Further Listening:

5. You Can Rely On Sister. For A Gutsy Performance

Based out of Brooklyn, Sister. are the, as far as I can tell unrelated, trio of Ceci, James and Hannah, that later of which has previously appeared on these pages under the h.pruz moniker. The band have described their coming together as an accident, when for a course assignment Ceci wrote a song and asked Hannah to sing on it, the rest, as they say, is history. After releasing EPs in both 2020 and 2021, the band have been squirrelled away working on their upcoming debut album, and this week shared the first single from it, and their first new track in a year, Guts.

Self-produced the track finds Sister. in new sonic territory, the sound mirrored in the lyrical reflections of “the anticipation of a new fling, in all its tension, excitement, and confusion”. The track is a smouldering piece, with rich, Kristine Leschper-like layered vocals adorned with spidery atmospheric guitars, wavering synths and propulsive bass. Lyrically, the track seems to walk the line between anticipation and doubt, the words at times getting lost into the music, leaving you with a picture that only seems to slowly be coming into focus even on repeat listens. Sister. make the sort of music that leaves as many questions as answer, songs that reward patience and repetition and always leave you wanting to come back again, all of which bodes very well for a debut album that might just be very special indeed.

Guts is out now. For more information on Sister. visit https://linktr.ee/sistermusicnyc.

4. Listening To Trust Fund Is A Capital Idea

After a five-year hiatus, the heartening return of Trust Fund has been one of the year’s most intriguing musical stories. The project of Sheffield-based songwriter Ellis Jones, Trust Fund has marked 2023 by sharing a series of folk-influenced singles, returning to the UK touring scene, and for the first time ever, heading to America on a tour that starts in Boston tomorrow night. Marking the occasion, Ellis this week shared the contradictorily British-leaning single, London.

London finds Ellis in a battle of wills, yet rather than pitching his wares against a rival suitor, he instead takes on the might of an entire city. Throughout the song, Ellis seems to be pitching the simple life, “on the street that I live there is room to see the sky, on the street that I live there are seldom passers-by”, against the pull of London and, “the lights that entice you to stay”. The push and pull of the song is reflected in the music too, with Ellis’ pastoral imagery accompanied by a Pentangle-like folk backing, while the urban vistas find the track sliding into a folk-rock opus, resplendent with rich organs, and call-and-response vocals. Eventually, Ellis cedes, offering his blessing through gritted teeth, “stay in London, for you know where I will be, counting all the bets that I have hedged”. It is a song that ultimately wants the best for its intended recipient, that knows that you can’t hold onto someone’s feet when they want to see the stars.

London is out now. For more information on Trust Fund visit https://trustfund.fun/.

3. There’s A Thread Running Through Everything Wombo Do

Hailing from Lousiville, Kentucky, Wombo are the trio of Sydney Chadwick, Cameron Lowe and Joel Taylor. Last year saw the band share the acclaimed album Fairy Rust, which received rave reviews from all the biggest online tastemakers. Wasting no time, the band are following up on that release with their new EP, Slab, which they showcased earlier this week with their new single, Thread.

Originally envisioned as a solo piece for piano, the final version of Thread feels far removed from its origins as the bass and guitar trade phrases atop the simple ebbing pulse of the drum beat. Atop it all is Sydney’s remarkable vocal melody, it manages to sound both dizzyingly complex and yet somehow low-key, her voice gliding between notes, while still punching out the bassier tones. The ease of the vocal is contrasted by the subtle melancholy of her words, while there’s a cryptic quality to some of Sydney’s words, they seem to leave an impression of a relationship at a turning point, a sink or swim moment, as she asks “who was singing about loneliness? We couldn’t understand the words; we all knew what they meant”. Wombo have spoken about embracing the moment on this record, allowing room for spontaneity and improvisation into their stripped-back sonic sketches, the result is a record that feels like a band really hitting their stride and most intriguing of all, just getting started.

Slab is out today via Fire Talk Records. For more information on Wombo visit https://womborocks.bandcamp.com/.

2. Anna St. Louis Starts The Day Right

This is a big week for Anna St. Louis, with the Los Angeles-based songwriter celebrating the release of her second album, In The Air. Released via Woodsist/Mare, In The Air is the forward-looking follow-up to Anna’s acclaimed debut, If Only There Was A River. Marking the occasions, this week Anna shared the latest track from the record, Morning.

Described by Anna as, “a song about surrender”, Morning taps into the freedom of allowing life the chance to pan out, as she further explains it is, “about learning to let go in moments of joy, and about letting love’s timing naturally unfold“. Recalling the likes of Martha Ffion or Jess Williamson, the track seems to waft in on the breeze, as the easy-paced piano and unerring drum tick underpin the luxurious string flourishes and layers of heaven-sent vocal melodies. While Anna has in the past sometimes been labelled with the folk tag, here she seems to instead be reaching for classic pop, channelling the West Coast pop of Carole King, or even the Girl Groups of the 1960s. Listening to Morning the overwhelming feeling is one of contentedness, not soaring high or crushing low but that genuine happiness that comes from the little thing in life aligning, a soundtrack for staring out on a sunset, seeing the world of possibilities in front of you, and choosing to let them wait a little while longer. Anna St. Louis knows that sometimes bliss is just a morning with no particular place to go.

In The Air is out today via Woodsist / Mare. For more information on Anna St. Louis visit https://linktr.ee/annastlouis.

1. Blackaby’s Return Is Pure Bliss

It has been over five years since I first stumbled upon the fabulous music of Blackaby. That was when band-leader William Blackaby shared My Paula, the first track to be lifted from his breakout EP, What’s On The TV? Since then the Kent-raised, North London-based songwriter has gone on to capture the attention of a who’s who of musical tastemakers, with one of my favourite EPs of 2021, Everything’s Delicious a clear highlight. In the subsequent years, William has become a father, and somehow still managed to find time to write a new five-track record, Perfect Delusions which will arrive later this year, and was previewed this week with his new single, Teenage Purity.

Thinking of his new role as a father, William found himself looking back on his own childhood, and in particular his teenage, “self extraction from the Christian church“. After becoming born again aged 13, William gradually lost his belief in the institution, as he explains, “It was a slow process realising I was on the wrong road and attempting to get off it. I needed to find one that didn’t involve fear, guilt and pressure“. In the church’s message of maintaining purity for marriage, the more important messages like loving your neighbour were lost, and in that unwavering messaging they lost William along the way, and as he sings, “like Travis, Driftwood on The Man Who, I will drift away from you”. The sense of pulling yourself away from something is evident too in the music, the track has a Springsteen-like racing quality, as the galloping drums and chiming piano chords sit beneath urgent The Walkmen-like guitars. Atop it all is William, sounding somewhere between disappointed and overjoyed, his teenage indifference cut through by a sense of something being not quite right, “I wish that he had lived to see, the pain it took to tear away the insecurity, no sex before, no fantasy, just teenage purity”. In William’s distinct and personal experience of religion, he explores more universal themes, the dangers of power going unquestioned, and of adults forcing their own interpretation of religion onto youthful malleable minds. It’s an intriguing return for Blackaby, by digging into his teenage memories he has found a rich seam of inspiration, one that might just create William’s most compelling collection to date.

Perfect Delusions is out August 30th via Sweat Entertainment. For more information on Blackaby visit https://linktr.ee/blackaby.

Header photo is Blackaby by Ben Andrews.