Browsing Tag

folk

Bask in the ‘Alpenglow’ of Lounna’s latest alt-indie folk rock rendering of poetic yearning

Posted on 20 September 2024
Louanna

Lounna’s latest single, Alpenglow, panoramically expanded indie-folk with a sound infused with the ruggedness of Big Thief and the euphonic beauty akin to the works of Gregory Alan Isakov and Boygenius.

The song unfurls with swathes of soul that seep through every note, achieving a séance of seraphic serenity with its Grammy-worthy craftsmanship. Louanna doesn’t just sing; she commands a profound respect that transcends typical genre confines, pulling listeners into a bask-able warmth.

The traditional folk instrumentation intertwines with ornate crescendos, crafting one of the most stirring aural experiences of 2024. The composition breathes the very essence of wonder, reminiscent of breathtaking landscapes, stunning beyond compare. Each note and lyric in the track feels like a brushstroke on a vast sonic canvas, portraying mental health struggles, difficult life circumstances, and the enduring human spirit.

Brenna Slate, under the moniker Lounna, is not new to the music scene. With fifteen years of songwriting, performances at notable festivals, and opening for nationally touring artists, Slate’s voice has matured into a poignant echo of indie folk innovation, which is exemplified in Alpenglow, which will leave you thematically alongside her, yearning for the nostalgia of lost love.

Alpenglow is being primed to debut on September 20th; purchase the single on Bandcamp; for more ways to listen, visit Lounna’s official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Timothy Jaromir tuned into transience in his art-folk installation, Liminal

Posted on 6 September 2024
Timothy Jaromir

Tuning into his latest artfully melodic musing, Liminal, isn’t the first time we’ve been hypnotised by the Zurich singer-songwriter Timothy Jaromir and his command as a conjurer of caressive sonic consolation, and we’re sure it won’t be the last.

Liminal spaces often possess atmospheres of eerie abandonment, but subversively, Jamir filled the threshold of the soul with a tenderly heartfelt touch. In Liminal, the listener is suspended in time to contemplate the beauty of connection and how ‘shadows feed the light’. The sanctity of true love resounds throughout the kaleidoscopic panorama which envelops the underpinned vulnerability of a diehard romantic, unarmed and unfeigned.

When the jazzy crescendo breezes into the organically spaced production which unfolds around you when you lock into the diaphanous rhythms, a rush of seraphic intensity takes hold of the release which will feature on the artist’s highly anticipated album, Man Atlas.

Liminal will be available to stream on all major platforms from September 6th. Discover ways to listen and connect with Timothy Jamir via his official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Noah Hamlin has unveiled a debut of panoramic Folk romanticism with ‘Bluebonnet Girl’

Posted on 5 September 2024

With a vocal timbre that would make any fans of Cohen, Cave or Dylan quiver at the knees, folk singer-songwriter, Noah Hamlin’s debut single, Bluebonnet Girl revisited old Americana roads while injecting fresh fervour into the folk genre.

The Austin, Texas-hailing troubadour’s artistic maturity belies his 23 years; with oceans of poetic depth in the lyrics which paint a vignette of panoramic landscapes which become the backdrop to a love story for the ages, sinking into the sepia hues of Bluebonnet Girl becomes an all-consuming sensory experience for the soul.

The finger-picked acoustic guitar notes, influenced by the likes of Townes Van Zandt, puts the romanticism into mellifluous motion, exhibiting Noah Hamlin as not just another artist entering the oversaturated folk genre, but a true purveyor of artistic ingenuity. After one hit, you will be stoked for the sophomore.

Bluebonnet Girl was released on August 18th; stream the single on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Somewhere In Between – Mr & Mrs: An Orchestral Indie Folk Tale of Amour for the Ages

Posted on 2 September 2024

Somewhere In Between, the soul-embracing union of Deena Robertson and Austin Bisnow is so much more than a new alt-indie folk act on the scene; the duo is a profound testament to love’s resilience.

Their debut single Mr & Mrs, taken from their double A-Side which also includes the single Wildflower, unfurls as an artfully orchestral folk narrative, resonating with emotional depths through dual-layered harmonies. The intimate glimpse into a romance that has battled odds as daunting as cancer and triumphed with a story sung through their very being reaches the epitome of heart-rending.

The single channels the delicate nuances of Thom Yorke’s artful signatures, the diaphanous echoes of Tom Odell, and the undeniable chemistry reminiscent of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. It’s an ornately ethereal vignette of romanticism so vivid, it might just redefine your understanding of love, illustrating that true affection demands patience, compassion, and understanding.

Their journey began when Austin first heard Deena singing in Sanskrit during a hot yoga class in LA, leading to an inseparable bond forged at a retreat in Utah. Challenges soon followed, notably Deena’s cancer battle, compelling them to immortalise their vows in song with the aid of Grammy Award-winning artist Ry-X. Today, their Quebec barn-turned-studio is not just a place of creation but a sanctuary where their lives and art intertwine.

For those jaded by Hollywood’s glossy depictions of love, Mr & Mrs offers a real, raw, and profoundly authentic alternative. Hit play, and let the seraphic sentimentality carry you to where love reigns supreme, unscripted and unequivocally honest.

Mr & Mrs is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Drew Hersch broke new ground in heartache with the raw indie-folk pop reflections in ‘Onward & Upward’

Posted on 30 August 2024

Drew Hersch’s latest single, Onward & Upward, is a raw, intimate confession that bleeds vulnerability from start to finish. The lyric, “The other night when I had someone over, I taught him to hold me like you did,” is a gut-wrenching highlight, encapsulating the bitter pangs of moving on while still anchored to the past. This tender indie folk pop ballad doesn’t just brush against the surface of heartache—it plunges into the depths, making you feel every pulse of pain that Hersch so poignantly articulates.

In Onward & Upward, Hersch captures the agonising reality of being the one left behind, as his ex-partner soars above it all, while he’s left to grapple with memories that linger like ghosts in every corner. From old date spots to the universal curse of dating someone with a common name, Hersch paints a picture so vividly relatable, that it will be hard to determine where your emotions end and his torment starts.

At just 23, this Boulder, Colorado-based artist is already proving himself as an alt-indie folk pop savant of emotional resonance. The artful ingenuity intertwined with the confessionally cathartic release makes the irreverently witty melancholy hit so much harder. From hushed acoustic verses to ornately tender crescendos, each motif is a conduit of unfeigned emotion in the track which echoes the warmth of Zach Bryan, the haunting depth of Lana Del Ray and the textured production of Eilish.

The official music video for Onward & Upward will premiere on August 30th; stream it on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

When Folk Meets Prince: Isiah & The New People’s Haunting Cover of ‘When Doves Cry’

Posted on 28 August 2024
Isiah & the New People

In their cover of Prince’s When Doves Cry, Isiah & The New People take the iconic track on a deeply personal journey, transforming it into something that resonates far beyond its original message. Following the success of their debut EP, Boxes, the Wisconsin-based collective has shown their ability to strip a song to its emotional core and rebuild it with raw, unfiltered candour.

The affecting exploration of loss, love, and the painful intersections between the two makes the intensity of the emotions palpable from the first note, as the vocals quiver under the weight of heartbreak. Isiah Driessen’s voice, laden with sorrow and yearning, delivers each line as if the wounds are still fresh, allowing listeners to step into his world and experience the pain of a love that could no longer survive in the wake of tragedy.

The instrumental arrangement further amplifies the track’s emotional depth. Gone are the synth-pop hooks that made the original so iconic; in their place is an expressive acoustic guitar that seems to echo the heartache embedded in the lyrics. The fretwork speaks alongside the vocals, visualising the fire that still burns, despite the devastation left in its wake.

The decision to cover When Doves Cry was clearly not taken lightly, and it shows in every carefully considered progression. This is music as catharsis, as a means of processing the unthinkable. With each strum and vocal tremor, Isiah & The New People invite listeners into their emotional landscape, offering a glimpse of the pain that led to this release, resulting in a track that challenges you to reconsider the original, now layered with the weight of lived experience.

When Doves Cry will be officially released on August 28th and available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Follow Isiah & the New People on Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The melodies leap off the page in Go Metric USA’s installation of folk mysticism, Old Books No One Remembers

Posted on 27 August 2024

 In an unflinching mission to keep the traditions of folk storytelling alive, the Texan ensemble Go Metric USA has unveiled their tribally hypnotic sense-awakening serenade, Old Books No One Remembers. You can practically hear notes of opium drift through the production in the arcanely atmospheric alt-country vignette which allows poetry to acquiesce with seraphic folk melodies.

With an evocative potency which tears through the centuries, Old Books No One Remembers is inexplicably efficacious in its ability to consume the psyche. It is only when you reach the outro in the Legendary Pink Dots-reminiscent production that you realise how intertwined you’ve become in the eloquently enlightening narrative which can hold its own against Robert Frost’s poetry.

Old Books No One Remembers is now available to stream on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jake Marshall tore the sutures off his wounds for his folk-pop debut, bad singer

Posted on 14 August 2024

In one of the most vulnerable and soul-baring folk-pop debuts the airwaves have ever witnessed, Jake Marshall tore the sutures off his wounds and stood in front of the world unfeigned with his debut single, bad singer.

With gospel motifs swelling around his vocal lines that simultaneously exhibit his impressive octave range and his ability to convey heavy emotions in even the highest registers, there’s something profoundly sanctifying about the opportunity for connection presented by bad singer.

The titular paradox of this track is just one of the ways Marshall artistically shines in the raw vignette of his trauma that would break most and resign them to shame. The power of fortitude resounds through the release which proves that even if you live and sing in spite, you can salve the pain of others as you chart your arc of healing.

bad singer is Jake Marshall’s candid reflection on overcoming self-doubt instilled by past relationships. With evocative melodies and introspective lyrics, the song chronicles his journey from being told he couldn’t sing to embracing his voice. The track captures the essence of his unique blend of sad folk-pop, setting the stage for his forthcoming EP, Love(s) of My Life.

Stream the official music video for bad singer on YouTube now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lara Eidi and Ed Blunt conjured the sweetest sound of the summer in the soul-folk single, Orange Sundress

Posted on 10 August 2024

For her latest single, Orange Sundress, the Grecian soul folk goddess, Lara Eidi, collaborated with the equally esteemed artist Ed Blunt to hold the magic of summer.

After a chance meeting at a songwriting retreat in Edinburgh, Orange Sundress was written as an impromptu act of sonic serendipity, and that’s so much more than the origin story behind the single. The naturalistically spontaneous synergy resounds through the weightlessly blissful single which is fraught with the imagery of a love story unfurling to an Athenian backdrop.

Slip into the single and live vicariously through the tenderly warm narrative which serves as yet another attestation to Lara Eidi’s ability to transcend sound with the soul she infuses into each of her sonic landscapes.

With acoustic instrumentation as seraphically sweet as the interplay between the harmonies of Eidi and Blunt, Orange Sundress immortalises the ephemeral utopia of sun-kissed days marked by the rapture of devotion.

Orange Sundress was officially released on August 2nd; stream the single on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Peace prevails in Steve Andrews’ latest folk tune, We Can Sing Together

Posted on 8 August 2024

Cardiff singer-songwriter, Steve Andrews, AKA the Bard of Ely, who has graced stages as Glasto and Green Man and TV screens via Britain’s Got Talent, can always be counted on to remedy what ails the world. His latest single, We Can Sing Together, narrowed the divides which distract from the fact that we’re all fundamentally the same and we’re stronger together than we are apart.

The orchestral crescendos in the context of the unifying underpinnings swell with evocative power, and when the choir backing vocalists project perspective-shifting harmonies, you’d be hard-pressed not to shed a tear to the tune of humanistic accordance which is becoming increasingly harder to find out in the wild and away from the airwaves.

Co-written with Stephen Friedland and contributed to by a choir of school children, We Can Sing Together is a ballad of prevailing peace, which goes a long way in rectifying the collective loss of faith in humanity.

Watch the official video for We Can Sing Together which premiered on August 1st via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast