News – Page 89 – 7th Level Music

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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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.

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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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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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Dream Nails release “Vagina Police” ahead of upcoming album.

London punks Dream Nails have been buzzing in the UK for some time and last month announced their signing to Dine Alone for the release of their debut self-titled full length, which will be out August 28th on Dine Alone in North America and UK indie Alcopop! in the rest of World. Today, the band are sharing a new single from the LP entitled “Vagina Police,” along with it accompanying video.

WATCH: Dream Nails’ “Vagina Police” on YouTube

Dream Nails’ drummer Lucy Katz describes the track as “our battle-cry against the persistent and pathetic-yet-insidious obsession of the state to police our bodies at any cost. It’s a song about reproductive rights and (in)justice in all its forms.” Bassist Mimi Jassson elaborates on the ways the establishment tries to police our bodies across the world: “From abortions being illegal, to forced sterilization of trans people. We stand in solidarity with our trans siblings in the face of the UK’s repression of trans rights.”

The track was originally released by London-based indie Everything Sucks Music but the new version, as will feature on Dream Nails’ forthcoming self-titled debut album, produced by Tarek Musa of Spring King, breathes new vigour into its intent. For the next month, 100% of Dream Nails’ Bandcamp proceeds will be split between Abortion Support Network and Mermaids.

Dream Nails self-titled LP is due out August 28th via Dine Alone and Alcopop! Pre-orders for ‘Dream Nails’ are live today and can be found HERE. Physical vinyl bundle includes a 40-page signed zine. In true punk DIY fashion, the zine is handmade by the band, featuring lyrics, articles and background to the songs on the album.

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Ela Minus releases “megapunk.”

Colombia-born/raised and Brooklyn-based musician Ela Minus debuts her new single, “megapunk,” via Domino. It follows “they told us it was hard, but they were wrong,” an invigorating single Minus released this spring that was recently remixed by Fort Romeau, DJ Python and buttechno. “megapunk” is on the same motivating wavelength. It’s driven by an array of shifting instrumentation – blipping techno, a thumping drum beat, and Minus’ tempered vocals. Written last year and prescient given today’s progressive social movements, “megapunk” is defiant, and an encouraging reminder to surge forward, despite resistance: “you don’t want to understand // you’re choosing to lead us apart // but against all odds // you still won’t make us stop.”

Ela comments, “When I wrote this song last year, I was worried it would lose context if not released immediately. I could not have been more wrong. This is the perfect time to put this out. We have to keep going. Ánimo y fuerza.”
Watch Ela Minus’ Video for “megapunk”

Preceding her path of making electronic music, Ela drummed in a teenage hardcore band. She joined the band when she was just 12 and played with them for almost a decade. Then, Ela moved to the United States, where she attended Berklee College of Music and double-majored in jazz drumming and synthesizer design. This expansive background instilled in Ela a belief that we all have the power to change things, and as she delved deeper into her work with synthesizers, she saw a clear connection between the freedom of the DIY scene she grew up in and club culture.

Ela uses only hardware synthesizers to perform, write, produce and record. Her music exudes a vibrant warmth, and a stark, celebratory affirmation that our breaths aren’t infinite.
Watch Ela Minus’ Video for “they told us it was hard, but they were wrong”

Listen to “they told us…” Remixes

Remezcla “Hardware” Episode

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Angel Olsen releases title track from upcoming album – “Whole New Mess.”

“I had gone through this breakup, but it was so much bigger than that—I’d lost friendships, too. When you get out of a relationship, you have to examine who you are or were in all the relationships. I wanted to record when I was still processing these feelings. These are the personal takes, encapsulated in a moment.” — Angel Olsen

Angel Olsen will release Whole New Mess, her first solo album since her 2012 debut, on August 28th via Jagjaguwar. A super intimate and vulnerable emotional portrait that shows her grappling with a period of personal tumult, Whole New Mess presents Olsen working through her open wounds and raw nerves with just a few guitars and some microphones, isolated in a century-old church in the Pacific Northwest. In conjunction, Olsen presents the lead single, “Whole New Mess,” with a video directed by longtime collaborator Ashley Connor. Additionally, she announces Cosmic Stream 3, the third in her livestream series, which will air on the album’s release date and stream from the Hazel Robinson Amphitheater in Asheville, NC.

Whole New Mess follows All Mirrors, Olsen’s grand 2019 masterpiece (and a top 10 critically acclaimed record). At least nine of the eleven songs on Whole New Mess should sound familiar to anyone who has heard All Mirrors. “Lark,” “Summer,” “Chance”—they are all here, at least in some skeletal form and with slightly different titles. But these are not the demos for All Mirrors. Instead, Whole New Mess is its own record with its own immovable mood. If the lavish orchestral arrangements and cinematic scope of All Mirrors are the sound of Olsen preparing her scars for the wider world to see, Whole New Mess is the sound of her first figuring out their shape, making sense for herself of these injuries.

To record Whole New Mess, Olsen asked for a studio recommendation from Electro-Vox head engineer and a deep kindred spirit Michael Harris. She wanted to find a space where, as she puts it, “vulnerability exists.” They settled on The Unknown, the Catholic church that Mount Eerie’s Phil Elverum and producer Nicholas Wilbur converted into a recording studio in the small town of Anacortes, Washington. Anacortes would act as a kind of harbor for Olsen, limiting distractions as she tried to burrow inside of these songs. “I hadn’t been to The Unknown, but I knew about its energy. I wanted to go sit with the material and be with it in a way that felt like a residency,” Olsen says. “I didn’t need a lot, since it was just me and a guitar. But I wanted someone else there to hold me accountable for trying different things.” In late October 2018 prior to recording All Mirrors, Olsen and Harris lived for 10 days in a rental and built a daily ritual of getting coffee each morning in a nearby bookstore. They hiked Mount Erie, visited state parks, and strolled the empty streets of Anacortes beneath a full moon. But mostly, the sessions were casual, relaxed, and quiet, allowing Olsen the space to fully explore these feelings.

The results are staggering, somehow disarmingly candid and dauntingly personal at once. The opener and title track—one of two songs here that did not appear on All Mirrors—is a blunt appraisal of how low Olsen got and how hard the process of pulling herself back upright was, especially when being an artist can mean turning your emotions into someone else’s entertainment. “Oh, I’ll really do the change,” she repeats at the start and finish, her voice wavering as she tries to buy the mantra she’s selling. “The reality is that artists are often never home so health, clear mindedness and grounding is hard to come by,” says Olsen. “The song is a mental note to try and stay sane, keep healthy, remember to breathe wherever I happen to be, because there is no saving it for back home.”

Considered alongside All Mirrors, Whole New Mess is a poignant and pointed reminder that songs are more than mere collections of words, chords, and even melodies. They are webs of moods and moments and ideas, qualities that can change from one month to the next and can say just as much as the perfect progression or an exquisite chord. In that sense, these 11 songs—solitary, frank, and unflinching examinations of what it’s like to love, lose, and survive—are entirely new. This is the sound of Angel Olsen, sorting through the kind of trouble we’ve all known, as if just for herself and whoever else needs it.
Watch Angel Olsen’s “Whole New Mess” Video

Pre-order Whole New Mess

Purchase Cosmic Stream 3 Tickets

Whole New Mess Tracklist
1. Whole New Mess
2. Too Easy (Bigger Than Us)
3. (New Love) Cassette
4. (We Are All Mirrors)
5. (Summer Song)
6. Waving, Smiling
7. Tonight (Without You)
8. Lark Song
9. Impasse (Workin’ For The Name)
10. Chance (Forever Love)
11. What It Is (What It Is)

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