, Eliott admits to being left and alone by an old relationship – yet under it all, there’s a thread of optimism with light creeping back in.
Produced by Gab Strum (Mallrat, George Alice) Control features additional production from Jack and a range of instrumentation played by Strum, including piano, electric guitar, bass and drums with Simon Lam (Kllo) contributing synths on the track.
For the official video, Charles Buxton-Leslie successfully brings the emotion of the lyrics and the story to life by shooting on warm 16mm film, to create a lived-in texture, Charles explains, ““The song has such incredible build and release moments which we followed with the music video. We wanted to explore a story of emotional release and helping each other through shared experiences.”
Melbourne-born, London locals HighSchool caught attention with their refreshing sound, distilling the magic of classic C86 indie, lo-fi, new wave, goth, and post-punk through a new lens.
The indie trio usher in a new phase with brand-new track Colt out via Dalliance Recordings.
The single was co-produced with Dan Carey (Fontaines DC, slowthai, Wet Leg) and mixed by Macks Faulkron, and is the first taster from their upcoming second EP.
At their most euphoric, they expand on the dancefloor elements of previous single De Facto, this time turning to 80’s NY electro and new wave, adding splashes of Italo-disco and Western guitar. Despite its warm exterior, the song is about longing with a fragile heart, harnessing the nervousness and excitement felt at the beginning of a new relationship; “I’m falling in love, don’t ever let me down,” Rory sings.
Working around themes of wanderlust and Paris syndrome, the single’s accompanying video was shot by the band on the ancient streets of Rome, where Rory proceeds to ignore the historical significance of the surrounding sights to vaingloriously gallivant among an endless stream of tourists and selfies instead. It’s also a play on the touring life where opportunities to explore and enjoy new cultures are often superseded by long drives, little money, crappy hotels, and short stints in the places they play.
Singer-songwriter, musician and producer Ben Harper has shared the new single Love After Love from his upcoming new studio album WIDE OPEN LIGHT, which will be released on June 2 via Chrysalis Records. The new song comes with an acoustic music video.
“‘Love After Love’ illustrates love as the ultimate renewable resource,” Ben shares. “Resurrected and restored like an ill-kept ancient Stradivarius Violin. Not only learning to love again but learning to trust again. Inventing a new language for two. A shorthand for the long haul.” The new single follows his recent track release Yard Sale which features long-time collaborator Jack Johnson.
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