Browsing Tag

70s Folk

Cinematic Stoner Rock Meets Folk in Mal Hombre’s Latest Single, ‘When It Rains’

Posted on 4 June 2021

Any fans of Mazzy Star will want to tune into Mal Hombre’s latest single, When It Rains, featuring vocals from Coco SaFir. The soft blues slides and bends in the intro give way to a creeping soundscape that will allow you to imagine what the soundtrack would sound like if Tarantino and Lynch Co-Produced a film.

Coco SaFir’s vocals perfectly complement Mal Hombre’s fragile yet resoundingly cinematic instrumental style as it flows through a myriad of stylistic twists and turns. With the soft saxophones as the track gears up for a psychedelic outro, you won’t need to smoke to get high with this 70s-inspired stoner rock track that also introduces elements of folk, jazz and synthpop.

When It Rains is one of those tragically rare singles that compels you to crank up the volume until you can’t quite tell if you’re absorbing the single or it is absorbing you. It’s quite literally a breathtaking single that we couldn’t speak more highly of.

You can check out Mal Hombre via his website or Facebook.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Walker Tex delivers mesmerising grunge folk in his latest single, ‘Make Me Smile’

Posted on 3 June 2021

Under the influence of 70s folk and grunge, up and coming artist Walker Tex has made major waves since he started introducing his original material to the airwaves in 2020.

His latest release, and his most popular single to date, Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me), carries all of the soul of a track by Dylan or Cat Stevens and all of the sonic appeal as My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive.

The singer-songwriter carries the same hypnotic magnetism of Cohen with his whiskey-soaked vocals; when blended with alt-90s-inspired tones, Make Me Smile is simultaneously a shot of nostalgia and an introduction to the future of alt-indie folk.

Make Me Smile is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sam DeMartino put a modern indie twist on alt-folk with their single ‘The Ring’

Posted on 18 March 2021

Drift into alt-folk nostalgia with singer-songwriter, Sam DeMartino’s recently released EP ‘Not Soon Enough’. If Cat Stevens and Elliott Smith always hit the tender sweet spot, the standout single, ‘The Ring’ may just hit harder.

Sam DeMartino has been honing-in on their signature blend of 70s folk, 80s post-punk and 21^st-century indie since high school, based on the ethereal tonal alchemy in The Ring, it’s safe to say that he’s already reached virtuosic heights. The semi-orchestral single possesses a sense of vulnerability that is potent enough to shift your romantic perceptions.

You can hear Sam DeMartino via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Hunter & Girton – Father Time: Solemnly Compassionate Alt Folk

Posted on 1 March 2021

Rural Indiana-residing alt-folk duo, Hunter & Girton, are set to release their most haunting single to date, ‘Father Time’. The sparse and desolate soundscape leaves plenty of room for your own emotions to coalesce with the sentiments delivered through the lyrics which will hold a mirror to your personal relationship with melancholy.

There may be a crestfallen air to Father Time, but it’s anything but depressive. The solemnly meditative single parallels the levels of compassion found in the most tender tracks from Pearl Jam’s latest album while delivering tear-jerking tones which lend inspiration from 60s Folk.

Father Time is due for official release on March 5^th. You’ll be able to check it out for yourselves by heading over to the artist’s official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

P.B Ruck – Some Love: Sonorously Sentimental Americana Folk

Posted on 21 January 2021

Under the influence of Cohen, Waits and Dylan, Southampton-hailing artist, P.B Ruck, released their sonorously powerful latest single ‘Some Love’; the sense of romanticism is just as old school as the sepia-stained tones in the meditative Americana folk soundscape.

Through spatial effect and lyrical sparsity, Some Love is just as much about your introspection and amorous nostalgia as it is about the artist’s. With a touch of modernity on the production, folk roots are firmly implanted in the mix, but it blossoms through the tender vocals which resonate with a nuanced touch of celestially choral mesmerism.

Some Love was released on December 28^th, it is available to stream via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Vincent Sonder lights up our day with ‘Camel Lights’

Posted on 20 January 2021

In his day job, Vincent Sonder – the alter-ego of celebrated filmmaker Joe Connor – has worked with bands as diverse as The Rolling Stones, Sam Smith, Coldplay, Paul Weller, The Maccabees, and Placebo (among others), and that shoulder-rubbing pedigree has obviously stood him in good stead when it comes to his own creative flow. Recorded in 2017 but only now available across streaming services, ‘Vincent Sonder’ the album is a gorgeous, glorious affair, and ‘Camel Lights’ is a perfect introduction.

Beautiful, exquisite piano accompanies Sonder’s mellow storytelling vocal, the lyrical flow creating a perfect mood of contemplation and reverie, dreamlike and meditative, with a narrative feel that tells the story of ‘the memory of a man that I can’t find’. It’s bewitching, evocative, and anecdotal, made all the more memorable by the interplay with the second, female vocal intertwined between Sonder’s lead and those plaintive minor piano chords; you listen, and you can practically see cigarette smoke drifting from a discarded ashtray, monochrome, in the rain. It’s beautiful.

Follow Vincent Sonder on Instagram; hear ‘Camel Lights’, and the rest of the album, on Spotify.

Review by Alex Holmes

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