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Best Folk Music Blog & Promotion

Ervin Munir left us on the hook with his lo-fi indie folk single, Pick up the Phone

Posted on 14 July 2023
Ervin Munir

Norfolk’s most affable folk raconteur, Ervin Munir, has left us on the hook with his latest lo-fi indie folk pop single, Pick up the Phone, featuring the honeyed vocal lines of Tina Blaber.

With plenty of songwriting and vocal reminiscences to Nicky Wire’s debut solo LP, it is impossible not to be endeared by the quintessentially folky sticky-sweet sentimentality of the release, which amplifies around the fiddle solos and the irresistibly enrapturing melodies that find the perfect places to blossom in the single.

The diehard romanticism of the lyricality, which shows you the beauty of taking a few non-reciprocal arrows and still not faltering on the optimism front, also plays its captivating part in making Pick up the Phone an unforgettably exhilarant release.

Pick up the Phone will officially release on July 14th. Stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Matt Mullins & The Bringdowns harbingered the ‘Beginning of the End’ in their expansively influenced single

Posted on 5 July 2023

Matt Mullins & The Bringdowns may be alt-country at their core, which their single, Beginning of the End, efficaciously signifies but written into the rich tapestry of a single are elements are folk, grunge, psych and new wave indie to create a genre-bending odyssey.

Their stylistic fluidity is one thing; the way they allow emotion to drive the momentum and paint a panoramic portrait of the human psyche and all that defiles and uplifts it is quite another. The Beginning of the End takes a raw and real anxiety for the people prolifically questioning the sustainability of our societies and enraptures the listener away from it all with the unshackling nature of the stellar songwriting.

Beyond the Slash-style soaring guitar solos, the Eddie Vedder-esque gruff vocal timbre, the gangly indie melodies that will appease any fans of the Psychedelic Furs, and the rugged folk elements which reminisce with the tones made iconic by the Levellers lies the true beauty of Matt Mullins & The Bringdowns. For your own sake, experience it for yourselves.

Beginning of the End, along with their latest album, Monarch Sessions, from which it was taken, is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

It is ‘All About You’ in Cristina Movileanu’s summer folk-pop serenade

Posted on 4 July 2023

If you noticed it got a little hotter on the 16th of June, that may have been due to the scorching hot summer folk-pop single, All About You, from the vibrantly vivacious singer-songwriter Cristina Movileanu.

Each year, artists compete against each other to orchestrate the hit that will become their audience’s upbeat soundtrack to the summer. Never one to make pedestrian or predictable moves, the Emerald Isle-haling originator created a gateway to a parallel world brimmed with positive energy and joyful moments.

The jangly upbeat indie folk guitar melodies will be your main mode of transport, while Movileanu’s soulful vocal timbre will take you the rest of the way. There really is no overstating how captivating All About You is. For your own sake, don’t hang around in delving into the carresive Elysian chemistry in All About You.

Check out the official music video for All About You on YouTube, or add the sun-bleached hit to your Spotify playlists.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Isiah & The New People started a Western Psych-Folk revolution with their live recording of Hold On

Posted on 3 July 2023

Joined by the conduits of rhythmic virtuosity that make up his live band, the prodigal son of western psych folk, Isiah Driessen, stepped into The Train Station to lay down the licks in his standout single, Hold On.

Hit play and be a fly on the wall to the mind-melting alchemy that spills from the live recording from Isiah & The New People. While the jazzy sax lines feed the seduction, the rhythm section ensures your pulses are tied to the progressions in the laidback but electric hit that kicks up plenty of Western country dirt.

Driessen’s impassionedly strident vocals are the cherry on the psych-folk sonic cake as they alternate between raucously bluesy lines to honeyed harmonies that reach the pinnacle of sweet. If you ever catch someone insinuating that contemporary artists suck because they don’t ‘make them like they used to’, rub this elevated with nuance single in their faces.

Stream the live jam recording of Hold On which premiered on June 9th on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Digging for a Clue: Eric Harrison conquers all on the buckle-up quickly single, Undertow

Posted on 1 July 2023
No Defenses by Eric Harrison

Taken from his brand new 15-song double album and 6th release called No Defenses, Eric Harrison’s Undertow is creatively a rather special gem to etch in the sunshine forever in this moody world.

Eric Harrison is a Fanwood, New Jersey-based indie folk singer-songwriter who opens up his book of wisdom by accepting the inevitable but still fighting for what is right.

Recorded by Kevin Salem in Woodstock between 2020 and 2022 while feeling like this is his best work ever, Eric Harrison rides like the hero we needed and guides us to a much happier place to be inspired by. Sung with a gloriously pure style and written so brilliantly, this is a victorious soundtrack to play on loud all day.

Undertow from Fanwood, New Jersey-based indie folk singer-songwriter Eric Harrison is a track that will connect souls together to keep on fighting for what is right. Delighting all ears and reminding us that ignorance is bliss sometimes, we find a peachy track to appreciate for its goodness wrapped inside for anyone who wants to brush away all hopelessness.

If you like your music with proper meaning, this is the type of song to tell your family about.

Lather ears back into calmness on Bandcamp.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Behold Andy Smythe’s Orchestrally Lush Vignette of a Homeward Bound Beatnik, Prodigal Son

Posted on 23 June 2023
https://soundcloud.com/smytheandy/prodigal-son/s-PSNv058J9tC?si=e47bea85f2ea48afa369111846732d67&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

‘Prodigal Son’ is the latest baroque folk-rock single from the psychedelically captivating singer-songwriter, producer and arranger, Andy Smythe, who transcended the Bowie and Beatles assimilators with his orchestrally lush vignette of a homeward-bound beatnik after a soul-seeking journey.

Anyone who has ever searched for tangible evidence of an entity or philosophy which contextualises reality while grasping and affirming inner essence will feel the force of a fist full of resonance while Prodigal Son is narratively unfolding under the duress of the London-based singer-songwriter’s magnetic with soul vocal lines.

There’s no overstating the sharpness of the songwriting chops or the compelling Buckley-esque 4-octave warmth in Andy Smythe’s vocal lines. After cutting his teeth for the past 20 years as a songsmith, Smythe could give Nosferatu a run for his money with his quintessentially quirky sonic signature which has garnered rave reviews on both sides of the pond.

Prodigal Son will hit the airwaves on June 23. Hear it first on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Casting Shadows: Sadcliffe is at his best on the stunning release Sound Financial Advice

Posted on 16 June 2023

Opening up the libraries of our emotions with skill and precision, Sadcliffe drops one of the most profound singles anyone is likely to witness in 2023 on the supremely stirring soundtrack taken off the 7-track release Our Quiet House, Sound Financial Advice.

Sadcliffe aka T.M Broad is a Portsmouth, UK-born indie folk singer-songwriter and writer who performs with heartwarming passion on each of his expertly penned creations.

”His latest work comprises of the music created as I explored the recent diagnosis of my father becoming ill with cancer, how this affected me profoundly and how it caused me to reevaluate my connection to him both in the past and present.” ~ Sadcliffe

Actualising his true emotions and bravely performing with grit and honesty, Sadcliffe fuses our ears with his new Spanish classical guitar and has created a special anthem for anyone still healing from intense loss.

Sound Financial Advice from London, UK-based indie folk singer-songwriter Sadcliffe is one of the most poised tracks to enter our eardrums this year. This is a delightfully top-drawer effort made with true love.

Sharing a deep moment with the world and moving us calmly through the archives of life, this is a must-listen and learn-from single which feels rather timeless.

Hear this fine single on Spotify.

Check out the news on IG.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

The Marsh Family instilled empathy for refugees in their single, See Your Face Again

Posted on 16 June 2023

Released to raise awareness for 2023’s Refugee Week, The Marsh Family’s compassion-driven and strings instilled latest single, See Your Face Again, is as devastatingly beautiful as it is necessary. In a time when tribalism and prejudice are so pervasive in the mainstream discourse, and when it is painfully evident that empathy is the only remedy, singles don’t come much more seminal than See Your Face Again.

The indie folk single by the musical family gives the listener a view into how heartbreaking it is for migrants to decide to tear themselves away from the ones they love in search of a future that is brighter. There’s no sacrifice greater than leaving family behind in landscapes where more rubble amasses every day.

Instead of preaching to the choir, the Marsh Family collectively put themselves in the unenviable position of migrants, allowing the listener to come to their own emotional conclusions, whilst being guided by the euphonic grace of the release.

The single features Ali Esmahilzada, who fled from Kabul to LA without his violin, but was benevolently given one by a US benefactor. The single itself pushed me to the brink of tears; the stunning contribution from the resoundingly talented Ali Esmahilzada pushed me over the edge.

Stream See Your Face Again from the 16th of June via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Some Kind of Poison: Bobby Fire found her body with buzzing flies for company on Hounds Hunting Me

Posted on 15 June 2023

With a truly sad single which will cause tears to flow like the rains coming during the winter, Bobby Fire drops a cinematic tree-climbing single which will summon our deepest emotions from the basement on Hounds Hunting Me.

Bobby Fire is a UK-based indie folk/Americana storyteller who makes the kind of real music which is massively memorable for its outstanding authenticity.

Inspired by greats such as Leonard Cohen, Roky Erickson and Sixto Rodriguez, Bobby Fire has created one of the most eye-opening singles of modern times. This is real to the core. It shows us deep inside the nature of current days with money, greed and poor decisions in such a kind world, which is currently caged by evil deeds from invisible suits.

Hounds Hunting Me from UK-based indie folk/Americana artist Bobby Fire might be a classic which might only be appreciated in decades to come. That’s the point. This is a single made with so much love and care. Each word means something. The vocals are hauntingly beautiful and the melodies will make many think deeper, about where our planet is actually headed.

They’re killing us baby.

Listen deeper to the truth on YouTube.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Post-Punk Meets Desert Rock in The Immaculate Crows’ Spellbinding Single, School of Hard Knocks

Posted on 11 June 2023

Taken from their Light in Dark Rooms EP, The Immaculate Crows’ alt-indie rock single, School of Hard Knocks, is an 80s-nostalgia-swathed invitation to wear the scars you have amassed in your fight to survive as a badge of honour.

In recent years, there has been a heightened prevalence of the presumption that society is a mediocracy where everyone is granted the same opportunity, in complete disregard to the disparity in starting lines. The Immaculate Crows reached out to the disenfranchised with validation written into their spellbinding single, which bridges the gap between Siouxsie Siouxe and Echo and the Bunnymen while working in an extra slice of desert folk-rock glamour. The endlessly compelling female vocal lines pull you right into the centre of the dark yet radiantly mesmerising orchestration.

School of Hard Knocks is available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast