Dark, moody, and atmospheric, vaguely threatening and at once hellishly enticing, ‘Cult’ by Cat Mullins and ThemBoys is a perfect slice of sinister, country-tinged rock music for the weird, the strange, and freaks of all kinds.
Like Nick Cave, The Urban Voodoo Machine, Nick Marsh, or The Long Insiders, ‘Cult’ calls out to the disaffected and the disturbed, Mullins’ resonant baritone offsetting beautifully against the baleful tones of the track, the band’s nefarious aims set out in a clarion call to the wicked, the bad, and the dangerous to know.
Brian Perrone’s latest darkly moody Indie track “Sorry” is one of the sincerest apologies I’ve ever heard. Any Dark Folk/Murder Folk are sure to be as enamoured and evocatively bruised by Sorry as we were.
From the first verse, you’ll be hooked in the lovelorn narrative tale of regret and longing. The progressive single holds plenty of space for the artist’s seamlessly unexpected evolutions in tone and style which consistently uses complex time signatures. From delicate Neo-classical keying to Jazz-style improvisation, Sorry has a smorgasbord of inventive ingenuity to throw your way. Yet, in its essence, it remains a transfixing resolving soundscape with plenty of soul on offer.
Sorry is due for official release on August 28th, you’ll be able to check it out via Spotify.
Any fans of Nick Cave are going to want to check out the latest single “Denial” from up and coming Rock artist Jessamine Barham.
The pensive piano-led soundscape sets the perfect tone for the vocals to fall upon and conjure a dark-brand of aural alchemy. It’s dramatic, it’s unapologetically distinctive, and I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to hear and artist throw herself completely into a track with little inclination to assimilate what already exists on the airwaves.
Denial may be on the twee side of Rock, but that’s not to say that it’s not a striking soundscape to delve into. Jessamine Barham’s baroque vocals ensure that your attention is never in danger of faltering once you hit play.
You can check out Jessamine Barham’s single Denial for yourselves via YouTube.
There will never be anything as beautiful as someone who has seen the dark bringing the light with their music. And that’s exactly what happened when Amigo the Devil graced Manchester with his amicably macabre approach to Folk.
Within the realms of Dark Folk, you’ll find plenty of dark and twisted lyricism. But Amigo the Devil (Danny Kiranos) goes beyond that. He digs up the storytelling roots of the genre and exposes the complexity of 21st-century sentience with the addition of humour which will touch even the staunchest of existentialists.
I hadn’t quite anticipated how emotional a live set would be. Yes, you can practically hear each drop as his soul pours out through his lyrics on his records. But seeing the stinging conviction behind each word amplified their veracious meaning in a way I could never have anticipated. Yet, every time I was moved to tears, I was forcibly shifted back to laughter with his quick humility-soaked wit.
The words “crowd participation” usually send shivers down my spine. Yet, with Amigo the Devil, it’s almost a knee-jerk reaction to get caught up in the experience and become part of it in solidarity with his candidly expressive bravery.
Given that there’s a fairly eclectic array of instrumentals on their recorded material, I was slightly dubious how he could recreate that live armed with just an acoustic or banjo. But his inventive request for the audience to help out with foot stamping and clapping percussion was infinitely more immersive than any backing band could have been. He’d instilled unity in the room quite early on in the set by reminding us that death is one of the only commonalities which we’re certain to share, that will probably only sound depressing if you’ve never been to an Amigo the Devil Show.
It’s all too evident why a cult-like fanbase surrounds him. I think I’ve been indoctrinated, and I couldn’t be happier. If you get a chance to see him live, take it.
As their band name not so subtly indicates, Death Knell definitely aren’t your average Country band.
Any fans of Amigo the Devil’s Murder Folkstyle are sure to appreciate the angsty lyrical ingenuity found in their single “Boom, Click”. Especially anyone who is sharing contempt for the 1% whose odious nature is leaving us non-billionaire folk rightfully enraged.
Lyrics such as “And they don’t realize they’re doomed, with their bleached white teeth, fake tits, and exceptional veneers. Their thousand dollar suits will be nothing but ash when I’m through”. Imaginatively narrate the injustice we’re all subjected to so the upper-classes can have their Eyes Wide Shut style soirées.
Death Knell are an essential band to have around right now. Their satrical approach to Country is sorely needed on both sides of the pond. I for one am extremely grateful for their resonantly cathartic yet riotously energised track which immediately found a home on my playlist.
You can consider Boom, Click to be an invitation to fuck the establishment while simultaneously being treated to some intricately mesmerising frenzied instrumental alchemy.
You can check out their single Boom, Click for yourselves by heading over to Bandcamp.
Murder Folk seems to be all the rage right now, and it doesn’t come much more ominously captivating than New York artist Colman’s recently released single “Hawks”.
Any fans of Amigo the Devil are sure to appreciate the ingenuity which Colman has brought to the genre with their tribally organic acoustic percussion and deeply reverberant acoustic guitar tones which create the perfect platform for their deep Americana Folk vocals.
Hawks consistently switches from swampy blues to striking guitar progressions which carry the same chilling temperature as Post Punk. The progressive nature of the single makes it all too easy to remain transfixed by the inventive melodies from the first note to the last.
It’s tracks like Hawks which make us stoked to hear of any new release from Colman. We’re fairly sure that anyone with a penchant for Alt Americana Folk will feel the same once Colman is firmly planted on their radar.
You can check out Colman’s latest release Hawks for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud now.
