For the last Tracks of the week of the year, we have a selection of fresh gems for your ears. Don’t forget to follow our playlist below for more new music every week.
Raveloe – Catkins
Why we love it: A wonderful debut song from Raveloe aka Scottish multi-instrumentalist Kim Grant, ‘Catkins’ is rich with Grant’s haunting vocals her wistful tone reminding one of Kiristin Hersh. Literate and melancholic, this enveloping song is invested with swirling layers of swaying instrumentals fuzzy guitars, strums and resounding drums, it could be called gaze or folk-pop but who cares, its rustles with the brittleness of being, this self-reflective and poignant track is gorgeous and grows magnificently. A fantastic beginning.
Speaking to the song, Grant said: “When I spotted the catkins, I thought of their temporality and how their presence marked a change and the birth of spring, which led me into thinking of the nature of time in general.
This song is about the nature of time/change and is also largely connected with moving through and beyond trauma and pain by showing yourself compassion, learning to be honest with yourself and others and processing it layer by layer.” (Bill Cummings)
Pave The Jungle – Moirai
Why we love it: Rachael Whittle (guitar/vocals) and Scott Jeffery (drums) are Pave The Jungle. And Waiting For Nothing is the new EP from the Newcastle duo. Released last Friday via Cow House, the final track on the EP is ‘Moirai’. Based upon the Three Fates (or Moirai) of Greek mythology, representing the cycle of life – essentially birth, life, and death – ‘Moirai’ is an affirmation of life and how to live it.
Speaking about the track, Rachael Whittle says “It comes back to the idea for me that you should always live life to the fullest. As you never know when it will end. Musically I wanted the song to reflect what life has been like lately: unpredictable and manic, but with some serenity threaded through it all. I also wanted to mix things up structure-wise and so decided to open with a chorus. Like ABBA or something! This makes the song pretty relentless, especially rhythmically.”
And, you know what, she is absolutely right. Front-loaded into the chamber, the moment the trigger is squeezed ‘Moirai’ shoots back out at maximum velocity, propelled along its path by Jeffery’s insistent tribal drumming and the headrush of Whittle’s squalling guitar and powerful voice, spelling out maximum energy and and excitement as it does so. (Simon Godley)
Naima Bock – 30 Degrees
Why we love it: It has all been happening for Naima Bock. The South London artist is currently out on tour as support to Porridge Radio (the final date of this UK tour is on 2nd December at District in Liverpool). She has recently signed to Sub Pop. And the highly revered record label has just released her debut single.
The single is ’30 Degrees’ and Naima Bock says “This song came out of the adolescent duality of fear and freedom and deals primarily with goodbyes. The small ones, which feel so big, ‘some final word’ (goodbye to a long-term friendship) and the big ones, ‘the final sigh’ which can feel so small amidst the clutter of surviving day-to-day.”
The debut single from the erstwhile founding member of Goat Girl, who left the band in 2019 between their first and second albums, is a mightily impressive introduction. The melody of the folk-infused ’30 Degrees’ – produced by Naima Bock’s long-time friend and collaborator Joel Burton (of the band Viewfinder) – crackles, smoulders and slowly burns over which Bock’s distinctive voice gently floats. (Simon Godley)
cln – REDEEMED
Why we love it: Chilled and ambient, ‘Redeemed’ is a deft piece of electronica, twitching breakbeats and a tapestry of instrumentals is pierced by Alexander’s vocoder flecked vocals, that tap into a meditative sense of renewal, floating somewhere between James Blake and Bon Iver, there’s an inventive spirit at the heart of cln. Callan Alexander is the man behind the cln project, ‘REDEEMED’ was a song that he was going to send off for someone else to use but in the end, he found he just couldn’t part with it…
“Lately I have been shifting a lot of my focus towards making music for other artists. I make a lot of music that doesn’t quite fit this project and I have a backlog of songs on my hard drives that I would prefer made it out into the world somehow. I have been sending out lots of beats and ideas and making music in genres that I wouldn’t usually venture into. It’s been a lot of fun and it’s gotten me out of my comfort zone which is always good. This song was originally intended for another artist, but I liked the instrumental so much that I couldn’t part ways with it. I am a big fan of mixing orchestral layers like brass and organs with synthesizers and vocoders. I recorded the vocal tracks over the original demo in one night and that was pretty much it.” (Bill Cummings)
Makthaverskan – This Time
Why we love it:
Swedish collective Makthaverskan, returned earlier this month with fourth full-length, För Allting. The album’s first single, ‘This Time’ is an epic cinematic track that is riven with big guitar hooks, widescreen percussion and huge choruses helmed by vocalist Maja Milner, who seizes the moment on this awesome big-hearted single. (Bill Cummings)
Aderyn – Scotty
Why we love it: Exciting South Wales artist Aderyn returns with her first release on the Phwoar & Peace. ‘Scotty’ builds from playful strumming and a hooky melody and a sing-along chorus that rides a fizzy guitar lick, piecing a Star Trek reference alongside heartache narrative. ‘Scotty’ is another addictive guitar-pop single, it vividly shows how Aderyn is growing as a songwriter, not only does she know her way around a melody she can also tap into knowing self reflection and turn it into a tune. She has a sense of humour too, watch the video below.
“I was actually drunk when I wrote this song, which probably explains the mixture of brutal honesty and Star Trek references in the lyrics. I got back from the pub and picked up my guitar and all these feelings started pouring out.
This song is about the ‘eternal sunshine of the spotless mind’ feeling of wanting to erase someone from your memory because sometimes life gets so messy you can’t figure out another way to get over somebody. The tempo kicks up in the choruses, and that’s when the thumping drums and spacey guitars kick in” – Aderyn
Hana Lili – Stay
Why we love it: Welsh-born, London-based Hana Lili released her debut single ‘Stay’ earlier this year. Entirely
self-written and produced, ‘Stay’ is shot through confessional lyrics over sparse bedroom pop production replete with a gradually unfurling keyboard motif. This earworm melody has an addictive intimacy as Lili sings in your ear about a fading connection(“everytime you push I pull away/because I don’t want you to stay”) that has echoes of the more downtempo moments of Billie Ellish‘s work or Holly Humberstone. The track is from Hana’s EP, written and recorded at home during the first lockdown, and is accompanied by a lo-fi video that sees Hana play the song on the shore, as the sky turns purple and the sun sets behind her.
“I tend to gravitate towards writing songs about personal situations that are happening in my life. ‘Stay’ comes from a place of vulnerability and the need to be completely honest, something I find difficult to do in conversations in real life. As an artist, lockdown allowed me to go back to basics, just writing songs and submerging myself in the purity of the process. Not having to focus on anything else associated with music helped me to discover the songs I wanted to create and produce.” (Bill Cummings)
