Browsing Tag

Indie Folk

Farrah Hanna explores evolution in her indie-folk single, ‘Everything is Different Now’.

Posted on 10 May 2021
https://soundcloud.com/farrahhanna/everything-is-different-now/s-uyAJwV2zYJt

With an introduction that is the aural equivalent to Nikita Gill’s collection of poetry, Fierce Fairytales, the prelude to Farrah Hanna’s latest single, ‘Everything is Different Now’, instantly puts you in a suggestable and contemplative state. With the following verses flowing through in Farrah Hanna’s conversationally narrative style, you will find yourself amongst the lyrics as the changes in your life coalesce with Hanna’s.

Any fans of Angel Olsen, Big Thief and Phoebe Bridgers will appreciate Farrah Hanna’s quaintly lo-fi acoustic folk style. The meditatively short and sweet single uses haunting, almost neo-classic, keys sporadically behind the gentle acoustic rhythms to amplify the already potent sense of emotion in this succinct indie-folk instant classic. Everything is Different now allows the inevitability of change to feel far less daunting.

Everything is Different Now officially released on May 6th; you can check it out for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Marshall Artz are ‘Coming Home’ with their twin guitars and a brand new album

Posted on 8 May 2021
Marshall Artz

Taken from their fifth album ‘What Matters’, Marshall Artz’ new single ‘Coming Home’ is a mildly folky, Louisiana-tinged acoustic-led duet, fast-paced and upbeat with some bluegrass vibes in places around the banjo-roll lead breaks and slide guitar pieces, all wrapped around the uber-tight fingerstyle rhythm work of Kevin Artz. There’s a folk-rock, Americana feel to the track, reminiscent of 70’s trio America, Bread, or Harry Chapin, with maybe an element of the Doobie Brothers thrown in in the way both players interact organically around the track to create something that sounds fuller than ‘just’ two guitars and vocals.

It’s an excellent track, pacey and tight; lyrically, the title’s pretty much on the money – a long time away, nothing but ‘FaceTime on my iPhone’ to connect with, and ‘today is the day that I’m coming home’. Gentle, fun, and uplifting, ‘Coming Home’ is a great introduction to Marshall Artz new album.

You can hear ‘Coming Home’ here.

Review by Alex Holmes

Junebug delivers meditative empowerment in her debut indie-pop single, ‘cut you loose’,

Posted on 6 May 2021

If you’ve been putting off severing toxic ties, the debut melodic indie-pop offering, ‘cut you loose’ from up and coming Cambridge, MA-hailing artist Junebug offers plenty of extra incentives with a stunning melding of easy guitar chords and playful synths.

There’s intrinsic innocence to cut you loose. Usually, tracks in the same vain spin the same archetypal, spiteful, ‘better off without you’ narrative. Yet, cut you loose is meditative in the way it reminds you that you’re worthy of inner peace with the cool choral tones.

Any fans of Kate Nash and Big Thief will appreciate Junebug’s airy yet ardent style which is heavily inspired by Joni Mitchell and Laura Marling, paired with her conversationally narrative lyrics that bring her voice as a queer artist into the conversation.

cut you loose was created in collaboration with instrumentalist Chris Howat, who added more depth to the cathartically connectable single that was written, recorded and mixed by Junebug (AKA Carolyn Fahrner) who has been part of the intrinsic fabric of the Boston music scene prior to her Junebug debut.

With her debut EP, ‘Turncoat’, in the works, which promises to be her most vulnerable material yet while exploring queer experiences and growing pains, Junebug is well worth a spot on your radar.

cut you loose is now available to stream via Spotify.

Connect with Junebug via Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lindsay Brazell reached the pinnacle of indie-folk with her single, ‘Midnight Gospel’.

Posted on 5 May 2021

With chord progressions that flow as easily as Courtney Barnett’s and the Beatles’, from the first note, you’re suckered right into Lindsay Brazell’s latest bluesy folk-pop single, ‘Midnight Gospel’.

The choruses practically act as transcendental experiences as you get caught up within Brazell’s chorally arcane vocals that give you the same vibe as Stevie Nicks as they work with the popping melodies that remain contemporary until the solo where the roots of bluegrass pull through.

With her sound exuding as much distinction as Amigo the Devil and the 2020 supergroup Bonny Light Horseman, combined with the impression that she lights up every room she walks in, it comes as no surprise that the singer-songwriter has been dubbed one to watch by The Nashville Songwriters Association International. We wholeheartedly agree.

Midnight Gospel is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Delicate, Beautiful, and Haunting – The Real Shade are ‘Waiting For Good News’

Posted on 3 May 2021
The Real Shade

Gorgeously simple-but-evocative strummed acoustic guitar and Tim Vesely’s beautiful, cultured vocal carries the first half of ‘Waiting For Good News’, the new single from Toronto-based The Real Shade, before delicate organ, drum, and backing vocals join us around the mid-point; ‘Waiting For Good News’ is a perfect, tear-jerking-in-a-good-way, poignant and heartfelt yet hopeful and uplifting, it’s an absolutely stunning mix of lo-fi, old-school Americana, folk, and simple, expressive pop. Think Jayhawks, Counting Crows, or the mellower parts of Buffalo Tom, with a little of Paul Westerberg and Justin Townes Earle thrown in for good measure.

Taken from the forthcoming album ‘String Of Lights’, and a collaboration between ‘usual’ The Real Shade singer-songwriter Jane Gowan (Spygirl, Neins Circa) and producer and musician Vesely (Rheostatics), ‘Waiting For Good News’ is inspired both by the feelings a lot of us have right now, as we emerge slowly, blinking and nervously sniffing the air, from lockdown, and the novel ‘All My Puny Sorrows’ (Miriam Toews). It’s an absolutely beautiful, reflective single, perfectly composed and stunningly performed, gorgeous in its simplicity and 1,000,000 times more powerful because of it.

‘Waiting For Good News’ is released on May 14th 2021; you can find more information from The Real Shade’s website.

Review by Alex Holmes

Toby Charlesworth – To Say Goodbye: Organically Raw Indie Acoustic Folk

Posted on 23 April 2021

North London’s Toby Charlesworth followed on from his 2021 successful debut EP with the release of the captivating indie-folk single, ‘To Say Goodbye’. The 23-year-old singer-songwriter uses music to express what words alone cannot; To Say Goodbye is the perfect testament of his expressive talent.

With the same tender tender lyricism as Tom Odell paired with Charlesworth’s vocals where nothing is dramatic, prosaic or forced, every note is organically raw as he laments on ‘a beauty he used to know’.

The single perfectly captures all of those self-deprecating thoughts that come to fruition after saying a goodbye that we never wanted to say. It’s the kind of track that can leave you in a daze as the lyrics force you to contemplate your losses and find gratitude for the ones that are still around.

To Say Goodbye is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Dylan Walker drops his debut single, the chilled love-song ‘All I Need Is You’

Posted on 10 April 2021

It’s not often that bible quotes spring readily to mind when reviewing new music, but “when I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things” could easily be the tag-line for ‘All I Need Is You’, Dylan Walker’s debut self-penned single.

An ex-childhood tennis prodigy and professional player turned musician and songwriter, 20-something Dylan Walker’s opener is a beautiful, gentle mellow little acoustic-guitar-and-vocal-led ballad to love, loss, and the understanding that the important things in life aren’t – as he puts it – ‘…fancy things/ like fast cars and grand clothes and diamond rings’, but the love and support of those close to us. Dylan Walker’s voice is soft, lilting, almost falsetto at times, carrying the message of the lyrics beautifully over the chilled melodic backing. It’s a strong, confident debut, and bodes well for Dylan Walker in the future, with two more singles – ‘Life Began With You’ and ‘We Are Meant To Be’ slated for release later this year on Happy Sloth Records.

‘All I Need Is You’ is out now across all major streaming platforms; you can check it out on Spotify now.

Review by Alex Holmes

Kevin Neary invites the lost to find themselves in ‘Hopelessly True’

Posted on 8 April 2021

It feels like there’s been a seismic infusion of soul-baring sincerity on the airwaves since the pandemic began, yet, not many candid tracks can hold a candle to Kevin Neary’s, ‘Hopelessly True’.

If a global pandemic isn’t enough to make you feel lost and uncertain, I don’t know what is, so for those feeling disjointed and deflated; you’ll find plenty of comfort in Hopelessly True. The indie folk-pop offers an impossible-to-resist feeling of solidarity which is enough to remind the listener that feeling lost is part of the journey – metaphorically and literally.

The 25-year-old Irish singer-songwriter has picked up plenty of accolades and acclaim for his unique yet distinctly familiar style. With the same tender magnetism as Tom Odell, Hozier and Paulo Nutini, his sound that stemmed from busking roots soon feels like home.

You can check out the animated music video via YouTube, or you can add the track to your Spotify playlists.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Salmon Run have released their chorally accordant country folk single, ‘She’s Alright’

Posted on 7 April 2021

With their latest single, ‘She’s Alright’, Appleton, WI-residing duo Salmon Run played with roots of country-folk while giving the production a chorally enticing contemporary feel.

The lyrics are sentimental and heartfelt enough for you to become personally enamoured with the object of affection which the accordant single gently introduces, reminding you well and truly that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that, for the most part, thankfully, it lies in idiosyncrasies.

It’s a stunning single to hand over your emotions and rhythmic pulses to. Any fans of contemporary folk acts such as Bonny Light Horseman will appreciate this quiescent journey of romantic adoration.

The official video to She’s Alright is now available to stream via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

La Palma drop a ‘delightful mix of dreamy old-school’ with Nostomania

Posted on 4 April 2021

While many of us over the last twelve months have either been burrowed down and tucked quietly away or fighting the desperate urge to flee our houses and go somewhere – anywhere – else for a while, nostomania’ is an intense homesickness, an irresistible, almost pathological compulsion to return home. There’s a beautiful, folky melancholy yearning to the references to California, underpinned by some rolling, resonator guitar-style picking and soft, delicate vocals. The track has an old-school, 1970’s California hippie vibe, something that would be utterly at home in the ‘commune’ section of the Easy Rider soundtrack or sitting on a playlist between Big Brother and the Holding Company and the Fraternity of Man. It’s evocative of a time and a feel, but also of dust and sunshine and a nostalgia and pining which seems perfectly suited to the current Covid-19 rootlessness and ennui.

La Palma released their self-titled debut album in 2019; ‘Nostomania’ is taken from their forthcoming follow-up, ‘Moonflower’, a delightful mix of dreamy old-school indie-folk, psych-pop, and dashes of 1960’s stoner and surf-rock. It’s submersive, expressive, and uplifting; a perfect sunlit antidote to lockdown, locked-up blues.

‘Moonflower’ is released on the 1st April. You can check out La Palma on Facebook and via their website.

Review by Alex Holmes