Browsing Tag

Shropshire

Thom Morecroft – The Last Day You Left Home

Posted on 2 December 2022

Thom Morecroft is a singer songwriter who loves to bring intimacy with melody and energy into one concise, yet catchy formula. His most recent single, “The Last Day You Left Home”, is a very earnest and understanding song that has a warm sound, and an even warmer heart to it.

The production quality is quite astonishing. It offers a really clean and pristine sound, but definitely not a sterile tone by all means. The balance is awesome, and it enables the listeners to fully enjoy the nuances that they can experience in Thom Morecroft’s music and lyrics alike. “The Last Day You Left Home” is at times energetic and catchy, at times personal and understated, echoing the work of influential artists such as Damien Rice, Elliott Smith, and Iron & Wine, only to mention a few.

Find out more about Thom Morecroft, and check out “The Last Day You Left Home” on all the best digital streaming services out there. This release is going to be a must for fans of indie-folk.

Meg Chandler Interview: Reaching her dreams with real grit

Posted on 1 December 2022

With so much in depth insight into her meaningful world, Shropshire native Meg Chandler opens the door and lets us deep within her busy world, which has recently caught on fire music wise. Full of life and showing her leader-like qualities, we find an enthusiastic creative who is ready for anything.

We appreciate you taking the time to speak with us today, Meg Chandler. First, how did you start in this wild music game?

Meg: I started taking piano lessons when I was 5 and had been brought up surrounded by music always, with my parents playing their favourite tunes non-stop – so it was quite a natural path for me. However, it wasn’t until covid that I actually had the time to sit down and give writing a proper go. Since then, I’ve spent the last few years devoting every spare second to music and creating a career for myself! My brother is also a musician, so it’s really a whole family of people that wholeheartedly love music!

Please explain to us your connection with Manchester recording/writing duo SOAP?

Meg: I met the SOAP guys about a year ago and since then have spent a lot of time working together on finding my sound and experimenting with different ideas! My songwriting process can be a bit messy because there’s always so much that I want to fit into a song, whether that be emotionally and/or specific wording, I often get quite overwhelmed by it all. So it helps me sooo much working with Josh and Karl because they refine everything I want to sing about and make it a much nicer, less chaotic experience than it would be when I’m working on my own! We’ve ended up with 6 songs that I’m absolutely in love with, 2 of which are out now!

Shropshire. Please tell us what your hometown means to you and do you still live here?

Meg: My hometown in Shropshire means the absolute world to me. I still live there with my family and work full time as a cafe manager, coming up to Manchester on my days off every week to fit in music work! It’s a really nice contrast from the busy city life and even though I’m hoping to move to Manchester next year (where I’m based for music) I know I’ll always have my sleepy little countryside home to escape back to.

Goats and donkeys. Please lead us into your side job and how well-behaved are these animals, really?

Meg: Haha, so as every independent musician knows – music is an extremely expensive career. Alongside my full-time job, I’m always looking to pick up extra hours where I can, one of those is looking after donkeys and goats. I always joke that it’ll be super funny if I get really famous and have the donkeys to thank for the extra pennies which ultimately made it possible (laughs).

What’s it like being a 21-year-old singer-songwriter right now?

Meg: It’s crazy how many young musicians are out there at the moment doing amazingly! It’s such a good thing to have that but at the same time means there is SUCH a fight to get yourself noticed and be different to everyone else. The main great thing is that I’ve made so many lovely friends through music, it really is a community, especially in Manchester. Just means you’ve gotta work that little bit harder – always good to have some friendly competition:) but equally knowing you’ll always have that group of people supporting each other is sooo lovely!

Do you have any tips for young musicians starting out in this seemingly fickle business?

Meg: Basically, just don’t give up. I’ve been extremely lucky falling in with a group of people that I work really well with and that are passionate about my music. Also, with the opportunities that have come my way. At the end of the day, not only is it about working insanely hard and being good at what you do, but equally luck is SUCH a huge thing. Being in the right place at the right time. Just make sure you’re taking every opportunity that comes your way, get out to every gig possible and make friends in the industry and just put your whole heart into it 🙂

Last, where can fans find you live next or do you have any tours on the horizon?

Meg: At the moment I’m focusing on releasing and have a few shows dotted about, but next year will be filled with gigs. I’ll always post about it on my Instagram, so keep an eye out! @megemilychandler

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Soak your soul inside this angelic figure on Spotify. Follow her path on IG.

Interview by Llewelyn Screen

Meg Chandler finds herself on the visceral side of ethereal in her intimately nostalgic indie alt-pop single, Woodland

Posted on 25 November 2022

Given that it has been a fair while since we weren’t living through a historical event of some devastating global nature, it’s all too easy to crave the uncompromised simplicity of youthful nostalgia. Meg Chandler brought it by the smorgasbord in her single, Woodland, which precedes her debut EP, due for release in 2023.

The 21-year-old singer-songwriter divides her time between a remote village in Shropshire, where she finessed her authentically out-of-the-smoke alt-pop style that will be a hit with any fans of Daughter, Adrianne Lenker and Phoebe Bridgers, and in Manchester where she enlists the help of the production/writing duo SOAP.

Never a truer line has been delivered than “now everything just seems to hurt” in Woodland, which flicks through the sepia-tinged memories of a childhood “chasing shadows by the lake”. Projected through intimately vulnerable indie pop vocals that resound on the more visceral side of ethereal, Meg Chandler, with her proclivity to hold nothing back in her lyrics, is set to make major waves with the profound consolation in her music.

Woodland will officially release on November 18th. Stream it on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Win My Way To You: the Rec never underestimate the ‘fair dos’

Posted on 3 September 2021

With a touch of button, the Rec show us how freaky this wild social media age can turn us into manic obsessed zombies so easily, on their new single which shows us a renewed music duo keen for success again called ‘fair dos‘.

the Rec is a London and Los Angeles-based alternative duo who were on their way to fame in the early 80’s. They make a thrilling blend of hauntingly honest music which has you feeling their world class quality, wash all over your shaken body.

”In 1981, Dovey and Ritchie, two Shropshire lads from the medieval market town of Oswestry ditched their schoolbooks, to form north Shropshire’s premier post-punk garage combo – the Assassins. They mapped the streets of their hometown with their songs of love, fear, record collecting, solvent abuse and girls. The gigs were legendary, word was sent from Peel, and stardom briefly beckoned, but they just couldn’t take the next crucial step. Now they’re making up for lost time.” ~ the Rec

With a stunning display that opens up our eyes to what is there in real life, but often gets hidden behind the rug of those who want to avoid the truth – the spooky beat and powerfully expressed lyrics – takes you to an anxious place, which makes you extra concerned about how the internet can be exploited so easily.

”Reconnecting 30 years later, a trans-Atlantic musical dialogue emerged as they swapped lyrics and melodies across the pond. The Assassins were reborn and renamed after one of Oswestry’s most notorious landmarks.” ~ the Rec

‘fair dos‘ from the London and Los Angeles-based indie duo the Rec, is the type of song that should put sweaty shivers all over your fragile spine. The truth about how the internet can turn normal people into addicts has red flags waving furiously, as they show us what the insides look like. Performed by two artists on a mission to reclaim their place at the top after thirty years away, this is a top notch effort with so much to be enthralled by.

Hear this new track on Spotify and see more on their Facebook page.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen