Further Listening:

5. Get On The Right Side Of Faye Webster

Atlanta’s Faye Webster’s music is nothing if not eclectic; we previously featured the pedal-steel drenched Room Temperature, which Faye then followed up with a slice of smooth R&B, Flowers, which was far closer to Faye’s routes in the Atlanta Hip-Hop scene. Faye’s debut album, Atlanta Millionaires Club, promises to continue that eclecticism when it arrives later this month, and this week Faye’s shared the latest offering, Right Side Of My Neck.

Much of Faye’s best work, as she explains, comes from a place of spontaneity, “this song I didn’t think about writing or what I was doing, I was fresh from a feeling and that’s when I get some of my most honest and relatable songs”. Musically, Right Side Of My Neck, falls into the hazy alt-country part of Faye’s sound, an unusual, almost double speed drum beat seems to exist on a different musical planet to the wistful pedal-steel and Faye’s delightful, breezy vocal, which seems to chart a tale of new found affection, “I wonder if you got home, though we just said goodbye, you look back at me once, but I looked back two times”. Delightful stuff, Faye Webster remains a songwriter who can surprise and enchant at every turn, we can’t afford it, but if it sounds this good we can’t wait to get into the Atlanta Millionaires Club.

Atlanta Millionaires Club is out May 24th via Secretly Canadian. Click HERE for more information on Faye Webster.

4. Stanley Brinks’ New Single May Not Be The Answer, but It’s Worth A Shot

Always productive and often singing about alcohol, Stanley Brinks’ post-Herman Düne output has been wonderfully unpredictable. Many of his most productive offerings have come in collaboration with The Wave Pictures, and this week Fika Recordings have announced the release of the fifth album Stanley’s made with the band. The record is the first since 2015’s My Ass, although The Wave Pictures have turned out five albums and Brinks seven since they last came together. Tequila Island will land in June, and this week they’ve shared the title track from it.

Tequila Island is every bit as joyous as you’d imagine a desert island with a well stocked bar would be. The meandering afro-beat influenced guitar line and prominent flute line provide the melody, as the infectious coming together of percussion and bass add a toe-tapping propulsion. Stanley has suggested Tequila was not just the influence for the songwriting, but also the recording sessions, where Mexico’s finest was used to keep out the balmy North London-night; which might explain why it’s the loosest and quite possibly most fun they’ve ever sounded. Now remember to drink (and listen) responsibly.

Tequila Island is out June 21st via Fika Recordings. Click HERE for more information on Stanley Brinks & The Wave Pictures.

3. Crake’s Glistening New Single

In Crake’s own words they, “live in a world where it is perpetually Autumn”, and are also currently based in Leeds. The alt-folk quartet impressed many with last year’s album, The Politics Of Lonely, amongst the admirers were Big Thief, whom Crake will be supporting on their upcoming UK tour. To coincide with those dates, Crake are putting out a new EP, Dear Natalie, which in their usual creative way – The Politics Of The Lonely was released on RSPB pin badges- will be coming out as a series of seasonally themed, hand-painted tarot cards.

Ahead of Dear Natalie’s release, Crake have this week shared the first single from it, Glycerin, “the opening sob story, set thick with scandal”. Glycerin seems to continue the exciting development of Crake’s sound, those wistful early folk-songs giving way to something darker, more driving and unashamedly ambitious. Lyrically too, some of the optimism of earlier releases seems to quietly be fading from view, here it becomes a dejected plea for help, “if you see I’m struggling enough to terrify, if you see I’m struggling, then cast me out a line“. Dear Natalie seems to mark a transition period for Crake; a band casting off any opinions you had previously, and stepping out as something even more exciting.

Dear Natalie is out June 14th. Click HERE for more information on Crake.

2. Coming Tomorrow There’s A New Low On The Horizon

Hailing from the twin musical hotbeds of Austin and Houston, Low Horizon are a four-piece DIY band who are unashamedly influenced by the likes of Yo La Tengo, Grandaddy and Bright Eyes. The band are releasing their excellent debut album, Eternal Depressed Summer, today, and recently shared the second single from it, Starting Tomorrow.

Starting Tomorrow is an anthem for procrastination, of kidding yourself if you put it off now, you’ll pick it up tomorrow, as the band put it, “a convenient way to diminish your potential while pretending you haven’t completely given up. Eventually it’ll all catch up and you’ll realize you wasted your 20s following someone else’s dreams. But that probably won’t happen today”. Musically, the track is Low Horizon at their most breezy, recalling the likes of Parquet Courts or Savage Mansion, as a chugging rhythm is perforated by squalling lead-guitar lines and easy, half-spoken vocals.  While they might be putting off getting their life on track, Low Horizon’s music sounds as focused and exciting as ever.

Eternal Depressed Summer is out today. Click HERE for more information on Low Horizon.

1. Ada Lea’s Throwing A Private Party

Based out of Montreal, Ada Lea is the latest addition to the always fascinating, Saddle Creek label’s ranks. A talented painter as well as a musician, Ada has always used her art and her music to portray different versions of the same message. Ada’s latest attempt to share her music will arrive in July in the shape of her debut album, What We Say In Private, and this week Ada has shared the first track from it, The Party.

Although, as far as we know, completely unrelated to Andy Shauff’s album of the same name, The Party does seem to operate in a similar musical and lyrical world. Like Shauff, Ada doesn’t seem to see a party in a loud or particularly rambunctious way, instead here muted guitar strums and a gentle meandering piano line creates a hazy, uneasy feel; the percussion barely even arriving for the first minute and a half. Discussing the inspiration behind the track, Ada states it was inspired by, “a magical night on the town with close friends…I wanted to capture that delightfully unsatisfying quality of the night; being together but wanting something more to happen, yet reveling in the power that had brought us all together at that special moment”. Ada’s music seems to have a delightfully human feeling to it; the gentle fuzz of unremoved static that accompanies The Party, the slight crack to the perfectly imperfect vocals. Like upcoming tourmate Angelo De Augustine or Big Thief, Ada Lea seems to try and capture something more than just a song, these are aural feelings and moods, delightfully, indescribably real.

What We Say In Private is out July 19th via Saddle Creek. Click HERE for more information on Ada Lea.

Header photo is Ada Lea by Bao Ngo – https://www.bhngo.com/