Emily Breeze – Limousines
Emily Breeze, former frontwoman of Candy Darling, returns with her new solo album Rituals this autumn a ‘Ballardian feast of sex, dysfunction, sordid sensuality and dreary day jobs. Emily’s gift for storytelling might well be genetic – legendary Irish rebel, writer (and drinker) Brendan Behan is her great uncle.’
The lead single ‘Limousines’ is a sumptuous tragic- Hollywood drama in dimly lit microcosm, a spindling soundtrack to the city nightlife provided by her band is pierced by Breeze’s exquisite vocal performance’, as she sketches a letter from a fading starlet to a young drama queen.
Opening with an Elizabeth Taylor quote. “Put on some lipstick, pour yourself a drink and pull yourself together.” “I was channelling those endlessly poised faded sirens from the golden era of Hollywood like Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard and Bette Davis in All About Eve,” Emily explains. (BC)
M O S E S – Cause You Got Me
M O S E S have to be seen and heard to be believed! A zestful quartet who are down-to-earth off stage, while simultaneously passionate and ambitious, they have a firm self-belief when it comes to their music. This sparkles like a noisy galaxy on stage. As a gang, they pulse mountainous tunes of hope and friendship, topped with distinctive vocals and wide appeal.
With no publisher, infectious instant classic, ‘Cause You Got Me’, is on the ‘Tomb Raider’ movie soundtrack. Intense passion, driving rhythms, massive anthems, hard rocking guitar licks and – in Victor – a magnetising front man who wears his heart on his sleeve. It’s early days, but with the seeds of an addicted and diverse following the unmissable entertainers, M O S E S are off to an encouraging start. (MM)
Kramies – The Hill Dweller
The Dutch American singer-songwriter Kramies has been making dramatic dream-pop for ten years now and if ‘The Hill Dweller’ – the first single to be taken from his forthcoming EP, the enigmatically entitled Of All The Places Been & Everything The End – is to be our yardstick, then the Colorado-based musician is continuing in that grand tradition. Drenched in luxuriant strings and quietly understated horns, ‘The Hill Dweller’ is a gorgeous slice of orchestral yearning.
Speaking about ‘The Hill Dweller’, Kramies says “It was the last song I wrote while staying in the castle (in Ireland). It was meant to be an ending to another song, a kind of hidden track that would connect the storyline of the EP. After sending just the acoustic and vocal tracks that I recorded in a farmhouse in Ireland to producer Jerry Becker of the band Train, I kind of just let it go. When Jerry sent the finished track back to me I was blown away. It had grown into its own setting and instantly became clear that this would be the final track to the new EP.” (SG)
Of All The Places Been & Everything The End will be released on 19th October 2018 through Hidden Shoal Records
The Lovers of Valdaro – Walk Alone
No, they aren’t from Anfield and they didn’t accidentally leave “You’ll Never” off the title. The Lovers of Valdaro is a Swedish duo comprising Erik Gabriel and Adam Warhester, who is also a music producer and manager of two bands who have appeared in GIITTV – Rånda and Delorian.
Historically, The Lovers of Valdaro is a pair of human skeletons approximately 6,000 years old and discovered by archaeologists at a Neolithic tomb in Italy, in 2007. They were interred facing, and with arms around each other, in a way reminiscent of a lovers’ embrace.
It’s a mightily evocative name to choose but their music, typically Swedish electro-pop (of which there is a surfeit) but with much more to it, is appropriately powerful and well produced with two well-matched voices. ‘Walk Alone’ might benefit from a lengthier, more diverse, bridge but the tune is catchy and suggests their EP (‘Euphoric Melancholic Electronic’), released on 7th September and reviewed exclusively in GIITTV, is well worth checking out. (DB).
J Appiah – Calling
Smooth soul pop practitioner Appiah has worked on tracks with Kojey Radical before, also Footsie, sings on Damian Lazarus, Michael Kiwanuka, Jess Glynne records but now he presents the dark ‘Calling‘ that marries soulful melancholia with a fantastic suite of glossy production and brilliant entwined vocals that recalls the emotive RnB tinged pop of the Weeknd. The chorus has a really catchy quality that belies the difficult issues the song deals with. He says:
“Calling is a song I wrote a while back whilst working for a homeless charity. I had to give housing advice to people in a drop-in centre for an hour at a time. So many different people experience different hardships, and it made me think about my own difficult times and my own vices, how I deal with things…”
The video for ‘Calling’ stems from a concept worked on by J and his good friend and director Mitch Kalisa. They wanted to reflect the themes of the song in visual form, settling on performances by actors who represent individuals in the throes of personal struggle.
Marie Davidson – So Right
Marie Davidson’s new album turns the mirror on herself. Working Class Woman – released on 5th October on Ninja Tune – is the Montreal-based producer’s fourth and most self-reflective record: it’s a document of her state of mind, of operating within the spheres of dance music and club culture.
Davidson’s response to such difficult moments is to explore her own reaction to them and poke fun. “It comes from my brain, through my own experiences: the suffering and the humour, the fun and the darkness to be Marie Davidson.” It’s an honest document of where she currently stands. As she puts it, “It’s an egotistical album – and I’m okay with that.”
Fusing Italo-disco and elements of house music for new single ‘So Right’, she sews together minimal lyrics, sultry delivery, pulsing backdrop and insistent synths. Redolent of Madonna‘s mid-period given a brush up for 2018, embodying the spirit of the dance floor with a deftness of production. Imperious. (BC)
Shards – Reflections
A tip-off from our good friend Andy Von Pip, Liverpool’s Shards deliver their sublime recent single ‘Reflections‘ its landscape of simmering textures is infused with heart-tugging vocals. Echoing with the themes of faded memory, regret and moving on, this is a gorgeously drawn first single that touches upon how all of our lives are affected by our pasts. The final portions glacial guitar riffs bare the hallmarks of the widescreen wistfulness of mid-period Ride or the Cure but retain a personality that makes these comparisons a bit moot, as they possess a wealth of personality and promise. ‘Reflections’ achingly draws on universal themes and brushes them into such a shimmering picture, it’s an impressive and affecting first taste.
https://soundcloud.com/shardsshards/reflections
