Browsing Category

Alternative

Jay Jones spills rock n roll attitude in his swampy country single, Drinkin’ in a Hotel Room

Posted on 8 November 2024

Look at life through the lens of a country-rock renegade on the road with Jay Jones’ latest hook-driven anthem, Drinkin’ in a Hotel Room.

Memphis’ rough and ready chart-topping award-winning artist is no stranger to clocking up the miles as he blazes through the states, electrifying rock fans keen to get a taste of his sound that pours smoother than a shot of whiskey, so if anyone knows how to implant you in the raucous experience of a rockstar, it’s Jay Jones. With cheeky touches here and there within the swampy radio-ready hit, it’s impossible not to get swept up in the vignette.

With pornographic tones spilling from the guitars as the crunchy overdriven chords meet winding country licks, Jay Jones has the perfect platform for his raw powerhouse vocals that sweep you up in the hedonistic earworm. No one would blame you for dancing on a pool table while this single gyrates through the atmosphere.

Stream the cinematically shot official music video for Drinkin’ in a Hotel Room on YouTube now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Hotel Florentia squeezed 60s psych-pop into garage rock with their saturated-in-delay slice of eccentric reverie, The 11th Hour

Posted on 7 November 2024

The Italian pop-rock duo Hotel Florentia squeezed the psychedelia of 60s pop into their criminally underrated lo-fi garage gem, The 11th Hour, allowing listeners to revel in a slice of indie reverie that matches the sublimity of The Maccabees and the Violent Femmes.

With melodies that burrow their way straight into the soul and turn up the heat through the glow of wavy saturation and nostalgically sharpened hooks which imbue instantaneous accessibility and familiarity to the single, The 11th Hour is the ultimate introduction to the Lodi-based outfit which are no strangers to international stages.

Equally as sweet as the instrumentals is the sense of playfully unfeigned eccentricity which sees the single become so much more than the sum of its parts. If Pavement never fails to leave you enamoured with their zanily electric vignettes, prepare to fall head over rhythmic pulses for The 11th Hour.

The 11th Hour is available to stream on all major platforms, including SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Folk Meets Symphony: The Dynamic Contrasts of ‘Touch of Adrenaline

Posted on 7 November 2024

With an 00s-adjacent sound that will throw you right back to when the fervour around Plain White T’s single Hey There Delilah consumed popular culture, the latest acoustic pop single, Touch of Adrenaline, from the independent singer-songwriter Woodstone, is a raw revelation which will leave you hanging off every cuttingly cultivated chord progression.

Rugged in all the right places, stirringly diaphanous in all the rest, Touch of Adrenaline is enough to sink you into an awe-struck stupor as you attempt to take in the vivacious display of talent that translates into evocatively piercing aural gold.

The pulls of the orchestral strings which work their way into the mix accompanied by folky instrumentals amplify the thematic dynamism of the single which evolves into a study of contrasts between the ornate orchestral motifs and the winding Kurt Vile reminiscent folk strings.

As the single lyrically contends with the painstaking fear of not being enough in the presence of someone who captivates through the electricity of their skin and knowing that the connection will be ephemeral, Woodstone exhibits one of the most scintillating song structures the airwaves have been graced with this year. The question isn’t whether he is worthy of your radar; it’s, Are your radars worthy of him?

Touch of Adrenaline reached all major streaming platforms, including SoundCloud on October 21.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Feel the fevered pulse of The Sonic Redemption in their hedonistic riot of a hit, I Got a Fever (and I think I like it)

Posted on 6 November 2024

The Sonic Redemption stormed back onto the rock scene with their latest single, ‘I Got a Fever (and I think I like It)’. The track is a riot of rock-reverent chaos, with the band taking a few tempo cues from Motorhead and channelling hook-driven euphoria reminiscent of Rancid’s …And Out Come the Wolves LP.

The anthem burns a blazing trail of aural adrenaline, leaving your speakers hyped as the whiskey-soaked vocals snarl over the dynamic tight as a straitjacket instrumentals.

Fronted by the iconic Dominique De Vos, previously of Southern Voodoo and Motorcity Angels, and joined by Jelle De Vos on guitar and Bram Decrock on drums, The Sonic Redemption continues to deliver unbridled power and unpolished rock ‘n’ roll.

Dominique De Vos describes the new single as embodying the band’s core identity: “unrestrained, fast, and uncompromising.” It’s a song about the exhilarating freedom and energy that floods through you when you’re completely caught up in the music—a fever that’s genuinely infectious.

The Sonic Redemption doesn’t just revisit the glamour and depravity of the Sunset Strip in the 80s; they reimagine it, spreading it with authenticity and intensity across the globe. The track is an unfiltered tribute to the soul of rock ‘n’ roll, showcasing a band that not only pays homage to this timeless genre but also defines it for a new era. Prepare yourself before you roll with the juggernautical punches of this hit.

I Got a Fever (and I think I like it) dropped on October 26th; stream the single on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

faSade – Freedom to Carry (Is Not Free): A Dark Cabaret Plea For An End to The Right to Bear Arms

Posted on 6 November 2024

In the Avant Garde production of faSade’s dark cabaret rock single, Freedom to Carry (Is Not Free), the artist plunges deep into the heart of one of America’s most polarising debates. The jazz-imbued track, saturated with theatrical verve, doesn’t shy from voicing the harrowing price paid by innocence in the face of the nation’s gun culture.

With each lyric, faSade delivers visceral blows, but none as sharp as the one imparted through the strikingly sombre line, “Your freedom to carry is not free when I have to carry my child to the cemetery”.

The fierce outcry against the so-called freedom of gun ownership accounts for the loss of the cost of children’s lives while delivering an anthem mourning those lost to the bullets of mentally ill assailants and a rebuke of society’s complacency.

With America on the brink of electing a new leader, the timing of the track couldn’t be more poignant. faSade holds a mirror to the grim realities of a society that chooses the profits of the gun industry over the safety of its youth as the artist condemns the political powers that perpetuate this cycle of violence for electoral gains, and the societal indifference that allows domestic abusers and despondent individuals access to firearms.

Through Freedom to Carry (Is Not Free), faSade implores listeners to awaken from their idle states as mere legislative changes could preserve countless futures.

The official video for Freedom to Carry (Is Not Free) premiered on October 18th; stream the video on YouTube now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

You Dirty Blue revived vintage blues rock with their renegade of a hit, Humming

Posted on 5 November 2024

‘Humming’ by You Dirty Blue thrashed into the blues rock scene with a rare ferocity that barrels through the annals of music history. This single reverberates with the raw, unrefined essence of 70s rock, encapsulated by fuzzy guitar riffs and raucous vocals that snarl with renegade charm. It’s a rhythmically infectious track that knocks polished modern rock productions off their pedestals and replaces them with something that resonates with the spirit of old-school rock.

You Dirty Blue, a powerhouse duo from Tamworth, have been igniting venues across the UK with their explosive live shows. Their music is steeped in the DIY ethos of grunge and blues, infused with a punchy punk twist that makes each performance unforgettable. Humming is a new chapter in the duo’s legacy with its heady rush of rock’s golden era aesthetics and modern ferocity. If you’ve been pining for the days of raw, unapologetic rock music, get your kicks that are guaranteed to leave a lasting mark.

Humming was officially released on November 1st; stream the single on SoundCloud now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Broghan – The Calm Before the Storm: Southern Gothic Glaswegian Alt-Indie Folk

Posted on 4 November 2024

The Glaswegian alt-indie-folk singer-songwriter Broghan has come a long way from busking in Glasgow and Edinburgh at 14 years old. Her latest single, The Calm Before the Storm, which sees the haunting aesthetics of Southern Gothic Folk meet Scottish Art Folk, is set to push her to even greater heights. I wouldn’t be surprised if roles were reversed in the near future and Lewis Capaldi opens for her in front of a 12k cap capacity crowd!

The ethereally Avant-Garde score builds from a minimalistic instrumental piece into an arcane tour de force, with a series of filmically thematic transgressions pulling you through the shadowed corridors of the single which exhibits how Broghan has mastered the art of tonality and spatial effect.

The anticipation before the crescendo will leave your rhythmic pulses on the brink; the angular notes that haunt the soundscape following the first climatic build testify to how immersive this visceral ride through the singer-songwriter’s talent truly is. She’s a phenomenon in her own right, and it is only a matter of time before she’s showered with plaudits and songwriting awards.

The Calm Before the Storm reached the airwaves on November 1st; stream the single on all major platforms, including Spotify, now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

The Hopeless Romantics of Hard Rock, Electric Cherry, Cut Deep with Their Latest Single, Anyway You Want

Posted on 4 November 2024

Electric Cherry never fails to live up to their moniker, but with the sticky-sweet super-charged currents tearing through the renegade of a rock anthem, Anyway You Want, the Roman rock n roll powerhouse amped up their sound to the nth degree.

As a teaser of what is to come from their upcoming album, CHERRY HEART, the rhythmically salacious slice of high-octane scintillation hits it out of the hard rock park while simultaneously throwing back to the classic rock pioneers and synthesising cinematic white knuckle momentum into the riff-decorated earworm.

As far as ticking all the right hard rock boxes goes, Electric Cherry received full marks with Anyway You Want which narrates the death knell of a relationship as it becomes platonic, leaving bitter-sweet glimmers of hope for the future. The melodic hooks in the chorus vocals become razors to the soul when sharpened by the hopeless romanticism in the lyricism. There’s no getting out of this single unaffected once you hit play.

The official music video for Anyway You Want is now available to stream on YouTube.

Follow Electric Cherry on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date with news of their upcoming LP, CHERRY HEART.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Marlon Bianco went left of leftfield in his experimental electronic trip, Mad Man

Posted on 1 November 2024

Marlon Bianco’s latest single, ‘Mad Man,’ plays like an auditory hallucination; like peering through a drunken kaleidoscope, sounds and colours blend into a vivid sonic trip. Beginning with scratchy, trip-hop-adjacent beats, the track seamlessly evolves as Bianco’s dreamy, nostalgically textured vocals marry with the underlying rhythms.

It’s a sonic sculpture that etches itself into the mind, pulling you into the affirmation that insanity is infectious as elements of funk and jazz are weaved into a sublime lo-fi collage of sound.

Hazy summer nights may be behind us, but this psyched-to-the-nth-degree synth-driven odyssey from the Brighton-based aural polymath is here to stay. There’s no escaping the dreamy Avant Garde clutches of this release which forces you to live within its layers.

Mad Man will hit the airwaves on November 1st; stream the single on Spotify and follow Marlon Bianco on Instagram and Facebook.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Keep your soul warm with Daniela Galasso’s slice of indie folk-pop reverie, Comfortable

Posted on 1 November 2024
Daniela Galasso

With an emotional richness and resonance that puts her in parallel to the most introspective works of First Aid Kit, Daniela Galasso, with her seminal single, Comfortable, radiates vulnerability and tonal warmth

Aside from the cinematic sonic sublimity, the real beauty of Comfortable resides in how the Italian-born, California-based singer-songwriter turns becoming comfortable in a relationship into something profoundly poetic. While so many people would perceive that as the moment the romance dies, Galasso flips the script with her ethereally tender, orchestrally scored single, allowing listeners to see comfort in a relationship as something just as sweet as the initial butterflies.

As an award-winning artist who has clearly mastered the art of textural alchemy within her productions, Galasso has stepped out of the shadows of her influences in the vein of Taylor Swift, Ellie Goulding and Imogen Heap and irrefutably come into her own through her installations of vulnerable reverie.

Comfortable will be available to stream on all major platforms from November 1st. Find your preferred way to listen via the artist’s official website.

Keep up to date with news of new releases from Daniela Galasso on Instagram and Facebook.

Review by Amelia Vandergast