Nik Havert

Review: Kelly Lee Owens – Inner Song

It takes guts to open your new album with a Radiohead cover, but that’s exactly what Kelly Lee Owens does on her (no shocker, if you’d heard her amazing self-titled debut – which was my top album of 2017) excellent new record, Innner Song. Owens has stated in press releases that Inner Song follows “the hardest three years of my life,” and one could view the record (and her) as a phoenix rising from ashes.

That aforementioned Radiohead cover is “Arpeggi” (from 2007’s In Rainbows) and she starts it with subtle, humming bass that’s almost subliminal. Owens sings about letting go of things in the past that cannot be fixed on “On” – which has her voice moving and sounding like birds released from a cage. It builds into a thumping, bumping floor-filler. Owens excels at tracks like this that take you on a journey from peaceful meditations to booty-shaking workouts.

“Melt!” – a song about global warming that samples collapsing glaciers and people ice skating – deserves to be on every DJ’s hot list of dance tracks this year. “Free yourself with the truth that’s already in you,” Owens sings on the haunting “Re-Wild.” It’s advice all of us can use, and Owens’ use of echoing synths helps it sink in like acupuncture needle. “Jeanette” is all bouncy synths and beats that make you want to dance and then hug everyone and then dance some more.

“L.I.N.E.” (“Love Is Not Enough”) has Owens realizing that “love is not enough to stay…love is not enough alone” as she walks away from a dead-end relationship with someone offended by truth. “Corner of My Sky” features none other than John Cale on vocals singing and speaking poetry over Owens’ lush synths. “Night” blends house, ambient, and chill wave, and “Flow” is perfectly named as it bumps, grooves, sways, and, yes, flows along like a happy balloon bouncing down the street on a summer wind. The album ends with sort of a reverse lullaby on “Wake-Up.” The soft song is great for relaxation, but Owens tells us (and herself) to open our eyes and move forward (the only direction we can move in this life, really).

That fact that Owens could create an album as lovely as Inner Song after “the hardest three years of my life” is a testament to her fortitude. I’m glad she made it through the trials and came out, like a phoenix, stronger.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Lamps release wild new single, “Horse Cow Goat Pig Dog,” from upcoming fourth album.

Lamps, LA’s notoriously unprolific noise-merchant trio, are ready to release their spectacular fourth album called People With Faces on In The Red Records and share the first track today.

Recorded and mixed by Ty Segall at Val’s, Lamps’ first recorded output since 2012’s landmark LP Under The Water, Under The Ground finds them breaking adventurous new terrain.

Stalwarts Monty Buckles (guitar, voice, keyboards) and Josh Erkman (drums, voice) double down on Lamps’ trademark cloak of effects-laden guitars and hammering drums, and new(ish) member Denée Segall jumps into the fray with her Poly Styrene wail and monolithic bass, adding depth both sonically and lyrically. Their trademark abrasiveness is still present, but it’s burnished it into something richer, more layered. Don’t worry, it still kicks your head in.

First indication that things have changed comes in the opener, “Confirmed Frenchman.” With its serpentne rhythm and Denée’s muted vocals, it sounds kinda like The Au Pairs, if the Au Pairs listened to a lot of Throbbing Gristle. From that point onwards, People With Faces careens maniacally and majestically between alt-fantasy screamers and boot-bottom dirt-rock scummery.

“Horse Cow Goat Pig Dog” slams like a feminist peak-form Black Sabbath (if only), and “Comedian” is a jaunty, chilling serial killer rave up. “G.N.A.T.S.” updates the Lamps sound into something punishing and darkly humorous, with Erkman screaming that women’s magazines saved his life.

Worth noting is the inclusion of two covers that have been part of Lamps’ live show since Segall joined in 2015. The straightforward and sinister take on Sexual Harassment’s “I Need a Freak” is skin-crawling background music for the worst date ever. And “I Owe It to the Girls,” by Floridian proto-no-wavers Teddy & The Frat Girls, twists the raw desperation of the original into a razor-sharp militant anthem.

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[Thanks to Jo Murray.]

Rituals of Mine releases “Exceptions” from upcoming album due September 25th.

Rituals of Mine – the immersive, hybrid R&B electronic project of Los Angeles-based songwriter Terra Lopez – shares the new single/video, “Exceptions,” from her forthcoming album, HYPE NOSTALGIA, out September 25th on Carpark Records. It follows previous singles “Free Throw (feat. KRIS)” and “Come Around Me.” For the bedroom pop-tinged “Exceptions,” Lopez wrote with a TC Helicon vocal effects pedal to reflect the track’s vulnerable lyrics and make her voice more of an instrument. It deals with the heavy realization that some people aren’t meant to be in each other’s lives forever. The accompanying video, directed by Leo Pfeifer, is based on Lopez’s childhood.

“During this time I had a big falling out with some key people in my life (including my longtime bandmate), friends that had been family for over a decade. I honestly thought I’d grow old with these people by my side and it was a heavy realization coming to terms that we just didn’t belong in each other’s lives anymore,” says Lopez. “It’s a song that acknowledges that in these situations, it’s a two-way street. There’s no need to shift blame on anyone, that won’t undo what happened. The chorus, ‘Take all of my pride, throw it out’ is me admitting that I was also part of the reason for the connection ending.”

In addition to her WNBA History Club podcast, Lopez announces HYPE NOSTALGIA TV, a podcast that reflects on nostalgia and how it directly impacts artist’s work. The first episode features Tegan Quin (from Tegan & Sara) and future guests include Chino Moreno (from Deftones), Nico Turner (from Cat Power) and KRIS.

Watch “Exceptions” Video:
https://found.ee/GlXc

HYPE NOSTALGIA follows 2019’s SLEEPER HOLD EP, which was filled with emotional intensity and self-reflective songwriting, confronting the emotional rollercoaster that came with the death of her father and later, her best friend.

On HYPE NOSTALGIA, Lopez didn’t want to solely focus on the heaviness of her life. Instead, she opted to create an album written from a pre-loss perspective. There are dark moments and devastation throughout, but what largely transpires is Lopez’s ability to reconcile with her emotional trauma by reimagining her past in a way that isn’t shrouded in total darkness, but glimmers of light and hope.

Between St. Augustine, Florida and Los Angeles, Lopez collaborated with producers Wes Jones and Dev the Goon on HYPE NOSTALGIA. The result is a self-assured 13-track album interspersed with future R&B, electronic and pop, and layered with the softness of Lopez’s ethereal vocals. From tackling what it’s like to be a woman of color in the music industry to exploring intergenerational trauma, HYPE NOSTALGIA is an all-encompassing look at Lopez’s personal growth and resilience.

With HYPE NOSTALGIA, Lopez offers a glimpse into her own experience in the hopes that it will open the door for listeners to confront their own mental health challenges and serve as a touchstone as they find their own way to process and heal.
Watch “Exceptions” Video:
https://found.ee/GlXc

Watch “Free Throw” Video:
https://found.ee/Z4h5

Watch “Come Around Me” Video:
https://found.ee/Z6XU

Pre-order HYPE NOSTALGIA:
https://found.ee/uEkw

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[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Adulkt Life debuts their first single – “County Pride.”

Huggy Bear’s Chris Rowley, Male Bonding’s John Arthur Webb and Kevin Hendrick, and drummer Sonny Barrett announce their new collaboration, Adulkt Life. In conjunction, they announce their signing to What’s Your Rupture? and present their debut single, “County Pride.”

Huggy Bear led the UK’s answer to riot grrrl, inspired by the “seismic shock” of witnessing a Nation of Ulysses performance together and galvanized by Bikini Kill drummer Tobi Vail’s germinal riot grrrl zine “Jigsaw.” In the 25 years since Chris Rowley played with iconic Huggy Bear, starting a new band hasn’t felt right. But after John Arthur Webb (Male Bonding), who Rowley met while picking up records at a Rough Trade shop, asked if he wanted to play music together it “suddenly it felt super exciting.” Years later, Webb and Rowley befriended a then-teenage drummer, Sonny Barrett, now 23, who worked at a different Rough Trade location. After a mysterious letter from Rowley arrived for Sonny at the shop, Sonny finally decided to check out Huggy Bear, promptly offering to drum in Adulkt Life. The Adulkt Life lineup was finalized when Webb enlisted his best friend and longtime collaborator, Kevin Hendrick—who has in recent years turned towards solo industrial noise poetry as Middex—on bass.

Now, working with these musicians and their combined perspectives, Rowley makes a striking return. The need for change that Huggy Bear sought is no less relevant today – Adulkt Life inquires but offers no easy answers, instead instigating punk’s eternal invitation to see: “Wow, I should do something—make something, start a political party, just do something rather than not do something.” Their debut single, “County Pride,” offers a first taste of their frenetic sound. It brings together three generations of punk energy, creating a timeless sense of urgency.

“Early in Adulkt Life songwriting we wanted to make a song like Devo – something herky jerky with a future disco swing for a party crowd – but we were all too angry,” says Rowley. “The song is about the need to escape from hostile small town awfulness and the weird ways you choose to get out. It’s a dark ride with sparky edges through small town/new town bid for blood… Adulkt life haven’t learnt to be flippant yet just flipped out ….Ricochet and rockblast vs racism.”
ADULKT LIFE’S “COUNTY PRIDE” ON YOUTUBE

ADULKT LIFE’S “COUNTY PRIDE” ON BANDCAMP
Those who download “County Pride” from Bandcamp will also receive the first of three fanzines, which the band intend to “try and recapture the feelings not just in rediscovering music but all the other crucial elements that go alongside it, the passion to share and scrutinise and play poetically with brut force and argue.” More info HERE.

ADULKT LIFE ONLINE:
https://adulktlife.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/adulkt_life/

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[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Makeness earns a lot of “Friend Credits” with his new single.

Following in the footsteps of his highly acclaimed debut album, Loud Patterns,
Makeness invites us to jump aboard his latest single release – a laid-back downhill anthem.

A crafty blend of; east coast house, jazz laced chords, soaring leads and a lazy groove combine to give the track an effortless feel while the bridging elements and rhythmic breakdown create a euphoric path, awash with pathos and emotion. All this lays the foundation perfectly for Molleson’s ethereal vocal which floats over the top and drags you in even deeper.

Makeness, AKA Kyle Molleson, lives in South East London but has his roots in Scotland’s remote Outer Hebrides. These contrasting environments can be heard through his music with driving rhythms against a laid back pace and the embrace of both pop and the avante-guard. “Friend Credits” takes the listener on a journey of blissful fascination with its relentless building energy and sets a steady course for a summer classic.

Look out for remix duties by South East London’s prolific Ben Hauke released on 4th September, offering a definitive high octane flip to this original cosmic banger. “Friend Credits” was mastered at the Green Door Studios and is released digitally through EPM & Xelon (AU) on the 28th of August.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Aaron at Paradise Palms Records.]

Partner “Never Give Up” with new album due this November.

The follow up to their break out debut album, In Search of Lost Time, is out November 20th on You’ve Changed Records and the band has released a DOUBLE single “Hello and Welcome // Rock Is My Rock”, with two incredible videos:

HELLO AND WELCOME // ROCK IS MY ROCK

Never Give Up is Partner’s second full-length album, following 2017’s In Search of Lost Time. In the years since their first release, the band has developed their “post classic rock” sound, leaving behind 90s rock comparisons. The new album retains elements that will be familiar to Partner fans, such as guitar solos and humorous subject matter, but with more structurally adventurous songs and abstract lyrics. They have spent the last several years on tour with drummer Simone TB, and this is evident in the looser and more confident performances captured on the album. Never Give Up was recorded by Steve Chaley at Palace Sound in the summer of 2019.

The band described the process of making the album. “In October of 2018 we found ourselves in a dark and quiet rehearsal space. We were practicing for a two person show, the first one we had played in many years. We were at a crossroads as a band, and we had no idea what the future held. All we knew was that we were going to be making music together. We weren’t sure what this music would sound like or who would be playing it with us. And then the songs started to arrive. Some of them fully formed, like the first songs we wrote. It was as much a surprise to us as anyone else when we realized we had the beginnings of our second album.”

Not all the songs came so easily. Some took over a year to complete. Some taunted the band with their elusivity. Some forced Partner to rip them apart and build them back together more than once. Never Give Up was written in rehearsal spaces, in the band’s bedrooms, in a condo, in friends’ and strangers’ houses, Air BnBs, in a cafe and on Josee’s couch and in the studio, and in the booth. “We talked. We were honest with each other and honest with ourselves. Sometimes it was a lot. And when it got to be almost too much we would repeat to each other, first as a joke and then not as a joke at all, ‘never give up’.”

Partner Links
Partner Album – https://youvechangedrecords.com/product/partner-never-give-up/
Website: http://www.partnerband.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/partner.music.band/
Bandcamp: https://partnerband.bandcamp.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/partner_band/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/partner_band
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/partnerband

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[Thanks to Mar at Mar On Music.]

Teenager release “Trillium Song” from upcoming October album.

Toronto’s DIY scene purveyors, Teenanger have today shared their blistering new single, “Trillium Song“, the second to be lifted from the new record, Good Time – out October 2 via Telephone Explosion Records – which has so far earned praise from outlets like Paste, The Line of Best Fit, Exclaim, BBC 6 Music, So Young and more. The new record, which comes mixed by renowned Toronto musician, Sandro Perri, follows previous releases that have found the band share stages across North America and Europe with the likes of METZ, Ty Segall, Death From Above, Dilly Dally, Dish Pit and more.

“Trillium Song” presents another agile take from Good Time, drawing once again on striking melodies and a wiry new wave sound palette, this time utilizing a two-pronged vocal foray with both Melissa Ball and Chris Swimmings lending their voices. Whereas previous releases from the group have suggested a more abrasive post-punk approach, Good Time demonstrates a pop-leaning slant on the sound of Teenanger without removing their ear for social commentary.

Speaking about the new track, Swimmings says: “This song is about the province of Ontario where we all reside. Mainly about the current provincial government’s way of dealing with the education system and the environment. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Premier Doug Ford (the song’s primary subject) was making good headway at polishing his public image by being hands-on. He made promises of people not losing their jobs and tenants not being evicted. They were timely promises in the beginning as we are now seeing many tenants in Ontario face eviction due to not being able to make end’s meet in the pandemic.”

——

Good Time arrives off the back of a turbulent few years for the group, a period filled with self-reflection, a restless search for creativity and more than anything, a need to rewire the very essence of the band. The four-piece had tied up the rinse and repeat promotional run for their 2017 self-titled record in the spring of 2018; their fifth album, which had started to find them some acclaim, also marked their first decade together as a group, quite an achievement by anyone’s measures in the current climate. The line-up was unchanged since Teenanger’s inception, and the members had become somewhat inseparable over their time together; whilst the album release and the corresponding tour was somewhat celebratory, it also brought with it a severe bout of writer’s block that unexpectedly placed their existence in jeopardy.

A testament to the rigorous DIY ethos of Teenanger that forges its core values, the band was rooted in the same rehearsal room that they had used since their early days together – a revolving door of local acts shared the space and it took fracturing this routine to find inspiration for Good Time. One Craigslist advertisement offered an apartment for rent with the words: “Music OK”, Teenanger seized the opportunity and thus “Studio Z” was coined, a basement flat that previously worked as a reggae studio/after-hours club was converted by the four-piece into a live practice room and adjacent fully-functional recording studio. The band went on to battle two major floods, a CO2 leak, vermin infestation and constant mould to record the new album.

Good Time is out on October 2nd on Telephone Explosion. It is available for pre-order here.

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[Thanks to Tom at Hive Mind PR.]

Review: Spun Out – Touch the Sound

If I had to pick one word to describe Spun Out‘s debut album, Touch the Sound, it might be “lush.”

Formed by former members of Chicago indie rockers NE-HI, Spun Out (the main trio being Alex Otake, James Weir, and Mikey Wells) are more of a musical community than a band. Spun Out is all about collaboration with friends and colleagues, or, as they describe it, “…a revolving door for our friends to come in and work with us.”

It produces great results. Opener “Another House” builds to a great mix of shoegaze and psych. “Such Are the Lonely” has power pop bounce but doesn’t lose its shoegaze roots, and that brief saxophone solo by Kevin Jacobi is a cool way to end it and leave you wanting more. Thankfully, Sean Page‘s keyboard work on “Dark Room,” backed with a wicked beat that Chicago hip hop DJ’s are probably sampling even now, more than satisfies.

The acoustic guitar chords of “Running It Backwards” bring early tracks by The Fall and The Church to mind. “Antioch” walks along the edge of synthwave at the beginning and then takes the plunge into a pool of lovely dream pop that instantly mellows you. “Off the Vine” brings in funky bass and keyboards to produce dance-psych (Did Spun Out just create a new genre?). “Don’t Act Down” implores us to rise above chaos and drama and not succumb to such distractions from the journey inward amid its groovy beats.

Speaking of groovy beats (full drum kit and plenty of hand percussion, I think I even heard a triangle in there), the opening ones on “Pretender” will get your toes tapping. “Cruel and Unusual” is as lovely as a warm breeze drifting across a Chicago balcony in late summer when either baseball team in town is doing well in their division’s standing. The closer, “Plastic Comet,” starts out with a tribute to Bob Dylan and “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” with its lyrics and then it melts into lava lamp psychedelia.

It’s a lush record that is suitable for lounging on the couch, the balcony, the beach, or the park…or the dance floor. A surprising number of songs on Touch the Sound will get you moving. It’s a good debut and a successful experiment that bodes well for future records.

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[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Ric Wilson, Terrace Martin, and BJ the Chicago Kid pay tribute to Chi-Town ladies on “Chicago Bae.”

Earlier this summer, Chicago-based hip-hop artistRic Wilson and GRAMMY-nominated producer Terrace Martin released their collaborative EP, They Call Me Disco (via Free Disco/EMPIRE/Sounds of Crenshaw), “a breath of fresh air for anyone looking for a departure from the trap-focused beats and the boom bap-styled alternatives that dominate hip-hop’s modern landscape” (Uproxx). Today, Wilson and Martin are proud to share the official visual for its snappy lead single “Chicago Bae” which features BJ The Chicago Kid and production from Ted Chung, Terrace Martin, and J-Trx. The video, directed and animated by Win Homer and premiered by Afropunk this morning, features Wilson, Martin, and BJ and was filmed in quarantine in each of their respective homes. Slowly, bright animations are incorporated throughout the video eventually transforming into a cartoon-esque love story.

“We started making the video to ‘Chicago Bae’ around the time everyone was running into Walmarts taking all of the toilet papers,” says Wilson. “We couldn’t physically be together but wanted to make something that could bring people together more. I’m honored to be featured on a song with two incredible black musicians that I consider living legends. I don’t really know anyone who’s singing better than BJ The Chicago Kid right now and I don’t know who’s embodying and pushing the boundaries of all genres of black music right now as much as Terrace.”

Watch the video below and head over to Afropunk’s Instagram for a live interview with Wilson taking place today at 3pm eastern.

Watch “Chicago Bae” (Ft. BJ The Chicago Kid) (Prod. Ted Chung, Terrace Martin, J-Trx) –
https://youtu.be/-rp7pDnR604

Watch Video for “Don’t Kill The Wave” –
https://youtu.be/gB1p3lS2kG8

Watch Video For “Move Like This” –
https://youtu.be/57NT3t8Nlo8

Purchase They Call Me Disco –
https://empire.ffm.to/theycallmedisco

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[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Kelly Lee Owens teams up with John Cale for “Corner of My Sky.”

Producer/musician Kelly Lee Owens collaborates with John Cale on a foreboding new single, “Corner Of My Sky (feat. John Cale),” from her forthcoming album Inner Song, out August 28th on Smalltown Supersound. The two Welsh artists first met in London while working on a song for Cale, which prompted a future collaboration for Inner Song. In “Corner Of My Sky,” Cale sings in both English and Welsh over Owens’ droning, psychedelic lullaby. The track follows a string of previously released singles and videos – “On,” “Night,” and “Melt!”

Cale comments, “It’s not usually this immediate that a productive afternoon brings a satisfying conclusion to a task. Kelly sent me a track she’d written – an instrumental that was a gentle drift – something comfortably familiar to what I’d been working on myself. On the first listen, the lyrics came with ease and a chorus and melody grew out of it. Even the Welsh phrases seemed to develop from a place of reflective memory which was a surprise since I hadn’t written in Welsh for decades. Once finished, I realized there existed a built-in thread we’d created together and apart – and her kind spirit pulled it all together and in quick order.”

Owens elaborates, “I knew with this album I needed to connect with my roots and therefore having the Welsh language featured on the record felt very important to me. Once the music for the track was written and the sounds were formed, I sent the track straight to John and asked if he could perhaps delve into his Welsh heritage and tell the story of the land via spoken-word, poetry and song. What he sent back was nothing short of phenomenal. The arrangement was done during the mixing process and once I’d finished the track, I cried – firstly feeling incredibly lucky to have collaborated with John and his eternal talent and secondly for both of us to have been able to connect to our homeland in this way.”

Listen to Kelly Lee Owens’ “Corner Of My Sky (ft. John Cale)”

Inner Song is the follow-up to Owens’ self-titled debut, which was recognized as one of the most critically praised albums of 2017. Inner Song finds Owens diving deep into her own psyche—working through the struggles she’s faced over the last several years while embracing the beauty of the natural world. Sonically, Inner Song’s hair-raising bass and tickling textures drive home that Owens is locked into delivering maximal aural pleasure, whether it be on a techno banger, a glimmering electro-pop number, or a Radiohead cover.
Watch “On” Video

Listen to “Night”

Watch “Melt!” Visuals

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[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]